Lu Bu entered Yan in October of the fourth year of Chuping, and it was nearly a year away from the winter and November of the third year of Chuping when Cao Cao collected millions of Qingzhou yellow turbans in Jibei. At the beginning, Cao Cao adopted Shi Xun's suggestion and planned to send Ren Jun to organize those people to descend to Tuntian, but he could only do it again in the spring of the fourth year of Chuping, and he had to wait for Xuzhou to send seeds and ploughing cattle first. So he left 5,000 soldiers and horses to continue to monitor and detain those who surrendered, and he led the rest of his troops to retreat to Juancheng.

Even if you drink gruel every day, to feed these millions of people for a winter, the cost is very large, of course, it is impossible for them to eat for nothing. So as soon as Cao Cao returned to Juancheng, he consulted with Chen Gong and Xun Yu, who had just arrived from Dongwuyang, and found a lot of work for those people to do—for example, selecting strong people for training, for example, recruiting men to repair the city walls, or digging some canals while the land was still freezing, and organizing women to weave and tailor, and so on.

Instead, Xun stayed in Snake Hill County for four full days, and waited until Guan Si basically recovered his health before taking her to Juancheng to meet Cao Cao. The soldiers he brought from Xuzhou had already returned the same way under the leadership of Zhang Min, and now they were all Cao Jun with him, so he divided a small team of Cao Jun to protect and monitor Guan Hai, and returned to the Yellow Turban camp to help him pick people.

Guan Hai didn't know what Ji Xun was going to do, so in addition to the former thousand merchants he named, and a smelter named Xie Zheng, he chose two carpenters, a stonemason, and a leatherman, all of whom were single, and two widows who could weave cloth and make clothes. When Shixun saw it, he was a little crying and laughing - do you think I'm really looking for a servant for the sake of the village? He asked Guan Hai, "There is no blacksmith?" Guan Hai shook his head: "Anyone who knows a little bit of ironsmithing skills has been taken away by Cao Bing." ”

Shi Xun thought about it, this is the truth, if you want to fight, you have to make weapons, and if you want to make weapons, naturally the more blacksmiths the better, Cao Cao took the lead and took away all those who knew how to strike iron, which was also reasonable. Asked Guan Hai again: "No one knows how to make paper?" Guan Hai shook his head a little dazedly, and said Although I don't understand what you are doing by naming you to be able to make paper, do you want to draw talismans, but I also asked and found it for you seriously, we really don't have this person over there.

Shi Xun sighed secretly, so he had to give up for the time being.

Ever since he had traveled to this era, he had basically not seen a few pieces of paper. The exchange of official documents between the government and the daily use of the scholar's family, as well as all kinds of books, are basically still used bamboo slips or wooden slips, and occasionally plain silk. Jane and Mu are too heavy, it is inconvenient to use, and the price of plain silk is too expensive, not made by ordinary people, and even the imperial decrees are rarely used - what about paper? Doesn't it mean that Cai Lun has already invented paper? Even if the craftsmanship is not up to par, the spread is not widespread, and I can't see it at all in Lelang, why haven't I seen many in Kanto?

Shixun originally wanted to find a few craftsmen who could make paper, circle them up to engage in research and development, and research several kinds of paper with good quality and easy to write for mass production, but unfortunately Ji Lu was cut off from the root all of a sudden.

It was only later that he occasionally asked Cao Cao about it, and he understood the reason.

That time, Cao Cao heard Shixun mention the paper, so he flipped through his bookshelf for a long time, and only then did he turn out a thin stack from a pile of slices, estimated to be no more than two dozen, and they were densely filled with words. He showed it to Shixun and said, "Paper is good, cheaper than silk, and lighter than simple paper." But it's a pity that the original papermaking workshops are near Liangjing, and they are also beneficial to Zhou, but because of Dong Zhuo's rebellion, things are isolated, and we can rarely get it. ”

Shihoon asked, "Isn't there any paper in Kanto?" ”

Cao Cao thought for a moment and replied: "When Emperor Xiaoling was the emperor, Donglai Zuobo was able to make good paper, but unfortunately it was lost...... I heard that there is a river paper in Huiji Shanyin, but unfortunately I haven't seen it. ”

Shi Xun suggested that Cao Cao send people to infiltrate Henan and Guanzhong, or cross the river to Huiji, find some papermakers to come back, and vigorously develop the paper industry. Cao Cao smiled: "Nowadays, the affairs in the state are cumbersome, and foreign enemies covet them, and papermaking is not a matter of urgency. Hongsuke wants to use paper, and when I go to discuss it with Fumiruo, it is said that he still has a dozen blank sheets there. "It's Xun Xin who said that just a dozen pieces of paper are useless, so he had to say goodbye stupidly.

However, after occasionally chatting with the smelter Xie Zheng, there was an unexpected gain. According to Xie Zheng, they often use paper in their teachings, which is used to draw talismans, burn them to ashes, and drink them with water to treat all kinds of emergencies. Although the paper used to draw the symbols is yellow and rough, the quality is very inferior, and it is generally the size of a square palm, but it is also paper, isn't it? Shi Xun asked him where the paper came from and if he knew a craftsman who could make paper, Xie Zheng thought for a while: "The source is not clear, as for the craftsman...... The villain can go to his passing companions to inquire...... "Yes Xun quickly stretched out his hand to stop it, and stop!" He said in his heart that if you took the liberty to contact those Yellow Turban companions again, and Cao Cao's people found out, what would you think? Don't bother me. Let's put this matter aside for the time being, let's wait for a year and a half, and wait for the wind to slow down a little.

