Lu Yo asked again: "Liu Hanhong accepted the gift and the invitation form, right?" ”

"Take it all." Sun Tong replied.

"And what did he say?" Luyo asked again.

Sun Tong replied: "Liu Hanhong politely said a few words when he received the gift, and after accepting the invitation form, he said 'I know', and then sent a messenger back with me. ”

When Lu Youyan heard this, he couldn't help but think: Could it be that Liu Hanhong didn't think the gift was enough? Quite possibly. Liu Hanhong was originally a scoundrel, but later enlisted in the army and became a general.

Huang Chao's general Shang Rang entered Jiangling, claiming to have an army of 500,000, Situ, Shizhong, Jingnan Jiedu envoy, and the southern camp to recruit the capital Wang Duo ordered Han Hong to guard Jiangling, and fled to Xiangyang from the commanders. So Liu Hanhong led his troops to loot Jiangling, and then returned north to Yanzhou as a group of thieves.

After Liu Hanhong surrendered, the imperial court appointed Liu Hanhong as the assassin of Suzhou. Liu Hanhong complained about the court's reward, so the court reappointed Liu Hanhong as the observer envoy of eastern Zhejiang.

After Huangchao broke through Chang'an, Tang Xizong was fortunate to Chengdu, and most of the feudal towns in the world stopped paying tribute, but Liu Hanhong never stopped paying tribute, so Liu Hanhong's exploitation of the eastern states of Zhejiang was quite heavy.

Lu You's thought about it, so he ordered someone to invite Liu Hanhong's envoy to the front.

"Grain envoy Zhao Yu visited Lu Envoy." The messenger saluted Luyo.

The grain envoy was in charge of supplying military salaries, grain and grass, and Lu Yo couldn't help but curse secretly when he heard this: Grass, it seems that I really guessed it.

Although Lu You's scolding his mother in his heart, he still kept a smile on his face and replied: "It's hard to come from afar, so you can go to the post house to bathe first, and then go to the banquet to catch the wind and wash the dust." ”

"Na Yu is respectful, it is better to obey his fate." Zhao Yu said happily.

Lu Yue immediately ordered Sun Tong to take Zhao Yu to the post house, and then sent someone to Qin Huairen to set up a banquet, and send the backup gifts to the post house to give to Zhao Yu.

An hour later, there was another bell in the Yazheng Hall of Longquan County.

After three rounds of drinking, Lu Yo asked Zhao Yu: "I don't know why the Ming Gong sent grain envoys?" ”

Zhao Yu Zhengse said: "Fengxiang Jiedu envoy, Tongping Zhangshi, and all the military camps on all sides of the capital have all spread the word to the world to fight against thieves. The Ming Duke wanted to send troops to fight the nest thief, so he sent Yu to the state to collect and transfer food. ”

When Lu Yo heard this, he couldn't help but scolded again: Begging for a woolen thief, Huangchao has captured Chang'an for almost a year, Liu Hanhong has not moved at all, I don't think he will send troops to fight Huangchao at all, doesn't he just ask for money and food? And said it so high-sounding, it's just a bastard.

Lu Yo then asked, "I don't know how much food the Ming Gong wants to requisition?" ”

"15,000 stones, 8,000 yuan." Zhao Yu replied.

One stone is about one hundred and twenty catties, and one stone is generally worth 1,000 wen.

When Lu Yo heard this, he was embarrassed and said: "The nine mountains of Chuzhou are half water and half fields, how can you get so much grain!" Moreover, the state is a place of congestion, traffic is blocked, and commerce is not prosperous, how can you come up with so much money! ”

Zhao Yu smiled slightly and said, "Duke Ming also knows the difficulties in the state, so he can reduce some resources. ”

"I don't know how much I can get it?" Luyo asked again.

Zhao Yu replied: "The envoy only needs to take out Mi Wan Shi and six thousand yuan." ”

When Lu You heard this, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice: Fortunately, I bribed Zhao Yu, otherwise I'm afraid Zhao Yu wouldn't have received so much less food.

