Kuai Zheng drank a glass of wine, thought for a while, and then left.
No one knew what the purpose of his trip was. However, in the eyes of outsiders, Kuai Zheng's arrival seemed to herald the rise of Deng Ji. Especially seeing the cordial conversation between Kuai Zheng and Cao Peng, it was even more convincing.
He understood his previous thoughts and looked at Cao Peng with a hint of respect in his eyes.
Although Kuai Zheng was just a county magistrate, behind him there was a behemoth, the Kuai family.
"Have you seen that Cao Langjun and Magistrate Kuai are equals... When have you ever seen Magistrate Kuai become so intimate with someone?"
"Yes, when Old Madam Deng saw Magistrate Kuai, he was also very respectful.
I have never seen Magistrate Kuai treat Old Madam Deng like this. The third child is going to be prosperous this time! Based on the relationship between Cao Langjun and Magistrate Kuai, Deng Cai cannot be compared with him.
.Haha, yesterday I saw Mrs. Ma at the entrance of the village. She still had ointment on her face. I saw people walking with their heads lowered. Is there still the style of Mrs. Ma from earlier? It really made me laugh to death. "
"If I had known this, why did I do it in the first place?"
"Yes, the old lady seems to be the same as before, but I guess it's because the old lady can't bear to lose face. If it were anyone else, she would have lost face to Mrs. Ma... The old lady is good at everything.
He is just soft-hearted and indulges Deng Cai too much..."
The conversation among the villagers gradually shifted from Deng Ji to Old Mrs. Deng.
Then from Grandpa Deng, we talked about General Deng... From General Deng, we talked about Zhang Xiu, and finally returned to the farming work in the coming year.
After Cao Peng saw Kuai Zheng off, he went back to his house to rest!
Cao Ji and Deng Ji were responsible for greeting people outside. The banquet lasted until evening, and only the cups and plates were in a mess, which was considered the end of the banquet.
Mrs. Hong found someone to tidy up the courtyard.
Mrs. Zhang and Cao Nan brought Mrs. Hong into the house and forced Mrs. Hong to have some money. Then the Zhang family and the Li family started gossiping...until the moonlight rose above the willow branches, and Mrs. Hong left with everyone satisfied.
After leaving, the Cao family members who had been busy all day were also tired. Deng Ji planned to go back to the county government to do work the next day, so he took a rest early. Although Zhang and his daughter were a little tired, they were in high spirits.
The mother and daughter had endless whispers, so they simply slept on the same bed and started whispering in the room.
Cao Peng is tired too!
But his fatigue was not only physical but also mental.
In the eyes of others, he seems to have unlimited glory. However, he has his own affairs, and the pressure he endures is beyond the imagination of outsiders.
Cao Peng was gambling, and at the same time he was convinced that Pang Ji would approve of his actions. Even if Pang Ji didn't agree, wouldn't there still be Sima Decao?
As long as one of the two of them nods, the matter of pretending to be a disciple of the Lu Clan can be overturned.
Cao Peng had this confidence, but before he had a definite answer, he was still a little nervous... He could clearly see the purpose of Kuai Zheng's visit today. On the surface, Kuai Zheng came to congratulate him, but in fact, it was also his last test.
I want to see Cao Peng's reaction.
Fortunately, Cao Peng answered appropriately at the time: I sent someone to Xiangyang three days ago!
At least for now, Kuai Zheng will not have any reaction.
Now, all he has to do is wait, wait, wait again...
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, private education was very popular. There were famous scholars like Zheng Xuan at the top, and dissatisfied officials at the bottom went home to teach. In short, people had far more opportunities to come into contact with learning than before. The current trend is to recruit talented people.
It was a pleasure to teach him. I must be considered a talented person in the eyes of people like Sima Decao. Based on this, Cao Peng felt very confident.
It's been hard these past few days exercising my body and strengthening my muscles and bones.
So as soon as the genius faded, Cao Peng fell asleep!
I don't know how long I slept, but I vaguely heard something moving outside.
Cao Peng rubbed his eyes, got up, put on his cotton robe, and walked out of the room.
