socalfunplaces Chapter 307
Chapter 307
"The telescope can do this, it's almost done, you can improve it another day.
Let's go to the village bamboo craftsman to see how the bamboo tube is made."
Li Tai took the telescope back from Su Chen and asked, "What is the bamboo tube used for?"
"To store salt!"
"Go ahead, I won't go with you." Li Tai waved his hand and turned to leave.
Li Tai was in a hurry to go back and study the lighter, and he would ask Su Chen if he didn't understand.
"Forget it. Wang Xi, let's go to the bamboo craftsman." Su Chen called the butler Wang Xi and walked towards the village.
"Don't be offended, my lord. I don't know where the bamboo craftsman lives."
Wang Xi bowed and said apologetically.
"It's okay, I know where the bamboo craftsman lives." Su Chen said lightly.
"I have something to tell you. Rengui is not at the manor. Please take care of Madam Xue and see if she needs anything."
Su Chen wanted to visit Xue Rengui's mother by himself, but after thinking about it, he decided to let the housekeeper go.
"Yes, Lord!" Wang Xi said yes immediately.
...
When Su Chen came to the main road outside the villager's bamboo craftsman's house, he found that the front yard of the bamboo craftsman's house was full of finished bamboo tubes.
The green bamboo skin on the surface of the bamboo tube had been peeled off.
The newly cut bamboo may be humid and have a high water content.
Now all are hung outside to dry.
"Wang Xi, the second last house in this row is the home of the village chief, Mr. Li, and the first house in the back row is the carpenter's house. There are no blacksmiths in the village.
There are several bricklayers."
Su Chen stood on the main road of the village and pointed to several places so that Wang Xi could get familiar with the environment.
"Okay, Lord, I'll remember it." Wang Xi bowed and said.
The two walked towards the front yard of the bamboo craftsman's house. They could hear the sound of sawing from the backyard. There were probably more than a hundred bamboo tubes hanging in the yard.
Su Chen stepped forward and took a bamboo tube and looked at it carefully for a while.
There was a round hole at the opening of the bamboo tube. It should be covered with a cover and a pin inserted to prevent it from falling off.
"You are so thoughtful." Su Chen smiled.
"My Lord, most of these bamboo tubes look like this. People usually use them to hold water to quench their thirst when working in the fields.
But they are generally much larger than this bamboo tube."
Wang Xi saw that Su Chen seemed to have never seen such objects, so he stepped forward to explain.
"Oh? How much does this bamboo tube usually cost?"
Su Chen planned to wait for the bamboo craftsman to finish it and then buy it from him.
He couldn't let the craftsman waste his efforts.
"This... My Lord, you don't know that most of these objects are made by the people themselves, so I don't know how much each one costs."
No one in Chang'an City had ever seen anyone selling this bamboo tube, so Wang Xi naturally didn't know how much one one cost.
"Well, let's go to the backyard and have a look!"
Su Chen was a little surprised. There were no children running out to play in the village now.
"Master!"
"Master!"
There were three people making bamboo tubes in the backyard. One was responsible for sawing off the whole bamboo joint, and two people were responsible for thinning the opening of the bamboo tube and making holes for the latch.
The bamboo tube and the tube cover were taken from the same bamboo joint. If it was not thinned, it would not be round.
The bamboo craftsman was a man in his fifties. The other two were not servants of the manor, but two elderly villagers.
Su Chen smiled and asked, "Master, how many have you made now?"
"There should be about a hundred. This bamboo tube is not troublesome. All of them can be made by noon today.
If the master is in a hurry, I will find some more people."
The bamboo craftsman looked at the dozen or so bamboo tubes on the ground that had just been made and replied.
"Master, don't worry. It's fine to dry them for three days after they are made." Su Chen waved his hand and smiled.
Then he asked, "How much does this bamboo tube cost?"
The bamboo craftsman was obviously stunned, looked at the other two villagers, and then looked at Su Chen and asked in confusion:
"Master, may I ask who will pay for the bamboo tube?"
The three bamboo craftsmen were very surprised. They had never heard of anyone who would spend money to buy bamboo tubes.
Rich people can't use them, and the common people can make them themselves, so why spend money to buy them?
"Master, it's not others who want to buy them, but I want to use them myself. I will pay for them after you make them."
The bamboo craftsman listened and said seriously, "Why do you say that, Master? The Master has done countless good deeds for the villagers.
It is our duty to help the Master, how can we accept the Master's money?
No, absolutely not!"
Several villagers with skills in the village have gone to Chang'an City to work for wealthy families in the past. Their wages were replaced by equivalent grains. Compared with copper coins, the villagers chose grains.
For a day's work, they can get wages of about ten kilograms of grain, which is equivalent to about twenty coins.
Su Chen thought about it and smiled, "Okay. Here we go, masters.
You guys keep busy, I'll go somewhere else."
"Master, take care!"
After Su Chen left, the three bamboo craftsmen continued to work.
"Wang Xi, wait for those bamboo tubes.After they are done, you pay them 50 coins a day each. "
Su Chen knows that these villagers are simple and honest, so it is not convenient for them to argue too much. Just pay them when the time comes.
Wang Xi remembered it in his heart and bowed his hands in agreement.
After walking around the village, the two returned the same way.
...
One hour after lunch.
Prepare to set off for Chang'an City.
"Li Tai, come with me to move something." Su Chen saw that Princess Changle and the others were ready, so he asked Li Tai to move the cake to the study.
A five-layer cream cake is not easy to move.
Arriving in the study, Su Chen put away two maps and a lighter.
"Su Chen, what is this?" Li Tai asked about the cake now.
"Royal cake! No need to ask, you will know after returning to the palace.
Come on, be careful, this is fragile. "Su Chen gestured to Li Tai to hold the bottom edge and carry it.
The diameter of the cake was much larger than the common sixteen inches in later generations.
Su Chen seriously suspected that the packaging was large and the cake inside was small.
The diameter of the outer packaging of this cake was at least seventy centimeters, and the size of the cake inside could not be seen.
It was indeed a royal cake!
Su Chen and Li Tai carefully "lifted" the cake, slowly walked to the scene, and placed the cake in Princess Changle's carriage.
"Let's go, let's go! "Su Chen clapped his hands and shouted.
Su Chen, Princess Changle, Jin'er and three little ones rode in a carriage, while Li Tai and Li You rode horses.
Zhang Long and Zhao Zhao led the way, followed by a group of horseback guards.
A group of people marched towards Chang'an City in a mighty manner.
Princess Changle didn't know why Li Shimin summoned them back to the palace, so she didn't call her two best friends.
Su Chen would never think of calling Changsun Yao and Fang Jingyi.
Moreover, Su Chen had always ignored that Changsun Yao and Princess Changle were cousins.
If Su Chen could remember their relationship, he might have called Changsun Yao.
After all, it was her cousin's birthday.
"Su Chen, what is this?" Princess Changle pointed to the big paper box and asked.
"Hehe, there is an old lady in the palace celebrating her 50th birthday today, and I prepared this specially for her. "Su Chen smiled maliciously.
Su Chen deliberately said 50th birthday, which was exactly the opposite of Princess Changle's 15th birthday.
Princess Changle frowned and thought, muttering:
"Which wet nurse in the palace can make my father value it so much?
He actually called us all back to the palace. "
Since then, Princess Changle has not discovered that Su Chen falsely conveyed the imperial edict.
I really thought that Li Shimin called them all back to the palace to celebrate the birthday of a wet nurse in the palace.
...
P: The word "mammy" refers to elderly women in the Tang Dynasty, and later it is extended to mean wet nurse, which is not unique to the Qing Dynasty.