The Three Spirit Stones

In the second year of Tianxi, Jingzhe, spring begins and all things revive!

In the main hall of Cheng Mansion, an elegant old man stood with his hands behind his back, looking at a calligraphy hanging on the wall.

It was inscribed with the Chinese characters "福泽苍生" (meaning "blessings to all living beings"), and the signature was Zhao Heng. This was a gift from Emperor Zhenzong of Song to Cheng Yu.

In addition to this calligraphy, there are several paintings and calligraphy works of Zhao Heng, large and small, and even some by Crown Prince Zhao Shouyi.

The old man thought to himself, it seems that Marquis Zhongyong is indeed favored by the emperor, otherwise he would not have been awarded even the prince's calligraphy.

This is actually a misunderstanding. Except for the painting of Fuze Cangsheng which was given to Cheng Yu, the rest were given to Ah Cai.

She planned to sell these calligraphy and paintings for a good price a thousand years later and achieve financial freedom.

So whenever she had the chance, she would ask Zhao Heng to write inscriptions and paint. She did not let go of the time when Zhao Shouyi lived in Cheng Mansion, and asked him to write inscriptions and paint whenever he was free. The father and son thought that she had a strong interest in calligraphy and painting!

This old man was no ordinary person. His name was Li Yunze, a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. He was the son of the famous general Li Qianpu. After the Northern Song Dynasty signed a peace agreement with the Liao Kingdom, he was recommended to Emperor Zhenzong of Song by his teacher Bi Shi'an to serve as the governor of Xiongzhou.

Su Che recorded in "Longchuan Biezhi" that "Li Yunze guarded Xiongzhou and was famous for his knowledge and tactics, and many people in the world could talk about him", which shows his superb military wisdom.

Xiongzhou was the most important strategic location in the Northern Song Dynasty and the front line of the struggle against the Liao Kingdom. The special status of Xiongzhou required the garrison commander to have the ability to deal with various complex events and emergencies.

Li Yunze used his wisdom and strategies to protect Xiongzhou for fourteen years. During his tenure, he restored and developed the people's livelihood economy, improved people's living standards, worked diligently and loved the people, and achieved outstanding political achievements.

……

……

After receiving the news, Cheng Yu returned home immediately. He had met Li Yunze once when he was a teenager. Later, he went to the northwest. Cao Wei sometimes talked to him about Li Yunze. Cao Wei always respected Li Yunze very much. As the saying goes, a hero should be cherished and respected.

Li Yunze turned around after hearing footsteps, and saw a handsome man in an off-white cotton robe, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, walking towards him.

"Uncle Li,"

Cheng Yu smiled at him.

"...Asahi,"

Li Yunze looked at Cheng Yu, feeling endless regret in his heart!

The once shy boy has finally grown into a great man!

He patted Cheng Yu's arm and said with relief,

"well,"

The two men sat down hand in hand, and the servants served them fragrant tea. After exchanging greetings, Li Yunze said, "Xuzhi, before I came here, I visited Jinghang Zhenzong Avenue. The material there is really amazing. It was muddy yesterday, but it was as hard as stone the next day. They said you made it. What kind of material is this...?"

Cheng Yu understood and said, "Uncle Li, this is called cement. It was made by the craftsmen in my nephew's factory. You came here specifically for this, right?"

"Yes, I have several staff members in the capital. They will pass on the news from all over the country to me in a timely manner. When I first received the information, I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes..."

Cheng Yu hesitated for a moment and asked,

"...Then I wonder what Uncle Li wants to use the cement for?"

"Well... I want to use it for city defense fortresses and... pagodas,"

"pagoda?"

"It's actually a watchtower,"

"Oh!"

Cheng Yu understood immediately and said, "Uncle Li, tomorrow I will take you to visit the factory. After you understand how to use cement, tell me how much you want. I will try my best to meet your requirements."

When Li Yunze heard this, he was overjoyed!

Cement is a super hot-selling commodity nowadays. It can not only be used to build roads, but also to build houses quickly and solidly. However, it is difficult to buy on the market. What he is most worried about is that Cheng Yu will refuse to sell it to him for this reason.

The next morning, Cheng Yu personally took Li Yunze to visit a factory under construction.

Entering the factory gate, workers were building a factory building. Cheng Yu had always complained that the previous factory buildings were too small and could not accommodate many people. Now that there are more and more workers, he allocated another piece of land to rebuild the factory building.

A group of people walked and visited.

In the middle of this land is a long and wide road that seems to have no end, like a grid, with many cross roads on both sides, and countless craftsmen are working inside.

I saw that they dug a hole in the ground every two meters, and then buried a rectangular iron cage made of dozens of iron rods in the deep pit. The iron cage was estimated to be more than two meters high. Then they nailed it with wooden boards all around, and then connected the top and sides of the iron cage with this iron cage. Other people poured that kind of black cement and sand slurry into the iron cage.

"Xuzhi,"

Li Yun asked Cheng Yu,

"Does adding iron rods inside make it stronger?"

"Yes, building a house is different from building a road. It is hollow, and all the weight is on these beams. It would be very unsafe without steel bars inside."

"A house with reinforced steel bars will be very strong. For a factory like this, it will be fine even if there is a big hailstorm."

"Oh~! That's amazing!"

Li Yunze and others showed surprised expressions and asked again,

"The iron rods inside are called rebars? Are they also products of your factory? I don't think I've ever seen them outside."

"Yes, this is steel. It has the hardness of pig iron and the toughness of wrought iron. It is the best choice for making farm tools and weapons."

"Oh~,"

They walked to several factory buildings with completed frames, where a dozen craftsmen were laying bricks. They smeared cement on the bricks and soon finished laying a wall.

"Can this cement also be used to bond bricks together?"

"Yes, just add lime and sand. The lime we usually use needs to be mixed with glutinous rice juice or egg white, which is barely effective, but the cost is too high and it dries slowly. Using cement mortar to make bricks will dry the next day."

After walking a little further, we came to a row of square houses. We walked into one of the completed houses.

There were four clean white walls inside, a hard cement floor, and several large windows on each wall. These windows were made of transparent glass. Even when the windows were closed, the lighting inside was still very good.

Everyone was shocked.

How much money would it cost to build a big house like this?

And there are a lot of rooms here!

This loyal and brave marquis is so rich!

"The cost of building a house like this... is amazing, right?"

Li Yun asked everyone's question, Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Actually, the cost is not that high, much less than the usual cost of building a house."

"A bag of cement costs 400 wen, and building a house like this will cost about 40 taels of silver. If we calculate the price of lime and sand at normal prices, the construction period can be increased by 90%, and the labor cost can be reduced by 90%. Can you calculate the cost? Isn't it much less?"

"Also, the current production volume is low so the price is high. In the future, when the factory expands and the production volume increases, the price can go down,"

When everyone heard this, they all showed incredible expressions.

Especially Li Yunze, who had thought that this material was very expensive before, but he didn't expect it to be sold for only 400 coins per bag, and it would be even cheaper in the future.

He said to Cheng Yu excitedly, "Xuzhi, this material is so easy to use and affordable, it benefits the country and the people, we should increase production efforts, it is hard to find a bag in the market now."

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Uncle Li, we are also expanding our production capacity now. The main reason is that the demand for road construction is too high. Once the road is built and the production is released, the market will naturally resume normal sales."

"well,"

He nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Cheng Yu, "Let me discuss with the gentlemen how much cement is needed. I will tell you the result."

"Can,"

After visiting the construction site, the group returned home. Cheng Yu invited Li Yunze to stay at Cheng Mansion, and the two talked in detail all night!