When Wei Cheng woke up in the morning, he heard Aning's voice babbling at the door.
This girl has recently been pulled by Cai Yan to study, and she has to recite a short song every day. This is a style similar to the Three-Character Classic. The content is mainly based on the four seasons, spring plowing and autumn harvest, and is mainly spread among the people.
Cai Yan's family was well-educated, and she had been exposed to no less than 10,000 articles since she was a child. The collection of books at home was the largest in the world, and she had a photographic memory, so she was nicknamed the humanoid library by Wei Cheng.
Before going out, Wei Cheng made a mark behind the door panel to arrive on time for the banquet on Saturday night. After all, the Fang family had taken good care of him before, and they helped organize his parents' funeral.
Wei Cheng is determined to prepare a high-quality prescription for Mr. Fang. The missing medicinal materials are available in the mountains. He will prepare them as soon as possible and bring them to Mr. Fang as a gift. I think the old man will like it very much.
Because the time in the two space-times progresses in equal proportions, that is to say, there are still four days until Saturday. Wei Cheng used a knife to carve a mark that he only knew about, so as to remind himself not to forget this matter.
It just so happened that the things I bought last night didn't arrive so quickly. It was probably like Saturday and Sunday, so I just happened to be in a hurry.
After carving it, he picked up the baggage he brought last night and walked out of the warehouse.
When Aning saw him, he was like a child seeing his mother. He ran over and said aggrievedly: "Brother Wei, I want to go play. I made an appointment with Gou Sheng and the others to catch Xiao Ni'er today.
Xiao Ni'er is delicious when cooked over fire."
Wei Cheng looked at Cai Yan. Cai Yan shook his head helplessly, as if he had a headache and didn't know how to teach this child.
Wei Cheng smiled at her, and then said to Aning: "You can go and play, but you must first memorize the words that your sister taught you. In order to reward you for your hard work, I have specially prepared something delicious.
Something."
Wei Qing shook the bundle in his hand, and Aning rushed over to hug it out of curiosity. Xiaoqiong's nose twitched, "Wow, it smells so good, it's the scent of flowers. I know, this is, this is the jade flower!"
The black line on Wei Cheng's forehead drooped, and he said angrily: "What japonica? This is jasmine. Don't talk nonsense about japonica in the future..."
That's right, what Wei Cheng brought over was jasmine tea for entertaining guests at home. When he went back to clean up the house last night, he happened to see it. Considering that there are no guests at home on weekdays, and he was not there when he came, he might as well bring it.
coming.
The previous packaging box was quite delicate, so Wei Cheng simply poured it all on the white cloth to avoid having to hide it from others.
At this time, he spread out the white cloth, and the fragrance of the scented tea inside was overflowing, and it looked like a medicinal material he had concocted himself.
Cai Yan also came over curiously. Women are generally not immune to fragrant things.
"Husband, are these dried japonica flowers?"
Cai Yan picked up one and smelled it, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He wanted to grab a handful and use it to make a sachet.
Wei Cheng was stunned, why did you say this is Naizi?
Xiaoxiao was depressed for a moment, thinking that it must be the name for jasmine in this era. After all, they didn't know that later generations of readers gave a new definition to the word "氰子".
"This is jasmine tea. Add some hot soup and brew it directly. It tastes sweet and overflowing with floral fragrance. And after drinking too much, even the sweat on your body will smell like flowers. Little girls like you should like it.
.”
Wei Teng mainly drinks it for little Aning. This girl drank all the drinks he bought in less than three days. If she keeps drinking like this, she will become a chubby girl in less than half a year. Wei Teng can
Can't hurt her.
So, let her drink tea. There are many varieties of scented tea and the taste is very good. If you add a little honey later, the little girl will definitely like it.
Looking at Cai Yan's reaction at this time, it seemed that she was more surprised than Xiao Aning.
Wei Cheng saw the emotion on her face and said with a smile: "I'll make a cup for you to try. Scented tea is suitable for drinking in the morning. By the way, have you had breakfast?"
Wei Teng suddenly remembered, why were Hao Niang and Xiao'e not here this morning?
At this time, Cai Yan explained: "We are waiting for my husband to have dinner together... By the way, I asked Sanniang and Xiao'e to take the extra steamed buns to the elderly in the village to try. There are many lonely elderly people in the village, such as
No matter what, you should be treated kindly."
People in this era put filial piety first. Cai Yan's father, Cai Yong, was a famous person in history. The children he raised were naturally not too bad. Wei Yan was very pleased with this.
"Okay, so and so. From now on, let Sanniang steam an extra tray of steamed buns every morning and deliver them specifically to the elderly in the village."
