Old Wang was truly moved this time. He kept staring at Little Tao until Little Tao did not know what to do. Then, he asked, "Are you born with this ability?"
"No, I figured it out later. You have to practice holding your breath in the water. I just figured it out by myself."
Little Tao smiled shyly and replied.
"Really? You can figure it out? Good, good. Little Tao, you don't have to go fishing for armor incense anymore. Your family will have a good life in the future. Wait, I'll be back soon. "
As Old Wang spoke, he ran to a box at the side and took out a few things from it. Then, he climbed to the highest lookout spot and lit the things up. Fireworks exploded in the sky one after another.
"Uncle, are those the fireworks they were talking about? They're so beautiful. It would look even better at night. Uncle, why did you light those things? "
Little Tao heard the noise and looked out of the window. He saw fireworks exploding in the sky. The noise was so loud that it woke up Uncle Little Stone who was sleeping.
"Old Wang, what are you doing? Did you encounter something you can't handle? Can't you let people sleep? "As soon as Little Tao's voice faded away, Little Stone's voice rang out.
"Sleep, sleep. What else can you do besides sleep? Get up and cook. We found a treasure. Hurry up, I'll give you a share of the credit. "
Old Wang kicked Little Stone and Little Stone's families. Then, he turned to Little Tao and said, "In the future, you'll work in the Chamber of Commerce and teach more people your ability. The Chamber of Commerce will give you a lot of money so you don't have to worry about your family. Are you willing?"
"Working in Lu Zhou's Chamber of Commerce? Yes, I'm willing. I've heard that working in Lu Zhou's Chamber of Commerce pays a lot. I'll work for 20 copper coins a day. "
Little Tao nodded repeatedly. Even though he knew the price of armor incense and could earn a lot in a day, he still decided to work in Lu Zhou's Chamber of Commerce. He did not have to worry about being bullied.
"It's not 20 copper coins. If your ability is real, you can earn 200 copper coins a day. It's definitely more than you can earn by fishing for armor incense."
Lao Wang had already treated Xiao Tao as a treasure. If everyone in the Chamber of Commerce could learn this ability, then no matter if they encountered danger in the future or did work, they would become more powerful.
No wonder the two of them were able to swim here last night. It turned out that there was a capable young man.
Confused, Little Shitou asked again. When he heard that Xiaotao could swim to a depth of three hundred feet, he didn't feel sleepy anymore. He got up and began to prepare the meal. It just so happened that new ingredients had arrived.
In less than an hour, six dishes and a bowl of soup were ready. The yellow wine was also cooked for Xiao Tao and his son to eat.
*****
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan still didn't know that they had found a treasure in the farthest lighthouse. Now, the two of them took time out every day to play with their younger brother and sister. The four little fellows were eating and sleeping. They were rarely energetic. Even if they were held in their arms, they would fall asleep after a while.
Wang Juan hugged Zhang Xiaobao's younger brother and asked Zhang Xiaobao, "Xiao Bao, how are we going to teach them to speak? Do we have to wait until they're a few months old?"
"No, we can do it now. Although they can't speak now, they can listen. As long as they can hear the voices of adults often, it'll be fine. It's best if they can hold something and keep repeating the name of that thing. The more interested they are, the better it is.
When they want to play, keep saying the name of that thing. If they aren't congenitally stupid and wait for their vocal cords to grow, they will naturally say the name of something they want. The simplest way is to let them call their mother. This voice is the best to imitate. "
Zhang Xiaobao's body swayed back and forth. The younger sister in his arms closed her eyes and fell asleep.
"That's it? My younger brother and sister aren't stupid. They will definitely be able to speak earlier. Xiao Bao, I remember that in the past, when there were children at home who wanted to pee, the adults used two people to hold the children's legs. Why do we have to let them pee on the mat now? "
Wang Juan changed her younger sister's mat. She wanted to imitate the way she used to let her younger brothers and sisters pee.
Zhang Xiaobao immediately said, "No, this won't do. Those children are actually a little older. If they are so small now, their bones won't be able to take it. They have to use this mat. When they can walk, we can slowly let them train.
Don't train them to walk now. Just teach them to roll. For example, they can sit up, keep rolling, and crawl. They are not like the two of us. They don't know their own body condition when they are more than ten months old and can adjust. They don't know. If they are not careful, they will be done for. "
"Ah? There's such a thing? Then let them continue to pee on the mat. But there is no washing machine. It will take a lot of effort to wash them. We have to change them many times a day. "
Wang Juan had raised children before. How would she know this? Zhang Xiaobao learned this when he was in the orphanage. There were often children who were thrown away by their parents as soon as they were born. It was not because they were disabled, but because the parents seemed to be unable to have children. When they were 16 or 17 years old, they had children. Some were aborted, while others did not know what to do and secretly gave birth to them.
