After a hasty meal, Li Hezhu didn't bother to wonder why Ren Ning didn't take the initiative to propose marriage.
She hurried back to the study and continued to flip through the ledgers on the table.
As she checked, her brow could almost kill a mosquito.
Guangxin County has three crops a year and theoretically enough food.
However, the theory is just a theory, and the actual grain yield is not high. Even if the crops are harvested three times a year, many places will still be dry.
In addition, her grandfather took in many retired and wounded soldiers and arranged them to work on the farms below. These wounded soldiers are not lazy, they just lack arms and legs, so no matter how diligent they are, they are not very efficient.
The output is not enough, but there are many people to support. Li Hezhu had no choice but to move the owner's house to make up for the trouble in Xizhuang. After racking his brains, he was still a little short of money.
"It would be great if a caravan came over!" She sighed silently.
Guangxin County has a unique geography, and certain specialties are very popular in the north. For example, various tropical fruits for eating, various trees for building houses, and even mosquito repellent powder or Jiedu powder (yao).
There are so many mosquitoes, ants, and snakes here. In order to survive, the people of Guangxin use the best mosquito-repellent snake repellent in the world.
Even the mosquito repellent powder Ren Ning brought from the Imperial Capital came from here.
It's just that the situation in the south is uneasy, and most caravans only dare to go to Baihua County to purchase medicinal materials or fishery products, and then hurriedly turn around and return to the north.
Obviously Guangxin County is right next door, but not many caravans dare to come over.
Just after lunch the next day, Wutong excitedly ran into the study with her skirt in hand.
"Girl," she turned back to point to the front yard and said breathlessly: "Master Ren went out for a trip this morning and just came back. Now please come over and say that we have something important to discuss."
Li Hezhu perked up and quickly asked someone to dress up, "Master Ren, what are you going to do in the morning?"
"I don't know very well," Wutong guessed, "Maybe he went to ask a matchmaker."
The young couple does not have their parents around, so it would be easier to talk to a matchmaker if they hire a matchmaker to act as an intermediary for their marriage.
Li Hezhu didn't comment and asked the maids to dress up before Shi Shiran went to the front guest house.
In the living room, Ren Ning set up a large pot. Next to it were the natural rubber he cut and a pot of pungent yellow substance.
"Is this sulfur?" Lei Erjiao put some of it under his nose and smelled it carefully.
The climate here in Guangxin is hot and the environment is not good. Regardless of adults or children, various scabies and malignant sores are prone to develop in the secret areas of the armpits and vagina, which are not only itchy and painful but also contagious, making people miserable.
However, as long as it is burned with sulfur for a few days, it can almost be cured. Apart from the unpleasant smell, it's actually amazing.
"It's indeed sulfur. I just went out to buy it this morning." Ren Ning handed Lei Er a piece of wood and said, "Carve a foot."
On the way to send the soul back to his hometown, this boy had nothing to do. He once carved a lifelike little wooden figure, and finally gave it to a three or four-year-old girl as a toy.
Lei Er nodded and stretched out his hand, "Your saber."
Apart from Ren Ning's telescope, what Lei Er envied the most was this saber that could cut iron like clay.
When he was in the fortress, he went to the building camp to find someone to help him build one.
But I don't know why. Although the building camp has shot several weapons, Lei Er always feels that those weapons are strange in appearance and lack a sense of aura.
Ren Ning gave him the saber.
Lei Er could not put it down and played with it for a while, "Can ordinary soles be enough? Or are there any special requirements?"
Ren Ning shook his head: "There are no requirements, as long as the carving is almost the same as your feet."
Lei Er stopped talking and started carving the wood creakingly.
When Li Hezhu took Wutong into the guest house, he saw such a scene.
Among the three men, Lei Er was carving wood carvings, Ren Ning was accompanying Fen Wei, and Xiao Gang was preparing to light a fire under the stove.
Wood carving?
Are you carving Binyan?
It would be too late to start work at this time.
But better late than never. The girl comforted herself like this.
cough!
