Zhu Wu thought for a moment and said, "I suddenly remembered."

"What do you remember?"

"There is an ancient book that says that there is a mountain in the south of the county, and the stone springs out of the spring, which is as big as a ju, and the burning is extremely bright, and it is not edible. The people of the county call it stone paint, and what my brother said should be this thing. Zhu Wudao.

"Yes, that's what I call oil, which is the oil that comes out of the stones. Mr. Zhu is really talented and knowledgeable. ”

Zhu Wu smiled: "I've just seen such a little bit of records, but I haven't seen the real thing." ”

"It's not easy anymore, after all, this kind of thing is rare, and there are very few uses." Chao Gai said.

Although it was mined and used in a small area in ancient times, and even occasionally used in the military, it was used to burn the enemy's baggage and siege equipment, but after all, it was used on a small scale and was not widely spread.

After a night of silence, the next day Chao Gai carefully inspected the Huanghua Salt Farm, from the salt field to the salt field where the salt workers lived, Chao Gai took a closer look, Zhu Wu and Chai Jin are still in place, most of the places are doing very well, but there are also some places that need to be improved.

Chao Gai pointed to the roof of Yantian New Village and said: "Although this house has a low roof design, it is difficult to guarantee strong winds when this is the seaside, and the roof will be broken at that time, so this roof needs to be reinforced, and the wind resistance of the house should be improved when designing the house in the future." ”

Zhu Wu said: "What my brother said is that the construction of the house was a little hasty, and omissions were inevitable, and now it has begun to freeze, and it is not suitable for maintenance. ”

Zhu Wu's management of the salt farm is nothing more than temporary, once he finds a suitable candidate, Chao Gai will transfer Zhu Wu away, after all, military is Zhu Wu's specialty, let him manage a salt farm grievances.

In the afternoon, after dinner, in the canteen, Zhu Wu called over six elderly workers, these people were a little restrained, and they were a little nervous when they saw Chao Gai.

Zhu Wudao: "These six are all local natives, and they have been around here since they were children, and my brother can ask them about black oil." ”

Chao Gai asked everyone to sit down, Chao Gai said: "Don't be nervous, I came to you to ask about something, just say if you know, it's okay if you don't know." ”

"Okay." Everyone said.

"You've grown up around here, and you've heard of black oil or black water burning in the nearby mountains or fields." Chao Gai asked.

Everyone shook their heads: "I really haven't heard of this, I don't know there is such a thing." ”

At this time, one person said, "You are talking about a pungent smell of oil?" Burning with thick smoke? ”

"yes, yes, that's it? Have you seen it? Chao Gai asked.

"I've seen it, I've used it." The man said.

Zhu Wu asked the other people who didn't know to retreat, leaving the person who knew alone to let Chao Gai reply.

Chao Gai said, "What is your name, how old are you, what kind of work do you do in the salt works?" ”

"My surname is Li, the second in the family, called Li Er, forty-two years old this year, and I am a general worker in the salt factory." Li Er said.

The people on the beach are exposed to the wind and sun, and they look dark and thin, but this Li Er still looks very energetic.

"Tell me about the black oil?" Chao Gai said.

Li Er said: "My family is relatively poor, every time I go up the mountain to collect medicine, once I went far, went to a far place, found a valley, the smell in this valley is very pungent, there is a jar of black water, there is no grass at the water's edge, I occasionally found that the branches dipped in this black water burned very vigorously when I lived next to me, and then I went a few times, and made a batch of torches with black water before it was used up for a long time. ”

Chao Gai's eyes are bright, if it is right, it should be petroleum crude oil, unrefined crude oil has a high viscosity and an unpleasant smell.

"Oh, Li Er, now let you go find that place, can you find it?" Chao Gai asked.

Li Er said: "It's been seven or eight years, and I remember the direction of the big question, but I don't know if there is still this pool." ”

Chao Gai said, "Whether there is one or not, let's go find it and try it." ”

Li Er hesitated a little and said, "I have to work in the salt factory, and I'm afraid I will deduct my wages if I go." ”

Zhu Wu said with a smile: "Don't worry, your salary will not be deducted, your salary will be paid, and you will be given some subsidies." ”

"Then what else is there to say, I'll go."

