My British Empire

The work of cement is both difficult and simple, and it can only be figured out by these half-assed chemists.

Seeing the muddy situation on the ground, Edward frowned slightly, and then immediately had a smile on his face. He kindly walked up to a bald chemist, helped his lowered head up, and asked:

Academician Abt, may I ask, is there any progress in researching this cement?

Academician Abbott has a Mediterranean head and a big red nose. He doesn't look like a scientist, but a blacksmith.

Edward's nose twitched, and he could still smell a sulfur smell, which he guessed came from gunpowder.

Your Majesty, please forgive us for our dereliction of duty! Although being helped up by His Majesty the King, Academician Abt still lowered his head, his cheeks flushed slightly, and said in embarrassment.

Although we have put in all our efforts, please forgive us for our negligence! So far, we have not found a suitable formula for the task of cement, and it cannot achieve the effect you requested!

At this time, not only him, but even the other academicians in charge of this matter all lowered their heads with embarrassment on their faces.

In two years, His Majesty the King gave the materials and general direction. They haven't made a breakthrough after two years of research, which is really embarrassing.

Academicians... But, my lord, we have made some sudden progress!

Edward raised his hand, and was about to comfort these chemists who had worked hard for many years, but they suddenly said such a sentence, which made Edward feel a sense of surprise.

Could it be?

After repeated tests, we finally discovered that if the bricks and tiles are crushed into crushed sand or clay, mixed together with lime and a small amount of gypsum, and then calcined, something similar to cement can be obtained!

As he spoke, Academician Abt half-bent and led the way. After a while, he came to a gray-black wall, which was about two meters high and about two meters high.

At first glance, Edward felt a sense of familiarity.

He walked quickly and kicked a few times, the wall was as stable as Mount Tai, leaving only a few footprints.

The scholars at the side looked at the king's rude behavior in surprise, full of disbelief.

Well, are there any shortcomings in this cement? Edward was also a little embarrassed at this time, glanced at the concrete wall in front of him, and began to change the subject.

Our experiments found that this cement often does not solidify. We fired a stone (112 pounds, 50.8 kilograms) of cement, but only about ten pounds could be solidified to meet the requirements, and the others were completely unqualified!

However, such a wall can withstand the impact of dozens of people, and it is safe and sound, stronger than a castle!

Speaking of this, everyone's face is full of regret, the ratio of eleven to one is indeed a failure.

For chemists like them, failing to meet the conditions is of course a failure.

But Edward didn't think so, no matter how much money he spent, the situation was tense.

How much does it cost to produce one stone of these cements?

By this time, Edward was concerned about cost.

This, as clay and lime are cheap and readily available, cost only a shilling per stone of cement!

Afterwards, Academician Abt glanced at the king and said hesitantly.

Edward didn't care so much, and began to calculate silently in his heart.

The ten-meter-long and three-meter-high courtyard wall at home used ten bags of cement. If each bag was fifty kilograms, then one ton of cement was used.

In this calculation, it will cost twenty shillings, which is less than one pound, which is cheap.

For the current plan, there is no better way, so just use it as it is!

After coming to a cheap conclusion, Edward put a smile on his face again.

If the situation is true, Academician Abt, and fellow academicians, each of you will receive a reward of one hundred pounds!

Looking at the team of nine people in front of him and their dirty clothes, Edward announced loudly.

Long live, long live my king! Thank God!...

And just two days ago, facing the city of Rennes, the capital of Brittany, the Marquis of Edinburgh was full of thoughts.

As the capital of the Brittany region, the city of Rennes is naturally high and strong, making it difficult to conquer.

Moreover, the Marquis of Edinburgh also heard that there were more than a thousand soldiers and a large number of civilians in the city, which made the British army with only 3,000 men not know how to start.

Although the Celtics inside couldn't come out, it was difficult for the British army outside the city to enter. For a while, it entered a stalemate.

Therefore, two days ago, the British army was still outside the city.

The reason why the city of Rennes was breached was because the British artillery came.

Speaking of cannons, the first ones were bronze cannons, the so-called bronze cannons.

This kind of gun is huge, extremely heavy, and has a wide muzzle. It shined during the Hundred Years War between Britain and France.

How should I put it, this cannon has always fired stone projectiles in the West, similar to our catapults, but it requires a lot of gunpowder to launch.

It was around 1450, more than a hundred years ago, that iron bullets began to be fired.

In this era, there is a good place in the UK-Sussex. Since the iron cannon technology was introduced to the UK, Sussex's ironmaking technology is among the best in Europe.

Therefore, after Edward passed some of his superficial knowledge to the military factory, especially the teaching of clay sculpture technology, the iron cannons were mass-produced.

Although the range of the iron cannon is not as far as that of the bronze cannon, it is easy to explode and other shortcomings, but it is cheap!

In particular, long-barreled guns are still only built on a small scale at present, and cannons are still an important factor in determining victory or defeat.

This time, 3,000 British troops, with a full dozen iron cannons weighing a thousand catties, came to Brittany without hesitation.

Due to the heavy artillery and difficulty in walking, it still arrived two or three days later than the main force.

As soon as the artillery arrived, the Marquess of Edinburgh immediately swept away his worries, and his whole person was in high spirits.

Twelve cannons were placed neatly in front of the city of Rennes, and the black muzzles were facing the city wall of Rennes at a forty-five-degree angle, which looked extremely scary.

Although there are a few cannons on the city of Rennes, God knows if they can still be used. From the Hundred Years War to the present, the city of Rennes has never experienced a war again.

The soldiers on the city wall looked at the cannons with bloody mouths, their faces were pale with fright, and their bodies shook uncontrollably.

Hey! Let you not surrender, let you taste the taste of artillery!

Looking at the standing city of Rennes, which still stubbornly closed the city gate, the Marquis of Edinburgh immediately laughed.

Fire me, blast the city of Rennes—

Staring at the city of Rennes, the Marquis of Edinburgh suddenly took a breath, his eyes widened, and he shouted hoarsely.

Immediately, the artillery that had already been prepared ignited the gunpowder.

In an instant, twelve huge stones flew directly forward in a parabolic manner.

In the middle of the night, I tried anti-piracy. Forgive readers of the original version, the subscription ratio is too low, and I can't get rid of it.

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