But the bright moon shines on the ditch

Chapter 7

The day when the court reward came down coincided with the annual sacrificial activity held in Hutian Kiln, commonly known as the Warm Kiln God.

The Kiln God was Tong Bin's former teacher. The incident happened in the previous dynasty. At that time, the eunuch Pan Xiang was the mine envoy in Jiangxi and also in charge of the kiln affairs in Jingdezhen. He supervised the production of blue and white dragon vats.

Seeing the miserable conditions of his colleagues, Tong Bin jumped towards the cave, and finally burned it into a big dragon vat, but this aroused the anger of his colleagues and triggered a civil uprising.

In order to appease the hearts of the people, the imperial court set up a shrine at Yimen of the Imperial Kiln Factory, and granted Tongbin the title of Fenghuo Immortal Master.

From then on, once a year, for the prosperity of the kiln industry, Tongbin Kiln God will be worshiped.

This is a big day, as batches of dragon vats were successfully transported back to Beijing, the rewards were also handed out during the New Year's Day.Not only that, but there is also a decree along with the award.

Xia Ying, the new magistrate of Fuliang County, will officially take office in March of the next year, and An Nineteen will still be the pottery supervisor, assisting in kiln affairs.

Although the Jingcha has not yet started, Yang Gong has been promoted exceptionally. Emperor Wanqing thought that he was old, and he had worked hard to supervise Tao for more than ten years.

Nanzhili is the capital, and Taizu Xiaoling Mausoleum is here.After the former dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, it still retained the southern capital, adopted the two-capital system, and established six yamen and five military governors' offices. Except for the cabinet that did not have a "replacement or not, votes to approve and answer", the responsibilities and divisions of its official offices still abide by the old system and have not changed.

It can be regarded as an idle yamen, and it is also the best place to retire.

Emperor Wanqing made it clear that he liked the giant dragon vat very much.

When the news spread back to the town, a celebration was unavoidable, and the silent gunpowder seemed to be resolved by Xu Zhiliu's unexpected "knowledge".Thinking carefully about his judgment on the emperor's preferences and his judgment on An Jiuhao's happy temperament, every link is perfect, which can be described as exquisite, and the managers of Hutian Kiln are amazed again and again.

Speaking of Master Xia Ying who is about to take office, everyone is talking about it.

Some people say that he is a ruthless man, who once went out of the customs to make peace for the country and win the peace of the Tatars.

Some people also said that before this transfer, he had just finished his experience in the barren land in the southwest. He had rectified the powerful in the local area, enlightened his teaching, and eliminated many bad habits.

Guessing that Emperor Wanqing saw that he had a lot of experience in managing a party's general affairs, he got it in the back garden, intending to give full play to his strengths, carry forward Jingdezhen ceramics, and make all nations look at him with admiration.

Some people didn't believe it, saying that he was just a powerless civil servant, and his appearance was even more ordinary.He is less than six feet tall and will fall if the wind blows. He looks like a shriveled, sallow old man.

In short, there is everything to say, but they are all "legends".

The kiln workers usually listen to it as a story, and forget it after listening to it. After all, those big people are far away from them. In today's situation, it is hard to say whether all the new officials and big managers will be able to come to this place.

So they all sighed.

"Look at the temperament of the eunuch, how can he give up after suffering such a big loss? His godfather is a popular man in front of the emperor's old man, and he holds real power. It's just our inspectors who are in charge of the soldiers. They shout five times and drink six times on weekdays. Their eyes grow to the top of their heads. When they meet that surname An, they are cowardly. They bark one by one and are more affectionate than anyone else. Those who don't know think it is his watchdog."

"Yeah, don't look at Mr. Yang's promotion this time. It's all thanks to the young master's family. If it were someone else, he might not know what will happen. Think about it, how many years has Mr. Yang been operating here, and how many years has he been here since An Nineteen, and how long can the newcomer last if he just drives people away?"

"Actually, let me tell you, no matter how they fight, the officials are a family, a nest of snakes and rats."

"You can't say that, Mr. Yang is a good official. It's time for us to catch up. All these years, we have relied on the young master's family to eat delicious hot meals, and we have not been bullied. Whenever we suffer any grievances, there are still people who will uphold justice. I don't want to lose such a good time."

"What are you afraid of? With our young master's ability, success or failure is uncertain! Isn't he just a eunuch?"

"It's about, what kind of moth can you make out of a cheap thing that your descendants can't even keep? If he bullies others again, I'll kill him."

