The next day, Ma Lao led a group of young men and more than a dozen old men to clean up around the village first. It was the height of summer, the vegetation was luxuriant, and the fire could not be put out, so everyone cut down the trees with an iron knife. This movement only startled the hares, pheasants, and voles in the grass to run out one after another, and the dozens of naughty children were excitedly holding sticks outside to beat the dizzy hares and pheasants, which was naturally another harvest.

Guo Bin left Zhao Yun to watch the house to prevent wild beasts from coming out and hurting people. He took the remaining three groups of young men and dozens of old men to the river at the bottom of the mountain, and he was ready to burn bricks. At this time, Guo Bin felt the limitation of the shortage of manpower even more deeply: there were a total of thirty young and strong, divided into six groups, and there would be no one in these four points. Fortunately, he used the proceeds from the sale of soap to buy a large amount of pork from Yangzhai City, but there is not much meat in Yangzhai City, and now he will maintain soap production, but he does not need to send people into the mountains every day.

A group of dozens of people came to the bottom of the mountain, and Guo Bin ordered people to dig caves on the hillside. More than a dozen men have been well fed and clothed for more than two months, they have to run in the morning, go hunting in the mountains during the day, and learn marksmanship when they come back at night.

At that moment, the three groups of people threw off their arms, picked up the iron pickaxe, and started working in full swing. Although the strength of dozens of old men is not as strong as that of the young people, the two months of life with meat and vegetables have also raised their fat. The young men took turns in three groups to pick up the pickaxes, and the old men carried their burdens behind them to load the earth and transport it out. Fortunately, the foot of the mountain is full of loess, and the project is progressing quite quickly.

Seeing that everyone was working hard, Guo Bin led more than a dozen old men to the place where the loess was poured by the river, and smashed the loess with a wooden hammer. As the hole was dug bigger and bigger, the young men who entered the hole and picked the pickaxe also became two groups, taking turns to dig. Guo Bin asked people to continue knocking on the loess, and he went to the place where the hole was dug to point out.

In this way, everyone was busy for a day, and a cave with a width of six meters and a depth of nearly ten meters was formed. Everyone didn't know what to say, but Guo Bin rubbed his hands excitedly. When everyone returned to the village, they saw that most of the vacant land outside the village had been cleared, and the cottage had really expanded a lot. The boys caught the hares and pheasants with soft hands, and under the scolding of the old people, the hares were put into the rabbit nest that was repaired before, and the pheasants cut off the long feathers on their wings and raised them in the cage. Ma Lao also commanded everyone to cut down a lot of bamboo and wood and pile them on the side of the village, which is to be dried in the shade, and it will have other uses in the future.

Guo Bin saw that everyone was tired today, so he ordered someone to bring up the wild vegetable stew that had been prepared, and each person added a bowl of wine, and everyone cheered. After eating and drinking, after practicing marksmanship for a while according to the habit, everyone scalded their feet with hot water and went to sleep peacefully.

Early the next morning, Guo Bin led people to continue digging the cave. Today, we continued to dig five meters on the side of the cave dug yesterday, and everyone dug for a day, but today it is more convenient. After only half a day of digging, the cave was completed. Seeing that it was still early, he ordered someone to set up a shed not far away, these sheds only had roofs, but no walls, so they were fast. When it was about to get dark, everyone returned to the cottage with their tools. Naturally, it was another wine and meat service.

On the third day, Guo Bin led everyone and brought the brick mold made by Ma Lao to the future brick factory. Today, there is no need to dig a hole, but to order Qingzhuang to go to the river to fetch water, mix the crushed loess evenly, and then put the mud into the brick mold to shoot it solid. Then dip a wooden board in water and smooth it out. Finally, the brick mold is taken out, and the rectangular bricks are formed. In order to save trouble, I am also afraid that the viscosity of the self-made cement is not enough, so the bricks are much larger than those of later generations.

When the bricks were formed, they were taken to the shed they had set up yesterday, laid out layer by layer, and then cut the grass and covered it, and dried it in the shade by the wind blowing from the river. This work does not require a lot of effort, but the test is patience, so there are many people who are not limited to young and old.

When it was getting late, Guo Bin and others surrounded the shed with a wooden fence to prevent wild beasts from making trouble and destroying the fruits of everyone's hard work for a day. The fence was quickly erected, and Guo Bin led everyone back to the cottage. When I walked to the gate of the village, I saw that Ma Lao and everyone had built a wooden house in the cottage, which was temporarily used as a public canteen, and after a while, Guo Bin could teach the naughty children there. It turns out that although most of the people in the village are old and weak, there are few who don't know how to do carpentry work. The school is all made of bamboo and wood, and the progress is quite fast, and it only takes two or three days to build the school roughly.

Looking at the school that was about to be completed, Guo Bin was also full of excitement, so he led everyone in to visit. I saw that the school was divided into five rooms, all of which were made of bamboo and wood. Even the doors and windows are made of bamboo, and the tenon is made of crosswood. Each house was connected by digging pits, covered with stone slabs, and plastered with mud. When it is cold in winter, it is stuffed with fire-starting materials such as dry firewood shavings, which is geothermal, not only warm, but also not a little soot. You can also put a large pot on the fire to cook vegetables, which is really a few in one fell swoop.

