Chapter 90 Kiln Modification
Cuiyun Lane in the afternoon.

A white horse slowly stopped in front of the Chen residence. Chen Wenzong got off the horse lightly, and when he landed, a servant came up to him and took the reins and whip from him.

Chen Wenzong lifted his clothes silently, stepped over the high threshold, and walked into the depths of the red gate.

A strong servant came forward with a shiny copper basin and said, "Sir, please wipe your face."

There was hot water in the copper basin, and a white towel was placed on the edge of the copper basin. Chen Wenzong picked up the towel, dipped it in the hot water, and wiped it from forehead to chin twice, and then he felt refreshed.

Chen Wenzong folded the white handkerchief and placed it back on the edge of the copper basin, and asked softly, "Where is father?"

The servant whispered, "After the master ordered the young servant who embezzled the money to be beaten to death, he ordered someone to prepare a carriage to go to the government office. It seems that he has some official business to deal with."

"Where's mother?"

Jianpu replied, "Madam has asked Madam Zhang to go to the Garment Bureau to select silk and satin."

"What about filial piety?"

Jian Pu continued to answer: "The second young master went out with his friends, saying that he was going to the East Market for fun."

Chen Wenzong was in a daze. A servant died in his family today, but no one in the mansion seemed to be affected and everything was normal.

"Where's the butler?"

"After the housekeeper was beaten with a stick, we carried him back to the house to rest."

"I'll go see him," Chen Wenzong walked through the long vermilion porch and came to the back house where the servants lived.

As soon as he entered the yard, he heard the butler cursing: "That little bastard has grown so powerful now that he has become close to the palace, and he even dares to complain to the master... Ah, apply the medicine gently!"

With a slap, it sounded like someone in the housekeeper's room was slapped. Soon, a servant said in panic, "I'll be gentler."

Chen Wenzong frowned. The butler's tone at this moment was completely different from what he had heard in the past, as if he were two different people.

He walked forward and lifted the cotton door curtain, only to see the butler lying naked on the bed, with a servant applying medicine to him. There was a plate of preserved fruits and cakes beside the bed.

When the butler saw Chen Wenzong coming in, he immediately stood up and pulled up his pants, and said with tears of gratitude: "Sir, why did you come to visit me in the backyard? This filthy place where servants live is not a place for you to come."

Chen Wenzong said slowly, "You were hit hard by those ten sticks. You must rest well... I went to look for Chen Ji just now, but I couldn't bring him back."

The housekeeper said in a serious tone, "Young Master, why are you looking for him? Don't think that he is pretending to be nice at this moment. He is just trying to trick the master into feeling sorry for him. You and the master just need to ignore him, and he will find a way to come back to the Chen Mansion in a few days."

"Why?"

The housekeeper swore: "Don't think that he doesn't want to go back to the mansion now, but can he really give up the wealth and splendor of the Chen Mansion?"

Yes, the Chen family has been nobles for generations, and the current head of the family, Chen Luchi, is also the Minister of Finance of the current dynasty. How many people can let go of such a status quo?
But when Chen Wenzong recalled the Chen Ji he had just seen, he clearly felt that the other party had a determined and calm expression and really wanted to break off all ties with the Chen family.

He was silent for a long time. "Housekeeper, take good care of yourself. I'm going to read a book. Tell the kitchen staff not to prepare dinner for me tonight."

"Yes."

Chen Wenzong went out and walked through the deep courtyard, then returned to his room and sat at the desk. He wanted to review the scriptures, but he just couldn't concentrate after flipping through the book a few times.

The autumn examination would be held the day after tomorrow. He used a black jade paperweight to smooth out the rice paper and wanted to write a policy essay. His brush was dipped in ink but he still couldn't put pen to paper.

The princess's questions and the laughter on the ox cart kept echoing in Chen Wenzong's mind, and he couldn't calm down.

After a moment, he stood up and walked out, saying to the servant waiting at the door, "Prepare the horses."

