The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 284 Cement Bricks Display Colors

The next morning, Tu Chengyu went to the palace to report Qin Keqing's marriage to the Emperor Emeritus and handed over the two items to him.

The Emperor Emeritus was pleased to see the gifts and immediately instructed Dai Quan to put them away carefully. The Diamond Sutra for the Empress Dowager was also sent over immediately.

Having received the confirmed date, the Emperor Emeritus was relieved. He spoke a few more words with Tu Chengyu and then let him leave.

After leaving the palace, Tu Chengyu did not go anywhere else, but went directly to the tent outside the south city.

When they arrived, Quan Wenwei was nowhere to be found; instead, several scholars from the Imperial Academy remained to handle matters.

This was an idea that Quan Wenwei came up with. Originally, the people under Quan Wenwei who could help with tasks were all servants or eunuchs sent by Tu Chengyu.

These people are useful when they follow orders, but they're not good at handling paperwork.

So in the past, Quan Wenwei handled all these things by himself, with Tu Chengyu occasionally helping him once or twice.

Now that we have these scholars from the Imperial Academy, general document management and calculation are simple tasks for them.

So Quan Wenwei came up with a plan: he would find a few scholars each day to come to the tent and help him with simple paperwork.

This greatly reduced Quan Wenwei's workload, and she also had time to learn from Tu Chengyu and patrol the camp.

When Tu Chengyu arrived, the scholars were busy. After greeting them, Tu Chengyu was about to enter the tent when he turned around and inadvertently saw a familiar figure among the scholars.

He stopped in his tracks, pointed at the figure, and said:

"Hey kid, come here."

The scholar whom Tu Chengyu had called a child stood up awkwardly and called out "Your Highness" sheepishly.

Once he stood up, Tu Chengyu was completely certain who this person was.

"Your name is Dong Hui, right?"

The young scholar, Dong Hui, nodded and said:
"Your Highness, it is indeed your student."

"Didn't you go back? What are you doing here again?"

Tu Chengyu remembered that when the scholars came, the little guy was frightened by the disaster victims and cried. At that time, Tu Chengyu saw that he was young and told him to go back. Unexpectedly, he came again after only a few days.

Mentioning the past only made Dong Hui more embarrassed, and he explained helplessly:

"Your Highness, after listening to your words, I went back and discussed it with my parents. My father thought Your Highness's place was good, so he sent me here to work for Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu had told him to discuss it with his parents before making a decision in order to get him to go back.

He thought the man's parents would stop him from coming, but to his surprise, his father was bold enough to send his son over anyway.

Now that the person had been delivered, and it seemed that Quan Wenwei had asked him to stay, Tu Chengyu didn't suggest that he go back.

He simply asked, "Mr. Quan asked you to stay. Which camp were you assigned to?"

Dong Hui replied, "We didn't go to the camp. Mr. Quan had the students help out here in the tent."

It turns out that he was to be used as a secretary here, which is a suitable arrangement by Quan Wenwei.

This little guy is too young and not very brave. It probably wouldn't be suitable for him to go down and deal with disaster victims every day.

After clarifying the situation, Tu Chengyu told him to go back to his work, while he went into the tent to attend to his own business.

After handling some matters that Quan Wenwei had specifically left for him in the tent, Tu Chengyu was about to go out to inspect the camp when he saw Xiao Simayi standing guard outside the tent beside him.

This person was a young boy whom Tu Chengyu took in from among the boatmen when he went to Jiangnan. He later followed him back to the capital.

Some time ago, Tu Chengyu asked him to go with his personal eunuch Xiao Xuanzi and a few other people to do something important.

Tu Chengyu thought it would be a long time before he saw them, but he didn't expect him to appear so soon.

So he asked, "Ma Yi, why are you here?"

Ma Yi replied, "Your Highness, Eunuch Xuan sent me to report that the task Your Highness entrusted to me has been completed, and he also asked me to bring some samples for Your Highness to see."

Upon hearing that they had already succeeded, Tu Chengyu was pleased and asked:

"Where are the samples?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yi quickly put down his satchel, took out a package wrapped in oil paper, and handed it to Tu Chengyu.

Tu Chengyu took it and opened it, and what was inside was the cement he had been longing for.

Tu Chengyu had actually secretly developed the formula for cement while he was at the Prince An's residence.

However, the method he used at the time was rather rudimentary and not very strong, so it was left unused for a long time.