Cai Yan's eyes lit up, "Husband, you really think so!"
Wei Cheng nodded funnyly, "Of course."
The three of them had a simple breakfast. Wei Cheng made scented tea for them. Since there was no honey, he temporarily used rock sugar for cooking instead. In this way, he easily conquered the stomachs of the two women.
"It tastes good, it tastes good, it tastes really good!" Little Aning was so happy that she even ate only two of her favorite steamed buns. Her stomach was full of tea and she could barely walk.
I heard the sound of water sloshing in my stomach.
In comparison, Cai Yan was much more elegant. She brought a pair of exquisite tea sets herself. Yes, there were many people who drank tea in the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, they drank soup made from tea with seasonings added.
.
Cai Yan's tea set consists of a purple clay jar, two purple clay bowls, and a small spoon for adding seasonings.
She placed the purple clay pot filled with water next to the fire, then waited for the water to boil, then added scented tea and rock sugar to it one after another. She was originally hesitant to add other seasonings, but Wei Cheng stopped her directly.
"Madam, just drink it like this. Don't add any other condiments. No one adds sesame oil to tea."
Cai Yan was puzzled and argued: "But sesame oil is always added to tea at home."
Wei Cheng had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "My tea is different from others. Try drinking it the way I do first. If you're not used to it, you can add whatever you want next time."
Then, Cai Yan was surprised to discover how refreshing the taste of jasmine tea with just a little rock sugar was added, and she fell in love with this taste ever since.
I spent half the morning happily.
Wei Cheng remembered the yellow mud he had started collecting last night, so he notified Cai Yan and went to the temporary construction site on the southeast side of the mountain top alone.
The northwest wind blows all year round in Luliang Mountain, so the construction site was built in this direction to prevent the thick smoke from burning bricks from polluting the villagers' respiratory tract. You must know that yellow mud contains a lot of heavy metals, and the thick smoke generated at high temperatures is not a good thing.
thing.
Hao Dadao got busy here early in the morning.
The women in the village were also so busy that they were sweating profusely. They were not in the habit of eating breakfast. They were able to eat two meals a day thanks to Wei Qing, who gave them a large amount of grain. Before that, they could eat breakfast a day.
Only one meal.
The old woman who was in charge of cooking cooked a pot of mixed fish soup on the side. The fish was caught by Hutou and other young men. A little gnocchi was added to the fish soup, and some wild vegetables were added to fill the stomach.
Wei Cheng frowned. He felt like he wasn't full after eating like this. Transporting mud and wood was a strenuous job. How could eating such a small amount of food outweigh the consumption? If he really ate and worked like this, everyone would be overdrawing their own vitality. It was so easy.
It hurts the roots.
Wei Cheng immediately decided and asked Sanniang and Xiao'e to make steamed cakes. Compared with steamed buns, thick steamed cakes can fill the stomach more, and multigrain cakes are rich in dietary fiber. For people who do heavy physical work, they are more filling than steamed buns.
Refined flour is more nutritious and beneficial.
Moreover, the grains for making steamed cakes are all sent by Wei's. You can just ask them to deliver them after you finish eating. With that set of glasses, I think I can get a lot of good things in exchange.
Amid the grateful compliments from the women, Wei Cheng found Hao Dadao.
Similarly, when he learned that Wei Cheng was going to provide extra meals to the villagers, Hao Dadao, as the leader of the village and the clan leader, was naturally very grateful.
Wei Cheng interrupted him and said: "Uncle Da Dao, there is a lot of yellow mud accumulated now. We can try to burn some bricks first. I only know a rough idea of the specific formula. I guess it will take a lot of trial and error to find the right one."
The ratio.”
Baking bricks is not just about using yellow mud. The metal content of the clay also plays a vital role. Not all loess is suitable for burning bricks. Just like burning porcelain, why is the porcelain in Jingdezhen in later generations so good?
It is closely related to the local soil quality...
Hao Dadao nodded and said with some enthusiasm: "We will do whatever the young master says. As long as we can make everyone live this cold winter well, I, Hao Dadao, will jump into the furnace and sacrifice bricks."
Wei Cheng said with a smile: "It's not that exaggerated. It's not sword-making. It's really hard for people to sacrifice it. Those are all legends and have no trace."
Hao Dadao scratched his head and said suspiciously: "Really? But my master told me that many famous swords in history were sacrificed by humans, such as Moye Sword, Xuanyuan Sword, and Jing Ke's Canhong Sword. They were all made by humans.
To offer sacrifices."
