"Is this pillar really that magical?"
Han Fei looked up at the two-zhang-tall snow-white stone pillar in the courtyard and couldn't help but ask a question.
They had just followed the wicked husband into the study, but Meng Can kept saying he wanted to see that pillar again, so he finally pulled everyone back to the courtyard.
"Isn't it amazing? Why don't you knock on it and see?" The wicked husband laughed and handed over a hammer.
Han Fei took the hammer and gently tapped the stone pillar. The hammerhead vibrated slightly with a crisp sound.
He struck the stone pillar several more times with greater force, but it didn't budge. Instead, his hands and arms went numb from the impact.
"This..." Han Fei looked at the hammer in his hand in surprise. "Is this thing really harder than refined iron?"
"Of course," the wicked man said smugly. "It was also improved step by step from the basic three-in-one soil. If the gunpowder warehouse hadn't kept collapsing back then, I wouldn't have..."
"Wait!" Meng Can stepped forward. "Grand Commandant, could you tell us what's going on?"
"Very well." The wicked man glanced at the sky. "Anyway, it's still early, so I'll tell you both the whole story."
He had some chairs brought over, and the three of them sat down by the stone pillar.
"As you all probably know, we originally built houses using rammed earth," the wicked man began. "Later, we discovered that mixing in lime and fine sand created a mixture of lime, lime, and sand, which became much stronger than ordinary mud walls."
"But..." he changed the subject, "the mortar still has its flaws. It softens when wet and cracks under stress. Especially when building gunpowder storage facilities, problems arise frequently."
"So you started making improvements?" Han Fei asked.
"yes!"
The wicked man revealed a smile, "The initial research approach was somewhat flawed, and the proportions were always off, so we ended up figuring out this brick first!"
"But who knew that the bricks also had problems? Some were sturdy, while others were like rubble, so we decided to focus on solving the brick problem first."
"Later, I always felt there must be something wrong with the proportions of this soil." The wicked man stood up, walked to the stone pillar, and gently stroked it. "You guys feel it first; it's as smooth as a mirror. This wasn't made by brute force."
Meng Can also leaned forward and touched it: "It's definitely different. It feels incredibly smooth, almost like jade..."
The wicked man laughed, "This is much sturdier than jade! Erhe, go and bring all our experimental samples."
"Okay!!"
A short while later, Zhang Erhe and his men brought over several bricks. Some were rough, some were slightly smooth, and some were even cracked.
"See these?" the wicked man pointed at the bricks. "These are the results of all the experiments we've done, all in search of the right proportions."
He picked up a rough brick: "Like this one, too much lime makes it dry and brittle. Too much sand makes it loose and soft. I've tried dozens of times, but I just can't find the right ratio."
"Then how did you manage to create this poured object?" Han Fei asked curiously.
"It's a long story..." the wicked man smiled mysteriously, "Once, I had the craftsmen burn the lime exceptionally thoroughly, and we discovered that the resulting ash was a little different; after being mixed with water, it would actually harden on its own!"
"Is that so?" Meng Can looked incredulous.
"Of course." The wicked man said dismissively, "Anyway, after I discovered this trick, I immediately assigned a group of people to specifically study the firing temperature. Guess what?"
"What's wrong?"
"I've really found the key!" The wicked man said excitedly, gesturing wildly. "The limestone needs to be heated until it's red-hot, but not too hot. The time needs to be long enough, but not too long."
"If you control the heat correctly, the material will solidify on its own, almost like magic!"
He turned to Zhang Erhe and said, "Go, bring over the ingredients we've prepared, let them see what we've got!"
Zhang Erhe quickly brought over a basin of mortar. The mortar was light gray and viscous, like paste.
The wicked husband had someone pour a mixture of sand and sand into a wooden mold, then said to the two men, "Just you wait and see!"
Han Fei and Meng Can circled the mold but didn't find anything unusual. However, not long after, they were surprised to discover that the mortar was slowly hardening!
"This..." Meng Can's eyes widened, "It really did solidify on its own!"
"That's nothing," the wicked man said smugly. "Let me tell you, this thing not only hardens on its own, but it can also withstand water and fire. Look at that pillar; it was cast in one go!"
"Poured all at once?" Han Fei asked in surprise. "Not stacked up piece by piece?"
"Of course not!" the wicked man pointed to the base of the stone pillar. "Look closely, can you see any traces of layers?"
The two carefully examined the stone pillar and indeed found that it was a single piece without any seams.
"This is amazing..." Meng Can murmured, "If we used this to build granaries, wouldn't that be..."
"All you know is granaries!" the wicked man interrupted him. "This isn't just any ordinary building material. Think about it, with this, what are we afraid of, mountains and rivers?"
"If you want to build a road, just pour concrete to build a bridge. If you want to build a city, just build high walls. Aren't dikes and embankments too flimsy...?"
"The Grand Commandant is right!" Han Fei nodded. "With this, the people will indeed suffer less. However..."
"What's this?"
"But this process doesn't seem simple," Han Fei pondered. "Just mastering the heat is difficult; large-scale production will certainly be difficult to achieve in the short term."
"You don't need to worry about that," the wicked man said confidently. "I've already recorded the entire process. You see..."
He asked Zhang Erhe to bring a stack of bamboo slips, which were then unfolded and filled with all sorts of details. From the selection of materials to the firing process, from the proportions to the solidification, every step was recorded clearly.
"These are all conclusions drawn from repeated experiments," the wicked man explained. "As long as you teach the workers these steps, it's actually not difficult at all."
"Moreover, the Mohists are already developing new tools, which will further increase the speed..."
"As expected of the Grand Commandant!" Meng Can gave a thumbs up. "And what do you think..."
"Stop!" the wicked husband laughed and scolded. "I knew you were going to talk about the granary. How about this, we'll wait for the imperial court..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Gao suddenly appeared in a hurry.
"Grand Commandant, the King has sent another letter!"
The wicked man took the letter, glanced at it, and couldn't help but laugh: "It seems the king truly can't wait any longer."
Turning to the two men, he said, "Let's go back to the study. Since His Majesty is pressing us so urgently, let's discuss the decision we just made thoroughly!"
With that, the three of them went into the study.
As night deepened, laughter and arguments could be heard from the study. What the three important figures were plotting was probably only known to themselves.
The magical stone pillar still stood silently in the courtyard, gleaming softly in the moonlight. It seemed to be waiting for something, waiting for a great transformation to come...
Standing in the courtyard, Zhang Erhe looked at the light in the study and couldn't help but mutter, "I wonder what the Grand Commandant is up to this time."
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