Chapter 24 Honeycomb Coal is Born

At the foot of the West Mountain, a large open space has been leveled, and six simple earthen kilns for drying have been built, and from a distance, it looks like six large earth-colored turtles lying neatly on the ground. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The newly built earthen kiln still exudes a faint smell of straw, mixed with the smell of clay that has not yet dried, and the breeze fills the air.

In the open space in front of the kiln, several large pits half a person deep and about one zhang in diameter were dug for stirring.

At this moment, the villagers were surrounded by a big pit with three layers inside and three layers outside, looking at the pit intently with a look of expectation on their faces.

Inside the big pit, three shirtless men, holding shovels in both hands, were quickly stirring the cinders and loess in the pit.

Yue Zhang stood on the edge of the pit with his sleeves rolled, his clothes were splashed with cinder stains, and his face was also touched by his black hands.

He didn't notice his honor at all, and intently commanded the three men in the pit: "Everyone, listen carefully, this pulverized coal and loess must be divided according to the proportion and then poured in, and then pour hay into it after it is evenly stirred." If there is too much cinder, the honeycomb coal that comes out is not formed and brittle. If there is too much loess, the honeycomb coal that comes out is not easy to ignite and is not resistant to burning......"

Zhang Laohan was behind him, looking at this focused young man, he couldn't help but blush, and remembered what happened this morning.

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Zhang Laohan guarded the official road early this morning and stopped Yue Zhang, who was dozing off on horseback.

Yue Zhang's horse was not fast, but when the stagecoach saw someone in front of him, he slowly lowered his steps, and Herod sneezed.

Yue Zhang was unexpectedly stopped by someone, and his drowsiness disappeared, and when he saw that it was Zhang Laohan, he breathed a sigh of relief, and stroked his little heart beating wildly: "Uncle Zhang is early, what are you doing here this morning?" “

Zhang Laohan thought about it for a night last night, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was very important to find a good errand for his Zhuangzi people in the coal mine. Thinking of this, I couldn't sleep after tossing and turning, and finally made up my mind to come to intercept Yue Zhang early and beg him to give them the work of mixing and firing.

With two big dark circles under his eyes, he smiled and grabbed the reins of the horse, helped Yue Zhang off the horse, moved his thick lips, and said, "What, Captain Yue is early, Captain Yue is hard." ”

Yue Zhang looked at the old man Zhang with a smile, knowing that he must have something to ask for, so he tied the horse to the small tree next to the road, turned around and said, "Uncle Zhang has something to say, do we still need to do this?" ”

Zhang Laohan looked at Yue Zhang, who had a kind face, rubbed his rough palms, and said with a smile: "The old man has nothing to do, he just wants to discuss with you." Can we leave the matter of mixing and firing the coal mine in the future to our Zhuangzi? ”

After speaking, he lowered his head and secretly looked at Yue Zhang, for fear that Yue Zhang would open his mouth and refuse. A pair of big hands rubbed together with the sound of salsa.

Yue Zhang's heart was full of flavors, and just after he took back his field, the villagers started their own little Jiujiu. Poor people must have something to hate, so many Zhuangzi are not one heart, no wonder they were oppressed so badly at the beginning. People are always greedy, and it seems that they have to open Zhang Laohan.

Yue Zhang stared at him for a long time, staring at the old man with a playful gaze.

After a long time, he looked away, didn't care about the dust on the ground, sat on the ground, didn't look at Zhang Laohan, and said to himself: "Uncle Zhang, do you know why you were bullied so miserably by Zheng Bin in the first place?" ”

Zhang Laohan was stunned, he thought that he knew Yue Zhang as early as others, because it should be nine out of ten to ask Yue Zhang for this matter. Suddenly hearing Yue Zhang talk about this, he was also confused, so he could only smile and say that he didn't know.

"I've also calculated in the past few days, there are seven Zhuangzi around us, and each Zhuangzi has more than 100 households, and there are nearly 3,000 people in terms of heads, right? At the beginning, when the emperor forced you to surrender, when there were two families, you were afraid of their methods. When there were two villages, you were lucky that you didn't get it.

