Chapter 65 Temperature

  Knowing that piece of history behind, I always feel a bit sad. First, Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi fought, don't know how many big shots fell in between, even how many people died, those dead people are not worth mentioning, won't let historians record them in the annals. Then there were Da Zhao father and son three, and San Zhao, etc., finally even Zhao Kuangyi's son couldn't bear it, started to lose his mind. This trend is more terrifying than the bulldozers of those who opened up business later on, rolling all the way, heaven knows how many people died.

  But now no one would think of it.

  Song Jiuyi couldn't help but think, don't assume you're smart just because you have a golden finger, it's still an incomplete golden finger. How much history do you remember? If not for reading a few fantasy novels, I'm afraid I wouldn't even know some of the inside stories from the early Song dynasty. It's like this, how many detailed stories about major figures in the Song dynasty can you really know? This golden finger is incomplete.

  Mathematics is not bad, and I would like to thank my family teacher and cousin from abroad when I was in college. However, it's difficult to apply the knowledge from past lives to this backward era.

  Just pretend to be ignorant, you are just a loose official, a technical officer. In the Song Dynasty, technical officers were worthless, and in fact, they had no power in their hands. What can they do to you? Pretend to be ignorant, don't get involved!

  Having understood, he began to lecture seriously and even asked Zhao Dezhang by name, "Is there anything you don't understand? Please ask questions."

  Lü Duan nodded slightly, unaware of Song Jiu's thoughts. He thought it was normal for a prince to come and observe, what an honor! This little nine was scared silly. However, he still had some guts, and after a slight adjustment, he returned to normal. He was also very clever, otherwise, if someone else had met that Western old man, they might not have learned anything.

  His idea was to report to Zhao Kuangyin, and this evaluation would also be used as a reference for Zhao Kuangyin's future view of Song Jiu.

  After class, the little girl was taken out by her brother to play for half a day yesterday and only came back now. At that time, ordinary people had many children and didn't care much, and they were busy making a living, so the kids were let loose. Song Jiu also let them loose, letting the boy take the little girl out to play, just warning them not to play with water or fire.

  Boys are called big dogs, girls are called small dogs. This is the case with children from noble families having humble nicknames. Song Jiuxiao's nickname was Jiuzhu (nine pigs), and as a child he was chubby and had plenty of flesh. Because several older siblings had died, his father decided to give him a very common and "humble" name, Song Jiu, also known as Tongjiu, hoping that Song Jiu would survive. At the time, Song De did not think that this name would bring great benefits to his son. Song Jiu, Song Jiuxiao... when Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, how could he not be delighted by this name?

  It's okay for boys to be called Dog Pig, but it's not good for girls to be called Little Dog. Song Jiu wanted to give them a name, but the old woman might have become eccentric because she was from Northern Han and her son and daughter-in-law died young, so she became taciturn and didn't like strangers around. Or perhaps deep down, she resented the prosperity of the Song Dynasty's capital city. Song Jiu also didn't bother to intervene.

  The little girl didn't know why, but she stopped playing outside and ran back home. Seeing Song Jiu, she stretched out her hands and said: "Daddy, hug."

  Song Jiuxu helplessly hugged him back.

  Zhao Dezhuo asked in surprise: "Cheng Shilang, are you married?"

  Song Jiuyao spat blood, this must not be mentioned, once mentioned, the paper is filled with bitter tears, gritting his teeth and saying: "Your Highness, ask your Second Uncle about the story in between."

  "Did Second Uncle arrange your marriage?"

  "Prince..." Song Jiu couldn't continue.

  "Mr. Cheng, I've listened to two days of lectures and found that this course is also profound and subtle."

  "Your Highness, those subjects are profound and extensive," Song Jiu said calmly. In fact, in his heart, he was saying that it's not just profound and extensive, but boundless and endless. But he couldn't say that Confucianism is inferior to mathematics and chemistry in terms of being profound and extensive, as Confucianism is a philosophy, equally profound and extensive, just in different fields.

  "Cheng Shilang can consider publishing a few books."

  "Publishing a book is so expensive..." Song Jiu shook his head. Everywhere needs money, for example, the compensation in Hezhou, half of which has not been paid yet, and the land deed cannot be obtained without payment, this is somewhat unsettling. Moreover, when will he have time to write it?

  "If Cheng Shilang publishes a book, I'd be happy to lend a helping hand."

  Zhao Dezhuo may not have had much money either, but he still had the financial resources to sponsor Song Jiu's publication of three or four books. However, Song Jiu said: "Thank you, Your Excellency."

  He didn't give a clear answer, and Song Jiu could sense that he was being evasive. If they were to co-author a book together, it would only lead to more trouble, so he couldn't agree to it. After chatting for a while longer, Song Jiu maintained his respectful yet distant attitude towards Zhao Dezhao. However, it's possible that Song Jiu's lecture today was easier to understand, and not only did Zhao Dezhao get the idea of encouraging Song Jiu to write a book, but he also became interested in it. He listened all the way until evening classes ended, and instead of going to the riverbank to take a look, as he had done secretly before at the grand scene of thousands of people listening to lectures, he followed Song Jiu to that experimental house.

  Several soldiers guarding the gate saw Zhao Dezhao and knelt down on one knee to salute, of course they wouldn't stop him from passing. Not only did Zhao Dezhao let him pass, but also Liu Gonggong and Lü Duan allowed him to pass.

  Song Jiu thought about the treatment of several sisters and was speechless in his heart.

