Hearing Ling Yi's words, Cheng Qi was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "You know everything?"
"I guessed!" Ling Yi laughed.
It's been at least half a year since Ling Yi started this whole thing.
Let's just leave the dishes at Ten Thousand Blessings Restaurant aside, since it's become so common now that almost every restaurant uses stir-frying and deep-frying as new Cooking methods.
Many restaurant chefs have even learned to innovate, creating a variety of delicious dishes. Ling Yi is very satisfied with this, since he no longer has to worry about what to eat every day.
Although Cheng Qi Cheng Qi said that all his business had been taken away by others, in reality, his most profitable business during this period was not this restaurant.
It was Ling Yi's method for making fine salt.
Salt production was a power held solely by the government during this period; for ordinary people, it was a capital offense, punishable by beheading.
Cheng Qi not only openly produced fine salt, but also used a royal brand.
This is enough to show how powerful Cheng Qi's background is.
Because of the royal brand, even though people were envious of the salt trade, no one dared to rob them.
The crafts of making stoves and heated brick beds are not difficult to learn. Let alone craftsmen, ordinary people can basically make them themselves after a little practice.
But the businesses selling honeycomb briquettes and glass products are truly enviable.
Especially the coal mines that Ling Yi bought.
That's not a mountain at all; in some people's eyes, it's a mountain of gold and silver.
The key point is that Ling Yi and his group sold it so cheaply, at only one-tenth of the price of carbon. It was precisely because of this low price that these people felt the pinch.
If I could snatch this up and sell it to someone, I could easily price it ten times higher and still have people buying it.
The technology for making honeycomb briquettes is simple, but the key is that you need coal.
Ling Yi, this guy who suddenly appeared, managed to buy up all the coal mines within a radius of hundreds of miles with the help of Cheng Qi.
That's absolutely outrageous.
As for the glassware, it was even more tempting. Although the price of those Glazed Glass Bottle decreased as the quantity increased, they were still incredibly expensive.
Among all the forces, the most envious were the aristocratic families.
Ling Yi's raid on their base back then caused them all heavy losses.
We've lost everything!
Although it wasn't a serious injury, it still felt uncomfortable.
The Cui Family, in particular, has now become a laughing stock in Chang'an City.
That's true. Their home was raided, and even their manor was gone.
However, the reason Cheng Qi is so anxious must be because he is under a lot of pressure.
"Those bastards actually sent people to tip the miners; it's outrageous!"
"Do you know who did it?" Ling Yi asked with a smile.
"Besides those aristocratic families, who else?" Cheng Qi said angrily.
Seeing that Ling Yi could still laugh, Cheng Qi asked in confusion, "How can you still laugh?"
"Those aristocratic families are so idle, let's find them something to do."
Cheng Qi's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to ask, "Brother, do you have a solution?"
So, Ling Yi explained the principles of papermaking to Cheng Qi, though it was still just theoretical talk.
Compared to cement and glass, papermaking is less technically difficult.
It should be developed soon.
"And then?" Cheng Qi asked, puzzled, after carefully memorizing the papermaking technique.
Even if a papermaking technique drives down the price of paper to extremely low levels, it doesn't seem to have much impact on aristocratic families, right?
He's just a businessman; he can't grasp anything on a deeper level yet.
As for the authenticity of the papermaking technique, Cheng Qi had no doubts. He already admired Ling Yi Cheng Qi greatly.
He could make a fortune from anything he casually took out.
Both Cheng Qi and the people behind him valued Ling Yi Cheng Qi.
"Focus on making the paper first. As for the honeycomb briquettes, it's Spring now, the weather is gradually warming up, so stopping for now won't have much of an impact."
"The glass business doesn't necessarily require selling it right now. We're not short of money; we can just stock up for now."
"Alright!" Cheng Qi didn't waste any more words and led his men away in a flurry.
Watching Cheng Qi leave, Ling Yi smiled slightly and said, "If Li Shimin is smart, I hope he can cooperate!"
In just three days, Cheng Qi had figured out how to make paper.
Although the paper is a bit springy, it works perfectly fine.
However, these will not be problems in the future.
Never underestimate the craftsmen of ancient times; their Wisdom was in no way inferior to that of modern people.
Ling Yi has experienced this firsthand during this period.
With papermaking technology developed, movable type printing technology was certainly indispensable.
Ling Yi informed Cheng Qi about papermaking and printing techniques, which was tantamount to informing the royal family and Emperor Taizong of Li Er.
Papermaking and printing were the two key technologies that allowed powerful clans to monopolize power. I believe Li Er Emperor Taizong of Tang) could have realized this, right?
However, Ling Yi wasn't in the mood to care what Li Er thought; he was currently building a villa with Master Zhang.
Now that cement has been successfully developed, the construction of villas can no longer be delayed.
Keep in mind that Ling Yi is still living in a hotel, which is essentially the same as being homeless.
The villa that Ling Yi had been longing for should naturally begin construction soon.
However, in the process, Ling Yi had to compromise on many things in his villa due to issues with craftsmanship and materials.
" Young Master, is the tap water really that important? There's a well in this courtyard; we can just have the servants fetch water for us."
