I will never be Renzong

Chapter 166 The Cement Cannon and the Blind Date

In ancient times, there were many muddy roads, which were easily damaged by wind and rain. Masonry roads or roads made of eggs and glutinous rice were too expensive, so they could only be built on a small scale.

If cement can be invented, it will be of great significance to the trade, transportation, marching, and communication of the Song Dynasty, and cement can also be used to build cities and even military fortresses.

Zhao Zhen had read many time-travel novels in his previous life, and generally knew that the raw materials needed for the manufacture of cement were limestone, clay, and iron-making slag.When Zhao Zhen reorganized the army and replaced weapons before, there was also a lot of iron smelting slag. The most important thing was that he accidentally mastered the Tang Dynasty's hundred steelmaking technology, which enabled the Song Dynasty to gain superiority in weapons and equipment in the cold weapon era.

The firing of limestone had this technology long ago in the Song Dynasty, and the making of ice with saltpeter was also mastered in the Song Dynasty.

Another problem is the temperature. If charcoal is used for firing, the furnace temperature can reach about 1300 degrees, and if coal is used for firing, the furnace temperature can reach 1800 degrees.

Bai Juyi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem about selling charcoal. The charcoal here has to be charcoal, so whether in the Tang Dynasty or the early Song Dynasty, it was mainly charcoal.

During the reign of Song Taizu, ordinary people and even high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty used charcoal as their basic living material, but in 985 AD, during the reign of Song Taizong, East Asia entered a new Little Ice Age. It is often icy and snowy.

People's desire for warmth has reached an extreme, but the demand is infinite and the trees are limited, so that large forests have been cut down. Shen Kuo once recorded in "Mengxi Bi Tan": The pine forests in Qi and Lu are now exhausted, and they gradually reach Taihang, West Beijing, and Jiangnan. Now, most of Matsuyama are all children.

However, this unprecedented energy crisis quickly caused an economic crisis in the Song Dynasty.Many measures were introduced to try to save the economy: time-consuming and labor-intensive processing of charcoal, exemption from taxes on essential fuels for life.However, a large number of people still freeze to death every winter, and even the traditional Lantern Festival has been cancelled.

At this time of crisis, coal promised to solve the energy problem of people's basic life. The Song Dynasty began to mine coal in large quantities, but due to technical defects, it could only be mined by manpower, and most of the mined was open-pit mines.

In the Song Dynasty, there were millions of people living near Kaifeng, a large part of which were engaged in handicraft producers, so they belonged to the earliest urban residents, so the demand for coal was relatively high, and the coal mines at the beginning of the Song Dynasty were mostly located in Henan Road, The two places on Shandong Road.

Zhao Zhen came from a later generation, and he knew exactly where China's coal was rich. From the perspective of the current territory of the Song Dynasty, the most suitable places for mining were Shaanxi Road and Shanxi Road.

According to the method taught by Zhao Zhen, several craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry and the Artillery Department are grinding limestone and clay into flour, and then calcining the clinker.Clinker is ground together with the slag left over from ironmaking to produce cement.

Zhao Zhen naturally doesn't know how to make cement, but he liked to read historical time-travel novels in his previous life, so he still knows this method of burning cement by the local method. The only thing that is uncertain is the problem of proportion.

But nothing in the world is difficult for those who have a heart, and no invention can be achieved overnight. He first asked the craftsmen to take the same amount of limestone and clay, and then add and subtract according to the calcined clinker. In this way, a few more experiments The correct ratio can be found in just one click.

Calcining takes time. Zhao Zhen did not stay to watch, but was dragged to the artillery experimental base by Zeng Gongliang.

Previously, Zeng Gongliang successfully built several bronze cannons according to the blueprints drawn by Zhao Zhen, but they all exploded during the test of the cannons. Naturally, Zeng Gongliang and other craftsmen in the Artillery Division felt very disappointed and were afraid of Zhao Zhen Punishing them, of course, is more about feeling ashamed to see Zhao Zhen.

Because Zhao Zhen not only gave everyone in the Artillery Division generous salaries, but their families were all divided into brand-new brick houses, and during the festivals, Zhao Zhen rewarded them very generously. There are plainclothes officers from Jinyiwei following, saying it is protection, but in fact it is surveillance.

But everyone understands that after all, there is a price to be paid for such a high salary.

On the artillery testing ground, ten artillery pieces have already been set up, and the artillery department is gearing up, hoping that this test can be successful.

"Boom~"

"Boom~"

"Boom~"

There were several loud noises, and the man-made city wall in the distance was blown up instantly after being hit by shells.

"it is good!"

