On the Fuxing platform, Zhu Zhiling was looking at the excerpts of the Nanhua Island people who were urgently presented, and Qin Daoyuan, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, walked into the hall.

"Back to Her Royal Highness the Princess, the minister has already played the matter of the cold to His Majesty the Emperor Ming according to His Royal Highness's instructions, and I have come to reply to my life."

Zhu Zhiling asked without raising his head: "Have you made it clear?" ”

"The ministers replied and understood, so they said that you said that the Shuangquan Pavilion is quiet and elegant, and the scenery is pleasant. I hope that Your Majesty can take half a day to share the cold with Her Royal Highness the Second Princess and Prince Cangwu and increase the friendship between the two countries. ”

"What did Your Majesty say?"

His Majesty only pondered for a moment, and then agreed.

Zhu Zhiling listened, stopped the pen in his hand, raised his head and asked, "Your Majesty is displeased?" ”

When Qin Daoyuan heard this, he lowered his head and replied, "Minister...... The ministers are far away, and they can't see it really. ”

Zhu Zhiling's face was slightly disappointed, and with a wave of his hand, Qin Daoyuan withdrew from the hall.

Shuangquan Pavilion, mother's favorite place. If you take it and mess around with that kid in Cangwu, it must be distressing. Although Qin Daoyuan didn't dare to say it, his mother's face must have been extremely ugly. In fact, as early as ten days ago, she ordered the renovation of Shuangquan Pavilion to begin, Qin Daoyuan just made a report, and his mother would not disagree. Thinking of this, Zhu Zhiling felt a trace of pride in her heart. It's as if you have secretly broken something dear to an adult behind your back, in return for a little revenge when an adult scolds you.

She closed the fold and walked outside the hall, watching the dazzling sunlight shine brightly on the Fuxing platform, but thinking about something else.

Nanhua Island ...... Wouldn't this be a great opportunity?

When the sun was shining all over the backyard of the Imuran Merchant House, Mo Daqiu got up lazily. He caught a glimpse of a skinny figure outside the window and snorted.

"Master Hao is really early enough, is this time to get up and practice boxing?"

Master Hao wiped his sweat and said slowly, "I've finished practicing." ”

Mo Daqiu approached him and asked in a low voice, "Did you have any news last night?" ”

"The people on Nanhua Island were encouraged by the people we sent over, and they were already making trouble a few days ago, and I heard that the prefect's lobby was smashed, presumably the excerpt of the Cheongju prefect who governs Nanhua Island has been handed to the palace at this time."

"Is there any news in the palace?"

"According to the report from the palace, Zhao Wuyun has been a little impatient since the last time we secretly designed him to meet Zhu Yuxiao, and he urged Zhu Zhiling to do it several times, but Zhu Zhiling was suppressed."

Mo Daqiu nodded: "Zhu Zhiling is really a problem. If she is not clear-headed, this will not work, but if she is too clear-headed, we will not be able to do it. This time, the bait of Nanhua Island was thrown to her, but it still depends on the dispatch of the big housekeeper to grasp the proportions. Speaking of which, doesn't this big butler have any orders these days? ”

Master Hao shook his head and said, "The big housekeeper hasn't been out of the palace in the past few days, and he only sent someone over once, saying that he wanted to eat sea buckthorn fruit, so let him send some." ”

Mo Daqiu touched his beard and said, "Nanhua Island is in trouble, why hasn't the chief housekeeper ordered it yet?" He's so unpredictable...... Then pick some good sea buckthorn fruits, and then write a note about Nanhua Island, send it in, and wait for him to pass the word out, and then we will take the next step. ”

Master Hao nodded and left, leaving Mo Daqiu alone in the bluestone-paved courtyard. He squinted at the rising sun and praised, "It's a good day too." ”

* * * * * *.

The four prefectures of southern Xinjiang in the southeast of the country of Bihai are the most dotted regions of thousands of lakes and islands. In addition to Bozhou, Runju and Jinju, which are all ordinary islands, only the islands of Cheongju are full of mineral deposits, with the best mineral quality and the most abundant reserves, accounting for six tenths of the blue sea. Among the various mines under the jurisdiction of Cheongju, the largest ones are on this Nanhua Island.

Most of the mines elsewhere produce only one or two ores, either gold or silver, or copper or tin, with at most a few other ores. According to the law of the blue sea, all the mined ores were transported to Taiye City after being recorded in the beneficiation register. In the suburban mint workshop minted into coins or gold and silver ingots and then put into storage, this workshop is called the Bao Rong Bureau, under the Ministry of Industry.

Nanhua Island is different, in addition to gold and tin mines, there are also coal mines, and there are quite a lot of deposits. Bihaiguo melted gold ingots, which are made by mixing tin with gold water in a certain proportion. When Lu Xingyuan inspected this place, he found that the three kinds of gold, tin and coal were complete, so he asked the second Ming Emperor to directly build a smelting and minting workshop on the island according to local conditions, so as to open up sources and reduce expenditures and reduce losses. When the Ming Emperor heard his words, he built a large number of buildings, and built all the workshops required for coinage in Nanhua Island, and gave the name Baotai Bureau, which was directly under the Ministry of Households.

