The waiter served the appetizers and gave Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan a big bowl full of soy milk. The two of them liked to drink this and had been drinking a lot of it recently. After Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan arrived at Baoxin County, they found that the soy milk here was better. The ground soy milk was sweet without adding sugar, and the fragrance of the soy milk was very strong.
Yamamoto saw that the waiter gave Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan soy milk without any instructions, so he knew that the Fengwu Pavilion cared about them. They only had a bowl of soy milk, and each of them was drinking it with a small bamboo tube, making a slurping sound. They didn't respect others at all.
Yamamoto rolled his eyes and said to Zhang Xiaobao, "The relationship between the Four Seas Academy and Young Master Zhang and Miss Wang is like the relationship between you two drinking soy milk together. We share benefits. If you two have any requests, you can discuss it with the Four Seas Academy."
"Don't keep saying the Four Seas Academy. When did the Four Seas Academy become yours? That's ours, isn't it Cuckoo? "Zhang Xiaobao retorted. Wang Juan stopped to catch her breath and nodded vigorously.
Seeing that Zhang Xiaobao didn't give him any face, Zhang Xiaobao immediately changed his words and said, "I didn't mention the academy. I meant that we have a good relationship with you, just like how you and Cuckoo are close."
"Really? So close? Why didn't I know? Cuckoo and I just want to help each other when fighting. You guys agree. Send troops to Xinyuan Island and kill all the local people who resist. Then I'll believe you. "
Zhang Xiaobao looked at Yamamoto and said.
Seeing that he changed the topic to the newly discovered island again, Yamamoto had no choice but to reply, "That place is too far away. It's inconvenient to go there once. How about changing the terms?"
"Then I'll help you. I have a ship. I'll help you transport as many ores as you can. Every time, half of the ores will be my freight." Zhang Xiaobao proposed a new idea.
"Isn't half too much? If we do that, we'll just keep losing money. Wait a minute, Young Master Zhang said that he's willing to set sail. How fast can you go back and forth? "
Yamamoto was about to refuse when he suddenly thought of something and asked again.
"Fast, of course it's fast. We have the best ship, so how can it not be fast?" Zhang Xiaobao said confidently.
Yamamoto finally showed a sincere smile. "Allow me to go back and think about this matter. I will give Young Master Zhang an answer as soon as possible. I heard that Young Master Zhang's poultry and livestock are well raised. I wonder if you can go and have a look?"
"Sure, let's go in a bit." Zhang Xiaobao said very politely.
At this time, the other dishes were also served. Yamamoto didn't persuade Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to eat. He brought the people from the Four Seas Academy to eat in a hurry, and then impatiently followed Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to the yamen.
Behind the yamen, there was a courtyard for two people. The poultry were hatched here, and there was also a house that was built some time ago after various places used a temperature timer. After Pomegranate mysteriously talked to Zhang Xiaobao for a while, she was bored and kept watch outside the house. Occasionally, she would go in to take a look.
At night, she would find time to go to the other rooms to see how the fungus and mushrooms were growing.
When the group entered the courtyard, many chicks and ducklings had already hatched. They were fluffy like little furballs and looked very cute. Xiao Hong was feeding them cut vegetable leaves, and the sound of chirping was chaotic.
Yamamoto and the others looked very carefully, especially at Xiao Hong. To be precise, they were staring at the food bowl in her hand. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't urge them, and slowly walked in front to lead the way. After a few glances, Yamamoto and the others didn't see anything special.
They could only continue to follow, their eyes looking at the surrounding environment from time to time. As they walked, they came to the place where the livestock were raised. In fact, there were only pigs here. The pig house was built with cement and was very clean. The little pigs were washed until they weren't so dirty. When they saw people coming, they thought that they were being fed, so they snorted.
"Young Master Zhang, is this cement?" Yamamoto knew about cement. The rich and powerful in Beijing used it. The big places even used cement to build methane pools. It was clean and expensive, but ordinary people couldn't get it. If you want to buy it, you can say what you want to do first. When the time comes, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang family will send people to make it for you personally. They won't sell the cement directly for you to use.
Used cement blocks had been found before, but found that they couldn't be used anymore. He didn't know how they were made. If they were used to build city walls, it would be very good.
Yamamoto felt that the opportunity had come.
Zhang Xiaobao seemed to be unguarded. "Yes, it's made of cement. If you can learn to make it in every place, there will be fewer diseases in the livestock and they will grow faster."
