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墨書 Inktalez
"Ah, Uncle Liu, you can't do it this way; it won't be sturdy," Liu Qingxi waved her hand, indicating that this method was incorrect.
"What? Our ancestors have always done it this way; no one has ever said it's wrong!" Compared to the young Liu Qingxi, they were more willing to trust the techniques passed down from their forebears.
Even though this group had just treated her with utmost respect, Liu Qingxi still felt the need to lean back a bit in comparison to the seniors.
"Uncle Liu, I’m serious. Didn’t I add crushed grass to the mud mix when we were building? It makes it much sturdier than your method."
"And also, the soil we dig up can't be used directly; we must first sift it to remove the stones inside. Otherwise, leaving them in is not good either."
At this point, Liu Qingxi thought of another method. If they mixed some coarse sand into the sticky soil they dug up, it could serve as a framework for these blocks, reducing shrinkage and deformation while increasing their strength.
However, the sand here wasn't suitable; if the grain size was too small, it wouldn't provide enough structural support and would reduce stickiness. If it was too large, it wouldn't bond effectively with the soil and would compromise its integrity.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no suitable sand around—only large stones.
There were also no advanced tools available to crush these large stones directly. Whatever Li Jing wanted was unattainable, so this improvement method had to be abandoned as it clearly wasn't applicable in the current environment.
They still needed to choose materials that could be sourced locally, which were simple and convenient for transportation. Therefore, adding crushed grass as a mixing agent was the most practical solution.
"Didn't you all see? The houses reinforced with my method are sturdier than usual; it's because of these additions."
Of course, Liu Qingxi didn't explain that adding crushed grass essentially served the same purpose as reinforcement bars in concrete structures; even if she did, they wouldn't understand.
Only when faced with the most intuitive and credible facts could they recognize and accept them.
"Think about it: a Mud Brick made solely from soil can easily break under pressure or when struck. But if we add crushed grass, when it’s about to crack, the grass fibers inside will pull together and prevent it from breaking!"
Liu Qingxi This explanation is so straightforward that it still leaves people feeling somewhat confused.
Well, it can't be helped; since I can't explain it clearly, I'll have to prove it with facts.
Liu Qingxi didn't expect to conduct an experiment using a comparative method in this unfamiliar era.
"Alright, alright, I know you all don't believe me. How about this: let's make a few Mud Bricks without adding straw, and then make a few more with straw. Later, we can find some heavy objects to press down on them and see which one breaks first. That way, we'll know which method is better. Does that sound good?"
Village Head Liu, being more experienced than the young people, thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's do it! We'll give it a try!"
After all, they had nothing to lose; they could just use whichever method proved to be better.
"Alright, we need to make sure the Mud Bricks are the same size. If we make them this big originally, we won't be able to break them easily."
Although soil is the raw material and these Mud Brick blocks themselves have low strength, in this era lacking experimental instruments and control equipment, it's very difficult to accurately obtain their mechanical performance parameters.
Even if they wanted to break them, they could only use heavy objects for pressure. Think about it; a compressive strength of several tens of kilonewtons is not something that just any weight can achieve; it's practically impossible.
So there was only one way: change the size of the Mud Bricks to reduce their compressive strength. But how?
The simplest and most effective method is to increase the length while reducing the thickness; this will significantly lower the compressive strength.
Although this won't be a prototype of the Mud Brick and doesn't use a scaled model, making it impossible to quantitatively reflect the mechanical properties of the soil material, this comparative experiment can qualitatively judge the impact of additives on the mechanical properties of the blocks.
In the end, to load heavy objects, the original length of the Mud Brick was doubled while its thickness was reduced to half of its original size.
"Uncle Liu, I'm afraid you'll need to prepare this mold!"
"No problem, we have a carpenter in our village. It will be ready soon. How about we do it over at our place?" After realizing this might trouble Liu Qingxi, he added, "Let's just come back here instead!"
Thus, the experiment was temporarily put on hold. The people of Sanhe Village hurried home to prepare.
In the afternoon, Village Head Liu arrived with his entourage.
At this time, news of the experiment had spread throughout Ten Li Pu, and some even began to mythologize Liu Qingxi.
"You guys don't know? Qingxi has come up with another great idea; the houses will be sturdier."
"Really? I hadn't heard. They just started working now that it's warm?"
"Of course! The village head of Sanhe Village is personally getting involved. Why wouldn't they believe it? How do I know? I happened to overhear them discussing it when I passed by this morning."
"Oh wow, what kind of method is that? How does it compare? I need to go see for myself." A curious woman stood up and headed west.
A great idea? What a big deal!
Before long, a group of women gathered and then dispersed, all heading to the same destination: Liu Qingxi's house.
"Wait a moment! I'm going to find the soil I need. You can use whatever soil you dig up to make a few pieces." With that, Liu Qingxi walked down toward the foot of the mountain, remembering there was a patch of yellow land that should be clay.
As for the soil underfoot, while it had some stickiness, it still wasn't sufficient in comparison.
How could such a lively event lack onlookers? When Liu Qingxi stepped out, she was even followed by a long line of people.
“Qingxi, where are you going? We're here to help.”
What help? Liu Qingxi scoffed; they were really just looking to join in the fun!
With a general idea of where to go, Liu Qingxi reached the foot of the mountain. As she crouched down to start digging, the curious youths quickly squatted beside her, and within a few minutes, they had dug up the required weight.
“Qingxi, is this really okay?” Song was one of the onlookers, feeling a bit skeptical.
Although she knew that Liu Qingxi had some skills, what if this method turned out to be a failure?
The hard-earned reputation could be ruined: “If it weren't for you, Aunt, you shouldn't be doing this. What if it fails?”
She didn't continue her thought, believing that Liu Qingxi would understand.
With a reassuring smile, Liu Qingxi said, “Aunt, don’t worry; there won’t be any problems!”
With so many people in modern times having verified results through countless experiments, how could there be any mistakes? The measures of adding crushed grass and wheat straw had already been incorporated into the standards, and their content had specific requirements.
She had no doubt about winning; it was essential. Otherwise, she could just hang a wide noodle back and might even roll her eyes and return to modern times.
“You,” Song really wanted to ask her where her confidence came from.
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