Liu Cun didn't know that Cheng Bing, the acting county commander, did not neglect him, but there were many affairs recently, and hundreds of thousands of victims were pouring into Langya country, and Liu Xi, the monarch who received an urgent report every day, was anxious, and on the one hand, he urgently sent people to ask the imperial court, and on the other hand, he urgently ordered the county officials of the county to make every effort to provide disaster relief to ensure that there were no more riots in the county, so Cheng Bing, who had never been a magistrate, was so busy that he forgot to summon Liu Cun to inquire about pottery making for a while.

In the afternoon of the same day, the county commander Cheng Bing rushed to the neighboring county to contact the grain, and before leaving, he instructed his colleagues Chen Ji, Meng Huan, and Dong Jie, the county lieutenant, to meet with Liu Cun, the head of the Zhushan caravan, and make a gesture to show his attention and support.

Chen Ji, the chief bookkeeper who was over 40 years old, had received many benefits from the Zhushan caravan, and he also wanted to see how Liu Cun, who could burn exquisite pottery, looked like, so he called a few colleagues to entertain Liu Cun at the wine shop at the south exit of Cross Street in the evening, and conveyed the greetings of the county commander Cheng Bing to Liu Cun.

The atmosphere of the banquet was very good, and Liu Cun hurriedly gave himself a "Zijian" font name, which was still Sun Wan explained the meaning of the word "cun" for him, and talked about it casually after extending from the five interpretations of "cunning" to "cha".

Wang Qi originally had a business name, but the villagers who didn't know a big character in Wangjiazhai had no one to call him his business name, and after introducing each other to the wine shop, Liu Cun knew that Wang Qi's name was Shoushan.

Several officials had a good impression of Liu Cun, who was tall and vigorous, and Wang Qi, who was sincere and frank, and saw that Liu Cun and the two were courteous and talked decently, and immediately asked if the two of them were studying? After learning that both of them were from poor families, several officials were surprised and lamented that they didn't expect such talents to be left in the wilderness, but it was a pity.

Meng Huan, a county lord who is thin but has a foot long and beautiful hair, has been to Wangjiazhai, he is about thirty-five years old, a native of Pengcheng, Xuzhou, and has also studied under the master Zheng Xuan, who has studied in Kanto and Kansai for five years, and is a competent official who is serious and straightforward, he heard Liu Cun say that he is organizing domestic slaves to open up the wasteland under Dazhu Mountain, and has opened 500 acres of land to try to plant a stubble of Jiangnan rice purchased from the Mijia Commercial Bank, and immediately stood up to pay a solemn salute to Liu Cun, thanking Liu Cun for setting an example for the people, so that Liu Cun hurriedly stood up and respectfully returned the salute.

The county lieutenant Dong Jie, who is seven feet tall, has a ruddy face, a big nose and a wide mouth, opens and closes his hands and feet, and his face is full of cheeks and beards that are neatly trimmed.

Liu Cun seized the opportunity and took the initiative to ask Chen Qi for many official procedures, and after figuring it out, he put forward the idea that he wanted to make salt, thinking that this matter would be difficult to do, and it would take at least half a year to go up and down, but he didn't expect Chen Qi and the three of them to put down their wine glasses immediately.

Chen Qi stroked his long black beard, leaned out and asked Liu Cun with concern: "If the county government appoints you as the salt official of Wangjiazhai, how much sea salt can you pay to the county every month?" ”

Liu Cun did the math twice, subtracted most of the valuation, and replied cautiously: "Back to my lord, if there are 200 salt workers, and the salt works hard for two months in the early stage, the students can produce 30,000 catties of sea salt per month, but at the turn of spring and summer every year and in August and September, the waves crash on the shore and roll a few feet, therefore, the annual salt production month is only eight months, and it is still possible to produce 300,000 catties of salt every year." ”

The sound of "Ping Pong" bowls and chopsticks falling was endless, and everyone looked at Liu Cun inexplicably, and soon the hall was silent and silent.

