Chapter 27: Phoenix Mountain Valley

  Liu Ze sat in the carriage, his eyes never leaving that teahouse. Meeting Zhang Jue here was indeed an unexpected event. The blue sky has died, and the yellow sky should rise; it's the year of Jiazi, a great auspiciousness for the world. It seems that Zhang Jue has decided to launch the rebellion on the day of Jiazi in the year of Jiazi. The course of history will not change because of his arrival. But looking at Zhang Jue's almost weak appearance, he could do such earth-shaking things, a massive Yellow Turban Rebellion with hundreds of millions of people gathered, heavily striking the tottering Eastern Han Dynasty and directly leading to its downfall.

  It's just that Zhang Jiao was born in the wrong era. If he were born at the end of the Qin dynasty and the beginning of the Han dynasty, he might have become another Liu Bang. Or if he were born at the end of the Yuan dynasty and the beginning of the Ming dynasty, or at the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, he would have had a chance to succeed and become another Zhu Yuanzhang or Li Zicheng. But on the stage of the late Han dynasty, the leading roles were destined for Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. Zhang Jiao was at most just an extra. Giving a supporting role to an extra, Liu Ze didn't even think about it before immediately refusing.

  "Big brother, what's going on with those people? I've never seen you look so serious?" Zhang Fei asked, looking at Liu Ze's unpleasant expression.

  "This man, surnamed Zhang and named Jiao, established the Taiping Dao, using talismans and spells to deceive people. In just a few short years, he has already gathered tens of millions of followers, with his influence extending throughout the nine provinces. I believe that within three to five years, he will surely plot a rebellion."

  "Rebellion is a capital offense, that Zhang Jue has big guts. Big brother, if we report to the authorities, there will be a huge reward."

  Liu Ze shook his head and said, "Such a thing of informing on others is the behavior of a petty and treacherous person. We absolutely cannot do it. Moreover, there is no evidence to support this claim, and it would only lead to us being accused of making false accusations. However, Zhang Jiao is not a man who can accomplish great things. Although he can stir up great chaos in the world, wanting to overthrow the Han dynasty is nothing but a foolish dream."

  All the way north, out of Julu, rushing to Zhongshan, straight to Shangquyang County. During the Han Dynasty, there were two Quyang counties, one was Xiaquyang, in modern Jinzhou, east of Shijiazhuang, where Zhang Liang, Zhang Jiao's brother, later died in battle. The other is Shangquyang, in Quyang, west of Dingxian, which is the location of the Ding Kiln ruins that Liu Ze was looking for.

  Liu Ze checked the young people he had bought and found that there were more than 1,600 of them. There were over 1,400 boys and less than 200 girls. It seemed that Zhang Fei and Guan Yu had strictly followed the ratio set by Liu Ze. Most of the children were around 11 or 12 years old. After exploring the terrain near Quyang Magnetic Spring, Liu Ze discovered a mountain called Fenghuang Mountain about ten miles north of the spring. The mountain was desolate and uninhabited, with a valley in the middle that was extremely spacious and flat. The surrounding cliffs were steep and the forest was lush, with clear and refreshing springs. It was an ideal place.

  After the address was determined, we had to establish a good relationship with the local parents' officials. After all, so many people were stationed here, and without the official's consent, there would definitely be trouble. To put it mildly, it was a gathering of refugees who would cause trouble, and to put it severely, they would form gangs and plot rebellion. Liu Ze immediately rushed to Quyang County to visit the magistrate of Quyang County.

  The magistrate of Quyang County, surnamed Cheng, was a native of Youzhou Yuyang. It is not known whether he saw the letter from Liu Ze that mentioned his being a disciple under Lu Zhi, the governor of Lujiang, or if it was because Liu Ze was a fellow townsman, or perhaps it was the long list of gifts presented by Liu Ze that moved his heart, for on that list were ten bolts of Shu brocade and a pair of white jade tablets.

  The county magistrate immediately met with Liu Ze and readily agreed to his request to build several new kilns near Cigang Village. He also nodded in agreement when Liu Ze asked to settle hundreds of child workers (Liu Ze had underreported the number by half) in Fenghuang Valley, although he made it clear that the head tax could not be waived.

  Then they led the crowd into Fenghuang Mountain, and in a wide and flat place in the valley, dozens of tents were set up. The inside of the tent was covered with soft grass mats, which could be used for sleeping on the ground, and finally settled down more than a thousand people.

  Having solved the problem of accommodation, the next thing to consider was food. In the Han Dynasty, unlike modern times, people did not eat three meals a day, but instead adopted a two-meal system: eating in the morning after sunrise, known as "chao shi", and eating in the afternoon at noon, known as "wu shi". Liu Ze understood that these young boys were pale and thin due to malnutrition, which would hinder their ability to undergo intense training. Therefore, he changed the two-meal system to a three-meal system, stipulating that breakfast be eaten at 6:00 am (3rd watch), lunch at 12:00 pm (3rd watch), and dinner at 6:00 pm (3rd watch). Liu Ze also personally formulated a menu for each meal. Breakfast consisted of goat's milk (since there was not enough cow's milk available, but the mountain people raised many goats, so goat's milk was plentiful), thin porridge, pickled vegetables, and steamed buns. Lunch included two dishes and one soup, with both meat and vegetarian options, using pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, and fish in rotation, with rice or noodles as the staple food. Dinner consisted of one meat dish and one vegetable dish, accompanied by steamed buns. Every meal had a balance of meat and vegetables, and no dishes were repeated within seven days. All ingredients were purchased from nearby villages and Quyang County, and Liu Ze even invited over ten chefs to cook, with the sole purpose of ensuring that these children ate well and were full.

