Chapter 42: Cement

"Master, after much consideration... I believe it would be best to allocate a separate plot of land for you..." Old Ford finally relented.

He had no choice replacing all the flowers and plants imported from other parts of the empire would cost far more gold coins than simply buying grain.

"Huh? No need? You really don't need me to turn it into a vegetable garden?" Bruno said with some regret.

"No need! I firmly believe... that your crop seeds will surely... yield a thousand pounds per acre..." Old Ford said tearfully.

At this point, all he could do was hope that these three new crops were truly as miraculous as Bruno claimed.

"Alright then..." Seeing how cooperative Old Ford was, Bruno could only accept.

As soon as Bruno gave in, Old Ford let out a long sigh of relief and slowly walked away.

As he walked, he could still hear Bruno muttering behind him: "But... if I don't turn it into a floating vegetable garden, how can I showcase my noble and benevolent image of loving the people like my own children..."

Old Ford stumbled, nearly tripping over himself.

Sigh... My head hurts.

With the completion of the Hanging Garden and the arrival of the beginner's gift pack, Bruno was ready to tackle cement production.

Now that the Hanging Garden was built, the work crew composed of serfs suddenly had no tasks left.

The commoners and some of the serfs recently transferred from Idar City weren't too affected after all, spring planting was approaching. These people had only been working on the wonder during their idle winter months, earning some extra food while waiting to return to their own leased land.

However, the earliest batch of recruited serfs now found themselves unemployed.

They had originally been reassigned from Saltworks due to reduced demand there. Now, with the Hanging Garden completed and no new construction projects in the Idar domain for the time being, they had no work to do.

Feeding and housing several hundred idle serfs was an ongoing expense, so Bruno needed to find work for them as soon as possible.

In peacetime, large construction projects even without system buffs and rewards had their own benefits.

Such projects required substantial financial investment and a large workforce, giving many idle people employment opportunities to support themselves and their families.

It was similar to the labor-for-relief programs from Bruno's previous life: solving unemployment while also reducing social instability.

Additionally, due to Idar's relatively isolated geography and the feudal manor-based economy, large-scale projects significantly boosted the circulation of copper and gold coins within the domain.

With more money in hand, the people could afford better living conditions eating well, dressing warmly, and improving their quality of life.

And as the Count of Idar, Bruno was also the domain's biggest (and most shrewd) merchant.

Nearly every product the commoners needed would, in one way or another, contribute to Bruno's profits.

The local black bread shop might not be owned by Bruno, but the grain used to make the bread was purchased from him. And even if it wasn't, the land used to grow the grain belonged to him.

So while coins first entered the hands of the commoners, they would eventually make their way back into Bruno's pockets through various transactions.

At first glance, the starting and ending points were the same, but after this cycle of circulation, the people ended up living better lives.

Bruno couldn't explain this economic concept to Old Ford, who was fixated on frugality. Even if Old Ford understood, the officials of Idar might not.

Instead, Bruno hoped that through gradual exposure to this economic shift, the people of Idar would start to rethink the role of money.

Now that the Hanging Garden was complete and a new wonder wasn't immediately in the pipeline, Bruno turned his attention elsewhere.

It was time to properly fix Idar's roads!

Bruno had wanted to do this throughout the long winter, but financial constraints had forced him to delay.

Now, with the Hanging Garden no longer consuming nearly a thousand gold coins per month, he could finally prioritize road repairs.

And with the introduction of cement production, the project became even more feasible. Bruno decided to go all-in and build cement roads from the start!

The process of making cement wasn't particularly difficult, especially with the guidance of the wonder-building system.

The only real challenge was achieving the necessary firing temperature for cement production.

According to the parchment instructions, cement required a firing temperature of around 1,400 degrees Celsius. This would normally be a major obstacle.

But this was a world of magic!

Arnel's research into magic arrays provided a solution.

Let's not forget—Arnel knew Fireball!

With his experience designing levitation arrays, Arnel found it relatively easy to create a new type of array.

After a few days of modifications and fine-tuning, he presented Bruno with an impressive result.

The first version of the heating array, after numerous adjustments, could now reliably maintain the necessary 1,400-degree temperature. This was achieved by combining seven combustion arrays with three custom-designed temperature control mechanisms.

However, just having heating arrays wasn't enough. Bruno had his workers construct three kilns using newly fired red bricks to ensure sufficient cement production.

Cement production generally followed a simple grind-burn-grind process.

First, limestone, iron powder, and sand were mixed in specific proportions and ground into a fine powder.

Next, this mixture was fed into the kilns, where the heating arrays subjected it to high-temperature calcination, producing cement clinker.

Finally, the clinker was ground again with a certain amount of slag or fly ash and some gypsum to complete the cement production.

Once mixed with water, the cement formed a paste that could harden in air or underwater, binding sand, gravel, and other materials together securely.