May of the twelfth year of orthodoxy, Yushan Town.

Although Liu Juntao temporarily alleviated the problem of saltpeter shortage by using the method of fixed-point defecation, the problem of lack of iron ore in the Yushan Military War Bureau was still not solved, which seriously restricted the expansion of the production of various military equipment in the Military War Bureau.

Liu Juntao understands very well that there are now more than 10,000 young men under his command, but if he wants to fight against Warat and Tatar in the future, this point of manpower is simply not enough, and the Yushan Town Guard will continue to expand.

However, the premise for the continued expansion of the Yushan Town Guard is that the military production of the Yushan Military War Bureau can be increased at the same time, otherwise the young and strong guards will face no troops available, and there will be a dilemma of "more people than guns and more guns than bullets"!

However, now that most of the iron ore in Shandong is controlled by the government, it is naturally impossible for Liu Juntao to buy iron ore in large quantities from the government, which is digging a pit for himself.

The remaining private iron ore is not large in output and is too scattered, and the Yushan Military War Bureau has already purchased enough ore from the private iron ore in Shandong for lunch.

Therefore, now Liu Juntao can only sweep his gaze to places outside Shandong.

According to Liu Juntao's memory, it is not difficult to find iron ore, and Liu Juntao is very clear about the location of several famous large iron mines in later generations.

However, now it is the orthodox period of the Ming Dynasty, and these large iron ores in later generations either have no relevant technology to mine, or they are too far away from Yushan Town to obtain iron ore through purchase.

As soon as he thought of this, Liu Juntao felt a headache.

Now there is only one way in front of Liu Juntao, that is, to obtain iron ore through the Xu family in Xuzhou!

It didn't take long for Liu Zi'an to rush back to Yushan Town, and Liu Juntao took Liu Zi'an to discuss at home when he saw this.

Liu Juntao asked urgently, "How is it?" What did you find out from the Xu family? ”

Liu Zi'an took a sip of water and said, "Mr. Lian, I found out!" ”

"Be careful!"

Liu Zi'an nodded, and then said: "Mr. Lian, this Xu family basically monopolizes the iron and coal mines in the entire Xuzhou, and controls a large number of craftsmen, and has several blacksmith shops of no small scale. According to my estimates, there are at least a thousand blacksmiths and other craftsmen controlled by the Xu family! ”

Hearing this, Liu Juntao's face couldn't help but change greatly.

"Moreover, Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, not only has thousands of blacksmiths, mines, and coal mines, but also has at least 8,000 horses, including at least 2,000 horses. In the mines and mines controlled by the Xu family, there are still 20,000 or 30,000 miners, and Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, also regularly conducts drills for these 20,000 or 30,000 miners, as long as there are enough troops, these 20,000 or 30,000 miners can be organized into a large army in the blink of an eye! ”

At this time, Liu Juntao suddenly remembered the Qi family army in the late Ming Dynasty, that is not Qi Shaobao recruited thousands of miners in Yiwu for training, and finally reorganized into the invincible Qi family army in the world!

Thinking of this, Liu Juntao also glanced at the strength of the Xu family, and his heart was a little more serious.

"Anything else?"

"Yes!"

Liu Zi'an continued: "I found out that Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, still has a lot of dealings with the surrounding court generals such as the Wolf Mountain garrison, once the Xu family has something, I'm afraid the surrounding officials and troops will not stand idly by!" ”

Liu Juntao couldn't help but be a little puzzled and asked, "Didn't the officers and troops over there in Xuzhou also go north to the border pass?" ”

Liu Zi'an nodded, then shook his head again, and said: "Mr. Lian, the soldiers and horses in Xuzhou have indeed gone north, but the Wolf Mountain garrison doesn't know what the reason is, but only some of the soldiers and horses were transferred, but most of the soldiers and horses are still stationed in Wolf Mountain, and the Wolf Mountain garrison has not been transferred!" ”

"In that case, it's interesting!"

Liu Juntao fell into deep thought, obviously very interested in the matter of the Wolf Mountain garrison.

Liu Zi'an waited for a while, and then continued: "Mr. Lian, this time I went south, I think the strength of the Xu family is extraordinary, the Chen family and the Kong family were counted together with my Liu family, I'm afraid they are not as strong as the Xu family, I think we should be more cautious!" ”

Liu Juntao smiled and said, "What? Not optimistic about the strength of our escort team? ”

Liu Zi'an said with a smile: "That's not it, our Yushan Escort Team is all equipped with flintlock-type firearms, how can the Xu family and horses be able to resist it?" But ......"

"But what?"

Liu Zi'an said in a deep voice: "Mr. Lian, after all, the Xu family is outnumbered, and there are officials and soldiers as backup, even if our Yushan Town Escort Team wins steadily, once the battle starts, it will lose a lot, and the gains outweigh the losses!" ”

"And what do you mean?"

Liu Zi'an hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Mr. Lian, I think we can get in touch with the Xu family to see what Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, means, and then let's make a final conclusion!" ”

Liu Juntao pondered for a moment, and then said, "It's okay! In that case, find Tang Yu, and the Ministry of Commerce needs to come forward in this matter! ”

Liu Zi'an nodded, and after a while, he found Tang Yu over.

