Coming out of the Guangzhai Temple, Xiao Yao did not rush to follow Xiao Moke back, but went outside the city alone, and was grounded for two months, and of course he had to go to see his property as soon as he came out.

After two months of accelerated construction, the momentum of the largest workshop in Jinling has been presented: the whole sugar mill covers an area of more than 20 acres, surrounded by a wall more than one zhang high, and there are watchtowers at the four corners of the wall, which are guarded 24 hours a day!

On the wide and atmospheric gate, there is a plaque two meters long and half a meter wide, on which is written by a famous artist with four gold lacquer characters of General Sugar Mill!

The general iron workshop was built on a vacant land half a mile away from the sugar mill, surrounded only by a wall as high as 2 zhang, and there was no plaque at the gate, which seemed a bit low-key, because this iron workshop was ostensibly processing iron tools, but in fact it was a base for secretly making gunpowder!

Since the expansion of the iron workshop next to the sugar mill, Zu Yuan took the opportunity to expand the number of guards, there were more than 1,000 people, and sent people to guard the area around this area, and attached an order from King Xing: No one is allowed to enter without permission, and those who trespass will be killed!

Riding a horse swaggering close to the gate, Xiao Yao was not stopped by the guards, and was a little puzzled, the captain of the guard at the door had already run to him and saluted and said, "The villain greets the son!" It is rare that the son arrives today, and the villain immediately sends someone to inform the ancestral shopkeeper! ”

Xiao Yao looked at this clever guard and felt a little familiar, and asked puzzledly, "Do you know me?" ”

"Back to Childe, Childe came last time, and it was the villain guarding the door at that time, so I saw Childe, and when I was in Jiangzhou, Childe once gave us a lecture, and the villain will not forget Childe's voice!" The guard said respectfully.

"It turns out that you were transferred from Jiangzhou, and you are really clever enough! No wonder you can be the captain, what's your name? Xiao Yao asked.

"Hui Gongzi, my name is Li Dahu!" The guard said excitedly, being able to be asked by the child's name, it seems that he has a chance to come out!

After a while, Zu Yuan, who seemed to be more round, trotted out with a trembling fat on his body, and smiled excitedly: "Childe, you are finally here!" ”

"Zu Yuan, you seem to be fat again, and you have a good life." Xiao Yao said with a smile.

"Thanks to Gongzi, the current general sugar shop is not to mention in Chen Guo, that is, everyone in the whole world knows about it, and everyone knows about it, plus now is the time when you need to pull a relationship at the end of the year, so there will be more entertainment!" Zu Yuan said with a smile, like a Maitreya Buddha.

"Haha, huh? Jinling's dignitaries, rich and gentry are vying to win over, it seems that your ancestral shopkeeper is now the most popular top brand in Jinling! Xiao Yao quipped.

Zu Yuan took Xiao Yao to the building in the middle of the sugar mill, a brick and wood structure, with three floors, it is the tallest building in this area, the first floor is the reception floor, the second floor is the rest floor, and the third floor is Zu Yuan's office floor.

The two went directly to the third floor, and when they went in, they saw that even Xiao Yao was a little frightened by its luxury: when they pushed open the door, there was a sandalwood screen with a height of 2 meters and a width of nearly 3 meters, which was inlaid with copper gilt chisels and engraved with various patterns, which was extremely luxurious.

Bypassing the screen, there is a hall of nearly 20 square meters, with a complete bear skin in the middle, and a copper stove on it, which makes the whole room warm and comfortable without a single fireworks, and symmetrically placed desks and seat cushions on both sides.

There is a high platform in the middle, leaning against the wall, half a meter high, but there are 5 steps to highlight the difference between the main seat and the guest position, there is a desk on the table, on which are placed the four treasures of the study, it seems to be Zu Yuan's desk.

