Gu Xu left his courtyard, walked through two alleys, turned into a busy street, and saw his elixir workshop from a distance.
It was a two-story building with a simple shape, and there was a small courtyard behind it.
The crowd at the door was bustling, and the people inside were equally noisy. There are more than ten carriages parked outside the door, some carrying passengers, some transporting materials, and some carrying tools, tables and chairs.
There was a ladder set up on the side of the small building, and a carpenter stood on it, concentrating on carving patterns on the windows.
Gu Xu knew that this place was not far from Luohe, and it was considered a prosperous area in Luojing City where every inch of land was valuable.
"I don't have much capital on hand, but Shen Qiu was able to get the shop in this place. He is indeed quite capable." He looked at the small building in front of him and thought silently in his heart.
As soon as Gu Xu arrived at the door of the small building, two people came towards him.
One of them was no taller than Gu Xu's chest. He had a disproportionately large head and a pair of weird eyes. He was wearing a brightly colored brocade robe and looked ugly and funny.
It was none other than Shen Qiu, a retainer who had defected to Gu Xu's residence not long ago.
The other's face was more unfamiliar.
He was a middle-aged man with a thin body and a yellowish complexion. He had obvious wrinkles on his forehead and a sparse beard on his chin. He was wrapped in a thick cotton robe.
"Master Gu, you are here!" After seeing Gu Xu, Shen Qiu immediately raised his hands and saluted.
The middle-aged man next to him was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Master Gu, this is Yang Shuo, who was previously responsible for managing the No. 6 elixir workshop in Qingzhou Prefecture. You should remember that we contacted through the token at the end of last month."
"I remember," Gu Xu responded with a smile, "Mr. Yang recently traveled thousands of miles to come to the capital for this workshop. It was really hard."
"It's not hard, it's not hard," Manager Yang shook his head repeatedly, "It's my honor to be able to help Mr. Gu."
While talking, Manager Yang was also quietly sizing up the young man in front of him. He felt that he was handsome and had a good temperament. Although he became famous at a young age, he was not domineering. Instead, his conversation gave people a feeling of spring breeze.
"No wonder the young lady fell in love with him," Manager Yang thought to himself, "Even the family's ancestral workshop was given to him without blinking an eye."
…………
In the Daqi Dynasty, the threshold for becoming an alchemist was much lower than becoming a talisman master.
Talismans are ever-changing and obscure, and it is not easy to just understand them. Normally, it requires a monk to have extremely high understanding and a smart mind, and to master it after years of practice.
In comparison, getting started with alchemy is much simpler.
If you just want to refine some common elixirs like "Jingxin Dan" and "Eternal Brightness Pill" instead of creating new elixir recipes yourself, then the monks only need to strictly follow a specific process and put the raw materials into the elixir furnace. It can be refined in it.
It's like following a recipe.
It only takes a period of training to become a "skilled worker".
When he first traveled to this world, Gu Xu once considered learning alchemy.
At that time, he thought that as long as he learned how to make alchemy, he would be able to achieve self-sufficiency in resources in the process of practice, without having to work tirelessly to complete tasks and earn merit.
But later he discovered that the biggest factor restricting him from learning alchemy was not his lack of talent, but his lack of "production means."
As we all know, refining elixirs requires the use of many different special medicinal materials.
These herbs are hard to find in the wild.
Finding precious elixirs at street stalls, or picking a random mushroom on the mountain and discovering it is a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum - such plots only exist in stories written by storytellers.
However, the royal family, aristocratic families, sects and sects of the Daqi Dynasty were able to rely on their own financial, human and material resources to construct medicinal gardens with special environments suitable for the growth of elixirs and achieve large-scale production of medicinal materials; and among these major forces , they will also trade and purchase elixirs with each other.
For example, spiritual plants such as Jiaguo, Huangju, Lavender, and Sugahui only grow within the sphere of influence of the Sichuan Sword Pavilion, and only the Shu Sword Sword Pavilion masters the methods to cultivate them. If other families or sects want to use these plants to refine elixirs, they must purchase them from Shudi Jiange.
In addition, alchemy tools, such as alchemy furnaces, alchemy cauldrons, pomegranate jars, sweet pots, etc., are usually valuable, at least not something that lower-level monks can afford casually.
Because of this, elixirs in the Daqi Dynasty were often produced in the form of workshops.
Aristocratic families and sects established workshops, provided medicinal materials and tools, and then recruited monks from the private sector as labor force. These employed monks can receive a certain amount of salary through refining elixirs, but the elixirs will ultimately belong to their employers.
