In June of the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban Uprising that swept both sides of the Yellow River was defeated one after another under the successive blows of the officers and soldiers of the Han Dynasty, and the Qinghai, Hebei, Yan, Henan and other prefectures were devastated by the war, and nearly one-third of the country's cultivated land was barren, and the drought that had been two consecutive years was even worse, and there was a large-scale famine and plague in the Han Dynasty.

These news were constantly brought back by the Wangjiazhai caravan that had just been established for two months, and Liu Cun, who had moved into a new house on the riverside outside the village and lived with the Lin family's little lady, was very concerned about these news.

As early as a month ago, Liu Cun, who was worried about the war, asked the caravan to exchange all the 120 gold earned from selling pottery for all kinds of wheat beans, and store them in the newly purchased manor at the foot of Huangdao Mountain in the northeast house of Xiahe City, in case of future emergencies.

After the five large pottery kilns were built, Liu Cun's days gradually became idle, he got up before dawn to practice boxing for an hour, walked across the small bridge after breakfast, entered the pottery workshop to guide the twenty male and female potters in the village, came back at noon and could eat the delicious meals made by the Lin family's little lady, guided Liu Zhen and Wang Qi's two sons to learn and draw sketches in the afternoon, lit a few hand-fired black pottery oil lamps in the evening, and learned the Analects, the Book of Poetry and practiced calligraphy under the teaching of the Lin family's little mother. The interest came, and I hugged the little lady of the Lin family, who was getting fairer and softer, and had the joy of the boudoir.

The little lady of the Lin family resumed her surname, this gentle woman from Laiwu's bankrupt and poor family was named Sun Wan, and now all the villagers affectionately call her Wanniang.

Half a month ago, Liu Zhen, who was becoming more and more intelligent and studious, recognized Liu Cun as his father under the auspices of the village elders, and now he, like his four-year-old sister Liu Xin, called Liu Cun, who was twenty-five years old, his father, and called nineteen-year-old Sun Wan his mother, four people from three different places, formed a harmonious and happy family under the arrangement of fate.

Liu Cun gradually became familiar with his environment, but until now, he had not come up with the plan to build a salt pan to dry salt, nor had he mentioned it to anyone, and the barren mountains around the waterfall in the south of the village were not cultivated due to lack of manpower.

It is the best-selling Langya country and the whole Xuzhou "Zhushan black pottery" completely started the reputation, the shape of the exquisite carving of various patterns of the pottery bowl pottery pot not only does not leak, and the color is like a jade sound such as chime, so that the literati and the rich and noble people flock to it, the small river in front of Wangjiazhai in the upper reaches of the size of the five pottery kilns in turn to fire the way, every month to the outside world to sell thousands of exquisite pottery bowls, pottery pots, pottery jars and pottery pots, caused a huge sensation in the whole Langya country and Xuzhou all over the country, the number of caravans has also increased from the initial six people to twenty people, A huge amount of wealth and various materials quickly flowed into the small Wangjiazhai surrounded by mountains and seas.

Today's Wangjiazhai ploughing cattle and pack horses have increased rapidly, the fertile fields have increased fivefold under the cultivation of Liu Cun's improved farm tools, each family has begun to stock up new red bricks to prepare for rebuilding houses, all the singles have bought back beautiful and capable wives and concubines, Lu Ping and Lu An brothers each have two young mothers-in-law, the population of the whole village has tripled in three months, and the total number of men, women and children has reached 159, and it seems that there are signs of continued growth.

On the evening of June 15, the 50 young and strong domestic slaves purchased by Liu Cun returned to the village with the caravan, and the Lu brothers settled the domestic slaves and presented them to Liu Cun with a large pile of contracts stamped by the Xiahecheng County Ya.

