Mikuni convenience store

Lu Meng buried his head in his food, but found that everyone at the table was quiet.

When I looked up again, I found that everyone was looking at me.

"Tell me, did your master tell you about Liu Jiyu?"

Liao Hua sat next to Lu Meng and put his hand on his shoulder with interest.

Lu Meng was about to speak when he saw Liu Bei. He rolled his eyes and said, "Well... he is a great man, but not a hero."

Liu Bei had met many people and he could tell at once that what Lu Meng said was not true.

The thought suddenly came to my mind.

Xu Yuanzhi probably didn't say anything good about Liu Zhang, but the kid felt that he and Liu Zhang were both members of the royal family, so he didn't say it directly.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei was secretly shocked.

This Wolong Village is indeed different from others.

The food and clothing of ordinary people in the village are comparable to those of many wealthy businessmen in local cities.

It is even more rare that a child of such a few years old has such an understanding of the general situation of the world and can choose his words according to his own identity.

Apart from this, there is no other person to name as Liu Bei.

As for Zhuge Tian, ​​he just remembered the story of discussing heroes over green plum wine and thought it was interesting, so he brought up this topic. He did not say that the only heroes in the world were Meng De and Xuan De.

During the meal, Liu Bei was quite interested in Wolong Village, and he spoke very tactfully.

Although his words were all about asking about Wolong Village, they did not seem offensive.

As for Zhuge Tian, ​​he was more interested in Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

There's no way, I've heard too many stories about two people before.

After finishing his meal, Liu Bei bowed to Zhuge Tian and said, "Master Hanxing, may I pay a visit to Mr. Yuanzhi?"

Just now when we were having dinner, I felt that Lu Meng was very well-spoken and he would inadvertently say something surprising.

Naturally, I became even more curious about the master that the child mentioned.

"Okay, Yuanzhi should be free by now."

Every noon, Xu Shu would serve his mother lunch and wait for her to take a nap before arranging Lu Meng's studies.

Taking Liu Bei to the courtyard where Xu Shu and his mother lived, Lu Meng asked a few people to wait outside while he went in to report.

Soon Xu Shu came out.

"Greetings, Lord Xuande!" Xu Shu bowed.

"Come to my yard for tea!" Zhuge Tian invited.

In fact, he knew what Liu Bei was planning.

However, he was not afraid that Xu Shu would run away with Liu Bei. His mother was now recuperating in Wolong Village, and as a filial son, he would not go anywhere.

There was a charcoal stove in Zhuge Tian's yard. Zhuge Tian put the kettle on it to boil water, and Zhang Fei came over.

"I'm good at making tea, so how about letting me make tea for you?"

"You... make tea?" Zhuge Tian was stunned. The style of the painting looked so strange.

Zhang Fei looked around and found that Zhuge Tian had no utensils for making tea except a strange kettle.

"Ah, the tea here is not boiled, it is brewed and you can drink it directly. I am really not used to drinking boiled tea, please forgive me."

"It's okay, it's okay. The guest should follow the host's wishes." Zhang Fei had just finished speaking when he heard a sharp sound of JIU.

He and Guan Yu rushed to Liu Bei's side in a flash, drew their swords and assumed a fighting stance.

Then I realized that the sound was made by that strange kettle.

"What...what is this? It's so magical!"

"It's just an ordinary kettle. As long as the water boils, it will make a sound to remind you."

"Prince Hanxing's Wolong Village is truly magical!" Liu Bei exclaimed.

Along the way, there were so many magical things that made him feel like he had come to another world.

Lu Meng placed teacups for each person, with tea leaves already in them, and then poured boiled water into them.

Zhang Fei was fond of tea art, and had never seen tea drunk in this way before. However, when he smelled the fragrance of the tea, he felt that it had a unique flavor.

Liu Bei praised Lu Meng's words to Xu Shu, roughly meaning that this disciple's teaching is really amazing, and you as a master must be even more powerful.

After a round of praise, Liu Bei finally got to the point: "Sir, can you come out and help me?"

The reason why he didn't ask Zhuge Tian was because Zhuge Tian already had thousands of people under him, and he didn't think his charm was high enough to make Zhuge Tian bow down to him.

The second and more important thing was that when they started eating, they could tell from their conversation that Zhuge Tian had no intention of leaving Wolong Village.

"Hey, you..." Liao Hua was unwilling.

I was kind enough to treat you to dinner and tea, so why did you try to poach her right in front of me?

But before he could finish his words, Zhuge Tian stopped him with a look.

