Chapter 490 Flint

After a year of recuperation in the Wuda tribe, Zhao San completely recovered his health and was in his prime at the age of nearly 40.

It was Shitou who made the effort to facilitate his marriage to Madam Yun.

He had seen too much life and death as a slave on the Xuyang Grassland. He was no longer young and ignorant, but he still believed that the dead were gone and the living were more important.

His biological father had been dead for six years. As long as his mother had a stable life, he would work hard and avenge his biological father when he had the chance.

Since Madam Yun and the other two had already made the decision, Song Liyun naturally didn't say anything. She gave the two of them some silk cloth and silver as gifts.

Facing Song Liyun's blessing, Zhao San fell to his knees and said, "Young Madam, you saved Yunniang, and you also saved Shitou and me. You are the savior of our family of three. Yunniang and I have already discussed this. From now on, you will be our master."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over: "I asked Miss Wan to help me write a deed of indenture, with my fingerprints and monogram on it."

Song Liyun looked at Madam Yun and Shitou. The mother and son were obviously unaware of this and were a little surprised.

Although Yunniang and Shitou have a special relationship with Song Liyun, they are not slaves. Now that Zhao San has married Yunniang, he is willing to offer his indentures to them.

Song Liyun had accepted this before Madam Yun got married, but now she was in a dilemma. She couldn't let Madam Yun's husband be her servant.

After a slight surprise, Madam Yun knelt on the ground with tears in her eyes: "Young Madam, Zhao San and I are both homeless. Following you, we will have a backbone!"

Zhao San had previously asked her if she was the young lady's servant.

At that time, she said that the girl did not want the indenture between her and her son, and she also told some of the things that had happened in Suijin Town.

When Zhao San heard that Madam Yun had reported the news to Baolinju on a snowy night and was subsequently taken in and reused by the young lady, he fell into deep thought.

If he wanted to have a certain position in Song Liyun's heart in the future, he had to find another way instead of relying on the kindness of Madam Yun.

Selling oneself into slavery was the most common practice in the Wu Dynasty.

So Zhao San signed the indenture.

Shitou didn't kneel, but whispered, "Young Madam, your godfather is willing to follow you, so you should accept him!"

He and Zhao San had a life-saving friendship before, and now they were both under Song Liyun's command. It would naturally be a good thing if Zhao San could be valued.

Seeing that the three of them were sincere, Song Liyun accepted the indenture that was not stamped by the government.

Madam Yun followed him as his personal nanny, while Shi Tou and Zhao San were free to come and go inside and outside and pass on messages.

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In addition to Shitou's family of three, Abu Wan Youyou also came with the craftsmen and the maids and servants who served Wan Youyou.

Nanny Xu originally wanted to come along, but Madam Uya said: These carpets are to be presented to the Queen Mother, so Nanny Xu needs to take the trouble to stay.

Kalashan now has two wind-powered spinning locomotives. Not only can all the wool of the tribe be spun into yarn and made into carpets, but the wool of other surrounding tribes is also in short supply.

The summer sheep shearing season is approaching, and the tribe is about to start getting busy. Aunt Xu is in charge of carpets, so she can't leave even if she wants to.

The arrival of the craftsmen triggered another wave of employment in Mida City, and all the caravan guards who stayed in the city started their second careers.

The wood was prepared long ago.

A month ago, Song Liyun had people transport trees and stones from the distant mountains to build a platform by the river.

The craftsmen now have rich experience in erecting windmills, and the second windmill has been modified to be more suitable for the wind on the grassland.

Originally, Song Liyun thought that the Mida River would freeze in winter and the waterwheel could not be used. Unexpectedly, Wan Youyou and the craftsmen only spent a few days to design a plan to build a windmill on the river.

In this way, instead of relying on hydraulic impact, the power is used by the wind that blows all year round.

The rotating shaft drives the drum cart and the tipping cart, lifting the river water to the shore, and then flowing into the city through the deep underground ditches.

