Chapter Seventy Magic (Middle)

  It is diamond.

  Not for decoration, but to cut glass. Glass technology is much more complicated than steelmaking technology, but now it doesn't seem so. Unconsciously, Song Jiu also felt that the steelmaking technology he had introduced was still somewhat imperfect, and didn't know where the problem lay. Was it the iron ore, or the temperature, or something else?

  Glass R&D doesn't need that much money, nor is it a big deal, and there's already some foundation, the rest is just a matter of time, it'll come out sooner or later. But without glass knives, it's troublesome. Can blow various utensils, can't blow square glass windows.

  Song Ji's father, Song De, left behind a fortune - his military identity. In terms of property, he was poor. If not for Song Ji arriving in time to rent out the house and manage the finances wisely without overspending, the original Song Ji would have been extravagant with money and unable to manage it well. Even with the help of his elder sister, they would have eventually sold the house to make a living. But because of Song Ji, their starting point was already too low, barely scraping by, not even reaching a level of moderate prosperity, only just enough to get by. Therefore, he had limited knowledge and experience, especially when it came to luxurious gemstones.

  In various shops, without glass counters, precious gems were all collected and only taken out for display when customers needed to see them. Song Jiu couldn't see them. So he found Yu Ping and asked her to take out the jewelry for him to look at, fearing that Yu Ping would misunderstand, he explained first.

  Yu Ping smiled and took them out, mostly gold, silver, jade utensils, some precious stones. Then Yu Ping said: "These accessories of mine have a bad origin, Jiulang doesn't need money now, when he needs money, I'll sell them and give the money to Jiulang."

  Song Jiu comforted him with a sentence: "You sell art, I sell talent, there's nothing wrong with that, don't be self-deprecating."

  She is a clean and honest person, only selling her art but not her body. It's slightly not very good, but relatively speaking, the money she earns is not dirty.

  In fact, Song Jiu did not despise those prostitutes who sold their bodies. Except for a few who were lazy and gluttonous, most of them were forced by life circumstances. Who would be willing to do this kind of thing if they had a choice?

  But no diamonds were seen.

  This was just a notice, it had been a long time, no news, Song Jiu worried about one thing, it had happened, very early on the Tianzhu people took it as a treasure, but in China there might not be a market, without a market there would not be merchants bringing it over, should they send someone to Tianzhu to search for it?

  Just as Song Jiu had some spare cash, he put up another notice, asking merchants for twenty times the price of the gemstone. If there was no news, the situation would not be optimistic.

  Only one and a half people know the truth, Yu Ping is half of it.

  Song Ji immediately asked Zhao Kuangyi for people, his twenty-one disciples helped the court with things, and the court was not wrong this time. Not only did they send a large number of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, but these students were also given some rewards, but they could not be transferred to other places. If you want to help, you can stay in the capital and assist in the manufacture of gunpowder. If you go to other places, you cannot pass it on. The disciples he chose are not bad in terms of talent, but they have only learned for a few months, and their foundation is still weak. Using them now would be like helping a sprout grow. Learning is their main task, if not, the court can send some officials over to teach again.

  This is the recovery of education. After leaving for so long, subjects such as mathematics and accounting were left to students to study on their own, with Dr. Zhang previously rushing to teach arithmetic but eventually giving up due to his own inadequacy. It's unclear how well the students have learned these subjects through self-study, especially since progress will be severely inconsistent. It's necessary to answer their questions, which will take at least three or four days to get them roughly in sync.

  Four painters left the house and three craftsmen came again. Anyway, the Song family has been getting busier during this period of time.

  By dusk, Big Sister and Seventh Sister, Yu Ping arrived one after another.

  Song Jiuxi was not at home, and after getting the money and silk, he immediately compensated the remaining people of Hezhou, and then got the land deed in his hands, only then could he feel at ease.

  It's okay, at this time the relocated households are not too resentful, Song Jiu has also done a good deed, you're happy and he's happy, there won't be any conflicts. The common people one by one received their compensation, overjoyed, some even didn't care about Song Jiu's promise to arrange jobs and housing for them in the future. Some of the villagers had over 100 taels of silver in hand, wanting to move into the city to live, leaving this poor place behind. This Song Jiu won't oppose it.

  Back home, Song let out a sigh of relief. The glass thing can wait, no need to rush, finally able to catch his breath.

  The elder sister sighed and said: "If it weren't for He Zhou, you would now have money when you want it, have an official position when you want one, and have a good reputation when you want one."

  It's just a fortune, the imperial court has rewarded more than 10,000 pieces of silk in front and back, in the capital city, it's not considered a wealthy family if you can't count as one, moreover, every month there are contract shares to be divided, and official salaries to be received. However, because of this riverbank, 10,000 bolts of silk returned home, immediately using up more than half of them, and later on who knows how much money will be used, elder sister doesn't dare to think about it.

  Song Jiuxiao burst out laughing: "Elder sister, if it weren't for He Zhou, do you think His Majesty's wealth would be inexhaustible? Could he have rewarded me with so much money and silk?"

  "What else can this money be used for?"

