Chapter 68 The cement Qin Ren is making now is not...

Qin Ren hasn't produced much cement yet; it's probably only enough for him to build his own house. He doesn't have many craftsmen on hand either, so he's not in a hurry to produce more cement.

He planned to build his own house first, and only after others saw the benefits of cement could he promote cement to the wider market.

People in ancient times were quite different from people in later generations; they were not so easily open to new things. Only when they saw the benefits of new things would they have the courage to try them.

Wen Lingzheng just happened to be here with him. Wen Lingzheng wasn't particularly smart, but she wasn't a complete idiot either.

He has already seen the benefits of cement, and Qin Ren can use him to promote cement in the future.

Wen Lingzheng said he had committed a crime and had no other choice but to come here.

Qin Ren thought that if the emperor saw that he had done a great thing, he would be exempted from his crimes.

This way, Qin Ren and Wen Lingzheng will become closer.

Although Qin Ren didn't particularly like Wen Lingzheng, there's a saying that goes, "Having more friends means having more options."

Qin Ren didn't have many friends in ancient times, and now that he's pursuing an official career, he's destined not to fight alone forever.

Wen Lingzheng isn't particularly clever, but he has a close relationship with the emperor. Keeping him around might prove useful.

For the next month or so, Qin Ren treated Wen Lingzheng very well. He would also help Wen Lingzheng explore and investigate the things she didn't understand about cement.

After Qin Ren's house was completed, Wen Lingzheng immediately asked him to set up a cement workshop.

Wen Lingzheng said, "I think your thing is even better than that tire. If we can make more, it will definitely be a good thing for Da Yong."

Tires are mainly used to make vehicles, and the primary purpose of vehicles is for warfare. However, cement can also be beneficial in warfare, and its uses are even greater than those of tires.

Cement can be used to pave roads, by the military, by businessmen, and by ordinary people.

Cement can be used to build city walls, making them stronger and higher, thus defending against invasions from foreign enemies.

Cement can also be used to build houses, just like Qin Ren's house. A roof made of cement is more solid and easier to prevent leaks.

That's not all; there are many, many more benefits.

Wen Lingzheng felt that the tire-making could wait until they had set up the cement workshop.

Qin Ren: "Sure, but the county town is a bit small, and cement causes some pollution, so it's not suitable to set up a workshop in the city. I was thinking that since you don't have much to do, why don't you help me buy a piece of land outside the city and set up this cement workshop for me?"

Wen Lingzheng: "Are you sure you want me to set up this workshop?"

Cement is clearly a huge asset; once it's successfully developed, it will definitely be very profitable.

Once it's widely promoted, many people will definitely buy it to build their homes.

Wen Lingzheng thought that Qin Ren, the one who invented cement, would keep such a good thing to himself.

Qin Ren did want to keep control, but... he had been too prominent since last year.

If someone were to produce cement now, even if it were on their own territory, it would attract a lot of jealousy.

He came from a simple family in Nanning and didn't have many trustworthy friends. Under such circumstances, it was easy for those powerful families to cause trouble.

To ensure his own safety and to avoid arousing the emperor's suspicion, he sometimes had to refrain from showing off.

For example, even if he produced the cement, he can't run the cement workshop.

If cement were to be promoted nationwide, the interests involved would be too great. He couldn't swallow such a lucrative opportunity, and might even choke himself to death.

It is best to hand it over to the emperor, or someone the emperor trusts.

Wen Lingzheng was someone the emperor trusted.

Qin Ren felt that handing the workshop over to him was much safer than keeping it in his own hands.

Firstly, he wouldn't arouse jealousy from others, nor would he make the emperor wary of him; secondly, Wen Lingzheng was the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei, a man of great status, and if the cement workshop was given to him, other powerful families wouldn't dare to covet it.

Wen Lingzheng also represents the emperor, who is considered to care for his people. They will make money through cement, but they won't raise the price too high, so that ordinary people can afford it.

Qin Ren: "Young Marquis represents His Majesty, so I naturally trust him."

Qin Ren spoke respectfully, but his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, which Wen Lingzheng quite liked.

Wen Lingzheng thought about how she would need his help in the future, and also remembered the many instructions Prince Ying had given her when she came here. Wen Lingzheng, unlike her usual arrogant and domineering self, actually looked at Qin Ren with a somewhat amiable expression.

Wen Lingzheng: "You don't need to be so polite with me. Don't call me 'Young Marquis' anymore. You're older than me, so just call me by my name. I'll call you Brother Qin or Brother Qin. From now on, we're like brothers."

Wen Lingzheng grew up in the military, and besides being impatient, she can also be quite carefree at times.

Qin Ren nodded upon hearing this, and the two then discussed the matter of setting up the workshop.

The method of making cement is not very difficult, but Wen Lingzheng needs to be careful when running her workshop to ensure that the cement formula is not leaked.

He didn't care about leaking the information to his own people; he was just afraid that the cement wouldn't be widely used in his country and would be sold to other countries by some traitors.

No matter the era or the country, there are always many traitors like this.

In their eyes, the country is not important; they only care about their immediate interests, and everything else is irrelevant to them.

After handing over the cement workshop to Wen Lingzheng, Qin Ren moved his family to the new house with his servants.

After so long, Qin Ren's new home has finally been completed.

The new house has five yards: the front yard, the main yard, the back yard, the east wing, and the west wing.

The front yard was used for receiving guests, and there was also a secluded little courtyard for the male servants to live in.

The main courtyard is where Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue live; it is the largest area in the entire Qin mansion.

There is a small pond, a small garden, and a covered walkway.

In addition to these, there are two other buildings.

One of the buildings is where Qin Ren, Liu Qingyue, and the children live.

