activa-t Chapter 116 Cement
Chapter 116 Cement
During this time, Xiao Siyue received a letter from her grandfather.
It is said that Sheng Yashu has already sent people to their place to learn how to make soy sauce.
Moreover, for convenience, a workshop was built directly in Xiaojia Village, and some villagers were hired. The people of Xiaojia Village were very grateful.
Xiao Siyue was also very grateful to Sheng Yashu. The people of Xiaojia Village were very kind, and she had been helping them as much as possible.
After resolving the soy sauce issue, Xiao Siyue went to check out the cement workshop.
Everything is going smoothly, and the first batch of cement will be produced soon.
With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, Xiao Siyue thought it would be possible before the new year.
Sure enough, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the first batch of cement was produced. Xiao Siyue quickly followed Xiao Qinian to the workshop and looked at the cement that had been produced. Although it was not as fine as modern cement, it was not much different.
With a few days left until the Chinese New Year, Xiao Siyue wanted to give it a try, so she told Xiao Qinian that the cement would dry in about three days, which was enough time. If successful, they could start large-scale workshops and build roads after the New Year.
As for building houses with cement, Xiao Siyue felt that there was no rush; road construction was the most important thing.
However, he couldn't delay the craftsmen working in the workshop, so Xiao Qinian recruited another batch of people.
Because there wasn't much cement in this first batch, they chose a section of road in front of the workshop. To prevent the road from being trampled after it was paved, they decided to pave only half of it first.
The first step in paving a road is to prepare the foundation and level the existing road surface.
Because of the large number of people, the roadbed was cleared in no time.
Then, templates are installed on both sides of the road. This serves two purposes: first, to prevent cement from flowing out, and second, to ensure that the road is symmetrical and level.
The next step is to pour the mixed cement concrete onto the road surface and then compact it.
Then the road surface is polished.
Finally, after the road surface has dried a bit, polish it again and then cut the cracks in the road surface.
The purpose of cutting grooves is mainly to prevent the road surface from cracking due to thermal expansion and contraction.
It took several days to complete half of the road.
Now we just have to wait for it to dry completely.
By the day before the Lunar New Year, the road was dry enough for pedestrians to walk on, but heavier vehicles like horse-drawn carriages would have to wait.
Even so, people who heard the news came to watch, and Xiao Qinian ordered his constables to stop them and prevent them from trampling.
He didn't want the road he had worked so hard to build to become unusable in just a few days.
Looking at the smooth road surface, Xiao Qinian was filled with excitement. All the roads in Qianyuan County would be paved with cement from now on. Then, even if it rained, they could walk on them without any worries.
They have a lot of rain in the south, and rain usually affects travel.
Moreover, cement can be used for many things besides paving roads, such as building houses and repairing city walls.
He knew that neighboring countries had been harassing the border in recent years, and that if war were to break out, the cement road would make it much faster to transport supplies.
It is important to understand that the most important thing in war is food and supplies. Without food and supplies, how can you fight?
Another benefit is that with smooth cement roads, travel speed will be increased.
This is Xiao Qinian's idea.
As for Xiao Siyue, she thought that once the road was repaired, it would increase the trade of goods and the flow of products between different regions.
It's important to understand that one reason why some things are unaffordable for ordinary people is because transportation is extremely difficult.
Now, once the cement road is completed, the difficulties in transportation will be alleviated, and the people will gradually become richer, and even the entire Great Zhou will become rich.
Xiao Siyue was very excited just thinking about it.
Now that the cement road test was successful, Xiao Qinian immediately began writing a memorial to the emperor to report the matter.
In fact, Xiao Qinian didn't need to write a memorial; the emperor would already know, since the ten people from the Ministry of Works had already returned to report.
However, Xiao Qinian still decided to write a memorial to the throne and send the cotton-padded clothes and quilts made by Lin Qin and the others to the capital.
After that, Xiao Siyue and the others no longer needed to worry about anything; they just needed to pave the roads in Qian Yuan.
As for other places, the emperor and the Ministry of Works will handle them, since the Ministry of Works has already learned the methods.
Moreover, Xiao Siyue was not worried at all after the Ministry of Works left, because she had discovered an excellent talent in the cement workshop during this time, whose skills were in no way inferior to those of the Ministry of Works.
Xiao Siyue felt she had struck gold; this person not only did a great job, but also had the ability to apply their knowledge to new situations. Xiao Siyue immediately decided to hand over the management of the workshop to this person.
It's so good to have talented people around. It seems I need to recruit more talented people in the future.
The Chinese New Year is just around the corner, but this year they won't be able to return to Xiaojia Village because they're too busy.
So this year, only Xiao Siyue's family of four will be celebrating the Chinese New Year.
Although there were fewer people, the festive atmosphere of the New Year was still essential. Lin Qin had already started instructing the household servants to begin purchasing supplies over the past two days.
As for Xiao Siyu, the academy had already given him a year-end holiday, and he had been following Xiao Qinian these past few days, mostly staying in the workshop.
Everyone had a very happy time this year.
By the third day of the Lunar New Year, everyone had returned, and the workshop resumed operations.
As for the cement road outside the workshop, it's all dry now, so they've started paving the other side.
The craftsmen are now very skilled at making cement, so the cement production has increased somewhat.
You can make and use it simultaneously.
Qianyuan County is not very big. If the current pace continues, all the roads in Qianyuan County can be replaced with cement roads within a year.
Xiao Siyue was very satisfied, and now she could proceed to the next step.
Xiao Siyue plans to start a glass manufacturing plant next.
Although there is no glass now, there is crystal, and it is extremely expensive, mostly imported as tribute from small countries. Some merchants also bring it over, but it is rare, so it is always in high demand but not readily available.
Xiao Siyue thought that if the glass was made, it would definitely sell well.
Moreover, glass has a wide range of uses, not just for decoration and making cups.
It can also be used to make windows. Nowadays, windows are made of paper, although it's not ordinary paper, but it's still not very translucent.
Nothing can compare to a glass window.
Most importantly, glass can also be used to make telescopes, which would be invincible on ancient battlefields.
Xiao Siyue has already chosen the location; she plans to build it next to the cement workshop, where the area is large and has mountains and water.
There's no rush. Xiao Qinian has only just submitted the cotton report. We'll deal with it after the cotton matter is settled.
Xiao Siyue felt that she had added a lot more workload to the court officials.
But this is better, so that these people won't have nothing better to do all day and end up causing trouble.