Go back to ancient times to engage in sideline business

Tang Zhong could hardly believe his ears, and reconfirmed: "Six taels of silver, are you sure?"

"to make……"

Tang Zhong patted Yang Dazhuang's shoulder excitedly, and gave a thumbs up, "A good man with vision!"

After a while of greetings like checking household registration, Tang Zhong finally found out the bottom line of this group of men.

The men are all surnamed Yang, and there are 12 people in a group. They are related to each other, and they are all farmers in Yangjia Village outside the city.

Recently, there was no crop work in the fields, so they went to the city together, hoping to find some hard-working day laborers and earn more money to go back before the year.

They were all dutiful peasants, and some of them didn't go to the city often, and they were a little cautious. It was the first time they went up to the city wall for a meeting, and they felt uncomfortable.

Tang Zhong wanted to invite everyone to the city tower to sit down and discuss the specific plan for the transformation of the wasteland.

Three reminders and four invitations for a long time, the men are still feeling guilty, always feel that the city tower is the territory of the government, and they are unwilling to come in.

In the end, everyone unanimously elected Yang Dazhuang, who had been studying in the countryside for a while and could read a few words, and he was the representative to negotiate with the city gate guard.

Time is tight, tasks are heavy, and money is still scarce, Tang Zhong knows all this.

Hearing other people's complaints before, he was a little worried: "You only have twelve people, can you finish it in 20 days?"

Yang Dazhuang is also straightforward and straightforward, he can say what he thinks in his heart.

"do not know……"

"Based on past experience, do you have a little estimate?"

"I have no experience before."

Tang Zhong: "Well..."

Okay, although it's out of the question, it's better to be sincere.

"What about carpentry? Can you do it?"

"should be……"

Tang Zhong's heart skipped a beat, yes, yes, no, no, what does it mean?

Yang Dazhuang told the truth: "Many of us have helped the village repair houses. If the carpentry work is simple, it should be no problem. If it is a little difficult, it may be difficult."

Tang Zhong took a deep breath, it all depends on God's will!Who made them have no money and couldn't afford to hire other construction teams?

According to his vision, the open space in front of the east city gate can accommodate a thousand people at most, so the foundation must be stable.

According to the common building habit in Qingjiang County, the foundation needs to be dug down six feet deep.There is no need to build a house on the wasteland. Tang Zhongman made all the calculations and reckoned that a three-foot foundation pit would be enough.

Even so, digging three feet deep in the vast wasteland is not a small move.

Under the instruction of Linzhi County, Xichengmen closely copied the pace of Dongchengmen. The date of their next batch of advertising spaces, like Dongchengmen, is also set in the next year.

When the time comes, the two city gates will be auctioned at the same time, and whoever bids the lowest will be embarrassed.

The west city gate already has an advantage over the east city gate. If you don't plan ahead, it will be the east city gate that will be embarrassing at that time.

Li Shouzheng probably didn't have any provocative intentions. Come to think of it, this should be the county magistrate deliberately embarrassing them.

The next batch of advertising spaces will be leased after the year, and the wasteland project must be completed before the end of the year.

It's all over and there are only 20 days left!

That afternoon, before Hu Touer usually woke up from his afternoon nap, the men from Yangjia Village brought their hoes and shovels and came to the city to work.

The wasteland has been abandoned for many years. In addition to large areas of wormwood, there are also many fallen thorns.The men didn't care about it, they just waved the guy and plunged in.

Tang Zhong was on the city wall, watching them work from the afternoon until the sun went down. Everyone was immersed in their work without a single complaint.

By the time the city gate was about to be locked, dozens of mounds of various sizes had already been piled up on the wasteland.

As soon as the city gate opened the next day, the men of Yangjia Village were already waiting outside carrying bamboo baskets and poles.

"It's so early? Have you eaten yet?"

Yang Dazhuang waved his hand and helped Tang Zhong push open the heavy iron city gate, "It's all right. At noon, the mother-in-law at home will bring the meal."

