If things are abnormal, there must be demons, Long Xiang stood up suddenly.

"People are still in the fifth kiln? Take me over and see it. ”

"That's what I mean, the horse is ready outside the house."

Tang Yu got up excitedly, pulled Long Xiang and walked out.

The two of them galloped their horses to the west of the city, the heat in their eyes beating under the scorching sun, the dust splashed by the horses' hooves penetrated into their mouths and noses, and the wind brought by the running blew away the sweat beads.

When he arrived in the west of the brick-making kiln, the sweat on Long Xiang's face was stained with dust, like a gray and yellow mask.

"It's been a few days, and it's changed a little bit here." Long Xiang looked around and sighed.

Tang Yu nodded and agreed: "Yes, the soil that was transported into the city last year was piled up like a few hills, and now it is almost leveled, and sure enough, there are many people and great strength." ”

Long Xiang pinched his chin thoughtfully, and then said to himself: "Last year, there was still less soil, and now that all these bricks are burned, there will not be much work left in the brick-making kiln, and I have to find something else to do for these new homeless people..."

"Looking for something else to do?"

Tang Yu was stunned for a moment, and then asked puzzledly: "Why don't you continue to take soil to make bricks?" I heard Lao Feng say a few days ago that the soil we transported into the city last year could only produce more than 200,000 green bricks from the kiln, and according to Yunqi's previous calculations, it would cost 10,000 bricks to build a house, and now it is far from enough. ”

Long Xiang explained with a smile: "The soil taken back then can not be used directly, it is not bad to be able to produce 200,000 kilns, if not, it will be used to build a few large granaries, I think this year's rice crops are growing well, if you can keep irrigating the non-dry fields, maybe there will be a good harvest." ”

"Although Yunqi can rest assured, Hefei's current tax policy is the same as Shouchun's heaven and earth, they will do their best to serve the crops, who is not willing to work more?

The watering of the watering and the catching of insects, many men, women and children are all dispatched, so the soldiers of the South Gate are particularly busy every day. ”

Although Tang Yu mentioned difficulties in the end, the relief in his words was also unmistakable.

Although Long Xiang is not familiar with agricultural production, he fully understands and respects human nature.

If they were like Yuan Shu and other princes, how could the common people really take care of the crops?

At present, there is no 'middleman to make the difference' in Hefei, and the people have a lot of grain in their hands, and there is no forced labor for the time being, so it can naturally mobilize the enthusiasm of production.

"I remember that the young child does not have an identity number, how can the officers and soldiers guarding the south gate screen the fine work?" Long Xiang asked questions with interest.

Tang Yu scratched his head and replied: "They all have their parents with them, and their parents have a number to guarantee, so naturally they can't be meticulous, and the soldiers have been asking about the number for a long time, everyone has their own experience, and whether they are good people sometimes know at a glance." ”

Long Xiang asked, "What if the children went out of the city to deliver the news for the sake of fine work?" ”

"There are Cao Zhu's rangers outside the city, and if they run around the city, they will be easily discovered." Tang Yu stroked his beard very proudly.

"It's good, it's about being flexible."

Long Xiang nodded with satisfaction, then pointed to the left front and said, "Kiln No. 5 is over there, right?" Let's go and meet that 'fine work'. ”

"Okay, I'll lead the way."

There are three original caves in the west of Hefei City, the scale of the earthen kiln is not too big, it was originally a small kiln used to fire pottery and other things, a kiln can only hold seven or eight thousand bricks, each cave from the kiln, burn bricks, smudge bricks, out of the kiln, it takes more than a month before and after, this scale obviously does not meet the requirements of Longxiang.

In order to meet the needs of the construction of Hefei, and also to find something to do for the people in their leisure time, Long Xiang dug six large kilns in the north of the original small kiln, which can fire nearly 20,000 green bricks at a time.

Last year, the clay taken from outside the city, Long Xiang originally planned to use the spare time to burn green bricks from the autumn to the next year's spring ploughing, but the continuous influx of displaced people into Hefei, Long Xiang had to release the project in advance.

