Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 274 What went wrong?

As soon as Zhuang Muxu left, Zhu Yuan returned to his seat and sat down. He Xuan led another person over. This was a middle-aged man in a nine-pin green quail patched official robe. He was of medium height and looked a little thin. He looked a little tired.

Entering the house, the middle-aged man saluted Zhu Yuan meticulously: "Shen Quan, the ambassador of the Cement Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Industry, has met Mr. Pingzhang."

Signaling the other party to get up, Zhu Yuan felt a little bit, and asked, "Have you ever read?"

Shen Quan stood up, bowed and said: "I'm a low-level official, but I'm a candidate for the imperial examination this year."

Unexpectedly, I guessed it right, and the answer was even more unexpected. Looking at the tired look on the other party's hair, which seemed to have a little dust on it, Zhu Yuan signaled: "Sit down first."

Shen Quan didn't get too close to Zhu Yuan, and chose a middle seat on the right side of the hall to sit down, also straightened his body, and waited quietly.

Zhu Yuan was not in a hurry to mention the matter of cement, but asked, "Where are you from?"

"My next official is from Huaidong Gaoyou."

"How big?"

"I wasted 43 years."

Zhu Yuan asked again: "What are the scores for the two exams this time?"

Shen Quandao: "75 points in policy theory, mathematics...lower officials...only 61 points."

Zhu Yuan smiled and said, "It's actually not bad. You are in your prime, and both subjects are up to standard. How can you do such a drudgery job as burning cement?"

Shen Quan paused briefly this time before saying: "I want to do something practical."

Saying this with your mouth, but what you think in your heart is...

drudgery?
It's really bitter.

Can……

It was hard to get this job, and it was precisely because he had passed the standards in both subjects, and a fellow from Gaoyou in the reprocessing department helped to speak... Of course, he also gave some gifts to get this job.

The errand ordered by the emperor Jiapingzhang Zhu Yuan himself!
Anyone who knows a little bit about the court in the past year knows that if he can be sent by Mr. Pingzhang, as long as he does well, he will be promoted very quickly.

What's more, it is rare for many candidates who can only start as subordinate officials in the imperial examination to be directly awarded the ninth rank.

Xinchao...is different.

Shen Quan is just worried now.

After tossing for a month, he still hasn't made the cement.

Zhu Yuan asked, and after thinking about it for a while, he probably came to his senses.

Apart from the fact that this job is really hard, other things are not wronged by Shen Quan. After all, this time...or in the future, the imperial court's imperial examinations will no longer be the same as in previous dynasties. Streamlined products start.

Just as he was about to say more, Shen Quan suddenly raised his sleeve and covered his mouth and coughed.

"Cough cough...cough cough..."

After coughing a few times, Shen Quan endured it, and quickly explained to the boy Pingzhang at the head: "My lord, I'm an official... I have nothing wrong with my body, but I just focus on cement firing recently, and the dust in the workshop is a bit heavy. What a choking cough."

Zhu Yuan understood it at a glance, and blurted out: "Mask."

Shen Quan repeated: "A mask?"

Zhu Yuan raised his hand and patted his forehead: "This is also my negligence. The situation at the scene can be imagined when burning cement. In this state, it is necessary to wear a mask, otherwise, the craftsman will soon get sick... Well, it seems to be ...Pneumoconiosis and the like, you don't need to worry about this matter, I will order it later, let people make masks, what you have to do is to supervise the craftsmen...including yourself, no matter who comes to the cement workshop in the future, they must wear."

Shen Quan nodded seriously and agreed.

I probably also understood the meaning from the word 'mask'. Thinking about the situation in the cement workshop, there were many people who would cover their faces with linen without being reminded, and I wanted to follow suit. Decent, there is no imitation.

Thinking about it now, I was too pretentious.

Zhu Yuan said: "Let's talk about the firing situation, this month, there should be some results?"

Zhu Yuan wrote down this idea at the "Three-Year Plan" meeting on the [-]th of last month, and then told Lao Zhu, and ordered to go on. Today is the [-]nd of the twelfth lunar month, and it has been more than one month.

Seeing that Zhu Yuan asked about the business, Shen Quan felt ashamed: "I am ashamed... In the past month, a small furnace, a large kiln, firewood and coal, and an adult wrote the recipe on that page... I tried many times, and I burned it for 12 hours. Yes, some burned for three days, some burned for seven days, unfortunately... none of them can achieve the coagulation effect that adults said."

As Shen Quan spoke, he solemnly took out a page of paper from his cuff, gestured to Zhu Yuan, and held it up carefully.

Zhu Yuan was also surprised when he took over the firing method he wrote down at that time.

impossible?

Even if you randomly find something to burn, you won't have to try it many times, and it doesn't even have a solidification effect.

Look at the firing method you gave.

Zhu Yuan also relaxed, not only mentioned the two main ingredients of lime and clay, but also said that various materials such as cinder, slag, iron powder, gypsum, etc., can be ground and fired.

Such a wide range of conditions can't be met... It's amazing.

After re-reading his record page, Zhu Yuan didn't see the problem, so he turned to Shen Quan: "Is it not fine enough? I know this step is a waste of time and manpower, but it really needs to be very fine?"

Shen Quandao: "All kinds of raw materials are sieved with a sieve that sieves fine noodles. The lower official studied the adult's formula and guessed whether it was not fine enough. Now I have someone sift it twice. If it is still not enough, the lower official does not know what to do. How to do it."