  "It's wrong, sister, with this money, what can be done? Without it, nothing can be done."

  "With this money, what can you do compared to those things in your paintings?"

  "Don't worry, someone will bring money soon."

  "Who?"

  "Don't talk nonsense outside, Shi family, Gao family."

  "Is Shi Shouxin's family?" The elder sister knew that Shi Shouxin prayed for blessings for himself, built temples and didn't pay the workers. This matter was quite big, you know that except for those in official service, generally when using common people, they would also give money, even some hard work could get 200-300 wen per day. Not to mention private individuals, not to mention building temples, and that temple was very large (later Sima Guang built a book due to its large size, and diverted part of the temple as a bookstore), spending unknown tens of thousands of guan, would they care about this little labor cost?

  But Song Jiu suspected that Shi Jingtang was intentionally discrediting himself, being greedy and embezzling the workers' wages, thus ruining his reputation. In this way, he would not pose a great threat to Zhao Kuangyin, although his reputation would be tarnished, but his family would be safe. This is similar in nature to Xiao He's self-discrediting. Whether or not this was true, only Shi Jingtang himself knew in his heart.

  "Sister, it started with just their two families, but later on, more people will be involved."

  "Why did they get involved?"

  "Making money, Your Majesty lets me operate it, those building management methods can't leave me, the land deeds are all in my hands, so I had to join the shares."

  "Alright then."

  In fact, many officials invested in stocks but it was still not enough. The entire investment cost was too high, calculated in millions of taels, and the amount of money invested would far exceed the promised taxes paid to the imperial court. However, fearing that his sister would worry, Song Jiuyi did not say anything.

  "What about their family's money?"

  "They've gone up to heaven, and their family has sent them off."

  "Talking nonsense again."

  "This is quick, in a few days you will see, elder sister, seventh sister, do you want to go up to heaven?"

  Big sister sighed and said: "I'd rather die."

  "That day was the only chance, you didn't want to go up but had to wait a few more years."

  Seventh sister asked: "Little Nine, why wait a few more years."

  "I'll take that thing apart, it's called hunger marketing, you won't understand even if I tell you, in simpler terms, it's just teasing your appetite."

  Song Jiu explained to Yu Ping in detail that later she would be an important housekeeper and would no longer receive guests, just enjoying the wealth of others. Cui Er couldn't help but say some complaining words, Song Jiu made it clear, and Yu Ping's servants would feel more at ease.

  Yu Ping wants to sell her jewelry, Song Jiu says no hurry, wait until the right time to sell, if sold, use the money to buy shares, not only as a boss's wife but also as a future shareholder, Cui Er is delighted. But with the rise of the shop, Yu Ping's good days will surely come too.

  "Xiao Jiu, can you really fly up to heaven?"

  "Things with Steel are more complicated than I thought, didn't expect it to drag on until December, otherwise you would have seen it a long time ago."

  "Will it fall down?"

  "There's a solid hanging blue underneath, you'll know in a few days, I said it but you won't understand. When the time comes, come with Seventh Brother-in-law, and don't forget Fifth Sister and Fifth Brother-in-law, even if Eldest Sister doesn't go."

  "Your wings have hardened!"

  "Don't hit me, Dad. You make a living with your strength, but I make a living with my brain. If my brain gets hurt, I won't be able to eat."

  This sentence struck a chord in the elder sister's heart. Song De had struggled for a lifetime, gone through many bloody battles, and exchanged some status, but this status was too hard-won, so he let his son abandon martial arts and focus on literature. Today, the younger brother finally made a name for himself, which is the most comforting thing for the elder sister.

  Song Jiu saw off several people and began to prepare.

  First of all, it's cowhide. We have to thank the first emperor of the Five Dynasties, Guo Wei, for this. If not for him, cowhide would still be a military material and ordinary people wouldn't be allowed to buy or sell it. After purchasing a large quantity of cowhide, they were compressed and thinned. Other types of leather could also work, but cowhide has the best elasticity and is the most suitable. In reality, some of the Song Dynasty's bans were not strictly enforced; otherwise, the exclusive management of cowhide would have been abolished, and ordinary people would not have been allowed to slaughter cows or buy cowhide. The court prohibited killing cows, but as long as you had money, you could always buy beef in the market. Who knows whether this beef was cut from normally deceased cows? Were Song Dynasty cows especially prone to death?

  It didn't take long, less than ten days, and Song Jiu got it almost done.

  Still need someone, Old Hu, call out to Old Hu: "Hu Xingtou, how big is your guts?"

  Old Hu forgot his performance in the imperial city and straightened up again, saying: "Little Nine, do you think I'm brave or not?"

  "I don't think so."

  "Xiao Jiu, speak directly, don't beat around the bush, I'm a straightforward person."

  "I'm asking you to do something that will absolutely guarantee your safety, but it requires a bit of courage. And you'll be the first person to pass through this village; if you want to do it again later, it'll cost at least 500 yuan."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Follow me up to heaven."

  "Really going all out, you go up and I'll dare to go up too."

  "But there's still one more thing, you have to jump down from the sky."