According to research, the history of cement can be traced back to 5,000 years ago. At that time, the Chinese used materials similar to modern cement to lay the ground. In addition, the ancient Romans also used a mixture of lime and volcanic ash in construction.
The properties of the material made are not much different from modern cement.
However, these examples are all accidental. The real invention of cement was after the 18th century. They used limestone and clay as raw materials, crushed, batched and ground them into raw materials, and then fed them into the cement.
Clinker is produced by calcining in a kiln. The clinker is then added with an appropriate amount of gypsum or other additives, and then ground into fine particles to obtain cement.
In the cement production process, a very important and very difficult link is grinding. The raw material must be ground to a very fine level in order to carry out a full chemical reaction under high temperature conditions. The burned clinker must also be ground to a very fine level.
Only when it is fine enough can it fully absorb water and turn into cement slurry.
As someone who has searched for limestone mines for cement plants in various places many times, Su Hao has a relatively full understanding of the cement production process, but how to produce cement under the technical level of the Ming Dynasty, especially to solve the very difficult problem of raw meal and clinker
Regarding the grinding problem, Su Hao was at a loss.
He handed this problem to Xu Zong and asked Xu Zong to test it repeatedly. Xu Zong initially tried to use an ordinary stone mill to grind limestone, but found that the hardness of limestone was almost the same as that of a stone mill, and the grinding effect could not be achieved at all.
Later, he switched to an iron mill. Although he could grind the limestone this time, the wear of the millstone was also very serious. According to Xu Zong's calculations, the cement burned in this way was probably more expensive than iron, and it was impossible to use it in practice.
application.
However, this thorny problem will soon be solved by Hao and his sons. Ever since Hao Qing smelted high manganese steel, Su Hao has been keenly aware that high manganese steel can be used to make equipment for grinding cement raw materials. Because
An important feature of high manganese steel is that it has extremely high surface hardness and is very wear-resistant. The steel balls in later cement ball mills were also made of high manganese steel.
Su Hao introduced the principle of cement ball mill to Hao and his son. Hao and his son understood it immediately and immediately started to develop it. In order to manufacture the roller of the ball mill, Hao Qing also built two larger crucibles for
Smelting molten steel. As for Hao Yizong, he plunged into his room and pondered the principles of the entire mechanical transmission part.
The ball mill grinds raw materials through constant rotation, which requires a steady stream of power as a guarantee. For this problem, people in those days also had a way to solve it, and that was to use water power. As a water town, Fengcheng was looking for a water power
It is not difficult in places rich in resources. Hao Yizong promised Su Hao that he would build the ball mill within a month and it would not delay Su Hao's great cause of making cement.
Since Xu Zong had been trial-producing cement using various methods, Zhao Luo, who went to the mining area for a few rounds when Cheng Yao had nothing to do, naturally heard about it. In fact, Xu Zong had already produced some cement samples, although they were not as good as those of later generations.
The quality of the cement was already very surprising to Zhao Luo.
"If the cost of cement can be reduced, we can use this cement to build roads, bridges, and houses in the future." Su Hao explained, "However, we can't take care of this right now, so we should make a batch first.
Cement, let’s use it to build this dam.”
While Zhao Luo and Su Hao were discussing the cement issue, Ma Yu had been squatting on the ground, holding a charcoal pencil and calculating formulas. At this time, he stood up and said to Su Hao:
"Brother Gai, I did some calculations. If we build a dam here, the height of the dam is 10 feet, the bottom of the dam is also 10 feet, and the top of the dam is 3 feet. Then a total of 8,000 cubic feet of earth should be used. If a person can pick 50
Cubic feet of earth and stone, then a total of 160,000 will be used for construction. Brother Gai, look at it, am I right?"
Su Hao took the calculation paper handed over by Ma Yu, glanced at it briefly, and said with a smile: "Brother Duwen, you are already a bit energetic as a water conservancy engineer. In just a short time, you can calculate all the earthwork and construction work.
Yes. I have read it, and there is nothing wrong with this algorithm. If some machinery can be used to assist, I am afraid that it can be used less at work."
Ma Yu was immersed in excitement and said: "Not to mention mechanical assistance, I just said that according to this algorithm, if 2,000 people are requisitioned, it only takes 80 days to build the dam. It's amazing to think about it.
I am very moved. The improvement of these engineering calculation methods taught me has made me enlightened. Now I realize that all the scriptures I read in the past were a waste of time."
"Stop it, stop it!" Su Hao quickly stopped Ma Yu, "Brother Duwen, you must never say that. Old Master Wu should settle the score with me later. I have thought about it. After the reservoir is repaired, you still have to go back to the academy to study.
Go ahead and read your book of sages, I don’t dare to delay your bright future with such common things."
Ma Yu shook his head and said: "Brother Gai is wrong. Building the reservoir and benefiting the people is the way of the sages. You have let me see this world, how can I sit back in the academy? I
I have already thought about it. If I don’t think about the imperial examination in this life, I will just follow my brother Gai to build more reservoirs."
