Finally returned to Pengcheng. Standing at the door of Lin Mansion, Lin Mo felt a sense of intimacy that he had not seen for a long time.
You also have to have your own kennel to make people feel at ease.
"Are you going to live at home or at my house?"
After spending more than half a year together, Lin Mo became bolder and said in a low voice with a hint of ambiguity: "There are still vacancies in the courtyard."
After sending Lin Mo to the door, Lu Lingqi rode away on a bay-red horse without any regrets, and said in a strange tone: "No, sir."
Ah this
Lin Mo looked at Lu Lingqi's leaving figure with a faint look. The resentment was deep enough, and he still remembered it after so long.
When he pushed the door open, he saw the familiar decorations. The sweet-scented osmanthus plant in the courtyard was in full bloom, and the rich fragrance made Lin Mo feel very relaxed.
"The master is finally back."
We haven’t seen her for more than half a year. Queen Guo was wearing a light-colored gauze skirt and embroidered shoes. She walked up to Lin Mo and bowed her head to do blessings.
Oh, compared to the pitiful refugee appearance when he first entered the mansion, now he has a youthful complexion, a bit of charm, and a gentle light in his beautiful eyes.
Lin Mo stepped forward and made a special comparison, nodded and said with a smile: "Higher."
Then his eyes moved down, "He has grown up too."
Compared with the original Wangzai steamed buns, they are now bulging. In a few years, they will probably look like a queen.
It's the age when you're growing tall. If you eat well and sleep well, it's not surprising that you're growing well.
Guo Zhao, who didn't know why, smiled shyly, "Young Master hasn't been back for a long time. You're going to have your meal soon. This servant took the time to prepare it. It's still hot."
Queen Guo led us into the hall. There were six or seven steaming dishes on the table. The dishes were of various kinds. Not only were they delicious and delicious, they were enough to make people want to eat.
"sit down."
After Lin Mo sat down, he looked at Queen Guo who was standing aside and pursed her lips. Then she sat down with a smile and said, "You have learned a lot of new dishes in the past six months, and they taste pretty good."
"After the young master left, the slave was bored at home, so he went to Qiaocui Pavilion to learn some skills."
Qiaocui Pavilion is similar to a training academy in later generations. Girls or refugees who have been sold by their families learn various skills there. The next best thing is maid crafts, how to take care of people, how to cook; those with a bit of beauty will be trained to become dancers. Ji is even an oiran.
Of course, there are also people like Zhaoer who take the initiative to spend money to sign up.
In addition to this good dish, she also called herself a slave, but Lin Mo didn't want to correct her and just let her be.
Then they were eating and talking about some things that had happened in the past six months or so. Lin Mo was mostly talking, while Zhao'er just listened attentively.
Ancient etiquette was very particular about not speaking during eating and sleeping, so if Lin Mo didn't ask, she usually wouldn't take the initiative to speak.
Until the end of the meal, after digestion, Lin Mo lay down on his homemade lazy chair again, smelling the fragrance of osmanthus, not to mention how comfortable it was.
After clearing the dining table, Zhao'er stood next to Lin Mo, and the conversation became more frequent, telling her some interesting things that had happened in the past six months.
Well, I say it's an interesting thing, but it's actually quite boring.
At least, for a young girl of fourteen or fifteen years old, Lin Mo felt that these things were not what she liked.
The two chatted for a while, until Zhaoer saw Lin Mo yawning, Zhao'er immediately said with understanding: "I'll boil water for the young master to take a bath."
Lin Mo nodded. This is much more comfortable than in the military camp. Someone will take good care of you and even put the bath water for you. It won't be like in the military camp, where you have to take a shower.
After a while, when he estimated that the time was almost up, Lin Mo got up and walked to the bathing room. Zhao'er had already put the water and filled the big bucket with sweet-scented osmanthus.
Whether it was because the water was too hot or not seeing each other for too long, Zhao'er's cheeks turned red under the candlelight and she walked towards Lin Mo.
In the next breath, she began to take the initiative to undress and untie him.
Ah, didn’t they always leave after draining the water in the past?
Lin Mo, who was a little at a loss, wanted to say that this was unnecessary, but instinctively didn't want to refuse, so he could only say awkwardly: "Is this what Qiaocui Pavilion also learned?"
Zhao'er hummed in a low voice and stopped talking. As she took off her clothes, Lin Mo's powerful muscles were displayed, exuding a man's masculinity, which made her look confused.
This is the fruit of more than half a year of intensive training.
When Lin Mo only had the last pair of underwear left, Zhao'er didn't seem to be planning to stop yet, "Ah, there's no need for this."
Lin Mo jumped directly into the bucket, put his hands on the edge of the bucket, raised his head and closed his eyes to enjoy.