"Who are you going to kill?"

With a clear and clear sound, the guys on the wine table suddenly woke up a lot, and a hand came out of the corner of the eye, and took the wine bottle away gently.

That hand was not thinner than before, but now it has texture and scars.

Xu Zhiliu looked around, saw that the table was full of half-grown teenagers, and they spoke freely, so he didn't criticize them too much.

Only rewarding the kiln god is a big deal, and there are so many people coming and going today, it will inevitably cause unnecessary gossip, he still pretended to reprimand him, and finally glanced at the dark boy who was screaming and screaming, and said, "Xiao Hei, work hard, and try to learn some crafts in the kiln next year. We have many rules in this industry, and we pay attention to quick hands and eyes. The only thing is that the mouth can't be quick, understand?"

"Understood, understood."

Thinking of the silly words just now, half of his head had already fallen off, and Heizi suddenly broke out in cold sweat, his face turned pale.Xu Zhiliu joked again: "I was drunk in the middle of the afternoon, how can I participate in the ceremony of the Warm Kiln God at night?"

Heizi's eyes lit up: "I, we can also participate?"

They are just handymen, there is no fixed type of work and no technical content, and they can be replaced at any time. They have a hammer here and a stick all the year round, and sometimes they have nothing for half a month.

So this group of young people who used to wallow in the beggar's nest increasingly regarded him as the backbone, and respected him and only him in everything.

Xu Zhiliu also treated them kindly, took down the wine and asked someone to replace them with glutinous rice soup.Squeezed among this group of dirty handymen, he has no airs and speaks softly, and it makes people feel comfortable to listen to him without rushing or slowing down.

"Why not? Miscellaneous workers are also workers, as long as they work in the kiln, they are eligible to participate. Later, go up and burn incense one by one, so that you can pray to the God of Fire to bless you."

"Really? Really! Young master, you are really a good person!"

"We're lucky to have you, otherwise we would really..." Xu Zhiliu shook his head, indicating that there is no need to talk anymore, and let them go back and continue drinking.

They were still reluctant, so they had to grab him to taste the soup, otherwise the soup would have been cold by the time the rounds of wine tables passed by, and he didn't know when he would be able to have a mouthful of hot food.

He had no choice but to take a sip from Heizi's bowl.

Yee soup is a sugar porridge made from red beans, which is soft, glutinous and delicious, and sweet.

The corners of Xu Zhiliu's lips were now dyed, and the color was gorgeous, making him look more and more handsome, making people unable to look away.

Heizi was dumbfounded.

Seeing that he was stupid, the big guys found it even more funny.A group of people huddled together, making jokes that Heizi had never seen the world.Heizi was also embarrassed, scratched his head and blushed, and the hall was full of excitement for a while.

Xu Zhong watched from the side, wherever Xu Zhiliu went, there was laughter and laughter.The crowds were moving, just like the river in Duchang, rushing up the embankment wave after wave, without stopping.

On the other hand, besides the stewards and the elders of the clan, there are only a few officials of the Imperial Kiln Factory on his side.Everyone sipped their wine in a leisurely manner, talking about what they had and what they didn't, and Bel was deserted.

Xu Zhong couldn't help sneering.

His nephew from a distant house has a set of methods to win people's hearts, both internal and external, not to mention the porcelain merchants and ship merchants, even the skilled craftsmen in the imperial kiln factory who specialize in serving the emperor. They usually call themselves craftsmen and superiors.

Oh, where did the young master come from?

There is only one owner of Hutian Kiln, and that is Xu Zhong!
Xu Zhong leaned on the armchair carved with auspicious dragons in the main seat, and stared at the blue figure for a long time. He saw him walk by table by table, greeted one by one, chatted and laughed with everyone, and he spoke and acted properly without losing the rules.
Looking at it this way, there is still a little bit of poverty in the past.

That's right, he can have today because of him.

Why is he?
Why, dare to go past him and become the master of Hutian Kiln?

Xu Zhiliu was making an appointment with someone to go to see the red shop after the year, when suddenly there was a coolness behind his back, and when he looked back, he saw everyone at the banquet blushing from drinking, singing and making noise.

He didn't know why, but there was a subtle discomfort in his chest, and he was about to leave when he was dragged back by Zhang Lei.

This table is filled with the stewards who usually deal with him. In the porcelain factory and the kiln, he has to rely on them for everything big and small.

When he returned to the main table, he was taken aback.

