Chapter 135 Bricks and Glass

Hearing the cry of "croak", Xiulot raised his head and saw a black silhouette hovering in the sky.

The boy stared at it for a while, and kept on stepping.

There are many Chinampa floating fields by the lake, where staple fruits and vegetables are grown all year round. These crows are attracted by food and are extremely intelligent. They will peck at the tops of corn saplings and eat the seeds below, and when the corn is ripe, they will tear off the protective outer skin and feast on the corn cobs. And the straw man statue in the field can scare away other birds, but not the crows, and the farmers have nothing to do with it.

"It is still necessary to popularize bows and arrows, and let the militiamen practice archery. The technological development that is being nurtured by the Divine Apocalypse must not be interrupted by the crows of the empire."

Thinking of this, Xiulot laughed at himself. In the past two months, he has been full of religious reforms, power struggles, and technological farming. It has been a long time since he has purely appreciated something, and it is difficult for him to be as clear-eyed as before.

"A saint, when can I reach the realm of a saint from the beauty of heaven and earth and reach the truth of all things? Seeing the world with my eyes, my heart is transparent, and my spirit is perfect, just like the crystal of glass"

While walking, Xiu Luote came to the brick workshop, where a small brick kiln has been built, some are burning bricks, some have just turned off the fire, and some have cooled down.

He looked closely and saw that these brick kilns were about three meters high, like a drum, with a bottom diameter of about two meters. The top of the brick kiln is a slightly smaller arc, and the walls are thick soil, forming a hollow round platform. There are two relatively small doors on the earth wall of the brick kiln, which are used for loading and unloading bricks, and the bottom is a fire channel for filling firewood.

The young man calculated in his mind, the height and the bottom diameter. Well, the volume of the cylinder is a little more than ten cubic meters, and the density of the masonry is 2.5-3.0 tons per cubic meter. This kiln is about three tons of bricks. Brick is indeed the cheapest and most productive building material!

In fact, as early as the Olmec civilization in the first millennium BC, the ancestors had already burned a large number of bricks to build houses. In the era of Teotihuacan civilization, the scale and skill of firing bricks reached their peak.

In the place where Shulot came to this world, in the magnificent and magnificent ancient holy city, the Pyramid of the Sun is a spectacle as high as 63 meters. The top is a platform tens of meters square, and the bottom is a foundation with a length and width of more than 200 meters. The volume is estimated at 100 meters. More than ten thousand cubic meters. Converted into weight, it is a full 3 million tons of building materials, a small part of which are stones, and most of them are fired bricks! Between the stacked bricks, gravel and adhesives are filled, so that the joints are tightly connected and immortal for thousands of years.

The teenager has 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. Looking carefully at the colors of the bricks, he was surprised to find that many of the bricks were hard and long-lasting green bricks. Compared with red bricks, blue bricks are stronger and more durable, and they are the best building materials for wonders.

After more than 1,300 years, the Pyramid of the Sun is still as stable as a huge mountain, standing high beside the Avenue of Death, and so is the Pyramid of the Moon.

The sun and the moon, the wonders of the two blue brick pyramids have been standing until later generations, shocking every visitor. They are also silently entrusting the imaginary national community, so that the ancient civilizations of Central America still survive in people's hearts, instead of 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 that he hadn't returned to for two years, and recalled the distant future in his dream.

In this era, the Ming Great Wall has been roughly completed, and the periphery of important checkpoints is reinforced with blue bricks. At this time, Dayan Khan of Zhongxing Mongolia had just ascended the throne, and then he was blocked outside the Great Wall, looking at the wall and sighing, so he had to focus his strategy on Moxi Mongolia.

Like the well-developed pottery art, the brick-burning technology of the Mexica is already extremely mature. The coalition's firing of bricks is done by potters, and the manager here is Tanari, a female potter leader.

Seeing His Highness, Tanari strode over. She is about forty years old, with a strong figure, with vicissitudes in her face, and a faint beauty that has passed away between her eyebrows and eyes. On the body of the potter leader, there is a particularly conspicuous bright cloth robe.

Shulot observed carefully, there were actually eight abstract babies painted on the cloth robe, and five warriors holding battle sticks under the babies. The young man took a deep breath and bowed his head to Tanari. The surrounding warriors also bowed and saluted to express their respect for the hero mother. With such feats, the reputation of the potter leader even exceeds that of the local community priests, and he is indeed enough to be the manager of the potters.

Tanari saluted His Highness powerfully, and then said in a rough voice.