"Although it is still difficult for Chuzhou to come up with so much food at once, since the Ming Duke has an order, and it is needed by the thief, then even if the treasury is emptied, it will be enough for the Ming Gong." Luyo said generously.

"Make the king noble and righteous, and Yu admires." Zhao Yu politely flattered.

"The grain makes false praise, and I really don't dare to take it, this is just my duty." Luyo said modestly.

After the banquet, Lu Yue gave an order and asked Sun Tong to take Zhao Yu back to the state capital to receive money and food.

After Sun Tong and Zhao Yu left, Lu Yue rested for an hour and summoned Qin Huairen to the front again.

"I want to see how the craftsmen of Longquan forge swords, so Shou will take me to the largest workshop to have a look." Lu Yo said to Qin Huairen.

"No." Qin Huairen replied.

Qin Huairen then took Lu Yo outside the city and came to a workshop called "Seven Star Fang". Before he could enter the door, Luyo heard the sound of ping-pong metal tapping from inside the workshop.

At this time, a burly middle-aged man followed the county official out of the workshop, and the middle-aged man was the owner of this sword-forging workshop, named Zhou Ming.

"Meet the envoy and the Ming Mansion, I don't know that the envoy and the Ming Mansion are coming, and I have not greeted him from afar, and I ask for forgiveness." Zhou Ming saluted Lu Yue and Qin Huairen and confessed his crimes.

"It's okay, I wonder if you can take us on a tour of your workshop." Lu Yo said politely to Zhou Ming.

"The contemptible person's surname is Zhou, the name is clear, and the words are obscure, so that you can also call me Zhouda." Zhou Mingbao said with a smile: "It is really an honor for us to make Jun and Ming Mansion come to our house, so that Jun and Ming Mansion are invited." ”

Zhou Ming immediately welcomed Lu Yue and Qin Huairen into the "Seven Star Fang".

Lu You's visit to the "Seven Star Workshop" and Zhou Ming's introduction learned that most of the private sword casting workshops in the "Seven Star Workshop" and Longquan are mainly casting medium and high-grade swords, and each sword has to go through dozens of processes, and the manufacturing cycle is as short as a few months or as long as half a year, and the output is very low.

Luyo couldn't help but think: although the profits of medium and high-grade swords are high, the production cycle is long and the output is low. Troubled times are coming, if you can open a workshop specializing in casting ordinary weapons, and increase the output on the premise of ensuring a certain quality, its benefits will be immeasurable.

At this time, it was getting late, so Lu Yue and Qin Huairen returned to the county government first, but Lu Yue asked Qin Huairen to send someone to inform all the sword casting workshop owners in Longquan to come to the county office tomorrow.

The next day, in the Yazheng Hall of Longquan County, all the bosses of Longquan's sword-casting workshops gathered here.

"Now that a group of thieves are swarming, and the feudal towns have their own troops, do you know how many armor soldiers will be lost in the world in a day?" Luyo asked the workshop owners.

No one can give an exact answer to Luyo's question, but everyone knows it will be an astronomical amount. There are smart people who have seen a business opportunity, but they still don't understand what Luyo means by asking.

Seeing that there was a lot of discussion among the people, but no one answered, Lu Yo said, "I don't know how many armor soldiers will be lost in a day today, but I know that it will be a very large number. You are all experts in iron smelting, and the Longquan Sword has been famous for a long time, don't you want to seize such a good opportunity and profit from it? ”

"Although it is easy to cast armor soldiers, there are workshops for casting armor soldiers in all provinces, and bandits are rampant, and it is difficult to sell armor soldiers to other roads." A workshop owner shook his head and said.

Lu Youwaner said: "A soldier is a weapon for the sergeant to protect his life, and the foundation of the feudal town, as long as the soldier is of high quality and low price, he will not worry about sales." As for how to sell to other roads, this is not a difficult matter. ”