Chen Wenzong hurried to the door and jumped on his horse. He gently squeezed the horse's belly with his legs and galloped towards the south of the city.

He wanted to sincerely apologize to Chen Ji. He thought that he was an unworthy brother because he had never shown any concern for his brother who was injured.

……

……

After the snow melted, the official road became muddy and rugged, and the closer it got to Liujiatun, the darker the road became, covered with coal slag that had leaked from ox carts.

Liujiatun is not as secluded as imagined. There is a constant stream of merchants and ox carts coming and going at the entrance of the village, some pulling clay in, and some pulling porcelain out.

There were many chimneys in the village, spewing white smoke into the sky continuously. In the first snow, the laborers were wearing thin clothes and leaky straw sandals, busy loading and unloading goods.

The entire Liujiatun is a huge ceramic workshop.

Chen Wenzong rode on his horse, waved to stop a strongman and asked in a gentle voice: "Excuse me... have you seen the prince and the princess?"

Li Bang was a little confused: "Why would the prince and the princess come to a place like ours? Did this young master go to the wrong place?"

Chen Wenzong was silent for a moment. He also thought he had gone to the wrong place, but Chen Ji clearly said Liujiatun in front of the clinic.

He then asked, "Did you see a group of eight people coming to Liujiatun? There was a monk among them."

Li Bang suddenly realized: "You mean them? They just used a golden hairpin to buy the abandoned kiln factory of the Zhou family. It's the third one after you turn left."

"Thank you," Chen Wenzong threw out two copper coins and rode his horse forward in the mud. Seeing his tall and majestic appearance, the wrestlers avoided the middle of the road.

After a few steps, he heard Chen Ji's laughter coming from afar: "Cover your mouth and nose with cloth strips. If you inhale dust, you will feel uncomfortable for a long time."

Chen Wenzong reined in his horse and stopped at the entrance of the kiln factory. He looked down at the muddy road after the snow melted, and the clean soap boots on his feet, and hesitated for a moment whether to dismount.

He looked up and saw that the gate of the kiln factory was open. The yard was filled with gray dust. Chen Ji and others were covered in dirt. They covered their mouths and noses with cloth strips and pushed the huge stone mill in the yard, grinding the broken porcelain pieces into powder.

This was completely different from what Chen Wenzong had imagined. He thought the prince and the princess came here happily to walk in the snow and look for plum blossoms, but he didn't expect that they were actually doing dirty and tiring work in a dilapidated kiln factory.

The Zhoujia Kiln Factory covers an area of ​​about two acres. On the left is a row of low loess houses with broken tiles; in the middle is a huge flat kiln, which is not lit at the moment; on the left is a mountain of defective porcelain piled up, and there is also a huge stone mill.

Liang Gou'er was lying under the eaves of the loess house, sleeping soundly with a dried tobacco leaf covering his face. The little monk was sitting cross-legged on the ground, chanting with his eyes closed. Chen Ji and others were pushing the heavy stone mill, crushing the broken porcelain into slag.

Bai Li held a short broom and kept sweeping the crushed dust into a bamboo basket for later use.

At this time, a handful of dust was raised, and Princess Baili's face was covered with a layer of dust.

The prince who was pushing the millstone said distressedly, "Come quickly, I will help you wipe your face."

Bai Li raised her little face when she heard that, but the prince did not wipe it for her. Instead, he wrote the word "king" on her forehead.

The prince laughed: "Now it looks more like a little tiger!"

Bai Li was filled with anger and chased after the broom in his hand. The two of them chased each other around the millstone, while the others pushed the huge millstone together and laughed.

Liu Quxing looked at She Dengke and said, "Can I help you wipe your face too?"

She Dengke sneered: "Go away and disgust me. Don't think I don't know that you are up to no good again, you little bastard!"

Chen Wenzong sat on his horse and watched silently. He didn't know why these people, covered in dust and dirt, could be so happy pushing a stone mill.

Find joy in misery?

