Coal mining went unexpectedly well.

Starting from the line drawn at the foot of Taoran Mountain, a distance of several miles to the west, there are still a large number of shallow coal mines.

This forced Tao Ran to speed up the construction of the shop while sending more people to mine.

Be sure to dig enough coal before the first snowfall, as waiting until the snow falls will definitely affect the progress and production of coal mining.

At the same time, a piece of news spread frantically in the streets and alleys of Chang'an City, teahouses and taverns.

The news that Chang'an Hou was about to sell a large amount of coal spread throughout Chang'an City in an instant like the wind.

There are those who rejoice, and there are those who beat their chests and feet.

Rejoicing because it is said that the coal of Chang'an Hou is sold very cheaply, and the people who beat their chests are of course the family shops that sell charcoal.

In the past, they firmly controlled the price of charcoal, because all the supply was in their hands, and occasionally a little bit of coal was not seen by them at all.

But now it is not possible, it is said that the coal of Chang'an Hou is enough to supply the people of Chang'an City for the whole winter.

This news is good news for the people, but it is bad news for them.

But with the experience of the Lu Mansion, these families have been quietly clamping their tails and behaving people recently, for fear of being implicated in the rebellion of the Lu Mansion.

It is easy to say that no one can protect the crime of rebellion, and no one dares to protect the crime. Unless Tou Tie dislikes himself for living for a long time, and casually brings the entire family into the abyss, such a "talent" is difficult to cultivate in the family, and a pit like Lu Yunfei is also a genius who has not been encountered in a thousand years.

But all in all, he just fell into the trap designed by Tao Ran, and now except for a few people, no one knows that the fall of the Lu Mansion was done by Tao Ran, the Marquis of Chang'an.

Recently, the governor of Lizhou, Wu Shiyan, received a letter from his friend Li Gang, in which he said that he is now teaching at Nanshan College, and Kong Yingda, the priest of the country, is also teaching at Nanshan College with him.

Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Changle tried their best to follow the Marquis of Chang'an to study in the academy, and then focused on describing the unique teaching philosophy of the academy and the achievements made in the past few months, not only free of board, lodging and tuition, but also His Majesty Li Er made it clear that the students who came out of Nanshan Academy in the future will definitely be the people who can enter the battlefield in the court, and they will be reused by the imperial court.

What attracted the most Ying Guogong warrior was Li Gang's last message, Nanshan College accepts students regardless of gender, as long as they have good academic performance and are smart and smart, they can be admitted to the examination.

After reading Li Gang's letter, Wu Shiyan was overjoyed, and after the death of his ex-wife Xiangli, he left two sons, Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, both of whom were married and married.

The current wife is still the daughter of Yang Da, a nobleman of the Sui Dynasty who was a warrior after Li Yuan ascended the throne, and even the marriage was arranged by Li Yuan to be hosted by Princess Guiyang, and all the marriage expenses were reimbursed by the treasury.

Yang and Wu Shi Yi gave birth to three daughters one after another, especially their daughter Wu Cao is the most intelligent and cute.

If Wu Cao is admitted to Nanshan Academy, with the care of his old friend Li Gang, the guidance of the great Confucian Kong Yingda, and the omnipotent Chang'an Hou, his second daughter will definitely progress very quickly.

"Huagu's father just received a letter from the crown prince and master Li Gang, saying that now Chang'an has opened a new Nanshan College, and even a generation of great Confucian Kong Yingda has gone to teach. His Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess went to study one after another, but the Crown Prince and Princess did take a young young marquis as their teacher. The young marquis is the Hou of Chang'an, surnamed Tao Mingran, and is a descendant of the famous Tao family. I don't know if Hua Gu has the intention of going to Chang'an to study. ”

Wu Shiyan looked at his second daughter Wu Cao, who had big eyes, and asked.

"Father, will Nanshan Academy really accept girls for admission?" Wu Cao asked with a little surprise.

"The words of the prince and the master, you can still be trusted by your father, you are talented and intelligent, and now it is difficult for your father to find a suitable master for you in Lizhou, and it is not impossible to go to Chang'an, but my father is worried that you are young and frail, and the long-distance journey will inevitably be bumpy and tiring. I don't know what Hua Gu can endure under this tiring? ”

The samurai said earnestly.

"Hua Gu is willing to obey her father's arrangement, is Chang'an really as prosperous and spectacular as my father said?" The young Wu Cao looked into his father's eyes and spoke.

