Yang Peng was chatting with his master Lin Qing'er in his official hall today. Lin Qing'er put on the reading glasses Yang Peng made for herself. Now she could see Yang Peng's face clearly. Lin Qing'er said to Yang Peng, " I didn’t expect that my apprentice is not bad. He is worthy of that damn girl Yang Tong. When will you get married? I can also help you take care of your children. Otherwise, I will be idle here and have nothing to do. ."
Yang Peng said to Lin Qing'er, "Master, I think we will wait until we fight the Khitan people. Now I don't have the confidence in my heart. Master, you see, we are just one city now. The population has reached 80,000. I'm under a lot of pressure, master, can I wait for a year?" Yang Peng's main problem is that Yang Tong is still young for the exam, and he doesn't want to get married yet. It's better to be alone and free.
"Report." A soldier said at the door, and Yang Peng said, "Come in, what's the matter?" "Liu Zhiliang and the others are back, and there are a few guests. They say they are from the Yang family and have arrived at the city gate." Lin Qing'er said, "When did you tell people to go to Bianjing? Why didn't I know? You are such a naughty guy. You just want to see the master's joke. Now that you have grown up, you don't take the master seriously anymore. Look at me." I won’t beat you to death, you little naughty boy, haha.”
Yang Peng said, "Master, let's go. Let's go to greet our families. We are looking at our eighth sister, ninth sister, and the others, haha." Then he took the master's hand and walked towards the gate.
Along the way, like a curious baby, Yang Bamei kept asking Liu Zhiliang this question and that question. Liu Zhiliang did not dare to offend this eldest lady. Jiumei was frightened by the scenery as soon as she came out of Cangzhou. When she arrived in Cangzhou Yang Peng has built cement roads all over Liushili Road in Tianjing New Town, with a width of 40 meters. Trees are planted next to them. There are green rice fields next to it, and the villages are all red brick houses. At this time, the rice in the Song Dynasty was all produced in the south. After crossing the Yangtze River, rice was no longer produced. Jiumei didn't even recognize this as rice at this time. Now, hundreds of thousands of acres of fields south of Tianjing New City belong to Yang Peng. Encountered powerful people to cause trouble. They were all taken away by Yang Peng.
There are probably nearly thousands of families helping Yang Peng farm now. Yang Peng does not charge them land rent, but the grain grown must be sold to Yang Peng. If you sell grain to others, Yang Peng will take back the land. This It is a hard condition. The main source of income for the Song Dynasty now is farmers’ land rent. There is no land rent for farming. This is a good thing that has not happened in thousands of years. Of course the people are willing, and besides, the city lord purchases food at a much higher price than outside. Only a fool would sell food to others.
If you don't have money, you can still borrow money from the city lord, and there will be no interest. Now the common people have become Yang Peng's die-hard loyalists. Jiumei pulled Qin Yuefang and kept asking questions about Tianjing New City, and whether there was a knife like the one given to the Yang family. Qin Yuefang was among the second batch of people who came down from Yang Peng, and she was also a die-hard fan of Yang Peng. , Yang Peng said whatever he said, and he never doubted Yang Peng. Liu Zhiliang and Qin Yuefang were exhausted along the way. The main thing was to keep explaining, and they were exhausted. Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e also looked at the scenery in front of them curiously. They had never seen such a road before. The two of them became more and more curious about Yang Peng, and spent a day walking the road from Cangzhou to Tianjing New City.
Entering the city, Yang Bamei was even more curious, because the houses here all have at least two floors, and the highest ones have five floors. There is nothing comparable to Bianjing here. The prosperity is no less than that of Bianjing. The main thing is that there are no beggars here. This is what Bianjing cannot compare with. There are beggars everywhere on the streets of Bianjing now, and the war has done too much harm to the people. In order to survive, it is also common to go to big cities to beg for food.
