The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  "Where is the pile of slurry you speak of?" Wang Chong asked, standing up.

  Zhao Jingdian froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and pointed at a nearby pile of hardened slurry. Wang Chong quickly walked over, bent down, and snatched at it with his fingers. This time, the slurry was much harder than the previous ones. Although it was still rather brittle and not up to Wang Chong's standards, there were clear signs of improvement.

  Chapter 683: Overarching Strategy, Cement! II

  Chapter 683: Overarching Strategy, Cement! (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "We've experimented and learned that a mix of around three parts lime and one part clay has the best effect. But even so, this one compared to the previous slurries is like a soldier who retreated fifty paces laughing at a soldier who retreated one hundred paces," Zhao Jingdian said respectfully.

  Wang Chong nodded. Zhao Jingdian and his group had managed to produce some results from their research in this period. That they could find out the best ratio of lime and clay was already rather decent. Wang Chong also felt that the correct recipe used proportions like this.

  However, just this was clearly far from enough. Wang Chong needed a cement path that could endure the weight of dozens of people at a time, of several thousand jin. It was obvious that the slurry before him would not be able to do this.

  Moreover, just like Zhao Jingdian had said, cement of this level could truly only be called 'slurry'. Something was evidently missing from the mix.

  Wang Chong stood up and asked, "Jingdian, have you gotten any of that thing that I mentioned before?"

  "Is Young Master speaking of that 'lu ore'? A few days ago, as Young Master ordered, I sent people to a mountain near the Silk Road in the northwest and had them dig up the ore Young Master spoke of. But whether it is the 'lu ore' that Young Master spoke of still needs Young Master's confirmation. Someone, bring that ore over."

  Zhao Jingdian waved his hand, and a few guards quickly brought in a box of ore.

  As he looked at the red-brown stones within, Wang Chong inwardly smiled. This world naturally didn't have anything like 'lu ore1'; it was just aluminum. But this world of martial arts only regarded metallic-looking ores with great importance.

  As for 'aluminum ore', such a thing simply didn't exist to them.

  "It should be this."

  Wang Chong nodded as he looked at the ore in the box. Aluminum itself was not red-brown and only gained the color when it was mixed with iron. However, it was still rather different from true aluminum.

  The color did make it much easier to identify.

  In the era of the Great Tang, there was still no concept of aluminum2. Just like Zhao Jingdian, many people mistook the word '' for '' and were left completely confused. But this was of great convenience to Wang Chong, as it meant that no one would compete with him over aluminum in this era.

  As for why Wang Chong had tasked Zhao Jingdian with finding aluminum ore, it was very simple. Wang Chong recalled that by mixing aluminum powder into cement, the cement could be made much tougher.

  If one said that cement formed from lime and clay was the most basic form of cement, cement with the addition of aluminum ore was of a much higher level, nearing the complete form of cement.

  Bang!

  With a light slap of his palm and a burst of Stellar Energy, Wang Chong immediately pulverized the ore in the box into an extremely fine powder that slowly began to seep through the chinks in the box.

  "Young Master?!"

  Wang Chong's move was far too unexpected. Even Zhao Jingdian was perplexed.

  "Jingdian, call the masons over and have them mix the lime and clay in the ratio you described, three to one. After that, add in this lu ore powder. Oh, and pay attention to the amount of water you add. More water will result in a weaker product, so research the ideal amount of water to add."

  Patting off the aluminum ore powder from his hands, Wang Chong got up off the ground.

  Now that he was beginning to look over his memories, Wang Chong was realizing that he had missed something. Besides lime and clay, the amount of water added was also important. This would affect the properties of the cement.

  After all, even the best cement would immediately dissolve if thrown into the sea. What viscosity would it have to speak of?

  The masons under Zhao Jingdian had clearly missed out on this factor as well.

  "Yes, Young Master."

