My Daming New Empire

"How dare, how dare..." Several commanders and guards hurriedly returned their salutes.

Just kidding, Taisun's words are just humility, if anyone dares to take it seriously, it is a joke.

Liu Jiang became a little curious when he heard Zhu Zhanji say this, and asked, "I don't know what this cement is, but it can be called the most important weapon of the country by His Highness!"

I have been in contact with Zhu Zhanji for more than a month, and Liu Jiang also knows that although Zhu Zhanji is young, he is mature and prudent, and it is definitely not an ordinary thing to be called the most important weapon of the country by him.

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "With this thing, the moat can become a thoroughfare, and the Ming Dynasty will be able to connect thousands of miles. The world will no longer have to worry about floods, the border towns will no longer be destroyed, and the houses of the people will not be damaged for a hundred years."

A group of people were dumbfounded. Although they didn't say it clearly, their expressions felt that Zhu Zhanji was bragging.How could there be such an artifact in the world? If it were so, it would not be an exaggeration to be called the most important weapon of the country.

Among the generals who met today, the lowest rank is a thousand households named Huang Yuan and Huang Qianjiu.

The official positions of the Ming Dynasty are very chaotic, especially the navy, because the Ming fleet has no rivals, so it has never formed an effective command system. Many official positions are the same as those of the army, but the nature of leading the army is completely different.

Huang Yuan is the eldest son of Huang Fu, the chief envoy and envoy of the procuratorial envoy of Jiaozhi, who is only 25 years old this year. He was a juren in the ninth year of Yongle.

In the tenth year of Yongle, he went to Jiaozhi to visit his relatives, persuaded his father, and joined the Xin'an River Navy, from a general manager to the current position of a thousand households.

Zhu Zhanji admired Huang Fu very much. There are really not many ministers in Ming Dynasty who can do practical things with heart.Therefore, he also treats this young master Huang differently, and is very polite not to treat him lightly because of his lowest position.

Huang Yuan is not a few years older than Zhu Zhanji, and he is also very close to this mature and prudent grandson. At this time, he boldly said: "Your Highness's words make me very curious. I hope His Highness will allow us to accompany you. You can finish today's matter."

Zhu Zhanji nodded, and said to Li Liang: "Let the Duzhi Supervisor send a boat, and I will go to Fangshan Kiln together."

Board a paddle steamer from Chang'an Bridge, and there are two flat-panel escort ships at the front and back.After Zhu Zhanji boarded the ship, he sat on the main seat in the hall without hesitation, and everyone took their seats according to their official positions, and then continued the topic at the beginning.

When the navy was first established, the navies in various places would be separated from the control of the five-armed governor's office and local governments.These reforms cannot be made across the board, but should be adjusted according to the actual situation, otherwise it will only get worse and worse.

These few naval generals from Jiaozhi, in response to the reform of the navy, analyzed the actual situation with Liu Jiang, and then made appropriate adjustments.

In addition to the power of jurisdiction, which must be unified, the navy's troop deployment power still belongs to the Ministry of War.

But there are still many problems that need to be discussed and solved based on practical problems.

For example, the sources of military expenditure, logistical supplies, training, and fleet formation, all of which would be impossible to implement without the cooperation of various navy divisions.

Some provisions need to be tough, but some changes must also respect the requirements of various ministries, and even the opinions of local governments.

The situation in Jiaozhi is relatively easy to deal with, because Jiaozhi Cheng announced that the Political Envoy Division has not been established for a few years, and the military expenditures it bears are not much. Except for the maintenance of food and ships, most of the logistics are still provided by Guangdong Seven Guards and Fujian Navy. burden.

Zhu Zhanji wanted to expand the strength of Jiaozhi's navy. Of course, the Jiaozhi's navy raised their hands to welcome them. Therefore, there was much less bickering between the two sides. The most talked about thing was the situation in Jiaozhi, choosing a new location for the navy. , and the maximum burden Cochin can bear.

(These transitional chapters have to be written, otherwise there will be no cause and effect, no strategy, and it will become a small essay. I will also speed up the progress as soon as possible, and I will write these plots in a few more chapters.)

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Seeing this section of cement road about 30 meters long and [-] meters wide, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but walked over quickly, and then stamped on it with his feet.

He is not a novelty, but just wants to recall the feeling of the past.

Spanning 600 years of time and space, the appearance of this concrete road seems to bring the 600 years of time and space closer at once.

Although it is only a 30-meter-long road, because the proportion of cement with lime is different, each of the three proportions has [-] meters of road surface for comparison.

Before Zhu Zhanji arrived, the craftsmen had carefully compared the differences between the three different proportions of the pavement, and conducted a heavy impact test on the pavement with a hammer weighing more than ten kilograms.

Waiting for Zhu Zhanji's freshness to pass, Waitang Kongcheng, a member of the Department of Cleaning Up Officials of the Ministry of Industry, came over with a smile. "Your Highness, we have carefully compared the differences in the coagulation effects of the three formulas, but we have not found much difference. After coagulation, this material is harder than hard rocks and more resilient. Boulders are brittle and will crack when hit hard, but the cement just appears. Small pits, no large pieces fall off."