"Chang'an is the largest and most prosperous place my father has ever seen, and my father only hopes that one day he can return to Chang'an and live there for the rest of his life."

The samurai said with emotion.

Of course, the young Wu Cao couldn't understand her father's feelings, but she was very eager to go to Chang'an to study, and the bits and pieces of Nanshan College in her father's mouth sprouted and grew deeply in Wu Cao's heart, so that it made her sleep.

Seeing that his daughter was determined, the warrior sent a housekeeper to escort Wu Cao all the way to Chang'an.

The first snow of the second year of Zhenguan came earlier than ever.

The howling north wind whined and flew over the academy, and the goose-feathered snow fell one after another.

The white snowflakes dressed up the entire Chang'an, the entire college, and Tao Ran's heart.

Looking at the clean and white snow, Tao Ran's heart was also clean.

After class, the students are building snowmen, rolling snowballs, and having snowball fights.

The scene in front of him made Tao Ran feel particularly warm and fulfilled.

It was they who brought these children together, and these people will definitely grow into the mainstay of Datang in the future, and it all depends on their own efforts as to what kind of achievements they achieve in the end.

"Teacher, is it nice to see the snowman piled by Changle?"

Princess Changle flashed her beautiful big eyes, her cheeks were red from cold, she ran to Tao Ran's side with a white breath, and said with a smile.

"It's good-looking, it's almost catching up with our Princess Changle."

Tao Ran responded with a smile.

"Thank you, teacher, for the compliment."

After speaking, Princess Changle ran to the snowman with a smile, happily drew two dimples on her cheeks, and said to herself.

"It's going to be more like that."

provoked Tao Ran, who was not far away, almost laughed.

Tao Ran has been in a beautiful mood lately, and the coal has sold very well as expected.

At the same time, those unscrupulous families who hoarded charcoal regretted their intestines, and at the same time, they had to sell charcoal at a reduced price, but even if they lowered the price, the people still didn't buy it.

Over the years, they have sucked blood so badly that they have made the people deeply disgusted.

Zhang Ming has now gained Tao Ran's trust, and the coal shop has now been taught to Zhang Ming to take care of it.

This is mainly due to the fact that there is no work on the farms in winter, and coal mining has come to an end for the time being, and consumption is now very limited.

The stove designed by Tao Ran was deeply loved by His Majesty Li Er and Empress Changsun.

Now the rooms of the two masters and the four great generals in the academy, as well as the room of Princess Changle, are all equipped.

In the next step, Tao Ran is going to equip himself and the crown prince Li Chengqian with a stove, mainly because the Tang Dynasty, which has no heating and no air conditioning, is too cold, and there is not even the most basic cotton jacket, let alone a down jacket.

"After this snowfall, I have to go to the Ministry of Engineering, and the night without a stove really makes it difficult for Tao Ran to sleep."

Tao Ran muttered silently in his heart.

I never thought that it would fall for three days and three nights, and according to the two masters, it was the only heavy snow they had ever seen in their lives.

The deepest part of the academy was waist-down, of course due to students pushing snow and the north wind blowing.

This is still the consequence of the fact that the academy collectively removes snow every day, which shows the power of this snow.

Before the snow stopped, Tao Ran asked the remaining auditors to keep clearing the snow on the steps at the entrance of the college.

If it is not cleaned up in time, it is very difficult to deal with once the steps are frozen, and it is easy to cause physical harm to teachers and students in the upper and lower colleges.

Once you slip on the stone steps, the consequences are unimaginable.

As the dean of Nanshan College, I have the responsibility and obligation to be responsible for the safety of the students of the entire college.

Every day, Tao Ran would brave the snow and walk back and forth on the stone steps several times to verify the safety factor of the stone steps.

I'm afraid the saddest thing these days is rhubarb.

It barks in the stable every day, and Tao Ran can no longer take it out for a run like before, except for bringing it some food on time every day.

However, the rhubarb in winter has indeed grown a lot of fat recently, and the hair has become shiny, so that Tao Ran can't help but scratch it every time he sees it, and whenever he sees it, Rhubarb will always enjoy closing his eyes and revulding in this short time.

Sometimes even Tao Ran thinks that this rhubarb may really be a divine horse, otherwise how could it be so spiritual?

The kitchen had run out of wood, and the snow had caused them to run out of wood they had stored.

Fortunately, there is coal to make up for the dilemma of having no wood to burn in time.

Otherwise, hundreds of children would have to be hungry and quack.