But why do the Crown Prince and Princess Baili, who have such noble identities, have to do these things like laborers?

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Wenzong finally jumped off the horse. When he landed, mud spots splashed on the black boots. He did not speak rashly, but quietly entered the kiln factory yard and observed silently.

But Chen Ji said, "Okay, we've been grinding for so long. I need to see the results before I know how to make subsequent adjustments. We have to be prepared for a protracted war this time."

His understanding of cement comes from the widely circulated "two grindings and one burning" secret. It is simple to say: the raw materials obtained by calcining lime and clay are evenly mixed in a ratio of 75:25. Although it is not as good as special cement, it is definitely enough in this era.

There are piles of broken porcelain in the kiln factory. These are the defective products discarded by the kiln factory in the past. They can be directly used as the raw materials of fired clay. As for slaked lime, which was called chalk in the Ning Dynasty, it has been widely used in many fields. You can just buy it ready-made.

Now that all the raw materials are available, it seems that all that’s left is grinding and mixing.

But Chen Ji knew that, just like the method of decolorizing yellow mud by pouring sugar on it, many things sound simple but are difficult to do. It is easy to make cement, but it is difficult to make qualified cement.

At this time, no one noticed Chen Wenzong's arrival, so he watched silently, wanting to see what the prince and others were going to do.

Chen Ji poured the ground chalk ash and porcelain ash on the open space of the kiln factory, and then added the same proportion of water to stir the powder into a paste.

After mixing it evenly, he spread the cement on a green brick and let it dry. A group of people covered in dust squatted beside him waiting.

The prince squatted with his knees hugged and asked in a low voice: "Chen Ji, how long do we have to wait?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "It will take more than three quarters of an hour for the initial condensation to take place, and within three hours for the final condensation to be considered qualified."

"Three hours, so long?"

Chen Ji said seriously: "Patience, you need patience to do great things!"

"Oh... then how about we play Pai Gow for a while?"

"Did you bring Pai Gow?"

"No, we'll bring it when we come back tomorrow."

"Row."

Bai Li smiled and said, "Although I don't know if this cement thing will be as strong as Chen Ji said after it's made, but working here feels much more interesting than studying in the academy. It's very fulfilling."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Princess, this is just a temporary novelty for you. If you were asked to be like those power sticks, you would definitely not be happy."

At this point, Bai Li suddenly became sad: "I used to like asking Xibing, Xitang and others about the world outside the palace, wanting to see how the people live. At that time, I only heard them talk, and I felt that the people's lives were very hard. But today, when I saw the Libang uncles still wearing straw sandals in winter, I realized that their suffering is not what I can imagine."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment and then said, "The princess and the prince are born into wealth and don't understand the hardships of making a living, but it's not easy for you to be willing to understand these things."

The prince curled his lips and said, "We should also ask the dignitaries in the court to come and see what kind of life the people under their rule are living."

Chen Wenzong watched this scene and suddenly interrupted them from behind, saying, "The officials in the court also care about the country. They work hard every day to formulate policies and save the people from danger. If you want to blame someone, you can only blame the Jing Dynasty and our Ning Dynasty for fighting for years, which has led to the people's miserable lives. The prince and the princess should not have wasted their time in the countryside, and they should not have plotted against the officials in the court behind their backs."

Everyone squatting on the ground turned around and looked at him: "Hey, why are you here?!"

Chen Wenzong did not answer this question, but said sincerely: "Prince, Princess, you should go back and read the books of sages carefully, so that you can benefit the people in the future."

The prince squatted on the ground and said carelessly: "We are doing something important in military strategy, you nerd don't understand!"

Chen Wenzong's breathing stagnated: "How can you accomplish something that will affect the military strategy in this dirty and messy Liujiatun!"

The prince laughed cheerfully and said, "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Chen Wenzong asked in a serious tone: "How can I understand if you don't tell me?"

The prince hesitated and said, "...mainly because I don't understand either."

Chen Wenzong murmured, "You are quite honest, my Lord."

