Chapter 264

From King Yan’s words, Xu Ran knew that the living standards of some nearby villages were quite high. Honeycomb briquette should sell well in these places.

Xu Ran thus discussed with King Yan about this idea and drew circles in these places on the map.

After that, Xu Ran talked with King Yan about finding a place to make honeycomb briquette.

The place was so-called honeycomb briquetteyard, named by Xu Ran. As King Yan had no objection to this, they both called it that way from then on.

Honeycomb briquetteyard needed to be built on a huge place. There was no need to build a house. What they needed to do was just to make a tin shack, so that they could save a lot of things, and more importantly, they could save money in this way.

Location and manpower were not a problem, either. The current problem for them was how to get the iron sheet.

King Yan raised this question, and Xu Ran thought about it seriously. Iron of this era was forged by repeated hammering. Thus Xu Ran believed that since the people here could hammer the iron blocks into sharp knives, it should be no problem for them to forge the whole piece of iron!

The reason why Xu Ran thought this way was because compared to other things, iron could be preserved for a longer time. The other was that the rows of tin shacks should be built in a relatively empty place.

Of course, he didn’t say what he thought.

Actually, Yanzhou was not lacking in iron. King Yan also mentioned a secret that shocked Xu Ran, “In Yanzhou Prefecture the weapons in the hands of 50000 soldiers as well as the armor they wear are all made by our own  blacksmiths. Even the iron used to forge them all comes from Yanzhou Prefecture.”

Xu Ran was quite surprised to hear this. Just as he was about to say something, he heard King Yan add, “Not only that, in Yanzhou Prefecture, they also dig out a lot of coal. The things you took from the mansion were dug out from the mountain over there.”

Hearing waht King Yan said, Xu Ran had some doubt in his heart. He thus  asked, “Aren’t these things rare? You will make a lot of money by selling them, won’t you? Why don’t you exploit them? Even if the emperor does not allow you to sell them, you can do it quietly! Isn’t it OK to cast something else out of iron? ”

King Yan shook his head, “No. This kind of things may be done somewhere else, yet it’s absolutely impossible in Yanzhou Prefecture . As long as there is a slight movement in Yanzhou, the emperor will know everything about it. I don’t want to cause trouble for myself. Besides, I’ll keep the iron and coal for future use, and I’m reluctant to sell them. ”

Xu Ran understood King Yan’s situation. He asked King Yan, “You said that you will keep them for future usage. What will you use them for, may I ask?”

King Yan smiled mysteriously and then replied, “Aren’t we using these resources right now? With these things, isn’t it much easier for you to do what you want to do? ”

Xu Ran frowned. He was clear that King Yan didn’t tell the truth. After all, he had just been here this year for about two months. He estimated that these coal and iron mines in Yanzhou Prefecture must have been discovered for a long time. For the usage of these resources, the King Yan must have other arrangements. At the moment, he didn’t want to talk much about it, and Xu Ran certainly would not ask much.

Xu Ran said to King Yan, “In that case, Your Highness, it’s up to you to decide. When the time comes, you’ll put those people together. I’ll then come and train them. Even if they are beggars, I can train them well. ”

King Yan nodded satisfactorily after hearing that. He was obviously happy for Xu Ran’s work.

Xu Ran did not seem to mind the work he had to do.He knew there were things that did not need to be tucked away.Now that he had promised King Yan from the start, he would naturally have to put his best foot forward, not just in language.

What’s more, this was something he was happy to see that what he did could help improve the lives of the people in Yanzhou.

Xu Ran understood this truth–Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. And the people in Yanzhou were the water.

……

The lunch was prepared by Liu Tong, and Xiao Qingyun, who had never been to the kitchen before, also followed for fun. He was not Qin Shuwen, anyway, so he had no idea of learning cooking.

Liu Tong couldn’t cook too complicated dishes. What he had prepared was just simple home-made food. What Xu Ran and the family had daily were only hotpot or noodles, so they enjoyed whatever was available

King Yan and the rest were even more satisfied. Although the chef of King Yan’s mansion was good at cooking, this meal was very different to them. It was prepared by Liu Tong.

Yan Lan and Yan Hao completely felt that the food today was delicious. As for who made it, it was not within their consideration. What they cared was only that they could have nice food to eat.

Baozi liked Yan Hao and Yan Lan very much. This was more or less because of their blood relationship. There was no doubt a sense of closeness among these three brothers. Thus after dinner, when Xu Ran suggested to go home, Baozi was not happy. Because he knew that he didn’t have any company to play with when he went home, and his house was not big enough for him to play at will.

Xu Ran had to let him be. At the same time, he also left Tangtang and Guoguo behind. He let Lu Qi give them advice. And he asked them to talk with King Yan about their plan of going to the military camp.

