Although the three younger brothers of the eldest brother of the Li family were all in Yucheng or on the way to Yucheng, it was already early May when the three younger brothers got together again. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

There is a huge stone in the upper reaches of the river on the headland, and there are many traces of human activity nearby, and there are sometimes silly charcoal writing on the stone, or names or some words of admiration that have just been learned.

The youngest fourth brother of the Li family was muttering a sentence on the stone, and couldn't help but laugh with the two elder brothers: "There are five words in total, and two of them are written incorrectly, and I will definitely be beaten all day long when I am in the school." ”

As he spoke, he took out a pot of wine from behind him and handed it over: "This is the steamed wine we sent, and I have always wanted to drink it with my brother, but I didn't expect it to come together after coming here for more than a month." ”

The third brother took the wine gourd and said strangely: "Today is not a ten-day holiday, how can you have time?" ”

"The May break is early, and in two days we will go to the farm to harvest wheat. Those of us who serve are all going to go, except for the Yulin Guard and the Black Guard. It is said that our Lei Huowei is the best army in our Xia Kingdom like them, but we are still different from them. ”

"The Lang of the Black Guard will be Ji Bai, and the Lang of the Yulin Wei will be Shi Shan, those are the names we usually hear. Yangguan fought a battle to seize the grassland tribes, and Dongyi conquered to lure Mu Cheng, and the two guards were all veterans, each of whom could ride horses, and now there are stirrups, even if they rode poorly before, they are now riding fast. ”

"We're different, we don't even have a general, and we're not as good as the spearmen who were drafted to serve. Not to mention horseback riding, we don't even see a cow in our camp, most of them are young people like me. ”

While listening to his younger brother's complaints, Li San took out a dry and hard pickled fish from his arms, smashed it on the stone hard, picked up some small pieces and handed them to the second brother and the fourth brother.

"Brother, you guys were brought by Ji Xia personally, could it be that this is not enough for you to be happy?"

The fourth brother shook his head and said, "It's been more than a month, and I haven't seen Ji Xia a few times." We usually train either in a queue, or turn left and right, from two rows to four rows, or practice walking in a horizontal line to keep it level. I studied these things all day when I was in school. At that time, I learned to write and count words in the morning, and in the afternoon I was in the queue......"

"Last time, I met a guy who came to Yucheng with me, and he didn't enter the three guards, but those conscripted troops. When I asked, I found out that we practiced about the same as them...... He thought we were cavalry too. A few days ago we came to the camp with a batch of weapons, and you can't guess what they are...... A bunch of bamboo, a bunch of bamboos transported from downstream, not even a spear! ”

The second brother, who had not spoken, patted his younger brother on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Why have you learned to complain?" If they are all cavalry, our Xia Kingdom can't afford to raise it, now there are more than 300 cavalry, I have heard Ji Xia complain several times, do you think it is okay to raise horses and only eat grass? A horse can eat the beans of several people. Now that you have entered the Thunder Fire Guard, just do a good job, is it possible that Ji Xia is idle and really treats you as those spearmen? ”

The fourth brother laughed, picked up the gourd and took a sip of the spirits, biting the stiff, stinky and salty fish hard.

"I'm just complaining, but it's actually pretty good how I train in normal times, and I'll probably be selected as a captain in a few days. Alas, the second brother, the third brother plays iron and bronze every day, I know, you follow Ji Xia all day long, what do you learn? ”

The second brother pouted and said, "You don't understand." Do you think that we, the students, are just idle and follow Ji Xia around every day? It's not a mile, I have to write and count every day, and I can't leave some things Ji Xia explained, some things Ji Xia wrote a wooden tablet and threw it to us, and roughly told us about it and let us do it, do you really think it's that simple? ”

The fourth brother patted his head and said, "I remember, I saw you and Ji Xia by the lake a few days ago, and I heard that a new workshop is going to be built?" ”

"Yes, that's right, everyone knows it's going to be a workshop."

The second brother thought about it and was sure that Ji Xia did not forbid them to talk about these things. There are many rules in the Xia Kingdom, and many things have rules for confidentiality, but because there are many rules, what is not prohibited by the rules is permitted.

So he said mysteriously: "Ji Xia said that he wanted to build a paper workshop. ”

"Paper? What is paper? ”

Li Er shook his head and said, "I don't know, Ji Xia said that it is a bit like silk and linen, but it is more labor-saving than silk and linen." It can be used to write, and it can be used to paste the window so that the window only lets in light and not wind. ”

The two younger brothers suddenly said: "No wonder, no wonder those newly built houses all have such big windows, and they were originally sealed with paper?" If only that were the case! Think about it, how bright is the room during the day when such a large window can let in the light? ”

The second brother was so happy to see the two younger brothers, and his heart was also happy, and he said in his heart If it weren't for Ji Xia's forbiddenness to go out, if you knew that there was something that was particularly laborious and laborious that could seal the windows and be brighter, wouldn't you be frightened?

