The valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there is only a gap to the east of the city of Emster, and the three mountains that surround the valley are called South Mountain, West Mountain, and North Mountain respectively.

Liu Ci earlier discovered the location of the clay, which was on the sunny side of Nanshan.

Hao Hao led the hired workers to take soil and burn bricks, and the paper finally felt shallow, Liu Ci thought that things would be as smooth as papermaking. Although the method of burning bricks with clay is recorded in "Qi Min Yaoshu", where can this technology be explained in a few words?

Liu Ci looked at the first batch of brick embryos, all of which were cracked and unformed, and couldn't help frowning and pondering.

The technology of green bricks is more complicated, and the people of the other world probably will not appreciate the low-key and silent beauty of ancient Chinese blue bricks and black tiles. What she wants to fire is a simple process of "red bricks".

Take the bond, and shale, gangue crushed into powder, according to the proportion of blending, and then shape the embryo, after the drying process, and finally sent to the brick kiln, after high temperature firing can become a building material.

It took Liu Ci a few days, and the first batch of red bricks was all scrap, which made her wonder if she had made a mistake in the proportion of raw materials.

Seeing that Liu Ci was worried, Nana was so anxious that she muttered to the cook all day long, whether the food was not up to her appetite, and discussed to open a small stove for her.

Amy, another maid, had the audacity to guess, "Mademoiselle is worried about burning the bricks, for I have heard that winter in Emster is coming soon, and that if the house is not built before winter, these hired workers and their families will be frozen." ”

The cook poked her in the face, "Miss loves you the most, I will definitely take you to live in the city in winter, what are you afraid of." ”

Amy didn't speak, and Nana pouted, "Miss has a good heart, and if she doesn't arrange these hired workers, she will definitely not worry about going to the city." ”

The cook also nodded, these people are free hired maids, who hasn't changed a few masters? Miss Ci is picky about food and clothing, but she is really generous to these maids, not only the young maids think she is amiable, but the cooks who are used to seeing the world also think that Liu Ci is good.

Liu Ci had a bad appetite, and the three of them discussed to help her solve her troubles. The words of the conversation coldly called the hired family members who were helping on the side to listen, the woman was so thin that she was about to be blown down by a gust of wind, and after listening to the words of Nana and the others, she was a little distracted while kneading her dough.

In the evening, they packed up their belongings and lit a bonfire around the tents set up in the valley.

In the dead of night, Liu Ci was practicing breath in the tent with his knees crossed, and he heard a low-voiced conversation from the tent in the distance.

"Harvey, look at our son, his face looks like he's getting flesh these days."

The woman's voice was cautious, but with an indescribable joy.

"Yes, I didn't expect to find a generous employer before the winter, and we won't have to starve and freeze this winter."

The man's voice was also full of anger.

The steamed buns are enough, and the work he has to do every day is also within the scope of bearing, and he is in good spirits.

Then the couple was silent for a while, and after a while, the man finally couldn't help but say: "Miss Ci is very good, she wants to burn bricks now......"

The woman listened anxiously and raised her voice slightly: "Harvey, don't be stupid, we are in Emste now, not in Xiyi!" ”

Harvey muttered a few words, and the couple fell asleep with their son wrapped in the quilt.

The ear power is too good, and the sound has to be sent into the ear by itself, so it's not eavesdropping, right? Liu Ci retracted her attention and put her mind on breathing qi again, she did not forget her plan to advance as soon as possible.

Liu Ci had a hunch that the brick-burning problem that plagued her should be solved soon.

The next day, Liu Ci didn't seem to hear the conversation between the couple at night, and still did whatever he had to do, and there was nothing abnormal. In the afternoon, however, another shipment of goods arrived in the oxen and horse wagons arranged by Stull. In addition to the staple flour, the main thing that was shipped this time was cotton clothing.

As October draws to a close, the morning and evening temperatures in Emster begin to drop dramatically, and the hired men who have been on the move do not yet feel that the children and women are willing to go out of their tents only when the temperature is high.

This batch of cotton clothes is owned by everyone.

Liu Ci did not ask the children to work, and also gave clothes to their wives and children, and the hired workers did not know what to say when they were grateful.

The gratitude of the honest people at the bottom is very real, and in the evening when the cotton clothes were sent, the man named Harvey took the initiative to find Liu Ci.

"Miss Ci, Harvey will burn pottery ......"

Liu Ci put down the pen in his hand, and there was a large piece of paper on the table, which was the "valley planning map" she had been drawing in the past few days, where to build houses, where to open up wasteland, where to dig ponds, where to plant something, Liu Ci had to have a plan in his heart.

"Oh, can you burn pottery? Did you see something wrong with the brick-burning process and come to me? ”

Harvey nodded honestly.

The Magic Continent advocates metal utensils, silver plates, tin pots, copper basins, ...... These household items can be found everywhere. But in an era when large-scale alchemy was not possible, metal was always valuable, and some things could be used directly as coins. Therefore, in the mainland, most of the civilians, who account for the largest number of people, use "pottery".

