Errui went to town to discuss taxation and corvée labor with Song Tingzhang.
With everything alright in the village, Jiang Zhi went to the pharmacy to check on the situation.
After more than a month of working overtime to rush the production of pharmaceuticals, the air above Qingquan Bay was filled with billowing smoke, and the strong smell of medicine could be smelled as soon as you entered the bay.
Fortunately, they chose a mountain gully that was far from the village and hidden in the woods. If they had built the village there, the villagers of Xujia Village would have suffered.
With some free time, Ma Guan was teaching his twin boys and the Huang family boy how to do horse stance exercises by the stream, and the children were doing it quite well.
Upon seeing Jiang Zhi arrive, the four men were about to bow when Jiang Zhi waved her hand, saying, "Keep practicing, don't stop!"
The pharmacy was a busy place, and although no one dared to cause trouble, Xiaoman was leaving more and more often, so it was still necessary to have a security guard.
Therefore, Ma Guan's work focus shifted from the village to the pharmacy.
He lives in Qingquan Bay, where his family is reunited and he can teach his children kung fu. He is very satisfied with his current life.
By the stream, the two bears, who had grown into big dogs, were digging in the dirt, but now they wagged their tails and came over to greet them.
Jiang Zhi rubbed the dog's head to express her praise, saying that they were not only responsible for guarding the night, but also for catching mice, which made them very useful.
The dogs, after being petted, wagged their tails and ran off happily.
The amount of herbs collected during this government requisition was enormous, filling not only the warehouses but also several open spaces outside.
They were all tied together with bamboo ropes into tall stacks, and then covered with straw mats to keep out the rain. Although they wouldn't get moldy or rotten, there was a fear that rats would get in and gnaw on their nests. Fortunately, there were dogs to do part-time work, which was more effective than cats.
At this moment, Tian Tao was carrying a large wooden scale and had someone fetch herbs to prepare a new pot of medicine. When she saw Jiang Zhi arrive, she hurriedly called out, "Master!"
Seeing that she was busy, Jiang Zhi nodded and asked, "Which batch of medicine has been sent out today?"
Every few days, Xiaoman would deliver the prepared pills to the county government office. This time, she had just returned from the county government office and was already delivering the medicine again.
Tian Tao flipped through the ledger in her hand, found her record among the messy numbers, and said: "Today is the 130th jar of medicine delivered, and the seals on them are all closed."
According to military regulations, all kinds of pills are made and then packaged into a large earthenware jar, which is then sealed with mud using a special method.
When the pharmacy delivered the medicine to the county government, the county government would reseal it again when it was reloaded. Each time the medicine was handed over, a new seal was applied.
To prevent the bamboo slips from being read during transmission, after they were securely tied, mud was used to seal the wooden block at the knot, and a seal was affixed to the mud; this was called sealing.
There's also this way of using it.
Inkpad and seal are familiar terms, but few people know how to actually use them. Jiang Zhi was seeing them for the first time.
The ancients had very advanced methods for protecting the secrets of letters and letters. The method of sealing with mud originated in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and is still in use today, only the mud has been replaced with other materials. It has been used continuously for thousands of years.
This not only ensures that the transported goods will not be leaked, but also prevents others from poisoning them. This is how the medicines customized for military use are handled.
Knowing that Tian Tao and Xiao Man had done their work carefully and without making any mistakes, Jiang Zhi nodded again, then took Tian Tao's ledger and looked at it, saying, "You need to redo your accounts for the past few days."
If you're going to write, write it in the designated place; don't just scribble something down anywhere. Don't assume that just because you remember now, or in three to five days, you'll remember it. Can you guarantee you won't remember it in three to five months, or even three to five years?
Tian Tao blushed: "I'll rewrite it today!"
Jiang Zhi handed the account book back to her: "Once the village school is repaired, you will also need to attend classes. Make time for it every day."
Although Tian Tao can now keep accounts, she is partnered with Xiao Man. Xiao Man doesn't like reading and studying, so she does the accounting work rather casually.
I can still check it every now and then, but as time goes on and the pharmacy can produce more medicines, it will become a mess of accounts.
