The two quickly took the items and said in unison, "Thank you, Sister Meng Zhao!"
Meng Zhao first introduced Xiao Chuan to them, and then followed them into the pig farm to check on the situation.
The weather is cold now, and because the two of them are cleaning up manure more frequently, the smell in the pig farm is much less compared to their previous visits.
Meng Zhao went inside and took a look. The piglets were no longer the same as when they were first brought over. They were all plump and healthy, eating heartily and full of energy.
At the current growth rate, they should be ready for market in another two or three months.
Although they initially kept sows to raise piglets, sows have a long growth cycle and need at least six months to be bred. After successful breeding, they still need three to four months of gestation time. It is likely that her pig farm will not have its first batch of piglets until next summer, which will be too late.
It seemed she would have to ask her father to bring her some more piglets. With that thought, Meng Zhao turned to Shun'er and Shi Tou and began to give them instructions on how to keep the piglets separate from the adult pigs.
"The piglets' feed needs to be more refined and can't be the same as the adult pigs'. The feeding time and amount must be strictly controlled. Although we can't let them go hungry, we can't let them get sick from overeating either. We have to check their condition every day, and if there's anything wrong, we have to find a solution to come to me immediately."
Both of them had experience taking care of piglets, so Meng Zhao only needed to remind them to pay more attention to them on a daily basis.
After they had finished talking, Meng Zhao asked Shun'er to watch over the pig farm and asked Shi Tou to go to the workshop to call Gu Yun so they could go into the mountains together.
The new shop is about to open, and the amount of charcoal needed will inevitably increase significantly. However, with charcoal prices so high now, it's really not worth buying it. Since she lives right by the mountain, it would be a waste not to make some herself.
Before long, the group of men took hoes and axes and went up the mountain together. When they went into the pig farm, they had tied the dog outside. Now that they came out, the big dog had been following Meng Zhao and the others, sniffing left and right. Although there were not many wild animals in the mountains in winter, they felt more at ease with the dog around.
Meng Zhao hadn't been to the mountain many times before. This time, he focused on looking at the trees on the mountain, and picked out a few with harder textures, asking Gu Yun and some stones to chop them out with an axe.
He then led Xiao Chuan to a suitable earthen slope, dug a square pit on the slope with a hoe, and stacked the felled trees one by one into the pit.
Shi Tou had initially thought Meng Zhao had brought them to chop firewood, but seeing her putting the wood into the pit instead, he asked curiously, "Sister Meng Zhao, why are you burying all this wood?"
Meng Zhao patiently explained, "Charcoal is too expensive right now, so I'm going to burn some myself. The beech wood you cut is perfect for making charcoal. I'll save some for you so you and Shun'er can stay warm when it snows."
Upon hearing this, Shi Tou's mouth dropped open in astonishment, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Sister Meng Zhao can even make charcoal?"
"Hmm? You haven't burned charcoal before?" Meng Zhao remembered that in ancient times, the felling of trees was not strictly controlled, so many places burned their own charcoal for use.
Stone shook his head. "No, I've never seen anyone burn charcoal."
Gu Yun carried several particularly thick logs and placed them beside the pit, adding, "We only know that charcoal is made by burning wood, but we don't know how it's done. Even if there are people in the village who know how to make charcoal, they keep their skills very secret and never tell anyone."
Meng Zhao nodded thoughtfully, already understanding a bit. Even the smallest skill, as long as the product can be sold, will be closely guarded by those who know it. Even within their own families, there's a saying that skills are passed down only to daughters, let alone made public.
Because fewer people burn charcoal, production is low, and the price of charcoal keeps rising. Ordinary people can't afford charcoal, and people freeze to death every winter.
However, timing is crucial for charcoal production. If she doesn't build a kiln and only burns charcoal on the mountain, even if she burns it a few times, it will only be enough for her own use. If she waits until she successfully builds a kiln and tests it, the cold winter will probably be over.
Meng Zhao stopped thinking about it and continued to pile the cut wood into the pit. The more compactly the wood was piled up, the less air was inside, and the better the burning effect would be.
After stacking the timber, Meng Zhao found some dry grass, spread it on the stacked timber, then mixed some yellow mud with water and pasted it on the dry grass, leaving only a palm-sized vent hole.
Because the pit was dug on a slope, Meng Zhao came down the slope, gestured to roughly indicate the location of the bottom of the pit, and dug out a hole to use as an air inlet.
Before lighting the fire, Meng Zhao first had Gu Yun and the others bring over several buckets of water, then cleared away the surrounding weeds and dead leaves, and finally lit a handful of dry grass and stuffed it into the air inlet below.
They found a bamboo pole with good ventilation and blew hard into the air inlet. Soon, thick smoke began to billow out, indicating the firewood inside was already burning.
Then observe the state of the smoke. The thicker the smoke, the lower the temperature inside and the less complete the combustion. When the smoke decreases, it means that the temperature inside is about right.
Then continue mixing the mud, slowly narrowing the air inlet to reduce the amount of air inside, until the air inlet is completely closed.
As the air in the cave decreased, the layer of mud they had just plastered began to slowly collapse. Meng Zhao hurriedly said, "Gu Yun, stone, mix some more yellow mud and plaster it on."
The group quickly got to work, and after applying two more layers of yellow mud, they stopped the collapse. Seeing that it was almost time, Meng Zhao used the last of the yellow mud to seal the air vents as well.
At this point, there is no air inside, and it is just waiting for the wood to complete its pyrolysis to form charcoal.
Although the danger had subsided, vigilance was still necessary. Meng Zhao instructed Xiao Chuan to keep watch nearby.
He and Gu Yunshi chopped some more wood, both to fire the second furnace later and to build a doghouse for the big dog.
"Stone, let's find a suitable spot near the pig farm and build it a doghouse."
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