Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 10: Jia Baoyu travels to the fantasy world and Li Weijian encounters difficulties
Dusting off the invitation with a snap of his fingers, Li Weijian turned to Hongyu and said, "Hongyu, please go to Lixiangyuan and answer for me, so that I can be there on time for the application tomorrow."

"Hey." Hongyu responded, turned around and walked away from Pingting.

When Li Weijian saw that Qingwen still had a stern face, he smiled and said, "Hongyu is eloquent. From now on, all the greetings and farewells like this can be left to her."

"Oh." Qingwen responded in a muffled voice, with the word 'unhappy' written on her face.

Li Weijian raised his hand and tapped Qingwen's eyebrows, turned around and entered the Nuan Pavilion. After a moment, he came out holding the brocade box given by Li Wan in the morning and handed it directly into Qingwen's hands.

"Fourth master?"

Li Weijian stood with his hands behind his hands and said, "I know you can't tolerate disdain in your eyes, so you will be in charge of the accounts in my house from now on."

Qingwen was slightly surprised, but then a relieved smile appeared on her face: "Well, don't worry, Fourth Master, I will definitely take care of it."

The maids in each house must not be allowed to take care of the accounts unless they have the trust of the master, just like the eldest maid Yuanyang next to the old lady.The old lady is trustworthy and very honorable when she comes out. Every brother and sister in the family will call her "Sister Yuanyang" when they see her.

The fourth master left the accounting affairs in her hands, doesn't it just mean that the fourth master values ​​her more?So what if Hong Yu is eloquent, I'm afraid the Fourth Master has long seen that Hong Yu is a traitor.

Qingwen felt proud at first, but then she remembered what Aunt Lai said earlier, so her smile faded and she hesitated for a moment.The second master Bao's room is naturally nice, but the fourth master Jian's room seems to be nice too...

Li Weijian had dealt with the personnel arrangements around him, so how could he care about what Qingwen was thinking?He was obsessed with making a fortune.At this moment, he was sitting at the desk in the study, looking for some cardboard, sharpening his pencil, thinking about what to do next.

Qingwen put the box away, then walked over gracefully, took the pencil sharpener and said, "Fourth Master, let me do it."

"Ah."

Li Weijian responded and began to think.

The Industrial Revolution broke out in England, but France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, which were also in Western Europe, did not give birth to the Industrial Revolution. Why?

One is that the Great Navigation opened up vast colonies, resulting in a serious shortage of workers in the British Isles. The shortage of workers led to high labor costs, so factory owners had to choose to use machinery to replace labor.

Britain had excellent congenital conditions. There were shallow coal mines everywhere that were easy to mine, and it was enough to endure the high cost of early steam engines.

On the other hand, looking at this land, the labor cost is extremely low. Even if someone developed the Newcomen steam engine, the cost was not worth the cost of hiring more people, so naturally there was no soil for the Industrial Revolution.

Therefore, if Li Weijian wanted to promote the steam engine and even the industrial revolution, his opponent was not Britain, let alone the entire Western Europe, but the nearly [-] million cheap people in Dashun.Unless the steam engine he developed was cheaper than labor from the beginning, there would be no possibility of its implementation.

This is something to talk about later. Naturally, we have to focus on the first pot of gold.It is said that the salt mines in Sichuan were dug thousands of meters deep at this time. Not to mention the technology of drilling wells, the difficulty was how to seal the shallow groundwater so that the dug wells could draw from the deep groundwater.

He secretly thought, must the cement be developed in advance?
"Sir, it's finished."

Li Weijian took the pencil, put pen to paper, and listed the prerequisite technologies needed to promote the industrial revolution.Seamless pipes, pressure vessels, air pressure gauges, riveting, boring machines, threads, valves, bearings, balls...

Li Weijian felt dizzy for a while as he looked at each piece of pre-requisite technology.

Suddenly, a cup of strong tea was handed to me.He looked up and saw Qingwen quietly standing beside him.His brows gradually relaxed. As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, so technical matters can be solved bit by bit. As long as steam engines are popularized in this land during his lifetime, this life will be considered worthwhile.

He suddenly remembered that he had said before that he would teach Qingwen how to read, so he pushed the paper aside, took another one, and wrote 26 letters with his pen.Fortunately, the dialect of the capital at this time was very close to the Mandarin of later generations, otherwise this method would not have been possible.

"Go and ask Xiu Ying to come too. I'll teach you how to read."

Qingwen was looking at Ghost Painting Fu Nahan, and she suddenly became happy when she heard this: "Really?"

"When did I lie to you?"

Qingwen laughed playfully and ran out happily. After a while, she pulled Xiuying, who looked confused, into the study.

Two maids gathered around Li Weijian, one on the left and one on the right. He clicked on the letters and said, "This is Pinyin, used to annotate words. Once you learn Pinyin and add phonetic notes to the words, you will be able to read new words when you encounter them in the future." Now. Today I will teach you the vowels, come and read them with me..."

