After dark, Fu County is deserted and quiet. Although there is no curfew like the capital Taiyuan City, it is freezing cold and few passers-by are walking outside.
The moonlight shone dimly on the stone road. Most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed, and the rows of houses had few lights on.
In order to save expensive lamp oil, civilians basically work at sunrise and rest at sunset, except for a few well-off families who have some nightlife.
But when he came to the West Market where workshops were concentrated, Zheng Quchi found that this seemed to be the only brightly lit place in the entire city and county.
The bluestone slabs on the street reflect the light from the lanterns on each shop front, making people's shadows very long.
Zheng Quchi and Wei Yao got off the horse. He led the horse and led the way, while she followed him as if she were following Grandma Liu into the Grand View Garden.
This was the first time she entered this place that was like a treasure to craftsmen.
In the past, she could only imagine and hypothesize what ancient workshops should have looked like through books or words.
How they once prospered and bustled through one period after another, and how they finally withered and changed, becoming a symbolic noun of an era.
In fact, if we understand it in modern terms, a workshop is an ancient factory and a place for handicraft production.
She was dazzled along the way, seeing kilns, weaving workshops, earth cellar grain and wine shops, iron-casting blacksmith shops, as well as some relatively rare vehicle manufacturing workshops, jade-making workshops, etc.
Unexpectedly, in a small Fu County, although there are no master craftsmen in charge, it is still a small but well-equipped county, making all kinds of practical and civilian products.
"This section above is a folk workshop. Is there a place you want to go?"
Seeing her shaking her head, "Wow~" and "His~" in surprise, he found it interesting and thought she was interested in going in to explore.
No one in the private workshops is rushing to work, but many are still operating and constructing. However, the government-run workshops are extremely busy during this period, especially the foundry department and official kilns, which are working overtime every day.
At the dividing point between private and government-run workshops, Wei Yao stopped, turned around and asked her: "The official kiln is ahead, what are your plans?"
Zheng Quchi raised her head. There was a stone archway in front of her. On the archway were engraved a few large characters, "Ingenious workmanship." She was a little trance when she saw it, and subconsciously said: "Let's go to the iron-making place first."
"Are you going to the Foundry Department?"
Is that the name?
"Yeah." She nodded.
Wei Yao's eyes were slightly dark, but his smile was meaningless and easy-going: "Okay, let's go."
The two came to the Foundry Department. After opening the door, they saw many blacksmiths busy inside.
They were all wearing only a pair of trousers, exposing their upper bodies. Their oily muscles and sweaty biceps were beating against the red iron.
She glanced over and saw at least a dozen blacksmiths in the long passage.
In response to their arrival, these blacksmiths did not deliberately stop what they were doing. They just said hello when they recognized Wei Yao, and then continued to focus on hammering in their hands.
The temperature in the room was very high. Zheng Quchi had just come in from the cold and windy outdoors, and soon sweat broke out on his forehead.
Wei Yao gestured to her: "Okay, this is the Casting Department of Fu County. You can do whatever you want."
Zheng Quchi said there was no rush.
She walked to the coal stove and looked at the smelting furnace.
It is visually estimated that it is about three meters high. A manual blowing device is installed next to the furnace. Zheng Quchi has seen this thing in the documents. It is mentioned in the relevant records of the Han Dynasty. It is called "搐", which is a kind of Sheepskin and cowhide are made into leather bags for blowing air.
Now that this kind of manual blasting equipment is available, the temperature of the smelting furnace can be conservatively estimated to be over 1,000 degrees. She doesn't know the specific temperature, but in this way, many of the things she envisioned in her mind can be achieved.
She observed the flames burning for a while, and then watched how the blacksmiths were smelting and casting iron, and she made up her mind.
They used the "internal heating" method, adding crushed iron ore and charcoal into the furnace in layers and burning them with air to melt them.
This method is still relatively primitive. The current smelting technology of Ye State is based on the late Song Dynasty... Probably, she only has a general understanding of alchemy, which is not accurate.
At first, the blacksmiths thought Master Wei was just bringing someone in to see and understand the progress, but after they came in, they neither asked nor disturbed them. They just stood by the door with their arms folded, looking around and following each other. Strange childlike.
Zheng Quchi ran to the wooden hanger again, looked at the finished iron products cast on it, and then went to find Wei Yao: "I also want to take a look at the calcining kiln."
