The next day, He Zhiyuan and his apprentices went to the firearms factory and the barracks, both of which were very busy, especially in the firearms factory, more than 100 craftsmen were working overtime to manufacture the guns, ten machine tools were running at full capacity, and the workers were working in two shifts a day, and the machine tools were resting. It's been constantly drilling, rifling.

After almost a month of running-in, these craftsmen gradually became familiar with the use of machine tools, and the production efficiency gradually improved. The first batch of 300 sui-pistol has already been delivered to the 1,000-house office, and the second batch of 300 pistols is being produced at an accelerated pace, and now an average of more than 50 sui-pistol can be produced in one day. At this rate, another three or four days will be able to deliver another 300 sticks.

The barracks at the Qianhu Institute in Maqishan, which is not far from the firearms factory, has now been basically completed, and the recruited recruits have begun training under the leadership of veterans. When Xu Tangyi was young, he didn't collect at night in the army, the so-called night was not collected, which was equivalent to a modern scout, his personal qualities were very good, and all kinds of weapons could be used, including firearms, of course. Therefore, these veterans who were transferred from the family Ding team each had a self-fire gun, and Xu Tangyi personally trained them in three shots.

Those recruits were very envious of the veterans who all had a gun in their hands and practiced every day, but now that there are more soldiers and fewer guns, it is impossible to give them guns first, even if the guns are enough, they must start with the most basic queue training. In order to be able to practice shooting like veterans as soon as possible, these recruits are more actively trained.

In winter, the days are short, and in one day, He Zhiyuan hurriedly looked at the firearms factory and the barracks, and found that these two places had become regular, and he was relieved.

Now he has a lot of things to do, the most urgent of which is to go to the Yizhou coal mine with Boss Sun and buy those seeping coal kilns, and it is best to buy a few more coal kilns that are being excavated.

Early the next morning, He Zhiyuan asked Yan Jihai to drive the carriage all the way south along the official road. Make a beeline for Crossroads.

Cross Road Town is the southernmost town in Juzhou, its south is adjacent to Huai'an Mansion in Nanzhili, and Yizhou Mansion is not far from the west. The current Hejia Town is exactly in the middle of Juzhou City and Cross Road Town, and both sides are fifty miles apart.

Since the cement road has been built, the road is very fast, and it will not take half an hour to reach the crossroads.

When I arrived at the agreed place, I took Boss Sun and continued to drive west, the road was not so easy to walk, this official road was the official road between Yizhou and Juzhou, but it was crushed by the potholes of the cars coming and going, and the carriage naturally slowed down.

Boss Sun sat in the carriage and said to He Zhiyuan: "It is an eighty-mile road from here to Yizhou City, and this road is very difficult to walk by the cart pulling coal, and it takes almost two hours to reach Yizhou City." There are still more than 30 miles of road from Yizhou to the coal mine in Luoquanzhuang Town, and the road is more difficult to walk by the coal truck, and it will take an hour to walk, so it is almost dark when we arrive in Luoquanzhuang today, and we will have to go to the mine tomorrow. ”

He Zhiyuan agreed, thinking in his heart, this road is not easy to walk, and it is not because a boss like you is pressing.

When I arrived in Yizhou City, it really took two hours as Boss Sun said. I found a restaurant and had a simple lunch, took a short rest, and immediately started to hurry again.

The further south the road becomes, the more difficult it becomes, the more coal trucks there are, and the houses on both sides of the road become denser and denser

set, the ragged pedestrians also began to increase.

Boss Sun began to introduce: "Luoquanzhuang has a person surnamed Luo in the Yongle period as early as the Yongle period, and it is named Luoquanzhuang because of the many springs nearby. During the Northern Song Dynasty, coal mines were discovered in Yishan County, and local residents began to dig coal. Yishan County is very close to Yizhou, and later the people of Yizhou also looked for coal veins in the local area, and finally discovered coal mines in the southwest of Yizhou. However, the scale of mining was not very large at that time, and during the Jin and Yuan dynasties, the people were constantly displaced, and coal mining here was interrupted. Until the Yongle period, in order to mine coal, there are people surnamed Luo to live here, with more and more coal mining, the village is getting bigger and bigger, and there is now Luoquanzhuang. ”

He Zhiyuan nodded, and at this time he looked out of the car, and he could already see the houses in the distance. It seems that because of the coal, it has formed a lively village and town.

When the sun was slanting in the west, they arrived at Luoquanzhuang, only to see that there were no imaginary coal stacks here, but there were more kilns than imagined, although the façade was not good, but the name was very loud, what Sai Xi Shi, Qin Huai Nu, Yangzhou thin horse, etc., one is more exaggerated than the other. As for what it looks like inside, it is unknown...... The streets were even more dirty and messy, and there was a gray patch everywhere, even the sky......

Boss Sun said a little proudly: "Don't look at this place called Luoquanzhuang, in fact, this is a big town with a population of tens of thousands, almost all of them are outsiders, and there are more than 1,000 real local residents." The restaurants, shops, inns, and dental shops in the town are all run by locals. ”

"With a population of tens of thousands, it doesn't seem like there are so many people." He Zhiyuan retorted.