This building is located in the very center of the main courtyard, facing south, and has three floors.

There are very few rooms on the first floor: a storage room, a dining room, and the rest are living rooms, which are where the children play.

The second floor is the main resting area, with a master bedroom, two secondary bedrooms, and a study.

The third floor was used for storage. Qin Ren had a storeroom, Liu Qingyue had one, and they also prepared a room for the child.

The other building has only two floors; the first floor is the kitchen, and the second floor is the kitchen's storage room.

Their place is rainy, humid, and hot.

The first floor is not suitable for living or storing food.

Now that buildings have been constructed, many things naturally need to be placed on the second floor.

As for the servants in the main courtyard, most of them lived in the back courtyard, and only one or two people were left to serve them personally.

This service is mainly for Liu Qingyue, or perhaps for their future children.

Qin Ren dislikes being served and even more dislikes others getting close to him, so he doesn't have any personal attendants around him.

Then there's the backyard, which is mainly where the young masters and their maids live.

Four small two-story buildings were built in the backyard.

No one lives on the first floor, but people live on the second floor.

In addition to the four small buildings, there was a well in the backyard, and many clothes racks were installed.

Because the backyard was quite large, Qin Ren reserved a plot of land to grow vegetables.

Finally, there are two side courtyards.

The east courtyard is reserved for future generations to live in.

When the children are young, they can live with them.

Once the child is a little older, they need to learn to live on their own as soon as possible.

Whether you are a boy, a girl, or a young man, you must learn to be independent and self-reliant from an early age.

Many people think that girls and boys should be pampered, and they may appear to love them very much.

However, Qin Ren didn't think so. He believed that boys should be nurtured and tempered from a young age, and the same applied to girls and young men.

He will treat them all equally, including in terms of family property.

If you only have one child, then give him all of them.

If there are two children, regardless of gender, strength, or age, each child receives half.

In Qin Ren's view, truly loving children means nurturing them together.

It is said that love is where money is. Parents who claim to love their daughters but only give love and not money usually don't love their children that much.

They gave their love to their daughter, and the house and money to their son.

Some even use the guise of loving their daughters to deliberately spoil them.

This isn't out of love for the child, but rather out of concern that the daughter is too assertive and might fight the son for the family fortune in the future.

Otherwise, why would they deliberately raise a bad dog and then refuse to pay it back?

The west courtyard is for entertaining guests.

Less important guests can be accommodated in the guest rooms in the front yard.

Some important guests, or those of high status, will be placed in the west wing.

The Qin family has no relatives, and Qin Ren doesn't have many friends either. It's estimated that no one will come to the West Courtyard in the end.

Qin Ren thought it would be better to leave a space here so that Liu Qingyue could use it as a small square for fun in the future.

The house is all built, but we still need some furniture and decorations.

Qin didn't rush to get these weapons; he first acquired the furniture they needed, and the rest could be acquired later.

Wen Lingzheng now lives in the Qin residence; someone of his status would never be without a place to stay.

However, in order to make it easier for him to see Qin Ren, he often stayed here when he was in the city.

It just so happens that the new house needs some liveliness, so it's good that Wen Lingzheng and the others moved in.

Wen Lingzheng lived in the main courtyard, which was the same building where Qin Ren lived.

Qin Ren lived in the master bedroom on the second floor, while Wen Lingzheng lived in the adjacent secondary bedroom.

Liu Qingyue hasn't returned yet, and Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue's child is still nowhere in sight, so there's nothing wrong with Wen Lingzheng staying here.

Wen Lingzheng was efficient and decisive; he bought land, built workshops, and hired laborers, all within a month.

While Qin Ren was running his workshop, he took some time to return to his modern new home a few times.

He was initially worried that Liu Qingyue would be lonely, but when he returned, he found that Liu Qingyue was doing very well in the modern world.

Modern society is governed by the rule of law, and the neighborhood they live in is a good one, with most of the residents being of good character.

Liu Qingyue has lived here for more than a month and has become familiar with several residents in the community.

He became familiar with these people mainly because he met them while walking his dog.

Bianbian is a large dog, and some people are quite afraid of it.

However, it turned out that Bianbian was super well-behaved, and its owner, Liu Qingyue, was also very easy to talk to.

Several other dog walkers gradually became acquainted with Liu Qingyue.

Among them were a young girl, an old man, and an old woman, who had a very good relationship with Liu Qingyue.

Seeing that Liu Qingyue was not alone and had even become familiar with the residents of the community, Qin Ren was no longer so worried about her.

It was a Sunday. After Qin Ren returned to the modern world from ancient times, he accompanied Liu Qingyue to walk the dog.

Qin Ren asked, "Didn't they say anything when you grew your hair long?"

Liu Qingyue: "At first, people would ask me if I was a celebrity or an NPC or something. Later, I explained to them that I was an artist, and then no one asked me anymore."

Liu Qingyue found this excuse online.

He asked, "What kind of man would have long hair?"

Among the search results were artists. In order to appear sophisticated and to give herself an excuse for not going to work every day, Liu Qingyue gave herself a particularly high status.

Qin Ren nodded upon hearing this, "An artist, not bad, you do seem quite like an artist."

When Liu Qingyue heard Qin Ren praise him, she immediately raised her chin proudly.

"Of course. By the way, you're back today, how many days are you going to stay at home?"

"Well, I probably can't stay long today. Wen Lingzheng is coming back to stay tonight, and he'll get suspicious if I'm not there."

Liu Qingyue pursed her lips. "Why do I feel like he was sent by the emperor to spy on you?"

He remembered that Wen Lingzheng used to dislike Qin Ren quite a bit, but this time after Wen Lingzheng came to the South, she treated Qin Ren too intimately, and he always felt that there was something fishy about it.