Therefore, other islands produce ore, while Nanhua Island produces gold ingots that can be directly circulated. In recent years, the coins minted by the Baorong Bureau of the Ministry of Industry in Bihai have gradually dried up due to the gradual depletion of mineral deposits, and the mineral materials have only decreased but not increased, and the new mines have not been connected, and the number of coins minted has been less than that of the Baotai Bureau of the Ministry of Households. On the other hand, the coins minted by the Baotai Bureau are not only stable in production, but also in good condition, and most of the coins held by the people today are from Nanhua Island. Especially after the third generation of Ming Emperor Zhu Yutang ascended the throne, the official currency was changed from the silver ingot of the Baorong Bureau to the gold ingot of the Baotai Bureau, and the people in the country became more and more fond of using gold ingots as their private collections.

However, things don't always go uneventful. Twenty years ago, there was a case of dereliction of duty that shocked the whole country. Zhao Yu, the former head of the household department, was exposed by Lu Wenchi, the head of the household at that time, after being exposed by Lu Wenchi, the head of the household at that time, in just a few days, he was immediately sentenced to beheading by the Ming Emperor resolutely, which is known as the Nanhua gold case.

The facts of the case are concise, the characters are complete, and the brightness makes people feel a little confused. What's even more bizarre is that one day not long after Zhao Yu's death, a demon beast suddenly appeared in the mine. At that time, all the laborers who went into the mine were so frightened that they abandoned their pickaxes and fled in all directions. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but everyone who witnessed it said the same thing:

The demon beast suddenly crawled out of the depths of the mine, and before it saw its lower body, there were already five or six snakes' heads rushing over its upper body, each of which was as big as a bell, moving up and down, almost filling the entire mine, and smelling a foul smell, I really don't know how many people have eaten in their stomachs. It's good that I ran fast, otherwise I would have died in the mouth of that demon beast. ”

It happened that Lu Wenchi, the head of the household department who was acting as the secretary of the household, summoned the important members of the household department to gather on Nanhua Island to discuss the matter of re-measuring with Shen Xianyun, the prefect of Qingzhou. Shocked to learn that there had been a change in the mine, he decisively ordered the guards to blow up the entrance of the cave on the spot and cover it with rocks. He also ordered the workshop on the island to pour the hole with smelted copper water, in order to completely seal the demon beast. Rao is so, there are still bursts of foul smell overflowing from the hole, smelling people's hearts are melancholy, and they dare not sleep at night. Within a few days, a few of the escaped laborers were so frightened that they continued to babble all night, and died of high fever.

For a time, rumors arose all over the country. It is said that the mine was dug to anger the gods underground, so the demon beasts who guarded the gate were sent to do evil. It is also said that this is a demon island, and there are still various demon beasts living in other mines, but they have not yet appeared. What's more, it is said that Zhao Yu was wronged before he died, and after his death, his ghost turned into a demon beast to take revenge, so he was entrenched in the gold mine cave.

This matter has been played in front of the Ming Emperor, and the Ming Emperor has thought about it for a long time before making a will. It was ordered that this mine be sealed forever and not opened, and then there were rumors and rumors who were exiled to the Northern Desert, and the dead laborers were merciful, so that the incident could be calmed down.

So far, only two of the three gold mines on Nanhua Island remain. Since Lu Wenchi was appointed as the head of the household department, all mining and coinage matters, no matter how big or small, have been done personally, and he has never slackened. Twenty years later, Nanhua Island has been peaceful, and it is just when this incident has been almost forgotten by the world.

The monster reappeared.

One day before the early spring, in another gold cave, the laborers were digging in full swing as usual. Zhang Ergou, who was in the deepest part of the mine, suddenly smelled a strange stench, and he was about to turn around and ask his father Zhang Laosan next to him, when he turned his head and saw his father wrinkling his nose and sniffing something intently, obviously he also smelled this stench.

The stench lingered around the tip of Zhang Laosan's nose, and suddenly awakened the most terrible part of the past in his memory. Twenty years ago, after the same stench, five or six huge snake heads immediately attacked, and the black and hideous snake body writhed quickly and enchantingly. Even after all that time, he still remembers the stench vividly and will never forget it for the rest of his life.

Zhang Ergou saw that his father's face changed instantly, he dropped the hammer in his hand, pulled him up and ran towards the entrance of the mine. Shouting while running, it's a demon beast! The monster is here again!

A young miner like Zhang Ergou has never seen a demon beast, but this terrifying past has been heard since he was a child, and it has long been ingrained in his heart. Now, as my father fled to the cave in panic, fear spread like a kindled wildfire to all the miners in his path.

Among these miners, there are old miners like Zhang Laosan who have also witnessed demon beasts back then, and there are also small miners like Zhang Ergou who have grown up in the sound of being frightened by demon beasts since childhood. But no matter who it is, at the moment when the demon beast is coming again and these five words are shouted one after another, there is only one thought in his mind: escape!

Some of the first to escape from the cave were so frightened that they could not walk a single step, and some were so smoky that they vomited. In contrast, the old miners, who were still in trouble, were calmer, and they let the young men with fast legs go to the government office to report the news first, and they themselves began to collect stones and pile them at the entrance of the cave as they did last time, only to wait for the people behind to escape and block them.

Soon, everyone escaped, and the entrance to the cave was successfully sealed. Zhang Laosan is still not at ease. At the beginning, it was Lu Wenchi who ordered the bombing to seal the entrance of the cave tightly, but now it is just a pile of stones, if the demon beast wants to break through, it may not be able to stop it. Thinking of this, they piled up all the minecarts, pickaxes, and sticks at the mouth of the mine, and tightly stuffed the grass roots in the cracks. They don't know how much they can use, but they always have more confidence in their hearts to fill in more points.