Hearing the cry of "croak", Shulot raised his head and saw a black silhouette hovering in the sky.
The young man stared at it for a while, without stopping.
Beside the lake are many Chinampa floating fields, where staple fruits and vegetables are grown all year round. These crows are attracted by the food and are extremely smart. They will peck at the top of the corn seedlings and eat the seeds below. When the corn matures, they will
, tearing off the protective outer skin and feasting on the corn cob. The straw man statue inserted in the field can scare away other birds, but not the crows, and farmers can do nothing about it.
"We still need to popularize bows and arrows and let the militiamen practice archery... The scientific and technological development being nurtured by the Institute of Inspiration must not be interrupted by the crows of the empire..."
Thinking of this, Shulot laughed to himself. In the past two months, he has been preoccupied with religious reform, power struggles, and scientific and technological farming... It has been a long time since he purely appreciated anything, and it is difficult to be as clear-minded as before.
"A saint is one who embodies the beauty of heaven and earth and understands the principles of all things... When will I reach the state of a saint? When I look at the world, my heart is clear, and my spirit is perfect, it is like the crystal of glass..."
While walking, Hulot came to the brick-making workshop, where a small brick kiln had been built. Some were firing bricks, some had just turned off, and some had cooled down.
He looked closer and saw that these brick kilns were about three meters high, like a barrel, with a bottom diameter of about two meters. The top of the brick kiln was a slightly smaller arc, and the four walls were thick soil, forming a hollow round platform. The soil of the brick kiln
There are two opposite small doors on the wall, which are used to load blanks and produce bricks, and underneath is a fire tunnel for filling with wood and burning fire.
The young man silently calculated in his mind that the height and bottom diameter... Well, the volume of the cylinder is slightly more than ten cubic meters, and the brick density is 2.5-3.0 tons/cubic. This kiln is about three tons of bricks. Bricks are indeed the cheapest and most productive.
Building materials!
In fact, as early as the Olmec civilization in the first millennium BC, the ancestors had burned large quantities of bricks to build houses. By the time of the Teotihuacan civilization, the scale and skills of brick-burning reached their peak.
In the place where Shulot came to this world, in the magnificent ancient holy city, the wonder of the Pyramid of the Sun is 63 meters high. The top is a platform tens of meters square, and the bottom is a foundation more than 200 meters long and wide. The volume is estimated to be 100 meters.
More than 10,000 cubic meters. Converted into weight, that is a total of 3 million tons of building materials, a small part of which is stone, and most of which are fired bricks! The stacks of bricks are filled with gravel and adhesive.
A perfect fit will last for thousands of years.
The boy had climbed the 248 stone steps of the Pyramid of the Sun countless times. This wonder, built in the 2nd century AD, did not use any metal, animals or wheeled tools. All bricks were fired nearby. And carefully
Looking at the color of the bricks, he was surprised to find that many of them were hard and long-lasting blue bricks. Compared with red bricks, green bricks are stronger, more durable, and are the best building materials for wonders.
After more than 1,300 years, the Pyramid of the Sun is still as stable as a majestic sacred mountain, standing high beside the Avenue of Death, and the same is true for the Pyramid of the Moon.
The wonders of the sun and the moon, the two blue brick pyramids, have remained standing until later generations, shocking every visitor. They also silently entrust the imaginary national community, allowing the ancient Mesoamerican civilization to still survive in people's hearts.
Rather than being completely erased from history like the North American Indians.
"To unite people's hearts, this is the meaning of spectacle!"
Shulot missed his hometown in the Holy City, which he had not returned to for two years, and also recalled the distant future in his dreams.
During this era, the construction of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty had been largely completed, and the outer perimeter of important checkpoints were reinforced with blue bricks. At this time, Dayan Khan, who revitalized Mongolia, had just ascended the throne, and was subsequently blocked from outside the Great Wall. He sighed when looking at the wall, and had to focus on the strategy.
In Mongolia, the desert.
Like the advanced pottery art, the Mexica's brick-burning technology has been extremely mature. The brick-burning of the Alliance is handled by potters, and the manager here is Tanali, a female potter leader.
When she saw His Highness, Tanali strode over. She was about forty years old, with a strong figure, a face that showed vicissitudes of life, and a vague beauty that was lost in her eyebrows. On the head of the potter leader, there was a particularly conspicuous robe.
Bright cloth robe.
Shulot looked carefully and saw that there were eight abstract babies painted on the cloth robe. Under the babies were five warriors holding war clubs. The young man took a breath of cold air and bowed his head to Tanari. The surroundings
The warriors also bowed and saluted to express their respect for the hero's mother. With such meritorious service, the potter leader's reputation even surpassed that of the local community priest, and he was indeed enough to serve as the manager of the potters.
Tanari saluted His Highness vigorously, and then spoke loudly and loudly.
"Your Highness, the God of War is blessing us! This newly built workshop is not as big as the big kiln in the capital, but with me in charge, the red bricks we make are not bad at all!"