"I don't plan to build a reservoir for the rest of my life." Su Hao said, "When this happens, I plan to go back to the academy to study for a few years and get a Jinshi or something. I have no position or power, even if I want to do something
It’s not convenient for anything.”
Ma Yu nodded and said: "Brother Gai has great ambitions, and I admire him. However, I have made up my mind to build the reservoir in the future. I think that in the Ming Dynasty, there were countless people who studied, and they didn't care about the small amount.
I am alone in Wen Yi. However, there is no one to build the reservoir yet, so I am responsible for it."
"Okay!" Zhao Luo clapped his hands and laughed, "What Duwen said is very popular with me. How about adding Zhao to the project of building the reservoir?"
This Zhao Luo was actually a scholar, but after he got the title of scholar, he stopped studying. Instead, he went out to play and "traveled" in the name of "traveling". Even when he got the title of scholar, it was just
It was just to travel without restrictions. After hearing Ma Yu's claim that he didn't want to study, Zhao Luo felt that he had found a soulmate.
"Don't make trouble." Su Hao said in a dumbfounded voice. He found more and more that Ma Yu was really a "shame" person, otherwise he wouldn't be the chief criminal of Fengcheng County. When he was studying in the past,
He was able to become a good scholar with this "axis" energy, and now that he is obsessed with building reservoirs, he might actually become a real water conservancy engineer.
However, Zhao Luo also wanted to get involved in the construction of the reservoir, but Su Hao was a little disdainful. He said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Brother Zhao, Brother Ma knows surveying and calculation, and is diligent and studious. If he concentrates on building the reservoir,
, you can achieve great success. But Brother Zhao, what do you know?"
"Su Gaizhi, you are wrong. It seems that I, Zhao Luo, am also a scholar. Why can't I be able to do it alone?" Zhao Luo retorted seriously.
Su Hao said: "Brother Duwen is only 20 years old, which is the time to learn things. You seem to be over 40, right? I will teach you trigonometric functions at this time, can you learn it? Building a reservoir is a technical job, and you can't do it if you don't understand the technology.
Thousands of what?”
Zhao Luo was choked by Su Hao and was speechless. After a long while, he said: "The construction of the reservoir is not just about counting. You want to use the people and not spend money? I, Zhao, can't count. This is about money.
I still have some skills. Duwen and I, one does business and the other manages money, is this a perfect match?"
Su Hao smiled and said: "This is indeed Mr. Fengling's strength. You are so poor that all you have left is money."
"A prize, a prize, a prize." Zhao Luo was not annoyed and replied with a smile.
Su Hao said: "But to build a reservoir, at least 50,000 taels of silver is the minimum. Do you have it?"
Zhao Luo shook his head and said: "Zhao's uncle has always said that Zhao is a prodigal son and has ruined the Zhao family. However, although Zhao is poor, he can still scrape together 50,000 taels of silver. But this money
This is not how it is spent. The construction of the reservoir is not something that Zhao is involved in, so how can it be Zhao’s turn to provide the money?"
Su Hao said: "This is a troublesome matter. Before I came out, I had discussed this matter with Magistrate Han. Magistrate Han thought that the Chief Secretary might agree with the construction of the reservoir, so he would spend some money. But let the Chief Secretary do it.
It is probably not realistic to cover all the costs of the reservoir. Magistrate Han is now concerned about how to raise the money needed to repair the reservoir. If this problem is not solved, it will be in vain no matter how detailed the survey is."
Zhao Luo asked: "In other words, you have always thought of yourself as too smart. Could it be that you can't think of any good ideas?"
Su Hao said: "When did I claim to be too smart? I have been thinking about this matter for several months, but I still can't find a perfect solution. If I raise donations from the rich households in the county, is it not a long-term solution? This reservoir has been built
After that, it will be able to benefit the people of the whole county, but you can't collect money from the people for this benefit, right?"
Zhao Luo laughed and said: "Instead, if you want to say that what you just said to me is nonsense, I can teach you how to raise money, how about that?"
"Do you really have a way?" Su Hao was half convinced. However, looking at Zhao Luo's triumphant look, he felt a little more confident. He quickly handed over his hands and said, "Mr. Fengling, please forgive me. I just said something rude.
Please don’t worry about it, Mr. Fengling. For building the reservoir, Mr. Fengling is naturally the most suitable person. Others are just the light of fireflies. How can we compete with Mr. Fengling for the glory of the sun and the moon?”
"That's all, I knew I'd change my attitude and not even apologize." Zhao Luo said with a smile. Although he said that, he was still very happy to hear that Su Hao changed his mind. He pulled Su Hao.
They walked back a few steps, pointed to the riverbank they had just walked through, and said, "In other words, have you never thought that these riverbanks can also be turned into money?"
"Little brother, I don't understand." Monk Su Hao Zhang Er scratched his head and didn't know what Zhao Luo meant by this.
Zhao Luodao: "I was inspired by the fact that you used the improved red soil land in exchange for my mountainous land. The transformation of barren mountains into fertile farmland is money in itself. Look at this large piece of riverbank land, only grass can grow there. If there is any
Is it worth 50,000 taels of silver if I can open it up and turn it into fertile farmland?"