The sound seemed to come from the front yard. Cao Peng passed through the central hall and stood on the steps to look. He saw a burly figure in a corner of the front yard, busy going back and forth. The moonlight was bright, and Cao Peng took a look.
Then he recognized that the man was Cao Ji, his father.
Cao Ji built a simple shed in a corner of the yard.
It was located right next to the well, with four pillars covered with straw mats. The shed had been set up before, but it was empty inside without any furnishings. Cao Ji was standing under the shed, building something. Cao Peng scratched his head
, jumped down the steps and walked over.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Cao Ji's face was stained with mud, and his hands were black.
Seeing Cao Peng coming over, he couldn't help but said doubtfully: "Peng'er, didn't you go to bed early?"
"Oh, I woke up after I had enough sleep."
Using an oil lamp in the shed, Cao Peng saw something that looked like a stove. He was startled for a moment, and then he realized that this should be a stove for melting iron. There were also a bunch of items spread out on the ground, including hammers and pliers.
, a cutting board, and a huge skin bag.
These seem to be blacksmithing tools...
During the Western Han Dynasty, the iron smelting industry began to appear on a large scale. Generally, large-scale workshops would have equipment such as iron-melting furnaces, pots, pots, and squares. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Du Shi, the prefect of Nanyang, invented the water drain, which used water to stir up the drain.
, its effect is similar to the bellows of later generations.
Perhaps in Cao Peng's eyes, this kind of equipment is very crude.
But for Cao Ji, even if it was a water drain, he was not qualified to use it.
Cao Peng knelt down and picked up the skin bag.
"Dad, is this the stove?"
The shape of the skin bag is thin at both ends and bulging in the middle. Its shape is similar to a container called a "gou" in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it is directly called a gong. The gong is installed on the iron smelting furnace, which is the gong at that time.
.Use the elasticity of the gourd to bulge when it is empty. There is a ceramic pull rod on the gong. You can push and pull the gong back and forth to compress and swell it. Some large iron smelting furnaces often arrange multiple gongs together to blow air.
It's called rowing.
The stove built by Cao Jile obviously did not require the use of tools such as a raft.
"Yes, this is the stove."
Cao Ji grabbed a piece of black mud, slapped it on the furnace wall, and spread it evenly with a shovel. While he was working, he smiled and said to Cao Peng: "We have settled down now... Your brother-in-law said,
You can find me a shop in the city. But I thought about it, the city is too far from the village, so it would be more convenient here. Look at the road at the door, there are a lot of people going north and south. Folks from nearby villages want to
To repair farm tools, you must pass here. Instead of spending money to rent a shop in the city, it is better to stay here, which is more convenient...
Uncle Sun is an honest man and sincere.
But we have the skills and capabilities, so we can’t take advantage of him, do you think this is the truth?”
Dad seems to want to treat this place as home and settle down...
But dad, after all, this Jiyang County is just an inn where we rest!
Although Cao Peng thought so in his heart, he agreed with his mouth.
It's rare for dad to be so interested. As a son, it's not easy for him to destroy it, right? However, repairing farm tools... really has no future.
"Dad, can you shoot a knife?"
"knife?"
Cao Ji was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "You mean making weapons. I have learned this before! It's just that my father is not good enough, so he can't make any good swords. Your Uncle Wang also asked me back then...
But, after doing it a few times, I gave up."
"Why?"
"Well, there are many reasons.
On the one hand, my father is not skilled enough and his studies are not good enough; on the other hand, he does not have the conditions. Making a knife is different from repairing farm tools, which requires furnace temperature. Generally speaking, making a sword requires at least two to three furnaces.
Damn it, there's only one here.
The cost of the stove is too high, and dad can't afford it.
And even if you buy it, it may not be successful... It is really inappropriate to spend that wasted money.
You have to weigh how much weight you have. At first, one of my senior brothers wanted to change his career to making swords, so he built an iron furnace in Wancheng and installed ten furnace prongs, but in the end he failed. What he built was unavailable.
Otherwise, I ended up with a lot of debt and had to move away from home."
"Dad, do you still have a senior brother?"
"Yes, my senior brother is really talented, but he has failed, let alone what I am capable of?"