A care workshop built by the Zhang family in Pujitang is located in Zhang's house, specifically used to retain those lonely and helpless poor people.

"Whenever a person has a single old man and a child who cannot save himself, he will provide food and clothing, and he will be able to live in his life. He will also set up a Puji Hall at home. If he is a child, he will return home. If he is born in the year, he will have a generous meal."

It is said that this is the last words left by Zhang Tianyi, the eldest master of the Zhang family. He and his younger brother Zhang Shengyi went out to work hard when they were young, and ignored the old father who stayed at home. So when his father was seriously ill, no one was filial to the bedside. Therefore, after the Zhang family became prosperous, the two brothers were very pity for the elderly and young, and they usually gave charity to villagers far and near. Before Zhang Tianyi passed away, he even grabbed his younger brother's hand and asked him to build a ward care workshop to take in the elderly and suffering people.

He also set a rule: each person eats porridge every morning and evening, and eats dry rice at noon. The daily amount is white rice, salt, vegetable money, meat, vegetables for lunch, tofu skin and other vegetables for lunch. During the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, each receives a reward of 20 cents. After the Dragon Boat Festival, the fan money is 30 cents, after the Winter Solstice, the firewood money is 15 cents, and the cloth jacket money is 100 cents. The old people died of illness, gave the coffin and buried three thousand cents.

With such generous treatment, after the Puji Hall was built, people who could not afford to eat within a radius of a hundred miles came. Later, because there were too many people coming, not to mention Puji Hall, the entire Zhang family could not be treated. Therefore, the current head of the Zhang family, Zhang Shengyi, established the rules again, and only allowed elderly people over 60 years old and unattended to enter Puji Hall. Anyone who is still strong and can make a living will not be accepted. This stopped the momentum of rushing forward and backward, and also allowed Puji Hall to be truly established on the Zhang family's territory.

Liu Zheng once brought his father to Pujitang once. At that time, Old Man Liu could still walk, and Liu Zheng was working in the Zhang family. So while Old Man Liu came to deliver food to him, he took him around and visited the famous Zhang family mansion. The father and son also accidentally set foot in the Pujitang area.

At that time, rice was being put on in Puji Hall. The white rice smelled much more fragrant than the corn brought by Old Man Liu. It looked really tempting with fresh meat and vegetables. Old Man Liu was stunned and grabbed his son and asked, "I just heard that before, but I didn't expect that seeing it was better than seeing it all. The food in Puji Hall was as good as the rumors."

Liu Zheng laughed at his father, "It's better than this during festivals. There are pigs and sheep. We can't eat such a meal all year round. Haven't you seen where they live yet? There are two people in a big house with all kinds of furnishings. The mattresses laid on the bed are three layers thick, and they are all made of good cotton. Not to mention that now, it's not cold to sleep even in the cold winter." After saying that, he curled his lips gently, "Dad, don't think about what kind of family the Zhang family is. The porcelains all over the country are basically from the big kilns of his family, and even the goods fired from the official kilns are not as good as theirs. By the way, I heard that the birthday of the Lord Buddha specially designated to use their porcelain to arrange them. How can this honor be compared to ordinary people?"

Old Man Liu laughed, "Yes, it's good for us ordinary families to eat enough, but never seen such a world," he changed his tone and rubbed his fingers on the corner of his clothes. "But although food and accommodation are good here, the golden nest and silver nest are always worse than their own doghouse. Staying at his own home, even if life is hard, he feels comfortable."

"That's it." Liu Zheng turned his gaze to the distance, and a light flashed in his eyes that others could not see through. After a long time, he took back the gaze, rubbing his thumb and index finger repeatedly, "You can't live in, you have all your children and grandchildren, and you won't even accept it even if you want to come to Pujitang."

***

Old Man Liu finally moved into Pujitang. He did not meet the conditions, but Liu Zheng asked someone to plead in front of the second master of the Zhang family, and then he let his father live in.

On the day he left home, Old Man Wu went to see him off. Old Man Liu was sitting on the cart with the wool felt on his legs. Seeing his old friend who had been living for a lifetime, Old Man Liu suddenly got wet in the corners of his eyes. Liu Zheng couldn't persuade him no matter how much he persuaded him.

"It's not that I'm not coming back, I'm waiting for you."

Old Man Wu's voice was also a little hoarse. He held it over and did not shed tears in front of the two of them. Pujitang is a good place, and Old Liu enjoys his happiness when he goes there. He can't cry and see off his old partner, as if he is going to go forever, which is so unlucky.

Old Man Liu didn't say anything, but waved to him, meaning that he would not worry, and then was pushed away by Liu Zheng. Old Man Wu stood there and watched him watch as the "creaking" cart passed through the winding path of the wilderness and headed towards the Zhang family's mansion opposite, and suddenly a feeling of indescribableness rolled in his heart.

There is little smoke above the house, but compared with the thick smoke rising in the deep mountains behind the house, it is like a clear stream.

It was the location of the Zhang Family Kiln Factory. It was built in a valley. It looked like an elongated body from a distance, covering an area of ​​nearly 10,000 hectares. It had more than 2,000 kiln workers, and was filled with fireworks from the kilns all year round. Although it was already sunset, the kiln workers were still working in an orderly manner, pulling, blowing glaze, hooking, dyeing, and firing. Together they formed a huge machine, linked together and indispensable, and contributed the last glorious mark in history to this dynasty that was gradually declining.

That place was separated from the village where Old Man Wu lived, but for a short two or three miles, he felt that it was a place he would never reach.

I heard that the pottery supervisor sent by the court had arrived a few days ago, and there were also officers and soldiers escorting porcelain with about five or six hundred people, temporarily living in the inn next to the kiln factory. On the day they came, Old Man Wu had glanced at him from a distance. Those fully armed soldiers were planted in the white waters of the black mountains and mountains, with gloss like glazed gloss.

They came to escort the porcelain for the birthday of the Queen Mother.

The court raised 130,000 taels of silver and allocated the Zhangshi Kiln Factory as funds for the firing of porcelain for birthdays. At the same time, the palace also issued a batch of paper samples, including fourteen categories and one hundred colors, two years in advance, and all the funds and paper samples were in place, and they started firing. Finally, this year, the construction will be completed in the last month.

Old Man Wu remembered that the porcelain used by the late emperor's wedding was also fired by the Zhang family. One was porcelain for wedding banquets, and the other was porcelain for the queen's dowry, with a quantity of more than 10,000 pieces.

But now, the porcelain is still there, but the people have gone. The various changes and difficulties in this world are not spared by the royal family.
Chapter completed!