The elder brother who travels through is hard to do

After Xu Bei came back from the palace, he couldn't help Min Qing's shining eyes. He told about the meeting with the Fourth Young Master, and also mentioned the matter of cement. After he was in charge of this piece, he might spend some time squatting in the brick kiln marked out by the Fourth Young Master. , There is no way to come back every day.

"What is cement?" Xu Minqing looked at his elder brother with his chin in his hand, his eyes flickered, and a strange light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"That's a good thing." Xu Bei repeated what he told the fourth son, even more detailed than that. In modern society, cement and reinforced concrete have spread everywhere. Here, cement may be slow. Slowly started to be realized, concrete is also easy to say, but other things, I am afraid that he will never see them again in this life, but there is not much regret, because it can be made up for in other ways. Besides, the wisdom of the ancients is not necessarily inferior to that of modern people. Si Gongzi alone made him tremble and frightened from time to time, knowing that he should stay away from this kind of person, but the reality of ancient society told him that he could live a stable life now only by relying on the big tree of Si Gongzi. This is a very hierarchical world.

"It really is a magical thing, and the cost is really low. You must know that the amount of glutinous rice needed to build a city wall is very large. It would be great if the thing called cement that my brother said could really replace it." Xu Minqing sighed sincerely, And Xingxingyan said, "Brother, you are really amazing."

Xu Bei patted his younger brother's head, raised his head and laughed loudly: "Of course, Minqing will be better than brother in the future."

Xu Minqing grabbed the elder brother's palm and rubbed it lightly, the smile in his eyes was full of satisfaction, pride, and a flash of inexplicable emotion.

Because he was born in the country, although his parents never let him go to work in the fields, he has two more eyes than others, and he is not a pedantic nerd who only reads sage books and does not pay attention to the outside world. A few taels of silver, it was always my father who went to serve in the army, for example, how tiring the work of building roads and digging canals, he always saw it in his eyes and kept it in his heart, but it's a pity that his father is gone, if he knows that brother made such a good thing Will be very happy.

"Brother, cement can be used to pave roads, can it also be used to build dams? Can the dams be made stronger and can stop the flooding of the river in spring and summer?" When the snow in winter melts and the river floods, some villages It will be impacted and cause a lot of damage. When the rainy season comes, especially in the south, the situation will be more serious.

Last year, there was a severe flood in the south, which not only killed and injured countless people, but also caused a plague to rage. Although Xu Minqing did not see such a scene with his own eyes, the rumors he heard were enough to make him realize how bad the situation was. The imperial court who tried to cover up or even suppress those disaster-stricken people was even more disgusted, and it was indeed far worse than what Xiao Wangfu did.

If it weren't for the disaster in the north, I am afraid that many refugees from the south would come to the north during the autumn and winter of last year.

"Yes," Xu Bei nodded affirmatively. He didn't expect Min Qing to think so much, and he couldn't help but feel proud. "The dam watered with cement will be stronger, at least much stronger than the current dam made of mud."

Xu Minqing took the opportunity to ask a lot of questions. In the eyes of others, Xu Bei was a mud leg from a peasant family, but Xu Minqing knew that his brother had so many wonderful ideas in his mind, which were inexhaustible wealth.

Because Yanyang Academy has not yet entered the school, during this time Xu Minqing stayed at home to review his homework and prepare for the entrance examination of the academy. Every two days, he would spare a time to visit Mr. Lu Qi, and humbly ask Mr. Lu for advice. After two trips, I also heard some gossip about Mr. Lu.

When he was with his eldest brother, Xu Minqing didn't have much scruples, so he told his brother what he heard about Mr. Lu: "Brother, I didn't expect Mr. Lu to have such a bad relative. Compared with us, at least Dad Mother really loved us when she was alive." Especially his non-biological son, who can get the sincere love of his parents, compared with Lu Gongzi, he doesn't feel how difficult his life was before.

Xu Bei's mind has been on cement for the past two days, and he doesn't have much time to pay attention to other gossip, so he couldn't help but curiously said: "I think that Mr. Lu came from a rich or noble family, and now he is a close confidant of Mr. Si, his family Will it be bad for him?"

Xu Minqing sighed like a little adult, and leaned on his brother and muttered: "It's all right, brother, you don't know, Mr. Lu's mother is from the capital. At first, the Lu family probably wanted to join the court. They got married there. At that time, the situation of Prince Xiao's Mansion was indeed not good. It wasn't their family who wanted to join the court in the Northland, but who would have thought that the final situation would be different from what they expected. Prince Xiao's Mansion regained power in the Northland. People can't wait to swear allegiance to Prince Xiao's mansion. Mr. Lu's mother passed away at that time. I heard that after Mr. Lu's mother passed away, his life at home was very bad, and even his own father disliked his identity. Brother , How can you say that there is such a biological father, who obviously committed the crime himself but blamed it on Mr. Lu. He was not the one who wanted to marry someone from the court at the beginning. Hmph, it’s not so easy to make fools of the wall. Now the Lu family is not being reused at all, and some members of the Lu family call Mr. Lu Qi a white-eyed wolf who doesn't care about his own people."

