Chapter 17 Preparation for the Southward Journey III

The old proprietor continued: "Originally, I wanted to have a treasure in my possession, and I should let everyone see it, otherwise, if you know it later, you will blame me for missing this eye." Unexpectedly, this caused me trouble. Everyone here is interested in getting this treasure. I've known everyone for so many years, and I know what everyone thinks, who doesn't want to exchange that cold silver for this treasure to play with. My old customer just wanted me to estimate it, but he didn't say he wanted to make a move. But everyone, you are not relentless in coming to me and begging me, just as I have a heart that is difficult for everyone. These days, I don't want to think about tea. When my old patron came back, I told them about it, and they were not satisfied. said he just wanted to ask me to help me see how he got the city full of wind and rain. Alas, my old face! Originally, I thought, come on, let him take the baby away quickly. But then I think about it, what about your friendship? Just bite the bullet, leave the family, have a meal together, and use the strength of the wine to persuade the people to give it away. At first, people said that they couldn't make a move anyway. I said why? As long as the price is right, there's nothing you can't sell. The people in the lobby were all fascinated by this, and they echoed and said, "Yes, as long as the price is right, you have to make a move when it's time to make a move." ”

Later, people said that the person who gave him this treasure said that this is really a treasure, which can not only bless his family, but also protect the entire Shanxi people from a difficult situation. So, ah, can't shoot. He also said that he shouldn't have taken it out to evaluate the money, and he regretted it. I hurriedly said, you didn't say it earlier, this treasure can't be taken out to show people! It seems that from the beginning of your appraisal of it, it means that your fate with this treasure is exhausted, you still have to make a move, while there are many nobles who are spoiling this treasure, you can get more silver if you sell it early, and you have also fulfilled your fate with this treasure. In this way, to put it mildly, I have earned this blessing for everyone. But people, put forward a condition, the treasures are not allowed to leave Shanxi. The old proprietor picked up his teacup and drank some water. There was a buzz of people's mouths.

The old proprietor coughed lightly and said, "As for who owns this treasure, who has this blessing." I think so, according to the old rules today, the one with the highest price will get it, and don't blame me for not getting it. That old customer, don't say that there is more money and less money. Priceless babies have a price to buy, this is a rule that has existed since ancient times. Therefore, as long as you can ensure that this treasure does not leave Shanxi, you can fight for it. ”

At this time, the shopkeeper Qiu stood up and said: "Everyone understands the rules, all the guests who came today are distinguished guests with a lot of wealth, and we will start from 5,000 taels of silver, and add from 1,000 taels." While the price has not yet been offered, you can come over and take a good look at this baby, we Shanxi people are so blessed, I want to see it in the future, but it depends on whether the new owner is willing or not. ”

There was chaos in the lobby. After hearing the words of the old club, Zhang Zhimu was a little tempted, thinking that this method was a master of marketing in his previous life, and the combination of virtual and real was really high. The means are the means, but people make money in the open, even us, people let you know clearly how much this treasure was sold. This is a businessman.

Then it's simple, everyone increases the price of each other, and the price increases Zhang Zhimu's back is a little sweaty. Huang Yukun also lost his calm and relaxed demeanor, and listened attentively to the amount of increase in the lobby, and his hands clenched unconsciously. When the price was increased to 20,000 taels, there was a quiet in the hall, and then two more people began to increase, and when the price was increased to 25,000, there was a silence. Maybe I think it's almost over, Qiu Lao said, "Since Second Master Yao is very sincere in collecting this treasure, I think everyone will stop fighting, and we will fulfill Second Master Yao's good intentions." The words of the old master made Zhang Zhimu sincerely admire. Seeing that everyone can't fight anymore, don't say that you can't fight, but say that you are letting Yao Erye. And Second Master Yao, there is pressure in his heart if he goes up, and I hope it's best not to add it. In the end, the second master Yao from Jinyang received this treasure. Wrote the paperwork, paid the deposit, and took the silver to take the treasure within three days. This second master Yao is called Yao Jinggui, and his family has been in business for several generations, and there are his family branches everywhere.

After sending off the guests in the lobby, the shopkeeper Qiu invited Huang Yukun and Zhang Zhimu to the lobby. As soon as he entered the lobby, Zhang Zhimu bowed his hand to the old master and said: "Admire and admire, the old master has let the younger generation appreciate what is the generosity of the merchant family and what is the real big businessman." ”

"It's too much, nephew. It's just a small trick. You may be seated. The old shopkeeper said politely. Then, he rushed to Huang Yukun and said, "Young grandma, are you still satisfied?" ”

"Satisfied, thank you to the old shopkeeper." Huang Yukun said.

"Old lady Chong Qin, I should do the same, and I should do the same for this business. To tell the truth, in this business, my family not only earned silver, but also earned a reputation that silver can't buy. In our industry, the most important thing is whether you can have rare goods that others don't have, the more rare goods you have, the more famous, and the more famous you are, the more business. So, I should be the one who should be thanked. "The old club is another high-level argument.

"The old club is polite." Huang Yukun said busily.

"Then the next afternoon, you will bring more men to fetch the money. Keep it secret from the outside world. The shopkeeper Qiu said.

"Okay, we'll be there the next afternoon." Huang Yukun said.

"In this way, if you remove our Qiu family, you have twenty-one thousand two hundred and fifty taels of silver. and if it had been exchanged for gold, it would have been two thousand one hundred twenty-five taels. How do you take this money? Shopkeeper Qiu asked.

