If something goes wrong, there must be a monster. Long Xiang stood up in a flash.

"Is he still in Kiln No. 5? Take me there and have a look."

"That's what I mean. The horse is ready outside the house."

Tang Wei got up with excitement on his face, pulled Long Xiang and walked out.

The two of them galloped their horses toward the west of the city. Heat waves danced in their eyes under the scorching sun. The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves got into their mouths and noses, and the wind brought by the running blew away beads of sweat.

Arriving at the west side of the city where the brick kilns were made and fired, the sweat on Long Xiang's face was stained with dust, like a gray-yellow mask.

"It's been a while since we came here, and the changes here have been a bit big." Long Xiang sighed as he looked around.

Tang Hui nodded in agreement: "Yes, the soil that was transported into the city last year was piled up like several hills. Now it is almost flattened. Sure enough, there is strength in numbers."

Long Xiang held his chin thoughtfully, and then said to himself: "The soil taken last year was still less. When all the bricks are burned now, there will not be much work left for making bricks and firing kilns. These new ones have to be given."

The refugees who come here should find something else to do..."

"Looking for something else to do?"

Tang Wei was stunned when he heard this, and then asked in confusion: "Why not continue to use soil to make bricks? I heard Lao Feng say a few days ago that the soil we transported into the city last year could only produce more than 200,000 green bricks from the kiln.

, According to Yunqi’s previous calculations, one household would need 10,000 bricks to build a house, which is far from enough now.”

Long Xiang explained with a smile: "The soil taken back then cannot be used directly. If it can be used to produce a kiln, 200,000 yuan is not bad. If not, it can be used to build a few large granaries. I think the rice crops are growing well this year. If we can maintain irrigation and not dry the fields,

Maybe there will be a good harvest."

"Yunqi can rest assured. Hefei's current tax policy is as good as Shouchun's. They will do their best to serve the crops. Who wouldn't want to work harder and get more?"

Watering was done when it was time to water it, and insects were caught when it was time to do so. Many households, men, women, old and young, all went out to do it, so the soldiers at Nanmen were particularly busy every day."

Although Tang Wei finally mentioned the difficulties, the relief in his words was undoubtedly evident.

Although Long Xiang is not familiar with agricultural production, he fully understands and respects human nature.

If they were exploited and exploited like Yuan Shu and other princes, how would the common people really take care of the crops?

Now in Hefei there are no "middlemen making the difference", the people have a lot of food in their hands, and there is no corvee for the time being, which can naturally mobilize the enthusiasm for production.

"I remember that young children do not have identification numbers. How do you identify the officers and soldiers guarding the south gate?" Long Xiang asked with great interest.

Tang Wei scratched his head and replied: "They are all taken by their parents, and their parents have numbers as guarantees. Naturally, they cannot be careful. Moreover, the soldiers have been asking for numbers for a long time, and everyone has their own experience. Sometimes you can tell at a glance whether you are a good person.

"

Long Xiang asked: "What if a child is bribed to sneak out of the city to deliver news?"

"There are the cavalry of Lord Cao outside the city. If you are careful and run around outside the city, you will be easily discovered." Tang Hui stroked his beard very proudly.

"It's good, but you have to be flexible."

Long Xiang nodded with satisfaction, then pointed to the left front and said: "That's the No. 5 kiln over there, right? Let's go meet the 'fine craftsman'."

"Okay, I'll lead the way."

There were originally three cave dwellings in the west of Hefei City. The scale of the earthen kiln was not too large. It was originally a small kiln used for firing pottery and other items. Each kiln could only hold seven to eight thousand bricks. Each cave dwelling was responsible for loading the kiln, burning bricks, and

It takes more than a month to make bricks and leave them out of the kiln. This scale obviously cannot meet Long Xiang's requirements.

In order to meet the needs of the construction of Hefei and to find something for the people to do during their spare time, Long Xiang dug six new large caves in the north of the original small kiln, which can fire nearly 20,000 green bricks at a time.

