Chapter 86 A promising career
In the spring of March, the grass grows and the orioles fly.
The valley and mountain scenery where Shangyang Villa is located are no longer monotonous. The mountain springs are thawing and the water is gurgling, forming a stream and flowing around the house. The fruit trees on the slopes that were transplanted and pruned last year have sprouted new green stripes and their buds are blooming.
The bee hives newly installed in the orchard are buzzing and dancing, and the disturbing butterflies dare not approach. A gust of mountain wind blew, and the entire valley was filled with the scent of honey and flowers.
Outside the small building facing the spring, several phoenixes wearing half-armed jackets were standing by a small red clay stove. While paying attention to the heat of the stove and telling their friends to add charcoal, they waved their little arms and held wood. Stir the liquid that has become very viscous in the clay pot on the stove with a stick.
"Dharma, the jade soap that can be exchanged for three buckets of grain is sold in the shop outside the village. Is it really made from this fragrant soup?"
The little friend was carrying the charcoal blocks into the furnace while observing the movements of several phoenixes, both curious and suspicious.
"That's right. I've been to the workshop many times and seen that this is what the women workers do. They soak the plant ashes in water and filter them into a clear soup. Then they add ointment, salt, wine, heat and steam them. Then they pour them into molds and let them cool until they are solid. ”
Shuofeng stopped for a short rest, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took out a mold from his arms to show off: "This is the mold I carved myself. I will use this to make the shape later. The jade is made." I will give it to my mother when I go home. Once she is happy, she will not care about me missing my studies."
"Then can you give me a piece? Last month, my job was rated as excellent, and the village rewarded me with a piece, but it was taken to the village and sold out. I was given a robe. I saw that my sister was very unhappy, and she wiped her tears secretly. several times……"
When the schoolboy heard this, he was full of hope and whispered.
"It's a small matter. This can can make at least five or six yuan. I'll just keep two yuan and give you the rest!"
Shuifeng nodded grandly, patted his classmate on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't think that you are depriving your family of your expenses. Xu Er, you are the best in school. You will be a full-time professor in less than two years. You have my brother." Are you afraid that your future will not be bright if you appreciate promotion? When the time comes, a lot of your merits will go back to supporting your family."
"Yes, my mother-in-law often says that we, the villagers, have really fallen into a trap. With such a benevolent and righteous husband looking after us, it would be a sin not to work hard to make progress!"
After hearing this, the schoolboy nodded vigorously and said, "Poor people are precocious. He is already at an age where he has little understanding of the difficulties of human affairs. He still remembers that his family was in a miserable situation in the past two years and could hardly survive. After entering the village, his life has undergone earth-shaking changes. He is small-minded. The admiration and gratitude towards Master Lang are already overflowing.
Several crisp sounds came from the spring pool. The two teenagers turned around and saw that the automatic fishing pressure device they had previously arranged had been triggered, and a small fish as long as a finger was hanging on the fishing line. Struggling in the sun!
"It's caught, it's caught!"
When the two young men saw this, they clapped their hands and cheered. Some of them were even more excited and ran to the window of the small building, knocking on the window and shouting: "Brother, brother, you are amazing! I really caught it, it's so big A fish!"
Li Tai stuck his head out of the window and glanced at the small fish hanging on the fishing line by the spring. He curled his lips disdainfully and just knocked on the head a few times and said: "You caught it, so you lost the bet." Before tomorrow morning, I need to put the copy of "Emergency Chapter" on my desk!"
"Understand, understand, it's small things!"
After hearing this, several phoenixes laughed, turned and ran to the spring, picked off the small fish and threw it back into the pond, and then carefully restored the device to its original state.
When he heard his companion shouting "It's gone, it's gone", he hurriedly ran back and continued stirring vigorously, completely forgetting about the copying homework.
"This kid may have to be raised to death. Should he remind his dad to practice trumpet again?"
Seeing this boy enjoying himself doing things, Li Tai felt a little helpless. He was obviously a good boy who was calm and studious when he first came here. After living in his home for more than a month, he completely liberated his nature and was full of energy in everything he did. I just don’t like studying.
Thinking that he was not only raising Shuo Hui's good son, but also Yu Wentai's good son-in-law, Li Tai couldn't help but feel a bit of revenge in his heart.
After meeting Yuan Yuechao, Yu Wentai completely forgot about Li Tai and never summoned him again.
On the contrary, brothers Yu Wenhu, He Lanxiang, and Yuchi Jiong came to visit several times, and Li Tai finally accepted him.
Li Tai was also helpless about this and wanted to ask Yu Wentai, even if I don't become your little bitch, you don't have to force me to join your dragon-slaying team!
He sighed for a moment and then returned to the desk in the building to continue reviewing the examination papers of the students.
After the beginning of spring, his family affairs became more complicated, and the dozen or so tribesmen who initially followed him into Guanzhong to take charge of matters were gradually insufficient. Fortunately, the first batch of villagers trained in the academy have already become successful in their studies and are capable of basic calculations and note-taking, which will not affect the development of various undertakings.