Xie Zheng really thought that Shixun was going to ask him for alchemy, and he apologized repeatedly, saying that he was not practicing enough, and he was still in the exploration stage, and he didn't think that he could refine the elixir to strengthen the body in three or five years, let alone the elixir of immortality. Shi Xun patted him on the shoulder: "I didn't come to you for alchemy, but to study gunpowder." ”

Xie Zheng looked dazed. It was Xun who thought that it would not be easy to explain something that had not been invented at all in this era. So he simply put out the purpose first: "Do you know that on the battle array, fire attacks are commonly used, if there is a mineral that can burn violently, or even explode......" Xie Zheng asked what was the explosion? Shixun had no choice but to make a gesture and imitate the voice again: "Bang! It was accompanied by a violent fire, smoke, and a thunderous sound......"

Xie Zheng suddenly realized and said: "Flying turtles and dancing snakes, more and more perverse!" But this time it was Xun's turn to be confused: "What are you talking about?" ”

Xie Zheng explained that this is Wei Boyang's "Zhou Yi Shen Tong Deed", saying that "if the medicine is not a species, all kinds are different, the division is uneven, and the discipline is lost", that is to say, the wrong medicine is used when alchemy, and the monarch and the minister are wrong, it will lead to "flying turtles and dancing snakes, becoming more and more perverse" - here "turtle" refers to smoke, "snake" refers to flames, thick smoke is billowing, flames are rushing, it should be the "explosion" that Xun said.

It was Hoon who nodded again and again and asked him how to cause the explosion? Xie Zheng lowered his head and pondered for a while, and replied: "The villain vaguely remembers that it is written in the records of the ancestors that merging realgar and saltpeter in water can avoid explosions. Shi Xun shook his head: "It's not realgar, it should be sulfur." I remember mixing sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal in a certain proportion and grinding them into powder, which made gunpowder. ”

He wanted to make black powder, and asked Xie Zheng to try it out. Xie Zheng looked embarrassed, saying that this thing is too dangerous, but it will hurt people or even kill people? Shi Xun sneered and bared his teeth: "I just need to report to Cao Gong and say that you are still spreading the cult, what do you think he will do?" Is it dangerous to help me do experiments, or is it dangerous to go against my will? ”

Xie Zheng shuddered with fright, so he had to agree, but said that the materials at hand were not enough—charcoal was easy to say, and it could be cut and burned at any time, but saltpeter and sulfur had to find a place to dig it. Shi Xun thought about it and said that it doesn't have to be so troublesome, this kind of mineral is not rare, and it should be found in Juancheng, anyway, let's just do the experiment first, and the amount doesn't have to be large.

A few days later, he took the opportunity to enter the city to inquire with Xun Yu, and Xun Yu said, "Yes~" - it turns out that in these years, sulfur and saltpeter are both Chinese medicinal materials, and doctors often use them to treat diseases. So they each got two or three catties, and turned around and built a small courtyard in the col half a mile outside the village courtyard as Xie Zheng's residence and experimental base.

Yes, Yeshun already had his own village at this time. After he arrived in Juancheng and officially joined Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao complied with his previous promise and rewarded him with 200 acres of land, a small village, and 80 pieces of millet and 100 horses of silk - although Cao Cao himself lived a frugal life, he did not hesitate to reward his subordinates, as long as the other party was really useful, not to mention that Xun had saved the lives of his Lao Tzu and his brothers.

Shi Xun soon moved into the village with Guan Hai and others, and he also had a small mansion in Juancheng. The merchant fish of a thousand times, he temporarily served as a housekeeper and bookkeeper; Carpenters began to make furniture; The cobbler began to mix the skin, intending to make two pairs of leather boots and a pair of leather pants for Shihoon; The two widows began to weave and tailor. Shihoon didn't have any special requirements for the widows, but just drew a pattern and asked them to sew out a few pairs of silk boxer briefs first. Finally has underwear to wear, he's so happy - woo wow, these silk panties are really smooth, it feels cool!

Only the stonemason has no use for the time being, it is Xun who asked him to collect the stone first, and chiseled it into a stone slab one foot long and half a foot wide, how much can he save, as for the use, in fact, he is still a little vague now......

Those fields were all returned to Guan Hai and Bai Lao Wu, and they also obtained more than a dozen half-grown children from the "concentration camp" of the Yellow Turban from the "concentration camp" of the Yellow Turbans to learn to farm. Guan Si also wanted to help, but Guan Hai glared back at a glance: "You hurry up and learn needlework while you still have time, as well as boiling water and cooking!" Who will be that in the future...... Then who depends on you to serve, can't you still count on the eldest woman to do those rough jobs? ”

Guan Si pouted, reluctantly left, returned to the village, and worshiped the two widows as teachers to learn female red, and then that night, all ten fingers were bandaged. She hated so much that she ran to Bai Lao Wu to compete, but without doing anything, she kicked Bai Lao Wu all over her head with her bare feet.

Of course, a village courtyard and a house are not enough to rely on these people, and they can't support a family, and the rest of the cooks, porters, servants, etc., are all hired from Juancheng. In addition, Shi Xun also wrote a letter to Yes, hoping that he could send the little girl Huan Yue'er and the old slave who had served him in the past.

Shixun also wrote to Tai Shici, saying that the Yuan family and the Gongsun family are fighting for Qingzhou, and it is too dangerous for your mother and son to stay there, so you should hurry to Yanzhou to find me, and I will settle you. The third letter was written to Shi Yi, who also persuaded Shi Yi to resign and go south, and brought Shi Jun to take refuge in himself...... I was shocked when I wrote this, and quickly picked up the carving knife to scrape off the last few words, and changed it to persuade Shiyi to go to Tancheng to reunite with his children.