"Your Highness, the God of War has blessed us! This workshop is newly built. Although it is not as large as the big kilns in the capital, I am in charge of it, and the red bricks we make are not bad at all!"

Shulot hurried forward two steps and lifted the potter leader up. Then, while visiting the workshop, the boy listened to Tanari explain the process of making bricks.

"Your Highness, the soil for burning bricks has to be dug out from the ground, so that it is soft and sticky, fine and easy to use! Then the clay should be piled up for a few months, and the wind and rain will gradually loosen and shatter. The thinner the better."

Tanari strode forward, grabbed a handful of fine soil from the pile of clay, and put it in His Highness's hand. Xiulot pinched the fineness of the soil and nodded.

"Next, the soil needs to be watered and kneaded repeatedly, at least five times. This step is very important! Whether the fired bricks are strong or not depends on how well this step is done!"

Having said that, Tanari has already walked to the hundreds of people in Heni and waved her hands vigorously.

"Work, work! Your Highness is also for you to see, rub the soil seven times for me today!"

The peasants remained silent, bowed their heads obediently and continued to work. Shulot also nodded slightly. Under Tanari's management, the peasants were working in an orderly manner.

"Next, sprinkle a layer of fine sand on the ground, then turn the soil into the wooden mold and compact it to make bricks. The bricks that are taken out should be dried in the shade so that they won't crack."

With that said, Tanari patted the wooden shed next to her vigorously, and the thatch on the wooden shed shook and fell, scattered among the bricks piled on the ground.

"After more than a month, the adobe is ready to be fired in the kiln. First, it will be fired for five or six days, and then it will be fired slowly. It will take a total of more than ten days to burn, and the adobe will be completely red before it can be slowly turned off. , when it comes out, it will look like a solid red brick!"

At this time, the leader of the potters walked to a brick kiln that had cooled down and pointed forward. The young man looked carefully, and saw that busy peasants were taking bricks from it, and they were all bright red bricks.

Shulot was slightly puzzled, and he looked at Tanari beside him.

"Tanari, you did a good job. But I have seen the blue bricks of the pyramids in the holy city, and they seem to be stronger and more durable."

Tanari pondered for a while before answering after a while.

"Your Highness, the ancient temples are all made of blue bricks, but the specific craftsmanship has been lost. I also tried it a few times, and when the fire was turned off, the kiln was sealed, and the bricks that came out were blue and red. How much better than red brick."

Xiu Luote thought about it, the red in the brick is high-priced iron oxide, and the blue is low-priced iron oxide. The blue brick itself is made by anaerobic reduction of burnt red brick. To restore, oxygen must be cut off. Sealing the brick kiln cuts off part of the oxygen, so it is greenish red. If it is completely sealed, it seems to be watered outside, steaming green? correct! The water turns into steam when heated, creating high internal pressure, which naturally presses oxygen out.

Tanari stared at His Highness, um, he is really a handsome young man, thinking like a beautiful hummingbird.

After a while, Shulot's eyes lit up, showing a confident smile.

"Tanari, when the bricks are cooled after burning, you first use soil to seal the ventilation holes on the top of the kiln, then use the soil to make a pool on the top, add water to it, and let the water vapor slowly seep into the kiln. After steaming for a few days, Take it out and have a look, then it will be a green brick!"

Hearing this, Tanari looked at His Highness with some doubts.

"Your Highness, why do you add water when burning bricks?"

Xiulot was momentarily at a loss for words. He thought for a while before answering.

"Firing bricks is to borrow the power of Vulcan to turn soil into stone. Adding water is to borrow the power of Rain God to make bricks weatherproof."

Tanari was moved when she heard the words, this must be the inheritance of the priests! She saluted deeply and respectfully, and was ready to try it.

Shulot continued to think for a while. The enlargement of brick kilns is an improvement direction, but it needs to increase the charcoal output, and the bottom combustion heat production can keep up. In my memory, it seems that internal combustion bricks were fired in the villages of later generations. Coal slime was added to the bricks, and then the bricks were burned thoroughly from the inside. Since history has left this technical solution, it must have passed various practical tests. The boy continued to speak.

"Tanari, go to the charcoal firing place to get some charcoal powder, try to add it evenly into the adobe, and then fire it to see the effect."

Tanari thought for a while, then looked over seriously.

"Your Highness, adding charcoal, is this borrowing the power of the God of Plants?"

Looking at the serious faces of the potter's leader and the surrounding warriors, Shulot was speechless and could only solemnly nod.