"Master Hou has no meat for lunch, and the chickens in the chicken coop have few eggs since winter."

Miss Wen'er came to Tao Ran's side and reported.

"Tell Ma Zhou and Liu Renliang to let them take a few auditors to kill pigs, and the roosters in the chicken coop will also be slaughtered, the more cold the day, the more likely the students are to be hungry, mainly because of the lack of calories in their bodies! Pork stewed with cabbage, rooster stewed with chicken soup, stewed a few more pots of chicken soup for students to drink a few more sips of hot food. ”

Tao Ran solemnly explained.

"Wen'er knows, Wen'er will definitely do what Master Hou tells him."

Miss Wen'er replied obediently.

Ma Zhou and Liu Renliang came to the pig house at the bottom of the mountain with Tao Ran's instructions, picked a few fat and strong fat pigs, and asked the auditors to tie them up.

The huge wooden basin was sprinkled with salt grains, which Ma Zhou was preparing to use to receive pigs' blood.

After tasting the stewed cabbage with pig's blood only once, Ma Zhou fell in love with something he had never eaten before.

Killing pigs is easy to kill, but pig hair is difficult to scrape.

It wasn't until a dozen people at lunchtime that the four pigs were cleaned up.

The pig's head and pig's trotters were to be reserved for the two masters and the four generals, as well as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess.

Only after tasting the taste of pig's trotters, the four generals and the two masters will run to the pigsty to have a look when they are fine, hoping that these piglets will grow up quickly, and it is better to make the pig's trotters fatter.

In the distance, a carriage came in the direction of Nanshan Academy with difficulty.

"Senior brother, you see it looks like a carriage."

Liu Renliang said to Ma Zhou, who was decomposing the pig's head meat.

Ma Zhou looked up, and it really looked like a carriage.

"With such a thick snow, how can you come to the academy? The man in the carriage may have come from afar. ”

Ma Zhou said suspiciously.

The carriage did not stop until it reached Ma Zhou and the others, and the wheels pressed a deep pair of marks on the snow.

"May I ask the young man, this is Nanshan Academy?"

The old man who drove the car clasped his fists and saluted, and said politely.

The beard on his face, his eyebrows, and his hair were frozen into ice mist by the heat coming out of his mouth, and he looked like a master.

"It's Nanshan Academy, I don't know why the old man came here in such a thick snow?"

Ma Zhou looked up at the old man and asked.

"Yes, Nanshan College is fine. Second Miss, we have finally arrived, and we have made Second Miss suffer along the way. The old man turned back to the carriage and spoke.

Then turned to Ma Zhou. "Young man, we came from Lizhou, and we came to join Li Gang and Li Taishi, here is a letter and ask Young Lang to forward it to Li Taishi."

After the old man finished speaking, he took out a letter from his sleeve.

After getting out of the carriage, it was handed to Ma Zhou.

"Oh, since it's Teacher Li's deceased, please go to the academy quickly, it's too cold here, and there is a carbon stove in the academy, but it's warm. Senior Brother Renliang, Senior Brother will lead the guests to the academy, and you will be sent to the kitchen here. ”

"Senior brother rest assured, senior brother promises to complete the task. Go ahead with confidence. ”

Liu Renliang replied.

"Second Miss, careful feet, snow slippery. We've never had such heavy snow in Lizhou. ”

The old man carefully helped a girl about Ma Fang's age out of the carriage.

"Uncle, Aunt Hua is fine, this snow is indeed very big, but it makes the whole world so pure and snow-white, Aunt Hua feels that even the air is a lot fresher."

The little girl was dressed in thick clothes, and after getting out of the car, she kept stomping her feet and spoke.

Ma Zhou's eyes lit up, and the girl in front of him was like an ice carving, which made people feel pity.

"Uncle, go up the mountain with me, I'm afraid that the little lady has been on the carriage for a long time, and her feet are frozen, so go up the mountain to warm up."

The old man nodded when he heard this, took the little girl's sleeve, and followed Ma Zhou up the mountain.

"The old man carefully took the stone steps under his feet, although they have just been cleaned, but it is inevitable that there will be ice, be careful of slippery feet."

Ma Zhou turned back to the old man and explained.

"Thank you for the kind reminder, there is Lao Boylang leading the way."

The old man replied with great gratitude.

"Brother Ma, didn't the teacher let you kill the pig? Why did you come up empty-handed? ”

Princess Changle, who had just come out of class to build a snowman, asked when she saw Ma Zhou's beautiful big eyes.