Opening his eyes, Zhou Jun looked at the dim sky outside the window. He thought he slept until early morning, but when he walked outside the door and took a look, he realized that it was only evening.
He dressed neatly and wiped his face.
The first thing Zhou Jun did when he left home was to see how the Qu family was doing.
Although Bachuan Villa looks large, the layout of the buildings is orderly and well-proportioned. Looking down from a high altitude, the entire plan looks like a "?" structure.
The west "mu" is the living area, and the east "mu" is the landscape area.
Each adjacent living area and landscape area are connected in a row and constitute three areas: outer garden, middle garden and inner garden.
Zhou Jun, the craftsmen and the Qu family all live in the outer garden, Pang Gong and Yuping live in the middle garden, and the inner garden is still closed.
After walking through the corridor and through the patio, as soon as Zhou Jun walked into Qu's yard, he saw Rou Xing holding the baby and talking to Hua Yue.
Before Zhou Jun had time to speak, Rouxing blushed when she saw him, stood up quickly and returned to the room.
Huayue turned around and said to Zhou Jun: "I went to see you twice and you were fast asleep, but now you are finally awake."
Zhou Jun rubbed his neck: "The hall was cold and crowded yesterday, and I didn't sleep all night."
While the two were talking, Qu Sanweng and his two sons walked into the courtyard carrying a newly repaired wooden table.
Seeing Zhou Jun, Qu Sanweng quickly put down the table, walked quickly to Zhou Jun, and bent his legs to kneel down.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun quickly helped him up and said to the second son of the Qu family who was kneeling behind him: "Get up, get up. What do you mean by this?"
Qu Sanweng held Zhou Jun's arm and looked excited: "Manager Zhou, if you hadn't chosen us, everyone in the Qu family would have starved to death in that duckweed house one day sooner or later."
Zhou Jun said: "You should call me Zhou Erlang. It sounds a little strange to me to be in charge."
Qu Sanweng hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Zhou Zhoulang."
Zhou Jun nodded and said: "Since you have entered the Pang Mansion, don't think too much about anything else, just serve the main family wholeheartedly."
Qu Sanweng nodded vigorously with a resolute expression.
Zhou Jun added: "I'm back just in time. I also have something to discuss with you."
Asking the Qu family and his son to sit down in the yard, Zhou Jun said: "Weng Qu, I heard you say that your ancestor was once a great craftsman in the Sui Dynasty, and you yourself have been doing this masonry work for many years?
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Qu Sanweng: "I don't dare to boast about building a city or building a pavilion, but doing ordinary brick and mortar work is certainly out of the question."
Zhou Jun: "You should have seen it on the way to Bachuan in the big car. There is a section of road in the middle. It has been in disrepair for a long time and has turned into a puddle of mud during rains. It is really inconvenient to go around. Is there any way you can repair it?"
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Qu Sanweng nodded first, and then said: "I dare to teach you, Xiao Langjun, that this road construction method is also different."
"The best road material is the bluestone square slabs produced in Wushan, Xingyang. They are carefully crafted and have uniform specifications. They will be laid on the road and will not be damaged for decades."
"The inferior road material is Dingping's Yushan stone, which has a beautiful texture..."
Zhou Jun interrupted Qu Sanweng: "Qu Weng, we don't need such good road materials. That road is flat and not many people would use it in the past. As long as the vehicles passing by will not collapse."
Qu Sanweng pondered for a moment and said, "The road can be made by paving it with small gravel or cobblestones, filling the middle with earth slurry, and sprinkling lime and starch powder on top."
Zhou Jun asked: "What if it rains?"
Qu Sanweng: "Light rain is okay, but if it rains heavily, the soil slurry and ash powder will be washed away and the stones will be scattered."
Zhou Jun had a headache and asked Qu Sanweng: "Have you ever heard of cement?"
Qu Sanweng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
Paving roads with cement is simple and convenient.
Zhou Jun vaguely remembered that cement had been invented as early as the ancient Roman period.
However, there is the biggest problem.
That is, Zhou Jun has no idea how cement is made.
Just when Zhou Jun was at a loss what to do, he saw Hua Yue smiling secretly beside him, looking like a little thief who had stolen a chicken.
Zhou Jun asked her: "Why are you laughing?"
Huayue raised her head and asked: "Is the cement you just mentioned fire clay?"
Zhou Jun: "Fire mud?"
Hua Yue: "In the great mosque of Fuda City, there are records in ancient books that the Romans used fire clay to build a lighthouse on the seaside, and it has not collapsed for hundreds of years."
When Zhou Jun heard this, his face suddenly lit up: "That cement, no, that fire clay, do you know the production process?"
Huayue said proudly: "Of course I know."
Zhou Jun: "Then you have to say it anyway."
Hua Yue: "It's useless even if I say it. The Roman fire clay can't be made in the Tang Dynasty."
Zhou Jun was stunned: "Why can't the Tang Dynasty people make things that the Romans could make?"
Hua Yue: "Because there is a very important raw material in the fire mud - volcanic ash. This kind of thing can only be collected in the crater of the volcano."
"In the active volcano crater on the Lipari Islands, the Romans once built a mine. Every day slaves went down to the crater to collect volcanic ash."
"But, there doesn't seem to be an active volcano near Chang'an City, right?"
"So, I say that the Tang Dynasty cannot make Roman fire clay."
Zhou Jun sighed, looking at it like this, there is no hope for cement.
Zhou Jun looked at Huayue and found that the smile on the latter's face was even brighter, and it seemed that there were still some things that he was holding back.
Zhou Jun said helplessly to Huayue: "As long as you can find a way to get out that fire clay, I can agree to you on one condition."
Huayue raised a finger and said with a smile: "This is what you said. You are not allowed to regret it later."
Zhou Jun: "I will never go back on my word, just say it quickly."
Hua Yue: "There are scholars in Dashi who have seen the benefits of fire clay and want to create it."
"However, there are no active volcanoes that meet the requirements in Dashi."
"After several attempts, food scholars finally found a substitute for volcanic ash."
Zhou Jun listened seriously and quickly asked: "What is the substitute?"
Painted Moon: "Cinder."
Zhou Jun was stunned on the spot: "Is it possible to use cinders to replace volcanic ash?"
Huayue: "The cinders I'm talking about are not the cinders left after ordinary people make fires and cook. They are cinders that have been tempered at high temperatures and burned repeatedly, and are close to the shape of white ash."
"This kind of cinder is hard to find in the city, but there may be a lot of it in one place."
Zhou Jun thought about it carefully and said, "The craftsman's workshop."
Hua Yue nodded and said: "Yes, blacksmith shops, weapons shops, armor shops, wherever iron ore needs to be repeatedly calcined, most of them will have these cinders burned into white ash."
"Although this kind of cinder is not as effective as volcanic ash when used, it is at least usable."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun patted his thigh and said, "Okay, tomorrow I will go to the craftsman's workshop to look for the white ash cinders."