Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 37 2.14 Decide for Bao Yatou

Volume Two

2.14 Settle down for Bao girl

Time flew by, and it entered April in a blink of an eye. This morning, Xue Tu was sorting out the books for March and spring in his study, when there was a sudden commotion outside.

"What's going on? Who doesn't want to die?" He was having a headache over the account book, and his tone was obviously annoyed, "Get in here, if you can't give a good reason, see if I don't break his legs! "

"Master, Master!" As he was yelling and cursing, he heard the voice of his loyal servant Zhang Dehui. He didn't even care about his superiority and inferiority, and stumbled into the study with an object the size of a wall brick in one hand. Several people were behind him. The slaves were not so bold. They all crowded at the entrance of the inner courtyard, trembling with fear from Xue Tu's scolding just now, "It's done, it's done!"

"What happened?" Not paying attention to Xue Tu's gloomy expression, Zhang Dehui excitedly waved two "wall bricks", but naturally he was slapped cruelly, "Dog slave, what have you become?"

"Master, this slave knows his fault!" Zhang Dehui, who was woken up by a slap, quickly knelt down to apologize, but still held on to the "wall bricks" tightly, "My slave said, the kind called 'cement' that Prime Minister Zhou replaced last month The thing is done, sir, please take a look!"

"What is this?" Xue Tu frowned, and took a heavy object, but his expression became more and more dignified as he inspected the object, "Cement? It was just two days ago, Brother Zhou said , processed after mixing with water, something that can be as solid as a rock once it dries out? Did you let someone make it out so quickly?"

"Sir, this is it!" Zhang Dehui nodded excitedly.

"Get up and talk." Xue Tu weighed the cement block in his hand, motioned Zhang Dehui to get out of the way, and smashed it on the bluestone floor with all his strength. With a "bang", debris flew around, but the cement block The main body was basically unharmed, but the bluestone slab on the ground had an obvious small crater. "Can it really be done?"

"Master, it can be done, and it can be mass-produced!" Zhang Dehui replied excitedly, "This thing is just a mixture of limestone, clay and gypsum, and then calcined in a lime kiln. But Zhou Xianggong didn't say the ratio, so he probably didn't If you know, the slaves will arrange for people to do it several times, store more than a dozen different ratios in a lime kiln, add water after leaving the kiln, and whichever is the hardest after solidification, whichever ratio is correct!"

"So, you came up with this?" Xue Tu picked up the cement block that had just been dropped on the ground, his tone trembling, "Have you recorded the ratio of this addition? The master craftsman and apprentice in charge of doing it, you Also arranged? You have also tried building other things."

"Master, I've tried it all!" Zhang Dehui didn't bother to interrupt his master and nodded excitedly and shouted, "Everything has been arranged according to the old rules. All the master craftsmen involved have been given heavy rewards, but they must sign a contract. , and it must be a death contract, those people who don’t want to agree have been dealt with, and three times the amount of burial money has been sent to them!”

"Okay, okay, okay!" Xue Tu laughed and nodded, "What about the pool that Mr. Zhou mentioned? Have you tried it? It can be as hard as bluestone, it will not be affected by adding water after it is repaired, and it can be soaked for a long time? "

"Don't worry, sir, I've tried it all!" Zhang Dehui couldn't help but nodded, "I even mixed salt in the water just in case, and there was no problem, and it has no effect so far!"

"It seems that what little brother Zhou said is all true!" Xue Tu returned to the study and drank two cups of herbal tea before slowly recovering. Yes, if you want to come here, you can’t fake the salt sale, the benefits of this salt product have been known since ancient times, come here, please invite Zhou Xianggong to the study immediately, there is no need to report any more!"

"Yes, master!" A maid answered immediately outside the door.

"Slave dog, you did a good job this time!" Xue Tu kicked Zhang Dehui with a smile on his face, "Naturally, your reward is indispensable. Also, did you bring some slaves at the door just now? What are they doing? I saw someone else holding a hammer? What is this for?"

"The main thing is to move the cement blocks here. As for the function of the hammer, the master can know it at a glance!" Zhang Dehui gave it a try and waved a dozen minions from behind to come in and arrange for them to stack the cement blocks in their hands neatly. Then he waved to the slave holding the long-handled hammer, "Smash it and show me the effect!"

"Duang—" The sturdy servant with the hammer smashed it on the platform where the cement blocks were piled up with all his strength, and the one that was facing him was smashed on the spot, but the other cement blocks had no effect, even just shaking Everything is back to normal.

“Mr. While checking, Zhou Yang, who happened to walk in from outside the door, smiled and added, "If we simply build the wall with cement, it will be difficult to destroy the six-foot-thick wall even if it is bombarded by the general's artillery!"