After finishing speaking, Yang Dazhuang called everyone to enter the city as soon as possible, and shoveled the floating soil piled up the day before into baskets, carried them out of the city gate, and dumped them.

When most people in the city hadn't woken up, the men in Yangjia Village were already working in full swing.

For the next two days, the men continued to work tirelessly from dawn to dusk.

Tang Zhong made a rough calculation for them. After 20 days of hard work, each person can only get half of the money, not counting the food and the subsequent wood expenses.

Then think about the convenience of a few city gate guards guarding a city gate, and each of them can easily get ten taels.

In comparison, the way ordinary farmers earn money is too hard.

Tang Zhong couldn't bear it in his heart, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly took out the only one or two pieces of silver from his purse...

It was the twelfth lunar month of the new year, and the cold was invading, but after doing all the work in the morning, several layers of clothes were still wet inside and out.Yang Dazhuang simply bares his upper body, throws away the hoe, and walks to the side to drink water.

"There are people coming and going on the main road, don't you feel ashamed?"

The words were reproachful, but the voice was full of tenderness.Yang Dazhuang turned his head and smiled at the woman who spoke.

"You're here?"

The woman put down the basket in her hand, picked up the plain white gown on the handle of the basket, and handed it to her man.

"Fengliang, put it on!"

"My body is full of sweat and dirt. It's very dirty. This is the first dress you made for me. Don't get it dirty."

Tang Zhong came from Fuxing Restaurant, and before he returned to the city tower, he bumped into the loving scene of the couple flirting with each other in broad daylight.

For a while, he stayed in place, walking or staying.

Seeing someone approaching, the woman was rather embarrassed, and hid behind Yang Dazhuang.

Tang Zhong coughed dryly, "Well, here are some smoked ducks I bought, when you have lunch, open them and try them!"

After finishing speaking, he stuffed a few oil-paper bags in his arms into Yang Dazhuang's hands, and said apologetically, "You guys continue to whisper, and I won't bother you."

"Oh, the new daughter-in-law is blushing!" The man next to him, who was watching the excitement with a hoe, took the opportunity to make noises.

The woman's face was flushed red, and she threw the old cotton padded clothes on the ground onto Yang Dazhuang's body, lowered her head, covered her face and ran away.

"First ram down, hey, second ram, come on, hey! Meet mountains and open mountains, hey, build bridges over rivers, hey!"

The sound of the men's ramming was so loud that it often attracted passers-by to watch and applaud.

In this era, there were no mechanical tools, and the foundation was laid by manpower pulling stone rammers.

The so-called stone ram is a round stone shaped like a millstone, with several holes dug in the middle, and fastened with a strong hemp rope.

A group of four men, following the rhythm of the chant, pulled the hemp rope together to lift the stone ram, and then unloaded the force to make it fall down, compacting the ground below with its weight.

According to Qingjiang County's rammed earth habit, the men built a gray soil foundation.

After the foundation pit is dug, mix the white lime yellow mud and river sand according to the proportion, mix them well, and spread them in the pit for compaction.After each layer is rammed, a layer of glutinous rice slurry is poured on the surface to make the rammed earth more dense and durable.

This was repeated several times until the three-foot-deep foundation pit was completely covered with rammed earth, and the ground was considered level.

Looking down at the city tower, the muscular men are powerful, their beards are itchy, and they want to go down several times, so that they have nowhere to put their strength.

Tang Zhong came over just at the right time, and said quietly: "Actually, there is still a place that needs to be donated by Hu Touer."

Hutouer immediately rolled up his sleeves and did what he said: "Brother, just say it! Wrap it on me!"

Tang Zhong spread out his hand, sincerely not to deceive: "The money for the construction team to buy meat and tooth sacrifices is almost not enough."

"Ahem, I suddenly remembered that Zhao Lifang seemed to be looking for me in a hurry, so I have to go and have a look!"

Looking at the back of Hu Touer, who was smearing oil on the soles of his feet, Tang Zhong was silent, and his heart was galloping.

A few days passed, and the foundation under the city wall had begun to take shape. Tang Zhong rolled up the planning drawings in his hand, packed up and prepared to go out.

