Nowadays, the rivals who once threatened Zhu Yunwen's position are almost no longer a threat. Those who should be eliminated have been eliminated, and those who should be dealt with have been dealt with. Basically, they no longer pose a great threat to Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen's path is basically secure, since his opponents have all been dealt with.

The original, highly capable civil and military officials have basically all submitted to Zhu Yunwen, and so far, virtually no one dares to oppose him.

Zhu Yunwen is currently able to keep them under control, so he doesn't need to worry about these people turning against him in the future.

The throne is basically secure for the future, so what needs to be done now is to develop the overall national strength of the Ming Dynasty and improve the lives and economy of the people.

Simply put, it means starting the construction of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the land distribution order before the land reform and the bringing back of sweet potato and potato seeds were all important strategies for building the Ming Dynasty.

That's not enough. Construction involves all aspects, not just solving the people's food problem. Food is only the primary issue.

There's much more to come. Zhu Yunwen possessed many advanced ideas, and in the world he came from before his transmigration, many major reforms had taken place.

These reforms brought about tremendous changes to the people and brought about a qualitative leap in their lives. Therefore, Zhu Yunwen prepared to use his advanced ideas and knowledge to build the Ming Dynasty.

This would allow the Ming Dynasty to achieve a better standard of living and become a more powerful nation, even in such a challenging ancient environment.

At least in many places, we must start now to surpass Western countries.

Everything will be led by the Ming Dynasty.

The first step, as Zhu Yunwen did, was to prepare to make cement.

Cement is an essential component in construction, capable of elevating the overall construction process to a new level. Therefore, once cement is produced, the construction of the Ming Dynasty will undergo a fundamental and significant transformation.

Although Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu could not fully understand all of this, they were able to unconditionally trust Zhu Yunwen.

It is believed that Zhu Yunwen will bring them plenty of surprises and shocks, because Zhu Yunwen has never disappointed anyone in handling any matter.

He only brings surprises, not disappointments.

Looking back, there were progressive ideas such as land reform, the land distribution decree for universal harmony, the grand vision of voyages to the West, and the excellent practice of exchanging food with foreign countries.

All of this is sufficient to prove that any decision Zhu Yunwen makes is trustworthy.

Leaving aside other court infighting, it all seems rather trivial in comparison.

In the main hall of the East Palace, it didn't take long before someone prepared everything Zhu Yunwen needed.

Seeing that everything he wanted had been brought to him, Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath and began to carefully recall the cement production process.

The cement production process may seem simple, but it is actually quite complex.

It's simple because the process is simple, and complex because it requires the use of some postmodern industrial tools.

Unfortunately, the world does not yet possess these things, so Zhu Yunwen could only manually automate these steps in a simple way.

For example, limestone is crushed, iron ore is ground into powder, these materials are mixed together, and then added to a furnace, where coal is used to maximize the temperature inside the furnace.

There was even a bellows installed next to it, and a person was specially assigned to operate the bellows to ensure that the coal burned completely.

Only then was the temperature finally raised.

Although Zhu Yunwen didn't know whether such a temperature could actually reach over a thousand degrees, or whether it would be enough to cause a chemical reaction in the various raw materials mixed inside.

However, the fact that the temperature melted the iron when he threw it into the coal is enough to show that the temperature was already very high.

Even if it doesn't reach over a thousand degrees, it's definitely not far off.

The limestone, clay, and iron ore powder mixed together in the furnace undergo a chemical reaction after being heated to high temperatures, turning into clinker.

Then Zhu Yunwen poured it out to cool, added plaster, and ground all of these things into powder using an iron millstone. He looked excitedly at the pile of bluish-gray powder in front of him, his face showing an expectant expression.

He knew the general steps of making cement; he had read some books before and had some simple records of them.

However, these things are not processed by professional machines. Although the steps and processes are roughly the same, it is still unknown whether they will be useful.

With a nervous heart, he picked up the teacup on the table, poured the water into a bowl, and then scooped up a small bowl of cement and poured it into the bowl.

After a simple stirring, the cement and water mixed together, forming a bluish-black slurry.

Then Zhu Yunwen wiped his hands clean and looked at the three bewildered people, Yang Shiqi and the others, and said:

"If we succeed, our Great Ming Dynasty will undergo earth-shattering changes."

Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong exchanged a glance, clearly unaware of what Zhu Yunwen had done here.

They had no idea what role it could play.

So they didn't say anything. They just waited quietly.

Time passed by, minute by minute. Zhu Yunwen chatted with them about other topics, and drank an unknown amount of tea.

Only then did Zhu Yunwen nervously glance at the bowl. The water in it had dried up.

His eyes lit up. This was a good sign. Logically speaking, water and mud shouldn't dry so quickly when mixed together.

It only dries so quickly when it encounters hard water.

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