In the next few days, the people in the lower village became busy as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
Fu Xiaoguan was also not idle. He went to the back mountain of Xishan, checked the terrain there and made some arrangements.
They requested to build a large simple wooden shed in an open area to store the mined limestone, and to build some temporary residences on the mountainside. They arranged for more than ten guards to be stationed there, and they also requested to level the land by the river as a cement workshop would be built there in the future.
The road into the mountain was a narrow path, which was definitely not acceptable. The stone mill and stone grinder could not be transported in, so he arranged for people to build a road.
The news about what the young master of the Fu family did in Xishan has spread throughout the market town of Xiacun, like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, causing huge ripples that last for a long time.
"I heard that quarrying in Xishan costs twenty cents a day."
"They need people to build roads and houses over there now. It costs 15 cents a day."
"Let me tell you, Tang Brick Maker is also hiring people to make bricks and burn in the kiln. It's also 20 wen a day."
"That old fellow, Zhou Zheng, got a good job working the waterwheel. The young master paid him twenty-five cents a day."
"That's a technical job. Can you and I do it?"
"Ah... I can't make any money, so I have to ask my wife and daughter to grow flowers."
"I'll put the work in order and go to Xishan tomorrow to build roads and houses."
"Call me, and we'll go together."
“…”
More and more people gathered in Xishan. Although their tools were simple, they had the advantage of having more people. Moreover, these people worked very hard and the progress was very fast. According to Fu Xiaoguan's estimation, the main body of the cement workshop would be almost completed in a month at most.
This thing couldn't be made with such precision. He didn't have the advanced machinery and equipment of his past life. His initial thought was to be able to make it and use it—the results would certainly not be up to the standards of cement from his past life. He would undoubtedly make many mistakes, but as long as he kept at it, gradually improving through exploration, it would eventually get better and better.
Never underestimate the wisdom of the working people. They may not be literate, but they have ample experience from life.
Fu Xiaoguan is not omnipotent, these are not his expertise, his expertise is killing - I almost forgot that.
So Fu Xiaoguan's method was to come up with an outline, and then let these people work on it. He would fully listen to their opinions and reward them if they had any good suggestions. After all, his family had a lot of money, and he was very generous in investing it in these applications.
As Fu Daguan watched the silver flow like water into the West Mountain Villa, he felt not angry but rather delighted. Why? Because the silver flowing into the West Mountain Villa was less than Fu Xiaoguan's annual pocket money.
In the past, money was like money thrown into the water without even a bubble, but now the money is actually put to good use.
He also received the same report from Xishan Villa. Although he didn't know what his son was going to do, he inexplicably felt that his son must be doing something big.
Qi did have some complaints, but after being suppressed by Official Fu once, she never mentioned it again. Her belly just grew bigger and she took care of the baby peacefully, waiting for her son or daughter to be born.
Another half month passed.
The clay thing was found in the lake in Jinghu Village.
This was found by a girl named Du Xiaojuan, which was quite a stroke of luck.
Miss Du took her brother to the lake to catch fish. The naughty brother was playing in the water but accidentally slipped in. Du Xiaojuan dove into the water and caught her brother. In his hand was a handful of mud, red mud.
Du Xiaojuan hung her brother on the ground to dry. The mud gradually dried up. She took it and kneaded it. It felt a bit soft and sticky. She remembered the words from Xishan and wondered if this thing was the so-called clay that the young master wanted. Anyway, this thing was red and quite sticky. So she carried her brother on her back and came to the Xishan Villa. Fu Xiaoguan basically confirmed that this thing was clay.
The reward for Du Xiaojuan was extremely generous, which was fifty taels of silver. The huge amount of silver immediately dazzled Du Xiaojuan, and she had no choice but to notify Du Xiaojuan's father to come.
Du Xiaojuan's father, Du Xing, was a fisherman who also farmed ten mu of land. With an elderly mother and a chronically ill wife, the family lived in extreme poverty, as apart from Du Xing, there was no other labor force.
A few days ago, he also came to Xishan to get a lot of seeds, thinking that since his wife was unable to do heavy work, he could let her take care of these flowers. If they could be grown well, he could send them to Xishan and earn some income.
No one expected that there would be clay under the Mirror Lake - perhaps some people knew, but they didn't know that the mud was what the young master wanted.
This is fate, and the fate of the Du family was changed in this way.
Not only did the Du family receive a reward of fifty taels of silver, but Fu Xiaoguan also handed over the clay mining business to Du Xing.
"I don't care what method you use, even if you drain the lake, you can help me get the clay out from underneath and send it to the back mountain. If you need any more men, carriages, or money, go directly to Zhang Ce, the housekeeper. As for the crops on your ten acres of land, you can hire people to harvest them and report the expenses together. You can focus all your energy on mining this clay."
This is Fu Xiaoguan's management style, simple, direct and rough, but the effect is surprisingly good.
If you can make money and it’s so easy, who the hell doesn’t want to make more?
Du Xing did not drain the lake. Instead, he came up with a solution: building a cofferdam. This was his job, and Fu Xiaoguan did not ask about it. He just thought it was wise after hearing about it.
…
It was late at night, but the temperature had not dropped. Fu Xiaoguan sat at the desk on the second floor, thinking hard.
He held a charcoal pencil in his hand - the brush was a real pain in the ass. He wanted to draw the sketches of the workshops, and it was obviously not possible with a brush, so he got a handful of charcoal and sharpened it into a pen.
There were several pieces of drawn paper placed next to the desk, which showed a soap workshop, a perfume workshop, an alcohol refining workshop, a papermaking workshop, and a three-story complex building.
What he is going to do now is to build a research and development center for firearms, which is his ultimate goal at present. The main research direction of the research and development center is centered around firearms.
To match it, there needs to be materials science, chemistry and various precision instruments - these things are very troublesome, and he has not yet figured out where to start.
Su Mo was also in his study, looking at the blueprints. Although the drawings were ugly, the proportions were marked at every place, which meant that even if the construction workers were illiterate, they could still build the house by looking at the blueprints.
Su Mo looked at Fu Xiaoguan's back and wondered why this guy seemed to know everything?
He took out a book from his arms, threw it in front of Fu Xiaoguan, and turned away.
"Tiyunzong"!
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