The next morning, Ren Baqian came to the Ministry of Works again and asked Tong Zhengye, "Minister, how's the cement?"
"Let's go and take a look together," Tong Zhengye said. "I haven't had the time to see it either."
They walked to the backyard but didn't see Feng Hou and Zhe Hongbo. After all, they were officials with actual positions and had to deal with many things every day. They didn't have the time to keep an eye on a piece of cement and only needed to know the results.
Tong Zhenye was the Minister of Works, so he could see things further than others. Thus, he paid more attention to the cement.
When they arrived at the backyard, they saw a pile of cement that was mixed yesterday and a block that was used to cover the outside of two stones.
Ren Baqian stepped forward and touched it with his toes. It was very hard.
"Is it done?" Ren Baqian was delighted. He was most afraid that the ores in this world were different from those on Earth. After all, this was a different world and he didn't even know if they were in the same universe.
Furthermore, this world had spirit swords and superior martial strength. It was normal to have some differences in the details.
He tested the hardness of the cement with his foot and saw hope of success.
He squatted down and pressed it with his finger. It was indeed hard like a stone. He then checked the cement that was used to cover the two stones. It was completely solidified and wrapped around the stones.
He lifted it up and threw it to the ground with all his might. Even a corner of the stone slab was broken, and only a piece of cement was chipped.
"It's done. There's no problem with the cement," Ren Baqian said happily.
Tong Zhengye saw Ren Baqian's actions and nodded his head slightly.
He bent over and touched the cement block before slapping it with his palm. The pile of cement on the ground immediately broke into pieces, and a few pieces directly fell on Ren Baqian's body.
Ren Baqian took a deep breath. He wasn't shocked, but in pain. A piece of cement had directly hit his shin bone.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Ren Baqian hugged his calf and jumped non-stop.
"It's slightly worse than the stones, but it's fine. Although a lot of materials are needed, it's much easier than quarrying, grinding, and transporting them here. " Tong Zhengye nodded and turned to look at Ren Baqian with a pained expression. He then turned his gaze away and pretended not to see it.
He thought about it and felt that Ren Baqian had a lot of good stuff. Perhaps there was something else that he wanted, so he apologized. "I'm sorry."
After jumping for a long time, Ren Baqian pulled up his trousers and saw that his calf was bruised and bleeding.
After thinking about it, he realized that he couldn't argue with Tong Zhenye over this matter. Since the aboriginals were so careless, he could only blame himself for being unlucky.
"Next, we'll store more of this cement and wait for ten days to see how the red bricks turn out. If there are no problems, we'll build the brick kiln first. Once the furnace is ready, we can start with the production of cement and bricks.
Once, we can build the blast furnace. Moreover, this kind of blast furnace was also quite effective in smelting iron. It could even directly smelt steel, saving a lot of effort.
In addition, cement had many other uses, such as paving roads. There was no need for stone slabs, and the cement could be directly laid on them. The same goes for repairing the city walls and other areas. Therefore, the more the better. In the future, the consumption of this thing will definitely not be small, "Ren Baqian said to Tong Zhenye while rubbing his leg.
"I understand. I will write to Her Majesty today and ask her to assign manpower." Tong Zhengye nodded. He didn't doubt Ren Baqian's words. Even if Ren Baqian didn't mention it, he would have thought of it in a few days.
If this cement was used well, it was indeed a sharp weapon, especially for the Ministry of Works.
Then, he looked at Ren Baqian and said, "The cement that Deputy Prefect Ren brought out is very useful for Dayao and the Ministry of Works. In order to thank you, I will hold a banquet for you at House Yunyan tonight. Everyone from the Ministry of Works will be there. Deputy Prefect Ren, you must come. "
Ren Baqian nodded his head cheerfully. This was the first time a big shot from the imperial court invited him to a banquet. He didn't know if it was a sign of acceptance. After all, he couldn't always rely on the empress and wander around the palace every day.
He hoped that this was a good start so that he could quickly integrate into Dayao's imperial court.
After leaving the Ministry of Works, Ren Baqian went straight to the beast park.
Not long after he entered, he saw Caretaker Shi playing with the stone dumbbell. The stone dumbbell, which weighed about 25 to 30 kilograms, was flying up and down in his hands. His whole body was drenched in sweat.
Noticing Ren Baqian's arrival, Caretaker Shi's hands trembled and the stone dumbbell was smashed into the house.
"Deputy Prefect Ren." Caretaker Shi didn't even take a look at the loud bang and the dust that rose up from behind him. He gave off the feeling that a real man would never turn back to look at an explosion.
"Caretaker Shi." Ren Baqian smiled.
"I was still wondering when Deputy Prefect Ren would come. The shaved ice shops have earned a total of more than 400 taels of silver in the past two months. Also, the fans made by Deputy Prefect Ren have earned 200 taels of silver.
I will just take a share of the shaved ice shops' profits. I should give Deputy Prefect Ren 450 taels of silver. It wasn't easy for me to see Deputy Prefect Ren these days. I was still thinking about how to give it to you. " Caretaker Shi beamed with joy when he mentioned this matter. The shaved ice shops had earned more than 400 taels of silver in the past two months. Caretaker Shi also received more than 200 taels of silver. This year, he would have an income of around 1,000 taels of silver. To him, this was definitely a huge sum of money.
