The location of the workshop is relatively hidden.
It was built in a valley, with soldiers guarding the entrances and exits. Nestled between mountains and water, with dense jungle outside. Hai Gui stepped forward and said with a smile, "This is a place we carefully selected. It's also the fiefdom of my brother and me. These soldiers were sent by you, and their loyalty is guaranteed."
"Your Majesty!"
The soldiers guarding the gate raised their hands and bowed.
Ning Que smiled and raised his hands to help them up. "If I remember correctly, you are from Song Ci's group, right? How are you? Are you getting used to living in Lingnan?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, we are all fine."
"Lingnan is just a little hotter, everything else is the same."
"Lord Hai has been very kind to us, providing us with plenty of meat every day. We're not in any danger here, except for a few ignorant Yue people who stumbled in. As soon as we warned them, they dispersed."
"That's good."
"Let's go in and take a look."
"Your Majesty, please!"
Ning Que walked in front.
These people had it very hard, having left their homes and even had to hide their situation from their loved ones. They were unfamiliar with Lingnan, so Ning Que hoped to take care of them financially as much as possible.
After passing the arrow tower, all thatched huts came into view. Ning Que frowned and whispered, "Brother Hai, I remember saying before that gunpowder is most afraid of contact with water and fire. These huts are practically waterproof, and the area is prone to frequent heavy rains..."
"Haha, don't worry."
Haejae smiled and waved.
Ning Que had explained these matters long ago, and he also knew that gunpowder would be useless if it came into contact with water. "We had just arrived in Lingnan, so we had to rush. Besides, with so many people, we also needed a place to stay and rest. I took them and temporarily built these thatched huts to use as temporary workshops. Further ahead, we saw the workshop under construction."
Ning Que raised his telescope and looked into the distance, where he saw many strong men working with their bare chests. Some were from Dafeng, while others were from Goguryeo. They were all captives Ning Que had captured, young and strong enough to do the hard labor.
Lingnan was in ruins, lacking various resources, but most of all, labor. Ningque's construction project required a sufficient population, and while these Goguryeo people lacked combat effectiveness, they were capable of doing the work.
Some carried wood, others wheeled mud. They mixed it with straw, occasionally adding water. After constant stirring, they created the most common building material of the day—rammed earth.
When building a wall, two wooden planks were erected. Rammed earth was then filled in and repeatedly compacted with a wooden hammer. This is known as rammed earth. This construction method was actually used quite a long time ago. The resulting houses weren't particularly sturdy, but they could easily be lived in for 20 or 30 years.
In the distance, some rammed earth houses had already been built, and craftsmen could even be seen coming in and out. The leader was a middle-aged man. When he saw them, he hurried out and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, and Father."
"Well, no need to be polite."
This man was Gongshu Jia, the eldest son of Gongshu Chou. He inherited his talent as a craftsman and was the subject of Gongshu Chou's intensive training. Upon his death, he would inherit the Gongshu family line.
After Ning Que proposed to lie low in Lingnan, Gongshu Chou asked him to take some of his clansmen to Lingnan, and he was personally responsible for the construction of firearms and other tasks.
"Brother Gongshu, your son is quite capable. He came up with many ideas and single-handedly established the firearms workshop. He commands all the craftsmen and slaves. A full two to three thousand people, yet he manages them perfectly."
"Yeah, that's good."
Gongshu Chou still nodded faintly.
It was just rare for him to smile at Gongshu Jia.
This was his personality, a typical example of a cold exterior but warm heart. Although he wouldn't say nice things, if his friends encountered any problems, Gongshu Chou would definitely help them.
"Uncle Master, please don't laugh at me..." Gongshu Jia smiled awkwardly and waved his hand, "I just did what I could. Although rammed earth houses are sturdy and waterproof, the area is too humid and still not suitable. I'm also thinking about how to renovate them. After all, this gunpowder is too important. And storing it later is also a hassle."
Gongshu Jia had seen the power of gunpowder.
A half-filled pot of gunpowder could explode and bring down a house. He even started using gunpowder in mining, so he knew its power.
"Well, you can definitely add some other ingredients." Ning Que looked at Gongshu Jia and said with a smile, "When I was in Chang'an City, I developed a building material called Sanhetu, which is a mixture of loess, slaked lime, and fine sand. Houses built with Sanhetu have extremely high defensive capabilities and are very strong. Even in the face of floods, they can withstand it, and they are also extremely waterproof and moisture-proof."
Having said this, Ning Que paused.
At the time, he had people experiment with using cement to build watchtowers. Even close-range shots from large crossbows would be difficult to penetrate. They also had strong defensive capabilities, unbreakable by wind and sun.
"Loess and fine sand are quite common, but slaked lime is relatively rare..."
Gongshu Jia frowned. As a craftsman, his forte was building houses, so he knew all about this. Lingnan had no shortage of loess and fine sand; they were readily available in many places. However, slaked lime was more difficult to obtain; he'd asked some Yue people about it, but none had seen it. Furthermore, no one used lime in building houses at the time; it primarily served as an antiseptic and insecticide. For example, when Ning Que faked his own death to escape, his charred body was covered in lime to prevent the stench.
"Haha, this is actually not difficult."
Ning Que laughed.
As far as he knew, the production of mortar was actually first developed in Lingnan. As Gongshujia had said, loess and fine sand were common and easy to obtain, but lime was less common. After all, mining methods were limited in those days, and even if mining did occur, it was usually done in shallower areas.
"Brother Xiaohai, I remember seeing a child playing with a conch shell this morning. Things like this should be very common, right?"
"Of course!" Hai Gui nodded as a matter of course. "You have to know that Lingnan is close to the sea and has a lot of water. The most common foods for the Yue people are various fish, clams, and conchs. There's also something called snails, which can be found in Dafeng. However, the people of Dafeng mostly feed them to chickens and ducks and rarely eat them, while the Yue people love them very much."
"What about the leftover shells?"
“Most of it was just thrown away.”
Hai Gui pointed forward and said, "Outside Panyu City, there's an abandoned pit. It's filled with clam and snail shells left over from the Yue people's centuries of consumption. There's no way to count how many there are, and the pile is like a small mountain."
"That's right!" Ning Que laughed and raised his hand, saying, "Actually, after burning and crushing these clam and snail shells, they become the lime needed for cement!"
"ah?"
"Is this even possible?!"
Gongshu Jia was stunned.
How could such a thing happen?!
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