Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 20: Spring Orchid, Summer Lotus, Autumn Moon, Winter Plum Blossom [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Liu Kuan looked at the four maids.

When Zhao Cheng introduced them earlier, he said that these four were maids.

In fact, judging from their appearance and temperament, these four maids are obviously different from the four servants.

The four of them looked to be between thirteen and seventeen or eighteen years old. Although none of them had particularly outstanding looks, they were all pretty, and even the clothes they wore were better than those of the other servants.

From this we can see that even official slaves were divided into different classes.

Liu Kuan did not treat them hostilely just because they were high-ranking slaves - perhaps they achieved that status through hard training?

Of course, he wouldn't think highly of it before he got to know it in depth.

"What are you four doing here?" Liu Kuan asked.

The two younger of the four maids seemed bewildered.

The taller of the two older maids, the one with the oval face, spoke up, "Master, our duty is to serve you. We're here so that you can use us at your will."

The maid spoke Nanjing Mandarin, her voice clear and rich, her words coherent and clear. She must have a good foundation or be well trained.

Liu Kuan nodded and asked, "What's your name? How old are you?"

"My lord, I have had several names. My former name was Lianxiang, and I am only sixteen years old. However, according to custom, once a servant is given to you, you can choose a new name."

Liu Kuan pointed at the other three people and asked, "Are they the same?"

The three of them nodded in succession.

Seeing this, Liu Kuan looked at Lianxiang and said, "In that case, you should change your name to Xia He."

Xia He immediately performed a personal blessing ceremony and said calmly, "Xia He thanks the master for the name."

Liu Kuan looked at the older maid. She had an oval face, skin as white as snow, and eyes as bright as the moon. Her appearance was the most appealing to his taste among the four. So he asked, "How old are you?"

"I am only fifteen years old."

"Then your name will be Qiuyue."

Qiuyue also bowed and said, "Qiuyue thanks the master for the name."

"How old are you two?" Liu Kuan asked the two younger maids.

The shortest maid, who was small-framed but slightly plump, with a round face and a bit of baby fat, said, "Your servant is Thirteen."

Another maidservant who was relatively tall and thin with a pretty face said, "I am only fourteen years old."

Liu Kuan then said, "You are the youngest, so let's call her Dongmei. And you, let's call her Chunlan."

"Thank you for the name, Master!"

Liu Kuan felt that the title of "Master" was not nice and made him feel very old.

Although for people at that time, there was nothing wrong with being called "master" when he was twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, in later generations, he was still an unmarried young man.

Therefore, after Chunlan and Dongmei bowed and thanked him, he instructed them, "Don't call me Master from now on. Call me Young Master."

The four of them looked at each other, but still responded obediently.

Afterwards, Liu Kuan, accompanied by Zhao You and his four maids, looked around the rooms in the main house in the central courtyard.

I found that there were only basic furniture such as beds, tables and chairs, but no daily necessities such as bedding and towels.

Finally, Liu Kuan stood in front of the master bedroom door and said, "There's nothing here. I can't even lie down and take a nap."

Xia He said, "If you have money, you can ask the steward to take people to buy what the mansion needs."

Liu Kuan shook his head and said, "I just arrived in Ming Dynasty and I have no money."

Zhao You said, "When godfather brings His Majesty's reward from the palace, you will have money."

Liu Kuan was a little worried whether the one thousand strings of treasure notes would be enough for him to spend.

He remembered that the Baochao began to depreciate during the Hongwu period, but he didn't know the prices at that time, so naturally he didn't know the purchasing power of one thousand strings of Baochao.

But Zhu Yuanzhang also rewarded him with one hundred pieces of silk, which should be worth a lot of money.

Liu Kuan came to the study, flipped through the stack of indentures on the desk, took a look at them, and then put them in the drawer - the slave information was filed with the relevant government offices, so there was no need to worry about the indentures being lost.

If you really lose it, the most you can do is to apply for a new one when you need it.

With nothing to do for the time being, Liu Kuan wanted to copy some useful information from the computer.

Although the study in the main house was also very empty, it was still equipped with pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

Seeing Zhao You still outside the study, Liu Kuan said, "Zhao You, don't just stand there. Either find a chair to sit down and rest, or go outside and supervise them cleaning."

Zhao Youke didn't dare to sit down here carelessly, so he said, "Then I'll go outside to supervise the cleaning."

After Zhao You left, Xia He went to the door and asked, "Sir, would you like some water?"

"Can you boil water at home?"

"Of course I can, but I don't have any decent drinking utensils." Liu Kuan said, "I don't care about that - please send me a pot of hot water first."

