Green Mountain
Chapter 120 - 89, Gai Kiln-3

Chapter 120: 89, Gai Kiln-3

Princely Heir squatted on the ground and said boldly, "We are discussing major military strategies, something you bookworms wouldn’t understand!"

Chen Wenzong’s breath caught, "How can you achieve anything impactful on military strategy in this messy Liu Family Village?"

Princely Heir laughed happily, "Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand."

Chen Wenzong said with a firm tone, "How can I understand if you don’t tell me?"

Princely Heir hesitated, "... Mainly because I don’t understand either."

Chen Wenzong muttered, "Princely Heir, you’re quite honest."

Chen Ji glanced at him, "Big brother, if you want to watch, then just stand aside and watch without distracting us. Don’t look down on what we are doing now. The ultimate goal of learning is to apply knowledge to govern and benefit the people; idle talk only misleads the country."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wenzong wanted to get angry. Confucian teaching stresses brotherly respect and humility, but Chen Ji seemed to disregard these principles, not taking his elder brother seriously at all.

However, thinking of the purpose of his visit, he ultimately held back. He did not want to squat on the ground like these people and demean himself, so he stood quietly to the side, waiting to see what trouble this group would stir up.

But...

Chen Wenzong asked in confusion, "I heard your conversation just now, it seems like Chen Ji is the one in charge here?"

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding the point of this question. After a moment of thought, Princely Heir countered, "Who else?"

Chen Wenzong was stunned, the steward had always said that Chen Ji was obsequiously clinging to the Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess, but now it seemed that the steward was completely wrong!

Bai Li tugged at Princely Heir’s arm, "Brother, ignore him, let’s not play with him."

Chen Wenzong: "..."

It was unclear how long they waited, perhaps two hours, maybe three. Their legs had gone numb from squatting, so they brought wooden chairs from inside to continue waiting.

Until the sun set in the west, Chen Ji suddenly said, "It should be ready now. The initial and final setting times are both satisfactory, but I’m not sure if it’s durable enough."

Princely Heir leaned in to check and saw that the mud paste they had applied earlier had solidified and bonded with the gray bricks.

His eyes lit up and he looked at Chen Ji, "How long does regular glutinous rice mortar take to solidify?"

Chen Ji said, "Ten days."

Princely Heir then asked, "If this thing can truly replace glutinous rice mortar, Father won’t have to worry anymore. White ash and clay are readily available; many commoners won’t have to starve because of glutinous rice requisition!"

Chen Ji picked up a gray brick, inspecting the structure of the cement that had solidified, then suddenly said, "Don’t get too excited yet."

After speaking, he stretched out his thumb and gently rubbed it, the cement that was supposed to be firm and durable crumbled away like tofu dregs.

If they used this cement to build cities in border towns, it might collapse before the Jing Dynasty even attacked. In such a case, Princely Heir and Bai Li might be safe, but Chen Ji feared he would be beheaded...

What went wrong?

Chen Ji loved reading scientific knowledge and thus had broad insights. However, broad knowledge often meant shallow understanding in each area, making it hard to delve deep.

He spoke logically, but actually implementing the work required many detours.

Chen Ji sighed, "It definitely can’t be used like this now."

Princely Heir asked, "What should we do then?"

After pondering for a moment, Chen Ji suggested, "The porcelain powder we ground out needs to be sifted more finely. Commandery Princess, take She Dengke and Brother Mao’er to search in the village for screens with finer mesh. Princely Heir, you and Senior Brother Liu and the little monk go buy some white ash..."

Chen Ji continually felt something was amiss, like he had skipped a crucial step.

Chen Wenzong, observing Chen Ji deep in thought, felt the latter was unfamiliar.

Back at the Chen Mansion, Chen Ji lived alone in a separate courtyard, eating alone, sleeping alone, even attending a different school than he and Wenxiao. Their mother always used Chen Ji’s mischievous conduct as a reason to prevent them from interacting.

Although they were brothers living in the same residence, it seemed as if they were in two different worlds.

It was not until this moment that Chen Wenzong realized he had never truly understood this brother.

Just then, Chen Ji suddenly looked up towards the huge earth kiln in the middle of the courtyard, "No, it’s the kiln that’s wrong. No wonder the kiln factory owner was hemming and hawing when handing over the factory!"

After saying this, he picked up a stick, squatted on the ground, and drew a gourd, "This is an Ascending Flame Furnace, the temperature can’t meet the requirements for making cement. We need to change it to a gourd-shaped furnace or steamed bun-shaped furnace, making the ascending flame turn into a descending flame. Princely Heir, go gather the strong men from Liu Family Village."

Princely Heir was curious, "What are you going to do?"

Chen Ji confidently said, "I’m going to modify the furnace!"