Chapter 772 - 38: A Spark Ignites an Inferno—Gu Clan and Jia Wenhe?

"Arrest them and send them to the officials!"

"Report to the authorities! Say there are spies sowing discord among the people!"

Seeing the public’s anger, the two spies turned pale and sweaty, not daring to say more. They hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and slunk away into an alley, disappearing from sight.

The teahouse owner came out and clasped his hands towards the crowd, "Dear neighbors, do not let miscreants disturb your hearts!"

"Grand Tutor Gu has his arrangements, we people of Si Province trust the Gu family!"

"Let’s all disperse now, those who should repair the rivers, go repair the rivers; those who have businesses to attend to, attend to them!"

Scenes like this are happening all over the Great Song nowadays.

Although it cannot entirely quell the unrest in various places,

this kind of turmoil in people’s hearts is gradually dissipating imperceptibly.

...

Of course, Gu Yi naturally understood that all this was just the foundation!

Even though everything now seems to be gradually improving, it all was but floating duckweed.

If the issues of water transport cannot be resolved,

the Great Song will still face the grain and forage issues that could crush everything.

The consumption caused by land transport is impossible to compensate for,

at least in the current era.

This is something no one can overcome!

However, the good news is, at least in his view, everything is still moving in a positive direction.

With the formal determination of this policy,

the Gu Clan’s promoted ash cement was finally brought into the open.

After a trial use for water transportation confirmed its usability, the "workshop zones" throughout the Great Song were quickly entirely monopolized by the court to produce "Gu Clan ash cement".

Everything is closely linked together.

By now, the workshop zones between various regions of the Great Song have actually become quite mature,

whether the workers inside,

or all related matters in each place.

And this is a natural factory of productivity, which the court can requisition effortlessly.

The Gu family is merciful to the common people,

but shows no mercy towards the major merchants and aristocratic families of various places.

And these are often the ones who control the workshop zones!

And the most crucial point is—

This "Gu Clan ash cement" is not something high-end, it doesn’t even require much effort. It only needs the workers in the workshop zones to handle each raw material in an orderly manner.

The issue of proportions is left to the craftsmen trained by the Gu family.

Years of development finally bore fruit at this time.

Even though all this may also seem somewhat simple in the eyes of Gu Yi, a modern person, the production capacity it can unleash in the current context is equally astonishing.

And with the continuous production of "Gu Clan ash cement", the repair work of water transport in various places finally broke away from the previous mud struggles that were fruitless, and started to show unprecedented, solid and steady progress.

In the collapsed river section in Si Province, the original plan of the Ministry of Works was to mobilize tens of thousands of laborers, take months to drive dense wooden piles as a foundation, and then layer by layer fill with rammed earth and stone, requiring waiting for an appropriate dry season.

This method was hugely expensive and could easily be destroyed by the continuous summer rains and upstream water flow.

But now, it is entirely different.

With the craftsmen and water management experts of the Gu Clan arriving one after another, the overall strategy immediately changed.

They did not recklessly block the vortex, but directed skilled river workers to dive into the rapids and precisely place custom-made bags filled with "ash cement" at the edges and key stress points of the collapse area.

This "Gu Clan ash cement" could initially set within a day after encountering water, and becomes stronger than ordinary mortar in three days.

Like playing Go, it gradually built an invisible base underwater, preventing further collapse. Although this process still took more than ten days, compared to the previous situation without a foothold, it was vastly different.

And when the underwater foundation became slightly stable, the craftsmen no longer relied on the long matrix of wooden piles, but utilized the fast-setting and high-strength characteristics of "Gu Clan ash cement," adopting the segmented cofferdam method.

Using bamboo cages and wooden fences as the frame, they quickly filled with large stones and used a large amount of "Gu Clan ash cement" to grout the gaps.

Each segment of cofferdam could become stable and form in five or six days, like sturdy wedges driven into the turbulent river water.

Subsequently, the laborers could calmly clear the silt and compact the inside under the protection of the cofferdam.

This method broke down the massive project into several units that could be advanced in parallel, greatly enhancing efficiency and reducing the risk of being washed away entirely.

And for the embankment construction above water, "Gu Clan ash cement" shone even brighter.

Craftsmen directed the laborers to use this mortar to stack neatly carved stones.

Almost without waiting, one layer could be laid upon another. The mortar filled the spaces between the stones completely and densely. Looking again the next day, the joints had turned blue-gray, exceptionally hard and resistant to axe and chisel.

The newly built embankment was not only fast in construction, its integrity and erosion resistance far surpassed any previous craftsmanship.

And as this entire project was finally consolidated, the gaping chasm in Si Province’s main river channel was replaced by a somewhat immature but exceptionally solid gray new embankment.

Although the overall project is not yet completely finished and upstream waters still need to be carefully guided, the whirlpool that once devoured everything no longer appeared. The first batch of light boats used for testing, under the skilled operation of experienced boatmen, passed through this section of the river with thrills but no danger, brushing against the new embankment.

And this—

was like a ray of dawn, illuminating the entire Great Song!

On the newly built embankment, countless laborers and craftsmen looked at the smoothly passing light boat, tears of excitement flowing down their faces, and some couldn’t help but kneel and kowtow.