Um?
I thought it was time for Zhao'er to leave after all this was done, but a pair of cold hands behind his back had already begun to knead Lin Mo's sore shoulders.
Did you go to Qiaocui Pavilion or Jiaofang Division?
Magnolia Rouyi roamed around Lin Mo's hot body, making his mouth go dry without realizing it.
Lin Mo tried his best to relax, just like in his previous life when he went to the club for the first time and had to pretend to be an experienced driver, to maintain the last dignity of a man.
In the end, it didn't develop as he expected. It seemed that Zhao'er went to Qiaocui Pavilion instead of Jiaofang Division. Lin Mo expressed some disappointment at this.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, Zuo Rong arrived as scheduled, and Lu Lingqi also arrived on time.
Zuo Rong has been doing the preliminary preparations for the academy. Under his guidance, Lin Mo and Lu Lingqi came to a three-entry mansion, a standard window-style courtyard, and the pond in the middle was planted with a symbol of a gentleman's emergence. The lotus remains unstained in the mud.
Zuo Rong began to take Lin Mo from room to room, and each room was lined with bookshelves.
"My dear brother, place them in different rooms according to astronomy, geography, agriculture, water conservancy, art of war, etc."
The layout is very large, but there are not many books on the bookshelves in each room. Even though all the books from the treasury of Jiujiang, Lujiang and Guangling counties have been moved here, plus the books in Pengcheng treasury Books are far from enough to fill these bookshelves.
After all, not all books can be placed on it. The Four Books and Five Classics can be considered enlightenment at best. Those who can be recruited are students. They come from poor families but they must have some talents, so they must be placed according to the principle of further study.
"It looks a little thin."
Lin Mo walked to a bookshelf, took out a volume and flipped through it, murmuring: "But it doesn't matter, the collection of books will be more and more in the future."
This is not only a place to cultivate one's own power, in the future, if the old father-in-law really reaches his peak, this will also be a place to divide the family.
"Yes and that's right."
Zuo Rong echoed from the side: "With the help of my virtuous brother, it won't be long before Marquis Wen can aspire to the Central Plains. By then, the academy will have to be expanded."
Zuo Rong always speaks so beautifully.
"By the way, Brother Xian, the academy has not yet decided on a name. If we want to promote it, we need a resounding name. Brother Xian, what do you think is a good name?"
Lin Mo lowered his head and thought for a while, "It's called Ziyang Academy."
Purple was given to represent royal authority starting from the Tang Dynasty, so there is no need to worry about violating taboos.
After Zuo Rong repeated it several times, he showed a smile full of yellow teeth and said: "Purple Yang Academy is a good name, catchy."
Lin Mo walked out of the room, came to the courtyard, and looked around, "I still need your help for the follow-up matters."
"Brother Xian, you can rest assured that arrangements have been made." Zuo Rong showed a knowing smile.
Ziyang Academy was founded to attract poor students from all over the world in order to create its own scholarly force and fill it in counties and counties. Therefore, publicity is very important.
Fortunately, these poor students or idle rangers with bachelors have their own ways of gathering.
For example, when aristocratic families win over poor students, the most common method is to hold political banquets in designated places every quarter or even every month, so as to attract scholars to visit and then find ways to keep them for their own use.
There are also people like Liangzi who hide in groups in the mountains and forests, and get together from time to time to show off their talents and advertise for themselves.
Behind Ziyang Academy is Lu Bu, but it still needs publicity to attract these people.
After finalizing all these, Zuo Rong took out a piece of silk cloth from under his shirt and handed it to Lin Mo, "Brother Xian, sugar has been sold for a season. Here are the income and expenses. Please take a look."
There were so many things going on that he had forgotten all about it. Lin Mo took a look and said, "Hey guys, the sales in a quarter are as high as 20,000 gold. After excluding costs and transportation expenses, the net profit is more than 15,000 gold, which is an astronomical sum." Yes, you must know that after Shouchun was conquered, 20,000 gold were moved from the palace.
Before Lin Mo could be happy, Zuo Rong handed over another piece of silk cloth, "This is Tie's purchase list and expenses."
Hiss~
Lin Mo took a breath, "Why are there so many? Didn't you say that you only purchased two ships, and they cost 12,000 gold?"
Zuo Rong looked even more unjust than Dou E, "My dear brother, we all purchase these irons from private workshops, so they must be more expensive than those sold by the imperial court."
Quite true.
No wonder people say that the army is difficult to maintain.
The expenditure on one piece of iron alone is so high. Two ships of iron were all invested in weapons and armor, and they could not produce enough for two thousand people. This does not include their monthly salary, pensions and the like.
Raising an army is really a bottomless pit.