Long Xiang originally planned to use the clay he took from outside the city last year to make green bricks from the fall to the next spring plowing time, but as refugees kept pouring into Hefei, Long Xiang had no choice but to put the project ahead of schedule.

The process of firing bricks is very simple, that is, taking soil and mud, turning the bricks off, drying the bricks, loading the kiln, firing the kiln, draining the bricks, and taking them out of the kiln, a total of seven steps.

Among the seven steps, except for kiln burning, which is a technical job, the remaining six steps are all manual labor. In other places, kilns are fired in the fall and winter off-season. The kiln-burning craftsmen are warm every day and are enviable. But now, in order to solve the problem of "employment", Hefei has turned the kiln-burning

The time has moved to summer, so every step of the seven-step brick-making process is not easy.

Either he worked hard and sweated a lot, or he was burnt by the smoke and sweated a lot, but the "careful master" in Tang Hui's words probably couldn't bear the hardship of physical work, so he took the initiative to go down to the kiln to "steam the sauna".

When Long Xiang and Tang Wei walked to the open space beneath the kiln, they could clearly feel waves of heat coming from the direction of the kiln hole.

The two of them faced the high temperature and heat wave and walked towards the kiln hole.

Long Xiang felt that he was getting close to the sun, and the sweat on his body quickly evaporated and dried up. The dust-covered skin on his face made him instantly feel extremely uncomfortable.

Burning a kiln in the summer is like living in a sauna, it feels so sour and refreshing.

When Long Xiang and Tang Wei came to the kiln hole, the kiln maker who was sitting immediately stood up and saluted.

The potter was short in stature, and his face was as black as coal when smoked by the smoke. Long Xiang instinctively felt that he was not special, so he asked Tang Yi for confirmation.

"Is it him?"

"No, that man may be eight feet long."

Tang Wei first shook his head, and then asked the potter in a deep voice: "I was here half an hour ago. Where did that tall man go? Was he taken away by Chief Cao?"

The potter waved his hand and replied: "The temperature here is very high. No one can stay for a long time. We will rotate every half an hour. The Lu Zhuangshi the general mentioned should rest in the south hut at this time. It will be his turn in an hour."

he."

An eight-foot-tall Lu warrior? Lu Zhishen's appearance instantly appeared in Long Xiang's mind.

Long Xiang only remembered Lu Su among the people named Lu in the Three Kingdoms, and thought that he would not be so lucky, right? The governor of Soochow took the initiative to send him to his door.

Use the appearance of a flower monk to trap Lu Su? Couldn't Lu Su pull up the weeping willows upside down?

Long Xiang felt irritated just thinking about it, and thought that if Lu Su had Lu Zhishen's physique, he could go to the meeting alone with Mr. Guan.

In the end, Long Xiang speculated that he was a passerby with the surname Lu. If it was really an outsider, he most likely used a fake surname and pseudonym.

After receiving the advice from the potter, Tang Wei and Long Xiang turned around and headed south.

There are several manually dug huts on the south side of the earthen kiln, which are used for the daily rest of the kiln craftsmen.

From the time the kiln was closed to the time it was fired to the time it was opened, the kiln fire could not be extinguished for about ten days, and the kiln workers ate, drank, and slept under the kiln.

Originally, a kiln only required two kiln workers, and the people above would provide enough firewood and provide meals every day.

People who burn kilns in summer are prone to heat stroke and coma, so each kiln arranges six or seven people to take turns to add firewood.

There were five huts on the south side, Longxiang. Tang Wei walked a few steps away from the middle and found Cao Xing walking out of one on the right.

"Long Sima, Tang Quhou..." Cao Xing said hello with clasped fists.

Seeing Cao Xing's nervous expression, Long Xiang wondered if there was really something wrong with the 'Flower Monk'? He asked jokingly: "Master Cao, I heard that you are protecting him carefully?"

"no..."

Before Cao Xing could finish speaking, a voice came from inside the room.

"Are you Long Sima?"

Long Xiang turned his head to look for the sound and saw a figure protruding from the hole without a door.

Long Xiang saw that the person who came was wearing semen on his upper body and his trouser legs were rolled up on his lower body.
Chapter completed!