A large part of the elixirs in the exorcism department's warehouse were purchased from these families and sects.
At the beginning, as a "proletarian", Gu Xu felt that it was more cost-effective to work for a government office than to work for these "capitalists" - the salary was better, the social status was higher, and Chen Jisheng treated him well.
Therefore, he no longer spent time and energy studying the art of alchemy, but concentrated on the study of talisman spells.
Today, when Gu Xu, led by Shen Qiu and Manager Yang, walked from the first floor to the second floor of the small building, from the front lobby to the backyard, he saw boxes of medicinal materials placed on the ground, and saw the He was in a daze for a moment as he saw the alchemy furnace with complex formations carved on its surface.
"Unknowingly, I turned from a worker to a boss." He sighed silently in his heart.
…………
There are currently five alchemists in this branch workshop in the capital.
Three of them were from Qingzhou Prefecture. They were an old lady who was over seventy years old and her two apprentices.
The old lady's name is Wang Shuzhen, she has a third-level cultivation level, and she has been refining elixirs for the Shi family more than 20 years ago.
Not long ago, the "Nine Infant Snake Demon" broke out of the seal and caused a terrible disaster in Qingzhou Prefecture. Although it has been sealed again by the Imperial Master, Mrs. Wang is still worried about the lives of herself, her family, and her apprentices.
Therefore, when Shen Qiu invited her and suggested that she come to Luojing City to work in a branch workshop, Mrs. Wang agreed without hesitation and moved here with her family and two apprentices.
"Old Mrs. Wang, this is Jin Yangzi, the head of the Exorcism Department, a visiting teacher at Longmen Academy, and the recognized Talisman Master Gu Xugu in Luo Jing City." Manager Yang introduced her.
Hearing his words, Mrs. Wang Shuzhen stood up from her seat, looked at Gu Xu with squinted eyes, and then said slowly: "So this is my uncle! He is indeed a talented person, and he is a perfect match for Miss Shi."
Manager Yang smiled awkwardly and explained: "Master Gu and Miss Shi are not engaged yet, so let's not call them that for now."
"Not engaged yet? How can that be done?" Mrs. Wang frowned and said, "Such a handsome young man must be very popular in Luojing City. If you don't tie him to your side early, aren't you afraid of being snatched away by others?"
Manager Yang immediately turned to Gu Xu and said, "Mr. Gu, Mrs. Wang is always outspoken and always says whatever comes to her mind. I hope you won't take it too seriously."
Gu Xu smiled lightly and said he didn't mind.
It can be seen that the relationship between Mrs. Wang and Shi Xiaohan should be quite good. When talking about Shi Xiaohan's expression and attitude, it is almost like talking about her own granddaughter; and she is obviously very worried about Shi Xiaohan's life events.
The other two alchemists were recruited by Shen Qiu from Luojing City in recent days.
They are all first-level monks. They came here because they admired Gu Xu's reputation, and are now familiar with the working environment and alchemy process here under the guidance of Mrs. Wang Shuzhen.
Currently, there is still a sign recruiting alchemists and alchemy apprentices outside the workshop.
"Master Gu, there will be two monks here tomorrow," Shen Qiu said to Gu Xu, "If they can successfully pass the assessment, they can help Mrs. Wang share some of the work."
"What is this?"
At this moment, Gu Xu found a wedding curtain made of silk spread on the table next to him, with the words "Forever wedded to one heart, Luan and Phoenix sing in harmony" written on it.
He felt a little puzzled and thought: Could it be that someone in this workshop is getting married?
Seeing Gu Xu's expression, Shen Qiu smiled and explained: "In order to open this branch workshop, I borrowed a thousand taels of silver from the 'Yongli Chamber of Commerce' in Luojing City. Because Ye Huishou of the 'Wynn Chamber of Commerce' is very optimistic about Master Gu Your development prospects, he wants to have a good relationship with you, so he waived most of the interest.
"As a favor, we also want to give him some gifts to express our friendly attitude. Recently, Ye Huishou's son just got engaged, so we gave him a wedding veil, plus red dates, peanuts, Longan and lotus seeds are undoubtedly more appropriate."
Gu Xu nodded, then glanced at an embroidered decorative painting hanging on the wall showing carps playing in the water with the four characters "wealth and wealth" written on it, and asked Shen Qiu: "If I guessed correctly, This must be a gift from someone else, right?"
