Zhao Song was very generous. The craftsmen he lent them included not only brick-firing and wall-building specialists, but also carpenters.

Carpenters were not easy to come by. Even Chengbo was very pleased, lowering his voice to say, “It would be wonderful if we could keep them.”

However, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want to compete with Zhao Song for people at this time. She said, “First arrange them properly, and select some clever people from the estate to help them.”

They couldn’t take the people, but they could learn their skills. With crafts like these, naturally it was best if their own people knew them.

Zhao Hanzhang continued, “First feel out their temperaments. If possible, pay them to take on a few apprentices. Don’t be stingy with money.”

“Craft skills are a craftsman’s means of survival. I’m afraid they won’t be willing to teach.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “That just means the money isn’t enough. As long as the payment is sufficient, there will always be people willing to teach.”

“I’m afraid they won’t teach everything they know.”

“I don’t expect them to teach everything. As long as they teach the basics, that’s fine. The master leads you through the door, but cultivation is up to the individual. There are always talented people in this world who are willing to work hard and study. In the future, they may well surpass their teachers.” Zhao Hanzhang was very confident about this point.

When New China was first established, hadn’t it also been very difficult?

Many things started with just the basics, yet hadn’t they gradually caught up?

“Yes,” Chengbo then handed Zhao Zhongyu’s letter to Zhao Hanzhang. “This is from Fifth Great Lord. He asks that Sanniang not mind the matter with the heir. The two families share the closest blood ties. Apart from Erlang, Second Great Lord and the heir are your closest relatives.”

Zhao Hanzhang took it and opened the letter directly to read. “Since Fifth Grand-Uncle has said so, Chengbo, you should also change how you address him from now on. Elder Uncle has already inherited the title—he’s no longer the heir.”

In Chengbo’s heart, the Duke would forever be Zhao Changyu. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but fall silent, pressing his lips together. After a long moment, he lowered his head and responded, “Yes. Will you write to Second Great Lord and… the new Duke?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “I’ll write when I return later. Now that the postal stations are disrupted, letters probably can’t be sent out, and we don’t have enough people. After writing the letters, we’ll still send them back to Xiping and ask Fifth Grand-Uncle to help forward them.”

“Yes.”

“Select a group from the estate’s laborers and have them bring grain to Xiping to help with the craftsmen’s summer harvest,” Zhao Hanzhang paused before continuing, “Tell them that if they do well, each person will receive a reward upon returning. But if they don’t do well, they needn’t come back.”

Chengbo shuddered. “I will definitely watch them closely and make sure they get along well with the clan members.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

Chengbo asked with a smile, “Sanniang, how is Master Fu’s brick kiln coming along?”

“It’s already built. Tomorrow we can load bricks into it and try firing them.”

Zhao Hanzhang had provided the brick kiln construction method from the “Tiangong Kaiwu.” It differed somewhat from current brick-firing methods, but was generally similar. The brick-firing craftsman who came along looked at the kiln pit somewhat hesitantly and asked, “Firing this way, how many bricks can one kiln fire, and how long will it take?”

Fu Tinghan said, “Three thousand bricks per kiln, one day and night.”

Lu Kun pondered, “It is indeed larger than current kilns. Right now we can only fire a thousand bricks per kiln. Master, can this kiln really fire three thousand bricks?”

Fu Tinghan: …How would he know if it could?

He had just calculated based on the text Zhao Hanzhang had written from memory. It clearly stated that one kiln could fire three thousand bricks.

Fu Tinghan thought for a moment, but still couldn’t bring himself to bluff shamelessly like Zhao Hanzhang could. He said cautiously, “Let’s try firing one kiln first. If there are any flaws, we can improve it.”

Whether it could or couldn’t, they’d know after firing.

They had already prepared the brick blanks.

The nearby mud field had been thoroughly soaked with water. People and oxen worked together trampling back and forth in it. The trampled mud was placed into molds, and by now they had already pressed out quite a few mud blanks.

