Chapter 520: Ming Dynasty's Strongest Foundation: C30 Grade Concrete

Chapter 520: Ming Dynasty's Strongest Foundation: C30 Grade Concrete

Chapter 520: The Strongest Foundation of Ming Dynasty—C30 Grade Concrete
The next afternoon, the atmosphere in the brick kiln workshop five miles outside Yingtian City was solemn and tense.

Lu Yunyi stared at the brick kiln in front of him, whose flames were gradually dying out, without moving his eyes away for a moment.

Even the craftsmen around stopped their work, held their breath, and stared intently.

As the bricks and stones blocking the brick kiln were slowly opened, billowing smoke and dust instantly spread out.

When the smoke and dust cleared a little, everyone could finally see the situation inside!

In an instant, the whole scene fell into deathly silence.

Immediately afterwards, an uproar broke out.

Lu Yunyi's brows were tightly knitted into the shape of a "川" character, and his face looked very ugly.
The same was true for Wang Chen, the doctor of the Du Shui Si standing nearby.

I saw that in the spacious brick kiln, the powder that was filled in yesterday was still in powder form.
Only the color changed slightly, turning gray.

But it did not solidify into lumps as they expected, as if it had just been put in.

The atmosphere at the scene froze instantly, and Wang Chen, a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, looked at him with a sharp gaze.

He suddenly shot at the trembling workshop manager, his voice heavy and with a hint of chill:

"what happened?"

The workshop manager felt panic in his heart. He looked at the kiln in front of him, pursing his lips constantly, with cold sweat on his forehead.

"My Lord, I, your humble servant, really don't know why this is happening."

As he spoke, he approached the kiln cautiously.

He checked them one by one, completely ignoring the fact that the temperature of the kiln had not yet completely dissipated.

There are more than ten different ratios in the kiln, which is intended to explore more possibilities.
But now, piles of raw materials are just piled up quietly, with no signs of solidifying into shape.

The workshop manager knew very well how important the things in this kiln were.

Because of this, Lu Butang also suffered a rare rebellious assassination.

But now, this is the result.

"Speak!!!" Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, Wang Chen shouted angrily.

The workshop owner was so frightened that he trembled all over. He glanced at Wang Chen cautiously.
Then he looked at Lu Butang who had remained silent.
I thought to myself that this was not good, and I quickly started to remedy the situation:
"Sir, something must have gone wrong.
I'll wait and find the crux of the problem. I'll definitely be able to solve it.

Then, burn another furnace!!!"

"Will it succeed if we fire one more furnace?" Wang Chen shouted angrily again.

Many craftsmen present lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at this tense scene.
The workshop manager was even more frightened and didn't know how to answer.

Lu Yunyi walked forward, staring at the light grey powder inside and fell into deep thought, then waved his hand and said:

"Arguing won't solve anything. The first task is to find out why it didn't take shape."

Lu Yunyi turned to look at the workshop manager:
“Call all the craftsmen together, let them give their opinions, make corrections, and then try firing another furnace.

But the prerequisite is that we must find the crux of the problem and make practical and effective improvements.

If you can’t find the crux of the problem, don’t waste manpower on meaningless things.”

"Yes!"

The workshop manager felt as if he had been granted amnesty and quickly summoned the craftsmen.

Lu Yunyi looked at Wang Chen and comforted him:

"Master Wang, don't be discouraged. No success can be achieved overnight. Take your time."

"But the memorial has been submitted for quite some time.

There is no movement at all. I am worried. "

Lu Yunyi glanced at him:
"No movement is the best news. The budget of 10 million taels of silver is
If there is any movement now, it must be someone coming to cause trouble, and it won’t be good news.

Until a breakthrough is achieved, it is better for the court to remain quiet.

Well, there's no point in saying this now, take out everything inside.

Mix it with the ground iron smelting slag, then add water and stir, and see the effect. "

Although he didn't know why the powder didn't condense into a lump, Lu Yunyi still planned to give it a try.

