Time passed by at our fingertips, and in the blink of an eye it was the fifth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the Xuanli calendar.
Fu Xiaoguan has been in the back mountain of Xishan for three days and has been living on the mountain.
All the necessary materials for cement manufacturing are ready, and today, the processing process will begin.
The waterfall poured down from the top of the mountain with a roar like thunder. Three huge water wheels were set up under the waterfall, driving three stone mills to rotate slowly in circles.
"Put in the ingredients!"
Fu Xiaoguan roared loudly, looking excited.
"Put in the ingredients!"
The sounds came one after another, and many workers put the prepared limestone and dried clay into the two grinding troughs. With the sound of clicking, the limestone and clay were crushed under the stone mill.
The other grinding trough is filled with slag, which has a relatively hard texture and looks quite laborious. If it is replaced with an iron roller, it should be possible.
He only used this simplest and most primitive method to deal with it. Of course, he didn't know the more advanced mechanized processing methods.
If more water wheels and mills were added, the output should be enough to supply the construction of Xishan Villa. As for road construction - he wanted to build a cement road from Xishan to Linjiang, but it seems that it is not so easy now.
He has taught Feng Xi the entire process and proportions of cement. Now that the most difficult step of crushing has been completed, he doesn't have much to do next.
Looking at the waterfall, the waterwheel and stone mill beneath it, the factory sheds built around it, and the two large kilns not far away, a smile appeared on his face.
As soon as this thing comes out, we can immediately build the factory in Xishan. First, build the soap and soap factory, which is the easiest, and then the perfume factory, because the flowers have not bloomed yet, and because Yu Zhongtan’s glassware has not been completed yet.
The workers were working in full swing. Under Feng Xi's command, the ground powder was poured into a huge pit, and then water was added. A large group of people began to stir it with wooden sticks in their hands.
"stop!"
"I told the guy who was pouring the water to stop, and you guys kept stirring."
Feng Xi was very nervous. This was his first time doing such an important job. This was the young master's trust, and he must not mess it up.
He picked up the stick, squeezed the mud on it with his hands, and shouted to the person next to him: "Big Egg, go get some wooden boards to put on top of it. It's not mixing evenly. Hurry up!"
Several wooden boards were placed on the pit. "Go up, twenty people, pour water. Stop immediately when I say stop!"
"Old Li, light the kiln, but don't make the fire too big!"
"Okay!"
A kiln started burning, and thick smoke rose like columns.
It was a full hour later that Feng Xi felt that the cement slurry in the pit was ready.
"Go to the kiln!"
"Old Li, don't get too angry. I'll call you later."
"Okay!"
The first batch of mud from the pit was poured into the kiln. After another hour, Feng Xi finally yelled, "Old Li, keep the fire going!"
…
Fu Xiaoguan stood at a distance and watched. He didn't know whether it would succeed or not, because he didn't know how long it would take to burn. He just told Feng Xi to boil it until it was like water and then cool it down. Feng Xi then went to find Old Li, who said it would take about five hours.
Then burn it, and try again after it is burned out. As long as the direction is right, don’t be afraid of failure. This is what Fu Xiaoguan said to Feng Xi. Feng Xi doesn’t want to fail.
So night fell, everyone had dinner, and then continued working.
Fu Xiaoguan did not give any special treatment for the past three days, which left a good impression on the hundreds of people.
"Master, your precious body is guarded here, don't be lazy!"
"Everyone work hard, the young master is watching and will not treat you unfairly!"
“…”
In fact, Fu Xiaoguan was really not used to these meals, but he couldn't resist being hungry. He could only recall that when he was on a mission, he had gnawed on wild vegetables and tree bark, so they became delicious to him.
It’s because I’ve been living too comfortably lately.
Thinking that it would take a long time to burn and cool down, Fu Xiaoguan returned to his room - this was a bit special, as he was not used to too many people crowding on a bunk bed.
After sitting and practicing the Nine Yang Heart Sutra for a while, he fell asleep in this noisy environment.
When I woke up, I got up and stretched my body, and saw Feng Xi running towards me quickly with red eyes.
Feng Xi's voice was very excited, "Master, take a look, is this what it looks like?"
Fu Xiaoguan quickly took it and took a look. The cement had already solidified. He didn't know whether it was cement or not, but at least the color looked very similar.
"Grind this thing into powder."
Feng Xi took a mallet and pounded the cement in the bucket into powder. "Let's go to the river."
Fu Xiaoguan took a gourd ladle and carefully added water and stirred it, then asked Feng Xi to get two bricks left over from building the kiln. He spread the cement on the bricks and stacked them together.
"If these two bricks stick together after they dry, then they're done. The stronger the better. Leave them alone for now."
Feng Xi guarded the two bricks like he was guarding a gold mine, and he guarded them for an entire hour.
Fu Xiaoguan came over and asked, "How is it?"
"I didn't dare move."
"Pick it up and let me see it."
"How about you come, Master?"
"Stop talking nonsense and take a look."
Feng Xi stretched out his hand nervously, saying to himself, God bless you, please make sure you stick to it!
He picked up the top brick, and… the bottom one didn’t fall.
"Done?"
"See."
Feng Xi tried to pry it apart gently, but there was no movement. He tried harder, but it still didn't work. Then he used more force, and the two bricks finally broke apart. "This..."
"Great! Just do it this way. Of course, you have to record the time for each step during the process, and you can try various ratios in small amounts. Don't just do what I say. Learn to be innovative, including with these tools. Remember?"
"Remember, Master!"
"After the cement is dried, it is ground into powder, packed and sent to Xishan. That's it. Work hard!"
"Okay!"
Fu Xiaoguan and Su Mo walked down the mountain. Behind them, they heard Feng Xi's roar: "Brothers, it's done, we succeeded!..."
"Do you have to spend so much effort just to stick the bricks together?" Su Mo asked in confusion.
"Yeah, it's not easy."
"Wouldn't rice milk be fine?"
"Rice milk can only be used on a small scale. The amount I need is huge, so huge you can't even imagine."
Su Mo thought about it and felt that this made sense.
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly asked, "Tell me, if I use this stuff to build a city wall—using bluestone as the base, bonding it with this cement, and then applying a layer of cement on it—will it be broken?"
Su Mo was stunned for a moment, "I don't know, but it's often not the walls that break the city."
"Well, I'm just asking casually."
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