Xiang Nan knew that with the help of the three thousand brothers in Lianyun Village, he could accomplish great things.
After all, many of the founding emperors did not have such a large foundation when they started their careers.
For example, when Liu Guanzhang was called by the court to suppress the Yellow Turban Army, he only had more than 500 rural warriors; Chen Sheng, Wu Guangguang, and Zexiang revolted, and he led more than 900 post soldiers; Liu Bang killed the White Snake in the uprising, and only had 3,000 troops...
Xiang Nan did not want to use these three thousand brothers to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains. He just wanted to win a piece of territory overseas where he could settle down and live, so these three thousand people were enough.
It's just that although he is now the head of Lianyun Village, he has only just been in the position for a short time, and he actually has little reputation in the village. Everyone agrees to recognize him as the master, but it is only out of brotherly loyalty and the rules of the world, not out of sincere admiration.
There is still a big difference between him and Qi Shaoshang.
Because although Lianyun Village was established a long time ago, it was originally just a small village. It was only after Qi Shaoshang joined that he recruited troops, developed and expanded, and gradually became the number one village in the world.
Furthermore, in recent years, he has led his brothers to fight in the east and west, in the south and in the north, and fought countless tough battles. It is a real life-long friendship.
So Qi Shaoshang won the support of his brothers in Lianyun Village, and he could say that he was true to his word.
If he said that he would take his brothers to establish a business overseas, then the brothers would definitely not hesitate and follow him to the death without any regrets.
Xiang Nan does not have such a high reputation, so he must find a way to improve his reputation.
However, now that the Liao and Song Dynasties have made peace, there is no war at the border, and Xiang Nan can no longer make achievements by killing enemies. So after thinking about it, he decided to develop the economy and people's livelihood in Lianyun Village.
The sky is big and the earth is big, so food is the biggest thing.
The ordinary members of the Lianyun Village joined the village because they wanted nothing more than food and clothing.
In those years, the Liao and Song Dynasties continued to fight, and the people suffered a lot. They either died from brutal wars or were exploited by corrupt officials. In short, their lives were miserable.
Although Lianyun Village was regarded by the imperial court as grass bandits and bandits, it was a rare place of stability in troubled times.
Corrupt officials did not dare to come here to collect taxes, and the Liao army did not dare to come here to harvest grass and grain. Therefore, many people gathered at the foot of Lianyun Village to accept the protection of Lianyun Village.
Many of the brothers in Lianyun Village are also from these people. Therefore, improving people's livelihood will go a long way in improving his reputation.
…
Xiang Nan then ordered people to build a kiln in the mountain village, and then used sand and plant ash to bake glass.
Sand contains silica and calcium carbonate, while plant ash contains potassium carbonate. After the two are fused and heated at high temperatures, potash-lime glass will be made.
Glass was a valuable item in ancient times, and glass with more impurities was regarded as one of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism. The value of glass can naturally be imagined.
Xiang Nan can burn valuable sand and plant ashes into precious glass. He can turn waste into treasure and turn stones into gold, which is no less than what an immortal can do.
When they saw the crystal clear glass, all the brothers in Lian Yunzhai were dumbfounded.
“Is this a crystal?”
“Is the crystal that big?”
“What kind of treasure is this? It’s so beautiful~”
The seven village owners looked at the glass and marveled.
Glass is crystal clear, smooth and translucent. When the sun shines on it, the crystal light shines brightly. To them, it looks like crystals, gems and the like. Especially such a large piece is truly rare in the world and even more valuable.
"This is called glass, which means water jade, water essence, and poli as mentioned in ancient books." Xiang Nan explained, "I learned about its firing method from an ancient book, and now I'm firing it according to the recipe, and it's really successful. ” ˆ ˆ “That’s it, the boss is really awesome.” Ruan Mingzheng said in admiration.
“Being able to burn worthless sand and plant ashes into glass, the master really has the Midas touch to turn stone into gold.” Gou Qingfeng, the leader of the Fourth Village, admired.
When everyone heard this, they all nodded.
Sand and plant ashes are common things, but who would have thought that Xiang Nan could turn decay into magic and use them to create such valuable things? It's really amazing.
“Master, what’s the use of this?” Mu Jiuping asked doubtfully.
“Silly brother, this is of great use.” Shopkeeper Ma smiled, “You can make a lot of money just by selling it.”
Xiang Nan smiled and nodded, and then made the glass into glass statues, glass cups, glass pots, glass cups, and glass mirrors, each of which was as exquisite as a work of art.
“Wow, this mirror shows so clearly that even the sweat pores are reflected.”
“With a mirror like this, who would use copper to polish it?”
“It feels like a waste to drink tea from this glass~”
The village owners were amazed when they looked at these glass products.
“Second village owner, contact the merchants of Liao State and sell these glasses to Liao State.” Xiang Nan then ordered.
"What, these treasures are going to be sold to Liao State?" When everyone heard this, they were shocked.
“Master, how can you sell these treasures to Liao dogs?” asked You Tianlong, the leader of the fifth village.
"Yes, these are all treasures, and they should be kept in our Song Dynasty." Meng Youwei, the leader of the Seventh Village, also said.
"Hmph, these glasses look beautiful, but they are actually useless." Xiang Nan explained, "Except for showing off to those dignitaries, local tyrants and evil gentry, they have no other use. But we can use them to make money from Liaoning. Isn’t it a good thing to exchange the state for a large amount of money, food, and horses?”
Actually, there is another reason he didn’t say.
That is to sell it to high-ranking officials in Bianjing, which will easily attract their covetous attention.
By then, if Song Huizong, Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others fell in love with it and wanted to take the glass back to the court, he would lose a lot of money.
And he believed that Song Huizong did this.
Huizong of the Song Dynasty was fond of strange rocks. In order to satisfy his desire, he specially set up the Yingfeng Bureau to search for strange rocks all over the world for him to enjoy.
Officials who should be in charge of the bureau took advantage of the opportunity to plunder. If there is a tree, a stone, a flower or a grass in the house that can be appreciated, the bureau should immediately send someone to seal it with yellow paper, call it an offering to the emperor, and force the residents to guard it. If you are not careful, you will be "disrespected". sin. When moving, they even broke down walls and demolished houses.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty once obtained a piece of Taihu stone, four feet high, and carried it on a huge ship with thousands of slaves. In the prefectures and counties he passed through, some people demolished water gates and bridges, and built city walls to pass through.
If the ships originally prepared by the bureau could not cope with the situation, thousands of grain-carrying ships were forced into use, and even sidelined merchant ships, causing great harm.
Therefore, if Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was interested in glass products and wanted to take them back to the imperial court, and they could only be used in the palace, Xiang Nan would be at a huge loss. Therefore, he could only sell it to Liao State, and he also sold it anonymously, and he must not leak the news about the glass produced in Lianyun Village.
When everyone heard this, they suddenly understood and nodded.
"I see."
“The boss still has a vision.”
“Yes, it’s better to sell these harmful people to Liao Gou.”