Even if you can't produce a finished product, at least you can determine a direction by making a semi-finished product.

As long as this method can be proven to be feasible,
Even if you have to use all your strength to get bricks flying, you can always find a solution if you try one by one.

A quarter of an hour later, in another courtyard of the workshop, a dozen accompanying clerks began the mixing work.

In front of each person is a pile of "failed products" made of clay and limestone in different proportions.
When mixed with iron-smelting slag, the mixtures look pretty much the same.

But the performance after adding water is completely different!
Some are like muddy soup, flowing out before they can be regulated.

Some are very dry, forming "crystals" similar to soil lumps, which turn into powder after being crushed.

Looking at the "small mounds" of various shapes in front of us.

Lu Yunyi looked at it carefully, and finally stopped in front of a "pile" made of 30% limestone and 70% clay.

He watched an official stirring the mixture vigorously with a shovel. The mixture was thick and sticky, neither lumpy nor soupy.
This is somewhat similar to the ideal state in his mind.

Lu Yunyi called Wang Chen over:
"Come, take a look at this, it's about a 3:7 ratio."

Wang Chen ran over in a hurry, and when he saw what was in front of him, his expression instantly became very strange.
"Hey! Isn't this ash and dirt?"

"Hmm?" Lu Yunyi's eyes flashed as he immediately glanced at Wang Chen:

"Have you seen this?"

Wang Chen frowned and kept taking a deep breath:

"Sir, I have seen it before. There is no telling how much ash and soil there is in the storehouse. Ash and soil are used to build the palace and the river bank. They are very solid."

"Ah?" A hint of surprise flashed across Lu Yunyi's eyes.

"but."

Wang Chen tilted his head and asked in doubt.
Then he squatted down and grabbed a handful of mud from the pile in front of him.
"It seems that the ash after firing is much finer and more viscous."

Lu Yunyi realized something and quickly called out:
"Go, find the method of making ash soil. I want to see it!"

"Yes." Wang Chen quickly called the clerk to go and look for it.

After a while, a thick document was brought over by the clerk.

Lu Yunyi put it aside, opened it and looked at it carefully. There were pictures and texts inside, and the production process was very detailed.

Time passed by minute by minute, and after a quarter of an hour, Lu Yunyi finally realized.

The ash soil currently used by the imperial court is made by mixing three parts of limestone, seven parts of clay and some seasonings.

It has strong viscosity and is an indispensable raw material for many projects.

For example, many of the palaces in the imperial city have foundations made of ash and soil, so even if an earthquake occurs, it is difficult to shake them at all.

In fact, this kind of ash soil is only one step away from lime, and that is high-temperature calcination!
The main components of gray soil are limestone and clay.

The main component of lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide, which is calcined to remove impurities, that is, quicklime and slaked lime.

The two have the same origin, but have different production processes, and their final uses and forms are also different.

"Budou-sama! Bundou-sama!!"

Lu Yunyi looked back and saw the workshop manager rushing over with excitement on his face.

He ran to Lu Yunyi and exclaimed breathlessly:

"Mr. Minister, we have found the reason. It's because the fire is not hot enough!!"

"Not hot enough?"

Lu Yunyi frowned slightly.

"That's right! My Lord, the craftsmen have carefully checked it.

In the end, they came to a unanimous conclusion that there was not enough fire!

It is like this, Mr. Minister, brick kilns usually use charcoal to burn bricks.
Although the fire is very strong, it is ultimately used to burn bricks and stones.

The craftsmen discovered that what the Minister wanted to bake was extremely heat-resistant and should be tried with coal. "

After listening to him, Lu Yunyi felt that what he said made a lot of sense. Perhaps it was because of this reason that the material could not take shape, that is, the impurities could not be completely eliminated.