Afterwards, the boy looked at the wooden molds engraved with various patterns. These wooden molds are used to press patterns on the bricks, the most common ones are Feathered Snake and Sun. The bricks specially prepared for the nobles are magnificent, engraved with patterns of various families, implying the blessing of the gods.

After the inspection, Shulot bid farewell to Tanari who saluted respectfully. Then, the boy raised his head and saw that the sun was setting slightly to the west, and there was still a lot of time. He went to the glass workshop of Lozano, the chief stonemason, which was the nearest noble mansion.

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 a dozen apprentice stonemasons.

Lozano sat on the ground with his legs crossed, frowning, looking at the huge pile of milky white quartz sand in front of him, helpless. He is tall and muscular, sitting in this posture, like a hibernating giant bear.

The master stonemason frowned and thought hard. Ever since he was forcibly conscripted into the high priest's mansion by His Royal Highness, he had to give up making lucrative obsidian tools and instead study what, colorless "glass"? I don't know where this awkward name came from. Anyway, the well-informed Master Lozano 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 hard stones beside it that could not be scratched. There are a lot of these things in the mountains in the east, and there are more places near the volcano. He asked a dozen apprentices to each dig a bag and bring it back to the workshop. Then, when it was fired according to His Highness's instructions, the problem came.

"Basically, this thing can't be burnt! Your Highness, is he dreaming?!" Lozano complained loudly while holding his head, and the apprentices stood trembling in the corner, not daring to make a sound.

Behind Lozano, Xiulot remained expressionless. He looked at the master mason and waved his hand 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 stood opposite him.

"What are you doing standing here stupidly? Hurry up and start burning the clay kiln, mix this thing with soil and burn it again!"

The apprentices just stood in front stupidly, and one apprentice quietly stretched out his index finger and pointed behind the master.

"You still dare to point your finger at me? It's against you"

Looking at this scene in the workshop, Lozano suddenly realized something. He jumped up suddenly, turned around abruptly, and saw the expressionless face under His Highness, and he didn't know when he came, it couldn't be...

Thinking of this, Lozano threw himself on the ground again with a thud, moving as nimbly as a bear.

"Ah, Your Majesty the Priest! I, I, Lozano, are trying to think about how to make glass. I seem to have fallen asleep just now, and I said something 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 increasing the temperature and adding some combustion aids?"

The face of the master stonemason turned pale, His Highness also heard this sentence, didn't it? . He opened his mouth and took a while to speak.

"Your Highness, I, Lozano, have changed the kiln twice, added more firewood, introduced more wind, and poured some oil, but the sand is still hard to melt. It seems that the plant ash has some effect, and the others are still being tested. on."

Xiulot thought about it carefully. He also knew very little about glass firing. He only knew that quartz sand is pure silicon dioxide, which can produce transparent glass. Quartz Sand and Quartz Stone are products of volcanic activity and are abundant in Alliance territories.

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 teenager recalled repeatedly and remembered three key words: quartz sand, flux and stabilizer. Flux? Saltpeter and lead should do the trick. 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 earth nitrate powder. You can mix it with hard white sand and burn it together. 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 league. You have to rest assured and prepare for two to three years or even ten years, try different formulas, and make progress as early as possible! From now on, this is your main job! "

Xiulot stepped forward and patted the broad arm of the master stonemason earnestly. Afterwards, the boy looked at Lozano's solemn and frozen expression, and nodded in satisfaction. He continued to look around, but there was really no result, so he nodded and turned away.

Behind him, Lozano was still solemn and solid like a sculpture, but his mouth gradually grew. A moment later, the sculpture fell to the ground with a bang, and its burly body made a loud bang on the ground. The apprentices rushed up and rubbed the master's heart and back.

Shulot didn't hear the voice behind him, he was already far away.

Lake Texcoco reflected the light of the setting sun, illuminating the boy's tough silhouette. There was some dust on his face, but he still looked calm and determined.

Under the calcination of time and world affairs, the boy has been reshaped. His passion is deep, like black charcoal made from firewood, restrained and burning. His will is firm, like a brick made of calcined clay, calm and unafraid of vicissitudes. And when will his mind be perfect and transparent, as pure and bright as glass? Perhaps, it will take time.

"I have planted the seeds of technological progress, and I need time to wait."

Shulot thought secretly, looking into the distance. In the distance, sparkling waves appeared on the surface of the golden lake, whispering and flowing for thousands of years.

Time will eventually shape everything, including civilization, including himself.

The seeds of important technologies have been planted, and the farming chapter is almost complete. Then turn back to military, religion and politics. Ask for support!