"This is where the coal kiln owners and the bookkeepers live, and they want to negotiate with them." Boss Sun covered his nose and said: "The workers who dig coal all live in the mine, and there are leaders who watch it, and it is rare to come here once a month." As long as the wages in the mine are paid, there will be more people here, and those kilns are especially prosperous! ”

Boss Sun smiled when he said this, and continued to talk without saying anything.

It's a mixed place, and it's also a hub for information, where you can get a lot of useful information.

Further on, the streets gradually became more and more pedestrians, and everywhere were men in ragged clothes, with thin faces and bags. He Zhiyuan asked, "Why are there so many people carrying luggage?" ”

"These are poor people from other places who come out in the winter to find work, and they often come to find a coal kiln to work for a few months after the autumn harvest, and then go home in the spring of the next year to earn a few taels of silver to subsidize their families." Boss Sun explained.

The group of them first found a fairly clean inn to settle down, and seeing that it was still early, He Zhiyuan pulled the two of them around the street.

He Zhiyuan first entered a coal tooth shop, and when the boss saw Boss Sun bringing people in, he got up and greeted him: "Boss Sun, how many truckloads of coal are you going to buy this time?" ”

A small town with a population of more than 10,000 is not too big, and an old customer like Boss Sun knows him from almost every shopkeeper of the tooth shop.

Boss Sun smiled awkwardly and said, "This time I'm not here to buy coal, I'm going to accompany our owner around." After speaking, he introduced the shopkeeper of his tooth shop and said, "This is my owner, He Gongzi." ”

The shopkeeper looked at He Zhiyuan's clothes

Luxurious, extraordinary temperament. I heard that it was Boss Sun's owner, so I didn't dare to slack off, so I hurriedly saluted, gave up my seat, poured tea, and greeted him warmly.

Through a few conversations, He Zhiyuan learned that 100 catties of coal here are only sold for 80 wen, and the output of anthracite is very small, and the price is almost double that of ordinary coal, which is sold for 150 wen. Of course, this is the price of Luoquanzhuang, and if you go to other places, you will have to add 20 to 50 wen for freight, depending on the distance. The coal here is mainly sold throughout Qingzhou Province, as well as the northern prefectures and counties of Huai'an Province in the south.

He Zhiyuan silently calculated in his heart, Boss Sun sells 150 yuan per 100 catties, excluding freight, he really can't make much money. It seems that Boss Sun is real enough and did not fool him.

Subsequently, He Zhiyuan asked the shopkeeper of Yaxing again: "Shopkeeper Ma, do you know how much firewood and charcoal are sold for?" ”

He Zhiyuan began to calculate the interest rate difference here, you must know that the ordinary people of the entire Ming Dynasty still burn firewood, especially in the Jiangnan area, many people don't know what coal is.

"I don't know in other places, in our local firewood is about 150 wen per 100 catties, and charcoal is 450 wen per 100 catties." The shopkeeper is worthy of being in the coal business and knows the market very well.

"Burning coal is about the same as burning firewood." He Zhiyuan said casually.

"He Gongzi, that's not how the account is calculated." The shopkeeper hurriedly corrected: "Coal and firewood have their own uses, coal is mainly sold to craftsmen for kiln burning, this burn-resistant heat is large, not firewood can be compared." Which kiln have you ever seen that burns firewood? ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone laughed, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

At this time, Boss Sun began to ask: "Shopkeeper Ma, this time we came, our owner wants to buy a few coal kilns to mine by himself, I don't know if Shopkeeper has any news about this?" ”

The shopkeeper happily patted his thigh: "Oh, that's a coincidence." A few days ago, there was a lawsuit at Boss Yin's house, and his son was arrested and put in prison by the government. Yesterday he came to me and said that he was going to transfer the three kilns in his hand, and the three kilns only cost 8,000 taels of silver. ”

"Eight thousand taels, isn't it too expensive?" He Zhiyuan said. He thought to himself, how many abandoned coal kilns would he have to buy for eight thousand taels of silver. But before Wang Zhixue invented the steam pump, he couldn't bring these abandoned coal kilns back to life, and now he can only collect a few coal kilns to dry first.

"It's not expensive, these three coal kilns of Boss Yin's family are all new kilns that were dug last year, and it's a good time. Even if you dig for ten years, there will be no water seepage, and you will return to the cost after one year. ”

Seeing that neither of them spoke, the shopkeeper felt that there was a play, and continued: "If He Gongzi is interested, tomorrow we will take a few people to the kiln to have a look, and then negotiate the price." What do you think? ”

He Zhiyuan thought to himself, I just went to the coal mine tomorrow, and it would be good to have a local guide, and by the way, I would go to see those abandoned seepage coal kilns, and if it was suitable, I would buy them together.

Yes, He Zhiyuan said: "Okay, let's go and see first, if the price is right, I want these three coal kilns." ”

"Okay! Tomorrow morning, the three of us will gather here, and we will set off together, from here to the nearest coal kiln is only more than ten miles, and we will arrive in a while. The shopkeeper took over the big deal, and his happy face blossomed.

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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