"Is there any coal in the workshop?" The workshop owner looked a little embarrassed:
"Reporting to the Minister, coal needs to be obtained from the Ordnance Workshop. It is used for iron smelting, so coal is used." Perhaps thinking that this statement was an excuse, the workshop manager quickly added:
"My Lord, I have absolutely no intention of shirking my responsibility!
You can order someone to bring enough coal to the Armory.

If we burn another furnace, we will definitely gain something!!”

Seeing that he was so firm, Lu Yunyi looked at Wang Chen:
"Go and bring in a truckload of coal, and get some ash and soil from the government treasury, and burn them separately to see what the difference is."

Wang Chen looked a little strange, and whispered:
"Sir, please spare me a moment to talk."

The two walked aside, and Wang Chen expressed his concerns:
"My Lord, I have noticed that the volume of the ash has been reduced a lot after being fired. Can this really be successful?
If in the end, the money not only did not decrease, but increased,

Then there is really no hope."

Hearing his concerns, Lu Yunyi laughed:
"Don't worry, the fired materials won't be used directly like ash.
Instead, it needs to be mixed with sand and stones, which are everywhere in the Ming Dynasty and cost almost nothing.

According to my speculation, the ash after firing may only account for 20% of the final product.

Feel free to do it, even if the cost is not low.
It cannot be used to build reservoirs and dams, and it is also worth our in-depth study.”

Seeing that Wang Chen still looked worried, Lu Yunyi stepped forward and patted his shoulder with a smile:

"Sir Wang, the road ahead is long and difficult, but if you keep going you will reach your destination.

No matter what the result is, you have tried your best, and there is nothing to regret even if you fail in the end.

What's more, the future of this thing is extremely bright.

Maybe we can develop a material that is countless times stronger than ash and soil.

By then, Lord Wang will be able to leave his name in history."

Leave a name in history? Wang Chen was stunned, and a surge of excitement surged in his heart for no reason.
"Sir, can it really succeed?"

"Doesn't clay become extremely strong after being fired? How can you know the result if you don't try it?"

Lu Yunyi's eyes were full of encouragement, although it looked a little strange with his young face.

But Wang Chen kept nodding!
"Your Excellency is right. We should try it first. What if it works?!"

"My Lord, I will go and mix the coal and ash!"

"Go ahead."

A day later, after Lu Yunyi finished dealing with military and industry affairs, he went to the workshop outside the city to check on the situation as usual.

Before he dismounted, Wang Chen rushed over excitedly and shouted in an extremely excited voice:
"Sir, it worked! It worked!!!"

Upon hearing the news, Lu Yunyi's eyes lit up. He quickly dismounted from his horse, put on his armor and hurried towards the backyard of the workshop.

The officials and craftsmen in the workshop were shocked when they saw Lu Butang wearing armor.

I was stunned at first. Compared with the wide official robe,

The armor made him look even more heroic and extraordinary, and he exuded a powerful aura.

Soon, Lu Yunyi saw the clinker being burned into blocks next to the kiln in the backyard!
They were piled on the ground in different sizes, white and grayish white, completely different from their previous appearance!
Lu Yunyi looked at these familiar yet unfamiliar things in front of him.
An irrepressible excitement surged in my heart, and I quickly ordered:

"Quick, grind the slag and stones into powder and mix them!!"

"Yes!" the workshop manager responded excitedly.

After learning that what they were firing was ash and dirt, the workshop owner didn't hold out much hope.

But when I saw the finished product with my own eyes today, I was shocked to find that the clay color was actually burned into white!
This thing looks extraordinary at first glance!

Wang Chen was even more excited, as he had already completed related experiments long before.

Although the white substance in front of me comes from the same source as the ash, the feeling is completely different!

The white substance in front of me is purer and feels as soft as fine sand.
Just like flour, it is far from being comparable to ash.

It took less than half an hour.