  Liu Ze specially invited a tailor to take measurements and make clothes for each of them, a set of black uniforms with narrow sleeves and tight-fitting, neat and uniform.

  Zhang Fei watched as the money flowed out like water, but he really didn't understand what Liu Ze was doing. Especially when it came to eating, they had changed to three meals a day, with food so abundant that even wealthy landlords couldn't compare. Every time, Zhang Fei couldn't help but ask Liu Ze, who just smiled and said nothing.

  Next, Liu Ze formulated a detailed training outline, taking into account the physical condition of these young people at this stage, that is, to conduct some physical strengthening exercises and basic martial arts, with not too high intensity. However, this is only temporary, and Liu Ze believes that after three months or half a year, this training plan will be adjusted. Liu Ze also hired several teachers and martial arts instructors from the county town at a high salary, and as for the position of head teacher, Liu Ze entrusted it to Guan Hai. Guan Hai had once occupied the mountain as king, leading hundreds of people and horses, and entrusting these thousands of young people to Guan Hai's management, believing that he would definitely be able to handle it.

  He said to Guan Hai, "Among these thousands of young people, the good and the bad are mixed together. In our first stage of training for new recruits, the focus is on selection, using everything to its fullest potential, and bringing out the best in everyone. From now on, you will be fully responsible for everything in this camp. Three months later, I will come personally to inspect."

  Guan Hai naturally agreed, without saying a word. Liu Ze really liked Guan Hai more and more, loyal, down-to-earth, diligent and hardworking, every task you entrusted to him would be done with care, never uttering a second opinion, more importantly, he would ask when he should ask, and not ask when he shouldn't, such a straightforward and honest person was truly rare.

  The Fenghuangshan camp had been busy for nearly half a month before things finally got underway. Looking at the neat and uniform queue of people doing morning exercises, Liu Ze temporarily let out a sigh of relief, and he began to prepare for building the kiln factory.

  The history of Quyang ceramics can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, by the Han Dynasty, it had a relatively large scale, and could produce high-quality white porcelain and black porcelain. However, at that time, most of the porcelain was not glazed properly, with uneven color, thin glaze layer, and unattractive shape. It wasn't until the Song Dynasty that Ding Kiln was listed as an official kiln, becoming one of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, producing white porcelain that was renowned throughout the country. As a Yuan poet wrote: "The flower-patterned porcelain vase from Dingzhou is white all over the world", which can be seen as a testament to its fame.

  Liu Ze easily found several kilns producing white porcelain in Cizhen Village and purchased them at a high price. At that time, the Cizhen kiln was just a civilian kiln, burning ordinary household utensils such as bowls, plates, saucers, etc., due to the general quality, the sales route was not very good. Liu Ze's acquisition was naturally unimpeded, and the price he offered made the kiln owners have no reason to refuse. As for the craftsmen, Liu Ze offered double the price, but no one was willing to leave, and many ceramic masters from other places jumped to join him.

  The kiln was settled, and Liu Ze decided to abandon the Han Dynasty's porcelain-making techniques, even skipping the Tang and Song Dynasties, and directly imitating the Yuan Qinghua. After all, that Yuan Qinghua vase that sold for two tons of gold had left a deep impression on him. Technically, there was no problem, as Liu Ze had worked in a porcelain factory in his previous life, which produced imitation ancient porcelain, selling well in European and American markets. The porcelain factory was located in Jingdezhen, specializing in the production of Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties' Qinghua porcelain, Fencai, Linglong, and colored glazes, using imitation techniques. Although the produced porcelain could not be called antiques but only artworks, its body was white, delicate, glossy, and lustrous, with deep blue and green colors that seemed to drip, completely reaching the level of being mistaken for real. Liu Ze also had a good understanding of kiln construction and firing processes, and even if there were any difficulties, he still had his omnipotent supercomputer, right? Liu Ze was full of confidence, ready to make a big move.

  But then came the problem, the kilns of the Han Dynasty used wood charcoal, but the energy of wood charcoal was limited and could not provide the high temperature needed to fire blue and white porcelain, while building a kiln had to use refractory bricks that could withstand high temperatures. To fire refractory bricks and blue and white porcelain, one thing is essential - coal.

  The discovery and utilization of coal in ancient China were not proportional. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people had already discovered coal, which was clearly recorded in the "Shan Hai Jing" as "stone ink", "the mountain where the female Ying lives, its sunny side is rich in red copper, its shady side is rich in stone ink". During the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was called "stone ink", but it seems that large-scale application of coal for iron smelting, ceramics firing, and heating did not occur until after the Song and Yuan dynasties, or even during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi's poem "The Charcoal Seller" was a true record of the time, where the imperial palace used wood charcoal for heating, which was also considered a luxury item at that time, only affordable by the nobility, while ordinary people could only chop firewood to cook and keep warm.

  Liu Ze has always been puzzled, China discovered coal thousands of years ago, and it's so economical and cost-effective, but instead of using this high-value coal, people go to great lengths to chop firewood in the mountains, cutting down good forests and getting a pile of low-calorie firewood that produces thick smoke and seriously pollutes the environment... thinking of smokeless coal, Liu Ze naturally thought of Yangquan, which is China's most famous smokeless coal production base. In the Han Dynasty, Yangquan was called Shang'ai County, under the jurisdiction of Jizhou Changshan State, less than 200 miles from Quyang.

  All right, now everything is ready, only coal is missing. Isn't it just digging coal? Done! Liu Ze put down his work and handed over the training camp to Guan Hai, taking Zhang Fei and dozens of partners to rush to Shang Ai immediately.