Before Zhu Kui went to Xiliang, his wife Shu Shuer
She was already three months pregnant, and during this ten-month pregnancy, she gave birth to a pair of twins, a pair of boys. Unfortunately, they were not identical twins, but fraternal twins, so although the two brothers had somewhat similar facial features, it was easy to tell them apart.
The name "Hong" and "Wu" were inspired by Liu Bei's creation. His adopted son Liu Feng and his eldest son Liu Chan were determined not to forget their ambition to become a world leader. Zhu Kui was also like this, always reminding himself of his ambition to become a powerful figure in the world.
Zhu Kui picked up his two sons, kissed them on each side, and said, "Are you good today? Where is your mother?"
"Mother! Mother!" the child yelled, turning his head and looking around, but couldn't find it, and suddenly started crying.
Zhu Kui comforted him, put him down, let the maids hold him, and asked: "Where is the eldest lady?"
"Madam, she went to stew some lotus seed porridge and sent it to the third lady. She should be talking to the third lady now."
"The two young masters were clamoring for daddy just now. The servants had no choice but to take them to play here at the gate and did not dare to take them out."
The two maids, you and I, kept talking. Zhu Kui was very kind to the servants in his house on weekdays. The two of them reported the incident very casually. They picked up a handkerchief to wipe the tears on the child's face while talking.
The so-called third lady is Zhang Liu, a girl from the same village as Zhu Kui when he was young. After returning from Xiliang, under the order of the old man Zhu Laoshi, he took a concubine. More than a month ago, she was pregnant, but only Zhao Xin was two years old.
After too many times, there was no movement in my stomach, and my mother, Mrs. Chen, complained a lot.
In fact, this is normal. During the Han Dynasty, people paid great attention to having luxuriant heirs. If they could support them, the more they could have children, the better. The eldest brother, Zhu Meng, had a wife and three concubines, and gave birth to two boys and one girl. The male son in the family
Two became six, and Zhu Laoshi was naturally very happy. His wish was very simple. His family had finally become a famous family, so he naturally hoped to maintain it forever, and heirs were the greatest guarantee for the continuation of the family.
No matter which aristocratic family, the first priority is to seek more children, followed by quality.
After Zhu Kui got married, his two brothers no longer lived in the same mansion. They also bought a large house in Moling County and ran a medicinal materials business. He had farming experience, so Zhu Kui suggested learning to grow medicinal materials, which was met with great success.
A few days ago, his eldest son was five years old. He went to Zhang Hong to ask for an audience and wanted to worship his son as his disciple. This nephew was quite smart. Zhang Hong was overjoyed and accepted him as his disciple and lived in the Zhang family.
The Yuan family did not know about the conspiracy between the Yuan family and the governor of Liyang. He went to Liyang for two days and did not tell anything.
"You go and take the two young masters to their mothers first. I will go there later and ask someone to find Wang Zhong for me. Wait for him in the study.
Then he touched his son's head and walked to the right corridor.
In the study, Zhu Kui sat in front of the desk, rubbed his temples, and thought about the Liyang Prefecture, and whether there were any mistakes. After a while, he picked up the Jade Lion paperweight, pulled out a piece of white paper, and folded it in half.
Tear it into long strips, pick up a pen and write: "The beginning and the end can be used for coercion, but not for use."
He picked it up and blew it to dry the ink. At this moment, a voice came from outside: "My lord, is he here? Wang Zhong wants to see you."
"Come in!" A faint young man's voice sounded.
After Wang Zhong came to the study, he first bowed and saw Zhu Kui blowing the note gently, then putting it back and holding it down with a jade lion. He didn't dare to speak first. When he raised his head again, he said: "I don't know, Lord."
, what are your instructions for summoning your subordinates? In fact, my subordinates also have something to report here."
"It's nothing. You arranged the spies from the Liyang Prefecture this time very well, and they brought me the news in a timely manner. I hope that we can reach this level in the entire Jiangdong territory in the future, not just in Liyang."….
"Yes, my subordinates are doing their best. In fact, it is the master who is wise and created the system of buying information. For example, for the disciples of the prefect's mansion, the master does not ask them to join us as core members. He only talks about the price and buys. One hand pays the money and the other hand
Goods, such mediocre people think that after the matter is over, they have nothing to do with each other. Don't you know that we have all filed a record. It doesn't matter if it only happens once or twice, as time goes by, you will never be able to get rid of it." Wang Zhong said with more admiration,
The more frightened he became, he began to numb his lord's various astonishing and novel ideas.