A group of people came to the official hall of Tianjing New City. At this time, they saw Yang Peng and his master waiting for Liu Zhiliang and his party at the door. Liu Zhiliang saw Yang Peng and said, "Brother, we are back." Liu Zhiliang and the others had been gone for two months. Liu Zhiliang's eyes turned red as he spoke. Qin Yuefang also said to Yang Peng, "Brother, we are back. This is Sister Yang Eighth. This is Sister Yang Jiu, these two are." Before Qin Yuefang could finish speaking. Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e walked up to Lin Qing'er and knelt down and said, "My daughter-in-law pays homage to my mother-in-law. I'm sorry that I haven't fulfilled my filial piety in the past few years. Please punish me."
Yang Qi and Yang Ying also knelt in front of Lin Qing'er and said, "Greetings to aunt, eighth sister, ninth sister, please be polite." Lin Qing'er's eyes were red, and she quickly stepped forward to pull them up and said, "They are all good children. Get up, come in and talk to me, come on." Lin Qing'er ignored Yang Peng and pulled Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e into the official hall. Yang Peng also understands his master's approach, after all, it has been ten years.
On the day when the secret thief was to be executed, the people of Tianjing New City surrounded the execution ground on three levels inside and three outside. The common people all stood on Yang Peng's side, throwing mud at the prisoners kneeling on the ground and shouting curses. "Eating everything, this is what happens!" "Selling formulas to Khitan dogs with the city lord's monthly money is a capital crime!" "If the city lord has no money, can he give us such a high monthly money?"
Of course, some workers were shocked by Yang Peng's thunderous methods. They looked at the condemned prisoners with a little fear in their eyes and said nothing. When Huang Huang was taken to the execution ground, he felt like he was waking up from a dream, and kowtowed like he was pounding garlic. "The untouchable knows that I was wrong. Please spare my life. I promise not to say anything in the future!" Unfortunately, Huang Huang's repentance came too late. When the time came, the thirteen musketeers walked up to the condemned prisoner, put their guns to the prisoner's heart, and pressed the trigger.
After shooting several employees who were cheating, Yang Peng recruited nine new workers. However, these new workers were not added to the glass workshop, but were recruited into the textile factory and soap workshop. As for the vacancies in the glass workshop, Yang Peng selected nine long-term and honest employees from the salt factory and soap workshop to fill the glass workshop, and then let the new employees take over their shifts.
Yang Peng did this in order to leave good jobs to dedicated old employees and encourage their enthusiasm for work. Yang Peng decided to increase the monthly salary of employees in the glass workshop to three taels a month. The glass workshop is a hugely profitable business, and confidentiality is very important. If the employees' monthly salary is not raised, it will be easier for them to be bribed by outside coveters, so Yang Peng wants to increase his salary. Providing such high-paying jobs to older employees can improve the morale of the entire workforce.
Ding Youdi performed outstandingly in this leak, and Yang Peng promoted him to the kiln head of the first kiln. He was still responsible for buying alkaline noodles and supervising and managing other workers, and he was paid four taels a month. Yang Peng went on a killing spree and killed nine leakers. The other workers were shocked and became more careful in their work. Ding Youdi and Cai Huaishui also paid close attention to their supervision work, and the confidentiality of the glass workshop was much strengthened.
Accountant Zhang looked at the "specialized in treating presbyopia" banner fluttering in the wind and felt a little uneasy. This was the second time he came to the door of this store because the big characters on the banner attracted him. "Specialized in curing presbyopia", isn't that his gospel? Accountant Zhang is now fifty-one years old and has bad glasses. Because of my presbyopia, I can hardly see the accounts clearly. I hold the account book far away every day, and I can barely guess the records on the account. I often guess wrong because I can't see clearly from too far away. In the past few years, he has been increasingly unpopular with his boss in his tea shop - who would treat him like an invisible cashier? If this continues, his boss will fire him within half a year.
Although the boss has been unable to hire a suitable accountant to replace him, how can he do it as an old blind man who keeps making mistakes? Accountant Zhang has a son and a daughter, both of whom are married. If Accountant Zhang loses his accounting job, which pays one to two eight cents per month, he will have no choice but to take his wife with him to live with his son. But my son helps people make medicine in a medicine store and only has one or two or four yuan a month. He also has a pair of children to support. How can he afford to support an old man and an old woman? If this old-sighted person loses his job as a cashier, I'm afraid the whole family will be hungry in the future.
