Traveling to another world and becoming a local owner

"Mr. Zhang, you don't have to be polite. I still have some trivial matters to attend to in the company, so I won't bother you any more. If your family needs anything, you can always tell us. We can also buy some for you when we purchase Huangliang Xianjiu." Shopkeeper Zhao stroked his beard and said with a smile.

"You are so thoughtful, and I would like to thank you for your kindness. I don't have many connections, and I don't know as many people as Manager Zhao. If you are a manager of a pawnshop with better connections, could you please help me keep an eye out for skilled craftsmen, preferably blacksmiths or carpenters." Zhang Ling bowed and immediately made the request.

"A blacksmith and a carpenter? That's not easy to find. I basically know all the owners of pawnbrokers in the county. I'll ask for you when I go back. If there are any, I'll send someone to your house to inform you immediately." Seeing that it was just a small favor, Manager Zhao agreed without thinking since he didn't have to spend any money himself anyway.

"Thank you very much, Manager Zhao! Liulang, do you have any leftover Huangliang Xianjiu at home?" Zhang Ling bowed and thanked him. He happened to see Li Liulang who had just finished moving the things and thanked him, so he asked.

"Master, there's not much left, probably about five or six kilograms." Li Liulang answered honestly.

"Well, go get it quickly." Zhang Ling ordered immediately.

Soon, Li Liulang came running over with a five-jin jar of wine.

Zhang Ling took the wine and handed it directly to Shopkeeper Zhao, saying, "Thank you for your concern for this matter. I hope you won't despise this small token of my appreciation."

"Mr. Zhang, you are too polite. This gift is too valuable. I cannot accept it." Shopkeeper Zhao waved his hand quickly upon seeing this.

"Don't refuse again. I've been in the countryside all day, and it's inconvenient for me to go into the city. I'm going to have to trouble you to take care of this matter. If you don't accept it, then I dare not ask you to do me this favor."

"Well, well, thank you for your kindness, sir. I will do my best to help you with this matter." After saying this, Shopkeeper Zhao was no longer polite and accepted the wine with a smile.

After seeing off Manager Yang and others, Zhang Ling went straight to the wasteland to see the progress of the brick kiln.

When he almost arrived at the place, there were two or three hundred people busy working.

"This, I'm afraid that all the capable people in the village have been brought here?" Zhang Ling was speechless. Although he had told Old Yang that the sooner the better, with so many people, he didn't know if the one hundred taels of silver would be enough.

"Oh, Master Zhang is here!"

"Isn't this Xiao Ling? Are you here to inspect the work?"

"Of course I'm here to inspect. Otherwise, am I here to see you? You're not the widow Yang from the next village."

"You old man, I'll tear your mouth apart..."

Before he even got close, a group of middle-aged women carrying soil outside started teasing him, making Zhang Ling very angry.

Ignoring the jokes of the village women, Zhang Ling continued walking towards the hillside. Along the way, many people were digging soil to make bricks, which were neatly stacked in rows.

Old Yang was supervising the work at the foot of the hill, and his two sons were also leading the digging of the cave under the command of the mason "Lame". Wooden stakes were propped up at the entrance of the cave, which was more than one person high, to prevent landslides.

"Xiao Ling is here? When the villagers heard that you were going to build a brick kiln, they all rushed to work. Except for the elderly and children, almost everyone who could help came." Old Yang stroked his beard with a smile, looking very happy.

"Um, Grandpa Yang, with so many people coming to work, how can one hundred taels of silver be enough? Just the food will cost a lot of money." Zhang Ling was speechless at this moment and said with embarrassment.

"At first I didn't expect so many people to come. They are all from the same village, so I couldn't refuse them. I originally planned to provide lunch, but when everyone heard that they would get paid, they all didn't want lunch and just ate at home before coming here to work." Old Yang felt a little embarrassed when he heard this and hurried to explain.

"Don't skip lunch. Physical work consumes a lot of energy. We should buy some better food to replenish everyone's energy. How can we have the strength to work if we are not full? If the hundred taels are used up, please tell me again. Since everyone has come to help, we can't treat them unfairly, and we must not delay their wages." After Zhang Ling figured out what was going on, he felt a little moved. Although the villagers were simple and honest, he should not be too stingy.

"Hey, kid, we are all from the same village, there is no such thing as arrears or not. Don't worry, I have a good deal for this matter, and we should be able to use up all this money." Old Yang was very pleased to hear him say that.

"Grandpa Yang, when do you estimate this brick kiln will be completed?" Zhang Ling looked around and turned around to ask.

"The two brick kilns here can be completed within two or three days. The lame man said that there are too many people and winter is coming soon, so charcoal will be needed. So he asked everyone to dig a small kiln for burning charcoal there." Old Yang said, pointing to a small cave slightly to the east.

Zhang Ling didn't expect there would be an unexpected surprise. Although charcoal is not valuable these days, the trees in the mountains can be cut down at will. This is definitely a way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

"Well, everyone has done a good job. I'll trouble you to take care of the things here..." Zhang Ling was happy in his heart and immediately became much more polite.

After the two exchanged greetings for a while, Zhang Ling realized that he could not help much, so he went straight back to the village.

After arriving home, he took out two hundred taels of silver and asked Da Niu to take Li Liulang and others to Liujia Chong to bring back some fermented wine, and at the same time settle the money for the last five hundred jars of wine.

Due to the shortage of manpower, most of the people live here and their bedding rolls have been moved to the straw shed.

"We still don't have enough manpower now. We just need to wait until the blue bricks are fired, then we can build the winery and make more single rooms for people to live in. Otherwise, if more people come, there won't be anywhere to live. The house will be full of women and maids long ago." After walking around the yard, Zhang Ling felt a little worried.

The family originally had a spinning wheel and a loom, which were used by Zhang's mother, Xiaocui and Wang's mother to spin and weave in their spare time to supplement the family income. Now all these jobs are taken over by the women. Zhang's mother once mentioned that there are too many people in the family and most of them have nothing to do, so she asked him to find a carpenter to make a few more looms, so that he could also earn some money.

Zhang Ling knew about the jenny loom and the jacquard loom, but he had no knowledge of carpentry. Even if he knew the general structure and working principle, he could not make them.

"Oh, it would be great if there was a carpenter at home." Zhang Ling lamented as he sat by the well in the west wing.

"Young master, are you looking for a carpenter?" Xin'er happened to come out of the room and asked immediately after hearing Zhang Ling's words.

"Yes, there are many things I want to do, but I don't know how to do carpentry." Zhang Ling supported his head, staring blankly at the sky, without looking back.

"There should be a lot of people in this area who know carpentry. Can't we ask them to do it?" Xin'er walked up to him and asked softly.

"Of course it's possible, but the things I want to make need to be kept secret, and the structure is not complicated. Even if I assign several people to work on it, if someone with bad intentions is found in the future, they will definitely be able to find these people, and then it will be easy to leak these things out." Zhang Ling was distressed and felt helpless.