Liu Cun quickly understood the reason, stood up and saluted: "Ladies and gentlemen, the students are not just talking, what is lacking now is not the method of making salt, but not enough labor, if you issue a permission document to authorize students to make salt, and allow students to accept hundreds of young and strong people from the displaced people to drive, students are willing to set up a certificate, starting from January next year, on the tenth day of the first month of each month, 30,000 catties of sea salt will be handed over, if it cannot be cashed, the students are willing to dedicate the Chengbei Manor to the county government for free." ”

"Is that true?" County Cheng Meng Huan had already stood up excitedly.

Liu Cun slowly saluted him: "Honesty is the foundation of life, and students dare not destroy their reputation!" ”

Meng Huan immediately turned to Chen Qi: "Brother Mingyuan, Huan is willing to promote Liu Cun and Liu Zijian as the salt officials in the northern part of the county, and is willing to help him recruit a thousand people from the displaced people to make salt!" ”

Chen Qi was also shocked, but he recovered quickly, and returned the salute to Meng Huan very decently: "Foolish brother has this intention, why don't you and I name it together?" ”

Meng Huan happily agreed, and after sitting down, he looked directly at Liu Cun: "Zijian should work harder, don't ruin the reputation of Lord Meng and this official." ”

Liu Cun was happy in his heart, but his face was even more respectful: "Students will never dare to live up to the trust of adults, but this labor ......"

The officials laughed, and Meng Huan waved his hand impatiently: "Go to me tomorrow morning to get the relevant approval documents, and then go to Lord Chen to get the appointment, remember to bring your letter of commitment and mortgage the title deed of your Chengbei Manor." ”

Liu Cun froze, scratched his head and returned to his seat, causing a burst of laughter from the officials.

After the banquet was dispersed, Liu Cun returned to his residence, thought about it and hurriedly asked Wang Qi how big the "Northern Salt Official" was?

Wang Qizheng was worried that Liu Cun would not be able to take out a huge amount of sea salt, and shook his head again and again when he heard this: "This is a small official with no rank, who is only in charge of salt production and taxation north of the coast of Xiahe City, and receives ten pieces of rice grain and a piece of cloth from the county government every month to support his family. My brother knows that you have to make this decision in order to obtain labor legally, but the amount of salt required by the county government is too large, and even in the heyday of the county, five thousand salt workers cannot complete the amount you promised, so you adults agree to you so readily, alas! Brother Xian's promise today is too rash. ”

Liu Cun laughed after figuring it out: "Big brother, is it true that in the future, from the west side of Langya Bay to the coast of Huangdao in the north of us, all salt production and salt sales will be under my control?" ”

Wang Qi glanced at him: "It's up to you, but do you understand, the hurricane hit the sea the year before last, the entire Langya country and even the Huainan coast were devastated, the supply of salt in the surrounding four states was extremely short, and the price rose more than five times, from eight dollars a pound to forty dollars a pound, until now, the coastal boiling sea salt production still cannot be restored, even if you can make salt, the government will only pay you salt according to the four dollars a pound established a few years ago, if there is a huge deficit, you can afford it?" ”

Liu Cun didn't care: "As long as you can get the power to resettle displaced people and make salt, these efforts are worth it!" I know what my eldest brother is worried about, and I can't explain it to my eldest brother for a while, as long as the displaced people enter our territory, within three months, my eldest brother will see how I make salt. ”

Wang Qi sighed helplessly, so he had to let Liu Cun light the oil lamp and draft a letter of commitment.

In the early morning of the five days later, Liu Cunhuai led a team of more than 3,000 people with a caravan carrying more than 100 wheelbarrows made by Zhuangzi in the north of the city and full of grain and farm tools, led more than 30 ploughing oxen, and left the Zhuangzi in the north of the city to rush to the northern foot of Zhushan Mountain.