The last part of the silk cloth is sea sand and the workshop spent three thousand gold. Lu Lingqi glanced at it and muttered: "Isn't the sea sand free? It doesn't need to be so expensive to transport it from Haixi."
Zuo Rong was about to cry but had no tears, and said with a mournful face: "Miss, you don't know something. After the curved shaft plow and keel waterwheel came out, there were more people farming, and there were surprisingly few people doing transportation, so the cost also increased.
Also, according to Xiandi's requirements, the high-temperature workshop requires various blowing equipment and furnaces, and the specifications are on par with the Military Examination Office in Pengcheng. Plus those craftsmen, I really haven't enriched my own pockets with three thousand gold. "
"Let's take a look." Lin Mo smiled and motioned for him to lead the way.
The academy is next to the Council Hall, close to the administrative center of a county, which can be regarded as marking its identity.
Because the newly built workshop occupies a larger area, it is located in the west of the city where the land price is the cheapest.
Zuo Rong didn't lie. The workshop here can indeed be compared with the Military Examination Office in Pengcheng. High-temperature refining equipment and furnaces are all available. Even the iron pipes used for blowing models are made according to Lin Mo's requirements. alright.
The workshop covers an area of about half an acre and is surrounded by high walls. In addition to the furnace for making glass, there are also warehouses and spare rooms dedicated to stacking raw materials.
"Burn the pot."
After walking around, Lin Mo gave the order casually, and the more than thirty craftsmen waiting at the place acted upon the order.
After waiting for less than half an hour, a craftsman came out sweating profusely, "Sir, it's already hot!"
The temperature in the furnace was very high, and Lin Mo briefly explained the manufacturing process.
Making glass is indeed not difficult. It is nothing more than smelting the sea sand into a liquid state at high temperatures, then pouring it into a mold, and when the temperature is about the same, use an iron pipe to blow the shape.
If metal elements need to be used for coloring, such as iron oxide, copper, etc., Lin Mo knows that he cannot become a fat man in one go, so let them make glass first.
Although these craftsmen were stunned for a moment, they had skills after all, and they fully followed Lin Mo's requirements. After an hour, the first batch of glass of this era came out.
"Treasure! A peerless treasure!" Zuo Rong held a cup-shaped glass, his eyes glowing with golden light, as if he wanted to swallow it.
"This thing is so smooth, crystal clear, and shining in the sun. It is actually made of a pile of sea sand." Lu Lingqi was also surprised and marveled.
Lin Mo picked up one of them and looked at it.
To be fair, if this thing were in later generations, the quality would be worse than the glass ring on a high-voltage electric device. Not to mention the color is turbid, and the uniformity is not well controlled. It would be terrible.
But in this era, it can be seen from the look in Zuo Rong's eyes that if he is thrown in front of those powerful families, he will be robbed like crazy.
After thinking about it, he decided to make the finished products more refined. Lin Mo picked up an iron pipe and smashed all the finished products into pieces.
Seeing this scene, Zuo Rong's heart was broken, and he hurriedly hugged Lin Mo, "My virtuous brother, you can't do it like this. Brother Yu's heart will be broken by you."
"Look at your potential."
Lin Mo laughed dumbly, and then roughly told the craftsmen some details and the effect he wanted, and then let them play freely.
In fact, Lin Mo only knew a rough idea of this thing, and was not a professional. He probably still lacked some added raw materials, but he would definitely be able to make money faster than white sugar.
Finally, there is the issue of marketing.
Lin Mo thought of the diamonds of later generations, which were sold to sky-high prices because they were tied to love, so he had to find a way to hype up these glasses as well.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Mo decided to use Zuo Rong's dock.
"Master Zuo, remember, this matter must be kept secret. After the finished product that is truly ready for sale comes out, you cannot sell it in large quantities to powerful people from aristocratic families."
"Is it possible to live in a rare place?" Zuo Rong asked.
Lin Mo shook his head, "You can bring a few pieces with you at a time. Just say that you used the Haixi Dockyard's boat to go out to sea to search for the fairy mountains and met the immortals. They were given by the immortals. If you get them, you can live longer."
It was a ridiculous statement, but Lin Mo was not worried about their doubts. Some people believed such nonsense as diamonds equaling love. What's so strange about glass being linked to immortals, not to mention the limitations of people's cognition in this era.
"Brother Xian is really, really amazing at his skills. No wonder he wants Brother Yu to control these craftsmen."
Zuo Rong looked at Lin Mo with a faint look in his eyes, as if he was talking about you, a profiteer.
Liulichang, plus Ziyang Academy, Pengcheng, Pengcheng, the journey begins here. Lin Mo can foresee that life will get better and better.
(End of chapter)