Xu Bei sneered and said: "This kind of man is a coward, he will only push the mistakes he made on women and children. He deserves that life is hard now. Seeing our uncle and cousin, it's also the same. This type of person, whose nostrils are raised higher than anyone else, and when he loses power, he blames others. Usually, he pushes women to the front to fight with us, and retreats into the room when something happens. It’s just that Mr. Poor, father didn’t love mother and died again, no, maybe his mother was killed by his own father, otherwise how could he be gone at that time.” Xu Bei’s eyes widened in shock.

Xu Minqing found out that his brother realized something was wrong belatedly, and couldn't help laughing: "Brother, those aristocratic families who don't cover up, there's something dark inside, it's not as simple as our common people."

Xu Bei nodded in agreement, and after a while realized something was wrong, he patted his head and said, "How did you know this at such a young age? Don't care if they are black or not, just focus on the textbook."

Xu Minqing smiled with his eyes bent, nodded obediently and said: "I know, brother, I will definitely pass the exam." There are many twists and turns in the aristocratic family, and I have heard a lot from Jiang Feng. One mind, so nothing can be guessed.

"Don't move, put the plaster on, don't rub it off." Xu Bei held Min Qing's hand, and at the same time picked up a kind of black plaster to apply to the frostbite on his hand. The plaster was from Lin Qing. I got it from the genius doctor, it really is a good thing, after applying it for a few days, it has improved, and it is also because the current environment is better than before.It turned out that in Kang County, although there was no shortage of charcoal in the house and a brazier was lit, the conditions in the academy were not so good.

"Brother, I'm fine. It's the same in previous years. This year is much better than before. Doctor Lin's plaster is still very useful. Maybe I won't have to suffer from it in the future." Xu Minqing obediently handed out another paw to see that his brother was serious. The medicine on the ground narrowed her eyes, and the corners of her mouth were raised high.

"Well, I hope that Miracle Doctor Lin's plaster will have the same effect as he cured the Fourth Young Master's illness, otherwise, wouldn't it be that he has ruined his own reputation as a miraculous doctor." Xu Bei took out another ball from the box.

Lao Qiu who passed by the door rolled his eyes when he heard this. Could it be that Boy Bei still has the guts to go to Doctor Lin to settle accounts?That big white tiger alone scares people out of their wits.

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Xu Bei took Jiang Ping and Lao Qiu to the brick kiln outside the city, leaving Sun Dagui at home.But it didn't take much effort, Lu Yunzhi sent someone to take Xu Minqing to his residence, in order to give him better advice, and Xu Bei felt more relieved when he received the letter on the way, with the fourth son's confidant, Mr. Lu, taking care of him, who would dare to provoke him? to his brother.

But Xu Bei didn't know that Xu Minqing, who had just entered Lu's house, hadn't even sat down to rest when another carriage sent him out of the house.

Sun Dagui, who was left behind, scratched his head for a long time, but he had nothing to say. Mr. Lu ordered him to stay, and it was more useful for him to follow him than to be accompanied by Mr. Lu and his servants.Yanzhou City is no different than other small places. There are many dignitaries here. If someone really wants to bully Shangqing boy, how can he resist him alone, but Mr. Lu is different.

As a literati, Lu Yunzhi has long wanted to see the achievements of movable type printing. He knew that once it is successful and spread, more people will have access to books and become scholars, which will set off a wave of learning in the north , maybe one day in the future, it is not certain that the Northland will be better than the Southland.

Although he came from a family, but because of his childhood experience, he didn't develop the vision of seeing ordinary people as inferior people. In the eyes of those people, these inferior people are not qualified to study, and it is wrong for them to even touch books. The latter is an insult, not to mention that even if they are given a chance, can those inferior people have a chance to stand out?The resources are in the hands of the powerful, and this is the capital they regard themselves as superior to others.

The atmosphere in the Northland is good, but it is not as strict as that in the Southland. Many officials from humble backgrounds in the Northland were promoted by the prince. For this reason, although the arrogance of those aristocratic families has been suppressed now, these aristocratic families are deeply rooted, and there are still conflicts between the two factions that are difficult to reconcile in the small court of the Northland.

And Lu Yunzhi is a different kind, he neither agrees with the concept of aristocratic family nor belongs to the humble family background, but he does not reject officials from the humble family background, just because he is firmly standing by the fourth son's side.

