When Zheng Quchi was teaching the kiln workers how to fire bricks and what precautions to take, even down to the smallest details, they were all astonished.
Craftsmen of this era generally valued their inventions or creations highly and paid great attention to their privacy, because no one wanted others to steal the results of their hard work without any effort.
But Zheng Quchi had a different idea.
Firstly, this knowledge is the fruit of thousands of years of cultural accumulation, not her personal creation. It is taken from the people and used for the people, which is perfectly reasonable.
Secondly, she also felt that if everyone chose to mind their own business, society would not be able to develop, especially since Ye State was already backward enough. As Stalin had said, backwardness invites aggression.
If you don't want to be beaten, you have to find ways to improve yourself, the country, and civilization, which will eventually benefit everyone living in this country.
These bricks need to be fired properly for several days, and even after firing, they need to be cooled for a while until the temperature is low enough before they can be taken out of the kiln. Otherwise, anyone who touches the bricks will get burned.
Zheng Quchi didn't want to wait any longer, so she came up with another way to fire blue bricks, involving a certain degree of human intervention.
When the bricks are almost "fired," the kiln workers slowly pour water into the kiln from the top. The water slowly seeps down and, upon encountering the high temperature, quickly turns into steam, preventing fresh air from entering.
Then, once the water has been poured in enough, the kiln is sealed again, and the entire firing process is thus perfectly completed.
This method shortens the cooling time, greatly improves production efficiency, and even has some benefits for the bricks themselves.
While waiting for the kiln to be opened, Zheng Quchi took some time to go to the drying yard.
She saw the bricklayers laboriously treading and pounding the mud, a task that was extremely labor-intensive and slow.
So she gathered the bricklayers and offered them a solution.
They first dug a large round pit in the ground, laid flat stones on it, then poured in the mixed mud, and then brought in a few cows.
The cattle are tied up, blindfolded, and their leashes are kept within the mud pit. They then take over the task of treading and stirring the mud from human hands.
This method was well received and even inspired them to continue using it.
After all the preparations for custom clay are completed, the next step is to shape and remove the clay from its original state.
Because Zheng Quchi's custom-made molds were large-sized and different from traditional earthen brick frames, a new batch of molds needed to be made. This wasn't difficult; she had the carpenter prepare them in advance while the masons were working on the mud.
There were at least a hundred of them.
Producing tens of thousands of brick blanks at once is an incredibly heavy workload.
This process of removing the clay from its blanks was both tedious and arduous, and a mere dozen or so clay craftsmen probably couldn't handle it. So Mu Ke directly found over a hundred idle people in the county, and with the advantage of numbers, the clay removal work was finally completed in no time.
Another ten days or so passed.
Finally, Zheng Quchi's eagerly anticipated and excited first batch of bricks is about to be unveiled.
Because the kiln workers had experience in firing porcelain tiles, this kiln firing went relatively smoothly.
But it wasn't very successful.
When Zheng Quchi received the finished product, he carefully compared it with the modern red bricks and felt somewhat disappointed.
It was formed, but because the brick was not hard enough, part of it cracked and broke.
...As expected, the clay bricks made from these adobe bricks ultimately failed to meet the standards.
She was baffled by the result and could only ask the kiln workers for help in understanding the problem.
The kiln workers examined the batch of bricks and then smashed one of them with a hammer.
After a final discussion, he excitedly told her, "These fired bricks are indeed better than clay bricks. This time they were probably overfired, and the soil was also too sticky. Perhaps adding some sand would make them harder and more solid."
As expected of a professional, they found most of the reasons in just a short time.
Zheng Quchi never looked down on anyone, so she was often willing to discuss professional issues with the craftsmen, because sometimes past experience couldn't solve some practical problems.
If she has the chance, she should read more books about the construction industry in this world to learn more, broaden her horizons, and fill in any gaps in her knowledge and common sense.
"I have ordered another batch of brick blanks. I would appreciate it if you could open another kiln to fire them."
The kiln workers were full of enthusiasm and nodded excitedly at her.
"Not at all, next time we will definitely learn from this experience and be more careful and cautious when firing."
This was their first time firing bricks. Although the bricks they produced weren't exactly amazing, the sense of accomplishment from successfully creating something new filled them with excitement.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