Zhao Zhen stood [-] steps away and shouted loudly. He originally wanted to stand within [-] steps to watch, but how dare Zeng Gongliang and others let the current officials take risks? The young craftsman was killed on the spot.

In the end, Zhao Zhen had to compromise, standing five hundred steps away, and urgently mobilized the heavy armored infantry of the Xuanwu Army to form a thick shield wall.

"Official! All ten cannons were successfully tested, and I congratulate the official!"

Zeng Gongliang hurriedly bowed to Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen glanced at Zeng Gongliang and said, "Ming Zhong! Don't worry, pass down the order and get ready for the second round of artillery testing!"

"Yes! Officials!"

Zeng Gongliang hurried down to arrange the second round of test guns.

There was an accident in the second round of the cannon test. Several cannons exploded. In the third round of the cannon test, two cannons even lost control. Fortunately, the shells did not fall in the direction of Zhao Zhen. Even if there are ten heads among the people, it won't be enough to chop them off.

After three rounds of artillery testing, only three of the ten cannons remained, and everyone in the Artillery Division lost their previous pride. They hung their heads down, waiting for Zhao Zhen's severe punishment.

After the smoke cleared, Zhao Zhen went to the front and checked the three cannons. Two of the barrels had been cracked, and only one was intact.

After the shell is fired, the barrel needs to be cooled, and it can withstand the barrel of three shots. In a large sense, a breakthrough has been achieved.

"Okay! Very good! Although only one of the ten cannons was intact after three rounds of test cannons, I still believe that you and others have contributed a lot, because I believe that with these valuable experiences, the next time I test the cannon results will be better.”

Zhao Zhen did not blame the people in the Artillery Division, but instead encouraged them to continue their research, because only with his incomplete memory drawings, he was able to create a red-clothed cannon that was powerful enough, which shows the wisdom of the people of the Song Dynasty is not to be underestimated.

"The ministers must learn the lesson, and finally make a more stable cannon as soon as possible, and live up to the official Long's grace!"

Everyone in the Artillery Division hurriedly prayed in gratitude.

Zhao Zhen glanced at everyone in the Artillery Division, and said: "I have given everyone in the Artillery Division a seven-day holiday, and I have ordered the harem to release a group of maids. You and other subordinates of the Artillery Division who have no marriage partners can come with the palace people. Go and choose the lady you like."

"Long live the official family!"

The people below were overjoyed when they heard it, and knelt down one after another.

The age at which palace ladies entered the palace in the Song Dynasty was not fixed. Some entered the palace at the age of five, some entered the palace at the age of ten, and some did not enter the palace until the age of 15. In addition, there were very few maids who were released from the palace before. Rewards were given to the emperor's relatives and even ministers.Other than that, most of them are in the palace of death.

Zhao Zhen mentioned this matter to Cao Danshu a few days ago, and decided to form a rule, that is, all court ladies who have reached the age of 25 can apply to leave the palace, and they can marry on their own after leaving the palace.

Although some of the maids in the palace were the daughters of common people's families, most of them were orphans who were brought into the palace in times of famine. Once they were released from the palace, they would have no relatives and no one to rely on.Although she has a little wealth, she is a weak woman after all, and she is easily bullied.

Another reason is that Zhao Zhen changed the trial marriage age for women in the Song Dynasty to 16, but the palace ladies who left the palace were already 25.

In the Song Dynasty, if an unmarried woman was not married at the age of 25, it was basically impossible to be a wife. Even if she married, she could only be a concubine.

Zhao Zhen asked Empress Cao Danshu to count the maids in the harem who are over 25 years old and have parents and family members. Those who voluntarily leave the palace and return home will be given a year's salary.

As for those without parents and family members, Zhao Zhen decided to choose husbands and sons-in-law for them, and arranged a grand blind date meeting in Shangqing Palace, and the subordinates of the Artillery Division were the first batch to go on a blind date.

The reason why the subordinates of the Artillery Division were arranged to go on a blind date first was because Zhao Zhen, for the sake of the secrecy and security of the Artillery Division, except for some originally skilled craftsmen, the rest were fatherless, motherless, and simple family members. personnel, and even many homeless people.

Zhao Zhen gave them a job with good pay, and they would naturally redouble their efforts to repay Zhao Zhen. Although they had money, they had very little to spend it on.

The Artillery Division has strict regulations, and everyone has time to rest and vacation, but all artillery department personnel are not allowed to go to restaurants, brothels, and gambling houses, let alone marry wives and concubines at will.This also led to a group of big and small guys who were full of energy but had nowhere to vent.

Now when they suddenly heard that the officials were going to send them wives, they were all gearing up and eager to try.

