"So little?" Li Zicheng knew that there were not many materials in the craftsman's workshop, but he didn't expect that it would be so scarce, only ten guns, and even training was not enough, how could he fight?

Among these pig irons, I am afraid that they also include the agricultural tools that the craftsmen's workshops are building for the people, which are tools for producing food, and they must not be reduced, what should we do?

Li Zicheng suddenly saw the armor on He Xiaomi's body, and he had an idea, "Tell Liu Fang that the damaged weapons and armor don't need to be repaired, and all of them will be rerefined to make high-quality steel, and in addition, from now on, there will be no need to build armor." ”

Since the range of the fire # gun can reach 400 steps, this has entered the era of hot # weapons, the two sides are separated by such a distance, or in other words, the other party is separated by such a distance, there is no need for armor - whether it is the bow and arrow of the Ming Dynasty, the fire # gun, or the bow and arrow of the nomads, it will not exceed 60 steps, and it will not pose a threat to the soldiers of Xining at all, as for the artillery, the range may reach hundreds of steps or even more than 1,000 steps, but the current artillery is solid bullets, and the striking surface is small, besides, if it is hit by the solid bullet of the artillery, Armor also does not play a protective role, even if there is no external injury, it is an internal injury, at this stage, once it encounters artillery, you can only ask for more blessings.

However, this is not a solution, there is no ironmaking plant in Xining, just revitalizing the existing resources, it is still far from enough, once the fire # gun is produced on a large scale, it will need a lot of steel, and resources must be obtained from the outside to meet the needs of making guns.

What to do?

I have already said it to Mu Qingshan last time, but Mu Qingshan doesn't seem to care, and he hasn't replied so far, if there are no resources, it's okay to provide some information, Mu Qingshan can't take it, I can get it myself, it's best to get a stable supply, in case it doesn't work, Li Zicheng gritted his teeth, "It's okay to grab a vote, and when you are equipped with a fire # gun in the future, Ma Qiao, no matter who you are, Lao Tzu doesn't care!" ”

After coming out of the craftsman's workshop, Li Zicheng did not go home, but went directly to Mufu.

When Mu Qingshan got the message, he immediately took the big and small servants in the house and opened the middle door to greet him, "The grass people knock to see your lord!" ”

Li Zicheng looked at the slave kneeling on the ground in front of him, and laughed secretly in his heart, this Da Ming, really, what's the use of kneeling alone, if there is no sincerity, these appearances can only fool some people with strong vanity, "Get up!" ”

Mu Qingshan came to Li Zicheng and whispered: "The adults are here, please enter the mansion for a while." ”

When I came to Mu Mansion, I was naturally looking for you, the master, isn't this nonsense? Li Zicheng made a gesture and waved his hand: "Lord Mu, please!" ”

"Your Excellency, please!"

The two entered Mu Qingshan's living room, sat opposite each other, and a maid had already served fragrant tea, and the maid stood behind Mu Qingshan, intending to continue to serve the two, but Mu Qingshan waved her hand, she knew that the master had something important, so she had to lower her head and go out with broken steps, and closed the door with her hand.

Mu Qingshan bowed his hand to Li Zicheng, "When did the adults come back?" The grass people have been waiting for a few days! ”

Li Zicheng smiled lightly and said, "Ao, is there anything good about Lord Mu being so anxious to see me?" ”

"Don't hide it from my lord, the grass people went to Shaanxi and just came back," Mu Qingshan folded his hands, propped them on the square table in front of him, leaned forward, and said, "Zaomin has already taken off all the glass from last month." ”

"Got off? That's good," Li Zicheng smiled slightly, "How about it, is Shaanxi still peaceful?" Did the thieves affect the main trade route of Mudong? ”

"My lord, the thieves in Shaanxi are basically in the north, where it was originally a military town, or a high mountain, and the trade route has no impact for the time being," Mu Qingshan was a little strange, why didn't Li Zicheng care about the silver, he paused, and finally couldn't help it, "My lord, all the money for the glass has been brought back, and the silver for the adult should be six thousand taels, does the adult want a silver ticket or cash?" ”

"The silver is not in a hurry in advance," although Li Zicheng needed silver, but he came to the Mu Mansion this time, not for the matter of silver, "Lord Mu, did I ask you to find pig iron last time?" ”

"Pig iron? The adults didn't say it, the grass people almost forgot "Mu Qingshan patted his head, "The grass people went to Shaanxi this time, and asked someone to inquire, I'm afraid it's a little difficult, now the northern part of Shaanxi is basically a world of thieves, not to mention ordinary businessmen and ordinary people, even sergeants, don't dare to go to the north easily." ”

"What about the South? Isn't the rich place in Shaanxi the south? Where the capital of the Han and Tang dynasties is located, in the land of the Guanzhong Plain, is there no pig iron there? Li Zicheng vaguely remembered that Chang'an in the Han and Tang dynasties was now Xi'an, not to mention prosperous, but I didn't know if there was an ironmaking plant there.

"Southern Shaanxi is indeed much richer than northern Shaanxi, but near Xi'an, the main production is grain, but there is not much pig iron," Mu Qingshan further explained: "Pig iron is a goods embargoed by the imperial court, and ordinary people will not hoard a large amount of pig iron, otherwise there will be a suspicion of collusion with the Tartars and the Mongols...... However, the grass people left the dog in Shaanxi, firstly to explore the situation of the market near Xi'an, and secondly, to ask someone to inquire about the pig iron. ”

Li Zicheng was unhappy in his heart, he rarely entrusted him to do something, but he didn't take it to heart, "What does proprietor Mu mean, that is, he didn't get any valuable clues?" ”

"My lord," Mu Qingshan noticed the strangeness of Li Zicheng's expression, so he gritted his teeth and said: "The grass people have got some clues, in Xi'an City, the King of Qin has hoarded thousands of catties of pig iron in his hands, but the grass people and the King of Qin can't speak......