After seeing Guo Bin's praise again and again, Ma Lao said on the side: "Lord, just wait for tomorrow a few of our old guys to make dozens of tables and chairs made according to the requirements of the lord, level the ground in the house and cover it with wooden boards, and then lay out the straw mats, and the children can come in to study." Speaking of this, everyone clenched their fists excitedly: I didn't expect that we, the children of poor families, would be able to go to school one day, and these are all the kindness of the lord.

Guo Bin was happy to hear it, and today he is still serving wine and meat.

On the fourth day, only the two works were completed. Guo Bin ordered everyone to seal the entrances of the two caves with the method of plate building, and built a soil slope with thick soil outside, leaving only one person to enter and exit the passage and leaving a few ventilation holes above. This project was completed in only half a day. Guo Bin saw that it would take a few days for the bricks to dry, so he led everyone to the limestone in the back mountain.

When he arrived at the back mountain, Guo Bin ordered people to cut down trees and make a clearing. The timber was erected on the spot, surrounded by layers of wet wood and a layer of dead branches, to make a hill-shaped, and the outermost layer was covered with dead leaves. Then he ordered someone to smear a layer of wood with mud, leaving only one hole at the top, and dug a number of small holes in the ground below for ventilation.

When everything was done, Guo Bin lit the hay and threw it through the hole above. When he saw that the fire was gradually lit, he ordered a few young men to fan the wind from the small hole below, and when he saw that the wood inside was burning, he sealed the entrance of the cave above and the small hole below with mud in turn.

Everyone was puzzled, so Guo Bin explained: "When I come tomorrow, the fire inside will be smoldering all night, and the mud will be chiseled open, and there will be charcoal inside." Although everyone didn't know what to do with charcoal, they could only nod their heads. Seeing everyone like this, Guo Bin also felt helpless. Boundless loneliness came to his heart, and there was a big secret hidden in his heart, but no one told him, which was really aggrieved.

Guo Bin shook his head and ordered everyone to dig another cave next to him. The people who were glad that they didn't have to dig a hole today were full of sorrow in their hearts.

It was getting late, and the cave was almost dug. Guo Bin ordered someone to seal the entrance of the cave according to the appearance of a brick factory, and then led everyone back to Fulong Villa. When I returned to Dezhuangzhong, I saw that the school had been completely completed. The floor dragon in the house has been installed, the floor has been leveled, and the wooden planks have been laid, and the mats are spread on the wooden planks and you can move in. There are dozens of tables and chairs outside the house, all according to the appearance of the later generations, dozens of old people have just been made today, because they are made of new wood, and the school is filled with the smell of wood. There is no way to do it, there is no dry wood in the village, so it can only be simple because of the ugliness, but it should be enough to deal with it for a while.

Wine and meat are still indispensable at night, and during the banquet, Guo Bin asked Ma Laodao: "Ma Lao, is the bellows I told you before?" ”

Ma Lao hurriedly got up and said, "Back to the lord, there are a total of six bellows, all of which have been completed." It can be installed and used tomorrow. ”

When Guo Bin heard this, he said happily: "Okay, then you will take two bellows with us tomorrow and go to burn cement first." ”

Hearing this, Ma Lao said excitedly: "Lord, is the cement already ready to be fired?" It's really... It's really... Great. "Although he has a good heart, but his mouth is clumsy, he does not speak much in plain life, and now he is even more incoherent in ecstasy.

Guo Bin said: "That's right, tomorrow I will go to the back mountain, install the bellows, and start firing." ”

Tomorrow, Guo Bin and the others took the bellows to the back mountain, and along the way, they were only frightened by snakes, insects, rats and ants, and chickens and dogs jumped for a while.

When he arrived at the place, Guo Bin ordered Ma Lao to command the two bellows to be installed at the mouth of the cave, and asked the entourage to chisel limestone. Then, a dozen young men carried a burden and put the chiseled stones into the cave through the small hole. Guo Bin ordered everyone to open the stove where the charcoal was fired yesterday, and the fire inside had long been extinguished, and only the charcoal was still warm.

So he ordered the people to put charcoal in the cave and mix it with limestone, and occasionally mixed some dry firewood in the middle. In this way, the cave was filled, and only firewood and hay were placed in the middle. Because he was afraid of heat loss, Guo Bin also deliberately ordered someone to build a tunnel with stones, which led to the outside at a right angle, but the bellows were installed on the other side.

Seeing that the preparations were in place, Guo Bin ordered someone to throw a little sulfur that had been prepared on the firewood and grass to ignite the fire, and seal the hole entrance, leaving only a small hole. He threw in the fire and lit the sulfur inside, and with a bang, the fire ignited. Guo Bin hurriedly asked people to seal the mouth with mud, and when he came out to take a look, he saw that the two bellows had begun to operate under the command of Ma Lao.

Guo Bin ordered people to build a thatched hut next to it, and let people continue to dig limestone until the sun set, leaving two groups of young people to take turns pulling the bellows and taking everyone back to Fulong Mountain.

Taizu made bricks and stones, cement, and built a school to teach Zhuangzhong's youngest son, who was older than him, or a military general, or a staff officer, all of whom were loyal to Taizu.

--"Taizu Benji"