Wei Yao didn't know what to think, but he responded to her requests.
He then took her to the kiln where iron ore was smelted. The kiln was a very common steamed bun-shaped furnace. It was built with adobe or bricks and consisted of a kiln door, a firebox, a front room, a back room, a chimney and other parts. composition.
As soon as they got closer, a hot breath rolled around them. There were quite a few kilns here, all of them were burning with firewood and briquettes piled around them.
"I wonder how much lime can be made in one day?" she murmured.
"What is lime?"
Zheng Quchi immediately changed his mind: "It's chalky ash."
"All that was made was transported to Guixanpo to build the city wall. Now we are in a hurry and there is not much left."
As soon as she looked at the kiln, she knew she was in trouble.
She originally planned to learn how to make cement like the time-traveling predecessors in the book, but apparently after some observation, it was difficult to meet the conditions of Ye Country.
The difficulties are as follows.
Making cement requires calcining limestone and clay at high temperatures.
First, the temperature required is very high, at least 1,500 degrees or above for a long enough time. This is much more difficult than simply burning quicklime. At least under the current process conditions of Ye State, it is very difficult. Do it.
But this is not something that cannot be solved for her.
Second, some of the raw materials for cement are hard to come by.
Third, even if all the above are solved, there is still a technology for grinding powder.
All the components of cement must be in an extremely fine powder state. Modern technology uses large ball mills and air separation to achieve powdering.
But here, what can be used to achieve it, Mozi?
Even if these can be achieved, this project is really not that big. Can she take her time? Can the damaged city wall, Yu Wensheng, nomadic barbarians, and even more potential dangers wait?
So she finally decided to make a semi-finished cement product first. Although it was not as strong as real cement, it was much simpler and easier to make.
"Can you bring me some chalk? I want to make a concrete material that is better than mortar."
Wei Yao didn't understand civil engineering, so he asked, "Is this necessary?"
Zheng Quchi patiently answered him: "Do you know why the stone foundation of the city wall is not stable now?"
"Is it because of the mortar in your mouth?" He thought of what she had said before.
Zheng Quchi nodded, then shook his head: "Yes, and no, the most important thing is, do you know what season it is now?"
Wei Yao heard something mysterious, and the person passing by him stopped unconsciously and turned his head to listen.
"How could I not know this? It's winter now."
"To put it simply, if the weather is not cold enough, water cannot solidify into ice. The mortar of the cast wall is just the opposite. If it is soaked in snow and cold dew in a winter, without enough temperature and sunlight, it will remain the same the next year. It’s just a pile of dregs.”
Is this the truth?
Wei Yao remembered what she said before: "So you are planning to use another kind of mud instead?"
That said... "That's right."
Wei Yao's reaction was different from Zheng Quchi's expectation. He finally couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, stop messing around. You don't know. Master Yuan and Master Yin have already expected it. A solution has been found.”
Zheng Quchi stayed for a moment and asked strangely: "What can they do?"
Wei Yao did not hide anything from her: "They reported to the county that they need a large amount of rice. Although they don't know what it will be used for, the general has promised them to urgently mobilize it from various counties..."
"猳米?" This seems to be glutinous rice, right? "How much rice does this cost? Aren't the counties currently short of grain and rice, and the grain depots are tight?"
She had gone to Fu County specifically to learn about grain prices, and she had also heard the rice shop owner mention that the price of rice was rising. It was all due to the recent drought in Fu County, which had greatly reduced the amount of grain grown, and there might be a famine next year.
Thinking back to when she was building a new house, she wanted to fix it with sticky rice mortar, which has strong adhesive properties, but she gave up because of the high price and the waste. But now they are doing it at all costs?
Sure enough, Wei Yao looked solemn: "No matter how nervous we are, we must ensure the integrity of the city wall."
Zheng Quchi also understood that the city wall was crucial to Fu County's military defense and foreign invasion, but... "But the problem is not this."
She is bald.
Sure enough, the lines are like mountains. With the vivid explanation she gave before, any mason would probably understand it, but he just didn't understand it.
Forget it if he doesn’t understand, he still refuses to listen.
Wei Yao saw that she was so eager, just like a groundhog trying to win favor and supremacy. His eyes were filled with love and his words were sincere.
"Aqing, I know you want to help, but you are no better than the craftsmen who specialize in this job, so you don't have to worry about these things. With the two people from Jixia Academy here, I believe the city wall can be completed as scheduled."