The person who had been afraid to meet before could not escape after all.

He made a special detour to Fuxing Restaurant, brazen enough to ask for a smoked duck to wrap it with, bought a bag of candied dates on the way, and walked anxiously all the way to the entrance of Benxintang.

Different from the long queue scene before, there are only a few patients in the Benxintang clinic at this time.

Tang Zhong lingered outside for a long time, but still didn't dare to face it, so he simply changed his mind and slipped into the pharmacy next door.

"Ahem, little brother?"

Hearing the sound, the soft voice of the little medicine boy came from behind the medicine cabinet: "Excuse me, do you want to get some typhoid tablets?"

"I don't like taking medicine." Tang Zhong deliberately teased the child.

"Don't be afraid, the pills are different from medicine soup, they are not bitter. We have ready-made typhoid pills, just take them home with warm water."

The sound was getting closer and closer, but before the person could come out, two little ones emerged from the medicine cabinet first.

"Huh? It's you! Are you sick?"

Seeing Tang Zhong, the little Yaotong was quite pleasantly surprised, his little head shook unconsciously.

"I'm fine."

Tang Zhong hooked his hands, squatted down, and handed the paper bag forward mysteriously, "Hey, here it is for you."

The last two copper coins on him were finally spent today.

"It's candied dates!"

"I bought it for you on a special trip, don't be shy, eat whatever you want!"

Unexpectedly, the little drug boy only looked at it dryly, then pushed the candied date bag back, with an aggrieved expression on his face.

"The master said, don't eat sweets."

What's the problem with eating sweets at a young age?Old man Chu is really old-fashioned.

Besides, this was bought with the last money on his body, so it would be too shameful not to eat it!

His legs were a little numb, Tang Zhong changed his foot and squatted, showing the attitude of someone who came here: "Don't listen to him, children eat candy, it's only right and proper!"

"Really?" The little drug boy was skeptical, looked into the bag a little temptedly, and swallowed.

"Don't worry, if you don't tell me, I won't tell you, no one will know!"

Before the words fell, a familiar indifferent voice came from the door: "Who said I don't know!"

It was almost exactly the same as last time, and it was trying to play tricks on the little apprentice again.

Doctor Chu glared at Tang Zhong angrily, walked over and confiscated the whole bag of candied dates, led the little medicine boy, and went back to the back of the medicine cabinet.

It's so hard to die, I was hit again!

Tang Zhong laughed dryly, staggered when he got up, and quickly took out the oiled paper bag from his arms as if looking for amends.

"Doctor Chu, long time no see. This is the smoked duck specially brought by the younger generation. It is the signature dish of Fuxing Restaurant. You can try it."

Doctor Chu didn't even look at it, "Smoked food, don't eat it, take it away."

Tang Zhong stood there dumbfounded, rubbing ashes on the soles of his feet in embarrassment.

Is it because they have a bad character?Why came to the door with a gift, and poked old man Chu's taboo again.

But there's no reason to come here empty-handed.Tang Zhong got thick-skinned and insisted on chatting with him.

"Recently, I really miss the beggar grandpa and grandson, I don't know..."

"It has been cured, and you still owe two taels of consultation fee."

Tang Zhong: "Well..."

There was another long silence, Tang Zhong was so congested that he didn't dare to speak at all, and stood at the door blowing the cold wind.

Hearing some movement in the consulting room next door, Dr. Chu came out from behind the medicine cabinet again, and when he passed by, he glanced at Tang Zhong in disgust from the corner of his eye.

"What's the matter, tell me quickly."

Tang Zhong was so overjoyed that he even trembled his voice: "I would like to ask you to make gestures yourself, the movements of the animal show."

Dr. Chu shot him a firm look, then gritted his back molars and said ruthlessly, "Zhuzi, that's called Wuqinxi!"

Tang Zhong's scalp turned cold in embarrassment: "Mmm..."

The author has something to say:

Doctor Chu: There are always people who want to teach my apprentice badly!