When he was preparing to build a house in the southern part of the city, he suddenly remembered this thing.

Therefore, he handed over the formula and production method he had tested to Xiao Xuanzi, and asked him to take people to the foot of Xishan Mountain to test it again, to see if he could make something stronger than what Tu Chengyu had made, and at the same time explore a way to produce it on a large scale.

Now that Ma Yi has brought samples, it's estimated that he has made some progress in these two areas.

Looking at the samples before he arrived, Tu Chengyu was somewhat excited, but he couldn't see the effect just from these, so he asked:
"Have you tested it? How strong is it?"

Ma Yi said, "Eunuch Xuan led us to build a wall that was stronger than the lime mortar made with glutinous rice juice."

Cheng Yu had seen glutinous rice juice and lime mortar before; the walls in the palace were all built with this stuff, and it was incredibly sturdy.

If the cement can reach this strength, it will fully meet Tu Chengyu's requirements.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Tu Chengyu said to Lao Yao and the others:

"Old Yao, prepare the horses. Let's go check on Xiao Xuanzi."

Old Yao quickly prepared the horse, and Tu Chengyu took Ma Yi and headed straight to the foot of West Mountain.

The disaster relief camp was located outside the south city, while Xiao Xuanzi and the others were at the foot of the western mountain.

The two places were quite far apart, and it took Tu Chengyu and his group a long time to get there.

Tu Chengyu followed Ma Yi, wandering around at the foot of Xishan Mountain, before finally finding Xiao Xuanzi's cement factory in a ravine.

Xiao Xuanzi probably chose this place because it's close to the raw materials and not far from the main road.

When Tu Chengyu arrived, Xiao Xuanzi was already waiting at the factory gate.

In just a short time, Xiao Xuanzi, who was originally a fair-skinned and tender eunuch, has almost turned into a rugged and burly man.

Not only had he become much more muscular, but his face had also darkened considerably. If Tu Chengyu hadn't been familiar with him, he almost wouldn't have recognized him.

As soon as he saw Tu Chengyu, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and greeted him happily.

"This slave has met the prince."

Hearing Xiao Xuanzi's voice, which had become much rougher, Tu Chengyu was filled with satisfaction. He dismounted, went over, helped Xiao Xuanzi up, and patted him on the shoulder, saying:

"Thank you for getting this done in such a short time."

"How could this servant say it was hard work?" Xiao Xuanzi said happily, "This servant did everything according to Your Highness's recipe, I just put in a little effort."

Tu Chengyu remembered his main purpose for coming, so after saying a few words, he asked, "Where is the wall you built? Take me to see it quickly."

Xiao Xuanzi didn't hesitate and turned around to lead Tu Chengyu inside.

Entering through the main gate, you find yourself in a wide, flat area with various raw materials piled up everywhere.

In the very center of the open space, there stood a brick wall that looked very conspicuous. Its shape was basically the same as the red brick wall that Tu Chengyu had seen in his original world.

The only difference is that the head is much larger than in later generations.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu immediately ran over, personally pushed the brick wall, and then used the tool handed to him by Xiao Xuanzi to poke at the cement gaps in the brick wall. He was very satisfied with the strength of the brick wall.

After the test was finished, Tu Chengyu asked, "How much can you burn each day now?"

Xiao Xuanzi pointed to a horse-drawn carriage in the distance, which was specifically used for hauling goods, and said:
"Your Highness, we don't have many people here, and we only have one kiln, which can only fire seven or eight cartloads at a time."

Those horse-drawn carts could only carry a maximum of seven or eight hundred catties of goods each time. So, a single kiln would only yield about five or six thousand catties. This amount might be enough for Tu Chengyu to build a house, but it wouldn't be enough to do anything else.

After thinking for a moment, Tu Chengyu said to Xiao Xuanzi:

"The manpower problem is easy to solve. I will transfer people to you when I get back today. This time, you need to build more kilns and try to increase production by more than ten times."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xuanzi quickly replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, as long as we have enough manpower, I can guarantee that we will meet your requirements."

Seeing that Xiao Xuanzi was full of confidence, Tu Chengyu felt relieved.

Next, Tu Chengyu followed Xiao Xuanzi and walked around the venue a few times.

Just as they were turning around, a group of people carrying bricks walked in from outside.

Tu Chengyu watched them jumping or carrying bricks and asked:

"Where did these bricks come from?"