Liu Bei is also thick-skinned and he is now eager to seek talented people.

Moreover, he already has powerful generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei around him, what he lacks is a top strategist who can give him advice.

So he understood what Liao Hua meant, but he just pretended not to understand.

"I'm sorry to disappoint Lord Xuande!" Xu Shu said with a bow, "I have no plans to leave here for the time being."

Liu Bei was a little disappointed when he heard Xu Shu's answer.

However, he also knew that he didn't even have his own territory now, so it was normal that others were unwilling to follow him.

"Now that the Han Dynasty is in decline, Your Majesty is trapped in Chang'an by the Han traitor Han Sui. I am at a loss. Please, sir, teach me what to do next."

Since he couldn't find anyone, Liu Bei had to settle for the next best thing and hoped that Xu Shu could help him with some advice.

Xu Shu didn't say anything, but looked at Zhuge Tian.

Zhuge Tian smiled and shook his head, saying, "Why are you looking at me? I don't have the ability or the desire to save the people of the world. I can only guard my own little piece of land."

He said this because whenever the situation in the world changed, he would analyze the situation for Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang, and tell them what to do if they came into the world or what to do if they withdrew from it.

But Zhuge Tian always chose the latter.

Xu Shu came to see him because of Liu Bei's current problems, which they had analyzed to Zhuge Tian.

When Xu Shu heard Zhuge Tian say this, he knew what he meant.

Then he said to Liu Bei: "Now the foreign barbarians are invading, which is both a crisis and an opportunity."

Liu Bei's spirits lifted, and he humbly asked, "Please teach me, sir."

"Now that all the clans in the Central Plains are defending themselves against the foreign barbarians, the wars between them will surely decrease, and the people will be able to rest and recuperate."

"But the people on the border are suffering greatly. Lord Xuande's opportunity lies not in the Central Plains but in Xiliang."

"Xiliang?" Liu Bei was somewhat confused and puzzled.

At this time, Xiliang was basically an underdeveloped region.

Moreover, when Han Sui entered Chang'an from Tianshui, Xiliang was considered to be behind enemy lines.

"Well, in the Central Plains, whether it's Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, or Sun Ce, none of them have the energy to start a war for the time being."

"There's no chance of a sudden rise in the Central Plains. However, there's been some news about Ma Chao in Xiliang recently."

"Ma Chao? Son of Ma Teng?" Liu Bei had naturally heard of this name.

"Yes!" Xu Shu nodded. "Ma Teng died at the hands of Han Sui. The two had an irreconcilable feud. Furthermore, the Han and Hu peoples of Xiliang live together, and the Han people suffer greatly. If someone can rally the local Han people and enlist Ma Chao's help, they could certainly break the deadlock there."

Many people were dissatisfied with Han Sui's defection to the Xiongnu.

And he and the Huns were not on the same page.

The most chaotic place right now is Xiliang.

At that time, Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu analyzed that if Zhuge Tian and his thousands of men wanted to gain momentum, they needed to go to that kind of chaotic place.

The same goes for Liu Bei. If he continues to stay in the Central Plains, he will eventually have to live under someone else's roof.

It was in this Jingzhou that Hua Tuo and Dong Feng treated Liu Biao's health many times because of Zhuge Tian.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Liu Biao would wait until his death to give Jingzhou to Liu Bei as in history.

Based on the Three Kingdoms, which has been changed so much, the best option is to go behind enemy lines.

Of course, this move also has certain risks.

So Xu Shu just proposed it, and whether to do it or not was up to Liu Bei himself.

Liu Bei thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice!"

"In fact, Xiliang is not completely without anything." Zhuge Tian said, "Xiliang is rich in horses. If Lord Xuande can gain a foothold in Xiliang in the future, he can use horses to exchange for food from us."

All an army needs are soldiers, weapons, horses and food.

Soldiers can recruit local Han people in Xiliang.

There are plenty of horses, the only thing lacking is food and weapons.

Wolong Village just happens to have these two resources.

As for purchasing horses, there is no shortage of sales channels, whether in Jiangdong, Xuzhou or Jingzhou.

After hearing what Zhuge Tian said, Xu Shu smiled and shook his head.

I have never seen someone like Zhuge Tian who has no ambition but is only interested in making money.

Liu Bei came this time to help Jiangdong bring back grain.

Although these grains have not yet been planted in Jiangdong, looking at what the people in Wolong Village usually eat, we can tell that they are definitely not short of food.

Because after entering the village, they saw that almost every family raised pigs.

