Chongzhen had no idea that firing real cement requires a high temperature of more than 1,400 degrees. It is not certain whether such a high kiln temperature can be achieved. Even if it can be achieved, it is only one of the conditions for calcining cement. In fact, apart from the kiln
In addition to temperature, there are other more stringent conditions.
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to calcine real cement.
What Chongzhen could finally produce was castrated cement.
This is the pozzolanic cement that is said to have been invented by the ancient Roman Empire.
The strength of this cement is far less than that of modern Portland cement, and it is not much stronger than Sanhe soil.
After all, the straight road made by the Qin Dynasty with three-component earth was still clearly identifiable two thousand years later. However, what remaining buildings were built by the ancient Roman Empire with volcanic ash cement waves?
But Chongzhen didn't know this, so he was very interested. He led a group of craftsmen and a group of diligent scholars to work enthusiastically at the northern foot of Qingliang Mountain.
Zhu Cixiang also followed Chongzhen.
But Zhu Cijiong was nowhere to be seen.
Chongzhen could guess with his toes that Zhu Cijiong must have gone hunting in Purple Mountain.
Ever since he got the rifled rifle, Zhu Cijiong was completely obsessed with it. He even had to hold the rifled rifle in his arms every night before he could fall asleep.
At this moment, Chongzhen and his son were leading craftsmen to grind limestone.
Due to the lack of machinery, we can only use the primitive method, which is to use a hammer to smash the big rocks into small pieces, then smash the small rocks into pieces, and then continue to grind the pieces, and finally use a sieve to sift them.
Only the finest powders can be mixed and calcined with clay.
In order to ensure uniform mixing, the limestone and clay must be weighed and melted with water before being poured into the calcining kiln, and then a bellows is used to blow air for long-term calcining.
Chongzhen was smashing limestone with a hammer when Wang Chengzhuan walked in.
"Long live my lord, a secret message from Beijing." Wang Chengen said in a low voice.
Chongzhen quickly stood up, walked to the side and wiped his hands first, then took the wax pill from Wang Chengen's hand.
Crushing the wax pill, he took out the secret letter and unfolded it. Chongzhen's face fell down at the first glance. Dorgon worked hard again. This bitch really shouldn't be underestimated. How could he actually pull this off?
Zhu Cixi also followed and asked, "Father, what happened?"
"See for yourself." Chongzhen didn't say much, just handed over the secret letter in his hand.
After Zhu Cixiang read the secret letter, he was also shocked and said, "How could this be? Is Dorgon crazy? Isn't he afraid that Hong Chengchou and other Han ministers will act like monsters? Isn't he afraid that Wu Sangui, Jiang Xiang and other generals will raise their troops to cause rebellion?"
"Hong Chengchou and the others will never act like monsters. As for Jiang Xiang, Wu Sangui and the others, they might have been able to cause trouble in the past, but now they probably have no courage at all." Chongzhen sighed, "Dorgon is really not simple.
Well, with this edict, 500,000 more obedient people will be created overnight."
"But those 500,000 households are Han people after all, and they may not be willing to become slaves from now on."
Zhu Cixi still found it emotionally difficult to accept that the people in several northern provinces would really surrender to the rule of Jiannu.
Chongzhen had a very clear understanding of this, "Hong'er, only scholars who have received Confucian education can have feelings about their family and country. It is impossible for the people at the bottom who cannot read a few words to have feelings about their family and country. For them,
The Ming Dynasty was a court, and the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were also a court, and there was essentially no difference."
Historically, the Khitans and Jurchens also ruled the area north of the Yellow River, and the large number of Han people living in the area north of the Yellow River soon became accustomed to foreign rule.
During the Song Dynasty, the Han people living in the Hehuang area were even assimilated by the barbarians.
In the final analysis, it is purely wishful thinking to expect that the people at the bottom who cannot solve the problem of food and clothing will have the same feelings of family and country as the retired gentry class. As the saying goes, people who have enough food and clothing can only have the physical strength and energy to pursue their pursuits.
Spiritual life, otherwise it will be too late to move bricks. Talk to me about poetry and distance?
"But how can this be the same? Jiannu are barbarians and aliens."
"But he has now entered China. According to Confucian legal system, he is already a member of China."
Chinese civilization only values legality, not bloodline. Regardless of whether they are Han or barbarian, as long as they enter the Central Plains and are willing to recognize the status of Confucian legality, they are the co-owners of China. The Han gentry also recognizes this.
However, this kind of situation rarely happens in history. Strictly speaking, it only happened twice.
The only two times were the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. In these two stages, the Confucian legal system was inherited by the barbarians, but the Han gentry also recognized the orthodox status of the Mongols and the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
When Zhu Cihong heard this, he was immediately speechless.
After a long while, Zhu Cixiang asked Chongzhen in a depressed tone: "Father, in this way, the military strength of Jiannu will be unprecedentedly strengthened. Isn't the chance of winning the Northern Expedition slim?"
Zhu Cixiang was obviously still limited by the limitations of this era and was afraid of Jian Nu. He felt that with the same strength and equipment, the Ming army would definitely not be able to defeat Jian Nu. Now, Jian Nu has been gradually wiped out in terms of firearms and troop numbers.
