The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 27 Cement
The boy remained silent, tightly protecting his younger sister with his small body while watching Jiang Han warily, his eyes filled with suspicion.

To ease the tension between the two, Jiang Han took out two pieces of bran cake from his pocket and handed them over:

"Have something to eat? You're all so skinny, like bamboo poles."

Although the bran cakes were not refined, they had a faint aroma of wheat.

Upon seeing the pancakes in Jiang Han's hand, the brother and sister's eyes lit up immediately. The sister even swallowed hard, as they had been hungry for a long time and their stomachs were rumbling with acid.

The older brother tentatively took the pancake from Jiang Han's hand, broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth. After confirming that it was okay, he handed the rest to his younger sister behind him.

The younger sister took the pancake, took a big bite without hesitation, and a satisfied expression immediately appeared on her face.

After seeing his sister eat, the brother took the second piece of cake and began to gnaw on it in big bites.

Jiang Han leaned against the side, squinting as he observed the brother and sister. Seeing them eating with relish, he tentatively asked:
Who are you? Where are your parents?

The older brother, wolfing down his food, answered indistinctly:
"The adults starved to death and left us down here to spend the winter."

Jiang Han frowned and glanced at the foul-smelling cave dwelling:
"It stinks down here, how can you stand it? Aren't you afraid of getting disease?"

The boy, seemingly unconcerned, continued to munch on his pancake with relish.

"Stinky? So what if it stinks? It's better than being caught and eaten."

After the brother and sister finished eating, they grabbed a handful of snow from the roadside, stuffed it into their mouths, and gulped down several mouthfuls to quench their thirst.

After eating and drinking their fill, the brother and sister wiped their mouths and looked at Jiang Han:
"Is there anything else? If not, we'll go downstairs. It's freezing outside."

Jiang Han reached out and stopped the two of them:
"We need to use this cold cave, so we need to clear it out now."

Upon hearing this, the older brother immediately became anxious, and his voice rose several decibels:

"Then where will we stay?!"

Jiang Han was also in a dilemma. If he requisitioned this cold cave, then the two siblings would have nowhere to go. He couldn't let them sleep on the streets.

Jiang Han may not be a saint, but he wouldn't do something like this.

He pondered for a moment, and finally spoke:

"Alright, you can come with me. I'll provide you with three meals a day."

“But I’m not supporting you for nothing; you also have to do what you can.”

The brother and sister hesitated after hearing this, after all, they had just met Jiang Han and were inevitably a little uneasy.

But after much deliberation, they couldn't resist the temptation of three meals a day, so they gritted their teeth and obediently followed behind Jiang Han.

Jiang Han took the brother and sister back to his cave dwelling and found a bucket to boil water.

The two siblings were filthy and smelly, and had been in a pile of dead bodies; they needed a good wash.

After taking a shower, Jiang Han pulled out two more sets of old clothes and tossed them over:

"Wear these for now, and have your sister alter them if they get too big."

"By the way, what are your names?"

The older brother took the clothes, his face beaming with joy.
"My name is Yu Chengye."

The younger sister silently held the clothes in her hands and whispered, "My name is Yu Chenglin."

Jiang Han nodded:

"Then you two can do it this way. The brother will run errands and do some odd jobs, and the sister will do some sewing and mending."

As for their lodging, Jiang Han decided to vacate the woodshed for them first. After all, the two siblings had just crawled out of a pile of corpses, and Jiang Han didn't dare to let them share a room with other people.

Anyway, the woodshed has a heated kang bed, so it won't be cold.

Observe for a week first. If she doesn't get sick, let the younger sister stay in the woodshed, and the older brother, Shao Yong, and Hei Zi share a room.

In the days that followed, Jiang Han threw himself into his "big project": making cement.

He once tried a homemade cement method, and the results were very good.

Various clay bricks, ceramic fragments, etc. are used as raw materials, and quicklime is used as an auxiliary material. After washing, they are crushed with a stone mill and sieved.

