Rows of brand new blue brick houses are neatly erected not far away. Although they have not yet been topped off, the walls and height alone are very different from the houses in ordinary small villages. It seems that the houses here are larger.
At the front of the row on the north side of the house, there were a lot of people surrounding it, and the sound of gongs and drums could be heard faintly. It must be the place where the person just mentioned the beam.
Looking further into the distance, a very large house was being built by the river. There was a large open space in front of the house, and someone was surrounding it with bricks.
When he first saw this scene, Tang Jian thought he was in the wrong place. Wasn't it said that this boy was so poor that he couldn't even put on his pants? How do you have the money to build houses and build so many at once?
After getting off the carriage, he walked forward on foot. Although Tang Jian was wearing a long gown this time, his high position for many years naturally gave him an aura of nobility. The person responsible for guarding Xiao Han's head did not dare to stop him. He let Tang Jian walk to the construction site.
Being so close, you can naturally see clearly that all the houses are made of blue bricks and have exactly the same style. Although most of them have no roofs, they are neatly arranged in rows, facing the south. No matter how you look at them, they are pleasing to the eye.
I knocked the bricks and the sound was very good. They were indeed good bricks! Looking up again, I looked at this long row of houses. It was a little different from the houses that Tang Jianping often saw. All the houses here were connected together. It was such a long row. It was estimated that there were seven or eight houses in each row.
Of course, when Tang Jian came down the slope, he noticed that there were at least ten rows of houses like this, taking up a large area, and connecting the houses together would undoubtedly maximize savings. Material.
One wall is used by two families, which naturally saves the bricks of one wall, and since everyone is close together, the strength is much greater.
Now almost everyone is watching people go up in the northernmost house. There are only a few people left in the front, only a few old men building a wall at the front house.
Tang Jian stood here for a while, then turned to look at the old men.
They were building a wall, Tang Jian knew, but he was surprised that the people building the wall were actually using a gray mud to paint the bricks, instead of using the most common loess mixed with straw. Can a house be built on mud without grass tendons?
Tang Jian held the front part of his gown and carefully walked through the muddy construction site to a master who was building a wall. He saw that the master was skillfully using a heart-shaped shovel to touch the wall. Plant gray mud.
The old master with mottled and white hair worked very smoothly, and the tools in his hands seemed to be handy. He smoothed the dirt a few times, put a brick on it, tapped it twice with the tools in his hands, and squinted to compare. After taking a look at the straightened rope, he began to wipe off a piece. His movements were like flowing clouds and flowing water. It was indescribably comfortable!
Tang Jian stood behind and watched for a while, and finally couldn't help but asked: "Master, are you..."
The old master seemed to be engrossed in his work. Suddenly he heard someone talking behind him, and he shivered all over. The shovelful of cement in his hand fell to the ground. The cement was stuck to the soil, and it was no longer strong and could not be used.
"That bastard is scaring the old man!"
Turning his head angrily, the old man glared and was about to teach the person a lesson, when he suddenly saw an unknown person standing behind him.
"you are?"
After looking Tang Jian up and down, the old man's tone immediately dropped.
Although he didn't know this person, the master was not blind. Not to mention the luxurious gown on this person, even the two guards with swords following closely behind him could tell that this person was unusual.
Tang Jian has been dealing with people for many years. The old man's expression told him how distressed he was about the things that fell on the ground. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, master. I scared you. I'm Xiao Hou." My friend, I came here specifically to visit him today. It’s a bit strange how you built a house since I didn’t see him on the road, so I came here specifically to have a look.”
"Xiao Hou's friend! That's an adult too!"
It can be seen that Xiao Han has a lot of weight in the old man's heart. When he heard that he was Xiao Han's friend, the old man was in awe and stood up quickly. He wanted to clasp his fists with his hands, but they were all covered with mud and water, and he was reluctant to wipe them on his clothes. For a moment, he felt a little confused. At a loss.
Seeing this, Tang Jian quickly stepped forward to support the master, not caring about the mud on his hands, and said: "Master, there is no need to be polite. You are about the same age as my father, so don't offend me!"
Tang Jian is right to say this. Although there may be a big difference in status between him and the master who works, in the ethics, the elder and the younger are respected and the younger is ranked higher than the younger. In front of the old man, the distinguished status It is no longer important. At sixty, my ears are attuned, and at seventy, I can follow my heart's desires.
The Tang Dynasty was founded on propriety and filial piety. Everyone has the obligation to support the elderly over seventy years old. And the person in front of me, even if he is less than seventy, must be over sixty. I don’t know why he still needs it at such an old age. While working here, Tang Jian couldn't handle embarrassing the old man's salute. Besides, if Yan Guan saw it, wouldn't he be scolded in court?
