Chapter 40: Chongzhen Plays with Mud

When the crowd of craftsmen entered the palace, Chongzhen was still pondering the relationship between cement and lime.

After all, as a programmer who often read web novels, he was quite curious about people transmigrating to ancient times and making a fortune from cement.

Although he had searched online for the method to make cement, he only remembered that you needed to fire three things together: lime, clay, and gypsum powder. As for the steps?

Precautions? The programmer said those were things engineering dogs should know — what the hell did they have to do with Us?

If you could conjure up a Baidu for Us, We'd dare to research mushroom bombs for you.

As for how to fire cement now? In Chongzhen's view, since he remembered these three main materials and knew they needed to be calcined, he could just leave the rest for the Directorate for Imperial Workshops people to rack their brains over.

Keep trying, and there'd come a day when they figured it out, and then they could just slowly improve it, couldn't they?

Wei Zhongxian saw that Chongzhen had been staring blankly, ignoring the craftsmen who had entered, so he mustered his courage and stepped forward: "Imperial Lord, the craftsmen have arrived."

Coming back to his senses, Chongzhen then looked at the craftsmen. The moment the craftsmen saw the Emperor looking their way, they knelt and roared out long life: "We common folk see Your Majesty — may His Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years!"

Chongzhen did not say "rise" or "dispense with formalities," so the craftsmen could only remain kneeling on the ground. After a while, they finally heard Chongzhen say: "We have summoned you into the palace because We have a confidential matter to assign.

Nothing of what happens here shall be transmitted outside — not to anyone, including your superior officers and even the current Chief Grand Secretary, nor even to your families. Otherwise, if one man knows, We kill one; if ten men know, We kill ten.

Whoever leaks it, his entire clan will be executed. Do you all understand?"

Hearing this, the craftsmen's hearts all trembled. They had originally thought entering the palace was just for some instructions from the Emperor; they never expected to be saddled with such a life-or-death matter. Still, the craftsmen said in unison: "Your subjects obey the decree."

Only then did Chongzhen say: "Rise. If this matter is done well, We will not stint on granting noble titles as reward.

Furthermore, at today's morning court, We have already issued an edict: the division between farming households and artisan households is abolished. Henceforth, your children may also study and become officials, no longer bound to be artisan households.

This will be trialed first in the Tianjin Guard, to observe its later effects."

The artisan-household men immediately threw themselves to their knees again: "Your Majesty is benevolent!"

After ordering the artisan-household men to rise once more, Chongzhen said: "Among you, there are those who fire lime, those who fire bricks and tiles, and those who fire charcoal. On that basis, divide yourselves into groups and elect leaders to come forward."

The men discussed and elected, and separately put forward three craftsmen. One was Zhao Da, who had fired lime his whole life; one was Liu Cheng, who had fired bricks and tiles his whole life; and one was Zhou Zheng, who had fired coal his whole life.

Seeing the craftsmen had finished electing, Chongzhen then said: "Through the dynasties, city walls have been built mainly with tabia. But this material is not easy to produce, and moreover the weather is turning cold.

We wish to complete the Shrine of the Loyal before the snow falls, so this tabia cannot be used.

We once leafed through ancient texts and chanced upon a fragmentary book that said: mix clay, lime, and gypsum together and calcine them, and one can obtain a substance.

This substance is black in color, in powder form. If it meets water, it soon solidifies, hard as iron and stone.

But the fragmentary text was vague and incomplete; the method of production was also missing — presumably long since destroyed.

We think: if the ancients could produce it, then our Great Ming can produce it too. It is merely a matter of trying a few more times.

Summoning you into the palace this time is precisely for this matter. If it succeeds, then our Great Ming's cities and walls will have nothing to worry about. You will also be granted noble titles and leave your names in the histories."

But upon hearing Chongzhen finish these words, Wei Zhongxian and Wang Cheng'en only hung their heads even lower. Others might not know, but the two of them certainly knew what kind of books Chongzhen had read before.

