Lu Chen has a clear understanding of himself, and he is well aware that he is quite narrow-minded.
Last time when we talked about building the Zhaixing Tower in the court, those civil officials stopped us, saying that it would be dangerous if the building was too high, and that with the current level of construction, it was impossible to build a building that was a hundred feet high.
Today Lu Chen is going to broaden their horizons and show them what a divine weapon is!
Just as Lu Chen was walking towards the court, there was a lively argument in the court.
Today is the grand court meeting, and all officials who can attend the court are standing here.
Now everyone is arguing about something, and the ministers of the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of War all have red eyes.
If Li Zhuo hadn't been in charge, they might have rolled up their sleeves and started fighting.
"Your Majesty, if you want to build a strong city wall, you must use glutinous rice and eggs. People have been doing this since ancient times. This is all recorded in the documents. We are not talking nonsense here." Lu Zhengping, the Minister of Works, was very emotional.
His saliva flew everywhere, making Li Zhuo shudder. Fortunately, there was still some distance between them, otherwise all the saliva would have sprayed onto his face.
Minister of War Cui Shanzhan also stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, we don't have an advantage in terms of war horses. Although we now have artifacts like telescopes, our combat method still relies on defending against strong fortifications. Therefore, we have very high requirements for the quality of the city walls. We can't say that we can't drive nails in, but at least we can't let the enemy tear them down so easily."
"Using glutinous rice water mixed with egg white can indeed help strengthen the city walls. I also hope that Your Majesty will grant some more money and food to the soldiers on the border."
In ancient times, city walls were mostly built with rammed earth. In order to increase its strength, glutinous rice water and egg white were mixed in during the construction process.
Without considering the cost, this is indeed a very good method, but once the cost is taken into consideration, everyone in the Ministry of Revenue will curse.
"You all know the current state of the treasury, and I haven't said I won't allocate this money and grain. Can't you just hold off a bit? Right now, the country is in ruins and needs money everywhere. We're all having difficulties. Can't you show some understanding for each other?"
Liang Licang persuaded him earnestly. Before he was promoted to the position of Minister of Revenue, he dreamed of sitting here. But when he really sat in this position, he realized how tiring it was.
He has become much more hunched over in the past two years. If this continues, he doesn't know whether he will die in office.
"Lord Liang, what you said is illogical. Can the soldiers on the frontier wait? Or will the enemy wait until our treasury is full before attacking? Your Majesty, I believe that other matters can be put aside, but military and national affairs cannot wait. If we wait, we will lose the battle and it will easily endanger our country."
Li Zhuo was also in a state of panic. How could he not know that the treasury was empty? It had been empty for a long time. Needless to say, the final outcome of this matter was probably that he would use money from the treasury to supplement the treasury.
But to be honest, he doesn't have much money in his treasury!
Besides, these grandsons kept saying that they borrowed money from the treasury and would repay him when the treasury was full. But after so many years, how come he never saw these grandsons return the money to him?
Just when Li Zhuo was feeling somewhat melancholy, a young eunuch hurried in from outside and said, "Your Majesty, Master Lu wishes to see you."
I don’t know why, but now whenever Li Zhuo hears the name Lu Chen, he feels happy.
It seems that every time he encounters trouble that he cannot solve, as long as Lu Chen appears, he can help him solve the problem. Is it the same this time?
"Please come in quickly!"
Soon, under the gaze of everyone, Lu Chen walked into the hall with a ruthless pace, acting like a big shot.
If anyone dared to be so arrogant in front of Li Zhuo, no matter how good his temper was, he would have scolded them.
But seeing Lu Chen being so arrogant, Li Zhuo felt happy from the bottom of his heart for some reason.
"Hahaha, what good news does Master Lu have coming this time?"
Lu Chen bowed politely before speaking, "Your Majesty, I'm here to tell you the good news."
"Oh, where does the joy come from?"
Sure enough, as long as Lu Chen appeared in front of him, everything would be good.
Li Zhuo had reason to believe that Lu Chen would not bother him with trivial matters, let alone take such a ruthless step.
Lu Chen pointed at the cement in Mou Ping's arms and said, "My lords, do you still remember our bet? If I could safely build a hundred-foot-high building, you wouldn't stop me from building the Star-Picking Tower, right? Now I'm here to make you fulfill your promise. Look at what this is!"
Everyone looked in the direction Lu Chen's finger pointed and saw a black object in Mou Ping's arms.
Although everyone admits that Lu Chen has all kinds of magical methods, the thing in Mou Ping's arms doesn't look like a magic weapon from the immortals.
This thing looked really bad. Li Zhuo said anxiously, "Master Lu, please stop keeping us in suspense and tell us what this thing is."
"Your Majesty, although I came up with this idea, the detailed manufacturing process was completed by the many generals of the General Works Department, so let them explain it to you in detail."
Lu Chen said to Zhang Laoba beside him, "Explain the function of this thing."
Zhang Laoba felt that his ancestral tomb was probably now engulfed in flames and billowing black smoke. This was a blessing that he had accumulated over several lifetimes. A lowly official like him could actually be nominated by Lu Chen to introduce the role of cement to all the dignitaries in this hall.
He knew that this was Lu Chen giving him a chance to show himself. For a moment, Zhang Laoba was extremely moved. What else could he say when he met such a chief officer? How could he not fight to the death?
After adjusting his mindset, Zhang Laoba solemnly introduced: "Your Majesty, this material is called cement. It was made by our group of craftsmen under the guidance of Master Lu."
"Its main function is to build cities. Its greatest characteristic is that it solidifies quickly and is very strong once solidified. Compared to ordinary methods of building city walls, cement solidifies in about one to two days. Its strength is at least ten times that of a mixture of glutinous rice water and egg white."
"Of course, that's not the main point. The main point is that the cost of this thing is quite low. If it's purchased at the national level, the cost can be further reduced. According to our calculations, the cost of building an ordinary city wall is equivalent to building approximately ten cement walls of the same size!"
"What do you mean, are you serious?!"
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