Cao Thief

Chapter 26

I originally planned to go to Chengdu today, but it snowed heavily...

Airports closed, travel hampered.Tossing a little tired.I originally planned to update after midnight, so I uploaded it in advance, which is the first update tomorrow.

In addition, ask for some recommendation tickets!
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Kuaizheng drank a glass of wine, thought for a while, then took his leave and left.

No one knew exactly what his purpose was for this trip.But in the eyes of outsiders, the arrival of Kuai Zheng also seemed to herald the rise of Deng Ji.Especially seeing the cordial conversation between Kuai Zheng and Cao Peng made people sit down and confirm their previous thoughts. Seeing Cao Peng's eyes also reveals a trace of respect.

Although Kuai Zheng is only a county magistrate, behind him, there is a behemoth, the Kuai family.

"Have you seen that Cao Langjun and County Magistrate Kuai are on equal footing... When have you ever seen County Magistrate Kuai be so intimate with someone?"

"That's right, Mrs. Deng was very respectful when he saw Magistrate Kuai.

I have never seen County Magistrate Kuai treat Mrs. Deng like this.This time, the third child is about to flourish!Just because of the relationship between Cao Langjun and Kuai county magistrate, it is not Deng Cai who can be compared.Hehe, yesterday I saw Mrs. Ma at the entrance of the village, with ointment on her face, and people walking with their heads down. Is there still the demeanor of Mrs. Ma from earlier?It's really laughable. "

"If I knew this earlier, why bother?"

"That's right, the old man seems to be the same as before, but I guess, it's the old man who can't hold back his face. If it were someone else, he would have given his face to Mrs. Ma a long time ago... The old man is good at everything, It's just soft-hearted, too conniving with Deng Cai..."

The topic of the villagers gradually shifted from Deng Ji to Mrs. Deng.

And then from the old Mrs. Deng, to General Deng... From General Deng to Zhang Xiu, and finally back to the next year's farming.

After Cao Peng sent Kuai Zheng away, he went back to his room to rest!

Cao Ji and Deng Ji were in charge of greeting outside, and the banquet lasted until evening, when only the cups and plates were messed up, it was considered the end of the song.

Mrs. Hong called someone to clean up the courtyard.

Mrs. Zhang and Cao Nan brought Mrs. Hong into the house, and gave Mrs. Hong some money. Afterwards, Zhang’s parents, Li’s family, began to gossip... until Liu Shaotou on the moon, Mrs. Hong took her leave with satisfaction. leave.The Cao family, who had been busy all day, were also exhausted.Deng Ji planned to go back to the county government to work the next day, so he rested early.Although Zhang's mother and daughter are a little tired, they are very energetic.The mother and daughter had endless whispers, so they simply slept on the same bed and whispered in the room.

Cao Peng is also tired!
However, his fatigue is not only physically, but also mentally stressed.

In the eyes of others, he seems to be infinitely beautiful.But his own affairs are clear to him, and the pressure he endured is beyond the imagination of outsiders.

Cao Peng is gambling, and at the same time he firmly believes that Pang Ji will recognize his actions.Even if Pang Ji disagrees, isn't there still a Sima Decao?

As long as one of the two of them nods, the matter of impersonating a disciple of the Lumen can be overturned.

Cao Peng has this confidence, but before he has a definite answer, he is still a little nervous... Kuai Zheng's purpose for coming today, he can see clearly.On the surface, Kuai came to congratulate him, but in fact, it was also the last test.I want to see Cao Peng's reaction.

Fortunately, Cao Peng answered very well at the time: I sent people to Xiangyang three days ago!
At least for now, Kuai Zheng will not react.

Now, all he has to do is wait, wait, wait...

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, private schools were very popular.There are celebrities like Zheng Xuan on the top, and those officials who are not satisfied go home to teach.In short, people have far more opportunities to get in touch with knowledge than before.In the current fashion, it is a joy to acquire talents and teach them.Presumably, in the eyes of people like Sima Decao, he is considered a talented person.Based on this, Cao Peng was very confident.

These few days have been exercising, strengthening the muscles and bones, and it has been very hard.

So as soon as it was dark, Cao Peng fell asleep!
I don't know how long I slept, but I vaguely heard movement outside.

Cao Peng rubbed his eyes, got up, put on his cotton robe, and walked out of the room.

