After the matter of the iron factory was completed, Gu Bei went to the military industry superintendent.

Fortunately, the military industrial supervisor is not far from Baifu, only a few streets away, and it is only two turns away from the door.

The military industry supervision yamen is low-key on the outside and even more low-key on the inside......

Looking at the peeling paint, the old green brick duty rooms and warehouses, Gu Beidou was speechless, this is no longer a question of low-key or not, if you are richer, the rural schools are brighter than here, right?

This military supervisor is also one of the five eunuchs of the Xia Kingdom, even if it is the yamen of Ying Tianfu, it should not be so shabby.

Menzi led Gu Bei to the duty room of the prison and bent down to retreat.

Gu Bei knocked on the door, and when he heard a cough coming from inside, he couldn't help but pout, a military industry supervisor is just a supervisor, why is he putting such a big score?

As soon as he pushed the door, the old door shaft that was unknown how many years old made a "squeak" sound that made the roots of his teeth sour, and the corners of Gu Bei's eyes jumped.

It's a bit too much to pretend to be incorruptible, right?

I can't help but think of a sentence: The honest people in the world are either great sages and great virtues, or great treacherous and evil......

However, if it is a great evil, there is no reason to stay in the military industry prison, right? For example, the highly professional yamen of the military industry supervision has very little communication between officials and other departments, and it is more like an independent small world, which has its own system.

Pushing open this old door, Gu Bei couldn't lift it inside.

At this time, it was three o'clock in the morning, the sun had risen high, and suddenly entered the room from the sun-drenched outside, and the eyes could not adapt to the dim light for a while, and they were actually a little "blind......

Are all the windows covered with brown paper?

It's so dark in this room!

Suddenly falling from light to darkness, Gu Bei blinked his eyes violently, unable to see the situation in the room clearly, Shi Li didn't know which direction to rush......

A voice came to mind in his ear: "Hehe, you are the uncle of the Bai family, Gu Bei?" ”

This voice is warm and peaceful, and it doesn't seem to be too old, and the tone is a little kind.

But Gu Bei is very unhappy, Lao Tzu can't see your face......

I had to arch my hand at the figure sitting on the chair faintly: "Exactly, Gu has seen Zhao Jianzheng." ”

The man smiled, got up and walked over to Gu Bei, and said, "No need to be polite, the old man also followed the old man back then, and speaking of which, it is also a family." ”

This person walked in front of Gu Bei and cordially took Gu Bei's hand, and Gu Bei saw this person's appearance clearly.

With thin cheeks, a high nose and deep eyes, three long beards under the chin, and a polite and well-mannered manner, he is actually a middle-aged handsome uncle with a very good temperament and appearance.

It's just that although the official robe is neat and clean, it may have been washed too many times, and the crimson robe is faintly white.

Gu Bei sighed in his heart, what kind of chief is there, what kind of yamen is there......

Judging from his experience in two lives, such a person with a righteous face and a clean breeze on his sleeves is the most harsh and stubborn, and he will not be with the light and dust when he is idle, and he stubbornly adheres to his beliefs and never compromises!

This kind of person is the most difficult to communicate with and difficult to deal with.

Gu Bei's heart beat a drum, can today's transaction be negotiated? Then he was relieved.

How could I have suffered so much, a good woman doesn't worry about getting married, and I'm afraid that no one wants good steel?

Gu Beichang bowed and said in a respectful tone: "I often listen to my old man talk about Uncle Zhao, and teach the younger generations to learn more about Uncle Zhao's noble character of holding himself upright and having a clean breeze on his sleeves. ”

The supervisor of the military industrial superintendent, surnamed Zhao Minglian, should be from Tianfu, and he had done things under his old man in the past, and he was very appreciated by his old man.

He has an Uncle Zhao on his left, and another Uncle Zhao, so that the relationship can be solidified first, so that it is easy to talk.

It's all called your uncle, so it's hard for you to refuse directly, right?

Zhao Lian laughed and said: "I have heard that the uncle of the Bai family has an upright temperament, but as soon as we met, I blocked a certain person with a word, let's say, what is the matter with coming here today?" If so, just say it. ”

Gu Bei waved his hand and said: "Thank you Uncle Zhao first, there is indeed a matter when I came this time, and the little nephew doesn't know whether to say it or not......

