"Master Yan is here..." There was a commotion among the craftsmen who were installing the gate of the fort under the doorway of the fort wall. Many of them stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of Yan Liqiang. To these craftsmen, Yan Liqiang's current fame made him a real big shot, just like the star he was in his previous life.
"Everyone, you have worked hard. Everyone, you have worked hard. After the gate is installed today, I will have someone prepare a snack for everyone tonight to satisfy your hunger..." Yan Liqiang smiled and bowed to the group of craftsmen, who cheered at once.
"Master Yan, this iron hoist you invented is so useful. It saves a lot of effort for us laborers. What used to take seven or eight people to lift can now be easily lifted by one person..." A foreman who was directing a group of craftsmen at the door gave Yan Liqiang a thumbs up. "In the past, people said that Master Yan was both civil and martial, and could worship gods as his masters, but I didn't believe it. Now I believe it..."
The iron gourd is the pulley block invented by Yan Liqiang. After it was used on the construction site, the workers on the site thought that the shape of the thing was a bit like a gourd, so they didn't call it some difficult-to-pronounce name like pulley block, but directly called it the iron gourd, which is easy to remember and catchy.
"Hahaha, as long as it works, this mechanical method of studying things is originally people-oriented and used to facilitate people. This iron gourd can save everyone some energy and make everyone work less hard. It won't be considered a wasted trip in this world..." Yan Liqiang said, and walked to the doorway of the fortress wall. He touched the heavy iron-clad door that had been installed on one side, and reached out to pat it. The one-foot-thick fortress wall door made a dull sound and did not move at all. Yan Liqiang took a look and nodded, "Not bad, not bad, this thing should be made of wood, it feels quite solid!"
"The gate is covered with black steel wood that has been soaked in tung oil for more than half a year. It is as hard as iron, but not as heavy as iron. It is most suitable for this iron-clad gate. The iron wrapped on the outside of the black steel wood is one inch thick. Such a gate cannot be damaged by a knife or an axe!" Lu Wenbin explained, pointing to the foundations on both sides of the gate. "The foundation under the gate is made of large stones over six feet high, each weighing several thousand pounds. There is also an iron gate in the doorway behind the two iron gates. The iron gate is usually pulled up by a winch and lowered when needed. In this way, the iron gate and the iron gate together make it difficult to break open the doorway even with a battering ram. If you want to attack by force, you can only climb the city wall..."
Yan Liqiang looked at Lu Wenbin's dark and thin face and sighed, "You've worked so hard over the past year!"
"It's not hard. It's my blessing to be able to work for you. I've been running around in Liuhe Town for more than a year, and I've also learned a lot of skills!"
Yan Liqiang nodded, looked under the doorway, and then stepped out. "By the way, how about the thing I told you last time?"
Of course, Lu Wenbin knew what Yan Liqiang was talking about. "I've already picked out the brick kiln that the young master asked me to look at for burning big bricks. There is a big kiln at Baiyangpo in Qinghe County. The big bricks it burns are pretty good. It just so happened that the owner of that brick kiln wanted to sell it, so I bought it for just over 3,000 taels of silver. All the workers there stayed. Many of the big bricks on the city wall were fired in that kiln. As for the construction group, I also recruited a few craftsmen and selected a group of hardworking and capable people. When they heard that the owner behind it was the young master, they were very enthusiastic and willing to join!"
"That's right. You should lead them to build the fortress and the houses in Liuhe Town first. When these are done, find a time to formally establish the Construction Merchants Group. I told the old man about your situation a few days ago, and he also supports it. After the Construction Merchants Group is established, our Yan family will invest and you will be the shopkeeper. The Yan family will own 50% of the shares of the merchant group, and the Lu family will own 10%. You will own 40% with your own skills and abilities. The Lu family and I are just shareholders and will not ask about the specific affairs of the construction merchant group. You have the final say in the daily affairs of the construction merchant group. I still have things for you to do later!"
Lu Wenbin couldn't hide his excitement, and a smile appeared on his face, "Everything is up to you, Master!"
"By the way, what has my father been doing these past two days? From what I know about him, he must have been busy after the water and fire machine came out!" Yan Liqiang asked an irrelevant question.
"The old man plans to open a mill in the town with a water lighter. These past two days, the old man has been hanging out in the mill, fiddling with the water lighter..."
"Haha, that's pretty much what I thought!"
"Today, the water-fired machine mill officially opened on the new street in the town. Half of the people in the town came to watch the fun!"