Chao Gai said, "Okay, let's go immediately." ”

Chao Gai asked people to prepare horses and other ceremonial clothes for Li Er, and brought hoes, shovels and other supplies. didn't bring many people, just Chao Gai, Jiao Ting, Luo Yun, and another squad of cavalry. Unexpectedly, Li Er rode a horse well, at least he could keep up with the big team, so the group headed to the southern mountainous area, and walked sixty or seventy miles that day and entered the mountainous area. It's all six or seven years ago, Li Er inevitably has a deviation in his memory, or maybe it's a change in the terrain, he found several mountain nests that day and found nothing, for three days in a row, everyone looked for it in the mountains and slept in the mountains, and there was no gain, Li Er was a little embarrassed, and said: "Chao Tuanlian, such a large group of people are looking for strange people in the mountains and it takes time, it's better to go back like this, you all go back, and leave me alone in the mountains to find it slowly." ”

Chao Gai said: "You can't do it alone, there are a lot of wolves and insects in the mountains, let's look for another day today, if you can't find it, go back first, I will arrange five workers for you, you take it with you." ”

"Okay." Li Er said.

As the search continued, a dense black pine forest was terrifying, and occasionally two wild boars ran past.

Out of the pine forest was a bush, and then there was a ditch, and there was not even hay on either side of the ditch. Drinking water with oil flowers floating on it.

Li Er sniffed and said, "It seems to be the smell back then, and it's a bit like it here." ”

Luo Yun picked up a little bit of dark stuff from the ditch with a spear, and touched it with his hand, sticky to his hand.

Chao Gai said: "Everyone dismounts, leave five people to guard the horses, and the others follow me into the valley, you can't light a fire at will, pay attention." ”

"Yes." The crowd responded.

The group dismounted and entered the valley, Li Ertou led the way, and the more Li Er walked, the happier he became, and said: "Yes, yes, this is the valley, I remember." ”

Entering the valley, there is indeed a black pool inside, the area is not large, only seventy or eighty square meters, Chao Gai is very happy, and said with a smile: "Haha, this is the thing, Li Er, I want to reward you heavily, what reward do you want." ”

Li Erdao: "It's all within the scope of things, and I didn't suffer much in three days." ”

Chao Gai made people use torches dipped in black oil, go to a far place to ignite, and burn very vigorously, this is oil, although it is not very useful now, but it can be refined into fierce fire oil.

Jiao Ting said: "Brother, such an unpleasant thing, what's the use of being black." ”

Chao Gai said: "The use is great, but now it is also used as a fierce fire oil, which can burn the enemy's siege equipment, grain, grass, baggage and other objects." ”

Chao Gai called Li Er over, and Chao Gai said, "Li Er, how much do you pay a month in the salt field?" ”

"I can get 400 wen a month." Li Er said.

Chao Gai said: "The black oil here is very useful to me, I plan to develop this pool of black water, are you interested in being the director of this field?" ”

Li Er's mouth couldn't close for a long time in surprise, and said, "Is the field director the same as Zhu Changchang of the salt field?" ”

"Yes, of course, this oil extraction site is still very small, and it won't allocate you more people, fifty people. Your salary will also be increased to twice a month, don't you want to? Chao Gai said.

Li Er said: "Okay, okay, I agree, but I don't know when mining will start here?" ”

Chao Gai nodded and said: "From now on, you are the director of the Huanghua Petroleum Exploitation Field, how about I change your name to Li Petroleum?" ”

"Okay, I don't have a name, it's good to call it oil, thank you for the group training." Li Er has since had a new name, Li Oil.

Chao Gai said: "You don't have to thank me, your farm manager is only temporary, do a good job of processing money, divide the house, and if you don't do well, you have to go back to the salt factory to be your worker." ”

Li Youyou said: "Okay, I will definitely try my best, but I don't know how to mine it, just use the jar to get this black water out?" ”

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