Zhao Lian smiled: "You and my uncle and nephew, if you have something to say, you can say it." ”

Gu Bei was a little reserved, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "I heard that the military industry supervisor is planning to add an armor horse recently, I don't know what is going on?" ”

"But there is a matter, the virtuous nephew asked what this is for? Oh, don't you want to ......"

Zhao Lian was slightly surprised at first, and then reacted, could it be that Gubei has a supply of pig iron, and plans to go through the back door and sell the pig iron to the military industry supervisor to build armor?

His face sank by the way.

Zhao Lian is a bit of a split personality......

On the one hand, he is still tactful in dealing with people, and he easily refuses to offend people, and he also bows his head; On the other hand, he treats his position, but he is conscientious and not sloppy, and the big official wants to make money out of his one-third of an acre, absolutely not!

Hearing Gu Bei's words, he naturally thought that this kid was raising conditions, and it was true that the pig iron he planned to sell to the military industry supervisor must be inferior goods of unqualified quality, and he wanted to make a lot of money.

He Zhao Lian only nodded, according to Gu Bei's slippery temperament, it must be indispensable.

But Gu Bei made money, patted his ass and got out, what did he do?

That armor has to be worn on the soldiers, go into battle to kill the enemy and charge, if anything goes wrong, it is not only a human life, but can even lead to the defeat of a war!

Lao Tzu broke a penny in half and spent it, but let you make such a fortune?

He Zhao Lian would not do such a thing if he was killed!

Gu Bei felt the change in Zhao Lian's attitude, and said in his heart, Are you really selfless and conscientious, or is it not uncommon to have a way?

But obviously you are thinking about it, if I want to make money, I Gu Bei will use this kind of low-level, imbecile, and low-IQ tricks?

Do you look down on people......

Gu Bei said calmly: "The little nephew can provide refined iron to the military industry supervisor to make armor, and the price of this batch of fine iron is seventy percent of the previous purchase price of the military industry supervisor."

The quality is at least twice that of the pig iron used before, Uncle Zhao can test it on the spot, if it can't reach the quality that the little nephew said, the little nephew won't take a penny, and all of it will be given to Uncle Zhao in vain, but I don't know if Uncle Zhao gave the little nephew this opportunity? ”

Zhao Lian was silent.

The military industry superintendent also has its own ironworks, but due to the endless wars in the imperial court in recent years, the loss of weapons has been increasing day by day, and the output is far from meeting the requirements.

Most of the iron materials needed for spears, bows, crossbows, swords, and armor had to be purchased, so that the military industry supervisor became a sweet spot in the eyes of all iron factories.

But not everyone can join this threshold......

In addition to the quality and price of iron, even a loyal person like Zhao Lian has to consider human relations.

In a word, in the case of price and quality, you have to take care of related households.

Who are the related households?

The largest related household of the military industry supervision is the Liu family.

Emperor Xia's brother-in-law, the eldest prince's maternal uncle, and the Liu family of Liu Wen, the Duke of Huaguo!

If Gu Bei's iron material can really be as he said, Zhao Lian will naturally not hesitate to sell this face.

"Is this a good nephew serious? You must know that when it comes to human affection, you and I are like uncles and nephews. ”

Gu Bei laughed: "That's the case, wait for the little nephew to bring the iron material, Uncle Zhao will know at a glance." You say okay, then you can do it, you say no, the little nephew will never say a word of nonsense that makes Uncle Zhao embarrassed, how about it? ”

What are you kidding, with the current level of iron smelting, the iron smelted can be compared to ours?

Zhao Lian said at this time: "Then it is decided, you will bring iron material later, if the quality is passed, the price is as you said, it is only half of the past, then it will naturally give the virtuous nephew this face!"

The two finalized the matter, Gu Bei said goodbye and left, and asked the coachman to drive towards Luobei Port.

Alas, it's a tiring life, but it's worth it to negotiate.

In the afternoon, as soon as Zhao Lian, the military industry supervisor, got up from his lunch break, Gu Bei came, and led a four-wheeled carriage, and on the flat carriage of the carriage, there were several pig iron ingots neatly stacked.

"Lord Supervisor, I have already brought a few samples of the iron ingots, and please assign an experienced blacksmith from the military industry supervision to test it to see if the quality of the iron ingots you purchased before is much better."

