Chapter 363 End of the Main Text
Sui Liang heard the noise and came over from the tenth guest house. He met the tired-looking servants walking out, led by Qingshan. They were all dusty, with sand stuck in the corners of their clothes, dust on their wrinkles, and their ears, hairline, and even nostrils were clogged with yellow sand.
"You've worked hard." Sui Liang said, "The kitchen is cooking. Go wash up and come back to rest after you've had a full stomach."
Qingshan sighed, raised his hand and clapped hands with Sui Liang, then jokingly said, "Second Shopkeeper, when will you go with us to the border areas again?"
"There's a chance." Sui Liang said vaguely.
The servants went out and Sui Liang came into the room. Xiaohua looked at him curiously, grinning and stretching out her hands to ask for a hug.
Sui Liang pretended to run two steps and snatched his niece away, which made Xiaohua giggle. She hugged her uncle's neck coquettishly, and anyone could see that she liked her uncle.
"Just because you can't speak doesn't stop the little girl from trying to please people." Song Xian came in from outside. She clapped her hands and said, "Come, let your aunt hold you."
Xiaohua buried her face in her uncle's shoulder and pretended not to hear. After a while, when she heard no sound, she quietly looked up and saw Song Xian looking at her with a smile. She stuck out her tongue mischievously and buried her head in her uncle's shoulder like playing hide-and-seek.
"This girl is fun." Song Xian liked her very much. She walked to Sui Liang and pinched the little girl's soft flesh, saying, "She is well raised. She is plump and white and tender. Just let her be my daughter."
"You're dreaming! You're dreaming before it even gets dark." Sui Yu said, "Pah!" She locked the door, walked out, and said, "Why aren't you resting? Do you have something to talk to me about?"
"It's okay, come and see Xiaohua." Song Xian pinched the little girl's feet and looked at the clothes Xiaohua was wearing. "Are they connected?"
"Well, cut two sleeves and two trouser legs from a piece of cloth, tuck your arms and legs in, wrap them with a rope, and fasten them with buttons. It's easy to put on and take off, and she's comfortable wearing it too," said Sui Yu.
Song Xian nodded frequently, "That's a good idea. My grandchildren will wear the same way in the future."
Sui Yu took out a handkerchief and wiped Xiaohua's saliva. She pointed to the other side of the river and said, "Construction of your house has also started. The foundation was dug just last month. It should be completed before the autumn harvest."
Song Xian went over to take a look and asked, "Your house is finished, why haven't you moved in yet?"
"Wait until Xiaohua's father comes back. He's in Jiuquan and Zhangye inspecting the cotton fields." Sui Yu saw that Sui Liang seemed to have something to say. She waited for a moment, but when he didn't speak, she turned around and said, "Sister Song, you go and rest first. The little girl needs to eat, drink, defecate and urinate. I'll go take care of her first."
Xiaohua sucked her fingers with relish. She was indeed hungry. As soon as Sui Yu stretched out his hand, she pounced on him like a baby bird.
Seeing Song Xian return to the guesthouse, Sui Yu asked, "Brother Liang, do you have something to tell me?"
"Well, I'm not in a hurry. Go feed Xiaohua first."
"Okay, go get a basin of water and I'll give her a bath. She's sweating all over."
Half an hour later, the servants who had gone to the lower reaches of the river to bathe and wash their hair came back. Sui Yu also cleaned up Xiaohua. The little girl felt refreshed and full. She was very happy. When she heard the noisy talking next door, she leaned over to go over.
Just then, Xiao Chunhong wanted to comfort her child, so Sui Yu handed Xiao Hua to her and said, "If Xiao Hua cries, give her to Ah Shui, Hua Niu, or Ah Qiang."
"Alright. By the way, Master, has Liu Ya'er given birth as well?"
"She gave birth at the end of last year. It's also a little girl, two or three months older than Xiaohua. Grandma Yin went to take care of the child." Sui Yu said. She waved to Xiaohua and went to find Sui Liang.
Sui Liang was picking mulberries under a mulberry tree. Sui Yu waved at him and said, "You've been tinkering with this mysteriously for two or three months. Let me see what treasure you've come up with."
"Sister, how do you know I want to talk about this?"
"You were running right under my nose. The moment you lifted your foot, I knew which direction you were going. What could you possibly hide from me? What's more, your thoughts are written all over your face. How could I not know?"