Of course, what he didn't expect the most was that Ren Baqian had risen again and again within these few months. From a caretaker who was one rank lower than him, he directly rose to the position of Secondary class, Rank 5 Imperial Deputy Prefect. Even this position of Imperial Deputy Prefect was not taken seriously by anyone. The important thing was that he was chosen as the empress's husband.
Thinking about the changes in the past few months, Caretaker Shi sighed.
Recently, Ren Baqian didn't pay much attention to this aspect. After hearing Caretaker Shi's words, he then recalled the previous mess.
Even though money didn't have much meaning to him now, he was still somewhat happy to receive more than 400 taels of silver. It was not bad to use it as a reward for others. Most importantly, this business belonged to him. It was completely different from what the empress gave him.
"How's the shaved ice business recently?" Ren Baqian smiled and asked.
"The shaved ice is still doing well, but we can't make that fan anymore. Now, a few shops are selling it," Caretaker Shi said with slight regret.
"It's alright," Ren Baqian replied indifferently.
Originally, he wanted to say that he would sell good stuff to him in the future, but he swallowed the words when they were at the tip of his tongue.
Based on Caretaker Shi's status, the current business was already his limit. If he increased his business any further, it would be hard to guarantee that someone would be jealous.
At least on Earth, it was like that.
As for the future, it would depend on Caretaker Shi's luck. If he had the opportunity to give him a few pointers, he would definitely earn a lot from it. At the same time, his friendship with Ren Baqian was not in vain.
"When the time comes, I will get someone to collect it. This time, I am here to look for two people from Caretaker Shi," Ren Baqian said to Caretaker Shi.
"No problem," Caretaker Shi readily agreed.
"Get Teng Hulu and Tie Dao here, I will ask them if they are willing to work for me."
"How can they not be willing? These days, they have been thinking about Sir Deputy Prefect. They are afraid that Deputy Prefect will forget about them." Caretaker Shi laughed heartily.
After a while, Teng Hulu and Tie Dao were found. When they saw Ren Baqian, they greeted him happily.
"Are the two of you willing to work for me?" Ren Baqian looked at them and asked.
"Of course we are willing. Our subordinates thank Sir Deputy Prefect for still remembering us, "the two of them were overjoyed. Working for Ren Baqian was a good thing.
Even in the past, the two of them would not have rejected him. Not to mention, Ren Baqian's status had risen.
The two of them were self-aware. Their strength was rather average. If not for the fact that they had submitted to Ren Baqian when he was still a caretaker, they would not have had the chance to do such a thing.
"That's good, this token is for the two of you. Look for me at the palace tomorrow morning. As for your accommodation, the two of you can rent a place in the city and get the money from Caretaker Shi, "Ren Baqian said.
He was the one who asked for this token from the empress. After all, regardless of whether it was the farmland or some of his other ideas, he needed someone to do it.
After meeting the few of them, Ren Baqian returned to the palace. He first inquired about the empress's location and then went to the garden. After all, he still had to inform the empress that he was going to attend the banquet at night.
Actually, there were only a few places that the empress usually stayed at. She would either stay at Yangxin Palace Hall or the garden. Occasionally, she would go to places like Qingxin Palace Hall and the beast park. To Ren Baqian, it was very boring.
Upon seeing the empress, Ren Baqian greeted her and sat at one side with a face full of joy, "Your Majesty, the cement is a success."
"It's a good thing, but now that you have no more rewards, I won't reward you," the empress nodded her head and said. She had seen the tall buildings on Earth and knew more about the importance of cement than Tong Zhenye.
Ren Baqian laughed, "To be able to stay by Your Majesty's side is the greatest reward."
After the empress heard this, she raised her head slightly and squinted her eyes as she basked in the sunlight. She always liked to hear these words from him.
The two of them just sat there and occasionally exchanged a few words. Most of the time, they were silent. The main reason was that the empress did not talk much and Ren Baqian could not say much even if he wanted to.
However, the two of them were very relaxed and the atmosphere was very warm. Even Qing Yuan and Hong Luan stood a little further away to not disturb the two of them.
After lunch, Ren Baqian told the empress about Tong Zhenye's invitation to attend the banquet.
The empress nodded her head and thought for a while before asking, "What place is it?"
"House Yunyan," Ren Baqian replied.
"Well, I got it." The empress said, "Change your clothes in the evening and prepare to go. If you encounter anything interesting, tell me about it when you come back. "
Ren Baqian then left for Qingxin Palace Hall. In the evening, he changed his clothes and headed for House Yunyan.
When he mentioned the location, the surrounding imperial guards had a strange expression on their faces.
"Why? Is there something wrong with that place?" Ren Baqian asked doubtfully.
Everyone's expression became even more strange.
There was nothing wrong with that place. It was indeed a good place.
The key was that the person who went there was not right.
"Sir, Great Xia calls that place a brothel," Xu Wei, who was the leader of the guards assigned by the empress, couldn't help but say to Ren Baqian.
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