If they were children who went to school, it would be easy to find out. It was also impossible to take such a long leave of absence. If they took a leave of absence, their families had to know. However, some children stopped studying and went to work.
In the end, those children were taken care of by the older children in the orphanage. After all, there were too few staff members. Zhang Xiaobao learned this from that time.
"You two are here? What a coincidence. "Just as Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were talking about how to take care of the children, Li Xun came in from outside.
Now, he came to see the four little guys every day. He discussed with them about letting him take care of them. He was rejected every time, but he never changed his mind.
"How is it? Didn't you go to train the remaining two thousand people? How's the training? "Zhang Xiaobao gently pushed his sister in the cradle and asked Li Xun.
"Do you even need to ask? The people I teach are not bad. Really. If you don't believe me, you can go and take a look. I'll take care of the children for a while."
Li Xun was about to reach out to Wang Juan's brother, but was hit back. He rubbed his hands and said.
"Two thousand people don't seem to be enough. Wait until we have a firm foothold there. Even if the imperial court sends troops to protect us, they can't send troops from the capital. If we don't train well here, we may not have a chance. That's a good place. As long as other people know about it, they will think of ways to get it.
The best way is, of course, smuggling. That is, under the name of the military escorting the goods, we can secretly transport the goods back and sell them without paying the tax. This can't happen. Otherwise, once they develop a habit, they will do the same when they go to other places in the future. "
Zhang Xiaobao knew that Li Xun would not do anything even if he was there. All he would do was watch. There was no need for him to be involved in the training. There were 3,000 men in total. Logically speaking, it was not a small number. However, they had to be a fighting force. Otherwise, even though Lu Zhou had found the place first, he would still have to send his men there first.
It was easy for other people to think about it. When the time came, they could send soldiers who could fight over there. They could find a reason to say that it was a competition. If their people won, it would be fine. If they lost, they could let others take over the task of guarding.
The military did not do business, so naturally, they did not have to pay any tax. Besides, they were the inspectors themselves. When the time came, they would definitely secretly transport the goods here. If that was all, it would not be a big deal. They would just transport the goods. However, they might not only transport the goods but also deliberately lower the price in order to sell the goods faster.
Without the tax, as long as the tax was lowered, other normal people and merchants would not be able to bear it. Therefore, this matter had to be stopped. Otherwise, it would cause a lot of trouble.
Li Xun listened quietly to Zhang Xiaobao's analysis. After listening to him, he began to worry. He said, "What if a prince or a marquis gets involved? That is, if people from your mansion go to get the goods and then come back to make a fortune, the price of the goods in the capital will be affected. "
Li Xun was indeed very worried. It was too easy to find a reason to go there. It was just like when he went to Lu Zhou. Who would care about him? If a prince or a marquis really got involved, then it would be troublesome. They could not send the army to intercept them, could they?
Zhang Xiaobao had already considered this problem and said to Li Xun, "This is easy to handle. Right now, we are taking the most direct route, and the ships they use are not all good ships. In the future, we will first earn a sum of money, then we will start to take a detour. If they can find the way by themselves, then that is their ability. If they can't find it, then don't think about going there.
The merchants in the east of Jiangnan will be treated the same. Let them provide the ships, and we will send people to help them row. We will take a detour and not let them find the way first. If we want to do this, then we must take over the task of guarding. Otherwise, we won't dare to let them take a detour. "
Li Xun understood now. In the end, it was still about the army. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then I'll ask my father to send more people. They have all been trained. I believe they can do it well."
"That won't do. How can the people of the prince's mansion go out casually? It's better to train our own people. Besides, we can control them now. When we are all gone, will Lu Zhou's army not have any fighting strength?
"I have a good idea, and that is to wait for the first one thousand people to occupy the place, then have them come back. Then, send another one thousand people, and take turns going back and forth. When the people arrive at the place, they will think of ways to rob the local people, especially those who are hostile to us.
Don't worry, give them better weapons and better defense. If they're injured, heal them. If they die, there's nothing we can do about it. How can there be no deaths in war? That's why we need to train our two thousand people. "
Zhang Xiaobao finally used another plan on Li Xun. If something happened, he could help to take the blame.
As expected, when Li Xun heard Zhang Xiaobao keep emphasizing the army, he frowned and said, "It's easy to talk about other things, but it's not easy. Where are we going to find so many weapons and armors? The imperial court won't send them here. "
"We can make them ourselves, but I'm afraid someone won't let us." As soon as Zhang Xiaobao said that, Wang Juan understood. He was looking for an excuse to make weapons, but he still needed the approval of the imperial court.
Li Xun pursed his lips and said, "I knew you guys were up to no good. As expected, that's the case. Alright, alright, since you are going to make weapons, you can make them first. I'll write a letter to the higher-ups. We can't let the army here be without weapons, right? When the time comes, we can just register it with the higher-ups."
Li Xun was no longer the person who was fooled. He had become very shrewd. After listening to Zhang Xiaobao's words, he connected the dots and knew what Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan meant.