We still need to give Tian Tao, Wang Xiaoju, Qiaoyun, Lianhua, and others a year of proper lessons to help them become literate.
If I don't remind them, these women will automatically stop studying.
Even if you can't travel ten thousand miles, you should at least read ten thousand books. Opening a book is beneficial, and a mind filled with poetry and literature naturally exudes elegance.
After reviewing the accounts, Jiang Zhi put on an apron and went to the medicine preparation room to check on the decoction process.
With the addition of the Ma and Huang families to the pharmaceutical industry, and the manpower now sufficient, the Qixing Stove has two more production lines.
Four stoves and twenty-eight pots require two people to operate them continuously. Each large pot can hold a hundred kilograms of water and needs to be turned over and filtered at fixed intervals to prevent any leakage.
At this moment, Huang's sister-in-law and Ma Guan's mother were on duty, both wearing masks and hairnets and busy changing dressings.
The scalding hot medicine was taken out of the pot, and the billowing steam made it impossible to see anyone. There was no time to speak, so he nodded to Jiang Zhi as a greeting.
Jiang Zhi, being sensible, glanced at it and then turned to face the stove.
Now, Sister Shi has to watch over four stoves all by herself, keeping her extremely busy. She doesn't even glance at Jiang Zhi standing right next to her.
This simple-minded woman is meticulous and doesn't slack off when starting a fire.
After several months of training, one person can manage four seven-star stoves well, no worse than a healthy adult, and even slightly better.
Her current daily wage is 25 coins, an increase of 10 coins from before, totaling 750 coins a month, making her a true pillar of the Shi family.
I heard that the Shi family wants to postpone the wedding for two years, so that Sister Shi can get married when she is seventeen.
The Wu family is getting anxious, worried that the Shi family will drag things out until the last minute and then refuse to agree, only agreeing to postpone it for a year. The two families are still discussing it.
Jiang Zhi ignored all of that.
In any case, whether it's postponed for a year or two, Sister Shi herself has no opinion, and in the end, it's only Monkey Shi who can make the decision.
According to Stone Monkey, he wanted his eldest sister to get married later.
The work got heavier, and Sister Shi lost weight, revealing a youthful figure. Her once silly owl-like face now had definition.
Working alongside normal people every day, with older women guiding her, and no longer being beaten or scolded, her eyes no longer had that blank stare, but rather a clear, vacant look.
The Huang and Ma families now live in Qingquan Bay. Jiang Zhi asked Huang Anliang about the house renovation.
The Huang family moved into the pharmacy. The family lived in two rooms, which was a bit cramped, so they still needed to repair their house.
The Huang family did not sign a contract of servitude, but they did sign a ten-year contract, with Jiang Zhifa providing a monthly allowance: "Madam, I would like the children to also go to school and learn a few words. It would be more convenient for them to live in the village."
When they signed the contract, Jiang Zhi said they would do ordinary farm work, with room and board provided, and the couple would receive 100 and 200 coins per month respectively.
As soon as they arrived in Xujia Village, they helped the host family repair their house. Now they were making medicine, which had nothing to do with ordinary farm work, so Jiang Zhi increased the couple's monthly salary by one hundred coins each.
The Huang family now wants a house, and according to the contract, the host family should provide it.
Jiang Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll prepare a house for your family, but the deed won't be in your name. If you want the deed, we can talk about it in ten years."
Huang Anliang was very cautious when he asked for a house, but when he saw that the owner really agreed to build a house for him, he was overjoyed and said, "Of course, we dare not ask for a house deed. There are three or four rooms, as long as the family can live there, it will be fine."
This request was reasonable, and Jiang Zhi agreed.
After strolling around the pharmacy and seeing that everyone's work was proceeding in an orderly manner, Jiang Zhi left.
Unexpectedly, just as they stepped onto the main road, they saw Wang Xiaoju returning from town carrying a basket.
"Auntie!"
Wang Xiaoju noticed that Jiang Zhi seemed a little embarrassed and hid the basket in her hand behind her back; she had just returned from her parents' home.
Jiang Zhi wanted to laugh. Yesterday, the guy with red eyebrows and green eyes was acting like he wouldn't recognize her, but today he ran off to her.
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