Zhang Zhimu and Huang Yukun discussed, and Huang Yukun said: "Then exchange it for twenty gold ingots of one hundred taels, six gold bars for twenty taels, and the rest for ten taels of silver." Fire consumption counts as ours. ”

"Fire consumption can't be counted as yours, if there are good things in the future, don't forget to take care of our Qiu family." The old shopkeeper took over and said.

"Are there any other good objects?" Shopkeeper Qiu asked.

Zhang Zhimu: "There are a few small things, and when we want to make a move, we are coming to bother." ”

Such a result was something that Zhang Zhimu and Huang Yukun never expected. On the way back, Huang Yukun asked Zhang Zhimu: "Do you have to go south to buy grain?" If we don't go, we don't have to worry about eating and drinking, so why take the risk? ”

"Do you think we're safe now? If a large group of thieves come together, can we stop these people in Yaogang? If the government and the army come to bully, can we afford to provoke it? No, because our strength is still too weak. So we have to develop to the point where no one dares to mess with us. The so-called sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Alright, alright, do whatever you want. I mean not you. Huang Yukun said.

Three days later, it was Huang Yukun, Zhang Zhimu, and Uncle Chen who drove the ox cart into the city together, and asked Liu Yun, Li Wei, and Li Jing, who came together, to lead the horses, stay away from the city gate, and wait outside the city.

There were three chests of gold and silver, which were examined and nailed. Qiu Ji was very scheming, and deliberately used wooden boards with raw edges that were not carefully processed, in order not to attract attention.

When passing by Chongrentang, Chen Yufeng went in and came back to say that the saltpeter would not arrive until a month later. Zhang Zhimu thought, **Let's get some from Lao Wu, so I told Uncle Chen what it meant.

When he came to the city gate and saw that Lao Wu was still there, Chen Yufeng said to Lao Wu in the car, my friend said that your things are very good, if you have goods, you can get some more. Lao Wu hurriedly said; "Yes, there is. I'm going to move it for you now. ”

Uncle Chen said, "Don't be in a hurry, you prepare it first, and then I'll send someone to pick it up." ”

Leaving the city gate, Zhang Zhimu said: "It seems that he doesn't have to trouble doing this, he will do it if he says to get it." ”

"The officers drink the blood of the soldiers and eat empty wages. When they don't ring on time, they rely on fishing for some outside. Chen Yufeng said.

Zhang Zhimu thought, now that there is no shortage of silver, as long as the weapon is ready, he can set off to the south.

Li Yunhe was really unambiguous, and he also showed some leadership skills, commanded a few people, and quickly dried the sand mold. When I saw Zhang Zhimu, I said that I could install the furnace and light the fire. Zhang Zhimu went over to check and saw that everything was good. There is only one thing, Zhang Zhimu said that the ladle containing molten iron is a little unsafe to carry by people. Your sand mold is a large piece, lifting and casting is easy to have problems, is it first pushed by the car so smoothly, and then lifted and cast before the sand mold. Also, dig a ditch around the furnace, once the furnace has a problem, the molten iron will not flow turbulently, prepare some sand and a few jars of water next to it, so that you are prepared. In addition, all those scrap iron are smelted, and the thunder shells are not used, so they are poured into iron bars and iron plates, and the carbon is enough anyway. Tell Li Yunhe: "You can load the furnace when you are ready." ”

Installing the furnace is a technical job. Seal the door with mud and cover the iron, lay some wood shavings on the bottom of the furnace, and then put the wood on the floor. Then open the lid of the air outlet and start ignition. Through the eye of the fire, I saw that the wood was burning, and I began to add charcoal, limestone, and then scrap iron, and so on, layer upon layer, until the inlet was filled. Start blowing the wind. Seeing that the ironization was not fast, I added a few spade toner to the carbon filling port of the blower. After a while, the molten iron melted down. Look at the iron hydration is almost there. Open the bottom door of the furnace, use a long drill to poke open the bottom of the furnace to seal the mud, the molten iron flashes with gold flowers and flows out, the first class to the molten iron bag, it is the golden flowers splashing, it is spectacular. After the molten iron was released, two people began to seal the tap hole again with mud and close the iron door. Here, quickly use a mud-stained iron rake to remove the slag on the molten iron, and then quickly sprinkle two shovels of grass and wood ash on the molten iron, stir it quickly, wait a little and then clean the slag, and then start casting the sand mold. Put the molten iron a few times, and add the material a few times. After the sand mold is cast, the iron bars and iron plates are poured. Zhang Zhimu accompanied everyone, worked continuously, and the food was delivered to the stove. At this time, Zhang Zhimu found that it was not possible to do without glass, and his eyes were stabbing without sunglasses, which was very uncomfortable and unsafe.

When the casting is cold, when the mold is opened, it is found that the outside is easy to knock off, the eye on the thunder shell is too small, and the sediment inside is not easy to get outside. Zhang Zhimu said: "I pulled the car to the river, soaked in the river, and then poured out the mud and pulled it back. "Wait to pull the thunder shell back. Zhang Zhimu saw that most of them could be used except for a few large sand holes, and the surface was not particularly smooth, which did not affect the use. He asked Li Yunhe to lead people to knock out the sand and burrs on the thunder shell, and erase the sharp places with a grinding stone. Here Zhang Zhimu began to do ***.

Let Li Yunhe take a few processed thunder shells. When the processed thunder shell is brought back, it looks much better, and the children all say that they want to be a leprosy melon. Zhang Zhimu is right, what we do is a gourd**.