Originally, Xu Ran planned to talk with King Yan about this matter himself, but Guoguo insisted on telling him himself. Xu Ran agreed to let him manage his own business. Anyway, he knew this was an exercise for the children.

As the younger brother had already said so, Tangtang, as an elder brother, could not show the slightest timidity. Thus this became a matter for the two brothers.

On the way back, Liu Tong asked Xu Ran, “Ran, do Tangtang and Guoguo have something to discuss with Brother since they stay in the mansion?”

Xu Ran nodded. “Yes, they have. Do you still remember I used to tell you that Tangtang and Guoguo wanted to go to the military camp last year? It is this matter. They have decided to talk about it themselves, and I agree to let them manage their own business.”

Liu Tong was a little worried about this. He frowned and then asked, “Will my brother agree with them?”

Xu Ran didn’t mind that Gao Quan and the rest were still behind them. He reached out to smooth Liu Tong’s eyebrows and said to him, “Of course, he will agree. Even if he doesn’t agree, Tangtang and Guoguo will persuade him. As long as these two children think they are right, they will try their best to achieve it.”

Liu Tong was relieved to hear that. He was afraid that King Yan would not agree with the children and then his children would be upset.

However, putting down this worry, Liu Tong began to worry about what would happen after Tangtang and Guoguo went to the military camp.

Liu Tong recalled that Ran had indeed told him about it back then, and he had also nodded his approval. He knew that it was useless to worry about it now.

Maybe it was because of these worries that Liu Tong began to feel uncomfortable. He couldn’t tell his specific feelings clearly. Anyway, he just felt confused and flustered.

Seeing that he looked so pale, Xu Ran quickly asked him, “Tongtong, what’s the matter? You do not look well.”

Liu Tong shook his head. Though he felt a little out of breath, he told Xu Ran, “Ran, I’m fine. I just feel a little flustered.”

However, his body suddenly shook, and he was even a little unsteady. They both realized that something was wrong with him.

Xu Ran himself did not know medicine, so he was not clear what was wrong with Liu Tong. Seeing that Liu Tong looked so pale and that he did not even have the strength to speak, Xu Ran couldn’t help but get anxious and want to find a doctor for him right away.

He looked around the street and found that all the shops were closed. He realized that everyone was celebrating the New Year at the moment, and that there would be no hospital open for business.

Lu Qi! Yes, he thought of that he could go and ask Lu Qi for help. Thus, Xu Ran quickly squatted down and carried Liu Tong onto his back. They then rushed back towards King Yan’s mansion.

Gao Quan and Shao Yu had been following behind them slowly. When they saw Xu Ran suddenly stop, carry Liu Tong on his back and start running back without saying anything to them, they were shocked and soon guessed that something had happened. Thus they quickly rushed to follow them.

Xu Ran didn’t know where he suddenly got so much strength. Though Liu Tong was much taller and stronger than him, he rushed all the way back to King Yan’s mansion with Liu Tong on his back without even stopping for a while.

At last, they arrived at the mansion. As Liu Tong was on his back, Xu Ran knocked on the door with his foot. Shao Yu, who followed behind immediately ran up to help knock on the door.

Xu Ran had been carrying Liu Tong on his back, and his face was all wet with sweat. However, Liu Tong was still motionless there. No matter how Xu Ran called him, he gave no response.

Shao Yu took a look at Liu Tong and then said to Xu Ran, “Xu Ran, Liu Tong is unconscious now, and he closes his eyes. He might have fallen asleep. Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen?”

Xu Ran shook his head, “Tongtong. He has passed out. Shao Yu, Gao Quan, you quickly knock on the door to find Lu Qi for help.”

When Shao Yu heard that Liu Tong was unconscious, he was anxious too. When he saw Liu Tong indeed look very plae, he was more worried and tried harder to knock on the door. Gao Quan even started to hit the door of King Yan’s mansion directly.

Someone inside at last came to open the door.  Before he could ask who it was, Xu Ran had already carried Liu Tong in while shouting Lu Qi’s name,

“Lu Qi, Lu Qi! Where is Lu Qi? Let him come over quickly!” Xu Ran shouted in an angry voice because he felt something wet on his hand.

He had an ominous premonition in his heart, but he didn’t dare to judge whether it was true or not. At the moment, he just wanted to find Lu Qi right away and let Lu Qi see what’s going on?

“Ran, Ran!”

The voice coming from his back stunned Xu Ran, because Liu Tong sounded crying. Xu Ran quickly responded, “Tongtong, I’m here. I’m here.”

Xu Ran wanted to touch Liu Tong but he didn’t dare to move his hand away because the wet feeling there became more and more obvious and hot. Xu Ran became more and more flustered.

“Ran, he’s leaving, Ran…”

Liu Tong’s voice was heard again. Obviously, he was crying.