The brother and sister walked into the tenth guest house one after another. It was the seventh room from west to east. As Sui Yu approached, she smelled the scent of tung oil.
Sui Liang pushed the door open with brisk steps, letting in the rosy sunlight. The room suddenly became brighter. The wooden table opposite the door was filled with standing silk cocoons. The strong smell of tung oil in the room hurt people's eyes.
Sui Liang put on leather gloves and rubbed two silk cocoons in his hands. Sui Yu looked around and lowered her eyes, waiting quietly.
Suddenly, a cluster of flames shot up from Sui Liang's palm. He excitedly spread out his hands to show Sui Yu, "Sister, look, from now on, the caravan won't need to carry wooden stakes to preserve fire when it goes out."
The flame was fleeting, and Sui Yu felt that something was wrong. She picked up a silk cocoon and looked at it. Sure enough, the cocoon was wrapped in cotton wool.
"Can you introduce me to him?" she said.
Sui Liang handed her another silk cocoon and said, "This is the one without the lint. I soaked it in tung oil seven times. Once the cocoon was set, I poured in a hot oil mixture of beeswax, tung oil, and lard. I tried sixty-three times before finally finding the right ratio. When the beeswax, tung oil, and lard are combined and cooled, the oil solidifies."
Sui Yu pinched the cocoon. It was soft in texture and the stuff inside was like glue, entangled with the silk. It could not be crushed or poured out.
As he spoke, Sui Liang brought out another silk cocoon with cotton thread. He pinched two empty silk cocoons wrapped with cotton wool and rubbed them gently. After the seventh rub, a small flame appeared on the cocoon. He rubbed the cotton thread soaked in tung oil on the flame, and a flame the size of a soybean burned slowly.
The solidified wax in the cocoon melted slightly under the scorching flame. The cocoon burned, and suddenly, the flame rose sharply, the silk burned out, the beeswax melted quickly, and the wax dripped onto the cowhide gloves, and the hard cowhide gave off a burnt smell.
"Take this with you when you travel with your caravan. Even if you encounter wet firewood in the mountains, throwing in a few silk cocoons will start a fire. But that's not important. Soak cotton wool in tung oil, add silk, and rub it a few times, and it will catch fire." Sui Liang showed off excitedly, "Sister, you can sell this in your warehouse in the future."
Sui Yu gave him a thumbs up and said, "Great, very clever. How did you come up with this idea?"
"When I was boiling silk cocoons and peeling silk, one cocoon fell down. The fire from the stove happened to burst out and burned the cocoon. I thought the cocoon was doomed, but when I picked it up, I saw there was only a black mark on the cocoon and it was not burned at all. Then I used tongs to hold the cocoon and burned it on the fire. When it was burning, I took it out. As soon as I took it out, the fire was out in two breaths. I didn't believe it, so I cut a piece of silk cloth and burned it with fire. As soon as the flame was removed, the burning silk cloth went out. Sister, silk is actually fire-resistant." Sui Liang is still surprised. He can't understand why silk is more fire-resistant than linen and cotton.
Sui Yu listened patiently to his excitement and doubts. His eyes were bright as he spoke, and he really enjoyed this process of exploration.
"Then I soaked the cocoons and silk cloth in tung oil and burned them, so they could be burned. I figured out a random idea and wrapped cotton wool around the cocoons. The cotton wool burned away, but the cocoons were still there. After several experiments, I soaked the cocoons wrapped with cotton wool in tung oil and took them out to dry. When I collected them after they were dried, I found that the cocoons in the basket were smoking." Sui Liang's tone rose and his expression was excited.
"You got the inspiration and wanted to use silk cocoons and cotton wool to make flint." Sui Yu continued.
Sui Liang nodded. "I once led a caravan through the border. Carriers carried wooden stakes to keep the fire going, which was quite troublesome. If you weren't careful, the charcoal would go out. For example, the wind on Hongchiling is cold and wet, and the dew in the Qinling Mountains is heavy and humid. Trying to start a fire with wood in these places would rub your palms raw."
"What a clever idea." Sui Yu praised, "I knew it, going out with the caravan would definitely be useful."
Sui Liang agreed with this. Standing on a mountain and looking at the mountains, each mountain is different; standing by a river and looking at the water, each water will not meet the other. No matter how much the teacher teaches you, it is not as good as going out and experiencing it yourself.
Sui Yu twisted the cocoon and asked, "Can we only use silk cocoons? Can we use other things? Like linen or cotton?"