So at this time, Accountant Zhang saw the banner "specialized in treating presbyopia" and couldn't help but hesitate for a long time. ——The Gao family shop has always been about selling goods. There is neither a doctor nor medicinal materials. How can it treat presbyopia? Isn't this an obvious lie? However, according to the reputation of the Gao family, which has created so many new things, it seems unlikely that the Gao family will engage in such public deception. It seems that the Gao family has a slight possibility that it can really help them cure their presbyopia.
Now in Cangzhou City, the reputation of the Gao family has become great. The Gao family not only has practical things like soap, but also produces exquisite fine cloth from Tianjing New City. The Gao family has cement that is cheaper and easier to use than Sanhetu, as well as crystal clear glass wine sets. There seems to be an endless supply of new things in the Gao family, and something new pops up every once in a while.
That is to say, it was because the Gao family's shop said on its sign that it "specializes in treating presbyopia" that Zhang Accountant could believe it. Otherwise, if you ask him to go to a shop selling goods to find someone to treat his presbyopia, he will definitely think you are a liar or a lunatic.
Anyway, go in and listen! If you are cheating money, just turn around and leave. Although I am old, I have kept accounts all my life, so I can still spot a scam, right? Accountant Zhang was finally impressed by the goodwill of the Gao family and made up his mind to walk into the Gao family's store. Different from other Gaojia stores, this new store is empty. There are only three boys, a shopkeeper and no customers in the store. As soon as Zhang Zhang entered the door, an enthusiastic boy came up to him and said loudly: "Old man, are you here to cure presbyopia?"
Accountant Zhang calmed down, took a step back, and looked the boy carefully up and down. He saw that the boy had a Chinese character face and big eyes. He didn't look like a liar. Then he nodded and said, "Yes, come to cure presbyopia! You can cure it." "Huh?" "It's guaranteed!" the boy replied enthusiastically. The waiter's words about the big deal made Accountant Zhang a little wary, secretly thinking that this Gao's shop might really be a scam. Is there such a wonderful doctor in this world? Can it cure presbyopia? Then those doctors who take pulses and prescribe prescriptions are so embarrassed that they die of shame? What's more, I don't see any silver needles in the medicine cabinet in this store?
Accountant Zhang glanced at the Gao family's shop and saw only the richly decorated decoration. He didn't even see a doctor or a medicine cabinet. Accountant Zhang became wary, sneered, sat down on a wicker chair in front of the store, and asked coldly: "How do you treat it?" "We use glasses to treat it!" the boy shouted loudly. said. "Just wait, I'll get you glasses to try on right away!" Glasses, what are those?
It seemed that because there had been no customers for a long time, the waiter was very excited when he saw Zhang's counter. He ran behind the counter and fetched a box. When he ran over, he ran so fast that he bumped into a wicker chair on the way, causing the shopkeeper sitting behind to curse loudly. But the shopkeeper didn't seem to be really angry. Probably Accountant Zhang was his first customer today, and he looked at Accountant Zhang expectantly.
When the boy came over carrying the box, he slowed down, walked slowly to Zhang's accounting office, and opened the wooden box. The box was wrapped in brocade, with more than twenty pairs of colorless glass squares hanging on it. Yes, it was glass. Accountant Zhang had seen glass wine glasses at his employer’s house, which were colorless glass. Hanging in the boy's box were more than twenty pairs of colorless glass squares framed in pairs with wooden frames.
Tianjing Xincheng produces good glass, but can it cure presbyopia? Accountant Zhang asked: "Are these glasses?" The boy replied: "Yes, how many years have you been spending?" Upon hearing this question, Accountant Zhang raised his head and thought about it, and said, "I'm afraid there are some." It's been four or five years, and it's been particularly serious in the past two years!" The boy took out a pair from the glass, handed it to Accountant Zhang and said, "Try this, it's 300 degrees!" Accountant Zhang was stunned, looking at that The boy asked: "How to try?"