Lu Yunzhi's residence is not far from the book shop. He was originally in charge of it, but now it is transferred to Xu Minqing. During the correspondence with Xu Minqing, Lu Yunzhi also became more and more optimistic about this young man. Through him, he seemed to see The third young master of the Jiang family back then.

The carriage stopped, Lu Yunzhi jumped out of the car first, stretched his hand into the car, Xu Minqing also got out of the car with his hand, glanced at the bookstore in front of him, squinted his eyes, a very ordinary bookstore , just in line with his ideas, he doesn't want the business to be so good that he has no room for development.

"Brother Lu, let's go in and see how they are doing these days." Xu Minqing turned his head and looked up at Lu Yunzhi slightly and said.

"Well, let's go in, but let the shopkeeper here recognize you first, so that they don't recognize the wrong person, or you will be awarded because of your age. If that's the case, don't be polite to them, just change people." Lu Yun Zhi exhorted.

"Well, I see, thank you Brother Lu."

Following Lu Yunzhi into the shop, the waiter and the shopkeeper immediately greeted him. They were very familiar with Lu Yunzhi, although they didn't know that the real owner behind this shop was the Fourth Young Master and the palace.

The shopkeeper was stunned for a while when he saw his new owner at such a young age before he heard Mr. Lu's words clearly. Then he lowered his head slightly and saw Xu Minqing's clear eyes, and hurriedly moved his eyes away. People and the things they are busy with, secretly thinking that people should not be judged by their appearance.

Welcoming the two of them into the back, they walked through a dark passage, and entered an open place, separated from the front shop, the back seemed very quiet.

A person came out from the house, saw the three people in the yard, his face was filled with joy, and he hurried over to meet them, it was Jiang Feng who had come here early, and he had already been settled here, and it was also because of his age that the shopkeeper did not expect His master is a young man like Xu Minqing.

"How's the situation in the workshop?" Xu Minqing asked after introducing Mr. Lu to Jiang Feng.

"Mr. Lu and the young master came with the young ones. They are busy in the back. I don't know the specific progress, so I will help them." Every other line is like a mountain, and Jiang Feng has become a subordinate here. , but he is also happy, because this is doing things for the young master.

In the back room, before a few people entered, they heard cheers coming from inside, and some people couldn't help dancing. Jiang Feng smiled and said: "It must have achieved results, otherwise they wouldn't be so carried away."

"That's a coincidence, Min Qing, let's go in and have a look." Lu Yunzhi said and went to pick up the curtain to enter.

"Jiang Feng..." someone shouted in the room when they heard the movement, but immediately saw that Jiang Feng was not the only one who came in, but the one who caught their attention first was Xu Minqing, who was the shortest, and one of them had his hands all wet The craftsman whose face was also rubbed with ink came over happily and said, "Master Xu, you are finally here, look quickly, we made some engravings using the method you said, and look at the printed paper."

The craftsman immediately asked someone to bring over a few finished book pages, which were clearly printed with neatly arranged blocks, and the whole room was filled with a scent of ink that is very familiar to literati.

Lu Yunzhi felt quite good after reading it, so he asked: "Then this is considered a successful experiment? Can books be printed in large quantities?" He also knew that it was engraving the whole page, and printing the engraving blocks of a book is considered to have completed the mission. up.

The craftsman shook his head again, and even Xu Minqing hurriedly asked if there were any other problems. The man said that he didn't know how many times these movable type engraving blocks could be used, and they planned to try several more materials to see which one had the longest service life.After listening to this, Xu Minqing smiled. Sure enough, professional problems still need to be dealt with by specialists. After looking around with Lu Yunzhi, he left and asked Jiang Feng to take care of these craftsmen. Xu Minqing knew about these craftsmen when he was in Kang County. When people are so busy, they forget to eat and sleep.

When leaving the bookstore, Xu Minqing brought Jiang Feng's youngest son with him as a book boy. Jiang Feng was also Jiang Sanshao's book boy when he was young, and he read and recognized characters. The two sons didn't have such good conditions, so they followed Jiang Feng to recognize a few words, but they didn't have much money to send them to school.

Xu Minqing once heard his elder brother raise his ear, saying that he wanted to find a bookboy for him, but he heard it from nowhere, saying that many people in Yanyang Academy had a bookboy by their side, because after entering that academy, it was no longer possible to be able to do it every day. When he came back, he wanted to eat and live there. Xu Bei wondered if his younger brother would have to do his own laundry and tidy up the house after studying?He who dotes on his younger brother plans to find a book boy like everyone else.

Xu Minqing felt that it was better to find Jiang Feng's youngest son than to find someone else. Jiang Feng was a loyal man, and he could take the opportunity to give his youngest son the opportunity to touch books. Reading more books will always help his future. , Jiang Feng was very happy, and kept telling his youngest son to take good care of the young master.