Not only could it irrigate hundreds of acres of land, but it also enabled the city to have free water use. Song Liyun was so happy that he rewarded those craftsmen handsomely.

Wan Youyou, who made the greatest contribution, did not want any gold or silver jewelry, but had only one request.

That means being Song Liyun's student.

During the more than half a year she stayed in Kala Mountain, apart from teaching the tribal children cultural lessons, she spent the rest of her time studying the book "100,000 Whys", pondering over mechanics every day, and became a real old pedant.

After finishing her work with the windmill, she saw Song Liyun teaching the children Chinese simple characters, Arabic numerals and arithmetic, and was immediately amazed.

She insisted on studying with Yiming and the others, and also wanted Song Liyun to be her teacher and teach her some physical and chemical knowledge that she could not understand.

Wan Youyou never thought that she had read all kinds of rare books in the capital city where literature was flourishing, but she would encounter things she couldn't understand in this wild place.

With a group of children in the City Lord's Mansion, and with the addition of Wan Youyou's maids and servants, the mansion, which was previously eerily empty and quiet, suddenly became popular.

Every time Zhao Tingduo returned home, he could see maids and servants coming and going, as if he was in Wu Dynasty City.

Especially in the main courtyard, one can always see Song Liyun accompanied by a little girl who is only a few years old.

Seeing the master enter the room, Xiao Ye'er, who was sitting at the table on the kang and drawing patterns for Madam Yun, quickly put down her pen and timidly bowed.

These children all need to learn the same skill. Brother Yiming is good at math, but Xiao Yeer has a talent for painting. After only a few days of learning from Wan Youyou, she took on the task of making embroidery patterns for Yunniang.

Song Liyun asked Xiao Ye'er to take a pen and paper to find Wan Youyou in the side yard, and she went forward to pour a cup of tea for Zhao Tingduo.

Zhao Tingduo raised his hand to stop him: "Ayun, Old Yu and the others are back and are in the front yard. Do you want to go meet them?"

Seeing how excited he was, and even coming to the main courtyard to find her in person, Song Liyun knew that it must be Old Yu and the others who had found something.

Since arriving in Mida City in March, Yu Lao and a dozen others have taken Wu Dan to travel around the grassland in search of minerals.

Since they left, there has been no reply. If a tribe had not seen them before, no one would have known whether Mida City was dead or alive.

Now I'm finally back!

In the front yard, Old Yu was sitting in Zhao Tingduo's outer study sorting his luggage. In front of him was a pile of colorful stones.

Wu Dan squatted beside the charcoal stove, drinking milk tea happily.

He seldom had the chance to drink milk tea when he was outside, but it made him very greedy.

After several months of absence, Mr. Yu, who used to be quite elegant and refined, became darker and thinner, but his eyes became sharper and more energetic.

As soon as he saw Zhao Tingduo and Song Liyun enter the study, he stood up and pointed at the ore and said, "Third Master, Madam Yu has fulfilled her mission and found the mine."

Zhao Tingduo lifted his sleeve, picked up one of the brown stones with black spots and asked, "What is this?"

Yu Laodao said, "This is flint! If you ignite it with fire, it will stay lit day and night!"

The name of Flint was used in the Wu Dynasty.

There are several mines that can be found in the Wu Dynasty, which are not easy to burn or extinguish.

It can be used for heating and cooking, but it has a pungent smell when burned, which ordinary people cannot accept. It can only be used to calcine iron and stone.

It was also by chance that this stone was discovered in the Dilu grassland.

When camping in a mountain forest, we found that the stone that originally supported the bottom of the pot had been burned red, and it remained dark red and hot all night, but the smell was not strong.

Mr. Yu simply stayed there for a few days, picking up gravel of the same color and burning them together.

Song Liyun asked in surprise: "Coal, is that a coal mine?"

She took the stone from Zhao Tingduo and looked at it carefully.

The surface is a fist-sized stone mixed with black charcoal. But if you peel off the sand, you can see the shiny black high-quality coal inside.

"Mr. Yu, where did you find this thing? Are there many?"

(End of this chapter)