"Knock, knock, knock."

"Everyone has gathered at the entrance of the village, and the new master has something to say." The lieutenant chief knocked on the broken gong and shouted in the village.

At the head of the village, under the lush old locust tree, the villagers stood there uneasily. Changing the main family means that life may change in the future. I can't say if it's getting better or worse, which makes people worry. The thin black donkey tied to the old locust tree in the chief's house also hesitated and walked uneasily.

"From today on, everyone is a tenant farmer of my Li family, and the field tax will no longer be ten taxes and three from today onwards, but all will be changed to ten taxes and one tax." When Li Chen talked about the tax burden, the tenant farmers listened attentively. This is what people who fish in the soil are most concerned about.

"Everyone usually takes care of farming, and when the farm is not working, you can come to my Li family to work, and from tomorrow my Li family will start recruiting lumberjacks. 2 wen per day for the prime of life, 1 wen per day for the woman. All wages will be paid on the same day, and after everyone disperses, they will sign up at the mayor's side. Li Chen paused after speaking.

"What, there are 2 articles a day."

"That's for a family of five."

"This new master is really magnanimous."

The tenants under the old locust tree chatted with each other, and the black donkey snorted happily. After all, when a person is full, the chaff is all it.

"Be quiet, be quiet." Li Chen interrupted the chaotic tenant farmers and said.

"Today is a gratifying day, I have decided to give 20 catties of white flour to each person, from the 80-year-old to the 3-year-old child."

"Kowtow to the master's house." When the chief heard this, he hurriedly took the lead and knelt down, and then knelt down under the old locust tree.

"I don't want to do this here, you can take back the flour if you don't get up." Li Chen said.

"Thank you, my lord."

"The Lord is really the reincarnation of a heavenly bodhisattva."

The crowd resounded with the sound of praise for merit and virtue, and Li Chen saw several women in the crowd touching their tears.

The people of Daqin are too simple, if you give him some food, even if he is not full, he will not rebel if he can live. You feed him, and he will sell his life to you.

"Master's family, tomorrow all the prime people in our Zhuangzi will go, a total of one hundred and eighty-three people." After noon, Li Chen was lying in the courtyard and basking in the sun, and the chief held a booklet and said.

"Come on, won't you delay the work in the field?" Li Chen asked.

"There is nothing to do in the field this season, nothing more than hoeing and turning the fields, and these women do it too. They are all idle people, and they are also busy on weekdays. The lieutenant said.

"Big cow, take five taels of silver and give it to the lieutenant." Li Chen shouted into the room.

Da Niu was cleaning the house with the Hun slaves he bought, which was quite large but covered with dust. It is uninhabited on weekdays, and there used to be occasional people from the Zhao family who lived there once or twice.

"Captain, this is tomorrow's salary. If you have any surplus, you can buy some meat in the village, and work with me, not only for wages, but also for a meal at noon. Li Chen handed the money to the lieutenant chief and said.

After the lieutenant left, Li Chen basked in the sun on the rocking chair again, and Da Niu took people to tinker on the roof.

Most of the people of the Qin Dynasty lived in adobe houses, and the roofs were covered with mud with some straw, barely sheltering from the wind and rain.

Those who can live in wooden houses are considered to be middle-class, and even the lieutenants only live in slightly larger adobe houses. And Li Chen's house is the only wooden house in the village. It's just that this wooden house has been uninhabited for many years, and some of it is dilapidated.

"From today onwards, all nine of you will have the surname Li, and your names will be named after gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, rain, thunder and lightning." After a few people finished cleaning up, Li Chen said to the nine Hun slaves.

"Yes, master." The slaves hurriedly answered.

"From today onwards, you call me boss like Da Niu."

Being called the master by a few five big and three rough men, Li Chen also felt a chill. However, it would be much more interesting if the title of the master was called the moon princess.

"Boss, are we cutting so much wood to build a house?" Da Niu asked.

"Charcoal-burning, brick-making, real estate development." Li Chen said.

"Boss, I don't really understand what real estate does." Da Niu asked with a puzzled expression.

"Let's take people to work, go to the back mountain and build a few cellars where we burn charcoal, and try to build them as big as possible." Li Chen really didn't want to discuss the unfathomable topic of real estate with Da Niu, so he had to send him to work.

Big cow, people are like their name. Born tired of life, never shouting hard and tired, once idle, it becomes a hundred thousand whys.

The people of the Qin Dynasty mainly used wood to cook rice and keep warm. Some alchemists use charcoal in alchemy, but the yield is very small and is not taken seriously.

Charcoal has obvious advantages over wood. Smaller mass, longer burn time, higher temperature, and smokeless.

A large amount of charcoal can be used to burn bricks, make wine, and smelt iron. Of course, Li Chen still has a big killing weapon in his hand, papermaking. It's just that once the paper is born, it may cause earth-shattering waves. Princess Yue is not in Xianyang, Li Chen will not try to see if his small body can withstand this earth-shattering wave.

The construction method of charcoal-burning earthen kiln is very simple, that is, a narrow cave at the top and wide at the bottom, digging a flue at the bottom, leaving a ventilation port on the top, and sealing it when firing.

The sun gradually receded into the western mountains, and Li Chen was reading a book in the house. Da Niu came back with a few people, and his whole body was dirty.

"Boss, there are a total of 20 earthen kilns, all of which are four or five meters wide, close to the river, and it is convenient to use water when taking charcoal." Da Niu said.

Da Niu has been learning to strike iron since he was a child, and he has an inexplicable love for fire-related things. Take learning to burn charcoal as an example, he learned quickly and had his own opinions on charcoal burning.

"Da Niu, I plan to promote you to be the director of our charcoal factory here." Li Chen said.

"Director, what is it?" Da Niu asked.

"The factory director is not a thing, the factory director is you. The factory director is a position, after you become the factory director, you are responsible for all our charcoal burning work, and these people are also dispatched by you. Li Chen explained.

"That's a good feeling, I like to burn charcoal. Boss, don't worry, I will live up to your expectations and burn a lot of charcoal for you. Da Niu said sincerely.

"Okay, then from tomorrow onwards you will be the first director of our charcoal plant." Li Chen patted Da Niu's shoulder.

On the second day, before dawn, the big ox took a few slaves and went to build the earthen kiln in a hurry. Da Niu has just become an official, and he seems to have inexhaustible strength all over his body. This kind of life was literally heavenly life for a few slaves. Eating enough and sleeping warmly every day is nothing more than doing a few handfuls of hard work, and strength is the cheapest thing for them.