In the morning in the duty room, calling Uncle Zhao seemed very cordial and brought the relationship closer, but now Zhao Lian is standing at the door of the duty room, and people come and go, so he has to be commensurate with his official position.

"Hehe," Zhao Lian smiled, walked over with his hands behind his back, glanced at Gu Bei, and then went to see the iron ingots on the carriage.

"Although so-and-so is not a blacksmith, he is no worse than those blacksmiths."

has been in the military industry supervision for more than ten years, and he is familiar with a lot of technology, and Zhao Lian is a good person to study, if it is about craftsmanship, there are really few people in the military industry supervision who dare to boast that they can compare with him.

In this era, there was no microscope to accurately measure the elemental composition of steel materials, so we had to rely on the most primitive method, that is, visual inspection!

Gu Beidu had to admire these ancients, they didn't use any tools, just by looking at a pair of eyes, they could see the approximate performance of an iron ingot, and then they could knock and beat with things, basically eight or nine were not far from ten.

After carefully inspecting a few iron ingots, Zhao Lian's eyes lit up, staring at Gu Bei and asking, "Are you sure they are all of this quality?" ”

Gu Bei said calmly: "It can only be better, it will never be bad." ”

"Good!"

No wonder Zhao Lian is so excited.

How many good swords and armor can be made from these fine irons, and how many casualties can be reduced against the Turkic Iron Cavalry.

Almost every piece of these iron ingots transported by Gu Bei can be used as iron materials to make blades and armor.

How can Zhao Lian not be excited? As long as you think of the countless Great Xia Erlang, wearing armor made of fine iron and holding blades made of fine iron into battle, think about it......

"It's coming! How many you have, I want them all!"

Zhao Lian had red eyes, and he was ruthless, even if he resigned from the Liu family's iron factory, he had to take down all this kind of iron material, and he would not hesitate to offend the Liu family to death!

He's already mad about this iron!

It's just that......

Gu Bei smiled slightly embarrassedly: "What's that...... Lord Supervisor, you can't ......."

Zhao Lian suddenly glared: "What's the matter?" A certain is a dignified military industry supervisor, even if the contract of other iron factories is stopped, you must take down all these iron materials in your house! If the money of the military industry supervisor is not enough, this official will go and ask His Majesty! ”

"Your Majesty won't want to...... An iron factory at home can produce 20,000 catties of this iron every day, which is given to you for free, where do you get so many craftsmen to forge for you? You can't leave it rusty......"

"Two ...... 20,000 catties? ”

Zhao Lian's eyes almost popped out, and he said in his heart, how come you have an iron factory, and you still have 20,000 catties, and the entire Ying Tianfu is your iron factory?

Zhao Lian looked contemptuous, and looked like Lao Tzu had already seen through you: "Even if your iron factory can produce 20,000 catties a day, who do you sell it to?" The military industry supervision can be said to be the largest place to use iron in the entire Great Xia, and it only consumes 100,000 catties of iron per month when it starts working at full strength!

This official doesn't believe it, what other yamen can consume more iron than the military industrial superintendent? ”

Gu Bei said helplessly: "I didn't say which yamen I sold it to......"

"That's even more! Which firm in Daxia can compare to the iron consumption of the yamen? ”

"It doesn't have to be sold to the yamen, it is true that the scale of the military industry supervisor or other yamen is much larger than that of the private sector, and the demand is also large, but you must know that the profit is small!

A certain can be forged iron pots, kitchen knives, hoes...... Wait for farm tools, then the profit can be doubled compared to selling to the military industry supervisor!"

Gu Bei had to tell this supervisor about the business experience, with the quality of the iron smelting materials in the iron factory under Gu Bei's name, it is not much worse than the so-called "steel" of the general people, this kind of agricultural tools made of wrought iron with carbon content second only to steel, the quality is absolutely second to the current period of Daxia so the iron factory, supplemented by low prices, monopolizing the iron market in Daxia is not a problem!

Zhao Lian was stupid, his eyes were obviously a little dull, and he said, "You...... You mean...... Use this fine iron to forge kitchen knives? Gu Bei nodded affirmatively: "And the hoe ......"