Liu Cun sat cross-legged on the low couch made of logs very unruly, motioned for the respectful Lu family brothers to sit down as well, glanced at the contract and asked in a low voice: "What is the discussion outside about buying these house slaves?" ”

Lu Ping hurriedly replied: "The small one was purchased in five installments in the name of the newly purchased Zhuangzi in the north of Xiahe City, and I didn't hear any gossip. In addition, after the small one gave a set of carved fine pottery wine utensils to the county magistrate, he obtained the permission to open an ironware workshop, and the five old craftsmen and thirty-two craftsmen recruited from Xuzhou have taken their families to live in Zhuangzi, and the twelve masons who bought them before began to build the furnace, and it is estimated that they will be able to test the fire in another month, but it is ......"

"Say, what can't you say?" Liu Cun smiled kindly.

Lu Ping said apologetically: "Although four medical craftsmen were invited, four of the sixty-five and a half children who had been taken in in the past two months still died of illness, and the teachers in Xiahe City were all proud of their identities and did not want to teach the children in our Zhuangzi, so I also asked the Lord to give me an idea." ”

Liu Cun thought for a moment: "Let's stay in the Zhuangzi for the time being, take care of your body, and wait for the wasteland in the south to be reclaimed and built a house, and then take the children and the best blacksmiths together." By the way, among the teenagers who came today, are there any seedlings who practice martial arts? ”

"There are three, it is the county lieutenant Dong Lord helped, spent 30,000 yuan to redeem the homeless children from the prison of Kaiyang Zhishuo, the oldest is sixteen years old, the youngest is fourteen years old, all of them are innocent, the caravan Master Qin has tried it, and said that it is a rare good seedling, if there is a famous teacher who has been trained for a few years, it is estimated that he can break out of some fame."

Lu Ping had a smile on his face, he didn't understand why Liu Cun had many harsh requirements for buying house slaves, since he followed Liu Cun's instructions and invited the old boxer Qin Zhi and his dozen apprentices from Xiapi City, the caravan benefited a lot from the merchants who came and went, and he slowly understood Liu Cun's foresight.

Liu Cun was very satisfied with Lu Ping's performance, turned to Lu An and asked kindly, "Are all the tools for clearing the wasteland ready?" ”

"Ready."

Lu An hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Lord, the village elders and the people in the village don't seem to want us to move to the west under the waterfall to live and buy real estate. ”

Liu Cun nodded slightly: "It's okay, after moving over, I'll walk a few more miles, there's nothing I can't think about, I'll go and talk to Uncle Wang and Brother Wang, and the others don't have to pay attention." In addition, don't be in a hurry to open up the wasteland tomorrow, let the guys who have just arrived eat and drink and rest for two days, and then dry it after three days, do what I say, after burning the wasteland, first cut down the trees at the foot of the mountain and on the flat ground, remember to leave the trees within five zhang on both sides of the two small rivers, and the big trees that cannot be held by one person must not be cut. ”

"Remember, did the three young men who know martial arts call the lord to take a look?" Lu An asked.

Liu Cun waved his hand: "Don't worry, let them go to the wasteland first, you quietly stare at it, see how their character is, in addition to those three, you should also pay attention to the others, the brain is easy to use and hard work to write down, the future affairs will become more and more troublesome, you should also pick a few eye-catching people, take them around and cultivate them slowly, so as to share some chores for you." ”

The brothers of the Lu family nodded hurriedly, and when they saw that Liu Cun had no instructions, they immediately said goodbye and left.

Three days later, at the foot of Dazhu Mountain, which is located eight miles south of Wangjiazhai, a vigorous reclamation began, and because of the proper preparation, hundreds of bales of hay were thrown and a fire line was opened, and the fire ignited from both sides of the wind spread rapidly by the wind.

Dozens of young men and teenagers stood on the raised hill by the river, looking at the many poisonous snakes and wild animals that had escaped from the flames, and many people shouted in cold sweat and shouted luck, saying that the owner was thoughtful, otherwise I don't know who would die in the wasteland.

Liu Cun did not go to the land of reclamation to check, but stood on the hill outside his house and looked out, the huge flames and rising smoke also let the people of all ages in the village eight miles away see it.