I don't know when An Nineteen also came, probably invited by Xu Zhong, the two of them talked and laughed arm in arm as if they had forgotten each other.

The officials of the Royal Kiln Factory accompanied them, laughing and laughing from time to time, which was a different kind of excitement.

Seeing him come back, Xu Zhong patted An Nineteen's shoulder, said something in a low voice, then strode towards him, and said with a smile, "Zhiliu, come quickly and respect Mrs An."

Immediately, a drink was handed to him, it was a first-class small cup with blue and white colorful chicken patterns.

Doucai cockpit cups are the wine cups used by emperors, but ordinary people dare not use them, so there are so-called small cups with chicken patterns.

Of course, it can be known from the shape of the utensil that the smaller the ceramic part, the harder it is to fire.

For example, in this small chicken-patterned cup, the rim is slightly tilted outwards, echoing the lines at the bottom.From the outside, the cup has no "feet". In fact, the feet are recessed and hidden. This treatment is called "lying feet".The mouth of the cup is round, round to the circumference, and has a sense of long-standing and well-established square circle.

You must know that when a pile of porcelain clay is placed on the wheel, it is wet. If you want it to be shaped, it cannot be too thin, and the carcass cannot be smooth and even. This requires the master to repair it.After the wet blank is dried, the masters carve the lines, finely shape the shape of the vessel, and convey the aesthetics, which is another in-depth dialogue with the ancients.

For example, if the edge of the mouth is slightly turned outward, it seems careless, but in fact it shows effort and ingenuity, because the wall of the cup itself is thin, and the edge of the mouth needs to be stretched out, so special care must be taken. If you don't pay attention to it, it will become straight and lose the beauty of curvature.What's more difficult is that the outer rim is thinner than the cup wall. Although it pursues the ultimate craftsmanship, it still looks sharp and lacks comfort in use. In layman's terms, it is practical.

Therefore, when sharpening the blank, the masters must not only pay attention to the curvature of the mouth, but also balance the thickness of the cup wall. They must not only retain the beauty of the shape of the vessel, but also consider its deformation in the kiln fire.

These seemingly inconspicuous details often go through a lot of hard work. The ratio of porcelain clay, washing and drying, the requirements for the skills of the masters of casting, sharpening, painting and glazing, the ratio of glaze materials and the changes in the temperature of the kiln due to all the above changes, every link has been refined and tested countless times.

Such a beautiful small cup that is "thin as paper" is not carefully collected, but it is actually used to hold the so-called reconciliation wine.

Xu Zhiliu only felt it was ridiculous.

"It's my rule not to drink alcohol during the day."

He pushed the small chicken-patterned cup back, even though he moved gently, the overflowing wine still poured out, fell out of the cup, hung on the edge of the cup again, along the wall of the cup, exuding a rich aroma that made people salivate.

If you are a wine drinker, you will not want to waste a drop.

But Xu Zhiliu just watched calmly, without any movement, the wine finally fell and hit An Jiu's soap boots.

An Jiu looked away, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "The Young Master still refuses to give me face."

"He dares!"

Xu Zhong stepped forward, squeezed Xu Zhiliu's wrist, and pushed the small chicken cup back.

After finally seizing the opportunity, he borrowed the God of Warm Kiln to invite An Nineteen, and apologized repeatedly for the Dragon Vat. His eyes were red from drinking, and An Nineteen just let go, saying that he could settle the suspicion.

In the end, he was fine, there was no limit to the show, right?

Because of this, everyone in the main room looked over.

Xu Zhiliu's wrist hurts, and when he moved a little, he was pinned down again by Xu Zhong.It could be seen that Xu Zhong was already half-drunk, and there was no weight in his hands. The force he pressed down was all anger that had been accumulated for a long time.

Xu Zhiliu knew that Xu Zhong was dissatisfied with him, and he had many dissatisfaction, whether it was A Yao's marriage, or his self-proclaimed writing of Long Vat's inscription, or he refused to listen to persuasion and insisted on confronting An Jiu.

These self-righteous claims of his must have taken away his face, as the head of the family, as an elder, and as the real chief executive of Hutian Kiln.

At this point, Xu Zhiliu understood something.

He looked at Xu Zhong quietly, Xu Zhong's gaze flickered slightly, but he insisted not to avoid it. It was covered with bright red bloodshot eyes, carrying the unspeakable dignity of the old man, how could Xu Zhiliu bear it?So he raised his hand, and drank the wine in the small chicken-patterned cup in one gulp.