All done over the past two days of trampling and pressing.

Lu Kun felt the mud blanks and, finding no problems, agreed to place them in the brick kiln.

When Zhao Hanzhang arrived, they had already loaded over two thousand. Her gaze swept around in a circle as she asked puzzledly, “Where is Master Fu?”

The words had barely left her mouth when she saw Fu Tinghan ducking his head and bending at the waist as he emerged from the kiln. Looking up and seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he smiled slightly at her. “You’ve arrived.”

But Zhao Hanzhang looked at his face and burst out laughing.

Fu Tinghan instinctively touched his own face and asked, “Is it dirty?”

His hands already had mud on them, so now it was even dirtier. Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t stop laughing. She stepped forward to help him wipe the mud from his cheek. “It’s here. I estimate wiping with your hand won’t clean it—you’ll need to wash your face.”

The two were extremely close. If Fu Tinghan lowered his head, he could look directly into her eyes.

Zhao Hanzhang’s movements paused. She withdrew her hand and stepped back slightly, smiling faintly at him. “How confident is Professor Fu?”

Fu Tinghan said, “I have no experience—this is completely theoretical, so fifty percent.”

But he was confident that after one attempt, whether successful or not, he could improve it.

The two looked at each other silently. For a moment, not knowing what topic to raise next, they both fell quiet.

Chengbo on the side felt the atmosphere between them was somewhat strange, so he laughed and brought up a topic. “I’ve always heard Sanniang address Master Fu as ‘Professor,’ but this servant remembers that back in Luoyang, it was Sanniang teaching Master Fu things.”

Fu Tinghan looked at Zhao Hanzhang and said, “So I call the young lady Teacher Zhao.”

Chengbo was startled and quickly said, “How can this be? It’s not in accordance with propriety!”

If word got out and people said they were teacher and student, what then?

Zhao Hanzhang said, “We learn from each other.”

Chengbo thought briefly and breathed a slight sigh of relief. “That’s right. It’s normal for a husband to teach his wife, and for the wife to assist her husband.”

Once it accorded with propriety, Chengbo relaxed.

However, Zhao Hanzhang called out to him warningly, “Chengbo…”

Chengbo said with a smile, “I know—Sanniang is feeling shy.”

He glanced at Fu Tinghan and laughed heartily. “Sanniang, you talk with Master Fu. I’ll go check on them.”

Once Chengbo left, the two fell silent again, looking at each other—you looking at me, me looking at you.

Zhao Hanzhang cleared her throat lightly and turned her gaze away, finding a topic. “I heard from Erlang that you’ve been playing games with him these past two days?”

Fu Tinghan made an affirming sound. “I wanted to confirm his intelligence in other areas.”

He continued, “I tested him, and actually his memory is quite good. If you repeat ordinary instructions twice, he can remember them and execute them. He can also understand somewhat more complex things, as long as you don’t force him to recognize characters along with them.”

“He can’t read. I suspect he has a reading disorder. When you make him recognize characters, not only does he have great difficulty remembering them, but his emotions are also affected. His whole person becomes irritable, which in turn affects his memory.”

Zhao Hanzhang looked thoughtful. “Which means that reading not only doesn’t develop his intelligence, but actually affects his memory?”

Fu Tinghan nodded. “Knowledge transmission isn’t limited to written text alone. You might try teaching him knowledge through oral instruction.”

Zhao Hanzhang began planning in her mind—would Master Ji be willing to take on this responsibility?

“His martial skills are quite good,” Fu Tinghan said suddenly. “And he has great strength. I asked him what he likes most, and he said he most enjoys horseback riding and hunting. You might cultivate his special talents.”

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him and smiled. “I heard that these past few evenings, Professor Fu has been sparring in martial arts with Erlang, and apparently took quite a few falls.”

Her gaze fell on his waist—