Wang Qi soon came to Liu Cun's side, looked at the smoky south and smiled: "Brother Xian is thoughtful, this fire will not only dispel the poison, but also fertilize the fields." ”

Liu Cun turned to Wang Qi: "Big brother, how did you discuss the construction of the protective wall of the house?" ”

Wang Qi sighed: "It hasn't been agreed yet, when there was no money before, every household responded to every call, made a strong contribution, and had food to produce food, but now that there is money, it has become stingy and lazy." ”

Liu Cun shook his head: "That's it, don't want the little brother of the next three months' dividends, take it out to repair the wall, now our Zhushan black pottery is famous, it is difficult to ensure that no one secretly makes up his mind, repair the wall one day earlier, and wait for the little brother to clean up, and then build a big kiln, there is a lot of limestone and clay there, there is a gypsum mine in the northwest of the mountain behind, you can burn more cement powder, and strive to let the villagers build the wall after the autumn." ”

"No! You have distributed enough benefits to the villagers, you only take three parts of the five kilns in the village, and the caravan was also built by you, bringing a lot of money to each family every month, making me and a group of elders feel indebted, how can I ask you to pay again? Besides, you are also cultivating wasteland over there, and you have to build a brick kiln, burn bricks, cultivate land, and build a house without spending money? Brother, how can I have the face to ask for your dividends again? This is the end of the matter, and I am not allowed to say any more. ”

Wang Qi, who has made a fortune, is still very righteous, almost everything to his righteous brother Liu Cun, a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old child has been learning from Liu Cun's side, now only more than two months, the child has understood many truths, more and more intelligent, the early family tragedy, lost their parents and lived here Wang Qi and his wife, Liu Cun is extremely grateful, and completely treats Liu Cun as his own relatives.

While the two were talking, they suddenly saw the young guard of the caravan coming on horseback, and the two looked at each other and walked down the hill at the same time.

The young guard handed the letter to Liu Cun: "Lord, the second master asked the little one to bring the words, Mr. Mi Zhu, the head of the Mi family in Xuzhou, has arrived in Xiahe City, and he wants to see the lord if he says anything." The second master said that if the lord had any orders, he would let the little one bring the letter back immediately. ”

Liu Cun frowned after reading the letter: "What has been the news in Xiahe City recently?" ”

The guard replied respectfully: "It is rumored in the city that the new county commander was ordered by the monarch to meet the master who burned the black pottery of Zhushan...... Also, there is another thing, after the lord refused the exclusive underwriting of the head of the Xu family, the Xu family sent people to the second master several times to coerce and lure, and the second master refused every time, the second master did not let the little one tell the master, but the little one was a little worried, after all, the Xu family has been in Langya for more than 100 years, and there are still people who are officials in the court, if it is ......"

Liu Cun shook his head helplessly: "I understand, you eat first, go back after eating, tell your second master, I will rush to Xiahe City in five days, and ask him to clean the newly bought courtyard in the city, spend money when it should be spent, how comfortable and how to decorate, don't be reluctant." ”

Escort Shi Li left, Liu Cun said a few words to Wang Qi, who was quite worried, turned around and returned to his house, and before he could sit down on the stone platform under the ginkgo tree, Wang Qi arrived again.

Seeing Liu Cun holding a delicate clay pot to pour tea for himself, Wang Qi took a deep breath and asked solemnly, "Brother, do you know martial arts?" ”

Liu Cun was stunned for a moment, so he had to answer truthfully: "I know a little, but I have never practiced kung fu immediately." ”

Wang Qi, who is seven feet three inches tall, took three steps back, scooped up the hem of his short suit and stuffed it into his belt: "Come, try it with me." ”

Liu Cun was embarrassed, in order to integrate into this society as soon as possible, he squeezed out a lot of time every day to learn to practice calligraphy, memorize scriptures, and come to this backyard every day before dawn to practice martial arts, but in addition to his family and the Lu family brothers, others did not know that Liu Cun had an amazing martial arts, in the eyes of outsiders, Liu Cun in addition to being tall and strong, there seemed to be no difference in other aspects, I don't know how Wang Qi saw that he was equipped with martial arts.

