Xiaohu stayed in the mountain for nearly a month, and made more detailed drawings of the routes that the people of Western Xinjiang might take and the places where they would stay and rest, and then took the people down the mountain.

When I came to Leader Zhao's house again, only the two boys I left behind were there, "How is it?" During this time you are here, someone came over to rob Brother Zhao's things? ”

"Yes! When we were cooking, maybe someone smelled the fragrance, and someone really came over. But when they saw us standing in the doorway with axes, they didn't dare to break in. They were just clamoring outside for Uncle Zhao to send rice and meat out for them to eat, but Uncle Zhao didn't listen to them. The old lady of the Zhao family brought a bowl of rabbit meat out and gave a piece to the children who joined in the fun, and then every time it was time to eat meat, some children would come around and get a piece of it, and those characters who looked fierce and evil did not come again. ”

The other added: "It was the official you sent something to him who came over, otherwise those people wouldn't have stopped so easily!" ”

Hearing that they didn't do anything, Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief. He kept people on it, but he didn't want them to do it. Once you start to do it, it will inevitably involve Xiaolong as an official in the state capital. He came to visit Leader Zhao because he felt a little sorry, but if they knew that his younger brother was an official here, and because of this, he had any thoughts of being a fox and a fake tiger, and it would be a great harm to his younger brother.

Xiaohu looked at the house and seemed to have nothing in the house, and it was estimated that it should have been all eaten, thinking so in his heart. He still asked one more sentence: "Have you eaten all the things we brought here?" ”

"Yes! The old man of the Zhao family was reluctant to eat so quickly, but Uncle Zhao said that he couldn't keep it anyway, so it was better to eat it in his stomach. And they have to give it to the children who come over. I ate all the meat and rice a few days ago. In the past two days, I have eaten bud rice dregs porridge and bud rice nests. ”

"Oh! Then we can leave after meeting Brother Zhao! ”

In fact, the two boys would rather follow the owner to the mountains to eat and sleep, fight wolves and tigers, rather than stay here idlely. When I heard that I could leave today, I jumped up happily and took advantage of the situation to come two more somersaults. A few wandering idlers saw it from afar, secretly guessing what these people were doing? None of them are simple.

Finally waited for Leader Zhao to come back, Xiaohu couldn't wait to say goodbye to him and leave, Leader Zhao also wanted to introduce his father, eldest brother, and second brother to him! I was just a little brother I met on the road, and I not only gave myself cotton clothes and silver tickets. Now he still comes all the way to visit him, sending rice and meat, so that he can earn enough face in front of his father and two brothers. In the past, they were all friends of the eldest brother and the second brother. Let Dad feel very face-saving, only his friends are dog friends and fox friends, which makes Dad very disdainful. At this time, my father and two brothers looked up to me, and even their two sons admired me even more. Originally, I wanted my father and two brothers to see the majestic appearance of our little brother. Ay! Since the elder brother is in a hurry to leave, he can only let him go. Helplessly watched Brother Wang leave. Leader Zhao was lost and sad. I just felt that my nose was sore and I wanted to cry again.

When Xiaohu returned home, he realized that his daughter-in-law was in a hurry, and her lips were full of a layer of "pot" slices on fire.

"What's going on? Makes yourself like this? ”

Er Ya finally waited for Xiaohu to come back, and most of the anxious and angry depression in her heart dissipated, and there was still a small half, but it couldn't be eliminated.

She pulled Xiaohu to the inner room, and then whispered: "The day before yesterday, Dahong sent an urgent letter over there, saying that the emperor specially announced him to the palace. I made a special trip to ask about the cement produced by our family. He told us to do what we wanted, and maybe we should be ready to offer the cement-making method. Now the question is. This cement process is not ours at all, first of all, we have no right to dispose of this matter, and secondly, if Zhang Dajing presents the production method of cement, it doesn't matter, the problem is that the emperor still does not let us continue to produce cement in these two cement factories? ”

Xiaohu was also anxious when he heard this, "Then what should I do?" We went to the cement factory in the north to talk to Zhang Dajing about it, discussed a charter, and then we went to the capital together. ”

"Zhang Dajing, when it snowed, they all went back to their hometown for the New Year, otherwise I wouldn't have to wait for you to come back, it would have already passed. I wondered if I could persuade Zhang Dajing to give the cement production method to the emperor for free, just ask the emperor to allow us to continue to produce cement. Since the emperor has already moved his mind, it is impossible for us to keep it if we don't give it. I'm afraid that Zhang Dajing will have a big heart and put aside us and only seek his own interests. ”

Xiaohu nodded sullenly: "This is not impossible. Therefore, before discussing with him, we must first explain the inside story of this cement to the emperor, and first state our request, if the emperor agrees, we will not be afraid of any thoughts of Zhang Dajing. Without him, we still have two masters, Zhou Lixin and Cui Minzhi, who have long been able to make cement independently! ”

"Okay! Then let's go to the capital first and meet the emperor. ”

The reason why the cement incident caught Erya off guard was mainly because she had always been very conservative in this area and had never publicized it to the public. The cement factory in my hometown is mainly for the construction of my own house and the renovation of the reeds, and the rest are all subscribed by relatives and friends such as the Wang family, the Liu family, the married girl's family, the Chen shopkeeper, the Zhao shopkeeper, etc., and have never been sold to the outside world. The cement factory built in Beidi is mainly used for the construction of buildings by Dahong and Xiangzi and the use of the Beidi Pass Fortress, and the surplus is also used by the Wang and Wu families and the Wang family's hired workers in the Beidi to build houses, and they have never been sold to the outside world.