"Okay, Demou, you've become more and more flattering to me recently. How's the pigeon training going?" Zhu Kui asked.
"My lord, my subordinates have conducted training according to my lord's book on homing pigeon domestication. The results are very good. No matter they are separated by thousands of mountains and rivers or high mountains, they must return to the place they are familiar with and live. Their natural instinct is to return home.
, is incomparable to other birds. I have compared it with sparrows, and there are errors. Only pigeons can accurately find their nests every time ten times."
"It's just that the training is still quite time-consuming. The neighboring prefectures and counties have already completed it. There is still a slight difference between the counties in Jiangdong. As for things like Luoyang, please give your subordinates some more time."
The use of carrier pigeons to convey messages has been around for a long time in China. It is rumored that Zhang Qian and Ban Chao also used pigeons to convey messages when they were sent to the Western Regions. However, there is no clear record of this. Perhaps it is not systematic and no special training and breeding have been formed. Zhu Kui
For so many years in the Han Dynasty, I have never heard of anyone domesticating pigeons for a living. They were just birds killed by hunters.
The real written record of pigeons delivering messages is from the Tang Dynasty. After the Five Dynasties, Zhou Wang Renyu included a chapter on "Pigeons delivering messages" in his book "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao". The book said: "When Zhang Jiuling was a boy, he raised a group of pigeons at home, and every time he communicated with his relatives,
Letters were exchanged only on the feet of doves with letters tied to them. They flew to the places where they were taught, and their nine-year-old eyes became flying slaves. Everyone at that time was amazed."
It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty was an era when pigeons were used to deliver letters.
"This is not something that happens overnight. I understand. You guys should take your time." Zhu Kui waved his hand to express his understanding and then said, "By the way, what did you say you were reporting?"
"Like this, my lord, the repeating crossbow cart has been built. Yesterday, in the arsenal, after years of research, the crossbow cart that fired ten arrows in a row was finally assembled. It was tested and fired. It can reach four hundred steps. It's a pity that this
The products are so delicate that the Wu brothers estimate that they can produce at least 10 cars in one month." Wang Zhong said happily.
"Thank you for your hard work. The Liannu chariot is a technical profession. I believe the Wu brothers will become more and more comfortable with it. The speed will increase in the future. There is no rush now. It is just a matter of recruiting craftsmen. Don't stop. The list will continue to be posted.
.As for the craftsmen who made the repeating ballista, each of them was given ten taels of silver."
"Yes, my lord, I have written it down." Wang Zhong replied.
In fact, the best craftsmen in the world are in Luoyang, in the imperial palace, which is the center of the country after all. Even if Confucian scholars do not pay attention to craftsmanship, they still produce geniuses like Zhang Heng who created the seismometer.
It's a pity that Zhu Kui couldn't blatantly ask Emperor Ling for craftsmen, so he could only settle for the second best, recruiting private craftsmen for many years, hoping to be able to scouring the sand and take out gold. Not to mention, he has actually found many upper-level craftsmen in recent years.
, on par with the Wu brothers, but in different areas of expertise.
"If there is nothing else, I will resign."
Seeing Zhu Kui suddenly knocking on the table, Wang Zhong knew that this was a habit of the other person when he was thinking about things over the years, so he resigned.
"Well, it's okay, you go down."
"etc!"
Zhu Kuiyou stopped him and said, "Tomorrow, ask two people to take the ballista to the back of the academy. Then they will wait for me there."
"Yes, my lord, I resign!"
After Wang Zhong left, Zhu Kui looked at the roof and suddenly whispered to himself: "Lian Nu Cha, Mo family, it seems that you should have more drawings. It is time to hand them over tomorrow."
Then, Zhu Kui stretched out his neck and limbs, stood up, picked up the note he had just written under the paperweight, and walked to the screen behind him.
Behind the screen, there was actually a door, which was locked. After a while of groping, I found a copper key from my pocket.
"squeak"
I gently opened the door and walked in. There were no windows in the room, and the light was a bit dim, but there was no dust. It was obviously taken care of regularly.
He walked to the lamppost, took the fire stick, and lit the lamp.