Zheng Quchi: "..."
Hey, what do you mean? It's academic discrimination. If someone graduates from a regular university, he will look down on wild craftsmen like her who work without a certificate, right?
"If they want rice, I think I know what they plan to do. I can tell you responsibly that this cannot solve the current problem." She said angrily.
Wei Yao just looked at her but said nothing, but he obviously thought she was saying mean things.
Seeing his expression, Zheng Quchi understood immediately. No matter what she said, it was useless. He would not give up until he hit the wall.
"Okay, let's put this aside for now and let's talk about another thing."
"Is there anything else?" He laughed happily: "Has your little head been thinking about things all day long?"
She didn't joke with him: "I have seen the weapons of our Fu County soldiers before, and I also visited the forging craftsmanship of the Foundry Department just now. The wrought iron weapons they made are not hard enough and are easy to bend and deform. I think I can use another This forging method will make the weapons equipped by us in Fu County a step forward, no, a big step forward."
As soon as these words came out, Wei Yao's eyes tightened and he was stunned.
His hand grasped her shoulders: "What did you say?"
"A material that is more durable, sharper, tougher and less likely to break than iron."
His throat rolled, and he asked in a deep voice: "What is that?"
"steel!"
"Steel?" He had never heard the word before.
"That's right, steel cannot be made without being tempered."
He silently recited "Steel cannot be made without being tempered" several times, then raised his eyes, glanced around, and pulled Zheng Quchi over, and the two of them found a secluded location away from everyone's eyes and ears.
He stared at her sharply and asked again: "Do you really mean what you said? Can that thing called steel be sharper and tougher than iron?"
"There's nothing to prove. If Brother Wei doesn't believe it, just let me give it a try."
"……good."
"Steelmaking requires the help of the Casting Department and a group of blacksmiths. I hope Brother Wei can arrange some trustworthy and tight-spoken blacksmiths to help me."
"no problem."
Wei Yao agreed readily. If she could really forge "steel", why wouldn't he do it.
I'm just afraid that she is the one with "ulterior motives", and all the drawings are just to pave the way for some conspiracy.
Wei Yao received the summons and claimed that she had to go to the county to do some errands, so she told her that if she wanted to go back to Guixuanling, she should go directly to Shipai Fang and someone would see her off there.
After Zheng Quchi waited for Wei Yao to leave, he ran to the coal furnace of the Foundry Department to dig out slag and ash all night. Then he went to the kiln to take advantage of Wei Yao's influence to get some quicklime, and then kept it for dry storage. Use it because there is still one important material missing.
By now, Zheng Quchi was extremely tired.
At the same time, because she got into the coal stove, she really looked like a briquette.
She saw that the weather was getting dark and she couldn't delay any longer, but she had better wash off the soot before returning to Guixuanling, otherwise people would think she had gone to steal coal.
"This big brother."
Whenever she looked at someone older than her, she would always call him "big brother", and she didn't know how to call him any other names.
"Hey? (What's wrong?)" The blacksmith wiped his sweat and replied to her in the local dialect of Fuxiang.
Since she was brought by Wei Yao himself, their attitude towards her was relatively polite.
Zheng Quchi also replied in Sichuan dialect: "I want to wash away the ash on my body. Where can I find water?"
The blacksmith raised his chin: "There is a water tank behind the foundry department. You can scoop it up and wash it yourself."
"Oh, is there anyone there?"
The workshop was surrounded by naked men. Although she wanted to clean up, she was a little worried.
"Everyone is working at this time, and there are no people there."
no one? That's great.
Zheng Quchi patted the ash on his body and walked towards the back of the Casting Department.
Through the light coming from the Casting Department, she saw a water tank half a person's height, with a wall behind the water tank.
People who work in the blacksmith profession have basically never done any work. After a busy day, they have to come and wash themselves before they can rest.
There is a bamboo pole stretched across the front of the water tank, and a cloth curtain is hung on the pole. If you want to wash yourself, you can pull it down to cover it.
She looked around first to make sure no one was there, then lowered the curtain.
The water in the water tank was cold, so she dipped her hands in some water and rubbed them. After she got used to it, she washed her sweaty face.
But after washing, the charcoal powder applied on the face and the disguised thick eyebrows were all mixed together.
However, she carried the disguise with her, so she wasn't worried. She could just dry it off and put her makeup back on again.
(End of chapter)
