Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 369 - 234: Building Blocks

Chapter 369: Chapter 234: Building Blocks

After mentally preparing himself, Li Hongyun eventually calmed down and accepted his fate.

"Look on the bright side, this is just like building with blocks, only the number of blocks is slightly larger, and it requires a bit more patience..."

Li Hongyun did not immediately throw himself into the intense work, but instead decided to first observe.

After all, such a massive workload could not be completed in just two or three nights.

Even though the game "Dark Sand" had already tried to reduce some unnecessary workload for the players, skipping those dull, tedious, and repetitive plots, this was still a monumental project that mobilized hundreds of thousands of civilian workers and armies, spanning over a decade from preparation to official construction. So, no matter how simplified it was, it still posed an unimaginably tough challenge for the players.

Since it was so daunting, there was no point in rushing every second.

It was like running a marathon; what mattered was not how fast you started but how well you could keep going.

Li Hongyun did not immediately focus on the capital but first shifted his view to the original sources of various materials, watching with interest.

For him, observing these ancient craftsmen chopping trees and burning Jin bricks from this god-like perspective was quite fascinating.

He had already caught a glimpse from the air, seeing several major material production sites.

In the deep mountains of the vast southwest, many civilian workers were cutting down sturdy Phoebe zhennan wood and were trying their best to transport these precious timbers to the capital via waterways;

In the southeast, the craftsmen were burning Jin bricks through an exceedingly intricate process;

Near the mountains close to the capital, craftsmen were quarrying massive stones and transporting them into the capital via the icy paths of the cold winter months;

And many craftsmen around the imperial city were continuously excavating earth, piling up various waste materials and excess earth from digging the moat, eventually forming a small hill.

This hill became known as the Eternal Hill and was later called Jingshan. Below it lay the resting palace of the former emperors, Yanchun Pavilion, purportedly built to suppress the fortune of the former dynasty.

Li Hongyun first turned his attention to the southeast, to the kilns burning Jin bricks.

These so-called Jin bricks were originally called "capital bricks," meant for use in the imperial palace. However, the words "capital" and "gold" sound similar, and since these bricks were highly valuable—with a saying that goes, "one tael of gold per brick"—they were also referred to as Jin bricks.

Jin bricks were known for their fine grain, dense quality, and metallic-like sound when struck; when sawn, the surfaces showed no pores, making them an excellent building material.

Li Hongyun watched with interest the entire process of the craftsmen making Jin bricks.

These craftsmen had to first choose the right type of soil, which needed to be sticky but not scattered, fine but not sandy. Once selected, this soil had to be left out in the open for a full year to dissolve its natural properties. Then, it was soaked in water to soften the clay, which was trampled by many oxen to remove air bubbles contained in the clumps of mud.

Finally, after repeated pounding and being placed into molds, it was covered with a flat board; two people would tread on it to compact it properly, and it would then be left to dry in the shade for over seven months before being fired in the kiln.

When firing in the kiln, it was first smoked with chaff for a month to remove moisture, then fired with split wood, whole wood, and pine branches for a month each before being removed from the kiln.

If, in this batch of Jin bricks, six pieces did not meet the criteria of sounding metallic when struck and being void of pores when sawn, then the entire batch was considered defective and had to be fired again.

In this way, the journey from mud to gold bricks spanned over two years.

Li Hongyun watched the craftsmen start from selecting soil, busily firing batch after batch of Jin bricks, loading the qualified products onto ships, and continuously transporting them to the capital via the Great Canal.

In the vast southwest, countless craftsmen were also cutting suitable Phoebe zhennan trees in the steep mountains.

Phoebe zhennan wood was exclusively used by the royals in ancient times, known for its stable performance, durability, and mild nature along with a pleasant fragrance, making it the imperial architecture’s favorite wood.

Even for a powerful minister, using Phoebe zhennan wood for buildings carried the risk of overstepping boundaries.

The growth cycle of Phoebe zhennan wood was very long, entering a vigorous growth phase only after fifty years, and there was also the possibility of unexpected growth cessation due to various accidents. The idea of planting it oneself and discovering after fifty years that it had stopped growing was simply devastating.

Moreover, the growing climatic conditions for Phoebe zhennan wood were very harsh—it thrived only at altitudes between 1500 and 2000 meters. If the climate and altitude were not right, even if it did grow, the wood would likely be of poor quality.

The craftsmen and civilian workers ventured deep into the steep mountains to cut Phoebe zhennan wood, facing myriad dangers.

In the dense forests, they might fall by accident, might encounter wild beasts, might get lost, or might even be killed by sudden flash floods or mudslides...

Thus, there was an ancient saying: "A thousand enter the mountain, five hundred come out."

After cutting the suitable Phoebe zhennan wood, due to its immense size, it was nearly impossible to transport it out of the steep mountains by human force.

The craftsmen first built platforms on the trees with planks, allowing the woodcutters to chop off the branches and leaves; then, they tied ropes around the trees to prevent them from falling and hurting people.

After felling the tree, the woodcutters would bore holes in it—many workers would lay logs on the ground, dragging the tree a certain distance before rolling it down into a ravine to assemble it into a raft.