20demayo Chapter 27 The Court Plasterer
Chapter 27 The Court Plasterer
Chapter 27 The Court Plasterer
"Knowing virtue..."
'
"Uncle Cheng————"
Before leaving, Li Shimin and Li Chengqian could hardly believe their ears, thinking they might have misheard.
But now, they watched as Lu Jinghe flung one of their top-ranking generals away with a wave of his hand.
"Your Majesty? Your Highness the Crown Prince?" Cheng Yaojin's face turned pale and then purple, utterly humiliated.
"Get up right now! Look at the state you're in!"
Li Shimin, his face dark, kicked Cheng Yaojin in the backside as he was about to get up, knocking him back down.
Lu Jinghe couldn't help but laugh and quickly said, "Oh dear, father-in-law and brother-in-law, why are you out here? It's cold outside, come back inside quickly, don't catch a cold."
Li Shimin's face darkened. He had always admired Lu Jinghe's ability to lie through his teeth.
In the sweltering heat of summer, he actually managed to spout nonsense about how cold it was outside.
Li Shimin ignored Lu Jinghe and looked calmly at Cheng Yaojin.
At this moment, Cheng Yaojin was dumbfounded. Father-in-law? Brother-in-law? You should have said you were the prince consort earlier!
Cheng Yaojin gritted his teeth in anger and glared fiercely at Cheng Chumo. Without a doubt, he was going to get a beating tonight.
"Tell me what happened?" Li Shimin walked angrily to the stone bench in the courtyard and sat down.
Cheng Yaojin stood obediently in front of Li Shimin, what can I say?
His son caused trouble and got beaten up. He came to seek revenge and got beaten up again.
"Ahem, let me explain," Lu Jinghe said at the opportune moment. "Well, the story is like this—"
"You'll be fined three months' salary and go collect twenty strokes of the cane yourself. Your son and the other two accomplices are not allowed to leave the house for a month." Li Shimin waved his hand, signaling Cheng Yaojin to quickly take Cheng Chumo away.
"Wait, Your Majesty, I have a suggestion."
"Jinghe, just speak your mind." Li Shimin glanced at them curiously. They were the ones who came looking for trouble, so why stop them?
It seems like they're going to speak up for them?
"Hey, wasn't I planning to build a factory?"
Lu Jinghe couldn't forget the efficiency these three people had when they worked; it would have been such a waste to keep them cooped up in the house for a month.
"Yesterday I kept them behind to do some work, and I discovered that the three of them have a talent for this."
"I plan to hire these three people to work in my factory."
They work hard, have good physical strength, and are high-quality laborers!
"Can they do it?" Li Shimin glanced at Cheng Chumo. Could he really go with Lu Jinghe to build those ingenious gadgets?
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin immediately became anxious. He could tell that Lu Jinghe was Li Shimin's son-in-law, had a very good relationship with him, and wanted to do business together, building some kind of factory.
Now Lu Jinghe plans to give his son a job in the factory. Isn't that promoting him?
"Your Majesty, I think we can give Chu Mo a try. If he doesn't work out, then he's useless. Just let him out."
"That's true." Li Shimin nodded and said, "Forget it, I won't interfere in this matter. Leave it entirely to Jinghe. Just let Jinghe handle it."
"Uh... Jinghe..." Cheng Yaojin didn't know what to say. He had just been planning to hit him.
Lu Jinghe didn't seem to care much, saying, "The cement should be almost dry. We can take a look first."
"Oh?" Li Shimin became interested; he enjoyed seeing the novelties that Lu Jinghe came up with.
"Then hurry up and go see. I'm quite curious to see what this cement you're talking about is."
Lu Jinghe patted Cheng Chumo on the shoulder, who was standing there dumbfounded and didn't know what to say, and said, "Would you like to see the results of your three efforts yesterday?"
Cheng Chumo stared blankly for a moment, then said, "I want to."
Lu Jinghe pulled Cheng Chumo to the door of another house and said, "Now, push open the door, and you will see your results."
"Open the door now! What are you standing there for? Do you need a beating?" Cheng Yaojin stood at the door and kicked it when Cheng Chumo didn't open it.
Li Shimin kicked him, and he kicked Cheng Chumo; that makes sense.
Cheng Chumo pushed open the door, and a cool breeze, different from the heat outside, rushed in.
Inside, it was pitch black, like a naturally smooth screen.
It can even reflect sunlight.
Li Shimin squatted down first, gently stroked the cement ground, and squinted his eyes: "It's very cold."
Then, Li Shimin turned his hand over and tapped the ground with his knuckles, making a dull thud.
"This thing must be very hard," Li Shimin said knowingly, pressing it again.
Cheng Yaojin then punched it hard, making a loud thud, and said, "Your Majesty, this thing is very hard, it's practically a rock!"
Cheng Yaojin rubbed his hand; it hurt from hitting it so hard, but not even a white mark was left.
"May I go in?" Li Shimin ignored Cheng Yaojin and turned to ask Lu Jinghe.
"It's ready." Lu Jinghe nodded and said, "Although it was only laid out last night, it dried relatively quickly. Although it's not completely dry, it should be able to support our weight."
Li Shimin stood up and walked into the room, pacing back and forth a few times to feel the texture of the floor.
His eyes were fixed on the floor, which was dark and gloomy, just like the earth, sitting there peacefully.
Very sturdy.
Li Shimin suddenly thought, if this were used to build a city, what iron cavalry could break through it?
The attackers charged in recklessly, determined to breach the city walls, but when they arrived and saw this seemingly natural, colossal wall, they must have felt utterly hopeless.
"This thing dried up like this in just one night?" Li Shimin stamped his foot and asked curiously.
"Yeah, isn't that amazing?" Lu Jinghe laughed. "It will take a few more days to dry completely, but the current hardness is enough."
Cheng Chumo was still standing blankly outside the door, looking at the ground, then at his own hands, then back at the ground, somewhat incredulous.
The mud they splashed into yesterday has turned into this mess.
Seeing his son looking silly, Cheng Yaojin quickly went over and patted him on the back of the head, saying, "You little rascal, you actually did something good. That's not easy."
3
Li Shimin ignored them and continued to study the cement floor.
This thing—it probably has many uses.
Build city walls, repair roads, and construct dams.
With such a smooth surface, the carriage's speed could roughly double.
If war breaks out again in the future, logistical supplies should be replenished quite quickly.
He looked up at Lu Jinghe and asked, "Son-in-law, can this be mass-produced?"
"Yes." Lu Jinghe nodded and said, "I plan to build a glass factory first, and then use the money earned from the glass factory to build a cement factory."
"Sure," Li Shimin nodded. "Remember to share some with me when the cement plant is built; the palace needs some renovations."
"Of course," Lu Jinghe replied. "How about we have Cheng Chumo and the other two do the cement plastering?"
These three people applied the cement very well; without using magic, he could never have applied it as smoothly as they did.