Zhu Yuan has an impression of the basket sifter used to sift flour.

After sifting through the fine holes, Zhu Yuan felt that it should be enough.

Could it be the temperature?
So he asked again: "Have you tried it with coke?"

At this stage, if you want the highest furnace temperature, you can only use coke.

Shen Quan said: "I tried."

that……

Or, the firing time is not enough?

"How long is the longest firing?"

"The longest time it has been completed is seven days," Shen Quan said, "Currently, the lower official is asking the craftsmen to try firing for 15 days, and there are three more days before the kiln can be opened."

Zhu Yuan still felt that there was a problem.

If the cement needs to be fired for more than 15 days, it is impossible to use this kind of thing on a large scale.

It is too energy consuming.

After a little deliberation, Zhu Yuan simply stopped asking questions without thinking, and motioned: "Tell me specifically, how did you burn it?"

If you still can't ask, you can only go to the scene to see.

In the past, he was not in a hurry, thinking that even if it took a year or two, it would not matter. Now... After seeing the ceiling of the laboratory of the Medical University collapse in the morning, Zhu Yuan felt that it was very necessary, and it was better to do it quickly.

Shen Quandao: "According to your lord's recipe, the officials and the craftsmen carefully selected all kinds of raw materials, such as quicklime, clay, slag, etc., or roasted, or intact, crushed with a stone roller, then ground with a stone mill, and sieved with a basket. Sieve out the fine powder repeatedly, then put it into the kiln, try to fire it with different fuels, different heats, and different times, and mix and stir after it comes out of the furnace to check the coagulation effect."

Zhu Yuan felt that something was wrong when he heard half of it, but at the end, he suddenly understood.

Instead, he picked up his own page first.

Ok……

Blame yourself.

Blame yourself!

I wrote it casually at the time, with a clear mind, and I felt that certain things were taken for granted. Then, in the process of mixing and mixing, I just... wrote it later.

The problem is...you have to mix it first!

After habitually searching for the root cause, Zhu Yuan felt that when the raw materials are mixed and then fired, there should be a certain chemical reaction between different raw materials under high temperature.

In comparison, the raw materials are placed separately, such as quicklime, no matter how finely ground it is calcium oxide, and no matter how high temperature is tossed, it does not react with other materials, and the calcium oxide can only be calcium oxide.

Unless it can reach a high temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees, there will be fusion or something.

This is obviously impossible.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuan couldn't help grinning, and raised his hand to signal Shen Quan: "I made a mistake, I made a mistake... I just made a mistake by one step."

Shen Quan was at a loss: "My lord?"

Zhu Yuan rubbed his face and said: "It's like this, all kinds of raw materials must be mixed first, and then fired, so that different raw materials can undergo chemical reactions under high temperature, you must have fired them separately, yes Bar?"

Shen Quan nodded subconsciously. He didn't quite understand what the meaning of 'chemical reaction' was, but he was a little stunned: "My lord, this...is also a subordinate...The subordinate is also wrong. In the past few days, some craftsmen have asked whether to Mix it up, then fire it in the kiln, Xiaguan...Xiaguan is too careful, carefully study the formula of adults, and see that it is not easy to grind and select the raw materials. I am worried that it will be wasted, so I dare not try it casually. Xiaguan... It's also wrong. The sage has a saying: A gentleman is not a weapon. The cultivation of the lower officials is not enough, too... stick to the rules. The lower officials...cough...cough coughcough..."

At the end, obviously agitated, Shen Quan covered his mouth and coughed again.

Seeing that Shen Quan had coughed and was about to speak again, Zhu Yuan quickly interrupted: "Okay, we've all reviewed it, and if we know our mistakes, we can correct them. There's nothing good about it. This is what the sages said."

Shen Quan paused for a moment, and corrected weakly: "My lord, this statement should come from "Zuo Zhuan": Who has no faults? If mistakes can be corrected, there is nothing good about it."

Zhu Yuan: "..."

Embarrassed again.

However, he quickly said: "It's very good if you do this. If you find that Shangguan is wrong, you have to point it out, so as to avoid bigger mistakes. Well... It depends on the person. I am the kind who is easy to talk. I am wrong. Just point out casually, and be careful about others, and I am not responsible for anything that happens."

What Zhu Yuan said was interesting, and Shen Quan followed suit with a smile.

Zhu Yuan said: "That's it, go back and try again... By the way, you didn't throw away those raw materials that were ground and burnt?"

"The good things are time-consuming and labor-intensive, how can I be willing to do so," Shen Quan said, "Except for some to test the effect, the others... are carefully stored. There are more than [-] catties in total. The next official also listened to the advice of the craftsmen below. , thinking about reporting to the boss, in the future... those are the best raw materials for making bricks and tiles."

"It's too wasteful to burn bricks and tiles," Zhu Yuan said, "Go back, follow the new idea I said, mix first, and then fire, the time... I don't think it will take 7 days at all, let alone 15 days. Three days is the most, otherwise, this thing will cost too much, and there will be no meaning for large-scale application. Well... now in the experimental stage, it is not necessary to be so strict, you can also try to burn something in 15 days. Right , If it is still burning for 15 days, stop quickly, it is a waste.”

(End of this chapter)