After mixing them in a 3:1 ratio, they are dried on a heated brick bed, and this is what is meant by traditional cement making.

This type of cement is resistant to acids and alkalis and has good corrosion resistance. Although its frost resistance is not as good as ordinary cement, it is more effective than ordinary cement in underground engineering. For several days in a row, Jiang Han was busy collecting raw materials for making cement.

They even had the old servant of the Ma family go to many villagers and ask them to collect their unused pots, pans, broken porcelain and clay in exchange for some grain.

The villagers of Majia Village were stunned. This pile of junk could actually be exchanged for grain.

In no time, Jiang Da's reputation as a philanthropist spread throughout the entire Majia Village.

The villagers rummaged through their belongings, bringing out all sorts of broken porcelain and tiles to sell to Jiang Han in exchange for grain.

Some even went so far as to go directly to those abandoned cave dwellings to search, hoping to exchange them for more grain.

"Uncle Jiang, I don't want to grind grain anymore. I want to learn archery from Uncle Shao Yong."

In the courtyard, Yu Chengye struggled to push the stone mill while constantly complaining:
"I've been working like a donkey for two days now, and I really don't want to pull the millstone anymore."

Jiang Han was sitting to the side, leisurely basking in the sun, when he heard this he glared at him:
"Why are you learning archery at such a young age? You eat so many of my pancakes every day and don't work properly. How can you face me like this?"

"Jiang the Skinflint!" The boy pouted and reluctantly pushed the stone mill.

Of all the people he'd spent the last few days with, Jiang Han had been the strictest with him, forcing him to work every single day.

Jiang Han quite liked the child. Although he always said he wanted to be lazy, he never slacked off when it came to work. Their daily playful banter added a lot of life to the place.

Perhaps because he had two children before, Shao Yong still liked the brother and sister quite a bit.

Of the group, he and Yu Chengye were the closest, and Yu Chengye often pestered Shao Yong to learn archery.

Hei Zi had gone out with his cavalry and hadn't returned yet, while Dong Erzhu and Shao Yong took turns leading the troops in drills.

After all, Jiang Han's leg injury hadn't healed yet, so he was the most relaxed person here.

"I'm training you here; archery is very physically demanding."

“Your Uncle Shao Yong’s bow has a strength of eight li. With your small stature, you probably can’t even draw the bowstring.”

Jiang Han lay back in the chair, patiently and earnestly educating Yu Chengye.
"Hurry up and start grinding!"

The younger sister, Yu Chenglin, sat quietly to the side, concentrating on her sewing work.

Seeing her brother's reluctant expression, a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.

She is quiet by nature, and is content as long as she does some work and is well-fed and clothed.

Yu Chengye, on the other hand, was a troublemaker. As soon as it was mealtime, he would immediately put down the stone mill and rush off to pester Shao Yong.

"Uncle Shao Yong, I want to learn archery from you. I also want to join the army and earn a government salary."

Shao Yong shook his head:

"My decision on whether you want to join the army isn't up to me; you'll have to ask Lord Jiang."

Yu Chengye looked at Jiang Han sunbathing in the yard, completely puzzled:

"Huh? Asking about Uncle Jiang?"

"Uncle Jiang lies in the yard all day, fiddling with cement. Why are you asking Uncle Jiang?"

The boy had no idea what cement was; he thought Jiang Han was just tinkering around aimlessly all day.

Shao Yong glared at him:
"You little brat, you don't know anything. Lord Jiang has his reasons for doing things. You're just a kid, so just listen to him and do as he says."

"Stop fooling around, and work hard under Lord Jiang!"

Hearing the commotion from not far away, Jiang Han smiled and waved to Yu Chengye.

"Kid, hurry up and finish your food so you can get back to work!"

Yu Chengye pursed his lips, dawdled over to the stone mill, took the handle, and continued grinding the broken porcelain powder.

Jiang Han looked at his sour face and smiled:

"Hey kid, don't look so reluctant."

“If I took this method outside, I could easily earn tens of thousands of taels of silver.”

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(End of this chapter)