"King Qin?" Li Zicheng knew that this King of Qin was naturally the descendant of the old Zhu family, but it was a little difficult for King Qin to have pig iron in his hands, the palace was not a market, who knew if he sold it? Or these pig irons of theirs, prepared for a fixed person, "Does proprietor Mu know, why did King Qin hoard pig iron?" ”

"This ...... The grass people also have no exact information, but they have vaguely heard that it is to guard against thieves. ”

There are a large number of thieves in the north of Shaanxi, once transferred to the south, the Qin Wangfu in Xi'an Mansion will definitely become their target of attack, and the Qin Wangfu hoards pig iron, which is to prepare for the extraordinary period, build their own weapons, use the power of the mansion, and resist the thieves by themselves, which is understandable.

The reason why King Qin sat in Xi'an was to ensure the stability of Xi'an and even Shaanxi, but the large amount of hoarding of pig iron must be for thieves?

Li Zicheng pondered for a moment, and suddenly had a plan in his heart, "Master Mu, if King Qin openly sells pig iron to the outside world, can your people eat it?" ”

"For public sale?" Mu Qingshan's heart moved, could it be that Li Zicheng could let King Qin sell the pig iron that he had hoarded so hard? Has Li Zicheng's power reached Shaanxi? He was not sure, and hurriedly said: "If King Qin sells pig iron publicly, the grass people can eat some, and in addition, you can also ask friends in Shaanxi to help eat some," after a pause, he said: "Actually, except for the thieves and Mongolians in Shaanxi, the demand for pig iron is not large, and it is no accident that the grass people can eat most of it." ”

"Eat most of it?" Li Zicheng was overjoyed, but he hadn't reached the point of confusion yet, "Master Mu, pig iron is a thing embargoed by the imperial court, and thieves are rampant in Shaanxi, these pig iron must be very sensitive, even if you eat it, can you transport it to Xining?" It doesn't cause other people's ideas, does it? ”

Mu Qingshan thought for a while, and said: "The grass people will naturally not eat it alone, mobilize friends to help, divide these pig iron into points, part of the pig iron will go south for a while, and then turn to Xining, in case someone asks, the grass people will say that it was purchased by the people of the Western Regions for the production of glass ......"

Such a reason is a bit reluctant, but Li Zicheng can't care about it.

Even if the imperial court finally discovers the fate of these pig irons, it doesn't matter, and when the imperial court sends people to start tracking down these pig irons, I am afraid that they will all become Xining's fire # guns.

Since Mu Qingshan was willing to help, it was great, Li Zicheng hurriedly diverted the topic and said, "Master Mu, do you have any other information about pig iron?" ”

Mu Qingshan said with a bitter face: "There are always some sporadic pig iron, but it won't be too much, I don't know if adults can see it?" ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "No matter how much, I want it, or tell me specific information, and I will naturally ask someone to get it." ”

Regarding the matter of pig iron, it finally came to an end, and Mu Qingshang asked about the silver again, "My lord, how to pay the silver for selling glass to my lord?" ”

"Lord Mu also needs silver to buy pig iron, so let's store the silver there first, and when the pig iron matter is settled, we will settle it!" Li Zicheng is not worried that Mu Qingshan will swallow his silver, the army he controls is also in his hands and a large number of scarce goods, as long as he is not an idiot, he will consider long-term cooperation.

He is not in a hurry to use silver, with this way of glass, he can earn 6,000 taels a month, 70,000 taels a year, if he develops glass products in the future, the profit may be higher, the important thing is to maintain this trade route.

"That's fine," Mu Qingshan smiled and said, "The matter of buying pig iron, I still need the help of friends in Shaanxi, they ...... But if you have to pay the silver first, pig iron is a prohibited item after all, and the imperial court prohibits a large number of private sales. ”

"Everything has a lau mu proprietor!" Li Zicheng bowed his hand to Mu Qingshan, and then waited to get up and go back, but Mu Qingshan lowered his voice and said: "My lord, the daughter of the grass people is the Rong'er in the Xining Academy......"

"What does proprietor Mu mean......" Li Zicheng was a little puzzled, didn't Mu Sirong's marriage with himself agree at that time? Could it be that Mu Qingshan wants to force marriage? It's okay to get married, with your current economic strength, it's okay to support one more woman, but Mu Sirong is not yet an adult.

"My lord," Mu Qingshan said carefully: "Rong'er is already fourteen, I don't know if my lord can see ......."

"Lord Mu, Si Rong is still young!" Since Mu Qingshan said it himself, Li Zicheng couldn't help but reply, and then he remembered that Mu Qingshan should be worried about the pig iron, and after the pig iron was handed over to Li Zicheng, it was all used to rebel, if the court investigated it......

Li Zicheng naturally won't worry, he has embarked on this road, he is fully mentally prepared, and Mu Qingshan is different, if he can't become one of the core figures in Xining, he is a businessman, living a good life, why is he so involved? Even staking the life of the whole family for the future, is it just a kind of trust?

Mu Qingshan is a businessman, so he naturally wants to pursue profits.

At least it is a guarantee of future benefits, can Li Zicheng find a guarantee for him?