Thrushes? Indeed, graphite has such a nickname, it seems that he has found the right person.

In fact, if Liu Huayun asked the thrush stone at the beginning, the owners of the first three shops also have knowledgeable people, and the reason why they have gone into a misunderstanding is that they can't find large pieces of graphite in the capital;

The reason is that the women of this era have long abandoned the original thrush stone and used the modulated eyebrow ink or eyebrow pencil, so naturally no one operates this thing anymore.

"Oh, it looks like Boss Shu can get a good thrush, I don't know how much it is worth?"

The coal boss in front of him looked like an out-and-out profiteer, but Liu Huayun didn't care about that bit of silver, and after groaning, he asked with a smile.

"The thrush stone is not difficult to obtain, but the price is two or three times higher than that of coal...... I don't know how much you need?"

"Hmm~~~, three times? Yes, you can prepare 600 catties for me, this is a fixed money, and I will take it in three days. ”

In fact, graphite in these years has no use at all except for women to use thrush, and it is not as valuable as good coal in mining areas with large output;

Nowadays, the price of coal in Dafeng is affected by transportation, and the capital is about 10 to 12 wen per catty, and Taiyuan is relatively cheaper, with seven wen and six wen.

Speaking of which, even if it is thirty wen and one pound of graphite, one thousand catties is only more than twenty taels, listening to Shu Dewang's tone, Liu Huayun knows that he is a little weak-hearted;

However, with his own net worth and status, it is only a few dozen taels of silver, and there is no need to bargain at all.

And if 600 catties are used to make electrolytic equipment, it is enough for him to use it for a long time.

When the time comes, when mining coal in Shandong, graphite should be found, and if it really doesn't work, you can also let people go to Laixi to mine.

"That's good, don't worry, the old man will let people do it, and promise to get six hundred catties of good thrushes within three days."

Shu Dewang took the silver taels handed by Liu Huayun, and immediately assured with a smile.

After finalizing the purchase of graphite, Liu Huayun and He Jin began to wander around Taiyuan City; By the way, let's see if you can find some special materials that are not available in the capital.

It's just a pity that he expects laterite nickel ore or nickel sulfide ore to be refined and fired from ferronickel, and no one in the city sells it.

Although the nickel iron ore used to make stainless steel was known for a long time, the closest was Jinchang in Gansu, which is now occupied by the Mongols;

And only Shaanxi and the junction of Sichuan and Dali where King Fu is located can be found in Dafeng's territory, but after the illusion in his heart was shattered, Liu Huayun, who returned to the Admiral's Mansion, still couldn't help but sigh heavily.

"Huayun, is the ferronickel you said really that important?"

After following him for most of the day, He Jin heard him mention the so-called ferronickel, and seeing that his mood was not high, he couldn't help but ask.

"Jin'er, you don't know, the muskets and steel pipes we build are easy to rust, and even if they are well maintained, they won't last a few years......

But as long as I have nickel ore, I can refine ferronickel, and fuse it with molybdenum into our steel, and I can make stainless steel that will never rust......

Then use the machinery made of stainless steel to make seamless steel, you can create extremely powerful guns and cannons, as long as there are guns with bursts, and cannons with a range of more than three miles, don't say anything about Mongolia and Jurchen, even if it is an overseas ......"

Liu Huayun presided over the improved muskets and artillery, and the cost and practicality were not proportional to the firearms in his previous life; Therefore, the imitation AK rifle, Type 92 pistol ...... He has long been familiar with the craft, as long as he has electrified machinery, making guns, single-base gunpowder, etc., it is not a problem at all.

As long as he has machine guns and cannons, he can sweep the whole world without too many troops, so that Dafeng's compatriots can completely get rid of the shadow of World War II in the future.

"Really, then even if we don't hesitate to pay the same price, we have to find a way to find ferronickel."

After listening to Liu Huayun's explanation, He Jin's face was suddenly full of surprise.

But she also knows that the search for minerals doesn't happen overnight.

Therefore, he didn't put too much pressure on him, just said that in the past two days, accompany him to the mountains around Taiyuan Mansion to look for it.

Although Liu Huayun knew the specific distribution of nickel ore, it was impossible for him to directly tell He Jin that Shanxi did not have it at all, and he wanted to obtain a large amount of ferronickel;

Either the Mongols who controlled Gansu were sent back to the grasslands, or they could trade with the Philippines more than 2,000 nautical miles away, or they could only wait for King Fu to be destroyed and go to the Lima River, which is far away from the mountains and roads, to mine.

As for whether the raw ore that is easy to mine can be found in Shaanxi, Liu Huayun is not sure, and Shaanxi has a lot of loess and dust, and even if there is, it must be buried deep underneath, and there are no Southeast Asian countries located on the surface that are conducive to transportation.

Speaking of which, these roads are not easy to walk, in order not to disappoint He Jin, Liu Huayun did not mention it, and it is better to accompany her to go around the city in the past two days.

"His Royal Highness the Prince of Qiyu, the county commander of Wenshui County, Che Zhengrui, has been captured, and the stolen silver in his family has also been brought back to ......"

In the evening, go to Wencheng County and Qi County around Taiyuan...... Two or three garrison teams in other places have returned to Taiyuan City one after another, Cao Yunzhi did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly came over to inform He Jin.

What else is there to say, Zhang Zuoxiang intends to rebel, no matter who his accomplice is? The crimes committed were enough to behead him, He Jin gave an order, and directly put the first offender on death row, and after two days, he was pushed to the court to behead the public.

The gold, silver and jewelry worth more than 100,000 yuan were stored in the governor's palace, and after all the stolen money was in place, Cao Yunzhi sent someone to escort him to the capital to replenish the treasury.

"Huayun, you are going to Jinan next, I will go with you, so I can stop by to see if Ji Yun and them have taken down the rebellion of King Ming."

found graphite, Liu Huayun's purpose of coming to Shanxi has been achieved, and corrupt officials like Zhang Zuoxiang are being arrested, and He Jin is also worth the trip;

At night, after listening to Liu Huayun talk about her plans, she said with a smile.

"Forget it, my Queen."

Although He Jin was in a tone of discussion, how dare Liu Huayun make her unhappy, and she agreed very happily.

There was a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry in the Admiral's Palace, lest an accident occur, together with Lu Feng, Guo Jing and others, plus hundreds of soldiers from the city defense battalion, the inner house was protected like an iron bucket.

It was another comfortable and sweet sleep, and on the morning of the second day, He Jin and Liu Huayun, who were full of energy, took the guards out of Taiyuan City, and it was not until the evening that they returned.

On this day, the mountains and rivers were not less, but they did not find what they wanted, which was inevitably a little disappointing;

Fortunately, seven or eight corrupt officials in seven or eight prefectures and counties and more than 200,000 taels of stolen money were brought back today, which made He Jin's mood better.

As for Liu Huayun, looking at the dozen or so large wooden boxes in the house, which were full of dazzling yellow and white things, he was already overjoyed.

In this way, after another two or three days, He Jin completely gave up the idea of looking for nickel ore in Shanxi; The cavalry sent by Cao Yunzhi to inform the Yang family army, as well as the squad that captured the Shanxi officials, had all returned.

"Lord Cao, I order you to take 5,000 men and horses and personally escort the grain and grass to the southwest to assist General Yang Yunzhao in exterminating the Fu King and the traitors.

General Ma, you will lead three thousand Erlang to escort the emperor and go to the capital immediately....."

On this day, He Jin sat in the hall of the Admiral's Mansion and gave instructions to Cao Yunzhi in front of him and his deputy general Ma Donglang.