"Furthermore, even if glass pipes could be used for the water supply, glass is inherently fragile, and they would vary in length and thickness, making it pointless."
Master Zhang squatted on the ground and used pebbles to directly scratch off some of the pipes on the temporary blueprints on the ground.
"Fine!" Ling Yi reluctantly conceded.
" Young Master, your idea for the heating system is indeed ingenious, but it definitely won't work with water pipes. We can't create sealed pipes; the problem is the same as with water pipes."
Master Zhang made another mark on the drawing.
Are we even going to lose the heating?
"However, Young Master's ingenious idea has given me some inspiration. We can make the wall hollowed out so that the firewood can travel through the wall."
Ling Yi nodded; at this point, he had to listen to the professionals.
The two spent several days revising the blueprints before officially starting construction.
However, in ancient times, starting construction on a house was a big deal, requiring a groundbreaking ceremony followed by a meal with relatives and friends.
Ling Yi didn't really care about this matter, but Cheng Qi and Master Zhang took it very seriously.
This is considered an essential step that cannot be omitted.
On the eighth day of the fourth month in 627 BC, the groundbreaking banquet for Ling Yi Villa was held at Ten Thousand Blessings Restaurant.
However, Ling Yi wasn't at Ten Thousand Blessings Restaurant at the moment. Before the groundbreaking banquet began, there was some kind of groundbreaking ceremony.
At the entrance of Ling Yi's courtyard, there was an incense table with various fruits, vegetables, and meats on it, and three thick incense sticks, each half a meter long, stuck in the incense burner in the middle.
Ling Yi stood at the very front, with a group of people standing behind him.
Aside from Cheng Qi and Master Zhang, Ling Yi didn't know anyone else.
Not recognizing them isn't the key point; the key point is that these two were standing at the very back.
This is quite intriguing.
Among them were handsome middle-aged Uncle, strong and muscular men, and Wisdom old men who, though aged, were still vigorous and full of energy.
What's most interesting is that there's also a young and handsome monk among them.
Ling Yi's expression became extremely strange when he saw the monk. Could this monk be the Legend one?
Could these people be the ones I'm imagining?
Moreover, the way these people were looking at Ling Yi was clearly strange.
Regardless of whether they were right or wrong, since they hadn't revealed their identities, Ling Yi decided to play dumb.
Just then, a... host?
Alright, Ling Yi didn't know who this person was, but his job was probably similar to that of a wedding emcee.
The man shouted, "I bow to Heaven!"
Ling Yi looked up at the sky, then stood there motionless.
The host looked at Ling Yi with a bewildered expression, as if to say, "Go ahead and pray, are we even going to follow the proper procedures?"
"I bow to Heaven, praying for favorable weather, abundant harvests, and overflowing blessings!" The man could only shout it out again as a reminder.
"I won't bow!" Ling Yi Ling Yi his head, not knowing why, but he always felt that bowing was a loss of face.
"Sir, this is the procedure; you must bow before proceeding to the next step."
"Then Heaven probably can't accept my bow and will move on to the next step directly," Ling Yi said, following his instincts.
Upon hearing Ling Yi's words, the man shuddered, and the person behind Ling Yi also shuddered.
In the host's eyes, Ling Yi's actions were utterly rebellious and heretical, and he couldn't help but look at the imposing middle-aged man behind Ling Yi.
The middle-aged man nodded slightly to him.
"I bow again to Grand Duke Jiang, the pillar of our family, may you come in peace!"
"No bowing!" Ling Yi shook his head again. "And forget about all the bowing and praying, let's just proceed with the final steps."
The man was immediately taken aback by Ling Yi's words and couldn't help but look again at the middle-aged man behind Ling Yi.
After the middle-aged man nodded again, the host exclaimed with a helpless expression, "May your household prosper, your wealth flow in, all evils give way, peace prevail, the ceremony is complete, the feast is finished!"
"Congratulations!" Everyone behind him, whether they knew him or not, congratulated Ling Yi.
"Thank you, thank you!" Ling Yi replied perfunctorily.
Although I already had some guesses about these people's identities, I was still very curious.
These people are practically the most elite group in the entire Great Tang, yet they actually came all the way here just to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for their new house?
Isn't this a bit far-fetched?
Could it be that these people have already guessed that it was they who made the move on the banks of the Wei River?
It seems there's no other explanation besides this.
As expected, I underestimated the Wisdom of these people.
At this moment, Cheng Qi trotted over to the front and said, "Everyone, please take your seats at Ten Thousand Blessings Restaurant."
The group of people, laughing and joking, headed towards Ten Thousand Blessings Restaurant.
Cheng Qi wiped the cold sweat from his face; his legs were trembling. To be honest, he had no idea these people would come today.
Ling Yi's two consecutive refusal to bow almost scared him to death.
Fortunately, that person wasn't angry; otherwise, they might have lost their head today.
"Wait, how am I supposed to introduce these people to Brother Ling Yi?"
Cheng Qi was making various plans in his mind. Revealing his real identity was definitely not an option, as these people were all dressed in plain clothes, which naturally meant they intended to conceal their identities.
Once they arrived at the restaurant entrance, after letting everyone in, the burly, fat man grabbed Cheng Qi, who was about to enter the room.
"Nephew, later you should say this and that..."