It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

When it comes to price, the villagers immediately regain their composure and look at Song Zhi, waiting for her answer.

Song Zhi explained with a smile, "The reason I came up with cement is because my uncle said that laying blue brick floors was too expensive, so that's why I came up with cement."

"Most of this cement is made from free raw materials, and the rest is made from calcined lime, so it really doesn't cost much."

Song Zhi's words were like a reassurance, which gradually put the villagers' minds at ease.

I don't know who in the crowd was the first to express his intention to participate, but the others, fearing that they would miss out if they expressed their intention too late, also followed suit.

Chief Song stood at the head and raised his hand to stop the villagers from talking.

"In that case, let's explain what's going on here clearly, and then each family will sign a contract. If anyone dares to leak this recipe, don't blame me, the clan leader, for being ruthless."

"The first thing is the construction of the workshop. Everyone has to come and help."

"The second thing is to pave cement roads in our village. This is also for the subsequent promotion of cement. After you go back, each family must send one person to help!"

"Also, the cement that each of you needs will be borne by you. As for the cost of cement for paving the village roads, I will advance it. Later, when the cement workshop becomes profitable, you can pay me from the account."

"Also, let's talk about how to calculate the wages. We're just starting out, so we'll set the daily wage at twelve cents. Once the workshop is stable, we'll adjust the wages based on the market conditions in the city."

"Of course, at the end of the year, after paying the workers and the school expenses, the cement workshop will still be profitable. I'll give 20% of the profit to Ah Zhi first. This method of making cement was provided by Ah Zhi. Without this method, none of us would make any money!"

"Chief, we have no objection to this!" The villagers echoed loudly.

Patriarch Song nodded and continued, "As for the profits after the division, half of them will be used to distribute them to everyone again."

"The remaining half will be used to improve farm tools, buy oxen, and support families in the village who have lost their fathers and are in particularly difficult circumstances."

"For the sake of openness and fairness, I will ask Dr. Zheng to record the accounts of the cement workshop."

"Once the children in the school have learned how to keep accounts, we'll let them do this. Do you have any suggestions?"

The villagers heard that not only could they get paid, but they could also get dividends at the end of the year. What made them happiest was that they could even buy oxen!

The big guy couldn't hide his excitement and asked, "Can we still buy oxen?"

"Then how do we divide the cattle?"

"How else can we divide it? We can take turns. There aren't many people in our village. Each family can take turns for three days, and it will be their turn soon!"

For the old farmers, regardless of whether Niu Lun can be of use to them when the time comes, everyone is still happy.

Clan leader Song raised his hand to stop everyone from talking and encouraged them, "As long as our workshop makes enough money, we can buy more than one cow. We'll try to buy one for every household!"

"Good!" The villagers were inspired by the words of Patriarch Song and applauded enthusiastically.

They couldn't believe in their hearts that this could be true, but that didn't stop them from being as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Song Zhi couldn't help but glance sideways at the Song clan leader. She didn't expect that the Song clan leader was also good at making promises to everyone!

However, unlike the villagers who didn't dare to believe that this could come true, Song Zhi was very confident.

As long as this cement workshop is in operation, it is only a matter of time before every household buys a cow.

After everyone was noisy for a while, the Song clan leader raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, "Everyone, do you have any objections to what I just said?"

"If you have no objections, I will write the contract as I just said!"

This is such a good thing that you can't even find it with a lantern, so how could they have any objection?

Everyone hurriedly said, "No objection, no objection, we have no objection!"

Patriarch Song nodded, then went back to the house and took out a bald pen and yellowed paper.

In front of everyone, write down on paper what you just said.

After writing a long and eloquent article and the ink dried, Patriarch Song took the yellowed paper and asked Doctor Zheng, who had been invited in earlier, to read it to everyone.

However, what Doctor Zheng read out was exactly the same as what he had just said, and everyone came forward to put their fingerprints on it.

After pressing their fingerprints, the villagers couldn't wait to ask, "Uncle, we're all sitting around doing nothing anyway, why don't we start working today?"

"Then where is this workshop built?" someone asked subconsciously.

Patriarch Song slapped his thigh, he had actually forgotten about this matter!

He pondered for a moment and said, "This piece of wasteland behind my house could be used, but I'm not sure if it's suitable."

Patriarch Song looked at Song Zhi inquiringly.

Song Zhi nodded. "This workshop needs to be both secretive and convenient for shipping goods out. Your house isn't in the first row, so it's not easy for outsiders to sneak into the village and spy on you. It's right next to the main road, so in the future, we only need to pave a simple cement road to ensure that goods can be brought in and out unimpeded."

"Okay, let's choose the site on the wasteland behind my house." Just like that, Patriarch Song made the final decision on the site selection.

After the site was determined, Song Zhi immediately began preparing to build the earthen kiln.

The villagers each have their own duties and the division of labor is clear.

Some people were responsible for carrying mud, carrying heavy soil on their shoulders and walking steadily through the fields; others were busy mixing mud and building kilns.

Strength lies in numbers. It only took everyone an hour to build the earthen kiln according to Song Zhi's description.

After the earth kiln is built, the next step is the cement production process.

Song Zhi first asked the villagers to prepare yellow clay and lime, and then mixed the two materials in a certain proportion and beat them into adobe bricks.

After making the adobe bricks, Song Zhi instructed the villagers to put them into the earthen kiln and calcine them for half a day, and then wait for the kiln to cool down.

Finally, the kiln is opened to take out the stones, and these blocks are finely ground with a sledgehammer or a stone mill until they become a fine powder.

This is a simple version of earth cement.

The villagers were very happy to see the earth cement.

"I didn't expect that the road paved by mixing soil, cement and mortar would be so smooth and solid!" some villagers exclaimed.

Song Zhi added, "Uncles, aunts, this earth cement is not only used for paving roads. Today, I asked Uncle Erzhu and the others to use it to paint the walls."

"The painted walls are incredibly strong, and once it's dry, there's no dusting at all, which makes it very practical. Aside from the somewhat earthy color, there aren't any other drawbacks."

When the villagers heard this, they were even happier. As for the shortcomings that Song Zhi mentioned, no one cared at all.

He simply said, "As long as it's clean and doesn't shed dust, it's fine. I can sweep a basketful of dust off the wall in one day."

"Now it's all right, let's put on some cement, and we won't have to worry about it anymore!"

The villagers all agreed.

The group worked for a while, and only returned home reluctantly when it got dark.