"Su Hao, have you ever brought this cement with you? I want to see it with my own eyes?" Pan Jixun asked.
"I am going to present it to Mr. Pan for inspection." Su Hao said, "Xiaoguan has brought this cement and other things over, and they are just outside the door, under the supervision of his colleagues. Please ask Mr. Pan to allow them to come in.
"
"Invite Chief Su's colleagues to come in." Pan Jixun ordered Zaoli beside him without hesitation.
Zaoli went out and soon came in with Ma Yu, Jiang Yida and Tan Qi. Su Hao introduced the three people to Pan Jixun. The three of them greeted Pan Jixun with great fear. Pan Jixun returned the gift and arranged for them to stand aside.
Sat down.
"Mr. Pan, please look, this is the cement before mixing, and this is the cement after solidification." Su Hao took the cement sample from Ma Yu and presented it to Pan Jixun's public case.
With Pan Jixun's permission, Xiong Enzheng also came forward and observed the small bag of cement powder and a small cement brick with Pan Jixun. Xiong Enzheng tapped the cement brick with the knife on Pan Jixun's case, felt its hardness, and then
Pointing to the cement powder, he asked: "Mr. Su, do you mean that this stone was made of this kind of powder?"
"Exactly." Su Hao said, "If you don't believe it, you can try it yourself."
"I just want to see it," Xiong Enzheng said.
Under Su Hao's guidance, Xiong Enzheng personally prepared a small ball of concrete mortar and made it into a square sample. Su Hao asked the clerk in the hall to take out the sample and expose it to the sun to make it as fast as possible.
Solidification. However, he also explained to Pan Jixun and Xiong Enzheng that the natural cooling and solidification effect of concrete is better. It just takes a longer time.
"Where did Mr. Su get this kind of cement? It is also very useful for river construction." Pan Jixun asked Su Hao while waiting for the concrete sample to solidify.
Su Hao said: "This product was invented by Xiaguan, and its formula is not complicated. However, the processing requires the use of a special ball mill, which is a bit troublesome, so the output is limited and the price is relatively high."
"You mean, in the entire Ming Dynasty, you are the only one who can make this thing?" Pan Jixun asked.
Su Hao nodded and said, "You can say that."
"Well. If this thing is really as magical as you say, and the price is reasonable, this thing can be used in river engineering, and the main river government can purchase it from you." Pan Jixun said bluntly. He was not interested in robbing Su.
Hao's patent rights, and he didn't want to make this cement fortune with Su Hao. In his opinion, it was enough to get cement for river construction projects. As for spending some money, wasn't that the right thing to do?
"Thank you, Mr. Pan." Su Hao quickly thanked him. Cement is a necessary material for the project. He has long wanted to build a cement factory in Huai'an to provide cement specifically for the river project. There are coal mines in nearby Xuzhou, and limestone can be found everywhere.
Yes, there are no obstacles in terms of raw materials for building a cement plant. As an engineering material that transcends the times, the sales price is two or three times higher than the cost, which is acceptable to users. Su Hao believes that he can completely earn money from cement.
A profit of tens of thousands of taels of silver.
"The Ministry of Industry sent you to Huai'an to regulate the river because you invented this cement?" Pan Jixun asked. He was really interested in Su Hao now. Even though Su Hao had no strengths in other areas, he could just invent the cement.
With such magical cement, it’s not too much to be the director of a river.
Su Hao said: "Of course not. In fact, cement is just one of the objects invented by Xiaguan. This is what Xiaguan is best at."
Having said this, he took a scroll from Jiang Yida and presented it to Pan Jixun's case again. Pan Jixun took the scroll and slowly unfolded it. He found that the scroll was made of white silk and was densely embroidered with
The lines are red and green. Next to the lines, there are some small characters as thin as mosquitoes.
"What is this? Are there words written on it?" Pan Jixun opened his eyes desperately, but still couldn't see clearly what was written on it.
"Mr. Pan is old, so his eyesight must be poor, right? Mr. Pan, please try this thing, it may be useful." Su Hao quickly handed Pan Jixun a pair of reading glasses and placed a huge magnifying glass on the picture.
Under Su Hao's guidance, Pan Jixun put on his reading glasses and felt that the blurry objects in front of him suddenly became clear. He looked at Su Hao with surprise. Su Hao had already expected Pan Jixun's reaction.
He smiled slightly and pointed at the magnifying glass, indicating that Pan Jixun could look at the picture now.
Pan Jixun picked up the magnifying glass and looked at the white silk. This time, the lines and words on the white silk were clearly distinguishable. He saw that those words were written with place names that he was very familiar with. Combining these place names, he could
Looking at those lines, he gradually understood that this was clearly a map around the river.
"What do these lines mean?" Pan Jixun asked.
"Contour line." Su Hao said, "We use the canal surface as the base point. This line means 5 feet high, this line means 10 feet, this line means 15 feet..."
While listening to Su Hao's explanation, Pan Jixun took a magnifying glass and looked along the river. After just one sniff, he looked surprised, slapped the table and shouted, "Great! This picture should only exist in the sky. Su
Hao, who created this cartography method?"
