In the New Year of the fourth year of Xiande's reign, the nights in Shenjing were lit up by fireworks every day. This scene lasted until the Lantern Festival.
Jia Rong, who was staying at Ningguo Mansion, had the most boring and boring New Year. He couldn't leave the house, he couldn't invite a troupe to the house, and he couldn't even eat meat. During the entire New Year, the door of Ningguo Mansion was never opened once because no distinguished guests came to disturb it.
Occasionally, when relatives from Xifu came over, Jia Rong couldn't just have fun.
Fortunately, a family like Ningguo Mansion has no shortage of food, and the food tastes not bad, although there is less meat in the mouth. Jia Rong could bear it for a while, but without the turmoil in other places, it became a bit unbearable as time went by.
After spring plowing, until April. Uncle Xiao Rong has been a monk in the mansion for five months. These five months have been uncomfortable. It's getting worse every day.
"I only pity the fifth girl!" Jia Rong raised her head and looked at the sky. How could Mr. Rong get into this situation? It's so miserable.
"Who is the fifth girl?" Que'er asked suspiciously, pouting: "Is she also from Xifu?"
"It's none of your business. You're always thinking wrong things at a young age." Brother Rong pinched Que'er's face.
Que'er didn't hide, and after being pinched in the face by Uncle Rong, she smiled and showed her little fangs, raising her head proudly. "Que'er belongs to the uncle, so naturally he has to think about the uncle."
She doesn’t know who taught her this. Jia Rong smiled and said: "The grandma in the courtyard is kind and won't punish you if she hears it. But if my wife hears it, she will definitely kick you out."
Que'er didn't know where the confidence came from, and said: "Master will definitely protect me."
Jia Rong was defeated by this sentimental little girl. Sure enough, being too good-looking is not a good thing! Uncle Rong joked: "When you are kicked out, just don't seek life and death. Don't stop, keep fanning..."
Although the life was a bit plain, it was still comfortable. It's just that the weather suddenly got hot, and I always feel uncomfortable.
Later in the afternoon, Brother Qiang came to the house.
"The road from Zhuangzi to the pipeline has been paved with cement. The method taught by Brother Rong is indeed good. After the road surface is dry, there will be no traces left with a hammer."
Jia Rong patted Brother Qiang and said, "It's all thanks to brothers. If we hadn't lived in the village for more than half a year and developed the most appropriate prescription, how could we have built such a road?"
Brother Qiang smiled shyly and said coyly: "Brother Rong used to protect me, but the reality has made me wholeheartedly willing to work for Brother Rong, no matter how hard or tiring it is."
Uncle Rong saw Jia Qiang acting like a girl, and smiled dryly and took back the hand on Jia Qiang's shoulder. "The cost can be calculated. It only counts the cost of cement and crushing for road construction. Can it be compared with quarrying and paving?"
Second Master Qiang said: "A lot of the rocks around Shenjing were quarried hundreds of years ago when the capital was built. There were several major repairs in the previous and current dynasties. Now we want to quarry the rocks in the Western Mountains. They quarried rocks to build a mountain." The money for a mile of road can allow us to build a road of ten miles with cement.”
It is not easy to quarry and transport rocks, so only a few main official roads around Shenjing are paved with stones. Others are also made of gravel and soil. During the rainy season, they are pressed down by wooden wheels a few times, causing the road to become rotten after a short time.
Brother Qiang said worriedly at this time: "The raw materials around Zhuangzi are now complete, but just now a few more kilns have been built. I'm afraid the clay, sand and gravel will not be enough in the future."
"Didn't you try several other recipes? One kiln will produce cement made of clay, and the other kilns will burn cement made of coal, gravel and brick slag. Although the effect is less effective, the price is cheaper. And our clan is righteous. The kiln does not produce brick slag every day, and the place next to Qiu also has brick slag, and coal and gravel slag is even easier to get, as they are all waste materials that no one uses."
Wages are cheap these days. A part-time worker earns more than ten copper coins a day, while a long-term worker only earns three thousand copper coins a month. This is less than the monthly salary of 500 copper coins for the lowest-ranking maid in the two mansions.
You must know that the price of a liter of white rice these days is ten cents, which means that many people only have enough money to buy a liter of rice after a day of hard work.
"What if Qiu doesn't want to sell?" Jia Qiang asked.
"The people surnamed Qiu are not really stupid. It's useless to keep bricks and slag in their kilns. Why don't they sell us to get some money? If you are worried about the people surnamed Qiu and don't want to sell, just go directly to the owner of their village. Kiln owner. Invite him out and let this kiln owner get some benefits. How can he not be willing to do so? Besides, Qiu often goes to Zhuangzi. Everything in their kiln is just what the kiln owner reports. "
Jia Rong said disdainfully.
There are many such situations. It's the same now in Ningguo Mansion. There are no village owners from all over the country who don't lie. The reason for the lax supervision from above is that if you can use your private rights to make some money, not many people have the consciousness not to make money.
It's just that Brother Rong can't spare any time now. When the cement kiln matter is settled, he will patrol all the villages after the period of filial piety is over.
"Brother Rong is still thoughtful." Jia Qiang praised, and then said: "In half a month, it will be the rainy season in Shenjing again. This time, the owners of several nearby villages will be envious of us."
Jia Qiang also wanted to flatter Brother Rong, but he was kicked out of the house by Uncle Rong.
"What's wrong with you? It's okay to have a little maid staring at you like a tiger. What else do you, a grown man, want to do? What do you want to do!"
After some time, guests came to Xifu. Jia Rong still listened to the news from the two maids next to Ke Qing that only members of the Xue family came and stayed in the Lixiang Courtyard of Xifu, which was the resting place of Rong Gong in his later years.
Xifu will be lively in the future.
Jia Rong shook his head. He was still observing filial piety. Although he wanted to see the rumored Xue Baochai, he couldn't enter the Rongguo Mansion.
Instead, Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai came to visit.
"We are all relatives, so we should have come a long time ago. It's just that I came late yesterday and was afraid of inconvenience in the house, so I delayed it until today." Aunt Xue and Mrs. Wang are sisters and come from the Wang family.
This time I came here originally to send Baochai into the palace, and secondly to settle old accounts in Beijing. I was visiting relatives and friends by the way, but I didn't expect that the prince had gone to patrol the border two months earlier on orders, so he came to Jia's house. Invited by Mrs. Wang to stay.
Youshi replied: "My aunt, you don't have to be polite. The east and west mansions are the same family, but there are complicated things in the mansion. It's inconvenient to go to the west to greet me, so I hope my aunt won't blame me."
"Where is that?" Aunt Xue chuckled and asked, "Why don't you see your brother?"
Youshi replied: "Rong'er is still observing filial piety. My concubine and sister are both new guests, so it is inconvenient for him to come out and disturb me."
"It's a pity." Aunt Xue sighed, then asked the maid behind her to bring out the gifts, and said: "These are specialties brought from Jinling. Although they are not valuable things, they are also my heart. I hope you don't dislike them. That’s good.”
Aunt Xue also didn't forget to prepare a copy for Mr. Jing, a cultivator of immortality, and Brother Rong and his wife also had one.
