"I'm not kidding you. How about it? Do you want to consider my son as your son-in-law?"
Zhang Hulan was speechless. "How old is my Xinyi? She's only ten years old after the Chinese New Year."
Ye Hongyun said with a smile, "Ten years old is not young anymore, I'll make an appointment first. If you want, you can arrange a marriage for them now."
Zhang Hulan waved her hand, "Stop it now. I don't care about the children's marriage. Let them decide for themselves when they grow up.
My Xinyao is like this. Although I have found one for her, it depends on their own willingness. I will not force them.
If you like my Xinyi, then you can wait until she grows up, or let your son pursue her himself. If he can get her, it's his ability, I won't interfere. "
After laughing for a while, Zhang Hulan said to Ye Hongyun, "Let me tell you something serious. You said before that you would help me find someone to make something. When will you help me ask?"
Ye Hongyun asked: "Are you anxious?"
"I am a little anxious. I have to go back to Changning County after Xingren and Dahua's wedding is done. There are still many things that need to be done at home. I have to rush back to the capital before the spring planting."
Ye Hongyun said: "Since you are anxious, I will go home to find Grandfather Yunyang and ask him to find the Minister of Works to talk to you."
"It's not good to trouble your father-in-law."
Ye Hongyun said: "Well, what's wrong with that? It's not something else. Just say hello for such a small matter."
Zhang Hulan didn't say anything more polite. "Okay, I won't say any more polite words."
Ye Hongyun asked: "You are coming to Beijing, why are you still doing that?"
Zhang Hulan said, "I don't use it myself, I give it to the villagers. When I go back, I will teach them how to make vermicelli with lotus root, and the villagers will make money by selling vermicelli."
Ye Hongyun gave Zhang Hulan a thumbs up and said, "You are noble and amazing. You always think about how to help others."
Ye Hongyun stayed for a while and then left, as it was a busy time now.
Zhang Hulan and her friends are busy preparing for the New Year, while Wu Deyong and Jing'an Hou and others in Maozhou are also busy these days.
Wu Deyong, Jing'an Hou and Wang Changming each kept an eye on a place.
The three of them kept a close eye on Miyun Mountain, Dayan Mountain and Tieshuling.
However, the three were not near Miyun Mountain, Dayan Mountain and Tieshuling, but at the intersections and exits passing through the three places.
During this period, the three of them discovered that caravans were passing through the three places one after another, carrying food, wine, and meat.
However, the people guarding the road exit discovered that after the caravan passed through three places, most of the supplies it was transporting were gone or simply disappeared.
Marquis Jing'an and his men all understood that there were people hiding in the three mountains, and there were quite a few of them.
They did not stay in Maozhou for long. After roughly estimating how many people were hiding in the three mountains based on the supplies lost by the caravan, they all evacuated.
We cannot alert the enemy now. We must go back and report the situation to Emperor Yongxing, and then see what Emperor Yongxing thinks.
…
Capital city.
After returning, Ye Hongyun told Wu Bangtai about Zhang Hulan's plan to make something. Wu Bangtai asked, "What does she want to make? What is it for?"
Ye Hongyun said, "She said she wanted to teach the villagers how to make vermicelli with lotus root.
That thing is to crush the lotus root and then filter out the starch in the lotus root.
I don’t know the details, but this is what she told me.”
"Does she have blueprints or anything?"
Ye Hongyun shook his head, "No."
Wu Bangtai said, "Then ask her to come to the Ministry of Revenue to see me this afternoon. I will take her to the Ministry of Industry to find someone to do it for her. Then she can talk to the people in the Ministry of Industry about what to do."
After receiving the news, Zhang Hulan went to the Ministry of Revenue to find Wu Bangtai in the afternoon.
She also brought some lotus roots so that the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry could have a more intuitive understanding of what she was going to make.
When she saw Wu Bangtai, Zhang Hulan said a little embarrassedly, "I'm sorry to have caused trouble for Uncle Wu!"
Wu Bangtai smiled and waved his hand, "What's the trouble? There's nothing to do right now. All the affairs of the government office have been arranged. Now we are just waiting for the New Year. Come on, I'll take you to the Ministry of Industry."
Wu Bangtai personally took Zhang Hulan to the Ministry of Works. The Minister of Works, Zhai Chunyong, smiled and said, "What brought Lord Wu here?"
The Ministry of Industry is the least visible department among the six ministries. Everyone there is busy working and few people target the Ministry of Industry on weekdays. Zhai Chunyong smiles at everyone he meets.
Wu Bangtai placed a bag of tea on Zhai Chunyong's desk and said, "How about coming to drink tea with Master Zhai? Do you want some?"
"You want tea with me?"
Zhai Chunyong looked at Wu Bangtai warily and said, "Tell me what's going on first, or I won't dare drink this tea."
Wu Bangtai pointed at Zhai Chunyong and said, "Are you being too cautious?"
Zhai Chunyong sighed and said, "Alas, there is nothing I can do. I dare not compete with you, the favorites around the emperor, so I'd better be careful."
Wu Bangtai sat down, pointed at Zhang Hulan and said, "This is our new supervisor from the Ministry of Revenue. She has something to do, but she doesn't know anyone from the Ministry of Works, so I brought her to see you."
Zhang Hulan bowed quickly and said, "Greetings, Master Zhai."
Zhai Chunyong was surprised for a moment, then said, "I heard these past two days that you are the Zhang Hulan chosen by the emperor himself."
Zhang Hulan bowed again and said, "Sorry to have embarrassed you, Lord Zhai."
Zhai Chunyong waved his hands and said, "Hey, you can have the emperor personally arrange a position for you, which shows that you are quite capable."
Zhai Chunyong then asked: "What do you want to make?"
Zhang Hulan took out the lotus root and handed it to Zhai Chunyong, saying, "Master Zhai, this is lotus root.
I planted a lot of this in my hometown with the villagers.
I am going to use this to make vermicelli, but I have to crush the lotus root first and filter out the starch inside.
What I want to make is a machine that can quickly crush the lotus root, preferably without human intervention."
Zhai Chunyong picked up the lotus root and looked at it. "I've heard of this, but this is the first time I've seen it."
Zhai Chunyong broke the lotus root with force, breaking off a spore. Then he said, "This thing should be quite brittle, so it shouldn't be difficult to break.
It’s just that you want to do it without human effort, which is more complicated.”
Then he asked, "How do you want to break it into pieces?"
Zhang Hulan said: "It should be very fine, almost into a paste."
"Beat it till it's like pulp?"
Zhang Hulan nodded, "About that."
Zhai Chunyong said, "I understand what you mean. After breaking this thing, it's like making tofu. First, break the lotus root, and then use gauze to filter out the residue and the pulp. Is that what you mean?"
"That's about it."
Zhai Chunyong thought for a while and said, "Then we can just make a water mill for pounding paper pulp. It can be driven by water power, so no human effort is needed."
Zhang Hulan said, "Master Zhai, I'm afraid this won't work."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Zhang Hulan explained, “The pulping method is too slow, and I want to make one that is more efficient.
And filtering it with a machine, like making tofu, is too slow.”
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