Now his family's affairs are mainly divided into three parts.
The first is the internal affairs of the manor, including mulberry farming and various self-operated workshop operations.
Due to the expansion of the manor and the addition of workshops, a lot of the cultivated area of the manor has been occupied, with only a little over six hectares of cultivated land left. The annual income can only meet the internal consumption of the manor, and there is no profit.
Fortunately, there is still a manor of nearly thirty hectares in Longshouyuan. This spring, we have started to open up wasteland and cultivate it. Even if it is extensive farming, the area is still there, and we can supplement our food rations. Otherwise, we will have to purchase a large amount of grain from outside this autumn.
However, all kinds of handicrafts are booming. There are sauce shops that specialize in making sauces, forges that smelt and repair agricultural tools, spice shops that make daily chemical products, and ceramics with increasingly sophisticated skills. workshop.
Of course, the real pillar industries are oil mills and weaving mills. With the blessing of oil pressing and large spinning wheels, these two industries have developed rapidly and are a solid foundation for the further development of the manor's population industry.
The second part is the papermaking, printing, military ration production and other businesses operated in cooperation with He Basheng and Shuo Hui.
Due to Yuwentai's promotion of military ration production, a large number of official and private imitators emerged in the Kansai states in a short period of time. As a result, the orders that Hui had imagined did not appear, and only small operations were carried out in the manor. Large-scale production and storage have not been realized on a large scale.
Li Tai is not in a hurry about this. The industry is currently at the forefront of the limelight, and both people and pigs have to get involved. Instead of blindly chasing the trend and increasing involution and self-consumption, it is better to refine production links step by step and accumulate experience. Technical advantages.
On the other hand, the papermaking and printing industry is developing rapidly, and the North Huazhou of Huizhou is still in decline. Jingzhao Yin Cuifan overtakes Qizhou Zheng Daoyong, who has been the leader in performance evaluation for many years, by relying on the printed official document booklet. It can be said that it is the year It was a hot topic in the official circles of the Western Wei Dynasty two years ago and two years ago.
Therefore, from the beginning of the new year, after the officials of Western Weizhou County found out the source, they came to negotiate with each other one after another.
To be honest, this administrative office method of replacing handwriting with printing has quite an impact on current cognition.
Even if it is just a cumbersome and boring official document, rather than a real knowledge carrier, the change has greatly impacted and shaken the importance of the civil servants group in the ruling class. If this group gathers together to create public conflict and counterattack, it will also have a huge impact.
However, Li Tai's family background advantage was greatly reflected at this time. As a distinguished family of the northern gentry, the Longxi Li family's right to speak in culture and academics was not formed in one generation.
If others do these things, they may be scolded for valuing skills over learning, being deviant, and blaspheming the sages and righteousness through engraving and woodcuts. But if they use this to insult the Li family of Longxi, they will inevitably feel a little guilty.
Li Tai's non-doctrinal knowledge itself has the bonus of family reputation, and the rigid European calligraphy used has an artistic beauty that transcends the times. At least so far, there has been no noise criticizing him for treating him as a craftsman rather than a bachelor.
Therefore, starting from the New Year, related orders from various places have also surged rapidly. According to the current production scale, it is enough to produce from the beginning of the year to the end of autumn, and the expected profit is tens of thousands of pieces of silk!
Although the profits are considerable, the money is also exciting. Especially when dealing with the government, you must be cautious and careful.
Although He Basheng and Shui Hui are still there for the time being, Li Tai is also taking precautions. In addition to establishing a rigorous order rule with various government agencies, he is also considering attracting new partners.
A dragon-slaying team such as Yu Wenhu and his cousins are a more suitable alternative target.
But Yu Wenhu has a tolerant personality and is cautious at heart. Li Tai has to be cautious when dealing with people. Once money matters are involved, he must be even more cautious.
During the honeymoon period of cooperation, you can squeeze as much profit as possible, and then you have to consider making concessions and gradually fading out. So when it comes to incorporating Yu Wenhu into his career, Li Tai is also waiting for a suitable opportunity.
It is inevitable that the dove will occupy the magpie's nest, but Li Tai must also obtain sufficient returns, whether it is political or profit, before he is willing to leave.
The third part of the matter is to rebuild the Longshou Canal.
The hegemonic regime of the Western Wei Dynasty had insufficient authority. Even in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it only completed bottom-up military integration with the help of government soldiers. Therefore, this channel alliance is a business worthy of Li Tai's long-term and in-depth management.
He divided his affairs and set up directors for each, and he had already begun to have the prototype of arbitration to determine the situation of the country. The reason why the bank has been short of talents recently is that many bankers with management abilities have been assigned to handle specific matters.
Next, he planned to continue to expand the scale of correspondence education at Zhuangzhong Common Affairs School, further including the children of local tycoons, and then build the status and influence of the Foreign Affairs Study Sect.
While he was still planning the next step, a child suddenly cried outside the building: "Master, it's not good, it's not good! A group of evil people rushed into the village, and Bodhidharma was beaten by them. Beat him! He stopped the thief and asked me to come back and call for help..."