"What's so difficult about this? Brother, I have my own hidden secrets."
The two got chatting happily until the wine shop closed, and then they dispersed. Early the next morning, Liu Xing took out a token from Wu Hai from his luggage, then walked out of Zhenhai Gate and rushed to the Maojia Inn.
Zhou Lezhi accompanied his master all the way down to the south of the Yangtze River and arrived in Dongyang. He had a very pleasant journey this time. In order to win over the Hearthstone Immortal, Mr. Wang not only rented a high-ranking official ship for him, but also donated to him the status of a student of the Imperial Academy of the Capital.
Jiansheng were originally "disciples of the emperor" and could directly be awarded official positions, so their status was quite noble in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, the system was relaxed, and the opportunities for prison students under the imperial examination system became increasingly narrow. Later, they could be donated to prison, and they gradually became the protagonists of many jokes in society.
Even so, the supervisory students had a status that was close to that of the public. With such an identity, they were no longer ordinary people.
For the Hearthstone Immortal, this is quite a gift. Zhou Lezhi knew that with his status as a so-called "Taoist" and "miraculous doctor", not to mention the local officials who could detain and imprison him at will, he would only suffer when a wealthy family acted arrogantly.
But things are different this time. Mr. Zhou is now an upright graduate of the Imperial College of the Capital - although he only registered as a registered student and doesn't even know which way the Imperial College door opens. But when you go out, you can hang a lantern on the boat with "Jiansheng" written in Song script. When you go through the customs and ask for the gate, the gate guards should be a little more polite.
As for the main members of the family, all the family members also went with them - firstly, they would have to stay in Dongyang for a while this time, and secondly, they would leave for Guangdong next year, so there was no need to split into two groups.
However, when she was informed that she was going to Dongyang, Yourong told her husband that she would not be able to go for the time being.
"My period has not come for two months, it's about time I got my period." Yourong looked shy when he spoke.
"What? You have it?!" The gentleman was shocked. After all, he has been farming every day for the past two years, and there has been zero output.
Although there is Curie, people's reproductive instinct is that as long as they have enough to eat and drink, they always hope to have more children if they don't have to take care of their own children. Now that Yourong said it was available, sir, he was extremely pleasantly surprised.
Since she is pregnant, naturally she cannot accompany her. After Mr. Wang learned about it, he patted his chest and said that he would send someone to take care of Yourong. After the child turns one year old, he will escort Yourong's mother and son to Guangzhou to reunite with him.
Mr. Zhou naturally said that he would not have to worry about things, and he also assured Mr. Wang that he would be able to come up with more ways to make money in Guangzhou, and Mr. Wang would also be able to make a lot of money.
So Zhou Lezhi happily took the boat to Dongyang with his family. In Dongyang Farm, Zhou Lezhi followed his husband to build a water anvil and a mosquito coil factory. The one hundred taels of silver gifted by Mr. Wang was spent in a grand manner. Got 10,000 kilograms of mosquito coils.
Zhou Lezhi is now Mr.'s "loved disciple" and is deeply trusted. Mr. has no scruples when speaking in front of him. Regarding this "mosquito incense", Mr. Zhou said with some disdain that it was just a "low-tech industry" and not "challenging".
Of course, that's what he said about the water anvil house at the beginning. Originally, there were local craftsmen in Dongyang who specialized in building water anvils, but Mr. Zhou was dissatisfied with their construction methods and specially drew drawings. "Shooting down" made the craftsmen confused. However, the water wheel built according to the drawings designed by Mr. did not appear to be much faster than the old one. It did cost a lot more money to modify it. My husband took Zhou Lezhi to squat beside the waterwheel every day, measuring and calculating. When he went back, he calculated countless manuscripts on the blackboard.
Zhou Lezhi learned to measure flow, knew how to calculate angular velocity, what power is, and how to calculate...
Finally, after much stumbling with the water anvil, the construction was finally completed. Seeing the power of the water wheel, the craftsmen were convinced.
I am convinced, but such a powerful power is of no use. Whether it is pounding rice or grinding wood powder, there is no need for such a large output power. Zhou Lezhi was very puzzled.
"The greater the power, the more things can be done," the gentleman's eyes were bright. "This water power can be useful. Pounding rice and grinding flour are too talented. In the future, when we have machines, you will know its usefulness."
"What machine?"
The husband scratched his scalp: "I haven't thought about it yet."
The work of making mosquito coils is much simpler. Just talking about the mosquito-repellent incense itself, the Song Dynasty had its prototype, but the more accurate mosquito-repellent incense was only available in the Qing Dynasty. However, the mosquito coils at this time were not scroll-shaped, and the raw materials did not contain pyrethrum as the main ingredient. The ratio was various spices plus arsenic, realgar and sulfur.
