Lu Su went to the treasury early in the morning and distributed 30,000 sets of armor from Hebei to the barracks.

Lu Bu was waiting in the official mansion, Guo Tu and Cui Yan.

The sun jumped out of the horizon, and Guo Tu and Cui Yan came to the official mansion.

Like the night before, they didn't take Yuan Shang with them.

Seeing the two of them, Lu Bu sensed the subtlety of the relationship between the Yuan family.

Guo Tu has always been close to Yuan Tan, and has always been committed to pushing Yuan Tan to the position of Yuan Shao's heir.

Because of this, he and Yuan Shang were of course impossible to deal with.

As for Cui Yan, he didn't take Yuan Shang with him, it is likely that he and Yuan Shang had already negotiated and asked the third son of the Yuan family, who had been causing trouble since he came to Pengcheng, to stay in the pavilion and wait for their news.

When the two of them came to the front hall, Lu Bu, who was already waiting there, had a smile on his face and arched his hand towards them: "I've been waiting here for two of you for a while. ”

"There is Lao Chuhou waiting, I am really scared." Guo Tu asked with a smile: "Dare to ask Chu Hou, can you go and take a look at coal now?" ”

"It stands to reason that I shouldn't take the two of them to the coal mine, but only send the coal out of the city and return to Hebei with the two." Lu Bu said: "But I have an alliance with Yuan Gong, and Yuan Gong has sent so many armors this time, which has solved my urgent need." In any case, I have to give the two of them some cheapness, and I should show them that I have sent all the coal in Pengcheng to Hebei. ”

In fact, just earlier, Zhang Shiping set up an arsenal, and Lu Bu had already sent a lot of coal.

The arsenal needed a lot of coal to forge weapons and armor.

Before the mass production of ordnance, the coal was only hoarded in the arsenal.

Now all the coal produced by the coal mine is sent to Hebei, and when the coal in the arsenal is almost used, the newly produced coal can be connected immediately, so that there will be no coal available at home.

It's just that in front of Guo Tu and Cui Yan, Lu Bu wants to speak more beautifully, at least for the sake of the alliance everywhere.

"General Lu has such energy, if the lord knows, he will be overjoyed." Cui Yan also asked: "Since the general plans to take us to the coal mine to have a look, I don't know when we can set off?" ”

"I'm waiting here for the two of you, isn't it just to go to the coal mine?" Lu Bu stood up, smiled slightly and said to the two of them, "Please come with me, two of you." ”

Accompanied Lu Bu to leave the official mansion, and when he arrived at the gate, Sun Ce had already prepared the carriage and horses.

Lu Bu asked the two of them, "Guo Gong, Cui Gong, are you riding a horse or a car?" ”

"I'm used to riding horses in Hebei." Guo Tu said: "It's good for the two of us to ride horses. ”

"Since you ride a horse, you don't have to follow the cart." Lu Bu waved his hand and motioned for the carriage to stay.

Accompanying Guo Tu and Cui Yan out of the Pengcheng City Gate, on the way to the coal mine, Lu Bu said to them: "The two of you don't know anything about the coal mine, and there is nothing to do on the road, let me tell you two, how about it?" ”

"General Lu is willing to speak, of course we are willing to listen." Guo Tu asked, "I wonder how the general was able to find a coal mine in Xuzhou in the first place?" ”

"If you want to talk about coal mines, it's really a chance." Lu Bu smiled and said to the two of them: "Coal is buried in the ground, and generally speaking, even if there is one under your feet, you won't notice it. Luckily, I'm well-read and know that there is such a thing as coal. The last time I was patrolling outside the city, I accidentally kicked open a black stone, and tried to burn it, so there was a Xuzhou coal mine. ”

Lu Bu told a story like a legend that even he didn't necessarily believe, but he stunned Guo Tu and Cui Yan, who didn't know anything about coal at all.

He said to Guo Tu and Cui Yan: "The first time I found coal, I also knew that it could be burned, so I deliberately pondered it. Coal was found to have a very strange property. ”

Guo Tu and Cui Yan glanced at each other, and Cui Yan asked, "Dare to ask General Lu, what are the strange characteristics of coal?" ”

"If you want to talk about the quirky property of coal, it's that lumps of coal are better than powders." "Some of the coals, which look like stones one by one, are thrown into the fire, and they burn for a long time, and they will have a higher heat. ”

For Guo Tu and Cui Yan, the coal they had seen was indeed like stones, and many of them were in the form of blocks, so they did not have any doubts about Lu Bu's statement.