Sui Liang took out a bunch of cloth rolls from a basket nearby. Cotton, cotton lint, linen, and silk were all soaked in tung oil. He rubbed two cotton rolls against each other, and asked her to rub the linen rolls against each other.
Sui Yu rubbed the linen roll fifty or sixty times, but still no sparks came out. She gave up and said, "Linen can't replace silk cocoons?"
"It seems so. After the linen and cotton cloth are soaked in tung oil, they can be rubbed to produce fire within three to five days. After a while, these cloth rolls seem to have become damp and can no longer be rubbed to produce fire." Sui Liang also stopped.
Sui Yu understood instantly that the tung oil had evaporated.
"Can this empty silk cocoon without wax oil be rubbed into fire no matter how many days it is left?" she asked.
"Not really, maybe a month at most." Sui Liang was unsure, "Maybe it has something to do with the amount of cotton wool wrapped around it."
He held a silk roll in one hand and an empty silk cocoon in the other, saying, "Human craftsmanship cannot compare to that of silkworms. Silk cocoons are much denser than silk and satin."
Sui Yu looked at the silk cocoons on the table and the leather gloves covered with marks of smoke and fire, and thought that Sui Liang was really committed to this experiment.
"Do you want to continue thinking about it? Is there any substitute for beeswax? There are not many silk cocoons in Dunhuang, but there is a lot of cotton. Can cotton replace silk cocoons? For example, cotton lint mixed with oil or charcoal ash can be stored in a bamboo tube. It can be used to preserve fire like a wooden stake. You can just take it out and blow on it and it will be used." Sui Yu coaxed.
"That's impossible. Cotton wool will burn up in a single stroke. It can't possibly be as fire-resistant as a wooden stake." Sui Liang subconsciously denied it. He muttered, "Silk is fire-resistant, but it goes out easily. How can I mix silk and cotton wool together?"
Sui Yu was helpless. She only knew that there were tinderboxes in ancient times, and that the burning speed of the tinderbox was probably controlled by controlling oxygen. As for what was filled in the tinderbox, she had no idea.
"Try it," she encouraged. "Tinder cocoons made from silkworm cocoons, cotton wool, beeswax, tung oil, and lard are made from precious materials and can't be sold cheaply. This means they can only be circulated among caravans and not in the homes of ordinary people."
Sui Liang was a little bored. "I figured this was just to sell the cocoons. Tens of thousands of cocoons for only a little over three hundred yuan is way too cheap."
"That's fine." Sui Yu stopped his unfinished persuasion in time, "I'll open a shop for you to sell fire cocoons. It'll be called Sui Liang Fire Cocoons, and anything you come up with will be named after you."
Sui Liang felt a little embarrassed, "Isn't this bad?"
"Why not? I think it's great." Sui Yu walked out and said, "In a month or two, the merchant caravans will enter the country in large numbers. You should prepare and prepare more fire cocoons so that you don't run out of them."
Sui Liang followed him out and said, "There's no need to open a shop, just sell them in the warehouse."
"You need to build a reputation, you can't just sell it in a warehouse." Sui Yu ignored him, "You are responsible for selling your goods. If you need silk cocoons, you can contact the caravan to buy them for you from inside the customs."
Money is addictive, and Sui Yu noticed that Sui Liang, too, was interested in making money. Perhaps the revenue from the caravan and the inn was so large, and he had no worries about food and clothing, that he had lost his sense of reality. She planned to tempt him with money to see if she could get him to pursue this line of work.
"You can manage the money you earn from selling fire cocoons yourself, and you'll have to figure out how to buy and sell the goods yourself." Sui Yu stood outside the guesthouse and looked around. Her eyes fell on the main courtyard. She thought for a moment and said, "No need to buy a shop. This main courtyard is yours. This is your shop. Be careful not to burn my house down."
Before Sui Liang could catch his breath, the matter had already been settled. He sighed deeply and groaned, "My leisure time is gone."
Sui Yu didn't bother to pay attention to him. As long as the inventory was sufficient, he could play for half a year a year.
"Third sister-in-law, you're in the guesthouse. No wonder I couldn't find you. I'll have dinner here tonight," Zhao Xiaomi said. "I heard the camel bells coming into town, so I hurried over to sell fodder. I didn't expect it was your caravan returning, so my trip was in vain."
"Okay, let's stay here tonight." Sui Yu agreed.