The boy smiled sheepishly and said, "Look, I'm so excited and confused. How do you know how to try it on when you come here for the first time? I'll put it on for you!" Just as Zhang Zhang was about to answer, the boy said to himself He handed the pair of glass pieces over to himself, stuck the wooden frame on Zhang Counter's ears, put the middle beam of the glasses on the root of Zhang Counter's nose, and blocked the two pieces of glass in front of Zhang Counter's eyes. .
Accountant Zhang was stunned for a moment, unable to react, and said, "What are you doing?" "Treat your presbyopia!" the boy said loudly. He raised a copy of "Spring and Autumn" in his hand, turned to the first page, raised it to the accountant Zhang's eyes and said loudly: "Old man, now you can read the words in this book through the glass, are you clear?"
Accountant Zhang squinted his eyes when he heard this and looked at the "Spring and Autumn" through the glass. Strangely enough, through these two pieces of glass, Accountant Zhang could vaguely see the contents of the first page of the book. Although it's still not clear, it's much clearer than when I didn't wear glasses.
These glasses are really useful! It turns out that the Gao family uses this glass to treat presbyopia, so no wonder there is no doctor there. Accountant Zhang looked at the shop with his glasses on, and then he saw clearly that the shop was gorgeously decorated and didn't look like a scam.
I worry too much. "It's clearer, but still a little blurry!" Accountant Zhang looked at the boy's glasses box with some expectancy, looking at the more than twenty pairs of glasses inside. "Then try 350 degrees again!" The boy took off the glasses on Zhang Accountant's nose and put on a new pair of glasses for him.
"It's even more blurry. It's not as good as before!" "Then try 250 degrees!" The boy took out a new pair of glasses from the box. "I saw it! I saw it clearly!" Accountant Zhang was a little excited and stood up with a loud shout. Putting on this pair of "250-degree" glasses, Accountant Zhang could clearly see all the words on the first page of the Spring and Autumn Annals half a step away. How amazing is this? The presbyopia that had tortured him for several years was conquered by these two small pieces of glass, allowing Zhang Zhang to see the words in the book clearly again!
"It's useful! It's really useful!" Accountant Zhang slapped his thigh and took the Spring and Autumn Annals from the boy. He flipped through the pages page by page and found that he could read every word in the book clearly. Accountant Zhang believed in his eyes. He could really see clearly and it was definitely not a trick. With these glasses, wouldn't it be possible for me to help my employer with accounting again? Did you save your one-two-eight-dollar job?
The new thing in Tianjing New City is magic! The waiter asked Accountant Zhang to try 225 degrees and 275 degrees, and finally found that 250 degrees worked. Accountant Zhang happily held the 250-degree glasses, looked left and right, and asked happily: "How much does a pair of these glasses cost?"
"Ten taels of silver!" Upon hearing this, Accountant Zhang was stunned. Ten taels of silver is not cheap! It’s worth half a year’s monthly salary! But no matter what, it's more cost-effective than losing the job, right? After thinking about it, Accountant Zhang asked: "Can it be cheaper?" "Old man, this is the cost price, it can't be cheaper. This is made of colorless glass? Can it be cheaper? But don't worry, if you have presbyopia in the future To make matters worse, if you exchange your 250-degree glasses for glasses with a higher degree, we won’t charge you any money and we will replace them for free!”
Accountant Zhang still had some savings. After hearing this, Accountant Zhang made up his mind to buy one from him! The goodwill of the Gao family is here. If you say you can exchange it, you can exchange it. Buying a pair of glasses means you will get rid of the problem of presbyopia in your life, and you can continue to work as a bookkeeper until you can't walk.
Accountant Zhang was in a hurry to do the accounting with his glasses on, so he went to ask his employer to continue hiring him and said, "I'll go home and get the money. When will you close the door?" The boy smiled and said, "Go slowly! Don't be in a hurry. ! You are our first customer. If you don’t come back, we won’t close today!”