It's a pity that that thing is too expensive, and it can't be too big and very turbid, so it's okay to give it as a gift, but according to the Xia Kingdom system, I'm afraid it's impossible to sell it in China.

The fourth brother drank some wine, his face was a little red, and his expression was a little excited, and he couldn't help but ask again: "Second brother, how long does it take for this papermaking workshop to make paper?" ”

The second brother shook his head and said, "It's going to be a few days, it's quite troublesome." Your third brother knows that last winter he asked a group of people to collect wheat straw, wood, or messy things, which were actually used to make paper. ”

The third child did know about this, and when the people from Windy City came here, they selected more than 2,000 people to be led by Ji Xia alone, so they were assigned the task to go up the mountain to collect wild grape vines and fine willow trees, as well as messy wheat straw and the like.

"Second brother, do you still need to use wild grape vines for papermaking?"

"Not really, the wild vines...... Well, I can't say anything about that. ”

The two younger brothers hurriedly shut up and didn't ask, they also knew that Xia Guo's rules were strict, and once they said what they shouldn't say, the punishment would be serious.

The second brother probably didn't want to embarrass the atmosphere, and said: "But I can talk to you about papermaking, I may have to be responsible for the papermaking workshop for a long time in the future, who let me pass the assessment first, Ji Xia said to wait until those few have passed the assessment and then continue to teach us." ”

The two younger brothers hurriedly congratulated a few times, this was a big deal, and asked, "Second brother, are you going to be that kind of particularly high official?" ”

The second brother shook his head and said, "That's still early, and I don't really want to be it." I just want to learn these strange things from Ji Xia, and besides, I can't be it, how can it be so easy? ”

"Didn't Ji Xia say that even if it is an official such as the Three Provincial Orders, the County Guard, and the Six Ministries, as long as they do well, they can be assessed and promoted?"

"Oh, my two stupid brothers, how can it be so simple? You have to start as a small official, and you have to become a county guard and do a good job for a few years before you can enter the six departments, and finally become the three provincial orders and the like. Now Sister Yu Qian'er is only in charge of the household department, in fact, it is still the same things that used to be the goods, and now it is for you to do it, can you do it well? I take charcoal and count on the clay board all day long, and I often make mistakes in my calculations, not to mention that it is now 60,000 or 70,000 people. ”

"If you miscalculate on the pottery board, at most you will be beaten in the palm of your hand, or you will be scolded when Ji Xia is angry. But if you really become an official, you will die if you miscalculate. ”

"Moreover, when we were selected by Ji Xia, he told us that it was impossible for us to become officials after we finished our studies, and if we wanted to be officials, we could do that at that time. We are all going to be gentlemen in the future, teaching those who later enter Taixue, but we will pay a lot of money every year, and we can also wear things that others can't wear. It's a lot anyway, but I don't really care. ”

When he didn't care too much, he half-closed his eyes, recalling the thunderbolt-like fire he had seen in a small room two years ago, as well as the strange hydraulic hammers and the rivet crank structures made of simple wood chips displayed in the Simple Taixue School...... These are the things he wants to know, so he doesn't just talk about them.

It's just that now he has learned too little, and Ji Xia doesn't tell them those things, but just lets them do arithmetic day after day. He was a little resentful of the people he had studied with, and if they had passed the exam, they would have been able to learn more difficult things now.

It took him a long time to reflect on his memories and said with a smile: "After those papermaking workshops are built, I won't care, let me care about me." We don't need to know so much about this thing, just do it, that is, the new workshop will use us to stare at. ”

The fourth brother nodded and said, "That's the same, just like us, it says that we can train how we want." Where to go and who to fight, even if I become a captain, I don't know, I want to know that I am only afraid to be a general, but there are a few who can be like Baima and Ji Bai. Could it be that we will be like this in the future wars of Lei Huowei? There is no need to seize the opportunity and impact at any time like Yu Linwei...... Just walk slowly and turn left just like training? ”

The second brother laughed and said, "Then I don't know, but the stupidest way is sometimes the most useful." It's like when Ji Xia took me to build a paper workshop, I thought I would have to learn like going to school, but I didn't know that it wasn't at all. ”

"It's like soaking wood and wheat straw in water until it's rotten, and then boiling it in lime. I asked Ji Xia why? Ji Xia roughly told me about it, and then told me that those workshop workers don't need to know why, they just need to know how much lime to use for two months, how much lime to use for 100 catties, boil for a few days, and pound a few times in a stone mortar. ”

"Just like you go to war, write the rules and do it. Some people wonder why nature asks, and nature who doesn't want to know doesn't ask. But if you want to improve your rank, and if you want to come up with an easier way, you have to ask. ”

"This is also what I want to tell the two of you, ask more why, only by asking more why, can you know how to do better."