Farming to Defy My Fate 43

Chapter 43: Building a New House

Firing glass required quartz and borax. In this era, the raw materials could be bought ready-made, as quartz was the main material for ceramic glaze, and borax was often used in the forging process of gold and silver jewelry.

So, if Zhao An wanted to fire glass, he didn’t have to start from the most primitive stage of finding ore. Moreover, this era already had glassware, but because of its unstable nature and too many impurities preventing it from being properly formed, the price was very expensive.

Zhao An knew that the reason the glass of this era had so many problems was due to the insufficient temperature of the kiln. This problem actually had a very simple solution: using coal to fire the kiln.

Because when firing a kiln with charcoal, it was inevitable to add firewood, which would cause a loss of temperature. Coal, on the other hand, did not require additional firewood, and the kiln could maintain a high temperature of over one thousand three hundred degrees for a long time.

And there was another reason he wanted to use coal. In the past month, he had been buying wood from the nearby villagers, which had resulted in several nearby mountains becoming bald.

It could only be said that all development came at a price. Even something that sounded as good as the spiritual energy revival had still caused a great cataclysm, killing nearly ninety percent of the world’s population.

But if he didn’t buy wood from these villagers, many of them wouldn’t be able to get through this winter. So he had to continue buying wood. At worst, he could just open a few more earthen kilns to fire bricks and tiles. These things could be consumed easily.

Of course, coal also had to be bought. He knew that Qianzhou, which was adjacent to Shuzhou, had many open-pit mines, but they were relatively scattered, so they were not as famous as the coal mines in Shanxi.

And just as he had told Hu Sheng, he wanted to sell the glassware abroad, not to the upper class of the Xu Kingdom.

Mainly because his current status was not suitable for high-end luxury goods trade. Perhaps he could use the Nanyue Kingdom as a transit point, and then export and re-import.

But that was all after the glassware was fired. The main problem now was to find a coal mine. He had left this matter entirely to Hu Sheng, because he had so many people under his command. Even if he sent two caravans of a thousand people each time, there were still two-thirds of the people left in the stronghold.

Since they were idle, they might as well do something for him.

After Hu Sheng’s men had gone out, Zhao An was also free. The time had finally come to late September. Changxi County was located in the southwest, and the mountain forests here were basically evergreen all year round, so there was no scenery of red leaves. However, the weather was getting colder day by day, and Zhao An’s clothes had changed from single-layered to lined jackets.

He could finally sit leisurely in the courtyard, using a small stove to roast chestnuts and the large, sweet-heart sweet potatoes he had force-grown.

The chestnuts were sweet, the sweet potatoes were sweet, and Hu Sheng’s lips were even sweeter. However, after only three days of this carefree life, Zhao An felt that his bones were so light they were floating. If he didn’t find something to do, he felt like he would float up to the sky.

Then he finally remembered that he wanted to build a house in the winter. Although it was not yet officially winter, the villagers had basically finished their farm work. At most, they would sow some winter wheat. In Changxi County, wheat was not grown as a staple food, and the fertility of much of the land was not enough, so the villagers were basically idle.

When the villagers heard that Zhao An was going to build a house, everyone was very enthusiastic and offered to help him, and for free at that.

Because the bricks and tiles produced by the village’s collective kiln had allowed more than eighty percent of the people in the village to live in new houses, they were not ungrateful people. Since they had enjoyed the benefits brought by Zhao An, they also wanted to give him something in return.

When Liu Huan patted his chest and told Zhao An, “This time, you must let the villagers help. Otherwise, if the villagers keep taking advantage of you, it will become a habit.”

In that case, Zhao An did not refuse.

He had Qin Tong and Hai Bo temporarily move into the dormitory for the kiln workers, while he himself went back to the mountain with Hu Sheng. Then he had Hu Sheng send him down the mountain every morning to check on the construction progress of his house.

Then, for the first time, he saw the material the villagers used to bond the bricks: cooked glutinous rice, pounded and mixed with clay.

