nucmednet Chapter 41: The Barracks of a "Large Matchbox"?
Chapter 41: The Barracks of a "Large Matchbox"?
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In May of the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, the training ground, which had been quiet for some time, began to bustle again. The soldiers who had been sent out to complete their missions returned to their units and continued to train under the guidance of the guards.
Liu Ye's focus has now shifted towards the bodyguard team. With everything else on track, it's time to get back to team building. The adage "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" remains true.
Liu Ye's combat personnel are divided into two parts: the first is the core force—the guards composed of the former three hundred young men, who are the most loyal to Liu Ye and have the strongest combat power. Currently, they are the only ones equipped with Patriot rifles; the second is the three hundred mountain bandits under Lin San's command. After being repeatedly defeated by the old guards, they were completely subdued. They have strong hand-to-hand combat ability and very rich combat experience.
The long-planned but delayed training ground renovation project has officially started. Because there were too many urgent matters to attend to before, such as developing iron mines, manufacturing guns and cannons, and seizing land, all of which were problems that needed to be solved immediately, and then several small-scale battles were launched, the planned project was put on hold.
The renovation of the training ground marked the first official use of Liang Xiaoming's improved cement. After producing the first batch of cement from limestone and clay, Liang Xiaoming felt there was still room for improvement and did not put it into formal use. However, after developing the Tiandu Iron Mine and starting to smelt pig iron himself, he mixed the slag produced from iron smelting into the original materials, resulting in cement that was very close to modern standards. After cooling, in the words of the cement kiln workers, it "looks like stone from a distance, but is as hard as iron."
Cement alone wasn't enough, so Liang Xiaoming experimented with using bamboo reinforcement instead of steel bars to build houses with bamboo-reinforced concrete. Cement itself has good compressive strength, but its tensile strength is relatively low. By mixing it with sand and gravel to form basic concrete, and then adding bamboo reinforcement, the tensile strength can be greatly improved, making the structure somewhat similar to modern reinforced concrete. If the experiment is successful, it can be promoted not only for training grounds but also for houses and docks in other places.
Liu Ye assigned the infrastructure project to Li Ergou, since it didn't require any advanced knowledge—just a Ming Dynasty version of a construction foreman. Liang Xiaoming provided on-site guidance to Li Ergou, ensuring he mastered the entire process so he could be handed over to him in the future.
The process is actually quite simple: cement is used as a binder, sand and gravel are added, water is mixed in, and the mixture is poured into a hollow mold made of wooden boards. Several bamboo strips are fixed in the middle, and the wooden boards are removed after it has hardened. The production of the bamboo strips is even simpler: bamboo is shaved into strips, retaining the green part, and then a simple anti-corrosion treatment is performed. If you want to be more particular, you can score the surface of the bamboo strips to increase the adhesion of the cement.
In terms of longitudinal tensile strength alone, bamboo is five times stronger than medium carbon steel. A hybrid structural system composed of bamboo-reinforced concrete beams, columns, and slabs, with walls made of red bricks, results in a building that is far more robust than the brick-and-wood hybrid buildings of this time and space, let alone all-wood structures. Moreover, the construction process is simpler, faster, and cheaper.
Of course, this isn't the only advantage. The use of bamboo-reinforced concrete allows for higher-rise buildings. However, theoretically, this type of brick-concrete structure cannot exceed seven stories because the load-bearing components are still the walls, and the load is transferred from the floor slabs to the walls, which then transfer the load to the foundation as a line load. Any taller than that, only frame structures can be developed.
Liang Xiaoming, an architecture major, could only explore and experiment with the help of craftsmen in this time and space. The height of the first barracks was relatively conservative, tentatively set at three stories.
"It's just a bit ugly," Liu Ye commented on the first bamboo-reinforced concrete barracks dormitory. The simple brick-and-mortar structure of that time naturally couldn't compare to the designs of professional architects and the products of modern construction techniques, nor could it rival the magnificent classical architecture of this era. However, the undecorated red brick walls had a nostalgic feel reminiscent of buildings from the 1970s and 80s, which gave it a unique charm.
Liang Xiaoming chuckled a few times and rubbed his hands together: "Architectural design is just a temporary gig, so..."
"So you just made this giant matchbox?"
Liu Ye looked at the rectangular object, which was like an enlarged version of a matchbox standing upright, with a doorway in the middle and windows in the walls—but no glass windows, so it was completely devoid of any aesthetic appeal.
Liang Xiaoming said without regret, "It's a pity that with our current capabilities, we can't build a framework structure. Otherwise, we could at least try building a ten-story building. This is all we can do for now."
Li Ergou was thrilled to witness the birth of the tallest building he had ever seen in his life. He didn't think the building was ugly. For someone who had previously only been able to live in a rammed earth hut, this three-story building was beyond his imagination. He estimated that even the emperor in the capital wouldn't be able to live in such a large building.