Su Hao smiled and said: "It was created by Xiaguan."
"When did you create this method?" Pan Jixun asked again.
Su Hao said: "When Xiaguan was in Jiangxi, he figured it out by himself based on the methods of Fo Langji. When Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of War learned about this, he asked Xiaguan to build a survey camp specializing in contour maps.
Surveying and mapping. When Xianguan went to Bozhou at the beginning of the year, he was assigned by the Ministry of War to survey and map the entire territory of Bozhou."
"You mean, Wang Yi'e has known this method for a long time?" Pan Jixun asked. He has higher qualifications than Wang Yi'e, so he can call him by his first name.
Su Hao said: "Yes, Wang Shangshu knew this method from the beginning."
"This Wang Yi'e is a sinner for the ages!" Pan Jixun angrily took a picture of the case and cursed loudly.
Su Hao was startled and asked quickly: "Why did Mr. Pan say this?"
Pan Jixun said: "Wang Yi'e knew about this method, but he never mentioned it to me. This mapping method is very useful for river management. The ups and downs of the terrain directly affect the trend of the river. If I had had this map earlier, I would have avoided many detours.
!Su Hao, tell me, is this Wang Yi'e a sinner through the ages?"
"Uh... Well, it's hard for a lower official to comment on this." Su Hao retreated, even if he were to evaluate a minister of the Ministry of War like this.
Pan Jixun scolded Wang Yi'e, but he was just out of anger. In fact, he knew in his heart that Wang Yi'e had no obligation to recommend this method to him. He himself didn't inquire about the latest scientific and technological progress of Ming Dynasty, so how could he blame others for keeping it secret from him?
What? He pointed at the map and said to Su Hao: "Su Hao, you should have given this map to me, right?"
Su Hao nodded and said: "Yes, this map is dedicated to Mr. Pan. However, this map is only a rough map of the Huai'an section of the river. If it is used to guide project construction, a more detailed map is needed.
.”
"You're right." Pan Jixun said, "Su Hao, after you go back, quickly arrange for someone to make more detailed diagrams. I'm waiting for you to use them."
Su Hao said: "Mr. Pan, this map cannot be made just by casual thinking. To make a map, you first need to arrange people to conduct surveying and mapping. The map given to you was surveyed and mapped by nearly a hundred people in my survey camp for more than half a month.
As a result, if I want to make more detailed pictures, I will have to add more manpower, and it will also take more time."
"We have plenty of manpower," Pan Jixun said. "There are more than 10,000 soldiers in the Hedao General Military Mansion. It's really not enough. I can also transfer the soldiers from the Caoyun General Military Mansion to you. How many troops do you need in total?"
"Pan Gong, I don't need many people. A few hundred people are enough. However, the people I want must be literate and know some basic arithmetic. In addition, they must be in good health, have good character, and be obedient.
Order..." Su Hao opened his fingers and gave Pan Jixun some conditions.
"I don't care about this. You just have to choose whoever you want. By the way, if you want scholars, some of the slave laborers on the river workers are also scholars. It seems that there are even people who were educated. I will ask people to find them.
, how about letting you choose?" Pan Jixun said generously.
The cement that Su Hao presented previously had a certain appeal to Pan Jixun, but after all, Pan Jixun did not directly do engineering, so he did not feel the role of cement strongly enough. Maps were different. Pan Jixun had to deal with maps almost every day, so he knew
The value of a good map.
The map Pan Jixun used before was a traditional schematic map. That kind of map only used some thick lines to mark where there are rivers and where there are mountains. It neither reflected the real elevation nor was it drawn according to objective proportions.
Can't tell the distance.
The picture presented by Su Hao is different. The positions of various places are marked strictly according to the proportion. By measuring on the picture with your finger, you can calculate the real distance on the ground. The contour lines are even more magical.
Although it is a flat map, it can make people see the ups and downs of the terrain. With such a map, it is clear at a glance where and how high the embankment needs to be built, which can greatly reduce the difficulty of management and save design costs.
Because he saw the superiority of this kind of map, Pan Jixun was eager for Su Hao to quickly produce a more detailed map and was willing to give it all the green light.
"Pan Gong, please be patient. Surveying technology cannot be learned in one go. Once the official recruits the right people, it will take a long time to train them. Therefore, we must completely complete the construction of Huai'an Prefecture and surrounding prefectures."
The county map surveying will probably take a few more months." Su Hao explained patiently.
Pan Jixun nodded and said: "I understand. Su Hao, now I understand why Wang Cifu sent you to control the river. You do have extraordinary skills, and it is not in vain that Wang Cifu recommends you for a sixth-grade position. Let's do that.
, you first slowly become familiar with things on the river, and let your people seize the time to carry out map surveying. If you have any difficulties, just bring it up to the governor, and I will try my best to solve it for you. Regarding the strategy of river management,
After you think it over clearly, we can discuss it again. You are right, this matter of river control will always fall on you young people."