Shulot quickly took two steps forward and lifted up the leader of the potters. Then, the boy visited the workshop while listening to Tanari introduce the process of making bricks.
"Your Highness, the soil for making bricks needs to be dug deep from the surface of the earth, so that it becomes soft and sticky, fine and easy to use! Then it is best for the clay to be piled up for a few months. It will slowly loosen and break due to wind and rain.
The thinner it becomes, the better.”
Tanari strode forward, grabbed a handful of fine soil from the clay pile, and placed it in His Highness's hand. Shulot squeezed the fineness of the soil and nodded.
"Next, water needs to be added to the soil, and it needs to be kneaded repeatedly, at least five times. This step is crucial! Whether the fired bricks are strong or not depends on how well this step is done!"
At this point, Tanali had already walked among hundreds of people in Heni and waved vigorously.
"Work, all work! Your Highness, can you see it? Knead the soil for me seven times today!"
The peasants were speechless, and they bowed their heads obediently and continued their work. Shulot also nodded slightly. Under Tanali's management, the peasants worked like an arm and a finger, and worked in an orderly manner.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Next, sprinkle a layer of fine sand on the ground, then fill the soil into the wood billet mold, and compact it to make a brick. The removed brick must be
Dry it in the shade at your back, so it won't crack."
As she said that, Tanali patted the wooden shed next to her vigorously, and the thatch on the wooden shed fell down and scattered among the bricks piled on the ground.
"After more than a month, when the bricks are dry, they will be fired in the kiln. First, it will be burned for five or six days, and then burned slowly. It will take a total of more than ten days. When the adobe is completely red, the fire can be slowly turned off.
, when it comes out, it will be a beautiful and solid red brick!”
At this time, the leader of the potters walked to a brick kiln that had cooled down and pointed forward. The boy looked carefully and saw busy workers taking bricks from it, all of which were bright red bricks.
Shulot was a little confused and looked at Tanari next to him.
"Tanali, you did a good job. But I have seen the blue bricks of the pyramid in the Holy City, and they seem to be more durable."
Tanari pondered slightly, then answered after a moment.
"Your Highness, the ancient temples were all built with blue bricks, but the specific craftsmanship has been lost. I have tried it several times and sealed it in the kiln when the flames were turned off. What came out were blue-red bricks, which are neither good-looking nor good-looking.
Much better than red brick.”
Shulot thought for a while and realized that the red color in the bricks is high-priced iron oxide, while the cyan color is low-priced iron oxide. The green brick itself is an oxygen-free reduction of the fired red bricks. To reduce the bricks, oxygen must be cut off.
Sealing the brick kiln cuts off part of the oxygen, so it is blue-red. If it is completely sealed...it seems to be watering outside...watering and steaming? That's right! When the water is heated, it turns into steam, creating high pressure inside.
Naturally, the oxygen is kept outside.
Tanali looked at His Highness, eh, he is such a handsome young man, his thinking look is like a beautiful hummingbird.
After a while, Shulot's eyes lit up and he showed a confident smile.
"Tanali, when the bricks are cooled after firing, you first seal the ventilation holes on the top of the kiln with soil, then use soil to make a pool on the top, add water to it, and let the water vapor slowly seep into the kiln. Steam like this for a few days.
Take it out and look at it again, and you will see that it is a blue brick!"
Hearing this, Tanali looked at His Highness with some doubts.
"Your Highness, why do you add water when baking bricks?"
Shulot was speechless for a moment. He thought for a while before answering.
"Burning bricks borrows the power of the God of Fire to turn soil into stone. Adding water borrows the power of the God of Rain to make the bricks weatherproof."
Tanari was moved when she heard this. This must be the inheritance of the priests! She bowed deeply and respectfully, and was ready to try it.
Xiulote continued to think for a while. Enlargement of brick kilns is an improvement direction, but it requires an increase in charcoal production and bottom combustion heat production to keep up. In my memory, it seems that internal combustion bricks were burned in the countryside in later generations.
Add coal slime, and then burn the bricks thoroughly from the inside. Since history has left this technical solution, it must have passed various practical tests. The young man continued to speak.
"Tanali, go to the charcoal burning place and get some charcoal to make powder, try to add it evenly into the bricks, and then bake it to see the effect."
Tanali thought for a while, then looked over seriously.
"Your Highness, by adding charcoal, is this borrowing the power of the God of Plants and Trees?"
Looking at the serious faces of the potter leader and the surrounding warriors, Shulot was speechless and could only nod solemnly.
Then, the young man looked at the wooden molds engraved with various patterns. These wooden molds were used to press patterns on the bricks. The most common ones were the feathered snake and the sun. The bricks specially prepared for the nobles were magnificent and engraved.
Various family patterns are painted on them, implying the blessing of the gods.
After completing the inspection, Shulot said goodbye to Tanari who saluted respectfully. Then, the young man raised his head and saw that the sun was setting slightly in the west and there was still a lot of time. He went to the glass workshop of the stonemason leader Lozano, right there.