Zhu Zhanji leaned over and twisted a piece from the smashed concrete on the side of the road, rubbed, squeezed, and broke it with his hands for a long time, and finally crushed the broken pieces between his fingers.

The degree of cohesion of cement depends not only on the formulation, but also on the particle size of the milled powder.The finer the powder, the higher the degree of cohesion.

Today's cement has far exceeded expectations in the eyes of others.But Zhu Zhanji is still not satisfied, because there is still a lot of room for improvement in these cements.

He confessed: "Since you can't distinguish the difference between the three formulas, then expand the proportion of ingredients, one kind of lime, add more clay, and one kind of lime, add less clay, so that it is easy to distinguish the effect. Then choose the most The best proportion effect, record it."

Kong Cheng looked at the others and asked, "Your Highness, besides building roads, does this cement have other functions?"

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said: "Of course, different proportions of cement can have different effects. With cement mixed with sand, houses can be built, interior and exterior walls can be painted, cement that solidifies faster, bridges can be built in water, and repairs can be made. The embankment..."

He looked up at an open space on the side of the kiln and said, "Find an open space there. I want you to use cement to build different houses. Find out the firmness and setting speed of different proportions of sand."

"Yes!"

Zhu Zhanji turned his head and said to Mao Zhong, the commander of Habayashi Youwei who was standing aside, "Commander Mao, step up patrols here, isolate the inside and outside, and ensure that the cement formula will not leak out."

Mao Zhong clasped his hands together, and Zhu Zhanji said to Kong Cheng again: "The cement formula is of great importance. All craftsmen who come into contact with them must be screened separately to ensure that only a few people know the whole set of technologies. As the chief officer here, you must also Come up with a set of technical leakage prevention strategies and submit them to me."

Kong Cheng didn't dare to be sloppy, and was also excited to be able to show off in front of the grandson, so he quickly responded: "This is a matter of the minister's duty, and I dare not neglect it."

Looking at Wang Tong again, he explained again: "In the next few days, you have to take care of the craftsmen here, cooperate with the work of various departments, and solve logistics services. After all the cement technology is sorted out, I will give you a credit."

Wang Tong said with a smile on his face: "Serving His Highness is a servant's job, and I dare not take credit for it."

In Zhu Zhanji's mind, cement is definitely the most important and most needed thing for Daming. The importance of cement is even higher than that of machine tools and steelmaking.

Because the application of cement is too extensive, and the strong roads, strong houses, and strong embankments have brought greater changes to Daming.

Liu Jiang and the others also noticed this.

When he saw this section of concrete road, he couldn't believe his eyes. Regardless of his old age, he just grabbed a hammer and beat it on the ground.

Then I sat on the hard road, stroking the rough road, not knowing what to think.

Seeing that Zhu Zhanji finished his work and walked towards him, he got up from the ground and said excitedly: "Your Highness is right, this thing is indeed an important weapon of the country!"

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said, "What did the governor see?"

"Use this thing to build a house, you will not be afraid of collapse, build a city wall, stabilize Mount Tai, build a road, you will not be afraid of the disaster of rain, and build a river embankment, you will not be afraid of the risk of collapse. In the past, when marching, it was difficult to move in rainy days, but This road surface is not water-soluble, so the luggage will not be dragged down by the mud, which will affect the march. If we can build this kind of road surface in the Ming Dynasty, we will not be afraid to march thousands of miles."

After hearing Liu Jiang's words, Kong Cheng said with a smile: "What the governor said is very true, and it is easier to build roads with cement than to flatten dirt roads. As long as there is cement, river sand, and water to pave the road, the road will be paved in two days." It can be condensed, and there will be no worries from now on.”

But Zhu Zhanji shook his head and said: "This statement is wrong. The manpower is weak and I haven't noticed it yet, but according to my opinion, cement is not a panacea. If the roadbed is not solid, the cement pavement will be like a rootless weed, and it will not last long .Therefore, this set of procedures must be absolutely indispensable for consolidating the foundation.”

Of course, Kong Cheng didn't dare to refute Zhu Zhanji's words, and he praised with a smile: "Your Highness still has a long-term vision and considerate considerations. I will do my best to test out the best strategy."

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said: "When you succeed, report to Yu Gu quickly, and Gu also brings the emperor's grandfather to reward you."

At this moment, everyone couldn't stand anymore, whether they were around the roadside or standing on the hard road, they all knelt down and kowtowed.

If they can really be rewarded by the emperor, these middle- and lower-level officials and craftsmen will be more happy than pies falling from the sky.

Will Zhu Di come?Of course it will come!

Not to mention waiting for all the tests to be successful, even now, when he gets the news, he will come over to have a look impatiently.

Although cement is inconspicuous, it is a thing that is truly beneficial to the country and the people. It is widely used, and materials can be obtained everywhere, and the cost is low.