Before the words fell, Zhao Lian swooped up like a madman, grabbed Gu Bei's neck, and his two eyes seemed to be about to eat people: "Violent things!" Bastard, you actually use this kind of superb fine iron to forge kitchen knives and hoes, you ...... What a sin! ”

Gu Bei was taken aback by his movements, and he was actually grabbed by the collar like this, and he didn't dodge......

I really didn't see that the prisoner, who was thinner than him, was so agile?

Gu Bei smiled bitterly: "Lord Jianzheng, Uncle Zhao, don't get excited, do you think it's a pity to have these iron forging kitchen knives and hoes, you can't let the iron factory that your little nephew just built be closed, right?" ”

Zhao Lian was just angry when he saw that such a good iron was ruined by Gu Bei, and when Gu Bei said this, he also knew that he was too excited.

People build iron factories and work hard to make iron, so naturally how to make money and how to sell it......

It's just that this iron material is so beautiful, so it's forged into a kitchen knife......

Zhao Lian was extremely entangled in his heart, so he had to grit his teeth, out of sight and out of mind: "100,000 catties of iron per month...... 80,000 yuan, give it to the official to send it to the workshop in the south of the city on time, and the price will be half of the current market price, right? ”

"As long as it's cash, it's all right!" Gu Bei didn't care, his improved iron-making method has greatly increased both output and quality, and the cost has naturally dropped to an unbelievable level, even if it is sold at half price, it will still make a lot of money.

Zhao Lian ordered someone to come and write a contract with Gu Bei, agreeing with each other not to regret each other, empty words without evidence, and words as proof!

Then he waved his hand extremely tiredly, signaling that Gu Bei could go.

If you asked about the place of Luobeigang half a year ago, you would be the most lively foot merchant in Tianfu City, and you would be at a loss.

But now, even if you don't go out of the door, and everyone who doesn't step out of the second door, you can say one, two, three......

Here, it has now become the southeast freight distribution center, with new boom loading and unloading, new warehousing and transportation, new four-wheeled carriages, and new trading methods......

It's a brand new place, and there's something new about it.

The three princes in brocade robes walked on the street, looking around with great interest, and felt fresh when they saw everything.

Yang Shaoling looked at the busy and prosperous wharf where people came and went, and sighed: "I didn't expect Gu Bei to have such a big fortune, but it's a pity that ......"

Zhou Qingwen, who was wearing a soap-colored robe beside him, was also a little abrupt: "Yes, earth-shaking changes have taken place here in just half a year." ”

The two looked at each other, both in disbelief.

Yang Shaoling looked at the boats coming and going on the Qinhuai River, and sighed: "With such a wharf, it's not difficult to make money in the future, right?" ”

The currency of the Xia Dynasty was copper coins, but large transactions were sometimes settled by bills or gold from reputable banks, but rarely in silver.

Since the beginning of the previous dynasties, gold is the representative of precious value, and gold is also the most popular store of value until the modern era, until after the Xia Dynasty, everyone was willing to accept gold as a means of payment for large amounts.

Zhou Qingwen scratched his head, and said in his heart, where do I know?

He has been with His Highness these days, and he is where His Highness is, and the rest is just hearsay!

What if you can't say it accurately? If you say something wrong, you will be deceiving Your Highness!

But it is not good for His Highness not to answer when he asks......

As soon as he looked up, he saw a person walking in a hurry not far away, Zhou Qingwen's face was happy, and he hurriedly beckoned: "Silent." ”

The man was stunned for a moment, heard someone beckoning him, and glanced around blankly, only to find that Zhou Qingwen was calling him.

hurriedly trotted over and said with a smile: "Ouch, Qingwen, you also come to this kind of place?" It's a rarity!"

Zhou Qingwen said impatiently: "You also have business here?" ”

This person is Chen Moran of Chen Ji Commercial Bank, who is a fellow villager with Zhou Qingwen, and said with a smile: "Qingwen, what you said, this family with a little wealth in the southeast, which one has no business in Luobei Port?" Uh......"

As he was talking, Chen Ming coldly saw Yang Shaoling behind Zhou Qingwen. Fellow villager Zhou Qingwen was a staff member in front of the three princes, and he also knew that there were not many people who could accompany Zhou Qingwen out, and he was respectful to the boy in brocade. Only then did he confirm it, but he was also a clever person, knowing that there were many people here, and he didn't call it identified, but just respectfully saluted Yang Shaoling: "I've seen this son!"