"Hahaha, little brother Zhou came just in time. What you said - well, the cement is very good! Now that it's done, do you think we can do the salting thing too?"

"It's a pity that the juniors are not those Westerners and can't get accurate craftsmanship. Otherwise, there is no need for any experiments at all, just do it directly." Zhou Yang felt regretful, because Xue Tu made it clear that he only wanted to make more money, and he was interested in the new matchlock gun and magnified The Tiger Crouching Cannon didn't have much interest at all, so he could only give some guidance, "But as long as we create a salt pond and try a few more times, it will be fine.

There is only one problem now. The benefits of salt and iron are well known all over the world. If you simply produce so much salt without some means of self-protection, you may end up making a wedding dress for others out of thin air, or even something more terrible will happen. Xue You must be on guard! ""Um? "Xue Tu turned to look at Zhang Dehui.

"Master, the fire blunderbuss that Xianggong Zhou mentioned has been sampled!" Zhang Dehui immediately understood what Xue Tu meant, "The power is extremely impressive, far exceeding the previous bird blunderbuss, but there are still many things that have not been done well. It cannot be used for the time being. The main problem is the processing of the barrel, which requires the best refined iron, which is really difficult to obtain."

"Think of a way to get a batch first, it will cost [-] rods, let's try it first." Xue Tu frowned, remembering his experience of being ambushed, he decided to be careful, "Remember to keep it secret, follow the court rules , concealing one firearm is a serious crime, three firearms is enough to be beheaded, and ten firearms are enough to confiscate a home and exterminate a clan, so be extremely careful!"

"Don't worry, sir!" Zhang Dehui immediately bowed and replied.

"Mr. Just give it a try and you'll be fine. As for large-scale mass production, didn't this junior mention it? There are many uninhabited islands in the sea, just find one, and this is inseparable from Mr. Xue!"

"That's what the little brother said!" Xue Tu pondered for a moment, realizing that he had just been dazzled by the huge profits. He quickly sobered up and explained to Zhang Dehui, "Forget it, let's arrange the place, work out the available methods, and then talk about the real results. It’s about the goods.”

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Dehui bowed respectfully and went out, and no one stopped him this time.

"Come here, arrange a banquet. I want to have a good drink with my little brother, hahaha!" Xue Tu shouted outside, turned around and pulled Zhou Yang out, "Come on, come on, let's not say whether this sun salt can be made." , just a piece of cement, if it is presented to the court when necessary, it will be enough to ensure that I, the Xue family, will retire with the country, and you and I will not return home until we are drunk today!"

“Mr. But if it has been controlled by outsiders"

"." Xue Tu stiffened, then pulled Zhou Yang away as if nothing had happened.

That night, in the main bedroom of Xue's inner courtyard.

"Master, what happened today that made you drink so much?" Seeing Xue Tu wake up, Mrs. The kitchen brought sobering soup over - Master, I'll drink some later, sober up at least. I heard that little brother Zhou was also drunk by you? No matter how happy you are, you should take care of yourself!"

"Ma'am, I don't know!" Even though his complexion was still yellow, Xue Tu was still excited. He didn't notice his wife's flushed cheeks when she mentioned "Little Brother Zhou", but scattered cement and sun-dried salt He said again, "As long as these two things are completely completed, it will be enough to ensure the inheritance of my Jinling Xue family for a hundred years!

Do you still remember what we discussed a few days ago?After waiting for a while, as long as I am sure that this salting thing can be done, I will personally talk to Brother Zhou and make a decision for Bao Yatou. It will be difficult to find such a capable young man if you miss it. "

"This—Master don't think about it again?" Mrs. Xue lowered her head, hiding her blushing cheeks.

"What else are you thinking about? If we wait for him to be listed in Qiuwei, I'm afraid he will stay in the capital, and we won't know when we will see each other again." Xue Tu smiled, "Besides, it's not like you don't know what Pan'er looks like. It's just right. He came back from overseas and doesn't have any relatives, so it saves him a lot of trouble!"

"Master, madam, the hangover soup is here!" Just as he was speaking, a servant girl's voice came from the door.

"Bring it here - Ying'er, why is it you, girl? Where's Tongfu?" Mrs. Xue took the hangover soup and asked in a daze.

"Returning to Madam, the lady asked the servant to come over to see if the master is awake. It happened that Sister Tongfu had a stomachache, so the servant brought her along." Ying'er bowed and replied.

"Okay, you go down first!" Xue Tu waved his hand, "Tell Bao Yatou that I'm fine, so she doesn't have to worry."

"Yes, sir, please leave!" Ying'er bowed and went out, but the expression on her face kept changing, obviously she knew something.

(End of this chapter)