A few days later, all the maids who were planning to be released from the palace gathered in the Shangqing Palace, dressed in colorful clothes, like a hundred flowers blooming for a while.

On the first day, all the boys from the Artillery Division participated in the blind date. If there is any characteristic about them, it is that they are young.

In feudal society, due to various factors such as war, there were more women than men, and men and women generally picked women, and very few women picked men. Even if Zhao Zhen came from later generations, he did not dare to openly break this rule.

There are a total of 280 court ladies who arranged blind dates this time, and 280 number plates were randomly selected, and then according to the number, each group of seven people will have a room.

There are a total of 80 unmarried men from the Artillery Division who came to choose their wives. They will draw their rankings immediately, and then enter rooms from 1 to 40 according to their rankings.

Lin San, who looks a bit dark, was lucky and got number one, so he was the first to choose a wife.

Lin San is 26 years old this year, and he is the oldest among this group of people. He was originally a monk waiting to die on the mountain. He was forced to return to the vulgar and became a homeless person.

Later, Jin Yiwei was ordered by Zhao Zhen to select the personnel of the Artillery Division, and he was selected because of Kong Wu's strength.

Lin San did not expect that he would get a wife this day, so he held a stick of lit incense in his hand with excitement, and then walked into the first room. If there was no satisfactory person in the first room, He can go to the second room, and then the next person will go to room one, and so on. After the incense in his hand burns out, he must hold the hand of a palace maid, and he can only go to the front room and cannot retreat. .

In the end, Lin San led away a woman with average appearance but big breasts and upturned buttocks in the third room, and then walked up to a female official, who asked the selected maid: "Would you like to marry her as a wife?" !"

The palace maid glanced at the burly Lin San in front of her, then lowered her head and said shyly, "I am willing!"

Seeing this, the female officer will register the two of them, and then the two will go down to collect the dowry from the maid of honor and return to the residence of the subordinate staff of the Artillery Division.

If the maid answered that she was unwilling, then Lin San would receive the 81st number again, and then go to line up to choose. Although it is unfair, it is your choice and my wish in general.

Of course, the maids are not fools, and almost no one would refuse, because before they came to the blind date, they had already received the news that the first batch of people who came here were all unmarried men from the Artillery Division, and marrying them was to be a regular wife. The position is attractive enough for these older court ladies.

If they are not chosen today, they will most likely be destined to be concubines in the future.

The marriage went smoothly. All 80 men from the artillery department had selected their favorite wives and brought them back to their residence. The couple began to clean up the house and decorate the wedding room.

Their house was built in advance by Zhao Zhen. It is a courtyard-like house with two bedrooms and one living room. There are four households in one family. For everyone in the Artillery Division, this cost is nothing.

That night, Zhao Zhen and Cao Danshu came to the Artillery Division's family courtyard and held a banquet for the wedding of the 80 couples. Since they had no elder parents, Zhao Zhen and Cao Danshu acted as their elders and received their respect.

According to the wedding customs, after worshiping, the groom should stay with the guests. After all, there are still some members of the Artillery Division who have family members attending the wedding banquet. They all looked exactly the same on the outside, so he was afraid that after the groom got drunk, he would end up in the wrong house and the wrong room, which would be embarrassing.

So each gave a glass of wine, and then went back to each house, each looking for his own daughter-in-law.

In one room, a mature and coquettish woman in red clothes lowered her head and waited for her husband's attention. Her name is Luliu, she has no surname, and she is 32 years old this year.

And standing opposite her was a 16-year-old young man named Xiao Wu. The man wanted to look up at her, but after looking at her, he immediately lowered his head.

She was unlucky and got No. 280, which was in the last room, and she was the oldest in this room. She thought she would definitely not be able to get married today, but Xiao Wu came to the last room, and then unexpectedly She was chosen for the first time.

"Husband! Come to the bedside! Why are you so unfamiliar!"

Lu Liu looked at the shy Xiao Wu in front of her and said.

Xiao Wu walked slowly to the bed and sat on the side of the green willow.

"Husband! Isn't the servant's house beautiful?"

Lu Liu looked up at Xiao Wu and said.

"nice!"

Xiao Wu raised his head, looked at the mature woman in front of him and said.

"That wedding night in the bridal chamber, doesn't your husband want to do something?"

Lu Liu spoke softly, and then took Xiao Wu's hand.

"My lady! What should I do on the wedding night? No one taught me?"

Xiao Wu said with a confused face.

"Husband! Lie down! My servant will teach you!"

Luliu let Xiao Wu lie behind the bed, and then stretched out her hand to pull down the curtain.

After a while, the wooden bed began to creak and shake.
(End of this chapter)