"Then can you sell us some cement? We are going to transport it back to China to build a pig house. "Yamamoto asked again.
"I'm not selling, but I can make an exchange. A ship of silver ore in exchange for a ship of cement, and I'll give you the technology to build a biogas pool." Zhang Xiaobao hesitated for a moment and proposed a new idea.
"Can you really exchange it?" Because he didn't know what the cement was made of, Yamamoto couldn't estimate the specific value. He thought that exchanging one ship for another was just a small loss.
"Really." Zhang Xiaobao was very sure.
Wang Juan reached out to pinch him and said to Yamamoto, "Don't listen to Xiao Bao's nonsense. It's useless to exchange the cement with you, and it's very cheap. It's a lie to exchange it for a ship of ore. Besides, no matter how much cement you have, you can't figure out how it's made. It's a long journey, and it's not worth it, so we won't exchange it."
Yamamoto just wanted to bargain. At this time, when he heard Wang Juan's words, he blinked a few times and said very shamelessly, "Young Master Zhang has just agreed. How can you go back on your word? Even if we exchange a ship, I can send it back and show it to others. Maybe I can get a reward. At that time, I will definitely not forget you. Is Young Master Zhang not keeping his word? "
"Who said I don't keep my word? Change, then change a ship. I can still make the decision here. I'll deal with you tonight. " Zhang Xiaobao's last words were said to Wang Juan. Wang Juan was angry and didn't say anything. She walked quickly in front, as if she didn't want to talk to Zhang Xiaobao.
"I've made a fool of myself. It's all because I usually spoil her too much. When will we exchange?" Zhang Xiaobao also explained to Yamamoto and the others.
Yamamoto and the others found it funny, but they couldn't show it. Seeing that Zhang Xiaobao agreed, Yamamoto immediately said, "Some of the ore will come tomorrow. It's estimated that one ship will arrive in three days."
"Then we'll exchange it in three days. Let's go. I'll show you other places." Zhang Xiaobao didn't care about Wang Juan anymore. He led Yamamoto and the others to look around. Every time they arrived, he would explain to Yamamoto. After turning a few places and seeing that a separate house was not far away, Zhang Xiaobao's footsteps suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked away. However, he didn't mention what was inside the house at all.
"Young Master Zhang, here …?" Yamamoto was puzzled. He pointed to the house and asked.
"That's an empty house. Let's go. I'll show you something better." Zhang Xiaobao's eyes didn't meet Yamamoto's. He evaded the question and walked to another place.
At this time, Wang Juan's voice suddenly came from a place not too far away. "Ouch, it hurts. Someone come quickly."
As soon as the voice came out, Pomegranate, who was guarding in front of the house, immediately ran to the place where the voice came from. Zhang Xiaobao didn't care about Yamamoto and also ran over, looking very nervous.
Yamamoto took this opportunity and winked at the two people behind him, asking them to follow and take a look. He glanced around, ran two steps, and flashed into the house.
As soon as he came in, Yamamoto found that the house was empty as Zhang Xiaobao had said. There were layers of wooden shelves inside. From a low position, he could see that there was sand in the middle of the shelves, and there was something growing in the sand.
He glanced around again. There was a table on the left wall of the house, and there was a piece of paper with words written on it. Yamamoto quickly leaned over and looked carefully. He saw that it said, "Top secret. The radish newly cultivated by the Sinongsi is bitter and cannot be planted. However, this radish can be planted into ginseng. The specific technique is as follows …"
Yamamoto's eyes widened. He couldn't care about anything else. He turned page by page. His eyes swept back and forth on the words, wishing he could have a few more pairs of eyes.
If it were someone else who wrote such a thing, Yamamoto would definitely treat that person as a fool. How could a radish turn into a ginseng? But this technique was made by the Zhang family, so he could treat it as normal. The Zhang family had many strange things. Who knew how the family made it?
After reading it once, Yamamoto was afraid that he couldn't remember it, so he read it again from the beginning. He remembered the key points clearly. The first was that the radish seed must be found a way to get it. The second was the thermometer. A radish actually needed a thermometer.
The first one was easy to deal with. He could bribe the people of the Sinongsi Temple, but the second one was troublesome. Where could he get so many thermometers? It was okay if he spent money to buy others' thermometers. He didn't care if they reported that they had been stolen or lost in the river. But he couldn't just plant one at a time.
