The paddle steamer headed towards Yangzhou. Addison hid in the cabin to study the radio. Liu Ziguang and Peng Jinrong counted the silver notes and gold coins. The debt owed by the Ministry of Revenue was one million taels, and the fund given by the little emperor was five hundred thousand.
Two, after deducting the money from the small robbery and the ransacking of the homes of the officials of the Ministry of War, it was given to Zhu Youxiao and various expenses, and there were still 180,000 taels. In addition to the 300,000 taels from the stolen goods just sold, the total was one hundred and ninety.
Eighty thousand taels. Among them, 1.56 million taels belong to Liu Ziguang, which is a huge wealth.
Liu Ziguang counted the banknotes over and over again, thinking about how to spend them. Peng Jinrong said worriedly: "There was such a big fuss about salvaging the Hunjiang dragon just now. It won't take long for Dongchang to find out that Lu Song has been in contact with us. Wen Juan and the others
It would be troublesome if we were stopped, and we would also be traced out when the time comes."
"Although Dongchang is all-pervasive, its intelligence analysis ability is very weak, and the submarine does not have the words "Song Dynasty Navy" written on it. By the time they figure out what happened, Wen Jun may have taken the painting to the sea. Let's go back.
It will benefit the country. Although Dongchang does not need any evidence to arrest people, it is limited to the capital and some provincial cities controlled by the imperial court. Once they reach our own territory, they will have to think carefully if they want to take action."
"Yes, the imperial court has been governing the government in recent years, and the government decrees have not been passed. Last year, several Dongchang gangsters were beaten to death by workers from the Zhizhi Mansion when they were recruiting people in Suzhou. There will never be a horse riding around like in the Zhengde period. The world
It’s a turbulent scene, especially since the emperor is far away and powerful, so I don’t take them seriously.”
Smooth sailing, we arrived at Hongze Lake all the way. Looking at the vast lake surface and the dotted white sails, we couldn't help but think of the delicious little fish Gutai on the shore of the lake, the beautiful fisherman girl Zeng Cheng, and the bully who we haven't met yet.
Ma Wencai was the one who burned down the house, Master Ma. By the way, we still have to seek justice from Ma Wencai, and now the time has come.
I went to the bridge and gave the captain an explanation. When passing by the fishing village where Zeng's mother and daughter lived, I stopped for a while and went ashore to visit my old friends.
When the group went ashore and asked, people in the fishing village said that the Zeng family and their daughter had moved to Hongze County for fear of being harassed by the Ma family again. Liu Ziguang was slightly disappointed and silently wished the poor mother and daughter a stable life from now on.
Peaceful days. Now that we have come, we cannot return without success. We selected ten people from the bodyguards, three or four of whom were habitual bandits, and ordered them to disguise themselves and go to Huaiyin County to burn down the Ma family.
, rob what should be robbed, kill what should be killed, and then take the overland road back to the iron factory to meet up.
We boarded the ship and continued on our way. Addison came over the cabin and hesitated to say something. Liu Ziguang told him that it was okay to speak frankly. It turned out that his uncle was a scholar in Hongze County. He was passing by and wanted to visit him, but he was afraid of delaying his trip, so
Liu Ziguang was embarrassed to speak, but Liu Ziguang knew that he had now received a large sum of money to develop his ambitions, and wanted to share it with his uncle. Why not satisfy this understandable vanity?
Now she went to discuss with Peng Jingrong, and the eldest lady smiled and said: "I'm afraid it's not just to satisfy Mr. Ai's vanity, it seems that the fisherman girl someone misses also lives in Hongze County..."
There was a slight sourness in his voice. Liu Ziguang knew very well that the descriptions were getting darker and darker, so he did not dare to argue, so Noonuo left.
Hongze County is close to the lake and there is a relatively large passenger and cargo terminal. The paddle steamer arrived at the terminal to add coal and have lunch. After the meal, Liu Ziguang took Addison into the city to visit relatives and friends. The two ladies were a little tired and rested on the boat.
.
Liu Ziguang and Addison were wearing wide robes, long-sleeved green shirts, square scarves on their heads, and folding fans in their hands. They looked like two elegant scholars who had read poetry and books. They were walking on the antique stone road of the small town with white walls and blue tiles.
Paying attention to it, I asked someone casually and found out where Master Xueyu Song's residence was.
The county town is really small. It's just a short walk away. It's said to be a mansion, but it's actually just a shabby little house. As soon as he entered the courtyard and walked to the door, Liu Ziguang was just about to say goodbye and go find the Zeng family's mother and daughter alone, when he suddenly heard Addison sigh with emotion.
"I wonder if my uncle has finished writing "Tiangong Kaiwu"." He immediately stopped and asked, "What book did your uncle write? What is its title?"