Wang Qi saw that Liu Cun was stunned and didn't move, and urged impatiently, Liu Cun looked around and saw that there was no one, so he simply lifted the hem of his robe and walked in front of Wang Qi, and slightly sideways in a posture of defending as an attack.

Seeing this, Wang Qi was no longer polite, slowly clenched his fists and roared "Be careful", and quickly took a step and hit Liu Cun's throat with his right fist, Liu Cun's figure turned suddenly, his left arm was in the same direction, his right foot took a strange diagonal half a step, and his right hand slammed Wang Qi's armpit from bottom to top, ignoring Wang Qi's fast kicking of his left foot.

Wang Qi was taken aback, it was too late to close the momentum, so he simply moved sideways, avoiding Liu Cun's ruthless blow, and reached Liu Cun's shoulders and waist with both hands, and his thick and powerful shoulders took advantage of the situation to crash into Liu Cun's chest.

Who knew that Liu Cun's feet moved sideways again, easily avoiding Wang Qi's impact, and suddenly stuck to his hands one by one, and threw Wang Qi's whole person out of a zhang away.

Wang Qi, who was thrown into the dark, couldn't see Liu Cun's shot clearly at all, and was shocked by Liu Cun's strange fist with his strength, and got up in embarrassment and looked at Liu Cun blankly.

Liu Cun hurriedly stepped forward to pat off the dust on Wang Qi's body, and kept apologizing in his mouth: "I'm sorry big brother, the younger brother is not good at learning arts, and he can't hold back for a while, please ask the eldest brother Haihan!" ”

Wang Qi took a sharp breath: "Brother, who did you learn your martial arts from?" ”

Liu Cun was embarrassed, his skills were Xingyi, but his fist was the product of several generations of hard work in the army, all of which were fierce and direct to defeat the enemy, and for a while he really didn't know how to explain to his sincere and upright eldest brother, seeing that the eldest brother's face gradually showed a look of displeasure, he had to explain briefly:

"When the younger brother was young, thanks to a different person to teach the heart ** boxing method, the boxing road is very simple, just a few moves, but the heart is quite complicated, although it is only a three-body pile and a round pile, it is not easy to learn, everything can only be understood by the practitioner himself, as for the method used by the enemy, pay attention to simple and fast one blow to defeat the enemy, how to say it for a while, if the eldest brother is interested, the younger brother will slowly demonstrate to the eldest brother one day."

Wang Qi believed Liu Cun's explanation: "Your punch is so powerful, I didn't even see your body and moves, I was stunned by you, I knew that your martial arts skills were so strong, I should have asked you for advice, alas!" ”

"How did the eldest brother know that the younger brother knew martial arts?" Liu Cun asked curiously.

Wang Qi wiped off the sweat beads on his head, walked to the stone table and sat down, picked up the teacup and drank it in one sip, and then said truthfully: "On the day when the kiln was built at the beginning of last month, I accidentally saw you walking easily with a basket of mud in one hand, each basket is not less than one hundred and fifty pounds, and there seems to be no weight in your hands, others may think that you are tall and powerful, but I know that it is not simple, and then I heard my son say that his senior brother Liu Zhen ran to this ginkgo tree and stood with you every morning before dawn, and one stop is more than half an hour, I understand what is going on, It's just that I didn't expect your martial arts skills to be so high, so I heard you say that you were going to Xiahe City just now, so I came over to test it when I was worried, if you can't do it, I will follow you to Xiahe City, and now it seems that there is no need. ”

Liu Cun was quite grateful: "Thank you, big brother, for your concern!" ”

Wang Qi waved his hand: "Xuzhou Mi family is rich in the world, three generations of capable people, there are more than 20,000 domestic slaves alone, business all over the north and south of the river, as far as Xiliang has Mi family branches, the power is unfathomable!" There is also the Langya Xu family, not only after the family is big but also powerful, you have to be careful when you go out, although most of the families cherish their reputation and cherish their wings, and usually disdain to do those unsightly things, but the crime of Huaibi must be guarded against! ”

