The moment he looked back at the black door, Yan Shikuan suddenly understood why Xu Yue's big mouth was so powerful. It was inherited from her mother!
Yan Shikuan, who had come here with an inquiring mind, suddenly became infinitely curious about Zhuangzi.
He wanted to see if there were any surprises in the Xu family that he didn't know about.
After passing the gate, the bullock cart slowly drove into the mountain col.
Smooth roads are not something worth paying attention to. After all, there are no such things outside, especially in bustling big cities. The roads are not only smooth, but also paved with bluestones.
Yan Shikuan had lived in the old capital Luoyang for a long time and had seen the prosperity of Daqing. Ordinary things could no longer attract his attention.
When everyone walked out of the mountain col, they saw a large area of neatly manicured fields.
It’s not yet the busy season for spring plowing. Usually at this time, farmers are busy repairing farm tools at home, or lying down to reduce food consumption.
To put it bluntly, it means doing nothing.
But things are very different in Xujiazhuang. As soon as the three-day annual holiday is over, everyone can’t wait to get into production work.
Now there are bean mills, arsenals, textile factories, and charcoal factories in the village. A lot of manpower is needed everywhere, and the manpower in Zhuangzi alone is not enough.
Wang has made preparations. When the weather gets warmer, she will lead her subordinates to go out. While rushing to dispose of the last batch of smokeless charcoal produced before the arrival of spring, she will also collect the scattered refugees along the road.
come over.
The news of Xu Yue's group returning attracted the attention of busy workers everywhere, but everyone was busy with their own work and did not have much energy to pay attention to them. They only glanced at them briefly and then turned around and went into production.
Yan Shikuan looked at these busy villagers in surprise. Following their busy figures, he discovered the industrial zone in the southeast corner.
The first thing that comes into view is the iron smelting blast furnace and the large windmill driven by water flow outside the textile factory.
Seeing these things, Yan Shikuan acted quite calmly. After all, it was not that he had never seen them before.
But when they caught a glimpse of the neat clothes and vigorous energy of the people coming and going, the three masters and disciples, who had seen too many numb expressions, were all startled.
He couldn't remember whether he had seen such a mental outlook before.
Perhaps, when this dynasty was at its most powerful, it would be difficult to encounter such a look.
Especially Yan Shikuan, who had seen countless dark sides of this dynasty, when he caught a glimpse of the hope for the future bursting out of those eyes, his heart surged, and he felt astonished that he was suddenly out of this world.
If he hadn't just walked through the deserted village, he almost thought he had returned to the heyday of the past.
"What are they doing?" Cui Yuanqi asked.
Xu Yue replied: "Work, many factories have been built on the village. Everyone can work in the factory and earn food with their own hands. Each person can earn an average of 8 work points per day. They can buy clothes, food, and other things at the canteen in the village.
Other daily necessities.”
Guang Luhai curiously asked: "How much food can be exchanged for these 8... work points?"
Just as a group of villagers came down from the mountain carrying burned charcoal, Xu Yue caught the leader Shitou and asked him to answer Guang Luhai's question.
Since the opening of the night school, Shitou has not missed a class. He has learned the basic mathematics taught in the junior class very well, and he immediately said:
"Five work points can be exchanged for one kilogram of grain, eight work points is 1.6 kilograms of grain, and one kilogram is sixteen taels, and the proportion of 0.6 is nine taels and six cents, so the total is one kilogram, nine taels and six cents of grain."
After saying that, he confidently asked Xu Yue: "Miss Third, am I right?"
Xu Yue nodded, gave him a thumbs up, and waved her hand for him to continue working.
After Shitou and others left, Xu Yue turned to Guang Luhai, whose jaw was about to drop in shock and said:
"It's 1.6 pounds. If you leave out the tail, it counts as one and a half pounds. But everyone is smarter now, so you have to count that little bit."
Guanglu Hai was stunned for a long time. After he came to his senses, he looked at Xu Yue, who was less than his waist height, in surprise, "Can you still plan?"
How old is this young lady from the Xu family? She is almost as big as him in this calculation.
No, I'm afraid it's even better than him who has been studying for several years.
Xu Yue nodded and said modestly: "It's just average, far worse than my father and mother, but it's more than enough to teach villagers how to use it every day."
"Zhuang Min?" Cui Yuan's eyes were a little confused, "Aren't these people slaves of Miss Xu's family?"
"What are they wearing...?" Cui Yuan also noticed that Shitou and others looked messy, but they should be quite warm.
Xu Yue replied: "It's a woolen sweater."
Then he continued to answer his previous question and explained: "They were originally free people. They were exiled here due to war and plague. Zhuangzi's previous owner secretly bought them and made them slaves."
"My mother-in-law said that people should be equal, with only differences in levels of responsibility, so we don't have slaves here."
Cui Yuan frowned at this rhetoric that put the slaves on the same footing as himself and others.
However, Yan Shikuan nodded slightly, and Guang Luhai clapped his hands and said, "Yes! That's how it should be!"
"Miss Xu, after hearing what you said, I can't wait to meet Mrs. Xu." Guang Luhai said excitedly.
He was a man of temperament and didn't have so many scruples about what he said, but he didn't realize how out of line his words were in this era of strict etiquette.
Yan Shikuan immediately coughed twice, and then Guang Luhai realized what he was doing and quickly handed over his hands to plead guilty to Xu Da.
Xu Da waved his hand, knowing that the young man was just curious and had no other intentions, so he signaled that he didn't need to explain.
But if you want to see Mrs. Wang, you have to wait until the evening when everyone gets off work.
Xu Yue explained that everyone in the family has their own things to do. My mother-in-law, brother, and sister are all busy at their respective posts and will not come back until after get off work. They will have to wait until evening to see each other. arrive.
After get off work, this is another new word. Guang Luhai counted it. From entering the black iron door to now, he has learned no less than ten new words that he has never heard before.
But as the Romans do, my host said I can't see you until evening, so I'll see you in the evening.
Everyone stopped riding in the bullock cart and walked towards the Xu family mansion while watching.
When I walked to the big tree in front of the house, it was just when the school was over and lunch was served, and an attractive aroma of vegetables wafted over, attracting everyone's attention.
Xu Yue was afraid that they wouldn't be interested. Since she was curious, she would take them to see the food in their cafeteria.
Although it is not a delicious delicacy, the dishes fried in boiling oil in an iron pot are much better than those steamed in a clay pot by the Yan family chef.
Xu Da enthusiastically invited: "It's lunch time in the school. Why don't you all follow me to the cafeteria and have lunch with the children? Let them meet the famous Yan Daru."
