Chapter 266
Chapter 266
After examining the block, Ji Yan’an’s eyes gleamed.
“Show me the process again.”
Everyone gathered around two craftsmen and watched as they mixed water into the cement powder. Once the consistency was right, they poured it into a mold and left it to dry.
Nanshu stared at the still-flowing cement, incredulity coloring his voice.
“That’s all it takes?”
The craftsman nodded. “Yes. Once this dries, it forms the block you saw.”
Ji Yan’an contemplated it. “If we made something larger-for example, if we used it to pave a road…”
There was no need to imagine the result. Such a road would certainly be smooth, sturdy, and durable.
“You could use it to build city walls,” Jiang Yunsui added.
Ji Yan’an stroked her hair. Excitement surged in his heart, though none of it showed on his face.
“Is it vulnerable to water?”
“No,” Jiang Yunsui replied.
Ji Yan’an smiled. “Then it will make projects such as building river embankments much easier.”
“Are the materials for this cement difficult to obtain?”
The craftsmen shook their heads and listed everything used to make it. The ingredients truly were not rare. Some were minerals such as limestone, which was often found alongside many other ores and existed in considerable quantities.
The most difficult ingredient to obtain was iron ore, but very little was needed, and even leftover fragments would suffice.
As luck would have it, Ji Yan’an controlled an iron-ore vein, so even that posed no problem for him.
This cement held enormous potential!
The wait for the new sample to dry was a long one.
Ji Yan’an could sit patiently, but Jiang Yunsui could not remain still at all.
She ran over to the porcelain workshop and asked one of the masters to teach her how to shape clay on the wheel.
But the spinning wheel was far too difficult to tame.
Jiang Yunsui failed, tried again, and failed once more, trapped in an endless cycle of defeat.
She puffed up like an angry little pufferfish.
Ji Yan’an, who had accompanied her, turned out to possess a fair amount of talent for handicrafts.
He had only decided to try because a certain Little Mushroom seemed interested.
Unexpectedly, it was rather fun.
After three failures, Ji Yan’an successfully shaped a bowl.
He glanced at a certain sulking Little Mushroom. On her wheel sat a crooked “cup” with unevenly thick walls.
Jiang Yunsui happened to sneak a glance at him and saw the perfectly intact bowl he had made.
Little Mushroom grew even angrier!
“I refuse to believe I can’t do it.”
Jiang Yunsui rolled up her sleeves and displayed a rare degree of stubborn concentration.
At Nanshu’s reminder, Ji Yan’an realized enough time had passed and went to inspect the cement.
Jiang Yunsui remained locked in battle with her clay.
Under the master’s patient instruction, she finally managed to produce a cup.
It was rather large, though, nothing like the small and delicate cups normally used for wine or tea.
In the end, Jiang Yunsui asked the master to shape a handle and attach it for her.
She also had him make a lid, topped with a dainty handle in the shape of a little mushroom.
Naturally, the master made the lid himself. Lids were far more difficult to shape than cups.
“All done! Remember to send it to me once it’s fired,” Jiang Yunsui instructed.
Ji Yan’an returned just as she finished.
The corners of his mouth were raised slightly, and he was plainly in a fine mood.
“Finished? Are you tired?”
With the knowledge that the little one before him was responsible for the cement, Ji Yan’an spoke with such unusual gentleness that it was almost eerie.
Unfortunately, he frightened not only Jiang Yunsui but everyone around them as well.
“Back, back! Whatever you are, hurry up and get out of Ji Yan’an’s body…”
Jiang Yunsui stared at him as though confronting a formidable enemy.
Nanmo tightened his grip on his sword.
Ji Yan’an was speechless.
He rolled his eyes inwardly. It was a rare moment of tenderness from him, and none of these ingrates appreciated it!
He cleared his throat and returned to his normal voice. “It’s time to go back.”
Jiang Yunsui blinked, circled him twice, then leaned in and sniffed with her little nose. Only after confirming that he still smelled like Ji Yan’an did she relax.
Ji Yan’an promptly pinched her chubby cheek.
“We’re leaving!”
This time, the words came through noticeably gritted teeth.
Uncle Li watched from behind, amused.
Jiang Yunsui and Ji Yan’an walked in front. Behind them, Nanshu elbowed Nanmo.
“Did you hear the Young Master’s voice just now? It gave me the shivers.”
Nanmo stopped walking.
“Why did you-” Nanshu began.
Oh no. Killing intent!
He turned and met the Young Master’s icy gaze. Nanshu immediately hunched his neck and shrank like a quail.
Ji Yan’an’s expression said it all: Did you think I was deaf? Gossiping about your superior behind his back!
“Nanshu forfeits this month’s salary.”
Nanshu’s face instantly collapsed.
Jiang Yunsui covered her mouth, snickering at his misfortune.
It was already evening when they returned to the residence. Everyone washed up, soaked their feet, and went to sleep.
*
Shangjing, the imperial palace…
Inside a magnificent, gilded hall, the emperor-the ruler of all beneath heaven-was in the midst of a furious tirade.
“What do they mean they have no weapons and no armor? Now they’ve come begging all the way to me! They want their military pay and provisions from me too! What are they good for? Shen Yan is threatening me! Does he truly think I dare not touch him?”
Several of the emperor’s trusted ministers stood off to the side with lowered eyes and hunched shoulders.
“But Your Majesty, if we do not give General Shen those supplies, what will we do if his forces truly refuse to cooperate in suppressing the Prince of Nanyang?”
“The Prince of Nanyang remains Your Majesty’s gravest threat. It would be best to eliminate him first.”
The emperor looked thoroughly impatient. “Where am I supposed to find all the supplies Shen Yan wants? Minister of Revenue-”
Before he could finish, the Minister of Revenue flung himself forward and began pleading poverty through streaming tears.
“Your Majesty! Because of the Prince of Nanyang’s rebellion, several prefectures in the south failed to remit their taxes this year, and most of them were prosperous prefectures! Tax revenue declines year after year. The treasury now holds a mere six hundred thousand taels of silver, and its grain reserves are meager. The treasury is empty! We truly have nothing to spare, Your Majesty!”
The emperor grew increasingly agitated as he listened.
“Useless! Every last one of you is useless!”
He berated them all, his expression dark and ugly.
“If tax revenue is low, then raise the taxes!”
“Your Majesty, this minister has a plan.”
The emperor looked toward his Left Chancellor.
“This minister recalls that a batch of old weapons and armor was retired in the south last year. Since the treasury is empty and Your Majesty truly cannot provide anything else, why not send those items to Shen Yan? We will have given him the weapons he requested. If he still fails to act, then he will be defying an imperial decree. Your Majesty can use that as grounds to strip him of his military authority and put someone you trust in his place.”
The emperor’s eyes lit up, but he quickly remembered an earlier failure.
“There is something you do not know, Left Chancellor. I tried something similar before, but the Mobei Army is obstinate beyond redemption, no different from the grassland Barbarians. They refuse to obey orders. General Zhao lasted barely two years there before he died.”
“That was because Your Majesty lacked sufficient grounds,” the Left Chancellor replied. “If Shen Yan disobeys now, you will have those grounds. We can spread accusations that he holds imperial authority in contempt and harbors treasonous ambitions.”
The emperor smiled. “An excellent suggestion, my dear minister. We shall proceed as you propose. I entrust this matter to you, Left Chancellor.”