Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

But the quiet didn't last long before the sound of several little ones running over could be heard.

"Little Nangjun~ Little Nangjun~" The little princess called out in her childish voice, but there was a hint of anxiety in it.

Xiao Ran removed the book from his face and asked, "What's wrong?"

The little princess rattled off a long string of words, which Xiao Ran couldn't understand at all.

Princess Chengyang, who was standing nearby, said, "Coco is bullying Yuyu."

The little princess nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ran stood up and followed the little guys. When they arrived, Coco had already lost interest in Yu Yu and was lying on the side licking her fur.

The little princess ran up to Yu Yu, gently touched Yu Yu, and then touched Coco.

He seemed to be trying to appease both sides.

After Xiao Ran found out what happened, he smiled and said, "Coco wasn't bullying Yu Yu, she was just playing with Yu Yu."

Although Yu Yu may not necessarily like playing with Ke Ke, it's clear from the little ones' conversations that Ke Ke hasn't even stretched out her nails, so they're obviously just playing.

Knowing that Coco wasn't bullying Yu Yu, the little ones breathed a sigh of relief and then started teasing Yu Yu and Coco.

Whether it was its nose that smelled something or some kind of telepathy, Xiao Hei ran over without anyone noticing and nearly knocked Xiao Ran to the ground with a headbutt.

"Little black!"

Xiao Ran stumbled, but after regaining his balance, he glared angrily at Xiao Hei.

Rebel!

Little Black barked twice, looking cheerful, completely unaware of what had happened.

Xiao Ran had no way to deal with this stupid dog.

Xiao Hei also arrived, and the little princess and her group of little ones surrounded Yu Yu and the others, whispering to each other about something.

Xiao Ran simply found a chair inside the room, sat down, and watched them play.

After playing with Yu Yu and the others for a while, the little ones ran off to play by themselves.

Now Xiao Ran could finally rest. He returned to the living room, lay down on the rocking chair, and basked in the sun.

Before long, it was dinnertime.

For dinner, they stewed several tea-infused chickens as usual, and Cheng Chumo and the others ate with gusto, their mouths greasy with oil.

Li Shimin was also there at noon, and none of them dared to take a bite.

After finishing the tea-infused chicken, we stopped drinking tea that evening. A group of adults chatted in the living room, especially about cement.

The little princess and the other children were gathered together, either playing cat's cradle or holding hands and spinning around, it was unclear what they were doing.

After a night.

After breakfast, the kids went to school, and Xiao Ran also had things to do.

He's been busy for the past two days.

Although the cement has been delivered, Xiao Ran still needs to provide guidance on how to use it to build a house.

So after dropping the kids off at school in the morning, Xiao Ran went to Black Mountain.

Black Mountain was the place where they tested homemade explosives. Originally, the place didn't have a name. The name Black Mountain was given by Cheng Yaojin after he saw the black craters left on the ground after the test.

Xiao Ran rode a horse there at full speed. When he arrived, Li Shimin was not there, but Qin Qiong was.

"Uncle Qin," Xiao Ran greeted Qin Qiong.

Qin Qiong nodded, "Young master, you've come at the right time. They're currently at a loss as to what to do with this cement."

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "I forgot to mention it that day."

The two walked toward the prepared construction site while talking.

Normally, to build a house, you need to lay a foundation, but Xiao Ran and his group are building this cement house just to test the hardness of the cement, so they plan to just make a block.

That makes it even simpler; the craftsmen who come are all very clever and they understand immediately.

Before long, the craftsmen began to build the house.

Xiao Ran and Qin Qiong then began discussing cement and glass.

After hearing about the glassmaking process, Qin Qiong asked, "Can the glass be carved before it's fully formed?"

Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment, then thought about it and realized it really could work!
It's not just about carving; there's also the kind of glass that can be melted directly and then shaped into various forms using tongs and other tools, even peonies, which look crystal clear with each petal being very thin and beautiful.

"Uncle, you've reminded me. There are many things that can be made from glass."

Previously, the main research areas for glass were telescopes and windows, and the rest were utensils such as teapots. The only pure handicrafts were the small persimmons and apples that Zhang Dalang made.

There aren't really any others that require more technology.