The nearest noble residence.
It is said to be a glass workshop, but at this time it is just a few large earthen kilns, several sets of obsidian processing tools, a master stonemason, and more than a dozen apprentice stonemasons.
Lozano sat on the ground with his legs crossed and a frown on his face, looking at the large pile of milky white quartz sand in front of him, unable to do anything. He was tall and muscular, and sitting in this position looked like a hibernating giant bear.
The master stonemason frowned and thought hard. Ever since he was forcibly recruited to the High Priest's Mansion by His Majesty, he had to give up making lucrative obsidian tools and study something instead, colorless "glass"? I don't know what this awkward name is.
Where did it come from? Master Lozano, who is well-informed, has never heard of it.
According to His Highness's instructions, he found this kind of milky-white hard sand from near the lake area, and there were large pieces of hard stone that could not be scratched next to it. There were a lot of these in the mountains to the east, and even more near the volcano. He asked
A dozen apprentices each dug out a bag and brought it back to the workshop. Then, when they were firing it according to His Highness's instructions, the problem arose.
"This thing basically won't burn! Your Highness, is he dreaming?!" Lozano complained loudly, holding his head, while the disciples stood in the corner and shivered, not daring to say anything.
Behind Lozano, Hulot showed no expression. He looked at the master mason and waved to stop Bertard and Etalik who were about to step forward.
After a long while, the master stonemason raised his head and looked at the apprentices who were standing across from him.
"What are you doing standing around here? Why don't you go and fire up the earth kiln, mix this thing with soil and burn it again!"
The apprentices just stood stupidly in front. One apprentice quietly stretched out his index finger and pointed behind the master.
"You still dare to point your finger at me? I've rebelled against you..."
Looking at this scene in the workshop, Lozano suddenly realized something. He suddenly jumped up and turned around suddenly, and saw the expressionless face of His Highness. He didn't know when he came. It couldn't be...
Thinking of this, Lozano threw himself to the ground again with a thud, moving as quickly as a bear.
"Ah, Your Highness the Priest!...I, I, Lozano, was trying hard to think about how to make glass. I seemed to have fallen asleep just now and said some random talk in my sleep..."
Shulot shook his head. He looked at the quartz sand on the ground and asked seriously.
"Lozano, can't you burn these hard white sands? Have you tried raising the temperature and adding any combustion aids?"
The master mason's face turned pale. His Highness also heard this sentence, wouldn't it be?... He opened his mouth and spoke after a long while.
"Your Highness, I, Lozano, have changed the kiln twice, added more firewood, introduced more wind, and poured some oil, but the sand is still difficult to melt... It seems that plant ash has some effect, and other
Still trying.”
Shulot thought about it carefully. He knew very little about glass firing. He only knew that quartz sand was pure silica and could produce transparent glass. Quartz sand and quartz stone were products of volcanic activity. In the Alliance,
The territory produces much.
The difficulty now is that the melting point of pure silica is too high, so we must find a way to increase the temperature or lower the melting point.
The boy recalled over and over again and remembered three key words: quartz sand, flux and stabilizer. Flux? Saltpeter and lead should be effective. Stabilizer? I don’t know what this is. After a while, he said seriously
.
"I will give you a batch of high-quality charcoal to increase the burning temperature. I will also give you a small amount of soil saltpeter powder. You can mix it with the hard white sand and try burning it. Finally, I will give you a batch of lead and add it to the white sand.
..
Lozano, colorless glass is very important to the future of the alliance. You have to settle down, prepare for two to three years or even ten years, try more different formulas, and try to make progress as early as possible! From now on, this
This is your main business!”
Shulot stepped forward and patted the master mason's broad arm seriously. Then, the young man looked at Lozano's solemn and frozen expression, and nodded with satisfaction. He continued to look around, but there was indeed no result.
, then nodded and turned around.
Behind him, Lozano was still as solemn and solid as a sculpture, but his mouth gradually grew larger. After a moment, the sculpture fell to the ground, and his burly body hit the ground with a loud bang. The apprentices hurriedly swarmed up and rubbed the master's heart.
and back.
Shulot didn't hear the sound behind him, he was already far away.
Lake Texcoco reflects the rays of the setting sun, illuminating the boy's tough outline. There is some dust on his face, but he still looks calm and determined.
Under the calcining of time and worldly events, the young man has been reshaped. His passion is deep-hidden, like black charcoal made from burning firewood, restrained and burning fiercely. His will is hard, like a green brick made from clay, calm and unyielding.
Fear of vicissitudes of life. And when will his soul be completely transparent, as pure and bright as glass? Maybe, this will take time.
"I have sown the seeds of technological progress, and I still need time to wait."
Shulot thought secretly and looked into the distance. In the distance, sparkling waves appeared on the golden lake, whispering and flowing for thousands of years.
Time will eventually shape everything, including civilization and himself.