Liu Cun was secretly surprised, until he knew Wang Qi, it was the first time he had heard Wang Qi's such shrewd and logical words: "Big brother, you can't really be a native of Wangjiazhai, right?" ”

Wang Qi sighed: "It's a long story, and it's unbearable to look back!" I will tell you when I have a chance in the future, you have to be prepared how to deal with it after you go out, the county government is used to receiving our money, and it is estimated that it will not be embarrassed, but it is not easy to say that the Mi family and the Xu family are here, everything is careful, if it really doesn't work, it will be perfunctory, and then find a way to solve it. ”

Liu Cun nodded, and suddenly remembered something that had been hidden in his heart for a long time: "Big brother, a while ago I heard Master Qin, the leader of the caravan guards, say that there is a handsome man named Tai Shici in Donglai, who is good at riding and archery martial arts, I wonder if my eldest brother has heard of this person?" ”

Wang Qi nodded: "I have heard a lot of things about this person, if the legend is true, this person is a man with the utmost affection, but he didn't have the opportunity to meet him, how can he ask about this?" ”

Liu Cun said with a smile: "I heard that as long as the furs, wild ginseng and horses in Liaodong are transported back, they can get ten times the huge profits, and our iron parts, cloth and pottery in Xuzhou and Qingzhou can be sold at least five times as long as they are transported to Liaodong. ”

"Shipbuilding? Will you also build ships? Wang Qi looked at Liu Cun in astonishment.

Liu Cun smiled awkwardly: "The younger brother just knows a method of building a sea boat, this kind of ship is called 'Fu Boat' in the book, and the sea ship specializes in running the sea route, using three sails, which can hold thousands of stones and is a very simple hard sail, so the little brother wants to try, anyway, we have many elms, catalpas and pines and cypresses suitable for shipbuilding, even if the boat can't run the sea route, there is a good income from fishing in the nearby sea, and even if there is a big drought in the world, it will not starve to death." ”

Wang Qi pondered for a long time, and asked solemnly again: "Do you really want to build a ship?" ”

Liu Cun nodded: "Although the younger brother has never done it, but he knows how to build a big ship that can walk on the sea, and when there are enough craftsmen, the younger brother wants to give it a try." ”

Wang Qi suddenly realized: "No wonder you want to reclaim that wasteland of snakes and scorpions, and stretch all the way to the seaside, it seems that you have a plan in advance, right?" ”

Liu Cun smiled honestly: "That's right, judging from the current skills of my Han craftsmen, many things can be made, in the past two months, the caravan has kept inquiring about the iron-making and foundry industry for the younger brother, and the younger brother found that Jinan, Pengcheng and Chenggao and other places can use the frying method to make refined steel decades ago, and for decades to continuously improve the smelting furnace and blast water drain, the iron output of the major iron mills has increased greatly, so the younger brother secretly found several batches of smelting masters, and strive to get out of our iron workshop as soon as possible. This is very important for our shipbuilding and other industries in the future. ”

"There is absolutely no shortage of charcoal in our place, what is lacking is iron ore, what workshop do you open without iron ore?" Wang Qi asked puzzled.

Liu Cun patiently explained: "There are many iron ore mines that have been mined for hundreds of years at the west foot of Tieshan Mountain behind us, even if we are not able to mine for a while, we can also buy iron refining from the surrounding Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou and other places where iron is produced, the price of iron has been very cheap for decades, and pig iron can be bought in larger counties, as long as the raw materials of pig iron and copper ingots are bought back, and two new smelting furnaces are built, we can better train refined steel, what do you want to do with stainless steel?" Big brother, don't look at me like that, are you willing to die in obscurity in this remote corner for the rest of your life? ”

Wang Qi stared at Liu Cun's smiling eyes, was silent for a long time, slowly looked up at the sky, and let out a long sigh of unwillingness and loneliness.

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