"Why does Sui Liang look so listless?" Zhao Xiaomi asked.
Sui Liang saw Lu Yaer carrying Xiao Hua out of the house on the other side of the river. He immediately perked up and denied it, "No, my sister wants me to open a shop, and I'm thinking about it."
"What kind of shop?" Zhao Xiaomi was curious.
That night, Sui Liang's fire cocoon was revealed to everyone. After everyone praised him one after another, he was so excited that he was beaming with joy. He even boasted to Xiao Chunhong that he would make a fire starter for them that could preserve the fire. He showed no sign of his previous lack of interest at all.
Sui Yu watched quietly from a few steps away. She realized at this moment that what could motivate Sui Liang was not money but God. What he needed was a halo that belonged to him alone, not the brother of Shopkeeper Yu, the brother-in-law of General Zhao, or the attention brought by his appearance.
Six days later, Zhao Xiping brought back 13,000 kilograms of cotton. This was the first batch of cotton harvested by cotton growers living in Jiuquan and Zhangye. The cotton seeds had not yet been shredded before they were transported here.
He was accompanied by a team of escorting officers and soldiers. They stayed in the guesthouse for two days. Sui Yu entrusted them with transporting the 115,000 coins he had settled to Jiuquan and Zhangye, and then to the cotton growers.
Ding Quan and Da Zhuang had just returned and were sent out again by her. They went there to settle the accounts and also supervise.
Two days later, they chose a double-digit day and moved into the General of the Central Army's Mansion on the other side of the river. They also moved the copper coins that filled an entire room over there.
After that, the vacant main courtyard was converted into Suiliang Fire Cocoon Shop.
When she woke up that morning, Sui Yu saw Zhao Xiping sitting at the table, writing something with a frown on his face. She did not disturb him, but lay quietly and looked at the empty room.
They had just moved into their new home, and apart from the bed and table and chairs, the wardrobe, oil lamp, kettle, and cups were all old, familiar items, unchanged. She stared at the mud wall beside her bed, wondering when she would hire a carpenter to chisel away at the wall and inlay her four newly acquired glazed tiles into it.
The brush fell on the wooden table, and Sui Yu came back to her senses. She stood up and asked, "Are you done?"
"Yes, it's a letter of apology submitted to the court." Zhao Xiping sighed. "Due to rust, over 47,000 cotton plants were pulled out. Also, due to insect pests, many cotton fields will have reduced yields this year. All of this needs to be reported to the court."
Sui Yu gathered her hair and walked over to the table to read the bamboo slips. Zhao Xiping had written a long and eloquent message. Besides outlining the problems encountered during this year's cotton planting, he also explained that the main causes of water shortages, undetected diseases, and severe insect infestations were the slaves' lack of diligence and care. The slaves farmed according to the agricultural officials' instructions, following each instruction with impeccable results. They cared nothing for cotton yields, simply watering when told to and catching insects when told to, without worrying about any other problems with the cotton plants.
Zhao Xiping walked over to Sui Yu and picked up the brush. He asked her opinion: "Do you think I should add another sentence, such as releasing some slaves to work in the fields?"
Sui Yu looked at him and said, "If you think this measure is beneficial to cotton cultivation, then write it."
Zhao Xiping dipped the brush in ink and started writing without hesitation.
After the writing on the bamboo slips dried, the scroll was handed to the postman. Zhao Xiping no longer cared about what happened after that.
When the cotton harvest season arrived, caravans from inside and outside the Great Wall rushed to Dunhuang, and newly built shops opened hastily in the wilderness north of the city.
There are shoe shops, wine shops, hoof repair shops, barber shops, clothing shops, blacksmith shops, oil tea shops, fodder shops, and various food stalls.
The tinkling sound of camel bells came from far away. The merchant exchanged a few words with Sui Yu and ran towards the Jinxiu Weaving Workshop as soon as he landed.
"The north side of the city has changed a lot. Shopkeeper Du, you've added three more weaving workshops. Have you made a fortune?"
"I've made a fortune, thanks to you. The three houses here are used to make quilts and cotton-padded jackets. This year, there are many acres of cotton and the harvest is also good. You can buy as many quilts as you want this year."
"How much is a quilt?"
"It's still five hundred coins. The cotton is in the hands of Shopkeeper Yu. If she doesn't lower the price, we can't lower the price either." Shopkeeper Du said.