Because it was also mentioned that he needed to use the blood of a crocodile. It had to be fresh and could only be used once. He even needed a whale's eye. No matter how many he planted, he had to use at least one at a time.
He didn't know how the Zhang family figured it out. After reading it twice, Yamamoto finally felt that he had memorized most of it. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something. He plucked up the courage to dig a little of the sand on a wooden shelf. He reached in and pulled, and something was pulled out.
If there were doubts before, Yamamoto was now sure, because what he took out was a ginseng. Looking at the ginseng, Yamamoto had a feeling of jealousy. Why was the Zhang family so powerful that they could even plant ginseng?
At this time, two coughs suddenly came from outside. Yamamoto didn't dare to be negligent. He put the ginseng back, hurriedly wiped it on the sand, and ran out in a flash. He stood back in the team and shook his head at the few people who looked over, indicating that they shouldn't ask anything now.
At this time, Zhang Xiaobao appeared with Wang Juan on his back. Wang Juan cried and said, "I don't want you to care about me. Didn't you ignore me? I'll walk by myself. Even if I break my leg, I don't want you to care. "
Zhang Xiaobao didn't say a word. When he walked in front of Yamamoto and the others, he said helplessly, "I beat her until she cried. I'll go back and continue to discipline her. That's all for today. Remember to quickly transport the ores. This time, the ones that are transported will be changed as well. Don't sell them again. As for the ones that have already been sold, forget it."
After that, Zhang Xiaobao left with the still crying Wang Juan on his back. Pomegranate returned to the front of the house and sat down. A few guards came from elsewhere and signaled Yamamoto and the others to leave with them.
Zhang Xiaobao carried Wang Juan to a place where there was no one around and put Wang Juan down. The two of them reached out at the same time and gave each other a high five. "Yeah! Xiao Bao, you're really amazing. How did you know that they would come to steal the technology? Some time ago, Gao Lishi wrote a letter saying that the Sinongsi spent a lot of money to research new radishes, but it failed. The second generation of radishes was very bitter. They were still young and almost lost confidence. Now it's solved. "
"I didn't know that they would take the initiative to ask to see it. First, get a house ready. Even if they don't come, I'll find a way to trick them. Now, it's easy.
As for the cement, get someone to remove the outer packaging when they send it here. Just put it there. If it really doesn't work, spray a little water. Don't spray too much and be seen through. Use a ship to transport it back in bulk. I really want to see how much of the cement will be wasted due to moisture absorption. "
After Zhang Xiaobao finished speaking, he quickly found a place to write a letter and send it to the capital as soon as possible. He couldn't let the Sinongsi people sell the radishes cheaply.
*****
Beside the river outside the Luo Village in Boxin County, Luo Xianger had nothing to do today. She held a book in her hand and sat on a stone under a big tree. Her two legs were kicking back and forth in the air, and her eyes were looking back and forth at the book. From time to time, she would turn a page. There were not only words marked with Pinyin on the pages, but also pictures. It was full of stories.
Luo Xianger had just learned the new Pinyin and was not very proficient in it, but she was still better than Er Ya. Er Ya also had the pronunciation, but if she wanted to understand the pronunciation of a word, she had to understand the words used to mark the sound. It was very tiring to learn, unlike the things that were easy to remember now. There were only 40 words in total, and she just had to memorize them.
She didn't know that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had spent a lot of effort on these 40 words. They had revised them many times before they became the necessary textbooks for Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. They were mainly prepared for Xiaobei and the others. For their younger siblings, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would do anything.
The other children who were still playing were very envious of Luo Xianger. She recognized a good sister and could see the good things first. They still had to wait for a while before they could come in contact with them.
Luo Xianger was not so selfish. After reading the story, she would tell it to others. If someone wanted to see the pictures, she would let them see it, but they were not allowed to touch the book to avoid damaging it.
Just as Luo Xianger was engrossed in reading, a mighty team came on the road. At the front of the team, there was a little girl in a white dress. She was leading the team, swaying and looking around with her big eyes. Behind her were other children, who were also very curious about this place.
Because of their existence, the speed of the team was suppressed. No one dared to go around them.
The little girl walking in front looked at the rice seedlings in the field. When she raised her head and saw the people under the big tree, she said happily, "There's a person."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