Xiao Ran could imagine how many people would scramble to buy a peony flower made directly from glass if he were to take it out.

Qin Qiong smiled upon hearing Xiao Ran's words, "Then I'll wait and see what new things the young master will create to broaden our horizons."

Xiao Ran also laughed.

The two chatted while keeping an eye on the progress of the cement house construction.

At the current pace, building the house will be a breeze; all that's left is to wait for it to dry.

Over the next two days while the house was drying, Xiao Ran would come over every day to check on it and chat with the people who had been sent to supervise the work.

Sometimes it's Qin Qiong, sometimes it's Cheng Yaojin or Yuchi Jingde.

A few days later, the house was finally finished and the trial was about to begin.

"Sizi, do you want to go out and have some fun?" Xiao Ran asked.

Li Shimin plans to begin the experiment today, and Xiao Ran naturally wants to go and see it. However, he can't bring the little princess and the others along. But he can leave them in the palace and take them out to play after the experiment is over.

Upon hearing that they were going out to play, the little princess nodded eagerly.

"I want~"

So the convoy ended up with a bunch of little guys.

In the carriage, Xiao Ran didn't hide anything from the little princess. Instead, he said directly to her, "I have some business to attend to, so Si Zi will be going to the palace with Fan Yin and the others for a while. I'll come back to pick you up when I'm done, okay?"

The little princess has always been sensible, and besides, the palace is not an unfamiliar place to her; it's just going home. So the little princess readily agreed, but she was still a little reluctant to part with Xiao Ran.

"Little Nang-kun~ You need to come back soon~"

Xiao Ran extended his little finger.

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible."

After the two made a pinky promise, they parted ways at the crossroads. Li Wu and Li Ke took the children to the palace, while Xiao Ran, Cheng Chumo, and Qin Huaidao went to Black Mountain.

After about an hour's walk after they parted ways, they finally arrived at the foot of Black Mountain. From afar, they could see several imperial guards standing at the entrance of the mountain pass, dressed in black armor and with long swords at their waists.

Xiao Ran lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage, patted the dust off his clothes, and walked into the mountain valley.

The further you go, the clearer the voices become. Occasionally, you can hear people talking in hushed tones. After turning a ridge, the view suddenly opens up. There are several simple sheds set up in the open space, and many people are standing under the sheds. In the very center is Li Shimin.

"Uncle." Xiao Ran greeted Li Shimin, and then noticed that Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Fang Xuanling and others were also there.

After greeting everyone, Li Shimin couldn't wait any longer.

It wasn't just that they couldn't wait; apart from Xiao Ran, no one present could restrain themselves.

So, as soon as he finished giving the greetings, Li Shimin ordered his men to get to work.

Several guards carried over a clay pot containing gunpowder, with the fuse already prepared.

They carefully placed the pottery jar in the corner of the cement house, secured it with pebbles, and then quickly retreated to the shed a few dozen steps away.

"Everyone, stay hidden! Don't get too close!" the lead guard shouted, holding a torch as he walked towards the fuse. Everyone held their breath. Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui moved closer, their eyes fixed on the concrete building. Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his back, a look of anticipation on his face.

The torch was brought close to the fuse, and with a "sizzle," the fuse quickly caught fire. Sparks flew along the fuse into the earthenware pot. The guard dared not linger and turned to run back to the shed. He had only taken a few steps back when he heard a loud "boom"!
The deafening roar made people's ears ring, the thatch on the roof of the shed fell down in a rustling sound, thick smoke billowed out from the cement building, obscuring half the sky, and dust and gravel flew up, landing on the ground with a crackling sound.

"Good heavens, this gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger!" Du Ruhui covered his ears and said with a smile, but his eyes were filled with surprise. He did not expect that this gunpowder was even more powerful than when Xiao Ran sent it.

Li Shimin rubbed his ears and looked in the direction where the smoke had dissipated: "Don't just look at the gunpowder, check what happened to that cement house."

Everyone looked toward the cement house. The thick smoke gradually dissipated, and the small, bluish-gray house still stood there steadily. Only a crater had been blasted into the corner of the wall, and several pieces of cement around the crater had broken off, revealing the solid texture inside. Apart from that, the wall only had a few shallow cracks and did not even tilt.

