Chapter 179 Miniature Model (asking for monthly ticket)
Chen Tongmin left with the eulogy.
Liang Qu believed that Chen Zhaoan would not refuse his request.
Firstly, it is harmless. In countless folk legends, the Jianghuai River God is the incarnation of the Jianghuai River. For fishermen, the two are one.
Secondly, the change from worshiping the river god to worshiping the Jianghuai River is a very small change. For most of the villagers who have never been to school and are illiterate, they may not even notice the change after hearing it once under the altar.
Everyone just hopes for good weather and a good catch of fish, and doesn't care about those details. It's enough as long as the meaning is conveyed.
I wonder if the feedback we get in the end by skipping this so-called "middleman" and going to June 6, the legendary special date when rivers return to their course and rivers flow into the sea, can be strengthened.
Liang Qu is looking forward to this.
In this way, the normal sacrificial process, the main sacrifice, and the scale of the sacrifice have all been enhanced, with only the final sacrifice missing.
Liang Qu was well prepared. He had asked the fat catfish and the others to search for the corresponding monsters in the water. They would not kill them but just stare at them and then capture them alive and bleed them.
You can't just randomly pick the three-headed monster as a sacrifice; it's like playing mahjong, you have to make pairs.
There are three categories: birds, beasts, and scales.
Generally speaking, the three mythical beasts are the phoenix, unicorn and dragon; in fiction, the three poultry are the chicken, duck and fish.
Or it could be three meanings: diligence, peace, and abundance.
The three most common symbols are cow, sheep and pig.
It is said that Dashun uses three types of great demons in its annual heaven sacrifices, with the Martial Saint in charge.
On the day of killing the beast, the air was filled with boiling gas and the evil spirit was so heavy that ordinary people could easily die suddenly if they got close to it. Even people with strong lives would suffer a serious illness for three days and lose half their lives.
The courtiers with weaker cultivation could only stand in the distant pavilion and watch.
After the sacrifice, the land where the bodies of the three demons have been divided up will be filled with flowers in an instant.
It is difficult to gather the three major categories in the water, mainly birds; beasts are not easy to deal with as it is not the home turf of Liangqu and water beasts.
But it is easy to find one whose appearance meets the three meanings, which are nothing more than strong, cute and fat.
Last time, I didn’t know that offering sacrifices could increase favors. I served as the chief priest only to increase my prestige in Yixing City. I didn’t make much preparation from beginning to end.
This time Liang Qu is fully prepared and vows to increase Jiang Huaihe's favorability!
……
In the morning, the sky is bright.
The stonemason chiseled a square hole in the ground, dug out the soil under the stone slab, confirmed the depth, dragged the horse hitching stone little by little, inserted it into the square pit, and compacted it again.
"Ah Quan's skills are getting better and better, just like a real monkey."
Liu Quanfu came over from the street, touched the stone monkey crouching on the pile, and exclaimed in admiration.
The horse-tying stone is used for visitors to tie up their horses. Horses belong to the fire element, and wooden houses are most afraid of fire, while monkeys belong to the water element, so most horse-tying stone pillars will have a stone monkey carved on them to suppress fire.
It is rare to see a stone monkey that is so lifelike.
Stonemason Ah Quan looked up when he heard the voice.
"Oh, it's Uncle Liu! This is a skill passed down from our ancestors. When it comes to carving monkeys on stone, my father is the best. What is Uncle Liu doing here so early in the morning?"
"Master Liang asked me to make something earlier. I worked on it for a while and finally finished it. He came to ask when I would like it."
"What object could have stumped a skilled carpenter like you and kept you busy for so long?"
"You kid, go ahead and put your horse stone in there. Do you think you can find out about the affairs of important people?"
"I'm curious, right?"
Is the ship model for the big toad ready?
In the yard, Liang Qu was shirtless, holding Fu Bo in his hand, breathing heavily.
The warrior had sharp eyes and ears, so he naturally heard the conversation between the two people at the door. He turned around and put Fu Bo into the pool, put on his coat and opened the door.