It was probably not the first time for the old master to meet an official who was so easy to talk to. After hesitating for a moment, he was relieved and said, "Well, I would like to thank you sir."
"No thanks, no thanks!"
The polite Tang Jian personally helped the old man sit on the bench next to him. After the old man sat firmly, he poked the cement squeezed out from the cracks of the bricks with his finger and said, "Master, I'm sorry for my poor eyesight. What did you use to build the wall?"
"Hahaha...this!"
When the old man saw Tang Jian asking this, he couldn't conceal his pride immediately. He pointed at a small volcano-like cement pile not far away and said with a smile: "Sir, you don't know something. The name of this thing is cement. It belongs to our Sanyuan County Marquis." Invented, mix sand and water, stick it to the wall when it is dry, and when it dries, it will be as strong as a stone. What's more, it is not afraid of water and fire, can not be blown by wind, and can not be splashed by rain. Definitely a good material for building a house!”
"Ah? Is there such a thing? Is it true or false?" Tang Jian was shocked when he heard this and quickly looked up at the pile of inconspicuous things. He almost ran over to study the authenticity carefully.
Seeing Tang Jian's surprise, the old man became more and more proud. He patted the brick wall beside him and said, "Don't you believe it, sir? In fact, the old man didn't believe it at first. He thought it was an idiot's dream and almost asked the boys to secretly throw this thing away. You people below, when building a house to pass it on to future generations, you can’t fool around with it! But later, when the Marquis saw that none of us were willing to use it, he asked a few young people to use the cement to build a wall. After that, let us all go over, but you don’t know, several strong young men’s arms were bruised, and the wall was motionless!
Later, the Marquis poured water on it again. You adults must also know that when dozens of buckets of water were poured on it, the wall usually built with three-piece soil would have been washed away by the water, leaving no trace of soil left. But guess, why did this cement wall drip? "
The young follower next to Tang Jian who followed him had been so engrossed in what he heard that he had long forgotten about the bastard's intention to sue him. Hearing this, he quickly asked: "What's the matter? Old man, please stop being so secretive." , say it quickly!”
The old man didn't care at all about the young man's impoliteness, but laughed even more heartily: "Hahahaha, the guests don't know, after pouring the water on it, there was nothing wrong with the wall! Not even a scum fell! Don't believe it, you Look, there is a lonely wall there. The Marquis said that it should be demolished, but we were unwilling to do so. It was too strong, so we would have to use a hammer to demolish it, and the bricks would probably break. The old man said that he would put it there until it is done. A screen wall is, after all, the first thing made of cement, so it’s good to stay here and think about it!”
"Oh..."
Tang Jian and his entourage looked towards the place pointed by the old man. Sure enough, there was a lonely low wall standing there by the roadside.
The wall is not high, let alone thick. The thickness of one brick is not considered strong for an adult.
Xiao Wei, the follower, seemed a little unconvinced. He strode over and stood still. He looked back at the master and saw that he had no objection. He turned around and kicked him hard with his leg.
"boom……"
When I kicked it, the brick wall didn't even move. Instead, the boy was pushed back a few steps by the reaction force. In addition, the soles of his feet were very painful from the uneven wall. He couldn't stand still and sat down directly on the ground. , got a butt full of mud and water, causing the people around to burst into laughter.
Tang Jian was also made to laugh a little by his men. He walked over and kicked him lightly, then got closer and looked at the wall carefully.
The wall is very straight, and the bricks are arranged very neatly. The joints of each brick are about the same size, and are filled with the gray substance you just saw.
I poked it with my finger, and it felt completely different from the soft feeling just now. It was very hard, oh! There was a protruding place on the wall. Tang Jian used his hands to break it off, but he couldn't break it off at all.
"What exactly is this cement? If it is used to build city walls as the old man said, wouldn't it mean that even engineering chisels can't do anything to him?!"
"Hey, hey...Brother Tang, you are here!"
Just when Tang Jian was secretly surprised, a voice came from behind the wall.
Hearing the sound, Tang Jian stood on tiptoes and looked behind the wall, and saw Xiao Han running towards this place from a distance.
This was not the first time that Tang Jian and Xiao Han met, but they didn't talk very often. The main reason was that Tang Jian didn't actually talk much. Perhaps this is the case for diplomats. If he talks too much, he will always be caught by others. Tail.
"Hahaha... Xiao Hou!"
The old fox always smiled before he spoke, and Xiao Han also wanted to imitate it, but as long as he smiled at the people he was happy to see, he seemed to be unable to stop...
And for those who are a little disgusted in their hearts, they will not be able to laugh even to death.
I don’t know how these old foxes developed the ability to laugh in front of others and curse behind their backs...
