Chapter 421 – Rebuilding Xiangyang County (V)
“The little match girl selling daughters”: Here’s an excerpt from Baidu; the “tuóguā” (blowing furnace tool) is a device used for fanning flames. There’s a line in Tao Te Ching that says: ‘Between Heaven and Earth, isn’t it just like a tuóguā? It’s empty but doesn’t collapse, moving but more vigorous in its output.’ Back in the Han dynasty, images of tuóguā were excavated; it consists of three wooden rings and two round plates, wrapped in leather. The principle is similar to a bellows, but probably less efficient; if it were better, the old man wouldn’t have responded the way he did.
“The little match girl selling daughters”: According to my search, the double-action piston bellows is the most important invention in wind-fanning technology for Huaguo. It’s definitely superior to the tuóguā!
If only Jiang Pengji was tackling this alone, it might take her a long time, but with the audience pooling their ideas in the live stream, the difficulty diminished significantly.
Double-action piston bellows?
Jiang Pengji fell into deep thought.
What emerged in her mind wasn’t a bellows at all but the course content of her mechanical foundations class.
If the bellows evolved from the tuóguā, there should be some commonality between the two.
She asked the old man if there was a tuóguā in the workshop, then studied the tuóguā thoroughly under the bewildered gaze of the old man.
“Hmm—I think I might have an idea… This should increase the temperature in the kiln, making it suitable for brick firing.”
Upon seeing her sit on the ground with a new piece of bamboo paper, sketching with charcoal, the old man’s composed expression shattered in an instant—who would’ve thought you were such an unorthodox county magistrate! Instead of focusing on your duties, you’re messing around with some clever tricks?
The audience in the live stream chimed in, saying, “Hey host, why aren’t you out there conquering the world instead of tinkering with inventions!”
“Host, if you continue to steal people’s jobs, the Mozi master will come crying to you, believe it or not!”
Meanwhile, as Jiang Pengji was fiddling with her so-called “clever tricks,” her subordinates were already going crazy with work.
Luo Yue was patrolling with five hundred Imperial Guards, diligently keeping an eye on both external threats and the internal security of the city.
It turns out Jiang Pengji had foresight; Luo Yue caught four or five kidnappers trying to snatch children or force purchases, initially maintaining a calm composure, allowing the law to beat them and fine them.
But eventually, he directly imprisoned them in the county jail. If it weren’t for someone stopping him, he might’ve drawn his sword to chop them up!
Damn it, can’t they see everyone is busy beyond belief, as if their feet barely touch the ground?
And yet, there are still clueless fools crashing into them, adding to the workload!
Exhausted from overtime, Luo Yue declared that any petty scoundrel disturbing county peace should damn well perish!
In fact, Luo Yue’s situation was still manageable; his other colleagues were in even worse conditions.
Qi Guanrang, who typically avoids being the sharpest tool, realized that registering households was no small matter and had to take it seriously.
Counting six to seven thousand common people, every single one needed to be recorded—how long would that take him?
After two days of chaos, he could barely hold his composure, nearly roaring at Jiang Pengji.
“Need people! Need people! Need people!”
He repeated the important things three times.
But right now, nine out of ten people can’t read, let alone write. Where the heck was he supposed to find someone literate?
Qi Guanrang’s eyes were bloodshot, veins popping, entirely losing his composure.
“I don’t care! You need to get me people, or I’ll die in front of you!”
Jiang Pengji dared not guess how far this guy had reached in his quest for immortality.
To avoid driving Qi Guanrang insane, Jiang Pengji had to come up with a solution.
Perhaps heaven was on her side; she caught sight of Ta Xue serving her tea and had a bright idea.
“Someone’s here!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“Who?”
Jiang Pengji replied, “Aren’t there quite a few ladies living in the back courtyard? They were all of respectable origins. If it weren’t for the Green Garment Army plundering, they wouldn’t have ended up in their current state. They may not be particularly skilled, but I believe they can write. Why not hire a few as clerks to help with the registration?”
Qi Guanrang scrunched his brows tightly, “That’s fine.”
Those women were all from prominent families in Xiangyang County before their calamity.
As the saying goes, “Raise boys in poverty, girls in wealth,” each of them could read, so helping with household registration wouldn’t be a problem.
But still, they needed to consult them first.
Fortunately, Xiangyang County, located north of Dongqing, hadn’t been influenced by the neighboring Zhong Zhao, so it wasn’t considered unusual for women to show their faces.
Upon hearing this, the ladies exchanged glances.
After some hesitation, nine agreed to help, while the others thought it too strenuous or beneath them to interact with common folks.
Qi Guanrang couldn’t be bothered to express anything about their thoughts.
He had them prepare male clothing for these nine women and roughen up their faces a bit before dragging them off.
Just as Jiang Pengji thought she could finally take a breather, Feng Jin showed up quietly, not saying a word but simply looking at her.
She felt a bit guilty, “Have you finished with Huai Yu?”
Feng Jin, sporting heavy eye bags from not sleeping for several days, looked a bit worn out.
“I haven’t seen Changsheng and Jingxian in three days.”
He was so busy he couldn’t even spare time for his wife and daughter; doesn’t that hit hard, my lord?
Jiang Pengji innocently said, “I’ve got no one left here.”
“If there’s crying, fussing, or even hanging oneself. My lord, I don’t want to create a scene like Wen Zheng.”
Feng Jin spoke softly, making the audience in the live stream ache for him, relentlessly berating Jiang Pengji for being such a miser!
“[Old Driver Alliance]: Look at you, host, what kind of sin have you committed!”
“[Military Fanatic]: A good scion of a noble family, forced to say ‘crying, fussing, or even hanging oneself,’ such a tragedy!”
“[Cold Rain Pine]: No more talk, host, can you bear to see Feng Jin hanging like a noodle in front of you?”
“[Drifting Sheep]: Aren’t there still about ten women in the county back courtyard? Ask them! They can all read and write; can you really bear to see them freeloading, doing nothing? That’s precious food, not something that falls from the sky! You can’t afford to ignore this! Use coercion and inducement, they absolutely must work! If they refuse, it’ll be your strategist on their knees!”
Feng Jin softly said, “Yesterday, Jingxian sent word through someone, saying Changsheng misses her father…”
Jiang Pengji held her breath for a moment, “I’ll give it a try…”
After sending Feng Jin off, she hadn’t even caught her breath before hearing that Meng Hunyun was coming.
“There’s really no one here! You can check the back courtyard if you don’t believe me!”
Meng Hunyun looked perplexed, “What do you mean, there’s no one in the back courtyard?”
Jiang Pengji cleared her throat, “It’s nothing!”
Meng Hunyun then began to report on the progress of the work from the past two days.
If one talked about hardship, Meng Hunyun had been running around like a headless chicken these past few days.
He was barely getting an hour of sleep each day, eating on the go while hurrying.
Yet he was too honest and straightforward, working tirelessly without uttering a word about how tough it was.
After reporting, he returned to his post to continue fighting.
Jiang Pengji let out a long sigh of relief.
She nibbled on some dry bread to tide her over, asked Ta Xue to bring her a basin of water to wash her feet, and bent down to pick at the blisters on her feet.
Her wooden sandals were easily damaged, and the straw sandals hurt her feet; she’d been climbing up and down for days and was exhausted.
At that moment, she received word that Xu Ke had arrived.
Jiang Pengji: “…”
Not just her, but the audience was also rolling in laughter, saying she was reaping what she sowed.
“[Drunkenly Slashing the White Snake Soup]: A scummy host, exploiting her employees, finally getting what she deserves!”