Afterwards, his warm palm gently wrapped around the small chicken-patterned cup.

Xu Zhong slumped on the chair and suddenly lost his strength.

An Nineteen watched a good show, and laughed heartily: "After all, it's our big boss who has weight in his words, and young people just lack training."

Xu Zhiliu was noncommittal, turned to Xu Zhong and said, "Uncle Xu, there will be sacrificial activities in the evening, so I'll make preparations first."

Xu Zhong nodded without looking at him.

Xu Zhiliu looked around and greeted all the stewards with his eyes. The stewards just woke up like a dream, greeted the guests again, and the hall resumed the previous bustle.

Just as Xu Zhiliu was about to go out, his lower abdomen suddenly twitched violently, and then beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

He has been busy with kiln work these years, and his diet has always been irregular. He has occasional pain in the lower abdomen, which can be relieved every time he finishes eating, so he simply doesn't take it to heart. Only this time is obviously different from before, and the force is fierce. He has to stop all of a sudden and support the table with one hand in order to maintain his balance.

In this way, the wrist was exerted force, and the part pinched by Xu Zhong just now felt a sharp pain.

He didn't want to be discovered, and tried his best to endure the pain in many parts of his body. He glanced at the small cup with chicken pattern in his sleeve from the corner of his eye, and unconsciously raised the corner of his mouth.

It's so beautiful, it hasn't been ruined.

Then there were footsteps approaching.

"The Warm Kiln God activity is still early, please wait for the young master."

An Nineteen staggered, walked slowly, arrived at the side of a few handymen just now, glanced over a table, and then stopped on Heizi carelessly.

The handymen didn't know when he came, and they didn't know how much he had heard, but they all shrank their necks when they saw what happened just now.

Only Heizi was annoyed that he forced Xu Zhiliu to drink, so he gave An Nineteen a hard look.

An Nineteen tutted his lips: "This kid is quite temperamental."

Xu Zhiliu moved to stand in front of Heizi, and asked, "Eunuch, is there anything else?"

"Can't we catch up with the Young Master's family if there is nothing to do?"

"I'm afraid you and I are not in a good relationship."

"Oh, the Young Master's family is really young and promising."

Look at this noble look, what kind of cheap mud is he?An Nineteen's smile became more and more warm: "I heard that you are going back to your hometown to worship your ancestors. I have nothing to do with you. I want to be with you. I don't know how you like it. I have seen in the records of the Royal Kiln Factory that Yaoli is rich in glazed fruits and pizi. The mining process is really interesting. There are also a lot of delicacies in the local area, so I yearn for it. If you agree, we will write off the matter of the dragon vat, how about it?"

Xu Zhiliu smiled slightly: "Eunuch, are you threatening me?"

"Where is it, I just admire the talents of Xu Shaodong's family. I want to see with my own eyes the soil and water that raised you, appreciate its elegance, and work hard to make progress together with Shaodong's family."

"My father-in-law was joking, the grassroots can't bear it."

"At the Crane Pavilion that day, everything I promised was still counted. May the Young Master think about it again?"

Xu Zhiliu didn't answer.

An Nineteen is a proud iron rooster, with little low profile.It is said that there must be demons when things go wrong. He took the initiative to make peace and must hide his schemes. He carefully reviewed the current situation in the town. Yang Gong has a home, and the court gave them reassurance.

At that time, he will retire after success, and it will be close at hand.

Xu Zhiliu slightly cupped his hands and apologized: "I'm afraid I will disappoint my father-in-law. I'm used to being alone. Besides, Yaoli is small, so there's nothing new about it."

"is it?"

An Nineteen seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and he was not disappointed. He only showed a bit of regret in his eyes, "It seems that I have no chance to appreciate the scenery in Yaoli."

The bones of young students are hard, even harder than porcelain stones, and since they are so hard, they refuse to bend down, so they can only be broken.

When An Nineteen strayed, he clung to Xu Zhiliu's ear, and said in a low voice: "If you want me to say that age is a matter of many things, Xu Zhong is old and fatuous, Hutian Kiln is probably inseparable from the young owner. Since there is nothing new in the countryside, you should come back early after sweeping the tomb."

After finishing speaking, he shook his sleeves and strode away.

The flying tiger flags inserted on both sides of the entrance of the hall fluttered in the wind.

　Rub your hands together, the hero and heroine will meet in the next chapter~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)