"I seem to have discovered what General Lu said earlier." Guo Tu nodded: "The coal that was sent to Hebei before is indeed the one that is in large chunks and is easier to incinerate than powder. ”

"Of course." Lu Bu said: "The powder is mixed with yellow mud, and there is no way to burn yellow mud. You must know that there are some components of stones in the lumps of coal, and those stones can not only burn, but even burn vigorously. ”

He said that all this was nothing more than an excuse for the misery of gangue in the coal.

Although there are many people who have used coal in Lu Bu, most of them only know how to use it, and they have no understanding of the characteristics of coal.

Even Guo Tu and Cui Yan are like this.

Although they know that coal is a good thing and can improve the quality of steel by forging steel, they don't know what kind of coal burns more vigorously, and what kind of coal causes insufficient heat due to various reasons when burning.

"If General Lu hadn't told us this, we really wouldn't have understood the characteristics of coal." Guo Tu twisted the beard on his chin, nodded thoughtfully, and said to Lu Bu: "Actually, what really interests us is how General Lu found coal, and is it possible for us in Hebei to find this kind of thing?" ”

Of course, Hebei has coal, and there is a soul in his body after 2,000 years, and Lu Bu knows that there are a lot of coal resources in Hebei.

But how could he tell Guo Tu and Cui Yan such news?

In case the two of them ran back to instigate Yuan Shao to open a mine in Hebei, and they really found it, from now on he will be the only one in the world who holds the coal mine in his hand, but it will be difficult to mix.

To open a coal mine in Hebei, of course, you will have to wait until Lu Bu gets there in the future, and then you will start to do it.

"To be honest, you two don't like to listen to it." Lu Bu said with embarrassment on his face: "Although there are some mines in the world that store coal, this kind of thing is not something that can be found if you want to find it. At least when I mined the Xuzhou coal mine, it was also by chance. I haven't found coal in Hebei for so many years, and I don't think it's fair to say if there will be there. ”

If he said that there must be no in Hebei, Guo Tu and Cui Yan would definitely be suspicious, and after returning to Yecheng, they would not stop instigating Yuan Shao to look for coal everywhere.

The Central Plains was in turmoil, the Yuan family sat in Hebei, where the population was large and the products were rich, and they coexisted in the world, which was originally a big loss.

He said in an uncertain tone that Hebei may not necessarily have it, and Guo Tu and Cui Yan are even more sure that this kind of thing is only abundant in Xuzhou.

"No wonder Cao Cao has always wanted to get Xuzhou, maybe he already knew that there was a lot of coal in Xuzhou." Guo Tu said: "General Lu has to defend Xuzhou, if he can't hold Xuzhou and Cao Cao takes away the coal mines, our Yuan family and General Lu will be in trouble in the future." ”

"If I can't hold Xuzhou, Cao Cao will definitely kill me." Lu Bu said: "The only one who will really be in trouble is the Yuan family. As for me, I'm no longer in this world, so I don't have to worry so much. ”

When it came to life and death, Lu Bu's words were bland, but Guo Tu and Cui Yan couldn't help frowning.

Both of them knew very well that if Xuzhou was really destroyed by Cao Cao, it would indeed be like what Lu Bu said, and the Yuan family would be in trouble in the future.

General Lu laughed. Cui Yan replied: "Since the general has formed an alliance with my lord, no matter what, when the general is in danger, the lord will also lend a hand." It is not so easy for the general to leave this world. ”

"According to what Cui Gong said, it's not easy for me to die in my life?" Lu Bu laughed, and then said to Cui Yan: "I was just joking just now, Cao Cao wanted to harm me, but how could I let him succeed?" In terms of bravery, those under him are not my opponents, and in terms of strategy, I have a lot of strategists. If you talk about alliances, now that Yuan Gong and I support each other, just Cao Cao, what is it to me? ”

"General Lu still understands that what the general said just now really scared me a lot." Guo Tu said with a smile: "If the general has any needs in the future, just send someone to Hebei to mention it to the lord, if I am by the lord's side, as long as it is not too demanding, I will help the general." ”

"With Guo Gong's words, I can rest assured." Lu Bu laughed and said to Guo Tu and Cui Yan: "Not far ahead, we will almost reach the coal mine." ”

Not long after leaving Pengcheng, Guo Tu and Cui Yan obviously didn't expect that the coal was so close to them.

