Chapter 441 Self-Armament
While Pingzhou's infrastructure construction was in full swing, Lu Songli was not idle either.
The Seventh Institute of Technology reported a result, and she planned to take some time to go and take a look.
Well, the Seventh Institute of Technology has also moved to Liaoxi County. However, currently, only four courtyards in the Seventh Institute of Technology, including Lv Mingzhi, are in operation.
Zhan Ruoshui and his two apprentices, Zhou Congguang and Wei Wenqian, had returned to their hometown to visit their relatives. They had been away for over a year and missed their families terribly.
So, when they came to talk about this, Lu Songli agreed, both emotionally and logically. The storm was about to come, and before the war broke out, it would be good for them to go back and visit their relatives. It would be even better if they could bring their relatives to Pingzhou.
During this time, Lü Songli had also asked the housekeeper, Lü Mingzhi, and Zhan Ruoshui and his apprentice to talk more about the benefits of the whole family moving to Pingzhou. It was unknown whether they had listened.
Lu Songli gave the order, "Make arrangements. We need to go to the Seventh Institute of Technology today."
The Seventh Institute of Technology produced the cement she had requested, and she couldn't wait to inspect it.
If the Xianbei were to march south, war would be inevitable for Pingzhou, a frontier town. A tall, sturdy city would become particularly important. Cement, as a building adhesive, was crucial.
When Lu Songli and his group arrived at the Seventh Institute of Technology, Lu Mingzhi, Sheng Peiguang, their senior brother Ye Chengqian, and their second senior brother Gao Yan were already waiting there.
Ye Chengqian and Gao Yan are both stable and mature.
Lu Songli wanted to say a few more words of concern to them, but Sheng Peiguang couldn't wait any longer, "Mrs. Qin Liu, take a look, is this the cement you wanted?"
The cement they produced weighed about seven or eight pounds and was placed in a wooden basin.
When Lu Songli got closer, she smelled a pungent odor. She even picked up a small handful to feel it.
You can feel that the cement particles are still relatively rough, with a sense of stickiness, not uniform enough, not smooth enough. The color is yellow and white, which means that the cement is not strong enough.
But seeing the expectant eyes of Ye Chengqian and Gao Yan, Lu Songli did not directly express a negative conclusion, but said, "Bring some water and see the effect."
Lu Songli wants to see the solidification effect.
Lu Mingzhi quickly fetched a basin of water.
Ye Chengqian put some cement into the clean water.
Everyone stared at the basin with bated breath.
Lu Songli is also observing whether it can quickly settle and form lumps.
Finally, Lv Songli discovered that the cement was easy to fall off after hardening, indicating that it was not sticky enough. She knew the quality was not up to standard by looking at the color of the cement, so she was not too disappointed.
However, Ye Chengqian, Gao Yan and others were quite disappointed.
Lu Songli encouraged, "It's already very close to the effect we want. If you work harder and make some improvements, it should be fine."
Southland
For a few ordinary scholars, they felt that the three years of Tianhe were too unfriendly to them.
First, the price of paper increased, and the prices of other study items and books also rose slightly. In addition, scholars consumed a lot of paper, which directly increased the cost of their reading.
The scholars in the south were very dissatisfied with this, and Zhou Jing was one of them.
But some people agree with this.
"To be honest, Lu's silver-gloss paper has been improved and is of better quality than the snow-gloss paper sold at the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce bookstore. The new silver-gloss paper is priced slightly higher than the snow-gloss paper. Is that normal?"
Zhou Jing discovered that the scholar who was speaking was called Han Tiancheng, and his family had numerous properties and shops, and was from a wealthy family.
Zhou Jing did not agree with his words.
For the same price, when the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Bookstore was still in existence, they could buy 300 sheets of snow-glossy paper for three knives, but now they can only buy 240 sheets of silver-glossy paper.
They were just scholars from ordinary families. For them, snow-glossy paper and silver-glossy paper of previous quality were completely sufficient.
Now I am forced to buy silver-colored paper which is more expensive and of better quality.
"Take a look at this recent book's title page. The famous scholar's message is copied from a rare copy of the Gongming History. Ancient sages have praised the Gongming History for its excellent arrangement of events and logic, its eloquence without being flowery, and its simplicity without being vulgar."
"If it weren't for the Lu family and the silver paper, how would you have known the wonderful contents of this book? Believe it or not, if it weren't for the Lu family, even if someone was willing to spend ten or a hundred gold coins, they wouldn't be able to read the wonderful contents of the Gongming History."
“Ask yourselves, is this worth it?”
After Han Tiancheng finished speaking, many people agreed, "Brother Tan, what you said is very true."
Zhou Jing discovered that those who agreed were all scholars from wealthy families in the south.
Han Tiancheng's words may have some truth to them. However, for scholars from ordinary families, there are many books in the world that they have not yet read. They have not yet reached the stage of reading a wide range of books and need to seek out rare books to read.
If basic needs are not met, how can we think about adding icing on the cake?
Zhou Jing was too lazy to explain and left without saying a word.
As soon as Zhou Jing returned home, someone knocked on his door.
He opened the door and found that the visitor was his classmate and the steward of the Xie family.
"What's up?"
"Brother Zhou, can we go in and talk?"
For the sake of his classmate, Zhou Jing stepped aside and let the two of them in.
Xie's manager quickly explained his purpose, but Zhou Jing was not interested in the other party's proposal.
Xie's steward left with a look of regret on his face, and before leaving he said that if Zhou Jing changed his mind, he could come to him at any time.
Zhou Jing's classmates were puzzled by his refusal of Xie's offer. "We only need to sort out paperwork, it's not a heavy job, and the monthly salary is five taels of silver, which is quite a lot. Why did you refuse?"
"Aren't you very dissatisfied with the price increase of silver-colored paper at Lu's Bookstore? With this job, we can completely ignore the slight price increase of silver-colored paper and other study treasures."
Zhou Jing said, "Why don't you think about this? When the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's bookstore was still there, we didn't even need to work for the Xie family. We could still afford to study."
Yes, for a scholar from a middle-class family like Zhou Jing, easily earning five taels of silver a month is very attractive.
Zhou Jing didn't have a problem with the work, but rather with the way Xie recruited them.
Everyone knows that the Xie and Lu families are good friends, and now it is obvious that one is playing the good cop and the other is playing the bad cop.
The Lu family monopolized the Nandi bookstores. They deliberately raised the price of paper and then had Xie's people recruit them, making them feel grateful. It was wishful thinking. He wouldn't be fooled!
Seeing that they could not persuade him, his classmates also left Zhou's house.
When Zhou Jing was alone, he took out the letter from his good friend Ning Changge, placed it before his eyes, and fell into deep thought. He had wanted to visit Liaodong Academy last year, but unfortunately his mother was ill, so he didn't go.
However, he often communicated with his good friends, and through their descriptions, he was full of yearning for Liaodong County.
The Liaodong County described in his friend's letter was always positive and optimistic, which was like a hook that made his heart itch.
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