Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

"This is the successfully simplified Liuyi mud, right? Let me check whether it is qualified! Hahahaha."

As he said this, he took the finished clay block from Dao Ji's hands and held it under the light to examine it carefully.

The color is a little lighter than the Liuyi mud I saw last time, and the surface is not as smooth as Liuyi mud.

It does feel quite hard, but you'll have to try it to see how hard it is.

Zhu Youxiao looked left and right, wanting to try out another clay inkstone.

When Yutong saw the corner of his mouth twitching, he guessed what he was looking for.

No matter how rich the emperor is, he can't be like this!

Our family has to save money for the emperor.

So he took out a small hammer he had prepared earlier and handed it over.

"Your Majesty, if you want to test the hardness of this mud, you can use this little hammer of yours to test it."

He smiled, hoping that the emperor would praise his cleverness.

Zhu Youxiao threw the hammer away as soon as he saw it.

"I'll give you a hammer!"

"What I want to compare now is the hardness of this finished clay and the last piece of Six One clay. Naturally, we have to use the same test items to more accurately see the difference!"

"Why don't you go and find me a clay inkstone like the one you used last time!"

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Yutong didn't dare to stay and quickly ran to find an inkstone.

I feel so miserable!

I tried so hard to please you, but why did you go wrong again?...

The Dai Palace is huge, and the inkstones used in each palace and hall are different.

One is that they are beautiful, and the other is that they are easy to recognize and manage. The appearance is very unique, and you can tell at a glance which palace it is used for.

Yutong quickly ran back panting.

Looking at the clay inkstone in his hand, Dao Ji's heart was bleeding.

This is another wage for a Taoist temple!

But he dared not speak out to stop it.

"You're out of breath after running a few steps. I think you've been lacking in exercise lately!"

"Your Majesty, your servant..."

"Okay, bring it here, so much nonsense."

Zhu Youxiao snatched the chengni inkstone.

Yutong felt very sad.

He was afraid of wasting time, so he ran out of the Cunxin Hall at the speed of a 100-meter sprint!

Everyone would have to breathe...

Zhu Youxiao didn't bother to pay attention to him. He held the finished clay in one hand and the clay inkstone in the other, holding his breath and raising it high.

No one dared to say a word at this moment.

Dao Ji actually also wanted to know how big the difference was between the two in this comparison.

Jueming, who was behind him, tightly grasped the last bean in his hand, which he was reluctant to eat, feeling extremely heartbroken.

The emperor is squandering money again!

The master said that the black thing he was holding in his hand could be exchanged for tens of thousands of buns and many, many bowls of beans...

In this quiet moment when everyone has different feelings.

There was a clang sound.

The Chengni inkstone instantly broke into four or five pieces of different sizes.

The finished clay only broke into some small pieces, and the damage was greater than the clumping Liuyi clay, but it was still within Zhu Youxiao's acceptable range.

"Hahaha! Not bad! Not bad! Although its hardness is not as good as that of Liuyi mud, it is more than enough to be used to make pipes to fix the well wall!"

Upon seeing this, Yutong hurriedly congratulated him: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao was very happy holding the complete finished clay block.

"The Taoist priest should be credited with the main achievement in refining this mud!"

"It is all thanks to your Majesty's great blessing and the great help of my fellow disciples that I have accomplished my mission. How dare Dao Ji take all the credit!"

It is quite rare that Dao Ji did not take credit for his achievements. Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with his performance.

"Sit down, sit down. I was so happy that I neglected you, Taoist priest."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The master and the disciple had just sat down when they suddenly felt their stomachs growling.

Dao Ji felt quite embarrassed and glared at his disciple.

Actually, we can’t blame Jueming.

The Liuyi Mud Construction Site was full of kilns and chimneys, and the air was heavily polluted. When choosing a location, in addition to facilitating the transportation of materials, it was deliberately kept away from the city walls.

The master and his apprentice had not eaten dinner. When they were inspecting the construction site, they suddenly saw that it had been completed. They were so happy that they ran all the way here.

An hour has passed now and I am really hungry.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help laughing when he heard the noise.

"Hahaha, Taoist priest, you have worked hard. I guess you haven't had dinner yet."

He turned around and ordered Yu Tong: "Go, prepare a vegetarian banquet for the Taoist master and his disciples. I want to celebrate the Taoist master's success!"

"As you command, I will go down and make arrangements right away."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The master and the disciple bowed and expressed their gratitude.

Jueming's eyes lit up and his voice of thanks was extremely loud.

