The noble disciples of Chang'an City have recently gained another source of conversation.

"Brother Zheng, you heard, right? The imperial court established a Shibo Dudufu. It is said that all the expenses for the construction of the new palace will be raised by the Shibo Dudufu."

Changsun Chong raised his wine glass and drank a glass of Qilixiang with Zheng Hai.

During this period, although knife-burning was very popular and very popular among military generals, some people still felt that the taste of Qilixiang was softer.

Like Changsun Chong, when he entertains guests, he never prepares to burn knives.

"Of course I've heard a lot about such a big news. Not only is the money handled by the Municipal Governor's Office, but even the construction of the new palace is said to have been handed over to Li Kuan. The Ministry of Works and the general supervisor have to cooperate with him.

Work.”

"Hmph, the higher you stand, the more painful your fall will be. Even though Li Kuan is so prosperous now, and all the yamen are surrounding him, he has done his own evil, boasting that he will let the Emperor move into Haikou this winter.

Tai Chi Palace.”

Seeing Li Kuan's beautiful appearance, Changsun Chong found that he was not envious at all.

"It's already April now, and Li Kuan only has about six months to spare. But I heard that no one is starting work on the land where the new palace is to be built, and the Ministry of Household Affairs has not received a request.

The purpose of assisting in the recruitment of laborers, hehe, I am very curious about how Li Kuan built the new palace."

"Haha, it's Li Kuan's business how to build it, so we won't worry about him. Come, drink this glass of wine, and let's go to Yihong Tower to listen to music."

…

Near Guanshi Mountain, a new workshop has recently been built at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Chen Dali, please step away a little and let me buy it to see which piece is the hardest."

Li Kuan stood in front of five special stone slabs and pulled Chen Dali back a few steps; while Xi Junmai raised a big hammer and knocked down the stone slabs.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Along with the continuous knocking sounds, two stone slabs fell apart, and the other one also cracked after a few more knocks.

With only the last two pieces left, Xi Junmai gritted his teeth and spent a lot of effort before breaking them into pieces.

"Okay, it seems that the cement used in these two stone slabs should be considered successful. Dali, what is the difference between the two cements?"

"Your Majesty, the cement used in this slate, the raw materials in the furnace, in addition to limestone and clay, also added some coal slag, the one next to it is similar, but the limestone is crushed into more pieces."

Through the experience accumulated through firing glass, Chen Dali is already very experienced in how to verify the formula of cement.

Originally, he didn't know why the prince asked him to bake this ash-like thing, but when he saw that the ash, gravel, and sand were mixed together, and water was added, it turned into a slab of stone in just half an hour.

I immediately realized what the "cement" in the prince's words was used for.

"Build a few more furnaces immediately to increase cement production. I will be of great use."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will never let cement hold you back."

Li Kuan took over the construction of the new palace, which was known to everyone in the palace.

Chen Dali now naturally knows what cement is used for.

Inexplicably, he became confident that the first phase of the new palace would be built in half a year.

…

"Your Majesty, Master Yan has been waiting at your residence for a long time. Do you want to go see him first?"

As soon as Li Kuan returned to his house, Laifu came up to remind him.

"Okay, if you don't go see him, he will probably make trouble at His Majesty's place."

During this period, Yan Liben came to see Li Kuan several times, but Li Kuan only arranged for Xu Jingzong to communicate with him and asked him to come up with the design drawings of the new palace first and talk about the rest later.

As the general master craftsman of the new palace, Yan Liben was not only concerned about the design drawings, he was also more concerned about how to build the palace in the drawings. However, during this period, Li Kuan was either going to the glass workshop or the cement workshop, or to take a look.

How was the brick and tile firing going? Yan Liben had never seen Li Kuan even once.

If he hadn't known that Li Kuan was also busy with the construction of the new palace, Yan Liben would have jumped.

"Master Yan, I've been waiting for a long time. I'm sorry!"

As soon as Li Kuan entered the door, he saw Yan Liben walking anxiously in the hall.

"His Royal Highness King Chu, it is more difficult to meet you than to reach heaven."

Yan Liben also had a temper. Li Kuan let him down many times. It would be a lie to say that he was not angry at all.

"Haha, Master Yan is joking. I wonder if the design of the new palace has been finalized?"

In Li Kuan's eyes, Yan Liben is the kind of craftsman who possesses unique skills but doesn't know much about talking. Naturally, he won't be foolish enough to get angry.

"Humph, I just confirmed it to Your Majesty yesterday. Now we are waiting for the construction. It has been more than ten days and the construction has not started yet. It will not be completed no matter what, even if the first phase of the project is only 20% of the overall project.

"

When it came to business, Yan Liben slowly got into the mood, although he was still not happy.

"How to design the shape of the new palace and how to lay out the palace? You are the master of this aspect, and I will not interfere. However, there are a few things that I need to pay attention to. I want to talk to you first."

"What instructions does the prince have?"

"None of the main halls in the palace use pillars made of giant wood. The walls are all made of blue bricks. A boiler room must be reserved next to the palace, and space must be made below to arrange copper pipes..."

"Wait a minute." Before Li Kuan could finish speaking, Yan Liben couldn't help but interrupt, "Your Majesty, if we don't use giant wood, what can we use as pillars? How can we use blue bricks to build walls and provide lighting?"

Yan Liben got to the point right away.

Ancient palaces used a lot of wood, especially all the walls. The fundamental reason was the lighting problem.

Of course you can build a house with blue bricks, but the whole room will look very dark; if you use wood, put white paper around it or carve it into a hollow shape, the light transmittance will be much better.

"The issue of lighting is very simple. All windows are made of glass, especially in the main hall. Glass should be used on a large scale as much as possible to allow sunlight to shine in naturally."

"hiss!"

Yan Liben took a breath after hearing this, "Your Majesty, if this is the case, then the cost of the new palace will at least double."

Yan Liben certainly knew that glass mirrors were popular in Chang'an City; and the glass greenhouse built by Li Kuan last year became a topic of conversation among the people of Chang'an City after dinner.

Now that Yan Liben heard that Li Kuan said that glass would be used on a large scale to build the new palace, Yan Liben felt like his liver was shaking.

Could it be that His Highness the King of Chu is an extremely filial person?

For the sake of the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty, not only did he take over the construction work of the new palace, but he also used extremely expensive materials to build it.

It seems that I have misunderstood the King of Chu.

"Your Highness King Chu, this plan sounds feasible, but..."

Yan Liben's expression softened a lot, and there was even a hint of shame on his face because he had a bad attitude just now.
Chapter completed!