  He brought it in, now mainly studying two technologies. The first one is cement. He has to thank his high school physics teacher for this. This teacher's lectures were very lively and often used simple experiments to deepen the students' impressions. Including Song Jiu's teaching method now, more than half of it was learned from this teacher.

  It mentions several methods for making handmade cement. The first is lime kiln slag cement, which uses the residue left over after coal has been burned. The more thoroughly it is burned, the better the quality will be. The white and red residue is picked out, washed clean, dried, and ground into a fine powder. This step is quite difficult, and it's estimated that large quantities of high-quality furnace slag can only be obtained after the blast furnace has been developed. Then, newly calcined quicklime powder is added, and raw gypsum is placed in a pot and roasted until it becomes half-hydrated plaster. The three materials are mixed together in a certain proportion to become cement. If manufactured according to standards, its quality can be equivalent to that of No. 200-300 cement. Although the cost will be relatively high, this is still the best choice for this era.

  The second type is brick powder cement, which is made by washing and drying the bricks and tiles, then grinding them into a fine powder. The lime and gypsum are treated in the same way as before, and then mixed together with the brick powder to create the cement. The higher the proportion of clay in the mixture, the better the effect will be. If the proportion of clay can reach a high point, the strength of the cement can far exceed that of the first type.

  Alternatively, white ceramic chips can be used instead of furnace ash and brick powder, as long as they are not exposed to iron tools. This method can produce white cement.

  The third type is not worth considering, so we will focus on the first two types. The advantages of this earth-based cement include good water resistance, acid and alkali corrosion resistance, but its disadvantages are more obvious: high cost, low strength, poor freeze-thaw resistance, and slow setting speed. Therefore, when using this cement, there are many limitations:

  1. It cannot be used in winter construction.

  2. After completion of the project, it must be maintained for about 20 days.

  3. The amount of lime used on the ground surface must be increased.

  4. When building walls and columns, steel reinforcement can only be added without considering the cost.

  This cement is suitable for use in Beijing, but not further north, especially beyond Yanshan Mountain. However, it is just right for areas south of Beijing. Although its quality may not be as good as that of the current rice flour lime mortar (three-component soil), the latter has more disadvantages: longer construction time, higher cost under strict standards, and most importantly, it cannot be used with steel reinforcement. This cement may be inferior, but when combined with steel reinforcement, it can make buildings stronger and more durable while reducing its own quality.

  Want to build high-rise buildings, want to build blast furnaces, must use cement, even if it's this primitive cement.

  It's easy to talk about it, but difficult to develop.

  Generally, its solidification strength is only equivalent to that of 200-300 standard cement. If it's rough, it may not even reach the strength of 200 standard cement, which can't be used. However, if the standards are strictly examined, it might exceed 300 standard cement and even reach 400 standard cement strength. If it reaches 400 standard cement strength, as long as you don't build skyscrapers, ordinary 4-5 story buildings with blast furnaces that don't spare any cost in pouring steel bars can be achieved.

  There is no technical difficulty below.

  Whether it's smelting iron or firing high-quality ceramics in the future, a crucial factor is temperature.

  Desired temperature must have carbonation.

  This appeared relatively early, seemingly in the late Southern Song Dynasty. It's simple to say it's simple, just heat the coal under anoxic conditions, through drying, pyrolysis, melting, bonding, solidification and shrinkage can be made into coke.

  But coke also has good and bad, first of all is to distinguish the types of smoke coal, long flame coal, gas coal, fat coal, coke coal, lean coal and poor coal six kinds of smoke coal, each with different coking conditions, in order to produce good coke, they must be identified and then matched.

  Then proceed with various technical research and development.

  There is another problem that Song Jiu cannot solve, which is the sulfur content. If the sulfur content is high, it will inevitably bring sulfur into the iron smelting process, and the quality of the iron will be poor. Under current conditions, how can Song Jiu possibly achieve desulfurization? It can only be said that using a blast furnace to smelt iron will definitely produce better iron than those small earth furnaces in Hebei, and it won't result in serious waste.

  As the officials reported to the imperial court, the court gradually attached importance to it. Now, Song Jiu doesn't need to buy materials himself, as long as he gives an order, Kaifeng Prefecture will send people to deliver the relevant materials, saving him time. There hasn't been a reward yet, but this won't be left out either. Once successful, it's the imperial court's turn to give rewards.

  Things in the courtyard are quite miscellaneous, and they won't build a blast furnace, nor do they need to build a blast furnace. Once various basic technologies are developed, the blast furnace will be there, and better steel will also be available. It's just that not much gunpowder was used, only a few kilograms were used for explanation, and later in the experiment, fire cannot be separated from it, and putting gunpowder in front is too dangerous.

  Song Jiu brought the students to work on it, Zhao Dezhao lay down beside them to watch, and kept asking questions. Even because of his young age, he wanted to lend a hand, but Song Jiu didn't dare let him help, so he immediately went back, with a face as black as coal ash, Zhao Kuangyin was anxious just like himself.

  Use your arm to block him, don't let him take action, looking is okay, asking is also okay, absolutely cannot stretch out a hand to touch.

  At that time when the city wall was blown up, Song Jiu brought the students to study and develop these two things, which had some clues. By the time it was almost dark, the group returned. Song Jiu did not dare ask Zhao Dezhao to stay for dinner, which would have been a complete loss of face.

  Then he called four painters: "From today on, you can go to the Imperial Street to post a painting every other day."