But the carpenters in the countryside don't need to do fine work on furniture like kang tables and door panels, so people in the village don't want to hire them, and they go hungry at home every day.
Thinking that these tasks would be easy for Song Liyun, he came to find her.
Generally speaking, two days should be more than enough time to make a bottomless sink that doesn't need carving or painting.
Carpenter Mu was indeed slow. With Song Liyun's help, he finished the sink and then worked two extra night shifts to make the filter cloth frame.
Aside from the fact that he was slow to work, Mu the carpenter's craftsmanship was truly excellent.
A large trough for holding paper pulp was forcibly pounded until its four sides were smooth and its six sides were reflective.
Carpenter Mu also said that if a thick layer of tung oil is applied in the future, it can be used as a mirror.
Because Song Liyun was too busy, he couldn't apply the oil properly and had to do it later.
Seeing that Mu the carpenter was doing a good job, Song Liyun simply let him take his time repairing her dilapidated gate.
The gate was blocked off with scrap door panels for safety reasons, and it should be repaired now.
Anyway, this carpenter was as honest as an invisible man.
During the day, she worked outside the courtyard, and at night she stayed at Manager Mu's place. The Song family only needed Yunniang to serve them an extra bowl of rice.
Once the Song family revealed their method for removing the astringency from acorns, Han Ming put aside his acorn-collecting duties.
Song Zhenping cleaned up all the soil in the rabbit hutch in the backyard and replaced it with clean soil. He also took horse manure and garbage from the outhouse to the field and hauled it away on a cart for a whole day.
Song Zhenping was originally worried that the ten mu of wasteland would definitely lack manure in the first two years, but now that there is fertilizer, he is full of confidence in growing grain.
The entire town became busier than ever before.
Because of the disturbance caused by Kim Sam-jung and others at the end of last December, the several small teams that were divided were slightly adjusted for easier management.
Separate trading from farming.
Those who were willing to do business returned to their old ways, while those who were happy to farm took over other people's land, only needing to pay the householder 10% of the harvest as food rations after the autumn harvest. Both parties made a profit and were happy.
In order to make money, those people couldn't wait to soak the acorns in water to remove the bitterness. They first boiled the acorns according to Song Liyun's method, and sure enough, the effect was seen that very night.
The grinding noise never stopped all night, keeping even the dogs in Broken Gold Town awake.
Next, Xue Zhuang's team busied themselves going from village to village buying acorns, while the rest either ground acorns at home to make powder and boil them into a paste, or carried them on their shoulders to Qili County to sell acorn flour.
Everyone is just a tiny ant in the universe, striving desperately for a larger living space and a better environment.
……………………………………
A few sheets of soft, white wood pulp paper caused a small sensation at Baolinju.
Song Zhenping twirled the edge of the paper, his face filled with disbelief: "Yun'er, is this the papermaking technique written in the 'Heavenly Book'?"
Song Liyun was very pleased with herself.
She followed the instructions in the book, only wanting the simplest cardboard, but unexpectedly produced such high-quality wood pulp paper, soft yet resilient, perfect for making toilet paper.
Perfect timing, I also need to replenish the toilet paper I've stored in my space.
Xiao An put the pulp to his lips and blew on it, listening to the rustling sound of the paper pages.
On the other side, without being watched for a moment, Black Gold tore the paper into strips and started playing "flying paper."
Upon learning that their family relied on papermaking, Song Zhenping and Han Ming immediately became interested.
After trying wood pulp, Song Liyun decided to try grass stems as well.
During this time, the three also delivered a cartload of goods to Xiaozhuangzi as agreed.
The Song family engaged in farming, papermaking, smuggling, horse breeding, and rabbit raising—they did it all.
Upon returning from delivering the goods, they immediately cut down all the reeds that were as tall as a person along the riverbank, preparing to start making large quantities of paper pulp.
In Tianxiang Tower in Qili County, Old Master Hong asked the shrew beside him with a gloomy face, "Have you all found out that Song Liyun went to Wanchun Fur Shop twice that day?"
"Yes, sir! I've inquired several times, and the vendors next to the Wan family's leather goods shop all said the same thing. Although it's been a while, those people still remember a girl and a man with a scar on his face."
"Hmph, you hunt geese all day long, and yet you get pecked in the eye by one. A little girl dares to lie to me. How did things go with your trip to Broken Gold Town?" Old Master Hong tightened his grip on the prayer beads in his hand and said resentfully.
That day, Song Liyun was having dinner at Tianxiang Restaurant. In order to show his magnanimity, he deliberately left room for maneuver and did not press her for details.
He never expected that Song Liyun would disappear for a whole month before he realized he had been tricked.
"Your Excellency, the town of Broken Gold does not accept outsiders now. If you want to enter the town, you need someone inside to vouch for you."
Qingpi lowered his head. He had tried to find someone to act as a guarantor, but he was always rejected by the gold diggers who came to the city to sell vegetables.
"Hmph, you good-for-nothing. You immediately have someone follow Wan Chun's fur shop and see what they're up to. Why did Song Liyun go to the shop twice?"
Having been involved in the underworld for decades, Hong Jingtian's intuition told him that there was something fishy about the fur shop Song Liyun went to on the day they met.
Soaking the freshly cut reeds in lime water to slowly decompose them, Song Liyun was off to deliver furs again.
This time, Han Ming drove an old horse-drawn cart loaded with goods from the garrison. As usual, Song Liyun went up to "inspect" the items under the burlap sack before the two carts headed straight for a small village in the mountains.
With the moon high in the sky, Manager Wan was already waiting by the roadside.
When Song Liyun's carriage stopped, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed the head of the Song family's unruly horse, while also calling to his men: "Hurry up, it looks like it's going to rain, we must pass Yuguan tonight."
Yunzhou receives little rainfall, especially in spring.
Farmers look forward to rain, but those who run businesses dread it. Rain not only soaks their goods but also makes dirt roads muddy and difficult to travel on.
Especially now, if the leather goods being transported get wet in the rain, the losses will be huge.
Song Liyun jumped out of the car: "Manager Wan, don't worry. As long as the goods are covered by a tarpaulin, they will be fine."
Wan Liangjin gave a wry smile: "The roads have been difficult to travel these days, and there are more and more refugees. It's only better when we leave Yunzhou. If it rains halfway, it'll be even harder to travel."
"Why are there still so many refugees? Are the Di barbarians still fighting?"
Song Liyun knew that it was the Di barbarians who had come to the border villages and towns, burning, killing, and looting, which caused the villagers to be displaced.
"It's all about Pingliang Fort. I heard that bandits are gathering there, causing unrest in the surrounding area."
The Zhenbei Army was supposed to assist local officials in suppressing bandits, but the magistrates of both counties only invited the Xuanwei Army to help, leaving the Zhenbei Army out of the picture, creating a complete mess.
While supervising his subordinates to inspect the goods, Wan Liangjin walked with Song Liyun toward the small house next door.
The inspector quickly reported: "Manager, the items on the truck match the list, we can transfer the truck now!"
Wan Liangjin nodded: "Alright, hurry up!"
Several workers started moving the goods as quickly as possible, while Song Zhenping pulled the loose-pants-covered Juqing horse to the roadside to graze on the grass and give it some water.
Just then, a person stumbled out of the nearby woods, shouting, "There's someone! There's someone in the woods!"
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