I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 145 The Foundation of Reform
Li Tian's original intention of setting up the Yamen of the Tiangongyuan was actually to give the skilled craftsmen an official status, and by the way, establish a property rights patent system belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

Although the matter of cement is important, in Li Tian's original plan, this thing should be researched by the Tiangong Institute instead of handed over to the Tiangong Bureau.

However, the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. After discovering Zhou Zhen's good seedling at the construction site of Tiangongyuan, Li Tian changed his mind and took out the cement formula in advance.

Just came here yesterday, Li Tian knew the way very well, and found the gate of Tiangong Bureau's yamen in a short while.

Waiting for Zhou Zhen to follow up and push the courtyard door to enter, Li Tian saw the three stone walls standing in the courtyard at a glance.

"Your Majesty, according to my orders yesterday, I mixed all three batches of burnt lime powder with water to cast the wall."

With that said, Zhou Zhen walked quickly to the stone wall in twos and twos, and pointed out:
"Your Majesty, the lime powder used for this wall is [-]% lime, [-]% clay, [-]% iron powder, and a small amount of gypsum. When adding water, Wei Chen also added some glutinous rice mortar."

Looking at the reflective first stone wall, Li Tian pursed his lips and made a cross in his heart.

Although he has never been to the cement factory of later generations, he also knows that adding iron powder is just to generate a certain reaction, so much iron powder must be excessive.

In order to verify the conjecture in his heart, Li Tian ordered someone to bring a hammer, copy it with both hands, mustered up all his strength, and smashed it towards the stone wall.

There was a muffled bang, sparks were thrown from the hammer, and the stone wall shook but did not fall down.

Li Tian's eyes froze when he saw this, and he was very surprised, how could such an obvious failure be so strong.

Zhou Zhen, who was on the side, stared with surprise in his eyes, and hurried forward to check, overjoyed and said:
"Your Majesty's method is really powerful, and this is it."

Could it be that Zhou Zhen figured out another ratio of cement?Li Tian frowned and said nothing, and stepped forward to look around the stone wall.

Why does the emperor look unhappy?
Seeing Li Tian frowning, Zhou Zhen quickly put away the smile on his face and said puzzledly:
"Your Majesty, this thing is as hard as a rock, but what's wrong?"

"Break it open and let me see inside."

Feeling with his hands for the stone wall, which was not at all coarse-grained, Li Tian held his breath.

Zhou Zhen waved his hand when he heard the words, and immediately there were three or five craftsmen approaching with hammers in their hands, sucking in their breath and raising their strength, they slammed it in a full circle towards the wall.

After the stone wall shattered into pieces, Li Tian squatted down and picked up a piece of gravel the size of a fist, and observed it carefully.

Looking at the cobweb-like cracks in the stone, Li Tian suddenly understood
Sure enough, the excessive iron powder caused the cement to solidify poorly inside. It was only resistant to beating on the surface, but it was actually on the verge of cracking inside.

Throwing away the stones casually, Li Tian stood up, directly crossed the second stone wall that was more reflective than the first one, rubbed the stone chips in his hands and said in a deep voice:
"Zhou Zhen, remember, don't add too many fans."

Zhou Zhen also saw the shocking crack, and the joy that just rose in his heart has disappeared without a trace. He hurriedly followed Li Tian's pace, stood in front of the third stone wall and said:

"Your Majesty, this wall is just the opposite of the previous one. Ninety percent of the lime powder used is lime, and only one percent is clay and iron powder."

Having said that, Zhou Zhen paused, scratched his head in embarrassment and said:
"But this wall forgot to add glutinous rice mortar, it may not be as good as the previous two."

Listening to Zhou Zhen's introduction, Li Tian's eyes lit up, this ratio...

Today is really not necessarily without success.

"It's better not to add glutinous rice mortar. What I want is cement. Adding glutinous rice mortar will only affect my judgment."

"cement?"

Zhou Zhen suspected that he paused when he heard the words, and immediately reacted, bowed his hands to the ground, and said loudly:

"My minister congratulates His Majesty on naming this fetish."

Why did he accidentally say what he thought in his heart? Seeing a group of craftsmen kneeling on the ground following Zhou Zhen, Li Tian was very embarrassed, coughed twice, and could only make the mistake and say:

"Get up, I don't know if it will be possible, it's just a casual remark."

Although the performance of the wall in front was unsatisfactory, it had already given Zhou Zhen great confidence. Hearing the emperor's ambiguous words, Zhou Zhen hurriedly said:
"Your Majesty has the constitution of heaven in his mouth, and his words are golden, and I firmly believe that this thing will come true."

The last stone wall is very similar to the one in Li Tian's memory, no longer hesitating, Li Tian clenched his fists, and said in a strong voice:

"It's useless to talk too much, bring me the hammer."

Once the hammer was in his hand again, Li Tian took a deep breath, and regardless of the surprised eyes of the people around him, he rolled up his sleeves and gave it a full circle.

There was a loud clang, and the stone wall that was as high as a person suddenly fell to the ground.

Zhou Zhen's face darkened, and he lowered his head in shame. He was too happy, and this is not as good as the first one.

"Hahaha, it's done."

Squinting at the section of the broken stone wall, Li Tian twitched his mouth, couldn't hold back, and laughed out loud.

Hearing the sound, Zhou Zhen hurried forward, looked at the gravel all over the ground, puzzled in his heart, lowered his head to pick up a piece of gravel, his face was full of trouble.

"Your Majesty, this wall is not as good as the first one."

"That's my strength."

Carelessly dragging Zhou Zhen to squat on the ground, Li Tian stretched out his hand and said in an excited tone:

"Look at the crushed surface, the texture is tight and full of layers. This is the finished cement."

Averting his gaze from Li Tian's fingertips, Zhou Zhen couldn't help but feel a little happy when he saw that the broken face was exactly as the emperor said.

However, the joy of the bird was the joy of the bird, and Zhou Zhen was still at a loss. The texture of this section was no different from that of ordinary stones, so how could it be counted.

Li Tian didn't see that Zhou Zhen wanted to ask a question, and he had already started to imagine beautifully in his mind. He patted Zhou Zhen's hand vigorously and said:
"With this thing, I can do everything, and everything can be accomplished.

By mixing cement with mortar, river embankments and seawalls can be built, frontier fortifications can be cast, and roads for thousands of miles can be paved;

Mix the cement with mortar and add steel rods, and a hundred-foot-high building can rise from the ground. Zhou Zhen, have you ever seen a hundred-foot-high building? "

The back of Zhou Zhen's hand hurt from Li Tian's slap, and he shook his head quickly when he heard the words:

"Weichen has never seen it before."

"Hahaha, I knew you hadn't seen it before, but I..."

Li Tian almost uttered the four words "I've seen a lot more", but he closed his mouth instead, pulled Zhou Zhen to stand up and said with a smile:
"Go, go, go in and talk to me."

Being quickly dragged into the main hall of the Tiangong Bureau by the emperor, Zhou Zhen sat down on the chair mountain, couldn't hold back his confusion anymore, and hurriedly asked:

"Your Majesty, I see that the cement is no different from the section of ordinary stone, how can it be considered a success?"

Seeing Zhou Zhen's appearance of begging you to tell me quickly, Li Tian couldn't help but shook his head, unable to laugh or cry:
"You idiot, you said that it is no different from ordinary stones, so what else do you need to ask me?"

(End of this chapter)