Li Weijian took the lead and read it several times. Qingwen was extremely serious, but she was swaying and seemed not to be attentive.He doesn't care much either. Whether he learns or not depends entirely on the individual.

Later, Li Weijian had breakfast and then rode horses to Shiban Hutong with Wu Haiping.

After handing over the greeting card and telling his disciples where he was currently living, Shi Shiran returned on his own.But Wu Haiping received the errand, bought a tape measure from someone unknown, and went around the city to measure the water wells.

After traveling back and forth for only an hour, Li Weijian returned to Jia's mansion.Just when I arrived at the entrance of Ningrong Street, I saw a carriage approaching, accompanied by boys on the left and right.The curtains of the carriage were opened, and a person was looking out.

Seeing Li Weijian, the man immediately shouted: "Brother Li! Brother Li! I, Xue Pan!"

Li Weijian had already caught a glimpse of Xue Pan earlier. He really didn't want to get too involved with this stupid overlord, so he kept pretending that he had never seen it.Now that I've been stopped, it's naturally hard to keep pretending.

He reined in his horse and looked to pass by. Suddenly, his face suddenly dawned, and he cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be Brother Wen Long!"

Xue Pan shouted "Stop", and before the carriage stopped, he opened the curtain to reveal himself, and said with a smile: "Brother Li, are you... going home?"

"Yes, I just sent a greeting card, and now I'm about to return."

Xue Pan said: "What's the point of being stuck at home? Why don't you go to a wonderful place with me?"

"The beauty?"

Xue Pan shook his head proudly: "Jinxiangyuan. Hehe, Brother Rong said that Jinxiangyuan is wonderful. Recently, I don't know where I got a pair of Siamese girls. I was about to go to see them, Brother Li Why not go with us? All the expenses are mine!"

Li Weijian immediately thanked him. Where did he get the antibiotics these days?Once you contract the disease, won't you lose your lower body... and be happy?

He looked yearning, and then shook his head sadly: "I would like to go, but I made an agreement with my eldest sister earlier that I will teach Lange'er the Analects of Confucius today. And Shen Shi will also go to Lixiangyuan for a banquet..."

Xue Pan immediately regretted and said: "It's a pity, let's do it next time."

"Well, definitely next time." Li Weijian smiled.

Xue Pan said: "Then let's say goodbye first. Brother Rong and Brother Qiang and I will go and explore first... Well, Brother Li, please don't make any noise about this matter."

"Don't worry, I have never seen Brother Wenlong today."

Xue Pan laughed loudly. At this time, the car curtains opened, revealing Jia Rong's reluctant face, and greeted with a forced smile: "Uncle Jian."

"Yes, Brother Rong." After a moment, another person appeared. He looked similar to Jia Rong, but was slightly younger. He smiled and cupped his hands at Li Weijian and said, "My nephew Jia Qiang, I have met Fourth Uncle Jian."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

After greeting each other, everyone left.Li Weijian rode his horse for a while and turned around to look around, but saw the carriage gradually moving away.I thought to myself, this Xue Pan is indeed a brainless person.Jia Rong and Jia Qiang in the car didn't want to meet him, but they were pointed out by his words, so they had to bite the bullet and come out to chat.

However, this Jia Qiang seems to be younger, but more thoughtful than Jia Rong.Maybe he was reluctant in his heart, but it never showed on his face.

Li Weijian only vaguely remembered that in the TV series this person and a young actor ended up becoming a couple, but he didn't remember anything else.Now that he only took a look at it once, he could vaguely realize that Brother Qiang was probably a little better than Jia Rong in terms of conduct.

After thinking about it, he arrived in front of the gate of De Rongguo Mansion, got off his horse, and a young boy took the reins. Li Weijian smiled and said hello to the disciples and stewards, and then walked into the house.

Walking all the way to the gate of the small courtyard in the northeast, I suddenly realized why it was so quiet today.

In the courtyard, Hongyu was ordering two maids to sweep the house. When she saw Li Weijian coming back, she immediately came up to greet him.

After entering the main room, Li Weijian asked casually: "It seems a little quiet in the house today?"

Hongyu untied his outer cloak, folded it up and said, "A while ago, Grandma You from Dongfu posted a message saying that the plum blossoms in Huifang Garden of Dongfu were in bloom. Please invite the old lady, eldest lady and second wife to come together. We went over to appreciate the plum blossoms. After hearing this, Mr. Bao also clamored to go, so he just went with him."

Li Weijian paused after hearing this: "Brother Bao has passed?"

Hongyu said: "The three girls also followed. Miss Lin didn't know what happened. She said she wasn't feeling well, so she didn't go."

Li Weijian paused, thoughtful.When passing by Yangzhou, Lin Ruhai asked him to take care of Daiyu, but now Daiyu still lives in Jia's mother's room, so he can't go and visit her.