Xiao Xuanzi glanced at them and said, "Your Highness, these are bricks that Master Jia Lian recently fired. I'm sending them here to try them out."

Jia Lian is quick enough; he's already made bricks in just a few days.

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and then asked, "Why weren't these bricks brought in by horse-drawn cart, but carried by people instead?"

"Your Highness, the carts carrying bricks are quite large, and the road in front of the market is bad, so they can't be brought in. Therefore, we have to have someone carry them in through this last bit of road."

Upon hearing his words, Tu Chengyu thought about it carefully and realized that the path in was indeed a bit narrow.

Tu Chengyu originally wanted to ask why the road wasn't widened, but then he thought that Xiao Xuanzi had only been working here for a short time after he took orders, and probably had all his attention focused on reducing the amount of cement.

So Tu Chengyu didn't blame him, but said:

"Once the people are all here, have someone widen the road in front of the house, otherwise it will be difficult to transport cement later."

"Yes, Your Highness, I had the same thought."

“It’s good that you have this idea,” Tu Chengyu said. “Once we have more cement, you can pave the entire section of road from here to the main road with our cement. That way, the road will be easier to walk on, and we can also test the strength of the cement.”

Although cement is still a rare commodity, Xiao Xuanzi agreed since Tu Chengyu proposed paving the road, even if it meant doing more work.

After discussing the cement, Tu Chengyu casually asked:

"Is the place where Jia Lian makes bricks far from here?"

Xiao Xuanzi replied, "If we ride a horse along the side road, it will only take a quarter of an hour to get there."

A quarter of an hour isn't far, and since Tu Chengyu was already here, he figured he might as well go and see Jia Lian.

So he said, "It's not too far away. I'll go take a look on the way. Arrange for someone to guide me."

Xiao Xuanzi said, "Ma Yi, who just brought the prince here, knows the way. I'll let him lead the way for the prince."

"Okay, then it's him."

……

A moment later, Tu Chengyu and his group rode off on horseback, following Ma Yi.

Following the path, they soon arrived at Jia Lian's location.

Compared to Xiaoxuanzi's cement factory, this place is much larger and more lively.

Halfway down the mountain, there were people everywhere.

People were digging, treading mud, hauling coal, and tending fires—one wave after another.

Along the roadside, neatly stacked fired bricks were laid out.

After Tu Chengyu and his group arrived, Ma Yi took them directly to Jia Lian's office.

This place is located on a hillside far from the kiln site, offering a commanding view of the entire brick kiln.

When Tu Chengyu arrived, Jia Lian also happened to be returning from outside, and the two met at the foot of the hillside.

Upon seeing Tu Chengyu, Jia Lian quickly came over to pay his respects: "This humble official greets Your Highness. What brings you here, Your Highness?"

Tu Chengyu dismounted and said with a smile, "I'm going to check on the cement at Xiao Xuanzi's place, and I'll stop by here for a visit."

Hearing this, Jia Lian was relieved; he had thought there was a problem with him.

Then Jia Lian said, "Your Highness, why don't you come up the hill with me? It's higher up there, and you can see better."

Tu Chengyu nodded and followed him up the hillside.

Once they reached the platform halfway up the hill, Tu Chengyu stood on the side and looked up. Sure enough, the entire brick factory was right in front of him.

While watching, Tu Chengyu casually asked Jia Lian:

"Is this brick factory producing enough bricks for our needs?"

Jia Lian, standing behind Tu Chengyu, immediately replied:
"Your Highness, I have found three brick factories of this size here. Working together to produce bricks will be more than enough."

Upon hearing that there were three such large brick factories, Tu Chengyu was quite satisfied with Jia Lian.

He asked, "Is there anything wrong with you that I can help you with?"

Jia Lian thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, there are no problems for the time being, but I have a question."

"What doubts do you have? Tell me about them."

"Yes, Your Highness. What puzzles me is why Your Highness wants to fire red bricks. Although red bricks require less work than blue bricks, they are not as durable and are much more brittle."

If there is no cement, red bricks are not as good as blue bricks, so Tu Chengyu naturally chose blue bricks.

However, with cement, the shortcomings of red bricks can be overcome.

In this way, the disadvantages of red bricks are eliminated, and their easier firing process makes them more advantageous than blue bricks.

This is the main reason why Tu Chengyu chose red bricks. Of course, there is another reason: Tu Chengyu thinks that red bricks are more beautiful than blue bricks.

(End of this chapter)