  A look of doubt flashed through Zhao Jingdian's eyes, but he still nodded. He would always follow Wang Chong's orders unconditionally.

  The masons in the mine quickly began to work.

  Wang Chong had more boxes of aluminum ore brought over and similarly smashed them into powder. He remained in the mine, personally supervising the process as the masons split up to work on separate piles and began to mix in aluminum ore powder and water in differing quantities.

  The mixing and stirring required quite some time, and after all that, forty to fifty piles of 'slurry', each using a different ratio, were finished mixing in the mine. But the crucial part was the hardening.

  This required no small amount of time, and the only thing one could do was wait.

  Wang Chong appeared very patient, quietly standing in the mine as he waited. Wang Chong regarded this cement with just as much importance as the city of steel, or perhaps even more, as this was something that could alter the fate of the empire.

  One hour later…

  One of the cement masons in front of Wang Chong deferentially said, "Young Master, it's about time!"

  "Mm."

  Wang Chong nodded and gestured to a worker. The worker understood and walked over to the first pile of hardened slurry. Snatching at it, he immediately became excited and turned his head.

  "I can't believe it! Young Master, good news! After adding this lu ore powder, this slurry is several times harder!"

  The worker was shaking in excitement.

  These words immediately made the masons gather around the slurry in excitement. They had spent every day researching this slurry, but all their experiments had failed.

  How could they not be excited when they heard that this slurry was now much harder?

  "Young Master, this is a wonderful thing! If we have this kind of slurry, it will be much easier to construct things in the future!"

  The worker snatched up a handful of slurry and presented it to Wang Chong, his face brimming with hope. In a flash, he had understood the enormous use this sort of thing had in construction.

  But to his surprise, Wang Chong gave a slight frown. Although this slurry was a little more satisfactory, it was still far from what Wang Chong wanted.

  When that worker snatched a handful of the hardened slurry, he immediately knew that the experiment had failed. Although this slurry was now much tougher, it was still too weak for the cement that Wang Chong wanted.

  If one could snatch a slab with one's hands, how could it withstand the strength of a carriage weighing several thousand jin?

  "Try the next pile!"

  Wang Chong's words immediately dampened the mood of the excited crowd.

  The second pile was tried, then the third, the fourth… As the amount of aluminum ore powder increased, the toughness also increased. By the fifth pile, it was no longer possible to take a slab with both hands.

  In the mine, the crowd had initially been very excited, but as they saw the slurry getting harder and harder, its properties growing more outstanding, they actually began to grow quiet.

  At the start, they had all had their doubts about the uses of mixing a slurry like this, but no one could say anything now. The scene that Wang Chong was revealing for them was basically a miracle to these masons who had spent their entire lives working with wood and brick.

  No one had expected the Young Marquis of the Great Tang to not only be a masterful strategist on the battlefield, but also an incredible builder. Lime and clay were easily obtainable th
ings, but in the Young Marquis's hands, they were just as good as stone.

  And the only special ingredient was that 'lu ore' that the marquis had obtained from somewhere.

  Slowly, all the masons began to feel a heartfelt respect for this youth by their side. This time, Wang Chong had won their hearts not through his prowess on the battlefield, but through the domain that they were most skilled in.

  A stalwart guard, dressed in full armor, strode over to Wang Chong and spoke in a resounding voice. "Young Master, we've tried it, and this pile of slurry is the toughest. It can probably sustain a weight of around eight hundred jin! Ordinary people probably wouldn't be able to break it, only warriors!"

  Buzz!

  The words of this guard elicited cries of shock from the crowd. Although they had personally mixed these slurries, they still found the number of eight hundred jin difficult to believe.

  This product could no longer be described as a 'slurry'.

  No slurry in the world could reach this level of toughness. This was already like the toughness of stone. All the people in the mine turned to Wang Chong, and even Zhao Jingdian's eyes were wide open in shock.

  Although he had been supervising the mine for quite some time, he would have never expected that Wang Chong's brief visit would be enough to raise the toughness of the slurry to this level.