It was nothing more than the Confucian doctrine of the rule of the Three Dynasties that they wanted Chongzhen to study — when had there ever been any fragmentary book as Chongzhen described?

Only, Chongzhen was the Emperor. Since he said he had read it, then he definitely had read it.

The first law of survival inside the palace was: the Emperor is always right. The second was: what you shouldn't hear, don't hear, and even more so, don't speak of.

Otherwise, you wouldn't even know how you died.

Yet thinking to this point, Wei Zhongxian's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and the look he cast upon these craftsmen was full of ill will — he was already planning to make these dozen or so men evaporate once the task was done, to prevent them from going out and babbling nonsense.

Wang Cheng'en's heart went thump — he knew Wei Zhongxian had already conceived the intent to kill. He thought he must remind the Emperor, lest Wei Zhongxian really slaughter every participating artisan household just to keep the Son of Heaven's secret.

Over the next several days, Chongzhen kept constant watch on the cement's progress.

At first it was useless, unable to solidify no matter what; gradually it developed to the point of beginning to solidify, but the time required for solidification was extremely long, and it could not withstand heavy impact — often even a small hammer could shatter it.

Chongzhen, who knew the standards of later-era cement, was of course dissatisfied, so the artisan-household men kept experimenting, striving to meet the Emperor's demands.

But no matter how Chongzhen kept it secret, the news that he was playing with mud in the palace still leaked out. In the ever-more-absurd grapevine rumors, he had already become just like the late Tianqi Emperor — except his own hobby was bricklaying!

The mood throughout the Great Ming court and countryside was exactly like ten thousand grass-mud horses stampeding past.

Your elder brother did carpentry, so you play with mud? Trying to form a brother construction company with your brother and build houses together?

Even among the common folk, there was much discussion. But compared to the court, the common folk didn't care what hobbies the Emperor liked. Ordinary people only cared about having food to eat and clothes to wear.

Memorials from court officials impeaching Chongzhen for neglecting proper governance flew into the palace like snowflakes.

The young Censors especially, each as if injected with chicken blood, acted as though if Chongzhen did not immediately repent and reform, the calamity of national ruin was right before their eyes.

Annoyed beyond endurance, Chongzhen simply shelved all the memorials impeaching him for neglecting proper governance, leaving them unanswered. He also ordered Wei Zhongxian to investigate who had leaked the news, and had several loose-tongued minor eunuchs directly beaten to death with staves.

The court officials who learned that Chongzhen had beaten minor eunuchs to death suddenly fell silent. Only then did they recall that this Emperor was no longer the Prince of Xin who had trusted them so deeply back in his princely residence.

Now the Depot and the Guard were both in the Emperor's hands; the common people of the capital and the Xuan-Da region regarded the Emperor as a wise sovereign and sage Son of Heaven; his authority and power were directly catching up to the Yongle Emperor — how could the grand ministers dare to keep up their clamor?

After more than ten days had passed, the time was already nearing the end of the tenth month. The palace craftsmen finally came to report to Chongzhen that the gray powder Chongzhen wanted, the thing called cement, had been largely completed.

Overjoyed, Chongzhen hurried to the Lu Ban Hall, only to see those craftsmen gathered around a lump of cement, clicking their tongues in wonder.

At that moment, a craftsman holding a large sledgehammer saw Chongzhen approaching and hurriedly threw the hammer aside — otherwise, he could lose his head. After frantically kneeling to pay respects, he also startled the whole group of artisan-household men awake.

Seeing this, Chongzhen ordered everyone to rise, then asked directly: "How is this thing now?"

Among the three leaders, Zhao Da spoke first: "In reply to Your Majesty, this thing succeeded yesterday. This lump before you is the trial batch from last night.

Now, when struck with a small hammer, it won't even leave a mark. Your subjects were just about to switch to a large sledgehammer to test it."

(End of chapter)