"Tang Yu, you immediately send someone to Xuzhou to discuss cooperation with the Xu family."

Tang Yu couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and said, "Mr. Lian, are you going to start talking with the Xu family?" ”

Liu Juntao nodded and said: "This matter must be handled cautiously, and while negotiating, we must also find out the attitude of Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, towards our Yushan Town!" ”

Tang Yu thought about it in a deep voice, and then said, "Since that's the case, then I'll go there myself if I'm ready!" ”

"No!"

Before Liu Juntao could speak, Liu Zi'an preemptively said: "Mr. Lian, the attitude of the Xu family is still unclear, and Minister Tang must not risk his life!" ”

Liu Juntao was also very hesitant, frowning and thinking, and did not agree.

Tang Yu said with a smile: "The Xu family is also a wealthy family, so it shouldn't do anything moral!" Moreover, it is very important to negotiate with the Xu family to buy iron ore, and I don't feel at ease when this matter is handed over to others, so it is better to go there myself! ”

Liu Zi'an wanted to persuade again, so Tang Yu clenched his fists and said: "Thank you Minister Liu for your kindness, I will be more careful myself!" ”

Seeing that Tang Yu had made up his mind, Liu Juntao said in a deep voice: "Since this is the case, then work hard for Tang Yu to go!" ”

"Order! Lian always rest assured, this time I will definitely live up to my mission! ”

Then, Liu Juntao said: "Tang Yu went south alone, I didn't feel at ease, so let Hu Dexing lead his young men to the south to Beining Town in Ningyang County to stay temporarily, Tang Yu also had to take the horse team with him to escort him, and once something happened, Hu Dexing would immediately go south to support!" ”

After making these arrangements, Tang Yu began to prepare, and two days later, accompanied by ten horse team guards, he rushed south towards Xuzhou.

At the same time, Hu Dexing also began to mobilize people, and the next morning, he led Sun Xu and Meng Fanchen to rush towards Beining Town with more than 1,300 escort troops.

After Tang Yu left, Liu Juntao had been a little uneasy in his heart, so he ordered Liu Zi'an to pay close attention to the movements of the Xu family.

Tang Yu went all the way south, and the group rushed to the Xuzhou boundary in eleven days, and was about to rush towards Xu's house, but the temple road crossing north of Pei County stopped.

At this time, Tang Yu and his entourage of eleven people happened to meet the Xu family's people, only to see that the other party and his party were thirty people, all of whom were hardcover men, one of them was carrying a Xu Zi flag, and all the stainless steel long knives in their hands were wearing stainless steel cuirasers, and five of them were also carrying double inserts!

The leader was full of ferocity and tyranny, and said to Tang Yu and his party: "Who are you?" Dressed like this, it is definitely not an ordinary person. Say! What are you doing in Xuzhou? ”

Tang Yu couldn't help frowning when he saw this, seeing that the Xu family's people were so tyrannical, thinking that the Xu family was not a good family, it was estimated that this discussion of cooperation business would be in vain!

However, Tang Yu also said: "Under Tang Yu, the head of the Ministry of Commerce of Yushan Town, Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong, this time I am under the order of Liu Juntao, the head of my family, and I want to discuss a large amount of business with Xu Ye, the head of your family, and I ask you to make it convenient!" ”

After hearing this, the leader laughed loudly, and the twenty or thirty people behind him also laughed wildly, without taking Tang Yu in their eyes at all.

"Joke!"

The man said loudly: "What is the strength of my Xu family, and your little Yushan Town also wants to come over to do business?" Don't think that if you kill the Kong family and the Chen family, you will be invincible in the world! Those shrimp soldiers and crabs are not worthy of being compared with my Xu family! ”

"Don't get me wrong, this brother, my Yushan Town just wants to do business with the Xu family, and there is no malice!"

The man snorted coldly and said, "Listen! My Xu family is not interested in doing business with you in Yushan Town! Our head of the family has issued an order not to allow the people of Yushan Town to step into Xuzhou! ”

"Why is that?"

Tang Yu asked in surprise: "I'm afraid that my Yushan Town didn't offend the Xu family, right?" ”

"Haha! No why, our head of the family said that Yushan Town is too pampered, and it has set off a bloody storm in order to develop its forces, and once it goes south to Xuzhou, it must be ill-intentioned! ”

Tang Yu was also annoyed when he heard this, and was about to say a few words, but was interrupted by the leader of the Xu family waving his hand.

"Stop making noise!"

The man sneered and said, "Today I am still polite to your little white face, and our master is also in a good mood, so let you go, hurry back, be careful that the master regrets it, and leave the heads of you rabbit cubs!" ”

Tang Yu was also indignant when he saw this, and the ten horse team guards behind him were also angry, everyone put their hands on the hilt of the knife, and when Tang Yu gave an order, they would rush over!

Tang Yu took a few deep breaths, and then said to the Xu family horse: "Okay! Since the head of the Xu family is so hospitable, then I will go back, but you Xu family don't regret it! ”

After speaking, Tang Yu waved his hand suddenly: "Go!" Go back to Yushan Town, go back to practice the total! ”

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