"Is this cement?"
Jiajing looked doubtfully at the pile of dry cement powder before him.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed cement. Over there is a wall built last night with cement and red bricks."
In an open space in the Western Garden, a eunuch pointed at a wall nearby as he answered Jiajing.
Jiajing gave a grunt, then moved closer to inspect the cement and the wall made of cement and red bricks, even reaching out to feel it himself.
At last, he summoned the soldiers guarding the palace and had them test the red-brick wall. They kicked it, rammed it with wooden posts, and tried all manner of things. In the end, they tore down the wall that the craftsmen had spent most of the night building.
"Not bad."
Jiajing stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the scattered bricks on the ground. "Wang Yan's Teachings recommends a royal monopoly?"
"Precisely." Lu Fang, standing at his side, responded, "Master, Wang Yan also said that as long as the people above and below skimmed a little less silver, the common folk could use cheap cement, while the imperial merchants could earn quite a bit of money to build palaces for Your Majesty."
"In his eyes, does this Emperor only know how to build palaces?" Jiajing snorted in displeasure, sounding rather petulant no matter how one heard it.
Lu Fang smiled. "Master, Wang Yan is merely a lowly ninth-rank registrar. How could he possibly know of Your Majesty's daily burdens?"
"I understand now. You're asking for an official post on his behalf."
"Master must surely have already made arrangements. How could this servant dare prattle on?" Lu Fang hesitated slightly. "There is just one matter that this servant does not know whether he ought to mention."
"You've