  "Eight hundred jin—that's good enough!"

  Wang Chong gave a faint smile and a contented nod.

  Eight hundred jin meant that even a strong man could not do any damage to this slurry. This was already approaching the demands that Wang Chong required for his cement.

  Although this level of toughness was still very far from the several thousand jin that Wang Chong wanted, roads had never been built with pure cement.

  Mix the cement with river sand, crushed rocks, and a few steel bars, and this kind of road would definitely be able to bear the weight of several thousand jin and come away unharmed!

  Wang Chong turned to the nearby pile of cement and smiled.

  Now that he had the right mixture to create cement, he could formally begin the plan. It was time to engage in large-scale mining, gathering large amounts of lime and clay and opening many aluminum ore mines. In addition, he also had to collect vast quantities of river sand and crushed stone, as well as order the sword-smithing clans and various smiths to begin forging steel bars…

  With these things, he could construct for this world a massive, easily traversable, and developed network of roads. Although the future Great Tang would be just as vast, it would be much easier to travel to its various borders and react to any incidents on the frontier.

  This was a major event that could alter the course of the Central Plains for the next few millennia!

  Buzz!

  As this thought passed through his mind, a boom suddenly rang out and that familiar voice began to speak.

  "Congratulations to user for unlocking the mission, 'The Empire's Fury'!

  "Criss-crossing roads are like the blood vessels of the earth, allowing one to rush across the lands. A swollen system and vast lands have also held down this massive and ancient empire, making it a sleeping lion. Yet a day will come when the lion awakes and releases a roar of fury that will shake the heavens. Congratulations to user for researching 'cement' and unlocking the first phase of The Empire's Fury: The Fury of the Road.

  "Cement is a weapon that can alter the fate of an empire! User is specially rewarded with 1000 points of Destiny Energy."

  The emotionless voice of the Stone of Destiny rang out in Wang Chong's mind.

  ______________

  1.The term for 'lu ore' is , with sharing the same pronunciation as the word , the Chinese term for aluminum, also known as aluminium.↩

  2.The Chinese did not know of the element aluminum until the Europeans isolated it during the Industrial Age. As such, the Chinese character for aluminum was only created in the 1800s and was phonetically based. is pronounced like the 'lu' in the middle of 'aluminum'.

  Chapter 684: Kunwu Training Camp, Developments!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong was dumbfounded, but he quickly gave a faint smile.

  This was actually the first time since the conclusion of the southwestern war, where he had completed the Trial of Destiny and become Controller of Destiny, that the Stone of Destiny had given him a reward. Although Wang Chong had already gained a significant amount of Destiny Energy, 1000 points was still quite the large number.

  I'll keep this Destiny Energy for now. In the future, once I've understood the secrets of the energy arts and power, I'll start to slowly exchange the points for rewards, finding the best method to use them, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Ever since he had been promoted to Controller of Destiny, the Stone of Destiny had opened for him a brand new set of rewards. However, Wang Chong had still not understood their contents, so he had not exchanged for any rewards.

  "It's good enough. All participants of this operation will be rewarded three hundred taels of gold. Jingdian, I'll leave the rest to you."

  "Yes, Young Master."

  ......

  Once everything was settled, Wang Chong quickly left the mine.

  ......

  When the news that Wang Chong was gathering a large amount of sand, crushed rocks, lime, and clay to repair the roads got out, the capital once more began to buzz with activity. The Wang Clan was currently the focus of attention in the capital and wielded an astounding amount of influence.

  The matter of the fief in particular had made everyone pay attention to Wang Chong's every move.

  In the Great Tang Empire, repairing roads and bridges was not any big deal. All the wealthy clans would do something like this, but the massive amount of wealth Wang Chong had invested in this project made things different.

  Besides that, Wang Chong was also involving the Bai Clan, the Zhao Clan, the Xu Clan, and many other renowned clans of the capital in this project.