This time, my trip with Master was not in vain.

"Hahaha, you're welcome. It's my duty."

"Come on, come on, tell me, to what extent has this simplified Liuyi clay been simplified now?"

"Your Majesty, after I received your Majesty's order, I went back and started to list countless simplified ratio plans."

"We tested each one of them one by one. By the time we finished tonight, we had tested more than 1,850 formulas."

“Today, this successful formula has been simplified to just three ingredients.”

Dao Ji became more and more excited as he spoke, and Zhu Youxiao became very curious.

"Oh! What are the three ingredients?"

"Oysters, red ochre, and talc."

"Very good! Thank you for your hard work!"

However, after thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao felt that something was not right.

"Don't oysters grow on the seashore? If the demand is large, wouldn't it be difficult for other inland states to get them?"

"This... I am ashamed that I have never thought about this." Dao Ji couldn't help but frowned.

When Zhu Youxiao saw him like this, he immediately tried to comfort him.

"It's okay, it's okay. The amount used is not large now, so I can handle it for now."

"Since it has been successful once, there will be two. I believe that the Taoist priest will find a better replacement soon."

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. I will definitely continue to work hard!"

Dao Ji bowed his hands in thanks and said.

"Your Majesty, this mud has now been simplified to three raw materials, and it is no longer the original formula."

"I think it should no longer be called 'Liuyi Ni'. I dare to ask Your Majesty to give it a name."

Zhu Youxiao touched his chin when he heard this, and soon his eyes lit up.

"Well, after this mud solidifies, it is indeed a little harder than the 61 mud. Why not just call it 'cement'?"

Dao Ji was slightly stunned when he heard this: "Uh...hahaha, your majesty is wise, this mud does have some water, thank you for the name!"

While the two were talking, the banquet was already prepared.

Zhu Youxiao invited the master and his disciple to take their seats.

Today was a great day for Dao Ji, who felt relieved and finally got rid of the worry. He did not hesitate to eat with his apprentice.

Zhu Youxiao watched with great interest the way Jueming and his master fought for food. He was so happy that his face was covered with rice.

When the two of them had almost finished eating, he looked at Dao Ji.

"I have promised to allocate one million taels for the Taoist priest to research cement."

"At the beginning, I allocated 50,000 taels to the Taoist priest. Now that the cement is successful, I should also fulfill my promise and pay the remaining 950,000 taels."

Zhu Youxiao said this and gave instructions to Wei Zhongxian.

"Wei Daban, go and take money from my treasury..."

Before he could finish his words, Dao Ji was already crawling on the ground in fear.

"Your Majesty, you can't do that!"

Chapter 381 The Three Most Inappropriate Things in the World (Part )

Dao Ji knelt on the ground, feeling very uneasy.

He came to Datong this time only on the request of his senior brother Daowei, to bring some Liuyi clay that he had researched himself to present to His Majesty the Emperor.

Unexpectedly, I took on a simplification project and suddenly was in charge of a huge sum of 50,000 taels of silver and managed thousands of people.

If he hadn't been stopped by his junior fellow apprentice, he would have almost rejected the task.

Since taking on the project, there has been no progress for several days and he often has trouble sleeping and eating.

Now I am fortunate enough to achieve results in such a short period of time, and I haven’t spent much of the 50,000 taels of silver. How can I possibly get another 950,000 taels of silver?

And as Your Majesty just said, the oyster material in the cement is not a suitable raw material and is not conducive to promotion.

This is the result of not doing the job properly. How can you have the nerve to ask for more money?

Fusheng immeasurable deity.

Don't take it! Don't take it!

Zhu Youxiao didn't expect Dao Ji to react so strongly to this matter, and he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"Why do you say that, Taoist priest?"

Dao Ji solemnly bowed his hands and said: "If one's virtue is not worthy of his position, he will surely suffer the consequences!"

"How dare I accept such a huge sum of money for my humble contribution?"

"Your Majesty, please use the remaining funds to help the victims!"

"The imperial court has its own special funds for disaster relief." Zhu Youxiao pretended to be angry: "If the Taoist priest still insists on not accepting it, do you want to put me in a position where I can't keep my word?"

"Haven't you heard that you never joke?"

Dao Ji was now in a clear state of mind, and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:

"No, I didn't complete the cement refining this time. Your Majesty has already paid the advance payment, so it's only natural that you don't pay the rest. How can you say that you broke your promise!"

Zhu Youxiao felt a headache.

I was quite satisfied with this guy just now, but I didn't expect him to be so stubborn.