Lu Bu led them to the gate of the coal mine, where the steward was already waiting.

Seeing the steward, Lu Bu said: "I'll take Guo Gong and Cui Gong to take a look at the coal storage, have you all left it?" ”

"I haven't sold coal to the outside world for a few days." The steward replied: "Chu Hou also knows that it is not so easy to get a basket of coal now. The craftsman has been working in the well for half a day, and it is already considered a creation to be able to get some of it. ”

"Wasn't it easy to get coal a few days ago?" Lu Bu seemed to be surprised and asked the steward.

"Chu Hou doesn't know." The steward replied: "A few days ago, it was indeed easy for craftsmen to get a basket of coal, and the coal seam at that time was very shallow, and it was not much difficult for us to mine, so it was transported relatively quickly." Now that the coal seam is deep, people can't really see it when they go down. It was indeed not as easy as earlier to get a basket of coal. ”

"Don't talk to me so much, I'll just ask you, has the coal here been sold to others privately?" Lu Bu pretended to be unhappy and asked the steward.

"Chu Hou has already confessed, but all the coal produced will be kept, and no one is allowed to dispose of it privately." The steward replied: "With Chu Hou's explanation, who would dare to sell coal goods to others?" What is stored in the coal mine today, but it took the craftsmen many days to accumulate ......"

"Don't care how much, it's all prepared for the Yuan family." Lu Bu explained to the steward: "What I lack, Duke Yuan sent it to me from thousands of miles of hard work, if I deduct some more from coal, wouldn't I be sorry for Duke Yuan?" ”

The steward resignedly agreed.

Guo Tu and Cui Yan, who followed Lu Bu here, did not doubt every word he said.

On the way here, Lu Bu had already told them about the difficulties they would encounter in mining coal mines, and the two of them were also deeply convinced of this.

Coal is buried in the ground, but it is not so easy to get anything underground.

A scene that made the two even more unexpected appeared.

Lu Bu turned around and grinned at them: "Guo Gong and Cui Gong, since we have already come here, we will go to see the coal first, and then I will take the two of you to the bottom of the mine to have a look." When the two of them get to the bottom of the mine, they should also understand why coal is so expensive. ”

Lu Bu invited them to go underground, and of course Guo Tu and Cui Yan would not shirk it.

Guo Tu replied: "Chu Hou didn't treat us as outsiders, of course we swept Chu Hou's interest. It's all here, and it's great to be able to take a look under the coal mine. ”

The two of them happily agreed to go down the mine, and Lu Bu said to the steward, "Take us to see the coal first." ”

The steward agreed, and stood sideways to the side, while Lu Bu, Guo Tu, and Cui Yan walked past him on horseback.

When they entered the coal mine, the steward accompanied Lu Bu's horse and showed them the way.

Bypassing a few rows of factories, Guo Tu and Cui Yan saw a hill of coal piled up in the distance.

Seeing that hill, Guo Tu frowned slightly: "General Lu, why did you ......?"

"That's it?" Lu Bu took Guo Tu's words.

Guo Tu nodded: "Such a little bit of coal, it seems like a lot of it is piled up there, but if it is really incinerated, it should not take long......

"As I said, you two can come with me to the bottom of the mine later." Lu Bu said: "Otherwise, I will let people pile up as much raw coal as the coal mine has mined recently, and when the two of you leave, I will take away as much as you want, how about it?" ”

Lu Bu responded so generously, Guo Tu and Cui Yan couldn't say anything more.

He has a lot of output these days, and he will take away as much as he wants, and if he still doesn't let go, not to say that there is too little coal, it will make people feel petty.

Before coming to the coal pile, Lu Bu kicked a large piece of coal on it: "Do you two see it, coal like this is the best, and what I left for Yuan Gong is also the best raw coal that Xuzhou can provide."

"General Lu's wishes, we will definitely convey them to the lord." Guo Tu replied: "It's just such a little coal, I'm afraid that the lord will be unhappy when he sees it." ”

"This little bit of coal is really the output of Xuzhou coal mine for two or three months." Lu Bu said: "Coal is difficult to mine, and I took two people down the mine later, and I understood." ”

(End of chapter)