The process of firing bricks is very simple, that is, taking soil and mud, deturning the blank, drying the brick blank, loading the kiln, firing the kiln, removing the bricks, and leaving the kiln, a total of seven steps.

In addition to the kiln is a technical work in the seven steps, the remaining six steps are all strength work, and other places are autumn and winter farming kilns, and the kiln craftsmen are enviable every day, but at present, Hefei in order to solve the 'employment', the kiln time has been moved to the summer, so the seven-step process of burning bricks, each step has become not easy.

Either the work is laborious and sweaty, or it is smoky and sweaty, and the 'fine master' in Tang Yu's mouth probably can't bear the hardships of physical work, so he takes the initiative to run to the kiln to 'sauna'.

Long Xiang and Tang Yu walked to the underground open space of the kiln, and they could clearly feel the direction of the kiln hole, and there was a wave of heat.

The two faced the high temperature and heat wave and walked in the direction of the kiln hole.

Long Xiang felt that he was getting close to the sun, the sweat on his body quickly evaporated and dried, and the dusty skin on his face instantly felt extremely uncomfortable.

Firing a kiln in the summer is like living in a sauna, and it feels really sour.

Long Xiang and Tang Yu came to the kiln hole, and the potter who was originally sitting immediately got up and saluted.

The potter was short in stature, and his face was like black charcoal smoked by the smoke, and Long Xiang instinctively felt that it was not special, so he asked Tang Yu for verification.

"Is that him?"

"No, the man was eight feet long."

Tang Yu first shook his head, and then asked the potter in a deep voice: "I came here half an hour, where did the tall man go just now?" Taken away by Master Cao? ”

The potter waved his hand and replied: "The temperature here is very high, no one can stay long, we will rotate once in half an hour, the strong man Lu said by the general, should rest in the south hut at this time, and it will be his turn in an hour." ”

Eight feet tall and strong? Long Xiang's mind instantly appeared Lu Zhishen's appearance.

Long Xiang only remembered Lu Su for the name of Lu of the Three Kingdoms, and said in his heart that he wouldn't be so lucky, right? The Metropolitan Governor of Soochow took the initiative to send it to the door?

Use the appearance of a flower monk to set Lusu? Can't Lu Su uproot the weeping willows?

Long Xiang felt spicy when he thought about it, and said in his heart that Lu Su should have Lu Zhishen's physique, and he could really have a one-on-one meeting with Guan Erye.

In the end, Long Xiang speculated that it was a passer-by surnamed Lu, and if it was really a foreign work, it was very likely that he used a fake surname.

With the guidance of the potter, Tang Yu took Long Xiang and turned to the south.

On the south side of the kiln, there are several hand-dug huts, which are used by the kiln craftsmen for daily rest.

From sealing the kiln to firing the furnace to opening the kiln, the kiln fire cannot be extinguished for about ten days, and the kiln craftsmen eat, drink and sleep under the kiln.

Originally, only two kiln craftsmen were needed for a kiln, and the people above only needed sufficient firewood and daily meals.

In summer, the kiln is prone to heat stroke and coma, so each kiln arranges six or seven people to take turns to add firewood.

There were five huts on the south side, and Long Xiang and Tang Yu walked a few steps away from the middle and found Cao Xuan walking out of the one on the right.

"Long Sima, Tang Quhou..."Cao Xing hugged his fists and said hello.

Long Xiang saw that Cao Xing looked nervous, and said in his heart, could it be that the 'flower monk' is really a problem? He asked jokingly: "Master Cao, I heard that you are protecting the fine work?" ”

"It's not..."

Before Cao Xing finished speaking, a voice came from inside the room.

"You're Long Sima?"

Long Xiang turned his head to look for prestige, only to see a figure poking out from under the hole without a door.

Long Xiang saw that the person who came was wearing his upper body, and his lower body was holding his trouser legs.

The other party's face was full of swarthy face, his facial features were clearly contoured, and his body was eight feet long, but he was not as wide as Tang Yu.