Li Hezhu coughed lightly, "Mr. Ren, what are you doing?"
"Making shoes!" Ren Ning raised his head and said with a smile: "Miss Li is here? The smell here is a bit unpleasant. Miss, you can sit in a ventilated place first. We will finish the work soon."
shoe?
Everyone, including Lei Er and Xiao Gang, glanced at the thousand-layer cloth shoes or animal skin shoes under their feet in astonishment.
Ren Ning explained, "It rains a lot here in Guangxin and the ground is muddy, so cloth shoes and wooden shoes are hard to use. But because of the hot weather, animal skin shoes feel like fire when worn, so I plan to buy a pair of rubber shoes."
"Rubber shoes?" Several people looked at each other, "I've never heard of them."
Ren Ning laughed.
"So please be careful, girl, and be careful not to let the craftsmanship spread outside. This kind of shoes is light and does not hurt the shoes. It is waterproof in rainy days and keeps warm in winter. It has great potential in both the hot south and the cold north. It is guaranteed to be popular throughout the empire and even the continent in the future."
He glanced at Li Hezhu, who was trusting and suspicious at first, and said, "At that time, Miss Li will not have to worry about the money or food problems of the village."
In the past, in Yanchuo Fortress, as long as Li Hezhu's marriage was not mentioned, Ren Ning could still have a good conversation with the veterans guarding the mausoleum, but he knew the situation in Li Tieguai's hometown.
Li Hezhu was not the only one who was short of money. The second young master Xiao next to him also perked up and worked hard to make a fire.
Ren Ning mixed the natural rubber and sulfur in a good proportion, put them into a large pot and roasted them over high heat. After a while, the two melted under the heat and became liquid again and merged together.
"How long will it take for the soles of the feet to be carved?" Ren Ning asked.
"It's almost time." As soon as Lei Er heard about making shoes, he knew that he didn't need to make them too detailed, so he carved them roughly.
It was hard to wait for him to finish it.
"You can turn off the engine!"
After Ren Ning finished speaking, he picked up the pot and poured the vulcanized rubber inside into a square box larger than the sole of his foot. He then took the wooden sole from Lei Zhi and placed it in the hot glue and waited.
Less than half an hour later, the rubber finally cooled and solidified. After removing the wooden sole and the box below, a shoe that could be inserted into appeared in front of everyone.
After all, the soles of the feet were carved in a hurry and didn't fit well. Moreover, the outside has not been trimmed, and it is very square and ugly. But it is obvious that it can be used as shoes. In addition, if you throw it into water and take it out and shake it twice, it will drip and not stick.
Lei Er tried it on and said, "It's as light as cloth shoes. I wonder if these shoes are wear-resistant?"
The appearance, pattern, etc. are not a problem, as long as it is repaired, it will be as beautiful as you want it to be. The main thing is performance. As long as it can be as durable as cloth shoes, then this kind of shoes has a lot of potential.
Ren Ning smiled: "I can guarantee that they are more durable than cloth shoes and about the same as animal skin shoes. But they are much cheaper than animal skins."
No one cares about the rubber forest outside, and the materials are almost free. Animal skins are not cheap, and large quantities of cattle and sheep must be transported back from Xiliang every year before they can be used.
Xiao Gang quickly rushed over to try it on, and he laughed and said: "If it's like what Brother Ren said, then we will be prosperous."
Ren Ning said nothing.
He prepared the raw materials again, melted them, cooled them, and when the temperature was about the same, he dipped a piece of cloth into them. It took a while to fish it out.
"The cloth becomes waterproof when dried and can be made into a raincoat."
"Raincoat?" Others were confused.
Ren Ning nodded and said another way, "It's the coir raincoat."
"It rains a lot in Guangxin. The raincoats we usually wear are heavy, bulky, and not very waterproof."
"This kind of cloth is just in use. Whether it is made into clothes and sold to civilians or the army, it will be excellent. Let's not talk about civilians. When we go to war, at least we don't have to worry about our bloated coir raincoats not being able to run fast, or getting wet and getting sick."