"My third uncle's surname is Song, his given name is Yingxing, and his courtesy name is Chang Geng. He came third in the provincial examination in the 43rd year of Wanli in Jiangxi Province. He started writing "Tiangong Kaiwu" before he went to Hongze to serve as a scholar. I don't know how far he has gotten to this time. Why?
"My benefactor knows my uncle?" Addison wondered.
"I've heard of it. Let's go with you to see the old man." Liu Ziguang waved his hand. The author of the largest encyclopedia in ancient China was so famous that he didn't expect to meet him here. Of course he wanted to pay his respects.
one time.
Knocking lightly on the courtyard door, a teenage boy came to open the door. When he saw it was Addison, he shouted in surprise: "Dad, it's Brother Cong here!" Addison grabbed the boy and said, "I haven't seen you for a few days, Sir.
Brother Hui has grown so tall."
A middle-aged man in his forties came out of the back hall when he heard the voice, still holding a writing brush in his hand. He was very surprised when he saw that his nephew had come with a guest, and he hurriedly called him into the house to watch tea.
After entering the main room, the guests and hosts were seated. The child ran to his mother in the side room to report that he would boil water for tea. Here Addison introduced to his uncle: General Liu is my nephew's great benefactor. Not only did he save his life, but he also
It was a blessing. Then he explained in detail what happened at the Mochou Lake Conference that day and how he helped redeem the property and house and invested one hundred thousand taels in research and development.
"As expected, he is the benefactor of our Ai and Song families." Song Yingxing left his seat and bowed deeply to Liu Ziguang. "I wonder where General Liu is a general?" Having traveled for many years, he knew that these days generals are not only found in the imperial court, but also in local powerful armed forces.
There are also many generals.
Liu Ziguang stood up and returned the salute: "I am the deputy general of the guard of Xuzhou Prefecture Liguo Iron Works. I have heard for a long time that Mr. Song was familiar with classics, history and hundreds of books. He traveled all over the country and had profound research on farming, smelting, weaving, vehicles, ships and weapons. I am
I admire you very much. If I meet you today, I must ask for advice."
Song Yingxing stroked his beard and said with a smile: "So he is the general of the Liguo Iron Works. I have been a steel-smelter in your iron work for half a year. I have to say that your factory owner Peng is a wizard. The steel-making furnace he invented made the Ming Dynasty
The amount of steel produced in the country suddenly increased tenfold. It was precisely with such sharp steel weapons and armor that the imperial army was able to hold off the Manchu Tatars for so many years. I became this scholar just to have some leisure time and a meager salary.
, I happened to be concentrating on writing a book at home. I wrote this "Tiangong Kaiwu" also to enable the various technologies of the Ming Dynasty to be passed down and benefit future generations. You see..." As he said this, he turned back to the bookcase and picked up a pile of books.
Show the draft to the two of you.
"Most of the six chapters in the first volume of "Tiangong Kaiwu" are related to agriculture. "Nai Li" mainly discusses the planting, cultivation technology and production of rice, wheat, millet, millet, beam, millet, hemp, bean (bean) and other food crops.
Tools, including various water conservancy and irrigation machinery, and a detailed introduction to Jiangnan rice cultivation technology.
"Naifu" includes production technologies such as sericulture, silk reeling, silk weaving, cotton spinning, linen spinning and wool spinning, as well as tools and equipment, with special focus on the advanced sericulture technologies and silk spinning and cotton spinning technologies in Jiaxing and Huzhou, Zhejiang, and draws on
Draw up the structural diagram of a large-scale jacquard machine.
"Chang Shi" introduces plant dyes and dyeing techniques, focusing on indigo cultivation and indigo extraction, as well as the process of extracting dyes from safflower, and also involves the color matching of various dyes and mordant dyeing methods.
"Quijing" describes crop processing technologies such as rice and wheat harvesting, threshing and grinding, focusing on the windmills, water mills, stone mills, soil rice mills, wood rice mills and flour mills, etc. for processing rice.
"Zuo Xian" discusses sea salt, pond salt, well salt and other salt production areas and salt production technology, especially sea salt and well salt.
"Gan Xi" describes sugar cane cultivation, sugar pressing and sugar making techniques and tools, as well as honey and sweetmeats.
There are seven chapters in the middle volume, most of which deal with handicraft techniques. "Pottery" describes the manufacturing and tools of bricks and tiles used in house construction and ceramics (especially white porcelain and celadon) used in daily life, from raw material preparation, blank making, glazing to finishing.
Kiln sintering is explained.
"Metal Casting" is the most detailed record of traditional Chinese casting technology, focusing on the casting technology and equipment of copper bells, iron pots and copper coins, including the three basic methods of lost wax, solid mold and moldless casting.