"This was sent by Mr. Liu, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, Liu Qu," Shen Qiu replied, "and I also gave him a can of 'Langya Wine' as a gift in return. Mr. Liu likes to drink, and you are from Qingzhou. , using Qingzhou's specialty 'Langya wine' as a gift to him is perfect.
"In addition, Commander Wang from the Imperial Guard also sent us an alchemy furnace. Since his son was just one month old, I gave him a gold longevity lock as a return gift and painted the longevity lock on it. Talismans to ward off evil spirits.
"..."
In the next period of time, Shen Qiu told Gu Xu about his recent relationships with the wealthy officials and wealthy families in Luo Jing City.
Gu Xu had to admit that Shen Qiu was indeed an expert in handling these matters - he knew the personalities, preferences, and even family situations of these big shots in the capital very well, and every gift could be given just right.
Even if it were me who had the power of "wisdom", there was no guarantee that I could do better than Shen Qiu in this regard.
After all, Shen Qiu came from a wealthy family and was a sensitive concubine. He had been exposed to such things since he was a child. It is difficult for others to have such knowledge and experience as him.
…………
"Master Gu, after discussing with Manager Yang recently, I feel that if this workshop is to develop in the capital in the future, it would be best to have a new name." Shen Qiu pondered for a moment and continued, "If it continues to be called 'No. 6 Pill Workshop The "Jingcheng Branch Workshop" is always a bit inappropriate and not easy for others to remember.
"How about you give it a new name?"
Gu Xu thought for a while and said, "How about the name 'Shuchangfang'?"
After hearing his words, Shen Qiu repeatedly praised "What a good name", but he couldn't help but think of Gu Xu's study called "Changshengzhai", and felt that Mr. Gu was really obsessed with the concept of "longevity". .
Afterwards, Shen Qiu brought plain white rice paper for Gu Xu and spread it on the table.
Gu Xu took out the "Jinghong Pen" and wrote three beautiful, graceful and elegant characters "Shuchangfang" on the paper without dipping it in ink.
When he put down the brush, these three words flew up from the paper, floated into the air, and then turned into a plaque, which was hung on the top of the door of the small building.
At this time, he found that Shen Qiu, Manager Yang, Mrs. Wang Shuzhen, several alchemists, the handymen carrying furniture and furnaces, and the craftsmen who were busy carving patterns on the window lattice all stopped their work in unison. , gathered around him, raised their heads, and stared at this mysterious scene.
After a brief silence, Shen Qiu took the lead and clapped his hands.
Then everyone started clapping.
They all had smiles on their faces, and they seemed to have imagined in their minds a scene in which this "Shuchangfang" would prosper and everyone would make a lot of money.
"No wonder they say life needs a sense of ritual." Seeing such a scene, Gu Xu sighed silently in his heart.
…………
That afternoon, while Gu Xu was busy handling matters in the elixir workshop, Zhao Yan rode a horse and took her maid Qiu Yan to the city north of Luohe River.
Compared to Nancheng District, where there are rows of mansions and wide and clean streets, this place is obviously much dirtier and more chaotic.
The simple houses are crowded together, and the ground is full of mud, sewage and garbage.
Zhao Yan jumped off the back of the horse "Big Red", held its reins, and walked a long distance on the uneven bluestone road.
The passers-by around her were attracted by her eye-catching red dress and her enchanting appearance, and they all cast their eyes at her.
But Zhao Yan seemed completely unaware.
She kept her head lowered, staring at the road beneath her feet for a long time.
Vaguely, she seemed to glimpse that there was not only mud, sewage, broken branches and leaves on the ground, but also scarlet blood flowing.
Blood flowed from her feet, soaking her red sheepskin boots.
But when she blinked, the blood disappeared in an instant, and it seemed like it was just an illusion in her mind.
Then she glanced to the right and saw a broken street sign that read "No. 30 Huansha Lane".
ps: The book club has monthly ticket rewards and fan title activities, don’t miss it!
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I really don’t know why the coding speed of qaq is so slow recently. I originally wanted to try to update it today, so I blocked social software and opened a small black room. However, from 13:00 to 19:00, I continued to code, delete, delete and modify without ever leaving my chair. In the end, I only wrote 2,000 words... My mentality broke on the spot.
It wasn't until nearly 23:59 that I reached 4,000 words.
Sigh, I really want to know how the tentacle monsters manage to write 10,000 words a day... I really want to speed up the coding speed!
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