After evening the gap with the Ming Dynasty, I felt that the chances of winning the Northern Expedition were slim.
As the saying goes, you can tell when you see the slightest thing. From this sentence, we can see that Zhu Cixiang is just a keeper of integrity at best.
The establishment of slaves only required 500,000 troops, and it was not a real riot. It could only be said that there was a reserve of 500,000 troops, but Zhu Cixiang was already retreating in his heart.
Therefore, it is impossible to count on Zhu Cihong to expand the territory.
In this regard, Zhu Cijiong is more enterprising, but Zhu Cixiang's lack of enterprising spirit is not a shortcoming.
If he lives long enough and has conquered a large enough territory while he is still alive, then it would be a good thing for the next emperor to succeed to the throne to be a conservative lord.
】
These thoughts flashed through Chongzhen's mind.
"No." Chongzhen smiled and continued, "The Northern Expedition is a battle between the two countries' national strength. The number of armies on both sides is not the decisive factor. Even if Jiannu can form a huge army with millions of people,
The army, but without matching weapons and logistics, is nothing more than a paper tiger."
"A battle for national power?" Zhu Cixiang's face looked much better after hearing this.
"Yes, the struggle for national power." Chongzhen said, "The Ming Dynasty has an advantage in this aspect."
In terms of comprehensive national strength, the Ming Dynasty had a crushing advantage over the slaves.
First of all, at the population level, the Ming Dynasty, two capitals, and thirteen provinces. According to the data from the Fish Scale Register in the sixth year of Wanli, the total number of adults in the country is more than 60 million. This is an adult, and you need to pay Ding Yin.
Therefore, the total population of the Ming Dynasty at that time should be between 150 million and 180 million.
After decades of continuous war, the population has definitely dropped significantly compared to the six years of Wanli. In addition, Beizhi, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have all fallen. The population of Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan has also suffered huge losses. But even if it is reduced by half, this
At that time, there were at least 90 million people left in the entire Ming Dynasty.
Among them, eight prefectures and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River have a population of more than 30 million.
In contrast, the total population of all the provinces under Jiannu's rule would not exceed five million.
There is even less hypocrisy, because Shaanxi Province was almost always the hardest hit area by various famines in the late Ming Dynasty, and coupled with military disasters, the total population of Shaanxi now is only three million people.
In the sixth year of Wanli's reign, Shaanxi had at least 15 million people!
Therefore, in terms of population resources, Ming Dynasty has a crushing advantage.
In addition, in terms of industrial strength, Ming Dynasty also has a crushing advantage.
Because a larger population means a larger number of craftsmen.
Even if the steam engine has not yet been built, the industrial strength of the Ming Dynasty is far superior to that of the slaves. When the steam engine is built and put into industrial application one day, the gap in industrial strength between the two sides will be even greater.
By then, Ming Dynasty will be able to grind Jiannu to death even if he grinds him bit by bit.
But in fact, the Ming Dynasty's advantages over the Jiannu were not only at the industrial level, but also at the technological and tactical levels, such as rifled rifles and infantry hollow phalanxes.
The only thing that restricts Ming Dynasty now is the serious backwardness of productivity.
As long as productivity keeps up, the Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to crush the Jiannu slaves, there is no doubt about it.
Thinking of this, Chongzhen picked up the big hammer again and began to hammer the limestone hard.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Cixiang swung a small hammer and smashed the small rocks that Chongzhen had knocked down from the big rocks into rubble. When four cabinet ministers including Lu Zhenfei, Zhang Shenyan, Meng Zhaoxiang and Huang Daozhou walked in,
I happened to see the scene of Chongzhen and his son hammering away at the limestone while sweating profusely.
Huang Daozhou was elected to the cabinet two months ago.
Because Qian Qianyi became an official, the cabinet elected another cabinet minister.
By the way, Qian Qianyi was "recruited" to become an official, not because he wanted to become an official.
Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou were both known as the two great Neo-Confucian masters in the late Ming Dynasty. They advocated restoration in academic terms and held a critical and negative attitude towards Yangming's theory of mind. It can also be seen from Huang Daozhou's appointment to the cabinet that at least so far the Ming Dynasty is still
Neo-Confucianism occupies an absolutely dominant position, and it is too early for Xinxue to seize the class and seize power.
But in the field of public opinion, the situation is another matter.
The field of public opinion is completely dominated by Yangming Xinxue. The Hanlin Daily, edited by Li Huie, has lost its former glory after being suppressed by the Ming Dynasty Merchant Newspaper, the Ming Dynasty Newspaper, and the Ming Dynasty Opera Newspaper. It is not just a mouth-watering article
was completely at a disadvantage in the debate, and advertising expenses for the fourth edition also dropped sharply.
This caused Hanlin Daily to enter a vicious cycle.
Because we can’t receive advertising fees, we can’t pay high retouching fees.
Without high editing fees, you cannot buy high-quality articles.
Without high-quality articles, the debate with Huangming Times would become more passive, and then there would be fewer and more stingy businessmen coming to Hanlin Daily to place advertisements.
Hanlin Daily has been so crowded that it can no longer survive.
Now it is completely maintained by borrowing from the account bank account.
