The moment Chu Hao opened his eyes, he heard the heavy rain outside, and Cao Zhengchun, who was guarding the bedside, saw him wake up, so he immediately brought a basin of water to wash.

In between wiping his hands, Chu Hao asked, "What happened to the beast tide outside Waiguo City?" Can there be casualties among the auxiliaries? ”

Cao Zhengchun bowed down and replied: "Xu is the reason why the ten thousand dragons vacated yesterday, hundreds of thousands of beasts were all frightened, and Zhuge Wolong, the secretary of the military department, played last night, and said that the power of the beast tide has been resolved. The auxiliary army sent small animals such as hares and foxes to the city for the people to raise, and large beasts such as wild boars and leopards were kept in the army for the time being. ”

Chu Hao nodded, changed into his regular clothes under Cao Zhengchun's service, and took a sedan chair to go to Guocheng.

By the time he arrived at Waiguo City, the rain had already subsided.

After the four auxiliary soldiers parked the sedan chair outside the humble wooden house where Zhuge Liang was, Cao Zhengchun shouted sharply: "Press the sedan chair." ”

After Chu Hao opened the sedan curtain and got out of the sedan car, Zhuge Liang was already outside the house.

He stepped forward and bowed and then said with a smile: "The minister has found more than 20 craftsmen who have burned glaze, and they are on standby in front of the kiln. ”

After Chu Hao nodded slightly, he followed him to a clearing near the city wall.

There, a clay kiln about two meters high has been erected.

As Chu Hao and Zhuge Liang approached, the two dozen or so craftsmen knelt down together and said respectfully: "Xiaomin greets the adults." ”

When Zhuge Liang waved his hand to get them up, Chu Hao also walked to the front of the kiln, and after turning around, he said, "Let's start." ”

The two dozen or so craftsmen who received the order immediately got busy with their work.

When one of the old men opened the iron door in front of the kiln, a wave of heat hit him.

After he sent an iron plate full of sand and ash from the door of the kiln, he said, "In the past, when firing glass, it took about half an hour. The adults let this kind of thing be burned, but the villains have never burned it, so they also came according to half an hour. ”

"Previously, more than 800 pieces of pottery had been fired in this furnace."

Chu Hao nodded lightly, and waited with Zhuge Liang in front of the kiln.

Finally, when half an hour had passed, several craftsmen immediately opened the iron door in front of the kiln and poured earth into it to cool it down.

When the temperature dropped, they pulled out the red-hot iron plate.

Seeing this, Chu Hao and Zhuge Liang hurriedly approached to take a look.

When you see the sand and plant ash on the iron plate, it is fired into a greenish color, like the crystallization of broken bricks.

After its temperature cooled down, Cao Zhengchun immediately selected a few and presented them in front of Chu Hao.

Chu Hao frowned and picked up a crystalline the size of a fingernail, and pinched it vigorously with his hand, the surface layer of this crystal immediately became crumbled, and inside, there was some sand and plant ash.

He picked up another one, and when he pinched it, it was broken again.

Zhuge Liang also tried it, and the result was the same.

He looked at the broken crystals and thought for a moment, then looked at the craftsman on the side, and said, "Collect these green crystals, crush them and continue to burn, this time for two hours." ”

The craftsmen immediately began to select the green crystals from the iron plates.

After Chu Hao glanced at them, he turned his head to look at Cao Zhengchun and said, "Cao Zhengchun." ”

Cao Zhengchun immediately bowed down.

Chu Hao took out the dragon bell from the warehouse and handed it to him, and ordered: "You take this bell and shake it a few times in front of the Yangtze River, if there is a dragon out, you will ask him if he can take you out to sea." ”

"If you can, ask it if it knows about Tangting Mountain, two thousand miles to the north."

"If you know, let him take you to that mountain to find a water jade that is as clear as water, as warm as jade, and as hard as stone."

After hearing this, Cao Zhengchun said respectfully: "The slave obeys the order." ”

Chu Hao glanced at him deeply and said, "I may never come back from this trip, and I don't dare to guarantee that the dragon clan in the East China Sea will turn their faces, and I don't know if there is water jade on that dignified mountain." ”

"So, this time, I allow you to refuse."

Cao Zhengchun stood in front of him with a bow, holding the dragon bell in both hands.

After hearing this, he slowly raised his head and said with a smile: "With the emperor's words, the slave and maid have no regrets even if they die in the sea." ”

After saying that, he slowly knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "The slave Cao Zhengchun has the order." ”

Chu Hao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "I look forward to the day you come back!" ”

Cao Zhengchun kowtowed three times and said respectfully: "The slave and maid retire!" ”

With that, he got up and left with the dragon bell in his hand.

After he left, Chu Hao also left in a sedan chair, but he did not return to the palace, but got off the sedan chair after entering the city.

In the light rain, I watched the crowd of people coming and going on the street.

Because the news of the construction of the giant city has been announced, the young people in the city have already gone to the mountains outside Waiguo City to dig the back stones.

The so-called digging of mountains is to use fire to burn the stones on the mountain and then water them.

When hot and cold alternate, the rocks on the mountain will become brittle, and in some places they will even explode directly.

And the old man went to burn the clay bricks.

If the bricks are burned directly with clay, the bricks will be red, and this color cannot be used by the people, so they will constantly use water to cool down during the firing process.

In this way, the result is a green brick with a blue and black color.

The women in the city used pots to grow sweet potatoes, corn and some vegetables in their houses, and when it snowed, they moved the pots home and moved them out when the weather cleared.

When the meal arrived, they would go in groups to deliver food and water to the young and elderly people in the family.

Because whether it is digging rocks on the back of mountains, firing green bricks, or planting grain and vegetables, they will receive the salary of the imperial court, so the people did not complain, but were very active.

Chu Hao even noticed that the children got together to write and draw on the land with wooden sticks, and after learning about it, he learned that Zhuge Liang asked some scholars in the city to teach children to read and hyphenate.

Because of the lack of paper in the city, both teachers and students write on the sand table these days.

As professors, these scholars will also receive a reward from the imperial court.

And the young women sew clothes for the people at home.

He also noticed that some young people with disabilities were learning to make iron from the blacksmiths in the city, and the old people were learning carpentry from the carpenters.

Everything is developing in a good direction.

After Chu Hao walked around the street for a long time, his evaluation of Zhuge Liang was a few points higher.

Because he had never ordered these things, and he didn't even think of some contents, but Zhuge Liang had already thought about and arranged them in advance.

Chu Hao immediately returned to the palace in a happy mood.

At the same time, Cao Zhengchun also came to the Yangtze River.

After he stood by the river and rang the dragon bell, with a clanging sound, a dragon head the size of a millstone immediately poked out of the river.

After glancing at the dragon bell in Cao Zhengchun's hand, it asked, "But the big cadre is here?" ”

While Cao Zhengchun was surprised by the dragon's attitude, he also hugged his fists and smiled: "Exactly." ”

The dragon then asked, "Why did you shake the bell for summoning the dragon?" ”

Cao Zhengchun immediately told him what Chu Hao had asked him.

When the dragon heard this, he said, "That mountain is easy to find, and if you step on my neck and grasp my dragon's horns, it will not take you half an hour to see it." ”

Cao Zhengchun clasped his fists and saluted: "In this way, thank you very much." ”

Then he saw that the dragon had already leaned half of its body out of the shore, so he jumped on its neck.

After he grasped the dragon's horns, the dragon immediately turned its head and flew into the sky.