my wonderful zoo

Chapter 20 The Lantern Festival
Late at night, Chen Xun set up a table of wine and food at home and invited Zheng Jian to come over for a meal.

In later generations, this situation will be like that between the boss of the contractor and Party A. The boss generally does not work on the project, but chooses the project manager to receive all parties.Regarding Party A's request, the project manager agrees if it can be met, and says "I'll ask the boss" if it can't be met. As for the follow-up, there is always a buffer, so that it will not be ugly.

Chen Xun later had a classmate who was a contractor. From the beginning of the project, he publicly visited the construction site once. After that, he visited the construction site secretly every time. By the end of the project, he only went there four or five times.It was very enlightening for Chen Xun to say it during a dinner party.

Originally, Chen Xun should have met with Zheng Jianshao, lest Zheng Jian made excessive demands that he could not agree to and would be too embarrassed to refuse.

But the generals Chen Xun had trained over the years who could stand alone were all sent overseas. Chen Lu was frightened this time and did not dare to get involved in these things again; Chen Shou was sent to Penghu; his father Chen Yi was mediocre. He probably didn't even realize that he was betrayed by Zheng Jian; the elders from other tribes were essentially farmers and were too afraid of officials, so if they were frightened, they would probably reveal their family background.

So Chen Xun could only go up by himself.

After the five flavors of food and three rounds of wine, Zheng Jian gave a rare gentle advice: "I think you are a sensible person, you know the importance, so just say a few more words."

Chen Xun's heart tightened and he secretly said, "Here he comes."

Just feeding the 50 mouths outside in the past two days has cost nearly [-] taels of silver. This amount of money is enough to feed a family of five for more than three years.

Both sides know that this stalemate is not an option.

"You are an elder. Listening to your words is better than ten years of reading. It is my honor that you are willing to persuade me." Chen Xun first praised: "I have been seriously considering it these days. In this world, if there is no People take care of them, and if they make some money, they are fattened sheep, ready to be slaughtered by others.”

"Actually, it might be a good thing to join the army because my boss is my boss. From now on, I will only focus on making money and don't have to worry about all kinds of pressure."

"You're right to think so." Le Zhi was very pleased. It was worth the time and effort he spent in this rural place these days. If he has this time, he can go back to Dongguan County to listen to the music at Chunlou. Isn't it delicious? ? .

"I can understand the official thing, but I'm still a little worried." When Chen Xun said this, his eyes were fixed on Le Zhi, and his attitude was very sincere. In his last life and this life for more than [-] years, his acting skills At this moment the explosion begins.

"What are you worried about?"

"Chenjiazhuang is so close to the sea, and there are many pirates in the southeast sea area, and the big profits are handed over, so naturally we can't manage everywhere. I don't know if joining the army can protect my Chenjiazhuang well."

"You may not know that Sihu Junjun's surname is Wang. He is the son of Wang Boyan, the Zhilong Tuge, the Zhizhou Zhizhou. Wang Zhizhou is deeply trusted by the officials. Sooner or later, he will join the cabinet as the prime minister to protect you. Chenjiazhuang is not easy yet.”

"Wang Boyan?" Chen Xun quickly searched for the name in his mind, and finally found some image of it.

This person seems to have really become the prime minister in the end, but he has a bad reputation and is a treacherous minister.

The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. No wonder the son's official position is not high. He is indeed a corrupt official in a decent way.

"Then can we first destroy the pirates who invaded my Chenjiazhuang this time? As long as this group of thieves is destroyed, I will immediately devote my whole family to it." Chen Xun said seriously.

"Is this your condition?" Le Zhi said with a smile. As long as he is willing to put forward conditions, things can be discussed, but he is afraid that you won't speak up.

"You may not feel it, but I am different. I grew up in Chenjiazhuang. This time, the village was robbed and more than 100 people died. Many of them were my dear relatives and friends. I have been unable to sleep at night these days. I wish I could At that time, I was at home and killed a few enemies with my own hands to satisfy the hatred in my heart." Chen Xun gritted his teeth as he spoke, with a ferocious look on his face. His acting skills were beyond the standard and he was the best actor in the world.

"I'll try to report to the army, but I can't guarantee the result, so don't expect too much." Le Zhi picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea, thinking that many of the Dongguan archers had been killed anyway, and this gang of pirates was going to be wiped out anyway. Yes, when the time comes to put on a show, both sides have explained: "Out of the Pearl River Estuary, the sea stretches as far as the eye can see. Those bandits may have already run away, and the chance of finding them is very slim."

"You will definitely have a chance to meet them." Chen Xun thought to himself, but said sadly on his face: "Just follow fate."

******
It is also the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival.The salt households in Hainan Yanzha are very pitiful.

The output of Yanzha has been unable to increase, and the pressure from above has been passed down layer by layer. When it comes to Yanhu, it is like a huge mountain, which is so heavy that people can't breathe.

During the Lantern Festival, these salt households cannot rest and have to go out to boil brine and boil salt.

Sea salt production in the Song Dynasty was carried out in two steps, namely leaching sand to make brine and boiling brine to make salt.

Sand leaching to make brine is somewhat close to sun-salting. However, due to the large amount of work involved in building beaches, beach consolidation, and salt fields in the early stage, no one has studied it yet.

Chen Xun wanted to buy the Guanfu Field in Hainan Salt Gate so that he could develop a more advanced salt-drying process and then use extremely low-cost sea salt to make huge profits.

It was already a bit hot in Guangzhou in early spring. Li San, a salt farmer, stood in front of the brine well, holding an egg in his left hand and his right hand deep into the brine with his palm facing up.After the right hand is in place, the left hand is released, and the egg falls into the brine. It bounces slightly at first, and then gradually sinks, just being caught by the right hand underwater.

"Hey! It's still too bland." With a sigh, Li San put away the eggs, got up and returned to the salt slide, intending to continue to use a ladle to scoop out seawater for rinsing.

Before the brine is boiled, the concentration must reach the level that can float the eggs, otherwise the concentration of salt in it is too low, and the fuel consumption will be much more, which is not economical.

Of course, these salt farmers don't understand the principles, but after years of accumulation, they can always sum up some methods of boiling salt that are close to the truth.

After pouring salt liquid three times in a row, Li San, who was tired and had backache, was finally able to stand up and take a breath.

Stretching his waist, Li San inadvertently looked towards the sea to the east.

"Hiss!" The scene on the sea made Li San take a breath.

At the junction of the sea and the sky, more than 20 ships were approaching in groups. With Li San's eyesight, he could already clearly see the flags hanging on the top of the ship's masts.

It was a flag I had never seen before, with a pitch black background and a skull embroidered in the middle. Under the skull were two long knives crossed, which looked very evil.

"Look at it!"

"Where is this ship?"

Shiotou, who was working with Li San on the beach, also discovered the ship approaching from the sea, and everyone yelled in horror.

"That's a pirate!"

"Run! The pirates are coming!"

It was important to save his life. Li San quickly dropped the tools in his hands and ran towards home in a rolling and crawling manner. Along the way, more and more salt households were running away.

"Hun family! Hun family! Pack your things quickly, the pirates are coming."

(End of this chapter)