Chapter Eleven: Whether It Works or Not, Just Give It a Try

“Good boy, I heard you know how to burn lime? Why didn’t you say so earlier? If that’s the case, every household in our village could build a house!”

The speaker was an elder from Qin Jun’s family, likely from the main branch—that is, the child of Grandpa Qin Dashan’s eldest son.

They were all relatives, and none had left Wufu Village.

Yet, he was only fourteen years old, and these elders trusted him so much?

“Isn’t it strange? Why do we all trust you, a mischievous kid, so much?”

Just then, Qin Zheng, the village team leader, approached and said.

Qin Jun looked at Qin Zheng; even as the leader, he was just as thin and gaunt.

A man in his forties, yet his face was lined with wrinkles, looking frail and weathered.

In those times, whether a villager or a cadre, everyone looked like walking skeletons, as if their bones had taken on a life of their own.

“Because it costs nothing,” Qin Zheng grinned. “As long as it doesn’t cost money, we’ll do whatever you say. If there’s hope of building a house, we’ll work!”

Seeing Qin Zheng’s cheerful expression, Qin Jun understood.

In that era, it was incredibly hard to make money in the village. Apart from the small amount distributed annually according to the collective system, there was no other income.

Take Qin Jun’s family, for example: seven adults, working tirelessly all year, yet they barely had 130 yuan to share.

Seven people, an entire year, and only that little money—what could it even cover?

They didn’t need to spend on cooking oil or salt, maybe just some salt or matches, occasionally trading eggs for a bit of cash.

But buying cloth cost money, sending children to school cost money, and medical expenses piled up.

Add social obligations, and the costs soared—especially weddings and childbirth, which required considerable funds.

For farmers earning so little annually, these were heavy burdens.

So when Qin Jun simply said he could build a house without spending money, that one phrase drew every able-bodied man in the village.

Whether it worked or not, they’d try!

And so, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, Qin Jun was lifted up by the village men.

Fortunately, he wasn’t just a naive fourteen-year-old; he had a complete plan even when bluffing his own father.

Since there were people willing to help, he truly could refurbish the lime kiln.

He didn’t intend to build a lime kiln from scratch because he could make use of the small blast furnace outside the village.

Those substandard small blast furnaces had mostly been destroyed, leaving only their bases.

The small blast furnace area was built on a hillside; the furnaces above had vanished, leaving only the furnace bottoms.

Exactly what Qin Jun planned to use.

With some repairs, it could hold wood for firing, and the rest wouldn’t be a problem.

In rural areas, lime kilns were always earthen and shaped like a pot or stove.

Those unqualified small blast furnaces had furnace openings at the bottom perfect for lighting a lime kiln.

After modification, the kiln bottom formed a V-shaped channel built with stone slabs for fire passage.

Between the slabs, small fire-resistant stones called “mazi stones” were laid, which could withstand heat without deforming.

So, once the ruins of the small blast furnace were cleared, it would become a qualified lime kiln.

Moreover, it was quite large, with a bottom diameter of about two meters and a depth of roughly two and a half meters.

The ground-level kiln opening was about one and a half meters in diameter, capped at roughly one meter depending on how much lime was burned.

A kiln like this, fully loaded, could produce over ten tons of lime — twenty to thirty thousand jin.

This lime kiln was more than sufficient.

However, burning lime was a technical task with strict procedures.

Controlling the fire’s intensity was essential, relying heavily on the kiln master’s experience.

It was also backbreaking work—quarrying stone, transporting it, loading the kiln, and unloading the lime were all exhausting.

The general process was to first lay thorny branches and hard, mixed firewood at the kiln bottom, with a small amount of bituminous coal.

Then a layer of coal, followed by a layer of limestone blocks.

A full kiln would take about seven days from ignition to completion.

The finished lime had to be removed in a specific order, and coal slag cleaned out simultaneously.

All physically demanding and dirty work.

If not for his stutter, Qin Jun might never have wanted to do this himself.

Luckily, now he only had to give orders while others did the labor, which was much more comfortable.

With help repairing the kiln and others setting the limestone inside, things were progressing.

Before loading limestone into the kiln, it had to be broken up—too large stones were difficult to burn thoroughly.

Of course, how coal and limestone were arranged inside the kiln was crucial.

The goal was to conserve coal while burning all the limestone thoroughly—that was the skill.

If Qin Jun hadn’t burned porcelain kilns before, he wouldn’t have dared to take on lime kiln work.

“Third son, are you sure this will work? We saved coal all year, didn’t even dare to burn it during the coldest winter, and now we’re using it all to burn lime.”

Watching coal cakes loaded into the kiln, followed by piles of blue limestone, Qin Zhihé was still uneasy.

“Anyway, this coal is free, picked up from waste. If the burn fails, there’s no loss. If you really can’t bear it, maybe let my uncle have this kiln?”

Qin Jun was not one to pamper his father, especially since many families were lined up, waiting for his help to burn lime.

His uncle, second uncle, even grandpa were already on the waiting list.

Qin Zhihé’s lips quivered—a sign of anger.

But now he dared not scold his third son recklessly, since Qin Jun’s leadership actually looked promising.

No matter how one looked at it, Qin Jun seemed better than those old masters in the commune lime kiln.

“It’s lit, it’s lit!”

The wood prepared in advance was placed directly at the kiln bottom, with kindling added, quickly igniting a strong blaze.

“Don’t worry, burning lime only requires a low temperature of around nine hundred degrees Celsius. Even with wood, failure is impossible.”

Seeing his father’s changing expressions, whether from the flickering firelight or rising blood pressure, Qin Jun felt a bit concerned and comforted him.

He didn’t speak nonsense—wood-fired kilns could easily reach temperatures above a thousand degrees Celsius.

Porcelain firing required far more precise temperature control and was much more difficult.

Especially the placement of porcelain pieces needed special design, or uneven heat would spoil them.

Compared to firing porcelain, burning lime was much simpler.

If it weren’t for saving coal, he wouldn’t bother with special arrangements—just a simple layer of coal, then a layer of limestone, firing straight through.

Since the lime was for their own use, coal was scarce and should be conserved.

Although the coal was scavenged, it wasn’t easy to find, or he wouldn’t have designed such a unique flue.

A well-designed flue meant the coal layer burned more easily.

With a strong fire and the small blast furnace’s natural insulation, burning a kiln of lime was truly no hardship.

After a day of hard work, they had dug enough limestone for one kiln.

Now, the limestone was inside, and the wood at the bottom had ignited the coal.

This was evident as the kiln, sealed with mud into a dome resembling a burial mound, began to emit smoke.

Once the kiln top smoked, the flue was working properly, allowing the coal inside to keep burning.

As long as the coal didn’t go out, the lime in the kiln was secured.

“Xiao Jun, will this kiln take seven days to burn?”

At some unknown moment, Qin Zheng returned beside Qin Jun.

“It shouldn’t take seven days. My ventilation design is decent, and since we’re burning a small amount, it should be done in three or four days.”

Though inexperienced, Qin Jun estimated based on porcelain firing temperatures.

Judging by how he arranged the coal and limestone, all the limestone should achieve the necessary nine hundred degrees Celsius, likely within four days.

Porcelain firing, depending on type, size, quantity, and kiln opening size, generally took between two and seven days.

In other words, small batches could take as little as two days.

Large, complex porcelain kilns using wood firing rarely exceeded seven days.

Firing lime was even simpler: as long as the coal was arranged properly, layers were continuous and fire didn’t go out, once the coal was consumed, the lime would be successfully burned.