After that, Guo An lay down again for three days, and then at Zhu Liang's urging, he had to go to Shangzhuang Village Iron Smelting Works again.
As for the craftsmen, they are still the same ten old craftsmen.
This time, everyone at the iron smelting institute was filled with gratitude when they saw Guo An.
Obviously, the rewards given by Zhu Di to these craftsmen have already reached the hands of these craftsmen.
Especially Zhong Huo, his face was full of attentiveness after seeing Guo An.
"My servants met with Guo Xianzun. Guo Xianzun came to the iron smelting factory again, but has he already figured out a way?"
"Guanshi Zhong's eyes are really vicious. I have been thinking hard for so many days and reading hundreds of books, and finally I have some inspiration."
Guo An was talking nonsense seriously.
Zhong Huo said with admiration on his face: "Guo Xianzun is indeed a genius. I don't know what items Guo Xianzun needs. As long as they are available in Tieye, I will definitely bring them to you."
Zhu Liang on the side had a strange look on his face, but he knew that in the past few days, Guo County Lord had been lying on a chair, and he didn't even worry too much about the government affairs in the county government.
If His Highness hadn't been able to bear it any longer and asked him to urge him, this Honorable County Master Guo would have been able to stay at home for another half a month.
At this moment, Guo An had already begun to speak.
"Guanshi Zhong, it is indeed very difficult to build a three-foot-tall house using ordinary methods.
Therefore, I plan to develop another building material."
Zhong Huo's eyes lit up and he said quickly: "Your Excellency, County Guo, just give me orders."
"Very good. I need some limestone and some clay."
"It's easy. These little people can deliver a stone to the county magistrate in no time."
"Then, I need to crush the limestone, grind it into pieces as fine as clay, mix them evenly with the clay, and put them in the furnace for calcination.
The temperature of the furnace should be at least the same as that of the iron-making furnace. As for the calcining time, calcining should be done for an hour first."
"this……"
Zhong Huo was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"I will tell my servants to take care of it now."
"There is also plaster, I need some too!"
"This matter is also simple..."
Soon, Zhong Huo called several craftsmen to look for limestone, clay, and gypsum.
"Master Guo County, I wonder what you want to do?"
Zhu Liang, the blacksmith, and others all looked confused when they heard this.
"I am planning to develop a building material that is stickier than glutinous rice, called cement, to be used to build houses for that giant iron-making furnace. You should have heard it just now!"
Zhu Liang, the blacksmith, and others all nodded subconsciously.
They heard exactly what Guo An said to Zhong Huo just now.
"Alright, let's all prepare. Once the limestone arrives, we will crush it and calcine it. Maybe after the development is successful, you can all get twelve taels or even more rewards."
"Your Excellency Guo County, please take a good look at it..."
All the old craftsmen were suddenly filled with energy.
Guo An is not too anxious about developing cement.
Cement is much easier to make than iron, as long as you try out the ratio of limestone, clay, and gypsum!
These matters should last no longer than five days.
And the rest is just bricks.
Thinking about it, Guo An looked at Zhu Liang beside him.
"May I ask General Zhu, does His Highness have a brick factory?"
"Brickyard?"
Hearing this, Zhu Liang's eyes lit up, "Guo County Master is going to use bricks to build a house for that giant iron-making furnace?"
Guo An nodded, "Yeah!"
"As for the bricks, Mr. Guo County, don't worry, His Highness King Yan really has a brick factory."
Zhu Liang said, "It's just that the bricks fired in the brick factory are not very many, and they should not be enough for Guo County Zun."
"It doesn't matter, it's just building a house. It doesn't require many bricks."
Guo An waved his hand casually and asked, "Can you send 10,000 bricks in five days?"
In the Ming Dynasty, due to the habit of using bricks to build city walls, the bricks fired in all brick factories were generally larger, up to one foot seven or two feet.
Ten thousand bricks can build a house.
"Don't worry, Lord Guo, we can still deliver 10,000 bricks."
After Zhu Liang finished replying, he said with some hesitation: "Master Guo County, I will say one more thing. Beiping is short of food. His Highness King Yan will never allow the use of glutinous rice mortar to build houses."
"General Zhu, although you can rest assured, I don't dare to waste food!"
Guo An smiled softly, "When cement is developed, General Zhu and His Highness King Yan will understand."
"In this way, the general will feel relieved!"
Zhu Liang breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, there is the boring process of calcining cement.
While calcining, testing and recording.
Zhu Liang couldn't understand these. When he reported to Zhu Di, he only reported one-five-ten. Every day, Guo County Zun led the ten craftsmen to grind the stones, burn them, and burn them.
When finished, water and stir.
“Do you still use river sand?”
As Guo An continued to bake cement, Zhu Di became more and more confused.
"Your Highness, that's exactly what it is."
Zhu Di rubbed his eyebrows and looked at Monk Daoyan aside.
"The Master is very knowledgeable and has looked at the past and present. I wonder if you have ever heard of that cement thing?"
"The monk is ashamed. He doesn't know what item that Guo County Master is developing."
Monk Dao Yan looked calm.
Zhu Di looked at Zhu Fu again, and Zhu Fu shook his head quickly.
When he heard the name of cement for the first time, Zhu Fu specifically checked the books in the palace, but found nothing.
Zhu Di looked at Zhu Liang again, "Guo Anke told you, when will the cement be forged?"
"Reporting to His Highness, Mr. Guo Xianzun said that the cement has been calcined, but if it is to be used to build houses, it is still necessary to experiment to find the best ratio.
Therefore, I think it will take a few more days!"
Zhu Liang quickly reported the news.
"In this case, in five days, I will go to Shangzhuang Village to have a look!"
Zhu Di nodded slightly, then thought of something and asked: "How many of the giant iron-smelting furnaces in the Iron Smelting Institute have been built now?"
Zhu Liang said: "Reporting to your highness, three pieces have been built, but it will take a few days to use them to make iron."
"Very good!"
Zhu Di asked again: "How is the situation on the farm during this period?"
Zhu Fu replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, four chickens have died on the farm in the past few days, and one pig has died of illness. However, with several veterinarians sent by Your Highness, there has been no major trouble."
Zhu Di nodded slightly, "The farm is particularly important, and there must be no accidents."
"Your Highness, please put it down. We must keep an eye on the farm!"
Zhu Fu quickly saluted.
As Guo An, the foreign official, gradually made contributions to King Zhu Di of Yan, Zhu Fu, the chief historian of the Yan Palace, and all the officials in the Yan Palace were under pressure.
The farm is currently the only place where they can make achievements.
Therefore, Zhu Fu and some officials in the Yan Palace did not dare to be careless about the farm.