The chief manager, Lu Ping, was very competent, and spent 80 gold to buy back a tall horse for Liu Cun and Wang Qi, and stuffed more than 200 blacksmiths, carpenters, embroiderers, and hundreds of skilled weavers from Yanzhou that he quietly recruited from the homeless people into the ranks of the homeless people, saving Liu Cun a lot of trouble.

At noon the next day, 3,700 homeless people opened a team more than five miles long, slowly crossed the last hill at the northern foot of Zhushan Mountain, Liu Cun handed over the horses to the guards around him, pulled Wang Qi, who was worried, climbed the boulder on the side of the mountain road, pointed to the narrow mountain road and asked Wang Qi's opinion: "Big brother, I want to widen and level this three-mile mountain road before winter comes, do you agree?" ”

Wang Qi looked back and forth for a long time, shook his head and said dejectedly: "Of course it is good to widen this mountain road, it will be convenient for caravans and villagers to enter and exit in the future, but how easy is it to widen this three-mile-long rugged mountain road?" It takes at least 2,000 laborers to work hard for half a year! ”

Liu Cun reminded: "There is a method used by the ancients, which can save a lot of things, I estimate that if it goes well, a thousand people can finish it in two months, and we can also build a five-zhang high fortress in the most dangerous mountain pass under our feet, just build a pass here, put a small team of men and horses to guard here, and you can block outsiders on the western mountainside." ”

Wang Qida was interested: "Is there any good way?" ”

"Burn!"

Liu Cun pointed to the dense woods and weeds on both sides of the road and the spring water flowing down the mountainside to the south: "First cut down the grass and trees on both sides of the road and dry them, then pile the dried grass and trees on the stones that need to be removed, burn them for an hour or two, and then pour water, the stones will become brittle and crack, and then use a steel sledgehammer to knock them open, and then use soil mixed with gravel to tamp them." ”

Wang Qi's eyes lit up: "It's really a good way, it's estimated that you can save most of the labor, where do you have so many ideas in your head?" ”

Liu Cun smiled: "The structure of the little brother's brain is different from others, haha!" Let's go, big brother, let's talk about how to deal with these displaced people, the labor brought back this time will be picked by the eldest brother first, and the eldest brother will directly lead it back to the village after going down the mountain. ”

Wang Qi was not polite, and summoned the small leader of the village in the caravan to order him to go down, and led the horse down the mountain with Liu Cun.

At the foot of the mountain, Liu Cun's housekeeper Lu An had already waited there with a dozen young men, and immediately shouted after greeting Liu Cun, and when Wang Qi picked out three hundred strong laborers to leave, Lu An immediately led the remaining three thousand people to the south, and soon arrived in the middle of the large flat land burned out of the wasteland, and was busy in a nervous and orderly manner.

Liu Cun rode a horse and walked with Wang Qi and returned to his home on the bank of the small river in front of Wangjiazhai.

Although he had never ridden a horse before, Liu Cun learned quickly, and he carefully made two sturdy and practical stepping rope sleeves, which were hung on both sides of the flat leather saddle, so that the two feet had a place to focus, and the journey was very smooth.

Wang Qi, who is superb in riding, was very curious when he saw it, and he also learned from Liu Cun to make a sub-rope sleeve, and he felt very comfortable after using it, and shouted such a simple and easy thing, why did no one think of making it for so many years?

Liu Cun, who said goodbye to Wang Qi and the brothers in the village, returned home, and Niuniu, who had already learned the news, flew over, Liu Cun lifted his daughter high and turned around, hugged him in his arms and kissed him again and again, making his daughter scream, so that Sun Wan and Liu Zhen on the side were so happy.