"Boats and Cars" specializes in related means of transportation. It first uses data to indicate the structural components and materials of each ship and vehicle, and also explains the driving methods of various ships and vehicles, such as the principles and manufacturing of steam trains and steam ships.
"Hammer Forging" systematically discusses the forging process of iron and copperware, ranging from large iron anchors weighing ten thousand pounds to slender embroidery needles, as well as the manufacturing of various production tools such as axes, chisels, hoes, saws, as well as welding and metal heat treatment.
Other metal processing techniques have also been discussed.
"Burnstone" involves burning lime, coal mining, burning alumite, and arsenic technology. It also discusses the classification of coal, mining, and underground safety operations.
"Ointment" introduces the oil production rate of sixteen kinds of oil crops, the properties and uses of oil, as well as the techniques and tools for extracting oil by pressing and water substitution. It also talks about the preparation method of tallow bark oil and the use of tallow bark.
The technique of making candles from oil.
"Zhaqing" discusses the types, raw materials and uses of paper, and discusses in detail the complete set of technology and equipment for making bamboo paper and leather paper, with production operation diagrams attached.
The second volume has five chapters, also belonging to industry. "Hardware" discusses the mining, washing, smelting and separation technology of gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc and other metal ores, as well as steel filling and various copper alloys.
Smelting, including drawings based on the blast furnace of the Liguo Iron Works.
"Good Soldiers" involves the manufacturing technology of bows, arrows, crossbows, and other weapons as well as chariots and warships.
"Danqing" mainly describes the manufacturing technology of using pine smoke and oil fume to make ink and silver vermilion for pigments. The products are used in the study room.
"Qu He" describes the raw materials, proportions, manufacturing techniques and product uses of distiller's sake, medicinal divine song and Danqu.
"Pearls and Jade" describes pearl fishing in the South China Sea and jade mining in the Hotan area of Xinjiang. It also talks about the methods and processing techniques of underground gem mining, including agate, crystal and colored glaze.
Liu Ziguang was very shocked. It turned out to be a big encyclopedia. The hundreds of thousands of words were written by this ancient scientist. He had personally practiced and learned every technology. He had traveled tens of thousands of miles over the years. Such a masterpiece.
It was completed in a small, dilapidated yard in Hongze County, which is really sad.
Addison and nephew Song Yingxing had countless scientific issues to discuss as soon as they met, and Liu Ziguang's exquisite and forward-looking ideas from time to time made them even more impressed. Time passed very fast in the warm academic atmosphere, and unknowingly
It had been an entire afternoon when Song Yingxing's eldest son Shi Hui ran over and said, "Dad, Mom said she wanted to keep brother Cong with the guests for dinner, and asked you how much money you want to buy rice."
Song Yingxing glanced out the window, which was already a little dark. He reached out and touched in his sleeves, and found only two or three copper coins. He retracted his hand in embarrassment, said "Sister, please" and walked into the back hall.
After a while, Song Yingxing's low voice and the woman's slightly sharp high-pitched voice came from the back hall, words such as "wine... rice... gold hairpin... dowry". Addison smiled awkwardly and explained to Liu Ziguang:
: "My third uncle is a generous man, and he likes to make friends with farmers and workers. The salary of the county magistrate is very low, and he often uses it to help people. This is not the first time that he has quarreled with my aunt because she has no rice to cook."
Poor but great scientist! Liu Ziguang took out a fifty-tael silver note and gave it to Addison and said, "It's inconvenient for me to come forward. You, the nephew, go ahead. When you get rich, you should also honor your uncle and aunt. Dinner will be served
Don’t eat at home, let’s go to a restaurant in the county town for a few drinks.”
Addison didn't take the banknote and said that I had already prepared it here. He took out a stack of large-denomination banknotes and went into the back hall. After talking for a while, the three of them came out. The lady of the Song family had something to eat. It looked like she had something to eat.
I didn't enjoy much happiness following Song Yingxing, but I was still very happy after I had just received money from my nephew. I gave gifts to the guests and said that I would cook for the children. It was not easy for women to show their faces, so they stopped going to restaurants to eat and let them
The three of them left alone.
The three of them left the house and went straight to the best restaurant in the county. They talked while walking. When they reached a street corner, they saw many people watching something on the side of the road. They could vaguely hear the screams of drunken men and women.
He scolded. Song Yingxing shook his head: "The scoundrels in the capital only kick down widows' doors in the middle of the night. It's better here. They come to bully widows and orphans as soon as it gets dark."
Liu Ziguang said nothing and walked straight towards the crowd, because his keen hearing system told him that the woman's voice was consistent with the voice of Zeng Cheng's mother Zeng's wife in the memory bank.