This red brick house is square, tall and imposing, grand and classy. It has windows on all sides, making it bright and airy. It can withstand wind and rain without any problem. Moreover, the whole structure is made of bricks, with cement as the adhesive, replacing the expensive glutinous rice mortar and the cheap rammed earth. It is not only economical, but also perfectly sturdy.
The more he looked at the house, the more he liked it, and he couldn't help but say, "Sir, if everyone in the village could live in a house like this, that would be wonderful."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye had a sudden inspiration. That's right! In the future, including Lijia Village, everything could be built with concrete structures to create a new Lingao city. The roads could be paved with cement, and the drainage and other municipal facilities could be improved. Apart from the lack of running water and electricity, wouldn't it be a modern town?
As modern people, although we often clamor to escape the concrete jungle of the city, we feel a sense of loss when we are completely detached from the civilized world. Living in such a new city in the future might give us a sense of what a future world feels like.
He shared his thoughts with Liang Xiaoming, and to his surprise, Liang Xiaoming wholeheartedly agreed: "Actually, I've thought about this for a long time, but I was too embarrassed to say it because I was afraid you would think I was being pretentious."
"Since we agree, then it's settled. Once the situation stabilizes, we'll embark on a major construction project and build a new city in Lingao."
Liang Xiaoming nodded: "I agree with that. However, this means cement production must be increased, and the cement workshop will have to be upgraded to a cement factory. Also, brick production may not be able to keep up; for now, we've only built a temporary brick kiln for the construction of the barracks..."
Liu Ye asked, puzzled, "I understand cement plants, but aren't bricks easier to make than cement? Bricks are made of clay, their composition is simpler, and it's easier to expand production capacity, right?"
Liang Xiaoming gave him a disdainful look: "Capitalists can just talk their way out of things, but we laborers have to run ourselves ragged. These days, few people build houses with bricks. Those who can afford bricks are wealthy families, and they all use blue bricks. Most of them are still wooden structures, while poor people just use rammed earth. We use red bricks."
Liu Ye humbly asked, "Aren't blue bricks and red bricks both bricks? What's the difference?"
"Of course there's a difference: clay contains iron, which, when fully oxidized during firing, forms ferric oxide, resulting in red bricks—the most common type. However, if water is added during cooling, the iron in the clay doesn't oxidize completely, forming ferric oxide, resulting in blue bricks. Red bricks are naturally cooled, making the process simpler, while blue bricks are water-cooled, which is more complicated. Therefore, red bricks were produced more in our time. The hardness of blue and red bricks is similar, but blue bricks are superior to red bricks in terms of oxidation resistance, hydration resistance, and atmospheric erosion resistance. This is why many blue brick buildings from the Republic of China era, and even the Ming and Qing dynasties, have remained intact for hundreds of years, while red brick houses from just a few decades ago are dilapidated..."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye made a decision: "Then let's continue with the red bricks. We're penniless right now, so we need to build from scratch. Efficiency is our top priority!"
“Red bricks are fine for the walls, but we can only use wooden floorboards for the floors—we can’t count on reinforced concrete floors, and even if we could make them, we don’t have the lifting equipment to install them—wooden floorboards are lightweight and simple in construction, but this means the sound insulation will be relatively poor…”
Liu Ye recalled the old houses from the 1960s and 70s, many of which had wooden floors and even wooden stairs. They creaked when you stepped on them, and if someone stomped their feet upstairs, the people downstairs could hear it very clearly.
"It doesn't matter. Our parents all lived like this. We should carry on their spirit of hard work and frugality!"
After determining the long-term plan and main building materials, the task of expanding the cement plant and brick factory fell to Tan Er. Although Tan Er had little formal education and no experience as a construction worker, neither was particularly difficult. The cement-making process was not complicated, and it became easy once the workers were skilled at it; brick-making was even simpler, requiring only the hiring of some craftsmen and the construction of a few brick kilns. The only change in the process was that the cooling method for the brick blanks was changed from watering to natural cooling.
Li Ergou also had to work part-time as a foreman. A qualified foreman doesn't need a high level of education; many foremen in later generations hadn't even had much formal schooling. Li Ergou quickly adapted to the role of an ancient foreman, leading his newly formed construction team—all trained from bricklayers—to begin building the training ground.
Liang Xiaoming initially stayed at the construction site to supervise the work, but after a few days, seeing that Li Ergou's work was quite professional, he gradually began to shirk his post. After all, all the barracks were the same, just like matchboxes, so he could just copy them.
By modern standards, concrete requires 28 days to cure. However, after only ten days, Liu Ye fully displayed his cunning capitalist nature, putting all the barracks into use and having all the guards move in.
Everyone was stunned by the brand-new houses. Like Li Ergou, they could only marvel at these concrete "matchboxes." Once inside the barracks, they were again drawn to the clean environment and neatly arranged beds. They all went to the beds, patting and touching them, reluctant to leave. Most of them had never had enough to eat before, let alone lived in such a clean and tidy house.
Liu Ye and Liang Xiaoming watched them with a great sense of accomplishment. This was set up based on the PLA military camp of the old era. Neither of them had ever served in the military, but they longed for military life.