The voice seemed to be coming from the front yard.Cao Peng walked through the nave and stood on the steps to look over.In a corner of the front yard, a burly figure was busy back and forth.The moonlight was bright, and Cao Peng recognized at a glance that the man was his father Cao Ji.

Cao Ji built a simple shed in a corner of the yard.

Just beside the well, there are four pillars covered with straw mats.The shed had been set up before, but it was empty inside without any decorations.Cao Ji was standing under the shed, building something.Cao Peng scratched his head, jumped down the steps, and walked over.

"Father, what are you doing?"

Cao Ji's face was covered with mud, and his hands were also black.

Seeing Cao Peng approaching, he couldn't help but said suspiciously: "Peng'er, didn't you go to bed early?"

"Oh, I woke up after I had enough sleep."

Looking at an oil lamp in the shed, Cao Peng saw something like a stove.He was startled for a moment, but soon realized that this should be a furnace for melting iron.There are also a pile of items spread out on the ground, including a hammer, pliers, a chopping board, and a huge leather bag.

These seem to be tools for blacksmithing...

During the Western Han Dynasty, the iron smelting industry began to appear on a large scale.Generally, large-scale workshops will have equipment such as melting iron furnaces, smelting furnaces, scorpions, and workshops.In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Du Shi, the prefect of Nanyang, created the water row, which was agitated in the water, and its effect was similar to that of the bellows of later generations.

Perhaps in the eyes of Cao Peng, this kind of equipment is very simple.

But for Cao Ji, he is not qualified to use it even if it is a water drain.

Cao Peng knelt down and picked up the skin bag.

"Father, is this the furnace pole?"

The shape of the skin pouch is thin at both ends and bulging in the middle.Its shape is similar to a container called "橐" in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it is directly called "橐".Put the peg on the iron smelting furnace, which is the furnace peg at that time.Utilize the elasticity of the prong to bulge up when empty. There is a ceramic pull rod on the prong, push and pull the prong back and forth to make it compress and bulge.Some large-scale iron smelting furnaces often arrange multiple smelts together to blow air, all of which are called row smelts.

The stove built by Cao Ji obviously does not need to use tools such as rowing.

"Yes, this is the stove."

Cao Ji grabbed a piece of black mud, slapped it on the furnace wall, and spread it evenly with a shovel.While he was working, he smiled and said to Cao Peng: "We have settled down now... Your brother-in-law said that you can find me a shop in the city. But I thought about it, the city is too far away from the village. It’s far away, so it’s more convenient here. Look at the road at the door, there are many people coming and going from south to north. Folks in nearby villages have to pass through here if they want to repair farm tools. Instead of spending money to rent shops in the city, it’s better to go Here, it's convenient...

Uncle Sun is an honest man and sincere.

But we have hands and feet, we can't take advantage of him, do you think this is the truth? "

Dad seems to want to treat this place as his home and settle down...

But Dad, this Jiyang County is just an inn for us to rest after all!

Although Cao Peng thought so in his heart, he agreed with his mouth.

It's rare that Dad is so interested. As a son, it's not easy for him to destroy it, is he?However, repairing agricultural tools... really has no future.

"Father, can you fight with a knife?"

"Knife?"

Cao Ji was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "You mean making weapons. I have learned this before! It's just that my father is not good enough, so I can't make any good swords. Your Uncle Wang also asked me... But, after doing it a few times, I gave up."

"why?"

"Well, there are many reasons.

On the one hand, father's skills are not enough, and his studies are not good; on the other hand, father does not have that condition.Knives are different from repairing agricultural tools, and there are requirements for furnace temperature.Generally speaking, at least two to three furnaces are needed to make a sword, and there is only one here.

The cost of the stove is too high, and my father can't afford it.

And if you buy it, you may not be able to succeed... It is really inappropriate to spend that unjustified money.

How much weight you have, you have to weigh it yourself.At the beginning, a brother of mine wanted to switch to making swords, but he built an iron furnace in Wancheng and installed ten furnace poles, but it failed in the end.The things he built were not wanted, and he ended up in debt and had to leave his hometown. "

"Father, do you still have a senior brother?"

"Yeah, my senior brother can be said to be very talented, he has failed, let alone my ability?"

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Thanks to book friends: Ren Yue, The Death of Sigh, Blade Thunder, Flowing Water at the End of Love, Mu Junyan, Genius Tiger's pp, Mage Drow, and the son of Mage Drow for their generous rewards.

(End of this chapter)