Both of them had all kinds of craftsmen in their families. Was it not easy for them to make some weapons? What's more, there was no lack of resources here. They were just afraid of taking responsibility and needed a legitimate excuse.
If it was someone else, Li Xun would definitely reject it. After all, weapons could not be casually made. Even if someone was secretly making weapons, it was fine if it was the Zhang family. The technology submitted by the Zhang family happened to be used for war, so it was normal to make weapons.
With this kind of confidence, Li Xun agreed so readily. He laughed with Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. This was another kind of agreement.
The three of them discussed for a while more before Li Xun left. Zhang Xiaobao also instructed his men to bring the matter of weapon manufacturing to the surface. There was no need to secretly manufacture weapons anymore.
*****
As soon as Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan finished their work, the farthest lighthouse sent the news. After the lighthouse found out that Xiao Tao could dive so deep and released the fireworks, they immediately began to make some preparations. When the patrol boat saw the signal, they quickly sent the patrol boat back. They also sent Xiao Tao and his son to the boat and brought them back together.
The patrol boat's speed of transmitting the news was very fast. There were pigeons on the boat and they directly flew. A normal boat would take more than half a month to reach the lighthouse, but if the pigeons flew, it would take less than a day.
"That's great, we've finally found a better talent. Who would've thought that we would have such a person here? Amazing," Xiaobao said happily after receiving the news.
Wang Juan was also happy. If they could dive so deep, they would be able to train more people. That would be even more useful.
The two of them did not doubt this matter. In the past, there were people who were specially trained to dive to deeper places. It was just that the method was not easy to master. They did not expect that someone here would be able to learn it by himself.
In fact, it was very simple. The principle was to let people adjust their heartbeat and movements. When they went underwater, they would be able to distribute oxygen to the places that needed it. For example, the brain, heart, and other parts of the body. The other parts would only be temporarily deprived of oxygen.
In this way, this method would allow people to use oxygen more reasonably after taking a breath and hold on for a longer time.
The principle was simple, but it was too difficult to implement, especially when it came to controlling one's body. Even Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan could not do it, but the people here could. It was really extraordinary.
"I've decided. I'll give him better treatment. I'll even set up a department for him to do this. When the time comes, his family will be brought to Lu Zhou as well. They won't have to stay in other places anymore."
Zhang Xiaobao made up his mind. He had to keep a talent like this. He could not advertise it now. When more people learned this method, he would let others know how the Zhang family treated talented people. This talent was not only limited to writing and other knowledge, but it also included skills in other areas.
Zhang Xiaobao believed that in this era, there were more talented craftsmen who were buried. They did not pass down their skills. In the end, some special skills were lost in the long river of history. That would be a loss to the entire Chinese nation.
Wang Juan understood Zhang Xiaobao's thoughts. She also wanted her country to be strong. She touched the note that was sent back and said, "Grow up quickly. When the time comes, the Tang Dynasty will be at its peak. We'll talk to Li Longji. What do you think we should do to stop him from being so muddle-headed when the time comes?"
"It's simple. War. As long as he keeps fighting, he'll be spirited. I already have a plan for that. There's no need to think about it now. We haven't reached that level yet."
Zhang Xiaobao had a plan for the future. After thinking for a while, he said, "Now, I've decided to start dealing with the Ning Clan. We can't just let them attack us once and then not fight back. That's not our style of doing things. Since they've attacked us, we have to be prepared to receive the counterattack."
"Mhm, that's right. Counterattack. Should we capture the people from the Five Lakes Merchant Association and get them to correct us? The seal they used should be fake. Could it be dumping? Causing Qinzhou's economy to collapse? "
Wang Juan waved her little fist. She realized that she didn't have any good ideas to deal with the Ning family.
"That won't do. It's not that we can't destroy Qinzhou's economy. It's very easy to deal with an economy that's based on exploitation. It's too simple. We can just directly attack the food supply. What about the commoners?
This time, I'm prepared to use my trickery to target the Ning family. It won't affect the commoners too much. This poor Daoist is going to break his precepts. Amen! "
Zhang Xiaobao found a powerful talent and was in a good mood. He was prepared to make the Ning family unhappy.
Wang Juan laughed softly, "What are you talking about? Are you going to send people to find them and tell them that you'll give them benefits so that they can be easily fooled?"
"No, no, no. That kind of trickery is too low. This time, I'm going to show you the highest level of trickery. I'm going to send people to be tricked." Zhang Xiaobao smiled Weiwei.
Wang Juan blinked her big eyes as she looked at Zhang Xiaobao. What she liked the most was Zhang Xiaobao's current appearance. Even though he had the body of a child, whenever Zhang Xiaobao made a move, especially when it came to trickery, she would discover that Zhang Xiaobao had a unique aura around him.
That kind of supercilious appearance gave off the feeling that he was the only one in the world.
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