  But this time, not even the Bai Clan or the Zhao Clan knew what this 'cement road' that Wang Chong spoke of actually was. (TN: In Chinese, the word ‘cement’ is , or literally ‘water mud’, which would be quite confusing in an era where cement did not exist.)

  "Ling-er, what is the Wang Clan up to?"

  "The lime and clay aren't an issue, but what's going on with this matter of building roads?"

  "Our Bai Clan is quite the prosperous enterprise, so it's not like we can't put forward the money, but what sort of task is repairing roads? Our Bai Clan is a prestigious clan of the capital. Talk of this matter will bring great shame on our house."

  In the courtyard of the Bai Clan, a marble table sat amidst artificial mountains, ponds, and gardens. Next to this table, several elders of the Bai Clan had surrounded Bai Siling and were engaged in an alternating offensive.

  Previously, when Bai Siling had mentioned that Wang Chong was gathering large quantities of lime and clay, the Bai Clan had believed that this was an excellent chance to get in on the ground floor of one of Wang Chong's plans.

  When it was learned that the sword smiths and shops of the capital had engaged in large-scale forging of metal components for Wang Chong, the entire Great Tang Empire had begun to regard the seventeen-year-old youth as a god.

  Countless clans wanted to better their relationship with him. Just like during the southwestern war, they hoped to share in some of his transcendent glory.

  But the lime and clay that Wang Chong had gathered was actually for the sake of repairing roads! The matter had now become rather awkward.

  The Bai Clan was one of the elite clans of the empire. Involvement in this matter would instantly result in a drop of its prestige, and it wouldn't be able to show its face in front of the other great clans.

  Hence the current scene playing out.

  "Third Uncle, Second Uncle, Big Uncle… I really don't know anything about this matter."

  Bai Siling's fists were clenched
beneath her sleeves as she inwardly cursed Wang Chong. This bastard had dug a hole for her.

  Bai Siling had truly wanted to help Wang Chong, but she hadn't expected Wang Chong to have her Bai Clan repair roads. But at this time, before her elders, not only could she not reveal her emotions, she also had to speak on Wang Chong's behalf.

  "Moreover, Third Uncle, Second Uncle, Big Uncle, Wang Chong has never done anything without purpose. Perhaps he has a bigger plan that he hasn't told anyone yet," Bai Siling said as she inwardly wished for Wang Chong's death.

  But at this moment, Wang Chong was completely clueless.

  In Kunwu Training Camp, outside the capital, the place echoed with cheers of 'Wang Chong'.

  "Young Master, our Kunwu Training Camp is truly popular right now! Countless students from the training camps want to enter our Deflecting Blade Manor, and I've received six or seven thousand applications in this time period. I'm not able to look through them all alone, so I had to find a few people to help me."

  The blustering wind made the banner of Deflecting Blade Manor rustle and snap. Beneath the banner, Wei Anfang stood shoulder to shoulder with Wang Chong, both of them looking down the mountain.

  When the news got out that Wang Chong had returned to Kunwu Training Camp, Deflecting Blade Mountain became surrounded in a sea of people, everyone coming out to welcome Wang Chong.

  In the excited crowd, one could occasionally hear cries of 'Young Marquis' or 'Empire's Eighth General'.

  Of the Great Tang's Three Great Training Camps—Longwei, Shenwei, and Kunwu—Kunwu Training Camp originally had the lowest reputation. However, its relationship with Wang Chong had allowed it to rise above the other two.

  Many noble scions now put aside Longwei and Shenwei, electing instead to join Kunwu Training Camp.

  "This is a good thing. Isn't this exactly what we wanted?"

  Wang Chong held his hands behind him, his sleeves drifting in the wind as he smiled. The current Wang Chong was greatly changed from the him of the past. His every move was imbued with a formless power, and he carried himself with an admirable confidence and dignity.