My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Jiang Li was a little confused when he heard this, "Master, isn't there a banana tree in Qingyun Temple? How come you said you have never seen a magical medicine?"

"That banana tree is nothing more than a magical medicine cultivated by humans. Although it can't be called a fake one, it's almost the same."

"But this Seven-Star Purple Lotus is different. It is a true spiritual medicine of heaven and earth. It needs to be in a place with rich spiritual energy to bloom and bear fruit normally. Its efficacy is naturally far beyond that of the banana tree."

Uncle Jiu excitedly explained to Jiang Li.

But after hearing this explanation, Jiang Li couldn't help but wonder, "The spiritual energy near this stream isn't that strong. Is there something strange underground?"

As he said this, he reached out to dig the mud on the ground. Before he had dug a few times, he felt a very strong spiritual energy gushing out from the mud.

"Master, look quickly, could this be the legendary soil or spiritual vein?"

Uncle Jiu squatted down happily to check it out, but after a while he sighed, "This is indeed a spiritual vein, but it's a pity that it's almost dried up now, and it won't be of much use to our cultivation."

"So this old black man said that the Seven-Star Purple Lotus didn't bloom. Could it be because of insufficient spiritual energy?"

"It should be. However, judging from the amount of spiritual energy, it should be enough. Perhaps it is because this snake demon likes to stay here and accidentally absorbed some of the spiritual energy, which led to the lack of spiritual energy!"

After saying that, he raised his head and looked at the big black snake again, which made it promise again and again, "Little demon will never stay around here again. As long as you can build a temple for me and give me tributes, so that I can eat my fill and practice in peace, that's all."

After hearing its assurance, Jiang Li and Uncle Jiu didn't say much, and continued to discuss the disposal of the Seven-Star Purple Lotus. Directly digging it up for medicinal use, which would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, would definitely not work.

Finally, the two men discussed it and decided to adopt Jiang Li's suggestion to build a yard here and station some troops there to guard and take care of these seven-star purple lotuses.

After discussing the solution, Jiang Li took out some daily necessities from his storage bag, including some dried meat and food, and left a few Taoist soldiers to guard here to prevent wild beasts from destroying these spiritual herbs.

Then he and the others went back the same way they came.

As soon as he returned to Qingshui Village, Jiang Li discussed with Uncle Jiu and decided to split the troops into two groups. He rode his horse back to the town with his men, mobilized the garrison, summoned craftsmen, and purchased building materials.

By the way, he was asked to prepare pots, pans, and other daily necessities, as well as the pigs and sheep promised to the big black snake.

As for Uncle Jiu, he brought two Taoist soldiers with him to guard the big black snake to prevent it from escaping or hurting people. He also taught it some Taoist scriptures to reduce its evil spirit.

This work lasted for a month. During this period, he not only transferred a company of soldiers from Tengteng County, but also asked someone to cut a piece of century-old Polygonum multiflorum vine from Qingyun Temple and get a medicine to eliminate evil spirits.

The results during this period were naturally gratifying. Not only did he transform the snake demon into a spiritual beast, he also built a river temple specifically for it.

They also helped it gather the villagers and held a grand ceremony to worship the heavens, so that it could be canonized by heaven and earth and officially become the god of the Qingshui River.

As for the villa on the Seven Star Purple Lotus side, it was naturally also repaired, and the river channel was specially deepened and widened to divert the river water into the stream.

This allows the people transporting supplies to row their boats directly to the villa, so that the twenty soldiers inside don't have to worry about the road being blocked and the supplies being difficult to transport.

During this period, there was an unexpected gain. When Jiang Youchi was promoting Mo Ying, the big black snake, in Qinghe County, he discovered a small iron mine. (This is the name Jiang Li gave it)

As well as a large lime mine and a large clay mine. When he learned the news, he immediately decided to build a cement plant and a brick factory to build various military facilities and repair roads.

He remembered the various cement formulas he had seen on the Internet in his previous life. The most common one was silicate cement, whose main ingredients were limestone, clay and iron ore powder.

Cement can be obtained by mixing these raw materials in proportion, calcining them to obtain clinker, and then grinding the clinker with gypsum.

He had not planned to do so before because of the shortage of materials, but now that he has discovered several mines, they can be used. Now the only thing missing is gypsum, so purchasing it will be much simpler and cheaper.

He had long been displeased with these so-called official roads. Not only were they overgrown with weeds, but they also became muddy and difficult to travel on when it rained. He hated them as much as he could.

Unfortunately, the amount of cement we bought before was not enough to repair the house, and there was no extra to build the road.

After selecting the locations for the cement plant and brick factory, they soon began recruiting people to dig ore. As for grinding, it was of course impossible to use human or animal power. Instead, a group of craftsmen were gathered to build some water wheels along the river.

As for electricity, it is indeed not possible for the time being. Currently, there is basically no electricity in the country. It is basically impossible to convert electricity into power.

Fortunately, this iron mine is not large and the output is not high, so hydraulic crushing is sufficient.

After watching the first batch of cement come out and passing a series of tests, the cement plant officially started operations.

After that, he happily returned to Qingyun Temple with his Uncle Jiu.

But just after going up the mountain and not resting for long, Jiang Youchi heard a message from an intelligence officer, and then he came to Jiang Li with a frown and reported, "Master, the people below just reported that Han Yong is here!"

Jiang Li said unhappily, "If they are coming, just let Old Wu receive them and smile more. Do you want me to go and greet them in person?"

Seeing Jiang Li's expression, Jiang Youchi gritted his teeth and said, "To be honest, Master, although he didn't say it explicitly, this is what he meant!"

"Oh, tell me what happened. Why didn't I notice it before? Han Yong was so ignorant. I gave him face, right?" Jiang Li asked with a frown.

"Master, you misunderstood. Han Yong didn't ask you to go and greet him. Didn't you ask him to help you contact some foreign businessmen?"

"He brought a merchant from the British Empire with him this time, but that merchant is a baron who is throwing a tantrum and insists that we send someone of sufficient status to greet him, otherwise he won't get off the ship!"

When Jiang Li heard that he was from the British Empire, his anger instantly disappeared. "Okay, wait for me to say hello to my uncles and aunts, and then we'll go meet the baron. It's a good opportunity to see how capable he is!"

Letting Jiang Youchi wait aside, he stood up and told Uncle Jiu and Aunt Zhe about the situation, then said goodbye and left.

Seeing Jiang Li was about to leave, Uncle Jiu and Zhe Gu didn't know what to say. They just looked at his back, not knowing what they were thinking. Only after Jiang Li's figure disappeared did Zhe Gu stand up.

With a big belly, she asked in confusion, "Husband, Ali is getting more powerful now. It stands to reason that it should be difficult for a leader to improve his cultivation since he is in charge of the military power. But why do I feel like he is not affected by anything?"