"Do you still have a master?" Wei Cheng asked curiously.
Hao Dadao showed a look of reminiscence on his face and replied: "There must be a master, otherwise my skills would not be able to grow out of thin air. I and his father, Chengtou, were the same master. I studied metallurgy, and his father, Chengtou, studied carpentry."
, there was originally a mason, Hu Tou’s father, but it’s a pity that he died trying to cover our escape, otherwise he must know how to bake bricks.”
Mentioning the rebellion between soldiers and bandits, Hao Dadao felt a little depressed, and Wei Cheng couldn't comfort him. She could only wait for him to calm down a little, and then asked: "Then your master must know how to bake bricks. How do you do it?"
Don’t you want to ask?”
Hao Dadao shook his head and explained: "Three years ago, the imperial court sent someone to find my master and asked him to go to Luoyang to help build the palace. My master refused to go and escaped with his little junior sister overnight, saying that if we are destined to meet again in this life, we will definitely meet him again."
.”
"I see, that's a pity." Wei Cheng sighed, feeling that the identity of Master Hao Dadao must not be simple, otherwise the imperial court would not send people to look for him. This proves that he has real ability.
Qin bricks and Han tiles were not invented by ancient craftsmen, but the craftsmanship skills that have been tested for thousands of years and are vividly displayed in front of the world. How many experts and scholars in later generations have studied them for half a lifetime and still don’t know why they are so awesome.
Let’s get back to the point, since we can’t find such a talented person, we still have to build a house.
Wei Cheng doesn't know how to bake bricks, but there are similar videos on the Internet, such as the Australian guy.
Following the instructions of the Australian brother, Wei Cheng first asked Hao Dadao to make a measured mold, and then asked people to collect plant fibers and mix them into the yellow mud to increase the toughness of the finished product.
It took about noon to make more than 2,000 pieces of yellow clay bricks. After that, they were left to cool and air-dry, and then baked at high temperature to determine the quality. Due to limited conditions, the first batch of red bricks was fired first.
More durable blue bricks will be discussed later.
After a busy day, as the sun was setting, cheers came from the lift platform.
Wei Teng and Hao Dadao knew that Chengtou and Hao Zhao should be back.
When they came to the lift platform, they were back, as expected, with about twenty people from the Wei family, pulling a carriage full of goods.
When he saw Wei Cheng, he handed him a letter and said: "Sir, your father asked me to hand this to you personally. Your father also said that you should go back and have a look later. Everything at home is fine, so you don't have to."
Concerned."
Wei Cheng took the letter and stuffed it into his arms, nodded and said, "Is everything going well on the road?"
Zhengtou felt excited all of a sudden, and he nodded hurriedly and replied: "Good, good, Zhao Kuai and I hurried on, and it took more than an hour to arrive at your residence. The concierge heard that we were delivering a letter for you, so he immediately let us
I met the third master."
"Third Master?" Wei Cheng was stunned.
Zhengtou explained: "It's the one who came last time. Outsiders call him Uncle Wen, and he calls your father-in-law, so of course he is the third master."
Bo, Zhong, Uncle, Ji, and Wei Qing nodded slightly. This was the truth. He didn't expect that the handsome sword-wielding young man was his adopted brother. No wonder he respected himself so much at that time and had such a relationship.
Zhengtou continued: "Your Majesty wanted to keep the set of jade crystal cups at first. Thanks to the third master's words, he took us to exchange the jade crystal cups with us. Hahaha, sir, do you know that this
We got a lot of good things this time, the Third Master was so sharp-tongued that those big business owners were stunned for a moment after being deceived."
Wei Cheng looked at the carriage that was unloading. In addition to the boxes he wanted, there was also a large amount of grain and cloth. Now the villagers' food, clothing and shelter were all provided. Once the brick and tile houses were built, everyone really wouldn't need them this winter.
Sad.
Hao Dadao was silly and happy on the side, listening to Hao Zhao's talk, and said with admiration: "This is all thanks to the young master, that set of jade crystal cups must be priceless, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people fighting for it, young master
You are willing to exchange it for us, you are really righteous."
Hao Zhao repeatedly expressed his agreement and looked at Wei Cheng with seven points of respect and three points of admiration.
At this time, a steward sent by the Wei family came over holding a wooden box.
The steward walked up to Wei Cheng, bowed respectfully, and said: "Wei Han has met the second master, and here are the objects that the second master wants. The third master said that he chose a few exquisitely crafted pieces to put alone, and the others
They are all put in the box that the second master asked for."
Wei Cheng took the box, opened the lid and took a look, and took a deep breath on the spot.