Pottery and bricks, in general, use clay as a raw material, and the two have a lot in common.

Liu Ci was determined to build the villa as soon as possible, and forgot for a while that she didn't have to do everything, and there were still many "professionals" in Amster City.

Harvey is a pottery professional.

He saw the reason for the failure of firing the bricks: the proportion of clay was fine, the process was not wrong, and the brick kiln was wrong.

Harvey was hired to cultivate the wasteland, and if it weren't for Liu Ci's good employment, he wouldn't have come out. After the cotton clothes that Liu Ci prepared for them this afternoon were distributed, the honest Harvey could no longer stand the "conscience condemnation" and took the initiative to stand up.

Looking at Harvey, a man with a frosty face and a sense of hesitation and anxiety about his former hesitation, Liu Ci felt that he was very right to buy people's hearts.

The relationship between people, even between employers and employees, is about giving and returning.

She treats them well, and the reward she gets is definitely above the value of the effort.

"Harvey, right, in the future, I will leave the matter of burning bricks to you, can you do it well?"

Liu Ci looked at him with a serious face, but there was encouragement in his eyes.

Harvey nodded, and Liu Ci smiled, "Nana, you remember, he will receive three times the salary of others in the future." If there is a self-recommendation, as long as you really have the ability, the treatment is the same as Harvey! ”

Harvey came out of the pergola, dizzy until he walked back to the tent.

It was dinner time, the smell of pies wafted through the valley, children ran around with food, and the chatter of women was everywhere.

He thinks that life is good, so unreal?

raised her salary, not to mention how happy Harvey and his wife were in the evening, Liu Ci also entrusted one thing to her heart, and her attention was on something else.

Harvey, who became a steward, took the employees to burn a new batch of bricks in a few days, and more than half of the red bricks out of the kiln were qualified products.

Manpower is cheap, and clay doesn't cost money, but the need for coal is greater.

Liu Ci is not short of this money, what she lacks now is time.

The hired workers brought their children to the valley, Liu Ci was not as harsh as ordinary employers, he was well fed and clothed every day but had nothing to do, and the children ran in the valley carefree, but the wives of the hired workers felt uneasy.

The cooks don't have to do the cooking themselves, and there are hired workers and wives vying to help them all the time.

Of course, there are also a few lazy women who steal and play tricks, and they are not among them.

Building a house is important, and you can't leave things behind. Liu Ci asked Nana to gather the frightened women who had nothing to do and arranged for them to start tidying up the wasteland in the valley first.

This valley is very large, although no one has ever planted in it, it is surrounded by three mountains, and after years of wind and rain, a lot of dead branches and gravel are left on the ground, whether it is to build a house or cultivate, you need to tidy up first. Liu Ci estimated according to the measurements of the Earth Federation that there are thousands of acres of land in the valleys that are surrounded by it. Counting the river beach in front of the valley, the total area is much larger.

Liu Ci wants to grow tea in the Emster Mountains, and he doesn't rely on the space for a lotus pond to be overwhelmed.

In fact, the climate and topography of Emster are very similar to the Qinghai-Tibet region on the mother planet of the earth. The Qinghai-Tibet region of the earth is also dominated by animal husbandry, which is similar to Emster. Herders eat more meat, and the Tibetans of the earth before the new era have been buying "tea" from the Han people for thousands of years, tea can help digestion, but also can replenish the herders' lack of substances due to the diet structure. Tea is also a necessity for herders in the Qinghai-Tibet region, and they have long been buying it like the Han people, and the herders have also thought about growing it themselves.

At that time, the Qinghai-Tibet region was adjacent to Sichuan and Shu provinces, and Shu was rich in tea, which accounted for a large proportion of the trade in the Qinghai-Tibet region.

The Qinghai-Tibetans wanted to grow tea, but the Shu people were treacherous, and the tea seeds sold to the Tibetans were all cooked, so that the Tibetans did not learn the technique of growing tea until the Qing Dynasty before the new era.

Liu Ci read this paragraph by chance when he was studying ancient history, and because he found it interesting, he couldn't help but use it more.

Now that I have crossed and thought about it, since tea can be grown in Qinghai-Tibet, why can't the Amster Mountains? Compared with the ancients, Liu Ci is not short of water, and she is quite confident now.

When women have a job to do, they have a center of gravity in their lives.

The valley was prosperous with men burning bricks and women tidying up wasteland. When Stuart came from the city, he saw the heat of the day.

"Have you bought your land?"

Stuart nodded, "It's smaller than the size of your circle, boss." ”

Emste is full of mountains and valleys, and it wasn't hard for Stull to find a terrain like that. The place he fancied was only about ten miles away from the "villa" circled by Liu Ci, and if Liu Ci wanted to enter the city, he had to pass through Stull's territory.

"How's the matter with the tea seedlings?"

Stull drank a bowl of water and drove away the sweltering heat.

"The letter has been written, and some will be shipped back soon. It's just that this season, can you plant tea trees? ”

Liu Ci smiled: "If you believe me, you might as well be lucky." Let's discuss the matter of opening a ditch! ”