Chapter 26: Creeping Progress (I)
The coal was eventually dug up. The fourth and sixth brothers carried more than 30 kilograms of coal when they went down the mountain, but they could not walk halfway. Huo Chong gave them some coal, and the two of them carried more than 20 kilograms of coal, but they could not walk for a few miles.
In the end, there were only a dozen pounds of coal left in the baskets of the two men, but the baskets must have weighed seven or eight pounds. The two kids were so tired that their tongues were about to stick out when they reached Zhujia Village. Huo Chong could only use a wheelbarrow to push dozens of pounds of coal and the two kids back home.
When they got home, Huo Chong asked the two guys to stand up straight and said with a straight face, "The long journey is not important. Do you understand?"
The two kids looked ashamed and lowered their heads anxiously. Seeing their expressions, Huo Chong asked, "Do you know what it means to be unimportant on a long journey?"
Sure enough, the two kids didn't know what this sentence meant. Huo Chong called his junior brothers and sisters together, taught them these words, and explained the meaning of this sentence to them.
The fourth and sixth children had their own experience and learned quickly. Qian Qing knew how to write these words from the beginning and understood them quickly. The third child spent a lot of effort to learn, but could only imitate the shape of a few words crookedly.
Huo Chong was very busy in the next few days, but fortunately, after gaining some experience, his junior brothers were finally able to use their skills. For example, Huo Chong discussed with Liu the hunter about getting some leather, and his junior brothers could get the leather when they went there at the agreed time.
Leather needs to be nitrated before it can be used. If the protein in the leather is not converted by the nitration process, the leather will only be as hard as a wooden board. This kind of thing can't be used to make a blower, and it may even break if too much force is applied.
Among so many paid research projects, Huo Chong chose the most easily available tanning agent, tannin. This substance is contained in plants. The more bitter the plant, the more likely it is to contain a higher amount of tannin. However, to obtain tannin, you need an extractant such as ether. Huo Chong did not have these chemical raw materials on hand, so he could only use a more wasteful method, using alcohol to extract.
This operation dazzled the junior brothers and sisters. When the smell of alcohol in the pot of boiling tannin dissipated, leaving only some yellow-brown paste, only Huo Chong breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn't care about the leg hair or anything like that, I just soaked the hide for a few days, and then pressed it with a wooden stick, and the scarred hide finally became soft.
With the blower and the iron pipes made by the blacksmith, the furnace made of small stones and clay could finally be tried out.
The fellow apprentices took turns blowing air, and under the wind pressure, flames gushed out of the furnace's fire outlet. Huo Chong tried more than a dozen times, and finally softened the iron to the stage where it could be deformed by hitting it with a hammer.
Huo Chong was not in a hurry now. How to make tools belonged to mechanical processing, and Huo Chong had never touched this part. He had to design it well. Otherwise, Huo Chong's efforts would only be in vain.
More importantly, half of the hundred pounds of coal had been used. If there had been no advance design, the tool would have run out of energy after being knocked halfway.
On May 1, Huo Chong and his fellow apprentices were just about to start making something special when there was a knock on the door. When they opened the door, it turned out to be Liu Laowu.
Huo Chong's face immediately fell. Among those who openly opposed Huo Chong was Liu Laowu. The two had not met since then. After a while, Liu Laowu had not come to make trouble. I'm afraid that Liu Laowu's visit this time will not be good.
Seeing Huo Chong's expression, Liu Laowu asked with a fake smile: "Brother Huo, you won't let me in?"
Huo Chong also felt that he couldn't block Liu Laowu outside the door, so he had to invite him in. After sitting down, Liu Laowu looked around for a while before saying, "Brother Huo, when will Uncle Liu come back?"
"I don't know." Huo Chong retorted unhappily.
"Since Uncle Liu isn't coming back, I have to talk to Brother Huo about this. You let Zhu Youquan rob the house last time, and I guess all the money in the house was taken away by Zhu Youquan."
"What do you mean?" Huo Chong became more alert.
"Brother Huo, if I ask you for money, you will definitely do as Uncle Liu said and follow the rules. I won't force you to pay. So, take ten taels of silver and put it on the table. I will leave after I see it."
"Haha!" Huo Chong sneered. Although he was indeed struck by Liu Laowu's words, Huo Chong knew that he could not give in at all at this time. Once he gave in, the whole thing would collapse immediately. The collapse of many financial institutions was like a dam bursting, and the first one was just an ant nest.
No financial institution has ever put all its money in the vault for depositors to use . The better the operation of a financial institution, the higher the efficiency of capital circulation. This means that except for the reserves required by the financial management department, all other funds are released.
Finance is a confidence industry. When investors demand to redeem their funds, a run on the bank is bound to occur. Even a tiny hole in the flood of bank runs is enough to destroy the entire capital chain.
Once the capital chain is broken, unless there is financial support from a stronger sector, the probability of a financial institution collapsing is 100%. There is absolutely no chance of survival.
Since he knew this inevitable fate, Huo Chong sneered, "Haha, Fifth Brother. Rules are rules. Without rules, there will be no order. My master will not break the rules, and neither will I. I will naturally give you the money at the end of the year. You go back and wait."
Liu Laowu laughed after hearing this, then stood up and said, "Brother Huo, what you said is too harsh. Aren't you afraid of angering the public?"
After saying that, Liu Laowu walked away.
Huo Chong walked to the door angrily, and his fellow apprentices gathered around. The third apprentice said anxiously, "Big Brother, we really don't have any money."
Huo Chong turned his head and glared at his third apprentice brother, then said coldly: "I told you not to even mention such things. If someone asks, just tell them to follow the rules!"
"Yes." The third junior brother lowered his head under Huo Chong's gaze.
Huo Chong knew very well that in this remote place, even if he wanted to sell everything, no one would buy it. Moreover, Huo Chong really didn't even have a pot at this time. Xu Youlin said that he would come back on July 15th. Now it was only the first day of May, and Huo Chong had to find a way to survive two months and fifteen days.
"Keep working!" Huo Chong ordered. Since they had no choice but to endure, they had to proceed step by step.
The next morning, someone knocked on the door. Standing at the door were several villagers from Liujia Village. Before Huo Chong could speak, the leader shouted, "We are here to ask for money."
Huo Chong knew that this must be Liu Laowu's plan. But he had to deal with this matter, so he invited the villagers to come in and sit down. Unexpectedly, these people immediately started shouting, "No, why are you going in! Huo Chong, give us our money back! We don't want to grow money for good fortune!"
The so-called "planting money for good fortune" is a traditional way of collecting money for Tianlijiao. Tianlijiao is actually a branch of the White Lotus Sect. Whether it is explained by the Eight Diagrams or the Nine Palaces as a gimmick, its root is nothing more than the "Mother of No Birth, Vacuum Homeland". As a hereditary missionary family's tradition of collecting money, those who join the sect need to pay the foundation money, also called "planting money for good fortune".
If you pay the money, you will naturally be blessed by the Mother of No Birth while you are alive, and you will be eligible to live happily in the Vacuum Home after you die and enter the Vacuum Home for a peaceful sleep.
Huo Chong used to think that these two names were really interesting to modern people. However, looking at these villagers who were asking for the money they had earned from planting blessings, Huo Chong just felt that they were facing a storm that could swallow them up at any time.
