The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 35

“Young Master Xu, the construction site is almost finished, with only some finishing touches left. It will be completed in a couple of days,” Yang Qi said from the side.

"Yes, Seventh Brother, you've had a tough time these past few days."

“It’s no trouble at all, it’s my duty. Xu Lang, this is my distant nephew, also surnamed Xu, named Donglai. I will keep him here for a while.” Yang Qi pointed to a young man of about eighteen or nineteen years old not far away.

He continued, "Although he is not very old, he has been with me for several years. He is knowledgeable about most carpentry work. If you need anything, you can ask him, or at the very least, you can come to me."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tian happily exclaimed, "That's excellent! We're exactly in need of such talent right now!"

The carpentry workshop went smoothly, everything was as expected, but the metallurgical workshop was not going well. Uncle Du had already told him that the plan he had asked Du Erlang to devise had ultimately failed. The workshop had considered it for a few days, but in the end, it refused.

Now that things have come to this, all we can do is hope that Zheng Zhuangyuan can bring good news.

While designing and sketching rickshaw blueprints at home, Xu Tian patiently waited for news.

A few days later, one afternoon, we finally learned that Scholar Zheng had come to the shop. We immediately invited him to the reception room to meet us.

Seeing Xu Tian's expectant expression, Zheng Zhuangyuan smiled slightly: "Don't worry, what we talked about last time has been accomplished."

Xu Tian was initially delighted, and asked to confirm, "Both things have been accomplished?"

"Naturally, all will be accomplished."

"Good, I've finally received good news. Today it's my treat, Brother Zheng, please don't refuse. Tell me the details, please have a seat," Xu Tian said joyfully.

The two of them sat down.

"I said before that these two things were feasible, and as expected, I submitted the 'Hundred Family Surnames' to Li Jiedu after making some minor revisions."

After he read it, he didn't say much, but asked about your recent situation. I naturally told him what I knew. Then he reminded me to add a brief biography of you and Cui Xiucai to the official document.

The official document was sent to Chang'an a few days ago; now we just need to wait patiently for a reply.

"Yes, thank you for your concern, Brother Zheng. How will the matter of the iron furnace be handled?" This was still Xu Tian's biggest concern.

"Speaking of the iron furnace, I have a question for you first. Do you know a traveling physician named Zheng Zhu, and do you have a strained relationship with him?" Scholar Zheng frowned and asked.

“Zheng Zhu, I do know someone with that name. He claims to be a Taoist doctor from Mount Wutai. I met him twice by chance before, and there were some unpleasant things, but it was definitely not my fault that I offended him on purpose. Brother Zheng, you two are both surnamed Zheng, could you be from the same clan?”

Xu Tian sensed something was wrong; how did this person suddenly appear?

"No, that's not the case. He's from the North, and I grew up in the South. We're completely unrelated, so how could we be connected? It just so happens that we both have the surname Zheng. This is the person I told you about last time who treated Li Jiedu."

"Oh, so Brother Zheng is now mentioning this person. Could it be that this person is the one who is interfering and ruining my plans? But you just said that both things will succeed. What exactly is going on?" Xu Tian asked, puzzled after guessing.

"Yes, it is because Zheng Zhu cured Li Jiedu's chronic illness that Jiedu treated him differently. He recently introduced him to us, and that's how I got to know him."