So he said casually: "You can take a look at it for me later and ask Miss Lin what she is missing."

"Hey."

Just when Hongyu agreed, she saw Qingwen pouting angrily and walking in carrying a food box.

bang——

The food box was placed heavily on the table, and Hongyu's face flashed with joy. Li Weijian glanced at Qingwen and said with a smile, "Who messed with you again?"

Qingwen said: "The mother-in-law in the kitchen is used to flattering others and putting others down. She always saves silk pigeon eggs for lunch, but they are gone when the fourth master comes here! Zicuckoo is obviously a later one, how come she has them here? , I’m gone when I come? I argued with her for a long time, but she said no!”

While talking, Qingwen opened the food box and revealed the food inside: barley rice porridge, hot noodles and steamed dumplings, bean dregs cake, and smoked fish on fire.

Before Li Weijian said anything, Hongyu said angrily: "That's unreasonable! I'll go find Sister-in-law Liu!"

"Wait a minute," Li Weijian smiled with no trace of anger on his face. Shi Shiran sat down and said, "Isn't it good to make everyone aware of some trivial matters? Qingwen, give Hongyu five taels of silver. Next time, get some food. Let Hongyu go and give up some small money."

Qingwen said with great reluctance: "Fourth Master, how can there be such a reason? It should be divided, but now you have to pay money, I am afraid that those women will become even more indifferent in the future!"

Li Weijian said: "It's better to save your worries. As for those mothers-in-law, it's better not to treat us slowly when they get benefits. Be obedient and do it like this."

"Hmph." Qingwen huffed and went to get the brocade box, selected a piece of silver barley and stuffed it to Hongyu.

Hongyu thought about it and said, "Fourth Master, you don't have to give it every time. Just give me a hundred yuan every now and then."

"Well, I'll leave it to you. By the way, I also asked the kitchen to be patient, big sister."

"I know, I'll do it later."

Qingwen fetched water, Li Weijian washed his hands and ate some lunch. Suddenly, a boy from outside came to report that the young master of Yan Shilang's family had posted a message, asking him to come to the house for a brief explanation.

Li Weijian took the post handed over by Qingwen, threw down half a piece of smoked fish and burned it, hastily wiped his hands, put on his coat and left.However, Yan Fenzhen's post said that his father Yan Xiyao was taking a break today and was about to meet Li Weijian.

He quickly walked out of Jia's Mansion, got on the Lion Jade and was about to ride off, when he saw an oil-walled chariot rolling by and stopping in front of the Ningguo Mansion.

A Kun Dao got out of the car and saw a half-year-old lady entering the house holding a fly whisk in her hand.Li Weijian glanced at it and thought to himself, could this Kun Dao belong to Yuanling Palace?

It was not easy to explore at this moment, so Li Weijian rode on horseback and headed straight around the Imperial City towards Iron Lion Alley.

But in the Ningguo Mansion, Qin Keqing saw Baoyu sleeping on his bed. As soon as he got up and left the house, his mother-in-law came to report that the real Jinghuan from Yuanling Palace had arrived.

Qin Keqing did not dare to neglect and hurriedly went out to greet him.After a while, the real Jinghuan returned, and the two entered the Nuan Pavilion. Jinghuan glanced at Baoyu, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and immediately frowned and said, "Why is there a man?"

Qin Keqing smiled and said: "I'm just a boy, how can I be considered a man? Auntie, sit down quickly."

Jing Huan frowned, and after sitting down, he said, "Ke Qing, it's hard for outsiders to listen to what you and I are talking about."

"He was sleeping deeply, how could he listen? My aunt just said it's okay."

Jing Huan said, "I went to Prince Zhongyi's Mansion a while ago... He doesn't look good."

Qin Keqing clenched her handkerchief tightly, frowned and said worriedly: "I...why is he bad?"

Jing Huan lowered his voice, and what he said became increasingly detailed.

After a moment, Jing Huan left in a hurry.Qin Keqing sent him out of the mansion worriedly. When he returned, he suddenly heard Baoyu shouting "Keqing save me".

Qin Keqing was thinking about her thoughts and was telling the little girls outside the room to watch the cats and dogs fighting. Suddenly she heard Baoyu calling her nickname in her dream, and she was puzzled and said: "No one here knows my nickname. How did he know it and screamed it out in his dream?"

Then it dawned on him, could it be that he just listened to it?

Baoyu is confused and confused, as if something is missing.Everyone hurriedly brought the longan soup, took a few sips, and then stood up to dress.

When the attacker stretched out his hand to tie his trousers, he reached his thigh unconsciously and felt cold and wet. He hurriedly withdrew his hand and asked, "What's going on?"

Bao Yuhong blushed and twisted her hand.Xiren is a smart woman, two years older than Baoyu, and has recently become more familiar with people. Now seeing Baoyu in such a state, she half-aware of it, and unconsciously blushed with embarrassment, and did not dare to ask any more questions.

(End of this chapter)