Ever since the stone wall was built, Pan Jixun has never left its side, always circling around the wall.

Even for lunch, I had to squat by the river with my bowl in hand and eat against the wall.

This is not an exaggeration, because he really treats this wall as a dish. Every once in a while, he would cut off some mortar to taste it.

When Zhao Hao came to see him after dinner, there were already several holes the size of wine glasses dug in the wall. He had no idea how he would digest the food.

"Zhongcheng, have you noticed the change?" Young Master Zhao walked to Pan Jixun's side, and Gao Wu immediately gave him a chair. Zhao Hao sat down leisurely and asked Brother Gao to bring a chair to General Manager Pan as well.

"I'm used to eating while squatting." Pan Jixun declined the offer and answered seriously, "It's been an hour since the bricks were built. The mortar has started to harden and can't be deformed by hand. But the taste is better..."

Zhao Hao smiled bitterly when he heard that. What the hell is that taste like?

"This damn concrete is now completely different from cement and glutinous rice mortar." Pan Jixun said solemnly, "Let's see what happens next."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded and watched Pan Jixun staring at the wall intently, just like an old farmer staring at his crops.

It is hard to imagine that this is a third-rank official who was a Jinshi graduate.

Master Zhao felt that he was the least like an official of the Ming Dynasty that he had ever seen, even less like an official than Hai Rui.

I couldn't help but sigh softly: "There are too few officials like Zhongcheng who love water management as much as he does."

"You are the one who loves water conservation. Your whole family loves water conservation!" Pan Jixun rolled his eyes and said in annoyance:

"I hate this job so much. I get irritated every time I go up the dike. How can I, a scholar from a scholarly family, spend my days in the mud and become a mud-legged peasant?"

As he spoke, he pointed at his old face and said, "I was also tender-skinned and tender-fleshed in the past, and was known as the 'Jade-faced Little White Dragon'. But after working as a river engineer for a few years, I have become 'half a jujube tree bark', and look older than those who were exiled to the army."

"In fact, I was originally a very elegant scholar. When I was an official in the local area, I was nicknamed 'Pan Bodhisattva'. Do you think I have a good temper? I became like this after I got the job. How could I not get angry every day when I was facing a bunch of stupid officials, cunning clerks, and ignorant people?"

"Yeah." Zhao Hao did not expect that Pan Jixun, the most capable minister in flood control in the Ming Dynasty who tamed the Yellow River, would have such a big complaint about his life's achievements.

"Then why is Zhong Cheng so concerned about this cement?"

"Is this hard to understand? I just want to complete my mission quickly and manage the damn Yellow River. With this thing, I can get rid of the fate of being a mud-legged peasant as soon as possible and put on my boots again!" Pan Jixun said with a look of idiot, "Only if you don't deceive me."

"How could that be? The wall is already here. Just enjoy it slowly." Zhao Hao shook his head and smiled. He couldn't help but ask, "Since you don't like it so much, just find a way to transfer. If that doesn't work, just resign and go home to enjoy the forest."

The Pan family was a wealthy family in Wucheng County, known as the "Ding Clan". His grandfather was Min Gui, one of the Nine Elders of the Hongzhi Emperor and the former Prince Taibao and Minister of Punishment. His brothers were all officials, so there was no need for him to bring honor to the family and protect the whole family. He could have just followed Tao Yuanming's example and resigned, and leisurely visited the Nanshan Mountains.

"Alas." Faced with this soul-searching question, Pan Jixun could only sigh and say, "Someone has to manage the Yellow River, right? When the Wusong River overflowed, more than 100,000 people in Kunshan County were affected. The Yellow River overflows every year, and more than 100 counties and tens of millions of people are affected."

"Then what can we let others do?" Zhao Hao said dimly, "Without you, the butcher Pan, can we still not eat the hairy pigs?"

"Don't be dissatisfied." Pan Jixun said arrogantly, "That's the Yellow River. How many people in history can handle it? If even I can't cure it, there is no hope for others!"

"Uh, okay." Zhao Hao had no way to refute, after all he was Pan Jixun.

However, officials like Lao Pan'er who have an abnormal sense of responsibility are still worthy of respect, and they are rare in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Hao was filled with awe and began to explain to him the setting process of concrete.

Zhao Hao told him that half an hour after adding water and mixing, the gel in the cement began to solidify, and this process is called "initial setting."

After six hours, the formation of cement gel is basically completed, which is called 'final setting'.

However, the cement gel formed at this time is still in a soft plastic state, and it will take several hours before it can gradually harden and become a solid state.

The hardening process is also the process in which cement produces strength. Usually, watering and curing are carried out during this process to continuously improve the strength of concrete.

The curing time is inversely proportional to the temperature and humidity. For example, in the rainy season in the south of the Yangtze River, a few days of symbolic curing is enough. But in the north, it is necessary to cover the concrete with straw mats and sprinkle water regularly for a month to achieve the best effect of the concrete.

Pan Jixun listened very carefully, and even took out a small notebook to write it down for fear that he would forget.

Then, he really stayed by the rough stone concrete wall all night long...

~~

Before dark that day, he found that the stone wall had completely solidified and could no longer be pried open with his hands.

The next morning, the mortar was very hard.

There is also white alkali on the surface. I put it on my hands and lick it. After a light taste and closing my eyes, it feels a little bitter, but then turns into astringent aftertaste. I feel so happy that I feel like traveling around the world.

In the morning, Yu Ben really brought people over to sprinkle water on the wall.

Pan Jixun found that the mortar soaked in water did not become damp and soft like cement, but was still hard and jarring.

This shows that cement is not afraid of water, but rather likes water. It is simply a natural treasure for repairing rivers!

He couldn't wait to use this thing to build a real dam for his own experiment!

He ran back to Nanshan Temple excitedly and took Zhao Hao, who had stayed there overnight, to his room.

Pan Jixun showed Zhao Hao the graphic design he had drawn long ago.

"The most feasible construction method at present is to build another anti-break remote dike ten feet outside the existing earth dike. Between the remote dike and the earth dike, a lattice dike is built every one mile. In this way, if a section of the dike breaks, the flood will be blocked by the lattice dike and will not overflow and damage other remote dikes."

"To be on the safe side, we should also build moon dikes and cross dikes at important places, so that we can have layered protection and feel at ease." Then he said carefully: "Although the earth dike has been replaced with a stone dike, if the materials are guaranteed, it is best to repair them all."

"The specific repairs are up to the Zhongcheng. You don't need to discuss it with me. I don't understand." Zhao Hao waved his hand and laughed loudly, "Just tell me how much work and materials are needed?"

"Hey, why don't you ask how much it costs?" Pan Jixun asked curiously.

Zhao Hao smiled but did not answer.

Pan Zhongcheng understood that Mr. Zhao was too lazy to worry about problems that could be solved with money.

ps. Sorry everyone, my head hurts after working on the outline all day today, and writing feels like I'm eating cement. I'll just write as much as I can and try harder tomorrow.