Modern scroll-shaped mosquito coils containing pyrethrum were first developed in Japan. In this time and space, pyrethrum was still in Central Asia, and it was not grown on a commercial scale. Mr. Zhou couldn't do it despite his great ability, so he could only follow the traditional path, using arsenic, realgar, mugwort and tobacco leaves as the main insect repellents. Element. Use wood powder as a burning agent and rosin as a combustion accelerant. After mixing them all, use starch as a binder. After mixing, press and mold with a mold to dry.
Mosquito incense is very simple in terms of ingredients, process and technology. It has two main advantages: one is that it uses repeatedly ground wood powder as the burning agent, which emits much less smoke than directly burning mugwort branches and leaves to roll incense sticks, and can be used indoors; secondly, The scroll shape can make an incense stick that burns for six or seven hours at a time and is not easily damaged.
During the trial production, Zhou Lezhi could see that Mr. Zhou Lezhi didn't know much about making mosquito coils and water anvils. He only knew roughly how to make it, but he didn't know the specific process. So it can only be made through repeated experiments. The ingredients of this mosquito-repellent incense, how much to add each, are all based on a little trial and error before finally coming up with the right formula.
In order to make this mosquito-repellent incense, two local coppersmiths were specially hired to make various measuring tools according to his requirements. The smallest spoon can only scoop up a few grains of rice. Just like this, I mixed a small spoonful with a small spoonful, and tried it bit by bit. During this period, I tried it about thousands of times, and finally I got the mosquito coil.
During this period, Mr. Zhou took the trouble to teach Zhou Lezhi the principles and processes of "experimentation" and the role of each raw material...
Zhou Lezhi felt that he had benefited a lot, but he still asked his husband a question that had puzzled him for a long time: "Sir, you have so much knowledge, why are you so concerned about craftsmanship?"
A wry smile appeared on Mr. Zhou's face, and he said: "Doesn't the craftsman thing matter? You are from a farmer's family. If you don't have a blacksmith to make sickles and rakes, how can you farm? If you don't have a carpenter to build a house, where will you live?"
"Alas, sir, my disciple is not saying that craftsmen are useless, but..." Zhou Lezhi was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to express himself. After a while, he said, "Sir, you are so talented. If you put it on the eight-legged craftsmanship, it will be a test." Isn’t it proper to raise a person to be a scholar by yourself..."
Mr. Zhou was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "Come on, tell me, why do everyone think that studying and making art is the best way to get a reputation?"
"No need to say it!" said Zhou Lezhi, who knew it all too well, because the clan leader was particularly obsessed with fame, and when the clan gathered together, he would repeatedly teach his children to study hard and gain fame and honor their ancestors. Then they will say that a certain clan has bought a lot of clan land because someone is an official; because this clan does not have enough fame, it can only suffer the consequences of being bullied in some matter. When it comes to excitement, I burst into tears.
"...When you become an official, you will have money and power! When someone in the clan becomes an official, the county magistrate is a bit polite, and the government officials don't even dare to go to Luo Si..."
The gentleman listened to him for a long time with a smile, and then said: "In the final analysis, being an official has its benefits. There are Yan Ruyu in the book..."
"Yes, yes, yes, that's it!" Zhou Lezhi nodded repeatedly, "Even if you can't become an official, if you become a scholar, you will be a figure in the countryside! At least you won't have to worry about food and drink."
"Being an official has its benefits. I think that's fine, but where do these benefits come from?"
"The salary of the imperial court..." When Zhou Lezhi said this, he also knew that it was not that simple, because the clan leader often cursed the magistrate for "making money" and "collecting black money."
"Let's put it this way, whether it's salary or anything else, it's all the blood and sweat of the common people," Mr. Zhou said, "That's all if they really want to serve the world and the common people. What's the reality?"
Zhou Lezhi naturally knows what the actual situation is.
"So I don't want to be an official in the Ming Dynasty." When the husband said this, the expression on his face was very complicated, "I don't even bother to do it."
"If you want to help the world, you have to join the world. Mr. is such a scholar, wouldn't it be a pity not to be an official?"
Mr. Zhou was stunned and laughed loudly: "That's good! But you don't necessarily need to be an official to join the WTO. You can also save the country and the people by engaging in industry."
"Mr. I have said before that industry will prosper the country, but if you don't become an official, how can you keep such a huge industry?" Zhou Lezhi said, whether it is doing business or starting a workshop, as long as a larger industry does not have official support, If you don't have people to protect you, it will be difficult to operate, and you have to find a backer.
"...I think it is better to rely on oneself than to have a backing and support. Mr. Wang favors me so much now, so why not take the opportunity to get an official position? As an official, anything can be done easily."
Zhou Lezhi said this from the bottom of his heart. Although he was Mr. Wang's undercover, he hoped from the bottom of his heart that Mr. Zhou would become famous.
With Mr. Zhou, he is the "student"; without Mr. Zhou, he is just a slave of Mr. Wang. Of course, Zhou Lezhi could clearly distinguish what was light and what was serious.
The husband sighed softly: "You are right. When it comes to obeying power, this is indeed a good way. But the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is darker than a dye vat. People like me will die if I jump in."
(End of chapter)
