Yuan Feng looked at Liu Hong with excitement. As expected, his guess was correct. From the changes in the emperor's expression, he could see how much the emperor valued this item.

Then Yuan Feng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I found this in the forging workshop. Observing that its strength far surpasses that of lime, I felt that this thing must be extraordinary!"

"Great! Great! This is really a good thing!"

Holding the concrete-like object in his hand, Liu Hong was starting to ramble incoherently, unsure how to express the excitement he was feeling.

What does concrete represent? Others may not know, but Liu Hong knows it all too well.

It is no exaggeration to say that concrete is the greatest building material in human history.

In later generations, whether it was constructing various buildings, building bridges and roads, constructing dams, building fortresses, etc., all of these required the support of concrete.

Take the present as an example. If the Han Dynasty had concrete, for one thing, the city walls of the border counties could be built to be much taller, and concrete could also be used to quickly build incredibly sturdy offensive fortresses and defensive cities on the grasslands.

This will completely break free from the previous awkward situation where we could defeat the grasslands but could not occupy and hold them.

This is a resource with great strategic potential. With concrete, road construction will be much more efficient.

There's a saying that goes, "To get rich, build roads first!" With roads open, the movement of resources and trade across the Han Dynasty will be fully operational and unimpeded, greatly boosting people's livelihoods and the domestic economy.

Therefore, Liu Hong had the craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department secretly begin research and development long ago. They changed many types of stone, but unfortunately, they still couldn't produce a practical cement.

Then Liu Hong looked at Yuan Feng and said, "Minister, quickly tell me about the process by which this thing was formed."

Yuan Feng nodded, then said respectfully, "It's like this: these things were originally slag from smelting pig iron, carbon ash left on the ore, and clay and limestone debris cleaned out of the blast furnace. In order to prevent fire, water was used to stir and cool it down. Who knew that this thing would appear a few days later!"

Upon hearing Yuan Feng's words, Liu Hong pondered them carefully. Yuan Feng had mentioned iron ore, limestone, and clay.

These are the main materials used in making cement.

Thinking of this, Liu Hong couldn't help but slap his forehead. He had actually forgotten about the most crucial iron powder in cement. No wonder the craftsmen in his Shaofu Palace had never been able to get the hang of it.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong???"

Yuan Feng was startled to see the emperor suddenly hitting himself.

"Oh, I'm alright!!"

Then Liu Hong looked at Yuan Feng with excitement, "Sikong, the concrete you discovered will become the strongest defense for our Han Dynasty. If it is used to build the border defense, from now on, those tribes on the grasslands will no longer be able to pose any threat to our Han Dynasty!"

Upon hearing Liu Hong's words, Yuan Feng's eyes widened. At first, he thought it was already remarkable that this substance could replace lime as a material for building houses, and that building city walls was just his conjecture.

Yuan Feng looked at Liu Hong in astonishment, "Your Majesty, are you... are you telling the truth?"

"certainly!"

Liu Hong then explained all the functions of concrete to Yuan Feng.

Yuan Feng was stunned and stammered:

"This...this...this concrete is a divine substance! Your Majesty...Your Majesty has actually discovered a divine substance?"

Seeing Yuan Feng's expression, Liu Hong smiled and nodded, then said, "Haha~ Sikong is right, you've discovered a divine object."

However, this substance was discovered by chance, and it is far inferior to concrete. Sikong needs to study its specific details carefully upon returning home, striving to create real concrete as soon as possible!

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to develop the concrete Your Majesty needs as soon as possible."

If what I discover can truly help the Han Dynasty completely eliminate the threat from the grasslands, just as the Emperor said, I will surely have a place in the biographies of famous historical figures and ministers.

Thinking of this, Yuan Feng felt his body lighten up, his whole body felt much lighter, and he was instantly filled with fighting spirit.

"Haha~ Good, I'm really looking forward to it!"

As he spoke, Liu Hong turned around and went to the table, took out a piece of paper, picked up a brush and wrote: "Father of Concrete, Builder of the Great Han Dynasty's Strong Fortress, Yuan Zhouyang".

Then Liu Hong picked up the note and went to Yuan Feng.

"Master Sikong, please take a look!"

As they spoke, Liu Hong handed the page to Yuan Feng.

"This...this is...?"

After seeing the large characters on the paper, Yuan Feng's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Now that he has the emperor's approval, he has solidified his title as the founder, so it is a foregone conclusion that he will build a shrine and temple and enjoy the incense offerings for ten thousand generations.

Liu Hong laughed and said, "I hereby promise that as long as Sikong can produce real concrete, I will immediately issue a separate imperial edict to spread Sikong's name throughout the world!"

Yuan Feng exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your divine grace!!"

"Minister Sikong, you may dispense with the formalities!"

Soon Bi Lan arrived at Deyang Palace, and then reported to Liu Hong on the output of the smelted pig iron.

Yuan Feng, on the other hand, couldn't wait to leave Deyang Palace and return to the forge to study the details of cement and concrete.

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