After lunch, Lu Qiqi went to the village chief's house for a meeting with Lu Dahai.
Once the village chief saw that most of the people had arrived, he informed the villagers about the charcoal-making project.
The villagers immediately started discussing it.
"This is great! We were worried about not having money or food before, and how we would get through the winter. Now that we're burning charcoal and selling it, we'll have money!"
"Yes! It's cold outside, so there must be a lot of people using charcoal in winter!"
"We rarely have this kind of weather in the South, so I don't think there are many people who know how to make charcoal. It seems we don't have to worry about not being able to sell the charcoal we've made."
Hearing everyone's unanimous agreement, the village chief gradually smiled.
Just as he was about to make the decision to start cutting firewood and making charcoal the next day, a different voice arose.
"Sell charcoal? Two catties of charcoal for one coin, how much charcoal would we have to burn to earn enough for one bushel of rice?"
"Exactly! It's better to go to town and find work. If it's only cold for a few days, who will buy this charcoal when it gets warmer!"
"You guys do it, I'd rather go to town and find work."
After saying that, two young men got up and left.
Lu Qiqi didn't try to dissuade her, after all, everyone has their own choices, and if she was unwilling, she wouldn't force her.
It's like when someone around you wants to help you make money, but you don't even look at them and just say you'll definitely lose money—it's the same principle.
After the two left, Lu Qiqi walked behind the village chief and explained the public point system.
Speaking of "gongfen" (a unit of measurement for labor), it's actually not complicated. It simply means that everyone has a clear division of labor, and the money is distributed according to "gongfen".
Take Zhang Weiguo and his fellow veterans who burn charcoal, for example; each person records one centimeter per day.
The villagers who cut firewood did the same, each person recording one centimeter per day.
To prevent anyone from slacking off, tasks were assigned, such as how much firewood each person had to chop in a day in order to earn one centimeter.
Record more firewood if there is extra, and record less if there is less firewood, in order to strive for fairness and impartiality.
The village chief had heard Lu Qiqi talk about this scoring method before, and hearing it again now, he still thought this girl was extraordinary.
With such a sharp mind, if he were a boy, he might even achieve some academic success!
Lu Qiqi didn't think that far ahead; she just wanted to do something for the villagers.
I also want to help the veterans, after all, they are people who have no children and are physically disabled.
Living in this world of scarcity, life is bound to be difficult.
Lu Qiqi thought that as long as she could help these veterans within her capabilities, she would do so.
Lu Dahai never expected that the idea of making money by burning charcoal was Lu Qiqi's idea. When he found out, he grinned so hard his mouth almost reached his ears.
Back home, Lu Dahai said, "Seventh girl, how did you come up with the idea of making money by burning charcoal? This has solved our village's urgent problem!"
Lu Qiqi sat on a chair in the main room, picked up the teapot on the table, poured a glass of water for Lu Dahai, and then poured one for herself.
She was busy all day and didn't even have a chance to drink water.
After drinking it all in one gulp, Lu Qiqi slowly said, "On the way we fled earlier, Aunt Fang gave me a bag of charcoal to use as a water purifier. Today she asked me to go to her house to get some more charcoal to take home."
"So, the first thing that came to my mind was to have the villagers burn charcoal together."
After listening to Lu Qiqi's words, Lu Dahai said, "This is all thanks to Sister Fang, but the person we should thank the most is our girl."
"If it weren't for your quick wit, Seventh Sister, who else could have come up with this idea!"
No matter how Lu Dahai looks at it now, he thinks his child is the best, both smart and good-looking.
He hoped that his beloved daughter, Xibao, would be just like Lu Qiqi in the future.
If all else fails, he doesn't ask for much; half is fine too.
The thought that Xi Bao was as smart as Lu Qi Qi gave him a burst of energy, and saving up more dowry for Xi Bao was no problem.
Xi Bao, sitting in the kitchen eating a steamed bun, had no idea that her father was already planning to save up for her dowry.
...
The next morning, everyone took their machetes and bamboo baskets and went up the mountain to cut firewood.
Lu Qiqi also got up very early. Yesterday, Lu Qiqi heard Li Dalang talk about how to burn firewood.
She then realized why the charcoal they burned was worthless; Li Dalang burned ash charcoal, which was a type of black charcoal.
This type of charcoal produces little smoke, making it a popular choice for ordinary people. However, the quality of this charcoal is not guaranteed, and it may produce cigarette butts if not burned properly.
Lu Qiqi planned to categorize the charcoal and burn it into different types. Ordinary firewood would be used to burn black charcoal. The burned charcoal would be placed in a kiln to isolate it from the air, and after it cooled, black charcoal would be obtained.
Better quality firewood was used to make white charcoal, the finest type of charcoal, which only wealthy families could afford to buy.
The production process of silver frost charcoal is different from that of black charcoal. Silver frost charcoal requires taking the red-hot charcoal out of the kiln and exposing it to air, then covering it with soil to cool it. The silver frost charcoal produced in this way is not only hard and smokeless, but also exceptionally durable.
Just like its name suggests, the surface of the charcoal is covered with a layer of silvery-white ash, hence the name Silver Frost Charcoal.
Lu Qiqi handed over the charcoal-making instructions she had written down the night before to Li Dalang.
Li Dalang took the recipe, looked at it again and again, and loved it. He felt that with this improved recipe, he would definitely be able to make good charcoal!
After handing the prescription to Li Dalang, Lu Qiqi took out a painting from her pocket and gave it to Zhang Weiguo.
It was the first time Zhang Weiguo had ever seen someone digging a kiln using blueprints, and he found it all very novel.
As Lu Qiqi slowly explained the ins and outs of the kiln to him, Zhang Weiguo realized how easily he had been deceived.
Zhang Weiguo laughed and said, "Miss Lu, did your family used to be charcoal burners? You know so much about this! I've never heard of any of these tricks you're talking about before!"
Lu Qiqi glanced at the villagers walking up the mountain ahead, then looked away and faced Zhang Weiguo directly, smiling slightly, "I learned all of this from books. I just memorized it after reading it so many times."
Zhang Weiguo asked curiously, "What kind of book is it? What's it called? Can I borrow it to take a look?"
"This book actually records so many useful things!"
Lu Qiqi shook her head and said, "I don't remember. Too many things happened on the way we fled, and I don't know if I brought it with me."
Lu Qiqi certainly couldn't produce it; it was a treasure obtained only after recording thousands of years of history from another era.
Zhang Weiguo was deeply disappointed when Lu Qiqi told him that the book was lost and he would never have the chance to see it.
But when he thought of Lu Qiqi and her entire village fleeing to this place, he couldn't help but sigh. Zhang Weiguo saw Lu Qiqi looking down at her toes and thought that he had upset her. He was at a loss for what to do.
Zhang Weiguo lived to be this old, and all his relatives were killed by the Tartars.
He had no children, no wife, and had no idea how to comfort a crying little girl, so he was at a loss for words.
Lu Qiqi didn't know why Zhang Weiguo kept scratching her face, until it looked like a cat's face.
She suppressed a laugh and asked, "Uncle Zhang, is your face itchy? Do you want me to get you some herbal remedies to rub on it?"
Zhang Weiguo, “…”
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