Liu Cun went to the backyard bath room to take a bath with the river water drawn by bamboo, changed into a short coat and returned to the living room, sat down cross-legged on the low couch, took the teacup handed by Sun Wan and drank two sips, and immediately praised it comfortably: "It's still pure tea, the tea in Xiahe City with salt and flowers and fruits is really unbearable!" ”

After enjoying a few cups of tea, Liu Cun asked his son to sit beside him, asked about the recent learning progress and gains, pointed out a few mistakes in arithmetic problems, and then praised them, and finally assigned a difficult task to his son: to burn 5,000 clay bowls for eating, 500 clay pots for cooking, and 1,000 small clay pots for salt as soon as possible.

Liu Zhen, who accepted the heavy responsibility, left happily, and Niuniu also took the opportunity to follow her brother to go crazy.

Liu Cun picked up Sun Wan and strode into the bedroom, and was about to throw Sun Wan in his arms onto the bed as usual, but Sun Wan hugged his thick neck tightly and hurriedly whispered: "Don't, don't!" The servant is pregnant, and she can't fall. ”

Liu Cun's whole body stiffened, and he looked at Sun Wan in his arms blankly: "Really? ”

Sun Wan nodded: "I only found out the day before yesterday." ”

Liu Cun gently put Sun Wan on the bed, sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down, kissed her red lips passionately, and raised his head after a while: "From today onwards, you are not allowed to do heavy work, and tomorrow I will ask Lu An to pick a few little maids to come back and serve you." ”

Sun Wan, whose face was full of crimson, nodded contentedly: "Listen to you." ”

Liu Cun was worried that he wouldn't be able to hold it, so he didn't dare to stick to Sun Wan anymore, so he helped her up lovingly and whispered, "I want to write something, can I polish my ink?" ”

Sun Wan happily hugged Liu Cun, and reluctantly let go after a while: "I heard that there are a lot of laborers from our side today, and it seems that the new village will be built soon." ”

Liu Cun nodded: "Let's come step by step, first build a shed to live in, deal with these few months, allocate half of the manpower to open 5,000 acres of land, quickly plant beans, and harvest as much as you can after autumn; The other half of the people go to cut down trees, build brick kilns, burn bricks and tiles, burn lime, mine stones, and transport clay and river sand, these days I will go to the south to plan, tell them how to do it efficiently and quickly, and then concentrate on building a house next month, a family to build a brick house, if it is too late to use thatch instead of tiles to deal with a year, but in each house to build a kang, each family first divided an acre of land, let everyone grow their own vegetables, pigs, chickens or something, must be before the winter, let all the displaced people live in spacious and warm new houses. ”

"You've got a good heart." Sun Wan sincerely admired her husband.

Liu Cun said with a smile: "These more than 3,000 people belong to our own people, and we will have to rely on them to work in the future, so we should cherish them, and we can't be ruthless and unrighteous like the big families outside, and treat domestic slaves as cattle and horses." This group of displaced people is the first to escape, most of them can still drag their families with their mouths, all the way to escape after a lot of hardships, the old or sick are basically gone, fortunately most of the families are still intact, rare! I am afraid that it will be difficult to meet such a homeless person in the future, and the most important thing is that people who are desperate to survive have a home, they will cherish their hard-won new life more, and they will not run away easily, relatively speaking, it is better than buying a house slave. ”

"That's true, if you don't have a home, I'm afraid that the living won't be able to slow down for a long time, pitiful!" Sun Wan has a personal feeling about this, so she understands her husband's thoughts very well.

Liu Cun suddenly remembered something important: "I forgot to tell you good news, on the way back, I asked roughly, more than ten families in this group of displaced people are from dilapidated poor families, most of them are from Qingzhou, I have talked to several of them alone, they are very happy to be the gentlemen of the village Mengxue, and no one objects to my idea of letting girls read and write, we have been looking forward to the school will be opened soon." ”

Sun Wan was overjoyed: "It's okay now, our Niuniu can also go to school." ”

Liu Cun walked to the study on the side with his wife in his arms, spread out a pair of carefully drawn topographical maps of Dazhu Mountain, and thought carefully.