On the wall behind the desk hangs a scroll painting, on which a lifelike tiger is depicted, which has the meaning of devouring the world, and at a glance you know that it is from the hand of a famous artist! On both sides are yellow rosewood shelves, on the right there are all kinds of books, on the left there are all kinds of ornaments, some are made of wood, some are cast in gold, and there are also jade carvings, Zu Yuan said that these are all sent by those high-ranking officials and businessmen.

Passing through the hall, there is actually a balcony, which is still a paper clip! Take a turn on the balcony, climb high and look into the distance, the whole sugar mill can be seen, even the ironwork can be seen!

After Xiao Yao turned around, Zu Yuan consciously stood next to the main seat and gave up the main seat to Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao smiled, sat down directly and said: "The environment is good, the outside is luxuriously decorated, but the inside is fine and chic, the last time I came, there were only a few pillars erected in this building, and I thought that in less than two months, you can come in and work!" ”

Zu Yuan smiled: "Haha, then thank you King Xing!" With the 5,000 taels of silver he gave, I recruited 10 times more manpower to speed up the construction, and the main body of the building was built last month, and it was just renovated here some time ago, and the furniture and accessories were only arranged in the past two days. ”

Xiao Yao smiled bitterly: "I was grounded for two months, and I was only released today, and I went to Guangzhai Temple just now to talk to the old monk!" ”

Zu Yuan was taken aback and worried: "Childe can't be taken lightly, after all, it is the prince's territory, in case they make a black hand, and Childe is alone。。。。。。 ”

"Haha, don't worry, I'm ready to go to the meeting alone, even if I go deep into the tiger's den, I can be safe and sound! And looking at the old monk's reaction just now, it is estimated that the prince will not dare to rashly attack us now, you have to take this opportunity to accelerate the development and growth of General Comptoir! ”

"Yes!" Zu Yuan replied respectfully.

Zu Yuan took Xiao Yao to inspect the sugar mill, and then walked to the iron workshop, because Xiao Yao's main purpose of coming this time was the iron workshop, after all, he was going to enter the barracks with Xiao Moke after the year, and the most important thing at the moment was muskets and gunpowder!

"Young master, those purified saltpeter powder, sulfur powder and toner powder have been stored in these places according to your instructions!" Zu Yuan pointed to several warehouses in different directions and said, "There are thousands of catties of these three materials in stock, and now our daily output has reached more than 50 catties!" ”

"Good! In the next year, I will go to the barracks with my father-in-law, and when the time comes, I will bring a personal soldier that belongs to me! Zhou Chao wrote that the ironworks in Jiangzhou had created 30 flintfire rifles and more than 10 artillery pieces, which would be sent to Jinling with the soldiers personally selected and trained by Gao Yuan, and that training them would require the support of a large amount of gunpowder! Xiao Yao nodded.

"Yes, the subordinates personally supervise the production and absolutely guarantee the quality and output of gunpowder!" Zu Yuan is the color road.

"By the way, it's almost the New Year, does this iron workshop have any other ore materials besides these three materials?" Xiao Yao asked suddenly.

"Yes! Master Zhou told Gongzi that he likes all kinds of strange ores, so I ordered all kinds of ores to be transported to Jinling from all over the world, in case Gongzi needs it from time to time, and at the same time, it can also hide people's eyes and ears and hide the real formula of gunpowder! Zu Yuan said.

"Clever. Zu Yuan, you are really getting more and more capable! Haha, take out all kinds of ore powder, and find a few more skilled craftsmen, I'll be useful! Xiao Yao said with satisfaction.

"My subordinates will go and prepare immediately, I don't know what new gadgets Childe is going to concoct?" Zu Yuan also looked forward to it, the lord in front of him often made some magical things!

"Haha, isn't it almost the New Year, the New Year should be lively, and now there are so many materials, I'm going to let you see what different fireworks are!" Xiao Yao said with a mysterious face, and the beautiful picture of the fireworks lighting up the night had already appeared in his mind.