"This...this is too sturdy!" Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened. He quickly walked over and squatted down beside the crater created by the blast to examine it closely.

The broken cement block felt heavy in my hand. I tapped it hard, but it only broke off some fragments. I couldn't break the whole block at all.

"In the past, black powder would have razed earthen houses to the ground, but this cement house is only left with a crater?"

Du Ruhui followed, touched the cracks with his fingers, and pushed the wall, but the wall did not budge.

"What a marvel! With this cement, we can build city walls and granaries without fear of wind and rain erosion or enemy attacks!"

Li Shimin walked over, circled the cement house, and his face was full of joy.

He turned around and patted Xiao Ran's shoulder forcefully. "It seems this cement is indeed a powerful tool, just as you said! If we use it to build city walls, it will definitely be foolproof!"

Xiao Ran had anticipated this outcome. He took out a small booklet from his pocket and handed it to Li Shimin.

"This is the method for making cement. It's very simple. I originally planned to make it in Kaolao Village, but after thinking about it, I decided to leave it to Uncle Shi."

Cement doesn't need to be updated or replaced, nor does it require research.

Most importantly, this is intended to supply the entire country, so the production volume is definitely not small. The young and middle-aged people in Kaolao Village are now either mining or working in glass workshops, and they are very busy.

Those who are getting older still have to tend to the land at home, especially with so many sweet potatoes and potatoes planted this year, where would they find the time to make cement?

Li Shimin reached out and took the booklet without saying a word, because he was thinking about what reward to give Xiao Ran.

He also planned to go back and discuss with Fang Xuanling and the others what else Xiao Ran should be given for his contributions.
However, these are all things to consider later.

The cement test has been completed, and it was even tested again to avoid inaccurate results.

Finally, Xiao Ran and his group returned to the palace.

As soon as they arrived at the Lizheng Hall, the little princess's voice came over.

"Little Pouch-kun~ Little Pouch-kun~"

Xiao Ran was in a great mood listening to the little princess's voice, but Li Shimin next to him was not in such a good mood.

"Ahem." Li Shimin cleared his throat heavily, finally managing to get the little princess's attention.

"Grandpa~" the little princess said sweetly, making Li Shimin smile so much that his eyes disappeared.

Li Shimin picked up the little princess and walked into the house.

"What did Sizi play?" Li Shimin asked.

The little princess happily waved her little hand.

"Grandpa, get well soon!"

Li Shimin and Xiao Ran both looked at the little princess's wrist, where a braided cord was attached, which looked quite pretty.

The other little ones were inside, and they all came out when they heard the noise.

Each of the little ones had a braided rope.

Li Shimin put the little princess down and asked, "Where did you get these things from?"

Princess Chengyang said, "It was Third Sister who taught us how to do it."

The little princess nodded in agreement.

Li Shimin looked at San Niang, who smiled somewhat shyly.

Actually, she learned this from Zhang Erya. Zhang Erya made knots, and San Niang followed along to learn, but she only learned the basics.

"It seems that Third Sister is quite formidable as well," Li Shimin said with a smile.

"Grandpa, Grandpa~" the young princess called out to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin lowered his head and asked softly, "What's wrong, Sizi?"

The little princess clutched her stomach.

Grandpa~ I'm hungry~

Xiao Ran and his group spent most of their time on the road, discussing cement the whole time, and lost track of time, not even noticing that it was lunchtime.

"Since the ox is hungry, then serve the meal."

Lunch looked ordinary, but the most eye-catching dish was the tea-infused chicken in the center.

Li Shimin really liked the dish tea-infused chicken, or rather, he really liked eating chicken.

After lunch, Li Shimin said, "This chicken is very delicious, but the cooking method is too simple. If you hadn't given me the recipe for tea-tea chicken, I would have been stuck eating chicken soup as before."

Thinking of all the different ways to cook chicken, Xiao Ran smiled.

"Isn't that simple? Besides tea-tea chicken, there's roast chicken, beggar's chicken, Sichuan pepper chicken, and even fried chicken. There are many ways to cook it."

Before Li Shimin could react, the little princess standing nearby was practically drooling with envy.

"Little Nang-kun~ I also want seven chickens and ducks~"

After saying that, the little princess swallowed hard again. (End of Chapter)