Lu Yunyi saw the gray color mixed by white and black in the courtyard nearby!
An extremely familiar grey!
He stepped forward and took the sieve from an official.
I tried it myself, looking at the impurities on the filter and the gray substance underneath that was as fine as flour.

Lu Yunyi felt unprecedented excitement in his heart.

If the business and tricycles are the prerequisites for road construction, then what is in front of us is the last cornerstone of road construction!
All roads lead to Yingtian, starting from now on!
"My Lord, why has this thing turned gray again?"

Wang Chen on the side stepped forward and expressed his doubts.

"Gray is good, gray is good."

Lu Yunyi did not answer his question directly, but ordered:
"Bring the prepared sand and gravel over and start mixing them."

"Sir, should we try the various proportions one by one?"

"Of course, first mix it in the ratio of one part cement, one and a half parts sand, and three parts stone.
By the way, the water should be half the weight of the cement."

Wang Chen was stunned, not knowing why the adults knew these ratios so surely.
But he didn't dwell on it too much, and quickly got busy.

The sun gradually set, and the orange-red light of the sunset sprinkled on the earth and also on the workshop.

The lights in various parts of the workshop had already been turned on, presenting a scene of bustling activity.

As the sun gradually disappears in the sky,
Lu Yunyi finally saw what he had always dreamed of - C30 grade concrete!

Although the quality of lime may not be sufficient and there are no admixtures,

But in today's Ming Dynasty, this is the hardest foundation.

In the large vat in front of him, several guards were stirring vigorously with sticks.
Their muscles were tense and beads of sweat were all over their bodies.

"Sir, it's getting heavier!" shouted a guard.

"It's good to sink."

Lu Yunyi watched from the side as some of the concrete on the edge of the vat began to solidify.
When you touch it with your hand, you can clearly feel the sand and hard objects inside.

He put on heavy gloves, grabbed a handful, and stuffed it in front of Wang Chen:

"Let's see. How is it? Isn't the cost much lower than ash and soil?"

Wang Chen also put on gloves. He put his hands into the large vat and stirred it continuously, in order to feel the sluggishness of the concrete as it solidified.

His expression gradually became serious:

"Sir, if you calculate it this way, it is much cheaper than mortar and ash.
I just don’t know how hard this thing will be after it solidifies.”

"Hahahahahaha."

Hearing him say this, Lu Yunyi waved his hand:
"Wait for me to pull a few cannons from the barracks and try them out."

"Cannon?" When these words were spoken, many people present were so shocked that their eyebrows jumped!

As for testing with cannons?

Lu Yunyi ignored all this. He looked at the workshop manager and his expression became very serious:
"From now on, the workshop will suspend all original work arrangements.
Run all the kilns, burn lime at full capacity, try every possible means to improve the purity of the lime!

I will send someone to deliver the coal and subsequent materials.

In the following days, craftsmen and all related personnel are not allowed to leave the workshop.

We can’t leave until we’ve confirmed the strength of the concrete.”

"Ah" As soon as these words were spoken, one could clearly feel that the atmosphere on the scene became a little depressed.

Lu Yunyi continued:
"This is necessary hard work, hard work during this period,

The Ministry of Works will give each of you two extra months' salary as compensation.

If this can really succeed,
You craftsmen will no longer have to work so hard to make bricks in the future. Instead, you can make cement!

I can assure you that the wages will be greatly increased!"

When he said this, everyone's eyes lit up.
Each one is full of cleanliness!

"Okay, everyone, get back to work and make a stone pestle out of the solidified concrete so that we can verify its strength."

"Oh, Lord Wang, bring the iron bars that we prepared long ago and mix them in to verify the effects at different strengths."

"Yes!!!"

Hearing the order, Wang Chen suddenly felt a long-lost excitement and quickly agreed loudly.

Lu Yunyi took off his gloves, walked quickly to the side, picked up a pen and paper and started writing.

Soon, he finished writing a letter and handed it to Feng Yunfang:
"Send this letter to the general."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)