"Master Liang!*2" "Uncle Fu, come in and talk. Ah Quan, thank you for your hard work. When you finish installing the horse hitching stones, come and ask me for your wages."
"Okay, Master Liang."
Liang Qu smiled, turned around and led Liu Quanfu into the house.
"Uncle Fu, I heard you say in the yard that the building ship is ready?"
Liu Quanfu said with a happy face: "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. I just painted it with tung oil this morning. It is probably not suitable for water. I don't know how to caulk the seams. But according to what you said, it looks exactly like the two ships docked at the Pingyang County Pier.
It may sound a bit boastful, but I think it is better looking than the two boats at the pier because it is not that big. "
Liang Qu was overjoyed. His first transaction with the big toad was finally going to be successful?
He couldn't wait to see the new ship: "Come on, take me to see it."
"Okay! Sir Liang, follow me."
Liu Quanfu took the lead.
Building such a big ship was extremely tiring for him. He and his seven or eight apprentices worked day and night to complete it today.
Fortunately, the reward Liang Qu offered was generous enough, and if everything goes well, I can get the money today!
"Ah Quan, Uncle Liu and I are going out for a while. I'll give you the money first. You don't need to let me know when you're done. If there's any problem, I'll send someone to look for you."
"Master Liang, don't worry. Don't look at my young age. I have been carrying stones with my father since I was nine years old. I have been doing this job for more than ten years. I promise that I can do it cleanly for you and there will be no faults at all."
"Okay, Uncle Liu, let's go."
"Go this way."
Led by Liu Quanfu, Liang Qu crossed a street, two alleys and arrived at a large courtyard.
There were quite a few people standing in the courtyard, all of them were Liu Quanfu's apprentices. The whole place was very spacious, and the corners were filled with sawdust rolled from planing.
But these were not what Liang Qu wanted to pay attention to. Right in the middle of the yard, there was a "miniature ship" that was eight meters long and more than two meters high without counting the mast. It was quietly docked on the wooden rack.
The thick smell of tung oil permeated the air.
The ship's frame, keel, tendons, ribs, beams, bow and stern columns, hull, side plates, bottom plate, deck, mast, everything that should be there is there, nothing is missing.
The tower ship is different from the Liangqu barge, and its overall structure is much more complicated.
In the middle of the hull is a layer of "buildings", with four floors stacked on top of each other, and not flat at all, hence the name "lou ship".
Liang Qu leaned against the side of the ship and looked at it, and the ship's planks were densely packed.
The entire hull is made of teak. The most distinctive feature of this wood is its fine wood grain, which is further highlighted by a layer of tung oil.
The ink-colored lines extend out like waves, matching the golden hue of the teak itself, like a warm fire in winter.
Liu Quanfu was right. Thanks to the refined carving, the entire "miniature ship" looked better than the two large ships hundreds of meters tall at the pier.
"My Lord, please come and look over here."
A more clever apprentice stepped forward and took the initiative to lead Liang Qu up the stairs and open the carved windows on both sides of the ship.
Looking inside through the window as big as a human head, the small room was equipped with tables, chairs, cabinets, beds, rudders, oars and utensils. There were even bird patterns on the cabinets.
Similar rooms have one in every two windows, and each one is different.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Wang Shuyuan who was very skilled in craftsmanship. He could use a piece of wood, one inch in diameter, to carve palaces, utensils, figures, even birds, beasts, wood and stones. All of them were shaped according to the situation and had their own expression.
Liang Qu suddenly thought of this sentence.
"Your Excellency may not know that my master has put a lot of effort into building the small building ship. He goes to the pier before dawn every day to look at the ship and draw the blueprints to ensure that every detail is correct.
We don't know the structure of the ship and we don't dare to go in to take a look, but Master has been to other merchant ships and has drawn out what he imagined.
Look, whether we are satisfied or not, whether we can please that lord, whether we carpenters can make money is secondary. If the big shot blames us and harms Lord Liang, it will be more trouble than gain."
(End of this chapter)
