Xianyang, the Grand Commandant's residence.

"Grand Commandant, another letter from the King has arrived!"

Zhang Erhe walked over quickly, holding a letter in his hand.

The wicked man, who was instructing the craftsmen to improve the cement formula, took the letter and examined it carefully upon hearing this.

"Our Brother Zheng is really something..." A smile appeared on his lips, "Looks like he had a good time on this trip."

"What did the King say?" Zhang Erhe asked curiously.

"He told us to speed up our research and development." The wicked man's eyes gleamed. "He said he was very interested in our progress over this period. Come on, let's go take a look at the cement workshop."

Upon arriving at the workshop, hundreds of craftsmen were busy at work. Some were burning lime, some were mixing materials, and others were conducting various experiments.

"Grand Commandant!" An old craftsman ran over excitedly. "You've come at the perfect time! We've just made a new discovery!"

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"Look at this," the old craftsman said, holding up a sample. "We added some sand and gravel to the ingredients, which greatly increased its strength, far exceeding that of ordinary cement!"

"Isn't this just concrete?" The scoundrel slapped his forehead. "Perhaps he's been in this world too long; he often forgets many things."

Before the words were finished, a loud bang was heard from afar.

"Don't panic!" the wicked husband waved his hand. "Come on, let's go take a look."

Upon arriving at the testing ground, one could see several craftsmen testing the strength of the new formula.

They blasted the samples with special gunpowder, but could only leave shallow marks on the surface.

"Grand Commandant, look!" the craftsmen exclaimed excitedly, "This formula is absolutely amazing! With this strength, we could build a ten-story building without any problem!"

"Build ten stories?" the wicked man sneered. "You guys are so pathetic! If this concrete were used properly, we could build a building hundreds of meters tall."

........

The construction site of the Epang Palace was bustling with people.

Thousands of craftsmen worked together, some pouring foundations and others erecting scaffolding, creating a bustling and spectacular scene.

"Grand Commandant, look at this pillar." The foreman pointed to a giant pillar, "It was cast in one go, and it's five zhang tall!"

"Only five zhang?" The wicked man shook his head. "Not enough! These are the pillars of the main hall; they should be at least ten zhang, or even taller!"

"Huh?" The craftsmen were dumbfounded. "This...this can't possibly work."

“What’s wrong with that?” the wicked man paced back and forth. “Didn’t you just say the new formula is stronger? Then let’s recast it with the new formula.”

"Remember, this Epang Palace is meant to amaze the world; we can't afford to be careless at all!"

“But Grand Commandant…” the site manager said with difficulty, “Such a tall pillar, even if the material is strong enough, construction will be a big problem.”

"That's easy," the wicked man said confidently. "Let the Mohist craftsmen design a new crane. If that doesn't work, we'll pour it in sections. With the new formula, the seams won't be a weakness..."

As they were talking, they suddenly noticed a group of people gathered in a corner, studying something.

What are they doing?

"Reporting to the Grand Commandant," Zhang Erhe said, "we are experimenting with coloring cement. I heard that someone discovered that adding a special material to the ingredients can make the cement appear in different colors."

"Oh?" The wicked husband became interested. "Take me to see it."

Upon arriving at the testing area, one sees more than a dozen samples laid out on the ground, some white, some green, some red, each a different color, yet all as hard as iron.

"Brilliant!" The wicked man picked up a piece and examined it closely. "With this, buildings don't have to be white. Come, tell me how it was done?"

The craftsmen took turns explaining the production methods and experimental processes in detail.

The wicked man nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself that the ancients' thinking was in no way inferior to that of modern people; they could solve many problems through other means, which was quite impressive.

"Grand Commandant, do you have another idea?" Zhang Erhe asked.

"Of course!" the wicked man smiled mysteriously. "Our Epang Palace can't be too monotonous. The main body is white to show solemnity, the sides are blue to show dynamism, and then some other colors are used for decoration... Tell me, how magnificent would that be?"

"The Grand Commandant is right!" the craftsmen echoed. "However, with so many colors, the workload will be even greater..."

"It's alright, let's take it slow, step by step, there's plenty of time!" The wicked man was not anxious. This project was of great significance, how could he be in a hurry?

"Oh, right," the wicked man suddenly remembered something, "how's the development of the new crane that the Mo family researched the other day coming along?"

"Grand Commandant, please take a look!" The site manager led him to another location.

A massive wooden mechanism stood there, and several Mohist craftsmen were adjusting it.

"Grand Commandant!" a Mohist craftsman introduced, "This crane uses twelve sets of pulleys, along with our specially made gears. Theoretically speaking, even a thousand-pound object can be easily lifted by ten people."

"Talk is cheap, we have to try." The wicked man looked around. "Let's get a cement slab and try it!"

The craftsmen brought over a huge cement slab, weighing at least a thousand kilograms. The Mohist craftsmen adjusted the mechanism and directed a dozen people to operate the crane.

"Creak, creak..."

With the sound of gears turning, the huge concrete slab slowly rose. What was most surprising was that the person operating it didn't seem to be struggling at all.

"Excellent!" the wicked man exclaimed, clapping his hands in admiration. "Following this approach, if we change it to iron to make it even stronger, we won't have to worry about those giant pillars! However..."

"But what?"

"But this speed is still too slow," the wicked man mused. "Could we improve it further? For example, by adding a secondary drive wheel? Or by adding another gear to the gear set..."

The Mohist craftsmen were astonished by his eloquent explanation: "The Grand Commandant actually knows these things?"

"I know a little bit." The wicked man smiled without answering, then turned to Zhang Erhe and said, "Go, have someone bring the blueprints."

Soon, a huge blueprint was laid out on the ground.

The wicked man kept drawing and sketching, personally designing an improved version of the crane. The blueprints were densely marked with various details. It was thanks to the expertise of the Mo family that he understood it immediately; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to understand the blueprints.

"Look, if we add a set of fixed pulleys here..." the wicked husband pointed to the blueprint, "and change the arrangement of the gears like this..."

The Mohist craftsmen were dumbfounded. They understood the principles behind these mechanisms, of course. But such an ingenious improvement was unheard of.

"Grand Commandant, your design..." an old craftsman hesitated, "is theoretically feasible, but..."

"But what?"

"But this requires extremely precise parts. The slightest deviation will cause the entire mechanism to malfunction."

"That's easy!" the wicked man said confidently. "Send the people from the ironworks to develop casting molds. Whoever can make one will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver. I guarantee someone will be able to cast the most precise parts!"

Let's get right to it.

Soon, the improvement work on the new crane began.