I Became The Chief of A Primitive Village

Chapter 241: Making Cement from Wood Ash

*Crack, crackle…* The flames in the kiln burned ever more vigorously, and the large pile of dried grass was quickly consumed.

After each batch of dried grass was completely burnt, the wood ash from the bottom of the kiln would be collected and placed in a wooden barrel.

After more than an hour, over ten barrels of wood ash had been placed beside the kiln.

“Shaman, all the dried grass has been burned, and the ash has been collected.” Yan Jiao reported.

“Have a group of people prepare some water, as much as possible. Fetch it from the storage tank.” Su Bai instructed as he stepped forward and reached into the wooden barrel to examine the ash. Fortunately, the perfectly burned ash contained almost no charcoal.

“Yes.” Yan Jiao immediately had the slaves continue fetching water.

After about ten minutes, the slaves brought over more than ten barrels of water and placed them beside the kiln.

Su Bai said nothing. He just demonstrated what to do first, putting one barrel of ash together with one barrel of water.

He added all the ash from the barrel into the water, then took up a wooden stick and began stirring, trying to mix them as evenly as possible.

Yan Jiao and the fox eared girl stood quietly to the side, watching Su Bai stir with curiosity.

After mixing the wood ash and water thoroughly, Su Bai slowly lifted the barrel and began draining out the water. It was to drain out the potassium carbonate-containing water from the wood ash mixture, leaving behind insoluble calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate paste.

These two substances were the most important components for making wood ash cement. Without these two things, wood ash cement could not be made.

After Su Bai had slowly drained all the water from the barrel, he examined the paste inside to ensure it met his requirements.

After confirming it was what he wanted, he began grabbing handfuls of wood ash paste. He squeezed them tightly to remove any excess water.

He repeated this action several times until he had properly processed all the wood ash in the barrel.

Yan Jiao looked at the balls of wood ash paste on the ground and curiously asked, “Shaman, is this cement now?”

“Not yet. I would still need to process it some more. I need someone to start the fire in the kiln.” Su Bai instructed.

Making wood ash cement was not that simple. They still needed to heat it until it glowed till a hot yellow.

The Chieftain knew nothing about these things, so he just followed Su Bai’s instructions. He immediately had people continue fueling and lighting the fire, before putting all the wood ash balls inside the kiln.

*Crack, crackle…* The fire in the kiln burned fiercely, and the wood ash balls slowly began to glow yellow.

“Good. Now, take out all the wood ash balls and let them cool down.” Su Bai instructed.

“Yes.” The slaves nodded in acknowledgement.

After about ten minutes, when the ash balls had completely cooled, Su Bai put them into a new barrel of water.

He let the balls slowly dissolve in the water, then used a wooden stick to stir them.

This time, Su Bai took out a barrel of sand and crushed stone, which he had them prepare earlier. These were important binding agents for the cement.

He gradually mixed the dissolved ash balls with the fine sand and stones, then began stirring.

At first, because there was not enough crushed stone and sand, Su Bai added a bit more and continued mixing evenly. After about ten minutes, all the ash balls and fine sand had mixed together, making the product look quite similar to the cement he remembered.

Next, Su Bai took two stones. He spread a good amount of the cement on the face of one stone, then placed the other stone against the cemented surface.

After ensuring both stones were stuck together with cement, he went to wash his hands clean.

“Shaman, is the cement finished now?” Yu Ying asked, still really curious.

“It might look complicated but not too difficult to replicate. Is this paste for building houses?” Yan Jiao asked, puzzled.

He had watched all the steps, from start to finish. Aside from being confused as to why this or that was done, he had no other thoughts.

“Let’s wait for now. A whole afternoon would be best. If these two stones don’t separate, then we can say that the cement has been successfully made.” Su Bai explained.

Yan Jiao crouched down and curiously looked at the two stones. He examined them with great interest, red pupils full of questions. Though, in the end, he resisted the urge to touch them.

Time passed minute by minute, and the Sun was setting in the west. The stones had been baking in the Sun all afternoon.

Su Bai came back to the two stones and reached out to touch them. [Great! The stones had bonded together.]

He picked up the combined stones and said with satisfaction, “I didn’t expect to succeed on the first try.”

To be extra careful, Su Bai threw the two stones on the ground to see if they would immediately break apart. Fortunately, they maintained their bond.

To be even more certain of success, he also put the two stones in water to see if the wood ash cement would dissolve.

The result proved positive as the two stones remained firmly bonded together, with no signs of dissolving in water.

“Great! Now, we can conclude that it has been a true success!” Su Bai nodded with satisfaction.

Yan Jiao watched all this unfold, and was quite shocked to see the two stones were still tightly bonded together.

He composed himself and asked, “Shaman, is this cement? It’s amazing!”

It was his first time seeing two stones stick together with no Shaman Technique involved.

“This is cement, a magical tool for construction.” Su Bai explained with a smile.

“I thought it was Shaman Technique! Wow!” Yu Ying exclaimed in surprise, her pink pupils blinking non-stop.

“This is the power of nature and science. No need for Shaman Techniques.” Su Bai smiled.

Yan Jiao kept staring at the two bonded stones, his red pupils full of amazement.

He kept holding the two stones and examining them, constantly muttering about how miraculous it was.

The others were equally entranced, watching intently, their respect for Su Bai growing even stronger in their hearts.

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