Yan Liqiang smiled. He could imagine Yan Dechang's look at the moment without even looking. To the old blacksmith, this water lighter was more like a big toy. It aroused Yan Dechang's passion and curiosity all at once. When he was in the manufacturing bureau, Yan Liqiang discovered that Yan Dechang was particularly interested in the water lighter. In order to understand the principles of the water lighter and the manufacturing process of some of its components, Yan Dechang almost forgot to eat and sleep. Well, just treat it as a way for his father to have fun.
"Has anything happened in Liuhe Town these days?"
"Nothing big has happened. It's just that after you came back from Tianchi, people have been coming to Liuhe Town from thousands of miles away to find you to learn martial arts!" Lu Wenbin also smiled. "But after those people found the Yan family, they were sent away. Old Master Yan told them to go to the Kyudo Club if they wanted to learn martial arts, and the Kyudo Club told them to come back when they recruit people this year..."
Yan Liqiang also laughed...
…
After waiting for more than half an hour, the gate on the other side of the doorway was initially installed and could be opened and closed. The doorway was cleared, and Yan Liqiang led his men directly into Liuhe Town.
Just as Lu Wenbin said, at this moment, most of the people in Liuhe Town went to the newly opened mill to watch the excitement. When Lingshan Sect sent the water and fire machine before, it was in the courtyard of the Yan family, and not many people saw it. This time, Yan Dechang directly used the water and fire machine to open a mill, and everyone could go, so it caused a sensation all of a sudden...
From a distance, before Yan Liqiang reached the new street in the town, he saw a large crowd of people on the new street. A large black mass gathered around a house on the new street, making a lot of noise, and countless people kept exclaiming in surprise.
"Move, move..."
"The noodles are coming out, the noodles are really coming out..."
…
Of course Yan Liqiang did not go over to join in the fun, but went straight back to the Yan family. As soon as he arrived, Yan Liqiang asked someone to call housekeeper Zhou over.
Butler Zhou hurried to the flower hall.
"I remember that there are many places in Qinghe County where people raise sheep, right?" Yan Liqiang asked directly.
Butler Zhou was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Yan Liqiang to care about such trivial matters. However, since Yan Liqiang asked, he had to speak up. "Young Master is right. There are indeed many places in Qinghe County that raise sheep. Many people in the village make a living by raising sheep. We also raise sheep in our family!"
"Oh, we also raise sheep at home?" Yan Liqiang really didn't know when his family started raising sheep. The family business had grown so he really didn't pay attention to these things.
"Well, we have more than a hundred sheep at home. The old man saw that there were two childless old tenants in the town who were pitiful, unable to do heavy work and had no income, so he often asked me to send them some rice and flour. The two old men were embarrassed to accept the old man's favor for nothing, so they said they knew how to herd sheep and wanted to herd sheep for our family, so I bought some lambs and asked them to herd the sheep every day!"
"Oh, what kind of sheep do we have at home? Goats or sheep?"
"Of course it's sheep. Goats eat grass by the roots. When there are too many goats, they can eat up all the grass on the hillsides, grasslands and roadsides. It's exhausting to drive the sheep everywhere to find grass. Sheep eat grass without pulling it up by the roots. After they finish eating, the grass will grow again in two days. They are easy to raise. Most people who raise sheep in Qinghe County also raise sheep!"
Yan Liqiang stroked his chin, "Well, I'll tell you something. Find a capable person in your family to go to the villages with many sheep and the homes of the wealthy families and buy all the wool for me..."
"What?" The honest-looking housekeeper Zhou thought he had misheard, "Sir, are you going to buy sheepskin?"
"We're not buying sheepskin, we're buying wool!"
Yan Liqiang repeated it, and then Butler Zhou realized that he had heard it correctly. However, he looked incredulous and swallowed his saliva. "Sir, wool is useless. When we kill sheep, we want the skin and eat the meat. The wool is thrown away and no one wants it. What do you want to buy it for?"
If Lu Wenbin was here, he would not ask Yan Liqiang what he was going to do with the wool, because that was not a question a smart subordinate should ask. However, the housekeeper of the Yan family was very honest and told Yan Liqiang what he had in mind. Yan Liqiang did not mind and patiently explained, "You will know later. Go and do it first. Someone should be responsible for this matter. We can't be careless. The more wool we collect, the better. Isn't there a new warehouse built by the river? The collected wool should be packed in sacks and put into the new warehouse for storage. Have someone watch over it to prevent fire. Then let the housekeeper who collects the wool look around Pingxi County to see which land in Pingxi County is suitable for raising sheep. In a few days, I will go to buy some land suitable for raising sheep!"
"Okay, Sir, don't worry, I'll arrange it right away!" Although Butler Zhou didn't understand, he nodded seriously and said nothing more, "Sir, do you have anything else to tell me?"
"No more, just this matter, you can go down!"
"Yes!" Butler Zhou bowed, then turned around and left the hall...
(End of this chapter)