Chen Ji glanced at him and said, "Brother, if you want to watch, just stand aside and watch. Don't talk nonsense. Don't look down on what we are doing now. The end of learning is to apply knowledge to the world and benefit the people. Empty talk will only harm the country."

Chen Wenzong wanted to get angry when he heard this. Confucianism advocates brotherhood and respect for younger brothers, but Chen Ji didn't care about these etiquette at all and didn't take his brother seriously at all.

But he thought about the purpose of his trip and finally endured it. He didn't want to squat on the ground like these people in front of him, so he stood aside and waited quietly, wanting to see what tricks these people would come up with.

only……

Chen Wenzong asked in confusion: "I just heard you talking, and it seems that Chen Ji is in charge here?"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what the question was. The prince thought for a moment and then asked, "What else?"

Chen Wenzong was stunned. The butler had always said that Chen Ji was servile and fawning on the prince and the princess, but now it seems that what the butler said was totally wrong!

Bai Li pulled the prince's arm and said, "Brother, ignore him. We don't want to play with him."

Chen Wenzong: “…”

I don't know how long we waited, maybe two hours, maybe three hours. When everyone's legs were numb from squatting, they brought wooden chairs from the house and continued to wait.

When the sun set, Chen Ji suddenly said, "It should be OK. Both the initial setting time and the final setting time are acceptable, but I don't know if it is strong enough."

The prince went over to check, only to see that the mud that had just been applied to the bricks and stones had already solidified and was stuck to the blue bricks.

His eyes lit up and he looked at Chen Ji: "How long does it take for ordinary glutinous rice mortar to solidify?"

Chen Ji said: "Ten days."

The prince asked again: "If this thing can really replace glutinous rice mortar, then father won't have to worry. Chalk and clay are available everywhere, and many people won't have to starve because of the glutinous rice collection!"

Chen Ji picked up the blue brick, carefully looked at the cement solidified structure, and suddenly said: "Don't be too happy too soon."

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and rubbed it gently with his thumb, and the cement, which should have been solid and firm, was rubbed off like tofu dregs.

If we use this cement to build a city in the border town, it will probably collapse before Jingchao attacks. By then, the prince and Bai Li might be fine, but Chen Ji will probably be beheaded...

What's the problem?
Chen Ji likes to read popular science, so he has a wide range of knowledge. But being widely knowledgeable usually means that each aspect of knowledge is only superficial and cannot be explored in depth.

It sounds very logical when it comes to theory, but it takes a lot of detours to actually put it into practice.

Chen Ji sighed and said, "It's definitely useless now."

The prince asked, "What should we do then?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "These ground porcelain powders need to be sieved finer. Princess, take She Dengke and Brother Maoer to the village to look for a sieve with a finer mesh. Prince, go buy some chalk with Brother Liu and the little monk later..."

Chen Ji always felt that something was wrong, as if he had missed a crucial step.

Chen Wenzong looked at Chen Ji who was concentrating on thinking and felt that he was particularly unfamiliar.

In the past, Chen Ji lived alone in a courtyard in the Chen Mansion, ate alone, slept alone, and even attended a different school from the one he and Wen Xiao went to. His mother would always use Chen Ji's misbehavior as an excuse to prevent them from spending time together.

The brothers live in the same house, but they seem to live in two different worlds.

It was not until this moment that Chen Wenzong realized that he had never really understood his younger brother.

At this moment, Chen Ji suddenly looked up at the huge earthen kiln in the yard: "No, it's this kiln that's wrong. No wonder the boss was hesitant when he bought this kiln factory!"

After that, he took a branch and squatted on the ground to draw a gourd: "This is a rising flame kiln. The temperature cannot meet the requirements for firing cement. It must be replaced with a gourd kiln or a steamed bun kiln to change the rising flame into a reverse flame. Prince, go and gather the strength sticks of Liujiatun."

The prince was curious: "What are you going to do?"

Chen Ji said firmly: "I want to change the kiln!"

(End of this chapter)