A villager who had once served in the corvée labor even told Zhao An, “The city walls of the prefectural city are built with glutinous rice and clay. It is said that the city walls on the frontier are all built this way.”

This process of mixing clay was very complicated, but the villagers used a near-assembly-line method to build the house, so there were many people, and the speed was very fast.

Since this clay could be used to build city walls, the quality of the houses built with it was naturally very good, but it was not as convenient as cement. Zhao An thought that since he had already started to fire glass, it shouldn’t be a problem to fire some cement as well.

When the cement was fired, even if it couldn’t be sold, it would be good to take it up the mountain to build houses for Hu Sheng’s many men. They were still living in wooden houses.

Those simple houses were not sun-proof in the summer and not warm in the winter. Zhao An thought that since he had accepted so much silver that the other had earned, he had to shoulder the responsibility of a chieftain’s wife and let those who followed Hu Sheng live a good life.

Just as Zhao An was staring blankly at the glutinous rice, someone carrying a load of good clay passed by him and accidentally bumped into him, smearing a patch of dirt on his clothes. The person immediately put down his load and stood there at a loss, like a child who had done something wrong.

Seeing this scene, Zhao An quickly moved to the side and bowed to the person. “I’m sorry for blocking your way.”

Although he was wearing old clothes to come to the construction site, compared to the villagers who were working, he still seemed out of place. Standing a little closer, he was suspected of hindering others’ work.

Zhao An rubbed his nose, feeling that he was purely in the way here. He could only stroll around with his hands in his pockets to Liu Huan’s house. His three sons were all building their own houses, and this old man had finally found a chance to be idle at home. He had even set out peanuts and was drinking rice wine.

Seeing Zhao An enter, he quickly offered him a seat. He had his little grandson get a bowl and chopsticks for Zhao An, and had his wife quickly fry some eggs.

Zhao An didn’t stand on ceremony with him. After drinking a cup of wine, he told him about how he was in the way no matter where he went on the construction site. Finally, he said with a sigh, “I’m just too idle recently. I don’t know what to do.”

Unexpectedly, the old man’s eyes darted around. Seeing this, Zhao An straightened his back and heard him say, “I heard from Qin Tong a while ago that you wanted to teach the children in the village to read and write in the winter. Is that still true?”

Zhao An nodded, then shook his head. “I want to teach the whole village, old and young, to read. If it’s for children who plan to take the imperial examinations, my level is not enough.”

Liu Huan threw a peanut into his mouth and took a sip of wine. “Who among us villagers would dare to dream of the imperial examinations? To be able to recognize a few characters and have more options in the future is already a great blessing.”

Before Zhao An could say no again, Liu Huan made a decision. “I’ll have someone clean up the village’s ancestral hall tomorrow. You can just teach there.”

Zhao An also drank a mouthful of rice wine and suddenly felt a sense of heroism. “I’ve never taught children before. Liu clan head, you should come tomorrow too and help me maintain order in the classroom. And girls will be taught as well. Let the villagers send all their children to study. Adults can also learn if they want. It’s always good to learn more.”

“Hahaha, it’s always good to learn more,” Liu Huan gave Zhao An a thumbs-up. Then he said, “Then I’ll take my grandchildren to the school tomorrow.”

The expression on Liu Huan’s face was very happy, but there was something he hadn’t told Zhao An. This year, each household had some spare money. In addition, at this time of year in the past, although they didn’t have to do farm work, they had to go to the nearby mountains to chop firewood for the winter. This year, many had spent money to buy firewood from the kiln. Many half-grown boys and women had nothing to do and had started to gather together to play dice and leaf cards.

These past few days, Liu Huan had been in a bad mood after learning that many people in the village had picked up the habit of gambling. It wasn’t until he saw the equally idle Zhao An that a flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly thought of the matter of teaching. He hadn’t expected the two of them to hit it off.

So after Zhao An left Liu Huan’s house, he immediately perked up and ran to each household, requiring everyone who had nothing to do to go to the ancestral hall to study tomorrow.