diymy Chapter 56 Lu Bu Makes His Move
Chapter 56 Lu Bu Makes His Move
Watching Lü Bu's figure disappear.
Lu Ping only pondered for a moment before coming to his senses.
He shook his head slightly, deciding to ignore his eldest son for now. After all, with Cheng Lian by his side, he figured that even if Lü Bu was stupid, he wouldn't do anything foolish.
Lu Ping bent down, picked up the raccoon dog that had just escaped and was now lingering at his feet, and held it in his arms.
A person and a cat walked into the courtyard.
Gazing at the craftsman stirring a half-open wooden bucket with a long stick in the courtyard, Lü Ping endured the pungent smell and curiously approached.
"Old Zhao, how's the fermentation process going? How many more days will it take?"
Five craftsmen were sent over by the appraisal office.
The one leading the group was the old man that Lü Ping was now asking.
Old Zhao, in his sixties, has been a paper-making craftsman for over twenty years. Originally from Changshan Kingdom, he fled during a famine a few years ago, eventually arriving in Jiuyuan City, where he was recruited by a small aristocratic family.
These days, craftsmen with a special skill are highly sought after, let alone craftsmen who can make Cai Lun paper; they are practically a small gold mine that can continuously make money.
Without Shen Pei, no matter how much money Lü Ping offered, it would be unlikely that he could snatch these four or five craftsmen from those small aristocratic families.
The elderly man surnamed Zhao, who was stirring the bark and bamboo with a long stick and looked quite serious, finally looked up and saw that his new employer was asking a question. He quickly explained.
He was afraid that Lu Ping would think he was not good enough and did not deserve the wages he was going to pay.
You should know... when Shen Pei recruited him, he immediately gave him a large sum of money and promised him three times the original salary, plus room and board.
Therefore, since they arrived, the old man and the craftsmen have all been very proactive in their work. They couldn't let anyone down, especially not the money.
"It should be ready in another two or three days."
"If it were spring or winter, the fermentation process alone would probably take more than ten days. Fortunately, it is now summer and the weather will soon become hot, so it will be much faster."
That's all.
Seeing that Lü Ping's thick eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he was somewhat dissatisfied with the time, the old man added repeatedly.
"Once the fermentation process is complete, we can proceed with steaming and degumming, pounding and beating the pulp, and then papermaking. The subsequent processes are all very quick!"
"It only takes three or four days in total!"
"I just don't know if, as you said, adding some bamboo, peeling off the outer layer of tree bark, and adding more wood ash in the subsequent processes would make the paper even better."
As he spoke, the old man also began to have doubts.
Although we've only known each other for a few days, this new employer is quite strange. He often comes up with various ideas to improve Cai Lun's paper.
He's been making Cai Lun paper for decades; he could make it with his eyes closed. He knows everything about it. The current process has been perfected many times and is now of the highest quality.
And this new employer actually wants to make improvements. Is improvement so easy to do?
"It will definitely be better, but the effect may not be as obvious due to the proportions." Hearing the old man's doubts, Lü Ping was quite confident.
"Don't rush. Try it a few more times, make some adjustments, and record the proportions each time. Mark the paper produced at each proportion. It won't take many tries before you can make the most suitable paper, and that proportion will be the best."
What ratio, what adjustment, and what markings?
This bunch of strange words sounded quite complicated. Even though Old Zhao was over sixty and had seen a lot, he couldn't quite understand them at first. However, thanks to his experience, he was able to vaguely understand a little bit of it.
He just nodded repeatedly.
Lu Ping held the cat and circled the wooden barrel again and again.
Seeing that Lü Ping had nothing to say for the moment, the craftsmen behind Zhao Lao exchanged glances and tugged at Zhao Lao's clothes.
Old Zhao immediately realized what was happening. He hesitated for a moment, but then mustered his courage and looked at Lü Ping.
"By the way, boss."
"We're new here, so we don't know how often we get paid."
Upon hearing this...
Lu Ping, who had been observing the bark retting process with great interest, suddenly tightened his grip, causing the pure white raccoon to growl in dissatisfaction.
He looked up in astonishment at the group of craftsmen.
"etc."
"You still need wages?!"
"Didn't Shen Zhengnan send it to you?"
Seeing Lü Ping's reaction, the group of craftsmen looked at each other in bewilderment. Old Zhao, steeling himself, stepped forward again.
"Shen Langjun said you would send it to us."
"We are all skilled craftsmen. Normally, our monthly wages should be around 1,200 coins. But when Master Shen recruited us, he tripled the amount, so each of us should have earned 3,600 coins."
"If the five of them work together, they should earn 18,050 baht a month."
"It's not that we don't trust our employer, we just want to ask about their practices and when they plan to pay wages each month."
In a month, the wages alone amount to 18,000 coins! If you add in the raw materials and other expenses, it'll easily reach over 20,000 coins!
It should be noted that Lü Ping's monthly salary was exceptionally high, given by Wang Yun according to the standard of 600 shi for officials. Even so, his monthly salary was only 3,500 coins, with a maximum of 21 hu of rice added to it.
In other words.
Based on his current salary, Lü Ping could barely cover the cost of materials if he worked in the government office for a month, and he would still owe the craftsmen more than 20,000 coins!
Not to mention, after supporting a large group of wandering knights and losing the gray income from Shimen Ferry, his savings were long gone.
He used the money and goods that the minor officials had given him a few days ago to buy some raw materials and then went to Yichunlou, the largest brothel in Jiuyuan City, to host a banquet for a group of wandering knights.
Where would any be left?
He watched as these craftsmen, who had previously worked so meticulously and diligently for some unknown reason, now stared at him expectantly, awaiting his reply.
Lu Ping suddenly felt quite dizzy.
He felt a strong urge to escape.
......
Just as Lü Ping was racking his brains, thinking about how to increase revenue.
Outside Jiuyuan City.
As soldiers from numerous cities and counties gathered in Jiuyuan City, Wang Yun had a camp built outside the city early on to accommodate these soldiers.
As the population gathers, the population becomes increasingly dense.
Near the camp, there were also many villagers who came to work or sell goods.
at this time.
It was just outside this camp.
Lu Bu threw a punch!
Bang!
A soldier from another prefecture, who had just tried to pilfer some goods from an old man carrying a load of goods by taking advantage of his status, was thrown out and fell to the ground.
The soldier managed to straighten up, coughing repeatedly.
The somewhat familiar-looking old man recognized Lü Bu, but after a moment of surprise, his face lit up with joy.
Lu Bu, who had just thrown a punch, did not notice the old man's expression; he looked unusually relaxed!