The ancients ate less meat, not because they didn't like raising pigs.

But raising pigs also requires feeding them food. When people are not able to eat enough, where will we get the food to feed the pigs?

Every household in Wolong Village raises pigs, which means they have enough food for people to eat, and there is still some left over to feed these livestock.

So on the way here, Liu Bei was a little skeptical about what Zhou Yu said about the high-yield grain varieties in Wolong Village.

But when I really arrived in Wolong Village and saw what the villagers usually ate, I believed it.

"Thank you so much, Master Hanxing!"

"You're welcome, Lord Xuande!"

Although Zhuge Tian had no intention of ending the chaotic times, he also had little interest in Liu Bei's cause of supporting the Han Dynasty.

But if it was just to give Liu Bei some help and make some money at the same time, he would not refuse.

Zhuge Tian had already prepared the grain seeds for Jiangdong.

After all, Jiangdong has never grown this kind of rice, so it is impossible and dare not use all the land to grow this kind of rice.

After discussion, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others decided to build a thousand acres of experimental field first.

If the yield is really that high, it won’t be too late to expand the planting scale later.

This time, Zhuge Tian did not confiscate any money, but only asked Jiangdong to give him the share of the 1,000 acres of rice in cash when he came to get grain and seeds next time.

After seeing off Liu Bei and his men who were transporting the grain, Zhuge Tian went to a small hill five miles outside the village.

This is a place specifically used for burning cement.

There is no way around it. At this time, burning cement using traditional methods still causes considerable pollution.

It couldn't be placed inside the village, so we had to find a place downwind from the village.

Fortunately, this is just one cement workshop and it is not too big.

With nature's self-healing ability, we can still withstand it.

"How's the burning going?" Zhuge Tian asked the foreman Geng Yu, who was from Xuzhou. His family had a lime kiln, so Zhuge Tian put him in charge.

It is said that the earliest lime kiln in my country discovered in Suining County in later generations might have belonged to Geng Yu's family.

Geng Yu heard Zhuge Tian's question and said with surprise, "Master Hanxing, that black charcoal you found is really useful!"

In this era, the main fuel used for burning was wood.

Some also use charcoal.

But coal is still rarely used.

In the Tang and Song Dynasty medical books that Zhuge Tian gave to Hua Tuo and others, it was actually recorded that there was a coal mine in Zhonglu County near Xiangyang.

This is the Donggong Coal Mine in later generations.

Zhuge Tian asked people to dig some up and use it as fuel.

After all, the furnace temperature of charcoal is only about 1300 degrees.

The furnace temperature of coal can reach 1800 degrees.

This is a huge improvement in firing efficiency.

Zhuge Tian followed Geng Yu to the kiln, where there were a few men wearing masks and pulling the bellows with their bare chests in the early spring.

"And the bellows, too. They keep the kiln fire burning brightly!"

At the beginning, although Geng Yu respected Zhuge Tian, ​​he did not think that he could be better than him, who had family inheritance, in making these things.

But after Zhuge Tian took out coal and bellows in succession, he was completely convinced.

Although this is burnt cement, not lime, the principle is similar.

If the original lime kiln at home had such a big fire, the output could probably be more than doubled.

"Thank you for your hard work. Shouldn't we be able to open the kiln today?"

"Hmm!" Geng Yu nodded and looked up at the sky again: "It will be an auspicious time soon, and we can start the kiln then."

Zhuge Tian did not understand but respected the practice of choosing an auspicious time to open a kiln.

I chatted with Geng Yu for a while and asked if there was anything else the cement workshop needed. It was almost time.

Geng Yu asked someone to bring the chicken that had been prepared long ago, and then cut the chicken's neck with a knife.

The chicken blood sizzled at the entrance of the kiln.

Then he lit three incense sticks towards the kiln as a gesture of worship to the kiln god, and then shouted, "Open the kiln!"

What comes out of the burnt material are lumps, which can't even be considered cement.

Just a mixture of limestone and clay.

After taking it out and letting it cool down a bit, pour it into the millstone together with the slag left over from iron smelting in the village.

Xu Chu thought the donkey pulling the mill was too slow, so he kicked it away and went over to push the millstone to turn.

"Is this gray powder cement?" Liao Hua squatted on the ground and pinched some of the ground gray powder with his hands.

This was also Zhuge Tian’s first time burning cement. He could only say that he followed the guide, but he still had to try it to know how the finished product would be.

So he scratched his head and gave an answer that no one could have imagined: "I don't know!"