Her idea is very simple, things that can make money will always be eye-catching, things like this that are only used by her own family and relatives, and have never brought any monetary benefits, even if someone knows about it, they will not think of reaching for it.

Unfortunately, there are exceptions! There was nothing wrong with what she did, her family's glass made a lot of money, but it was because of the previous turmoil and the royal glass workshop that prevented them from disaster. Those who want to get a piece of the pie are trying to find ways to share the gold nuggets of the Royal Glass Factory that can be seen and reached in front of them. And this cement is not without seeing its great usefulness and prospects, just because Erya's practice has covered up its potential to make a lot of money, so that this cement has lived in peace for so many years. Erya also thinks that when cement slowly penetrates into people's lives and becomes an indispensable item for building houses and roads, even if someone competes for the market, it is only a corner. But now this exception has shattered Erya's dream, and others may use the measure of money to choose to reach out or not to reach out. But the emperor won't, what he wants is measured by the importance of the people's livelihood.

As mentioned earlier, since the incident of the car dealership caused a major earthquake in the officialdom, he was angry, so he sent someone to conduct a secret investigation of the Wang family. When the spy told him that the Wang family had privately paid for the construction of a fortress on the pass of the second line of defense in the Northland, he was rarely surprised. Because this is a matter that is beneficial to the imperial court, he ordered to go down: let the royal family do it, and do not alarm the royal family. Now the fortress has finally been completed, firstly, it was built faster than the official government, secondly, it is much stronger than the border wall, and thirdly, the cost is not as large as his budget. Because he wanted to know how the Wang family did so much different from his budget, he paid attention to the fact that the Wang family burned their own cement.

This attention can be found in the big mystery, after the sand and cement re-condensed, it turned out to be so hard, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is not inferior to ordinary stones. Others thought about how much money they could make if they sold it, and what he thought was: how good would it be if the embankment that collapsed every year was repaired with this cement, sand and stone? If there is a war, how good would it be to use this to build an emergency fortress? How good is it for Jingcheng Avenue and official roads to be paved with this? You can't think too much about everything, and the more you think about it, the more you deviate from its true nature. Although this cement did not deviate from its original appearance as the emperor thought, it was valued too much by him like a treasure. This invisibly caused a certain difficulty for Erya to negotiate the conditions.

However, fortunately, the Ming Dynasty was still in the early stage of the founding of the dynasty, and the emperor's temperament had not yet been accustomed to being mediocre and domineering, and he was insatiable. His original intention was to completely take over the cement factory under the ownership of the imperial court, so as to monopolize the dominance of cement and not give other countries the opportunity to use or manufacture it.

But Xiaohu explained that the master of their cement factory and the Wang family are only in a cooperative relationship, not a subordinate relationship. As for the choice of the cement master, the Wang family did not interfere in any way, and the Wang family did not seek any benefits in cement, but only asked the royal family to allow them to continue to produce cement for civilian use. To put it bluntly, it is possible to do cement business in a fair and bright manner, and the imperial court not only cannot restrict it, but must protect it.

Feng Batian did not give an answer that day, and the Wang family waited anxiously. Dahong and Xiangzi, two cowards, actually said that it was better to give it directly to the emperor, why did they still make that request? If you annoy the emperor, I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable.

The second girl was so annoyed that she simply didn't listen to their worst guesses of one way or another. She put forward a condition just to express a wish, whether the emperor agrees or not, they will all give up the cement manufacturing method, and the emperor himself knows such a result. Therefore, there is no need for him to take the advantage of standing on the initiative in the first place, and he has to make the name of a mediocre monarch who unreasonably occupies the property of the people.

The emperor finally answered the royal family's request directly in the form of a holy decree after the year. The royal family was allowed to manufacture cement and sell cement to the private sector. There are only two restrictions, one is to maintain the current scale and not to expand; second, no more than four cement plants;

Xiaohu and they received the holy decree and waited for Zhang Dajing to come to the Beidi Cement Factory, and then took him to the capital to meet the emperor and dedicated the cement production method to the emperor.

After the cement incident was finally implemented, Erya went to Kong's house with peace of mind and began to get busy with Xiaolong's family affairs. (To be continued.) )