You don't say anything, you don't resist, and when things really come to your head, you find that there is no one around you who can speak for you. Isn't it?

Now we have just received the emperor's grace, we have taken back our own land, and the coal mine has opened, and we can make money just by looking at it, but you have made this mistake again.

Today, I will hand over the urgent work to you Zhuangzi, and the other Zhuangzi will work hard. Tomorrow I will give you other benefits, as the days go by, what is the difference between me and Zheng Bin, what is the difference between you and those companions as the head of the bank?

Since I lead everyone to work together, I have to have a bowl of water to be level, and I have to let the big guys twist into a rope and get better together! Uncle Zhang, do you say this is the reason? ”

Zhang Laohan stayed in place, his face was red and white, and he was ashamed and just wanted to find a crack in the ground to get into.

I've been a dog all these years, and it's not as good as a doll! What people said is reasonable, these Zhuangzi formed a group at the beginning, and he didn't dare to commit this anger when he gave Zheng Bin ten dares! Such a simple truth, why haven't you figured it out for a long time?

Zhang Laohan sat on the ground dejectedly, let go of his throat and cried, half regretful, half ashamed.

Yue Zhang helped him up, patted the dust off his body, and said softly: "Uncle Zhang, let's just say these words, I will never pass them on." If you really want to be good in Zhuangzi, go back and tell other Zhuangzi to send children over the age of six to me, I don't have other skills, and I still know some arithmetic. These children have been studying with me for two years, and it must be more than enough to go out and work as an account office. ”

Zhang Laohan was so shocked that he forgot to cry, Mr. Bookkeeper? That's a livelihood where you can eat meat every month, compared with stirring coal and soil and burning coal, this is the road!

I didn't see the bookkeepers of the major businesses in the county, and even the owner had to take a few looks, not to mention the wine and meat sent during the New Year, and he had to go to the house to send a big red envelope in person.

If the descendants of Zhuangzi can do this business, why are you worried?

Yue Zhang untied the reins and pulled the grateful Zhang Laohan towards the West Mountain.

Zhang Laohan didn't know that in the future, these lucky children would be far better than Mr. Bookkeeper.

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Continuing from the book, Zhang Laohan retracted his thoughts, only to see that the pulverized coal and loess in the pit had been added with straw and stirred.

Yue Zhang personally took a shovel and poured the coal soil that had been stirred into the mold and put it into the kiln that had already been burned.

After two cups of tea, the mold was moved out of the earthen kiln.

The two men with thick linen wrapped in their hands pulled out the coal from the mold and put it in front of Yue Zhang.

At this time, all the eyes around him were focused on him, and everyone held their breath, for fear that this thing called "honeycomb coal" was not as magical as Captain Yue's mouth - after all, everyone would not be hungry this winter, but they could all point to it!

Yue Zhang's heart is also hanging in the air, theory is theory, and reality is practice.

It should be no problem, such a simple thing can't be done again, how can I still have the face to face my identity as a traverser?

Thinking of this, he was ruthless, picked up an iron hook, picked up a piece of honeycomb coal, and put it in the brazier on the side.

After baking, the honeycomb coal has long been dry and hard, the first time the three men made this thing, for fear that they would have a problem in which link, they stirred more often than the old ladies stir-frying, and in each piece of coal, the straw and coal soil were evenly mixed.

After only a few breaths, a man by the brazier threw the shovel to the ground with a thud, pointed at the brazier, stared wide-eyed, and shouted, "It's done!" ”

This voice startled Yue Zhang, he glanced at the man angrily, and then looked carefully inside the brazier, only to see that the side of the honeycomb coal next to the brazier was already red.

Pick up the lotus root-shaped coal with an iron hook, blow it with your mouth, and the coal will catch the wind, and the light orange flame will be lit on the ground.

He spun around in place, stared at the burning coal, crossed in front of everyone with excitement, and then yelled, "Folks! It's done! ”

Everyone cheered with a tsunami, Yue Zhang glanced at the man who was yelling just now with his eyes, and said in his heart; It's a little bit, you dare to steal my lines!