The merchant said nothing more. He exchanged the silk for 200 quilts and 200 sets of cotton-padded jackets and trousers. He stayed in Dunhuang for five days, and then the caravan left the country without stopping.
The caravans returning from outside the Great Wall sold their goods to Sui Yu, and bought quilts and cotton-padded jackets from her at a slightly lower price, and hurried out of the Great Wall before winter came.
"Shopkeeper Yu, will the price of cotton drop next year?" asked a merchant who had returned from outside the Great Wall.
Sui Yu nodded, "It's very likely."
Merchants do not want price reductions. If there are too many goods and the prices are too low, they will not be able to sell them at high prices.
"Then I'll buy more this time, go further, and come back in two or three years."
"Shopkeeper Yu, I've brought you a good thing. Buy it and take it back for your son to raise." A Hu merchant came over carrying an eagle cage. He said loudly, "This eagle was caught at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. It's not found inside the Great Wall. Give me a good price."
The goshawk in the cage was listless, and its fur seemed to have lost its luster. Sui Yu leaned over to take a look, and saw that there was still a sharpness in the eagle's eyes. This was a fierce creature, more difficult to tame than a wild horse.
She shook her head and said, "I can't raise it, nor do I have the ability to tame it, so I can't give you a price. You should ask other caravans."
Hu Shang became anxious. He kept praising the rarity of the goshawk and asked Sui Yu to buy one for the child to practice.
Sui Yu refused to take over, so Hu Shang had to take the eagle cage away again.
"Goshawks are proud and difficult to tame, and this one was raised wild. It would rather starve to death than be tamed." A merchant selecting goods in the warehouse said, "Shopkeeper Yu, you can't buy this hawk. I just took a few glances and it seems sick and not in good spirits."
"No." Sui Yu shook his head.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the warehouse. Sui Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Zhao Xiping who had returned. He looked relaxed, and it seemed that something good had happened to him.
"The imperial court has issued an order to pardon some slaves. For example, slaves implicated in crimes such as robbery, banditry, or fighting and injuring others can be pardoned. Slaves who have committed crimes can redeem themselves after ten years of service. Those without money can rent land and grow cotton to pay off their debts." Zhao Xiping was a little excited. "Look, I copied a copy of the order."
Merchants in the warehouse who heard the news rushed over, and the slaves who were bathing and brushing the camels by the river also hurried over.
"Sir, can the private slave redeem himself?" Xiao Chunhong asked in a sharp voice.
"Yes, fifty thousand coins per person," Sui Yu said loudly. "With the master's consent, and a payment of fifty thousand coins to the government, we can change our slave status to free status."
"How much money have I saved?" Xiao Chunhong muttered excitedly. "Including the dividends from this trip, it should be 35,000 coins, right? If I go through the customs again, the money I saved will be enough to redeem myself."
A sharp eagle's cry interrupted the boiling noise on the ground. Everyone looked over and saw a goshawk flying out of the guest house. It grabbed a hen that was digging for worms and quickly ran away.
Hu Shang chased out cursing, but the hawk had already disappeared.
No one paid any attention to this little episode, and the interrupted discussion resumed.
…
Three days later, a minor official came on horseback to the guesthouse. Zhao Xiping had 23 official slaves under his name, and 18 of them, including Yin Po, Gan Da and Gan Er, were pardoned.
On the Great Wall, shrill wooden whistles sounded one after another, and hunched slaves walked down from the wall one after another. They looked excited, but their eyes were blank and lifeless. They walked aimlessly in the wilderness like lonely ghosts.
The remaining slaves on the city wall had numb and desperate eyes.
With a loud "bang", a light figure fell from the city wall. With the cry of an eagle, the goshawk hiding in the bushes fled in panic.
The goshawk flew to the southwest corner of the city. The abandoned brothel shrouded in the sunset glow was on fire, and a disheveled figure fled out of the flames.
The flames lit up the night sky, and a faint light ignited on the land of the feudal kingdom.
As daylight faded, the flames died down, and the smoke carried by the wind vanished. Sui Liang stood up from the tombstone, propping himself against it and saying, "You see, as long as a person is still alive, the days of despair will come to an end."
There was a flapping sound on the river surface. Sui Liang looked closely and saw a black mass. He thought it was a person, so he jumped in and fished out a half-dead eagle.
Wet footprints left the river, and the tombstone standing by the river looked silently.
The sky is filled with rosy clouds and a new day has begun.
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