Gu Yanzhang and his family worked in the fields and at home for a whole month. Only after more than 260 kilograms of wheat grains were all packed into sacks did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wife, in a few days, we will have to follow the clan to the county government to deliver the wheat."

The imperial court does not collect sorghum when it collects grain. Because those nobles think that sorghum is not delicious.

Only wheat, rice, and corn are edible.

Therefore, as long as they are farmers in the north, they will choose to plant a few acres of wheat to pay the grain.

Since Chenjia Village can establish a relationship with Captain Huang, Gujiagang can also benefit from it.

This time, the payment of grain and taxes was particularly smooth.

It took them two whole days to deliver the food and then they all walked back together.

After returning, Gu Yanzhang quickly exposed the sorghum stalks at home to the sun every day.

After drying them, he brought the whole family to start processing and weaving them.

After weaving the sorghum stalks from the ten acres of land into the shape of bed covers, Gu Yanzhang brought his father and Dazhu and Erzhu to the roof every day and began to replace the old ones with new ones little by little.

The sorghum stalks on the roof were laid layer after layer, densely packed. After the sorghum stalks were compacted to a thickness of nearly one meter, Gu Yanzhang dried them and then mixed and wove them again.

Some were used to make brooms.

Some were woven into beds.

Others were also made into a pile of sorghum stalks that were compacted very tightly.

Although these things seem useless and worthless, they may come in handy in the winter.

After Gu Yanzhang and his team replaced the roof of the old house with new sorghum stalks, Chen Xuanxuan took out seven taels of silver and said to Gu Yanzhang, "Boss, I have remembered everything you said to me these days."

"Since we can't afford to build a big tiled house with green bricks now, why don't we just make do with building a few mud houses?" "

Dazhu and Erzhu are old now. If they really want to get married, they still need this new house."

"We have to repair this house now while everyone is still busy. Otherwise, it will be too late to find wives for the children next year. We can't afford to delay this. If we delay year after year, our family will only have these two mud houses every year. Who in other villages will look up to us?"

Hearing this, Gu Yanzhang thought about it and nodded.

He knew that if his family really wanted to build a big tiled house with green bricks, it was actually possible.

After all, his family had already saved so much money. And if his wife asked her eldest brother to borrow twenty taels of silver, she should be able to do it.

But... building a big tiled house with green bricks is still too conspicuous. His mother-in-law is so rich, but she hasn't built a new house for the family!

If he really spent money to repair it, the thieves in the village and outside would try their best to empty his house.

"Wife, to be honest, I dream of living in a big house with blue bricks and tiles. But I also know that we can't afford it now."

"I went to Tongzhen and the county town and found out that such a big blue tile would cost 120 coins. Such a big blue brick is even more expensive! 200 coins a piece."

"So, if we only build a large tiled house with green bricks, we will need nearly three hundred such large tiles. More than seven hundred such green bricks. In addition, there are the shipping costs of transporting those things back, the labor costs of hiring people to repair the house, the wood costs for putting up the roof beams, the money for laying the foundation, and the money for inviting relatives to a banquet... After counting all these, we really can't get it without thirty taels of silver!"

"..."

Seeing that Gu Yanzhang's face was full of worry, Chen Xuanxuan glared at him lightly and said, "Come on, don't say this in front of me. You've said it countless times, and my ears are about to be worn out of deer."

Since the family really can't build a large tiled house with green bricks for the time being, those few mud houses can still be built, right?

Seeing the displeasure on Chen Xuanxuan's face, Gu Yanzhang raised his hand, touched his head, and smiled foolishly.

"Don't worry, my wife, I will go to the earth brick yard in Tongzhen to have a look tomorrow."

"The earth bricks fired there are actually quite good. They are durable. The two earth houses we live in now were built by my father more than 20 years ago. There are no big problems living in them now."

When Chen Xuanxuan heard this, she felt that Gu Yanzhang was lying with his eyes open.

Some of the earth bricks in the earth house where she slept had cracks several centimeters long.

Such a large gap can be easily inserted with a knife. He still has the nerve to say that such a house is fine?

"Come on, stop talking."

"No matter how well this mud house is built, it can't last a hundred years like a big brick and tile house. If we are really rich in the future and our descendants are successful, we will still live in a big brick and tile house. Moreover, it is best if the ground in this house is flat. Don't let it be like ours now, with potholes everywhere. If I'm not careful, I'll sprain my ankle."

The living conditions are too bad. Sometimes Chen Xuanxuan will feel angry for no reason.

Knowing that Chen Xuanxuan was serious, Gu Yanzhang nodded seriously, "Of course."

"While we are still young, we can do more work and save more money. In the future, life must be more comfortable..."

...

The next morning, after having breakfast, Gu Yanzhang took his father and eldest son Gu Dazhu to Tongzhen.

Tongzhen is a prosperous place.

It is surrounded by tall city walls, and many people living inside are businessmen who do business.

After entering Tongzhen, Gu Yanzhang went directly to the Jiang family who specialized in firing earthen bricks.

In this ancient time, it has always been the case that dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and mice's sons can dig holes.

The Jiang family has been rooted here for more than three hundred years. The reason why they can pass down the skills of making earthen bricks safely from generation to generation is because of their good craftsmanship. Ordinary people cannot learn it.

Their earthen bricks are cheap and durable, and they are famous in this area.

Bricks with better quality than theirs are definitely not as cheap as theirs.

Bricks with cheaper prices than theirs will definitely not last for decades. Therefore, Jiang's earthen bricks are well-known here.

Although the Jiang family now has a forest, and there are a large area of ​​tung oil trees planted on the forest. That is what the locals call tung trees. However, the Jiang family is still unwilling to give up the ancestral trade of burning earthen bricks.

After all, everyone in the Jiang family knows that the market for tung oil trees is different every year.