"Yes."

After Xia He left, Liu Kuan took out his laptop from his backpack.

When I opened it, I found that there was only three-fifths of power left.

"Luckily, my solar charger can charge my laptop, otherwise it would be useless if the battery ran out."

"However, it takes quite a while for a solar charger to fully charge with sunlight, and it consumes energy quite quickly when used to charge a laptop. You have to be careful with it and not damage it."

'Also, just in case, you should quickly copy down all the useful information in your laptop.'

Thinking about this, Liu Kuan opened his laptop, then looked at the pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the desk and was stunned.

He learned calligraphy for a period of time in elementary school, but later forgot it.

In the past few years since he graduated from university and started working, he has lost touch with calligraphy, not to mention handwriting.

As for his backpack, he didn't have any paper or pen - before he traveled through time, no decent person would carry paper or pen when going out.

"Do I have to 'invent' a quill pen or pencil before I can copy information from a computer?"

Liu Kuan laughed at himself.

As for practicing calligraphy again and then copying with a brush, he ruled it out first.

Not to mention how long it would take him to practice his calligraphy to a level that was pleasing to the eye, even if he was basically qualified, he would not use calligraphy to copy materials - that would be a torture for him.

While Liu Kuan was thinking about a solution, he was looking through the information stored on his computer.

I quickly found some information about steam engines.

This document includes the origins of the steam engine in history and how it has been improved time and time again. It also includes explanations of the structures and functions of several types of steam engines, as well as structural diagrams and model drawings. It is very detailed.

Speaking of which, this was when Liu Kuan first came up with the idea of ​​using his spare time after work to write historical online novels, and he slowly collected some information and saved it.

At that time, he never imagined that one day he would travel back to the Ming Dynasty and these information would come in handy.

"To build a steam engine or even a train, you need enough qualified steel. I wonder what the quality and production of steel is like in Ming Dynasty today."

Thinking of this, Liu Kuan found another document that showed how to achieve iron and steelmaking in blast furnaces by modifying the technology of the late Ming Dynasty.

"Sir, the boiled water is here." Xia He's voice sounded outside the study.

Liu Kuan got up and opened the door.

Xia He, who was standing outside the door, was obviously surprised. She didn't expect Liu Kuan to come and open the door in person - she was already prepared to put down the tea tray before opening the door.

When Liu Kuan saw Xia He holding a tea tray with a large white porcelain teapot and four teacups, his later thinking habits made him subconsciously take it.

Xia He was even more surprised, so much so that she didn't react for a moment, and really let Liu Kuan take the tea tray away.

Coming back to her senses, she hurriedly lowered her head and said, "I have been distracted. Please punish me, sir."

Liu Kuan placed the tea tray on the desk and said, "It was just a moment of distraction. There's no need to punish me."

Although Xia He was a bit bolder due to her personality and experience, she was a Ming Dynasty person after all, and had received several years of training in government offices, becoming an absolutely qualified slave. Some rules and regulations had been deeply ingrained in her bones.

Therefore, she still felt uneasy after hearing Liu Kuan's words. Recalling the scene just now, she said, "Sir, please don't get involved in such matters as serving tea and water in the future. Leave it to us servants."

After hearing what Xia He said, Liu Kuan looked at her thoughtfully, and then he realized that his habitual helping behavior not only did not make the Ming Dynasty maid in front of him feel relieved, but made her feel uneasy.

Liu Kuan thought about it and felt that this was the job of Xia He and other maids, and he really shouldn't interfere or even change it.

So he nodded and said, "I just arrived in Daming, and there are indeed many habits that I can't change for the time being. I will pay attention to it in the future."

After hearing this, Xia He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Sir, where did you come from in Daming?"

Liu Kuan didn't know whether Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to keep his background secret or not, so he decided to keep it secret for the time being.

He said, "You will know where I come from later, don't ask now."

Xia He felt a chill in her heart, realizing that she had made the mistake of speaking too much, and hurriedly said, "I know I was wrong, please punish me, sir."

"Don't ask me to punish you all the time." Liu Kuan said helplessly, "Do you think I can slap you for such a small thing?"

Xia He said, "If you want to slap me, sir, I deserve it."

Liu Kuan decided not to discuss this matter with Xia He anymore and changed the subject, so he asked, "Can you four read and write?"

Xia He replied, "Of course I can, but only Qiuyue can punctuate sentences and knows the most words."

Liu Kuan asked again, "Is there anyone who can paint? It would be best if they can paint with fine brushwork."

Xia He said, "Chunlan seems to be good at painting... I'm not too sure."

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(End of this chapter)