In mid-March of the first year of Xianping, the brick walls of Tianjing New City were completed. A total of 2.88 million green bricks and 580,000 kilograms of cement were used for the three sides of the city wall. The city wall covered with bricks has a circumference of 15 kilometers, five meters high and three meters wide. A horse face was built every 20 meters on the city wall, with a total of 150 horse faces. There is a crenel every meter and a half, and there are two thousand crenels in total.
The top of the city wall is very wide and can be used for horse racing. There are thirty-six machine crossbow stations on the city wall, and there are the same thirty-six machine crossbows on every city wall. The built city wall is straight, towering and very beautiful, making the entire Tianjing New City look very safe. Whether it is salt factories, soap workshops, glass workshops, cement workshops, steel workshops, furniture workshops, or residential houses and military camps in Tianjing New City, they are all protected by towering city walls. After repairing the city wall, Yang Peng asked this group of masons to continue building villas to provide housing for the continuously expanding Tianjing New City.
In the official hall of Tianjing New City, Yang Peng sat below the master. Lin Qing'er asked about the situation of the Yang family again. Yang Peng was listening beside him without interrupting. Yang Peng knew how valuable the greetings at this time were. Yang Peng Peng didn't want to interrupt this beautiful moment.
After about an hour, Lin Qing'er said to Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e, "This is my apprentice named Yang Peng. These two Yang Peng are your seventh sister-in-law, and these two are your eighth sister and ninth sister." Sister," Yang Peng stood up and saluted Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e and said, "Hello, sisters-in-law. I am the younger brother of the seventh brother and the younger brother of both of them. We are all one family," and then saluted Yang Qi and Yang Ying. He said, "Hello sisters, I am your little brother Yang Peng. Wherever you want to play in Tianjing New City, just come to me. Whatever you want, I can help you with whatever the New City has, haha."
Huyan Chijin and Du Jin'e stood up and saluted Yang Peng and said, "Hello, uncle, I'm here to cause trouble for you this time." Yang Jiumei stood up and said, "Brother, I want a knife, the knife you sent to my house, okay. No." Yang Peng said, "Okay, there's no problem with that. I'll also give you a gun. You can kill her within two hundred meters. How about Ninth Sister?"
Yang Bamei said, "It's impossible. Even bows and arrows can't shoot that far. How can a gun be so powerful?" Lin Qing'er said, "Jiu Mei, your brother didn't lie. Their fighting here is no longer the same as ours. We don't have to fight anymore." The Khitans fight first. Their flintlock guns are very powerful. One shot can kill an enemy at 200 meters. Ask your brother to take you to the military camp tomorrow and you will know. Your brother can kill the Khitans with two thousand men. With 10,000 men, there were not many casualties easily. Your brother’s army is very strong.”
Yang Bamei asked, "Auntie, what you said is true. We have never heard of such a weapon. Then I also want a gun like this, okay?" Lin Qing'er said, "Why not? Your brother is He is the lord of a new Tianjing city, and this city is his private property. Do you think that's okay?" Yang Jiumei's mouth has become O-shaped. Looking at Yang Peng in surprise, he looked at Yang Peng like a monster. He asked, "Brother, how old are you? Why are you so powerful?" Yang Peng said, "I am nineteen years old this year. It's not me who is great, it's your aunt who is. I am his apprentice. Without a master, where would I be? My My life was saved by the master, and everything here belongs to the master."
Lin Qing'er said, "You little naughty boy, you can make your master happy. All this is your own. I don't have that much ability, haha." Lin Qing'er also smiled happily. Huyan Chijin said, "This new city is full of things that we have never seen in Bianjing. Uncle, you are so awesome. We have never seen the road from Cangzhou to you, and the houses you built." It’s too high. There are no houses that high in Bianjing, and you can actually grow rice here. No one grows rice anywhere in Bianjing. There’s so much novelty everywhere here. I’m going to have a good stroll these days.”
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
