"Zhang Chengye, give me an official tone if you don't have him x, who do you think you are, if you really force Lao Tzu to be in a hurry, then don't think about it if you break up in two."

"You kid doesn't have eyesight by himself, and Huang Pingfang has to do so many cruel words, and you have to do so many evils, you can blame others, you scold again, believe it or not, the official called someone to come in and take you!"

The words of the two people sounded extremely hot, but if someone eavesdropped, even outside the window, they might not be able to hear clearly what the people in the house were saying, in the private house of Zhang Chengye, the capital of Gaotang Prefecture, it was said that there was an old friend visiting, drinking and talking deeply tonight, and dismissed the subordinates early, but in fact they were not old friends, and the two began to argue and quarrel as soon as they sat in the banquet. But the voices of the two people were very low and low, for fear of disturbing others.

"You have the ability to call people in, Lao Tzu didn't have eyesight that day, what did you kid plan, outsiders still think that you came to Dongchangfu City to defend the city, you are preparing to rob his father-in-law and mother-in-law when Li Erlang is finished, go to Jiaozhou to blackmail or give credit to Tartar!"

Hearing the other party say this, Zhang Chengye, who has always been straight-faced, finally couldn't calm down, stood up from the chair suddenly, pointed at the other party and shouted angrily:

"Zhou Baxi, don't spew blood, you have the ability to take out the evidence!"

Zhou Baxi, who was sitting across the table, saw Zhang Chengye panicked, but he was a little proud, picked up the wine glass, drank all the wine in the cup, and said with a smile:

"The message that your kid brought to us, we don't have evidence, but let's go to your Mr. Li's side and say this, see if he will ask us for evidence!"

The expression on Zhang Chengye's face changed, and a little smile actually appeared on his face that was originally full of anger. He said gently:

"You and I have known each other for many years, and they are both our own brothers, why do you have to make such a fuss, drink first, drink first, and discuss something another day."

Zhou Baxi squinted his eyes and looked at Zhang Chengye opposite for a while, then said with a sneer:

"I can't afford to climb you, Lord Dusi, how can I say anything about friendship, Lord Dusi sold stolen goods and made money when he was a thief and military advisor. We just got to know each other. I'll make it clear. If I have a long or short time in the past few days, naturally someone will go to the general army yamen to complain and tell you about your merits in defending the city. ”

Having said this, Nanshan thief Zhang Chengye finally understood that he really had nothing to do, and immediately put the wine glass on the table, and said dejectedly:

"What's the use of you looking for me, I, Zhang Nanshan, am not even a sesame seed in his Li Erlang's eyes. I don't know how many people around me are spies who have been planted, whether it is to protect you or keep you, it won't last long! ”

Chaotian Dragon Zhou Baxi no longer spoke cruelly, just lowered his head and drank wine one by one, and cursed to himself in a low voice:

"The bastard's Jiaozhou battalion, he is the king and hegemon in Shandong, and he doesn't leave a way for others to live......"

Zhang Chengye on the other side seemed to suddenly remember something. Spoken:

"I really remembered that there are still people who are not afraid of Li Erlang on the ground in Shandong, and it is better to try their luck somewhere than to die and wait here for me. It's also recruiting Jianghu people over there, and it's not going to deal with Li Erlang, brother, why don't you go over there! ”

Zhou Baxi's eyes finally lit up, and Zhang Chengye continued:

"The Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute in the south of Jinan, and the mine supervisor Ding Xu there, is the head of the iron smelting station of the emperor's tribe and is responsible for the production of Laiwu Iron Mine. It is always majestic tightness. First of all, Li Erlang was discussing with him about buying iron land, and the price could not be negotiated at all. Ding Xu is also a eunuch from the inner court, and he never takes these local officials seriously, let alone a martial artist, and the two sides are in a stalemate......"

"Okay, let's also be a eunuch minion and borrow the strength of this Ding eunuch!"

Chaotian Dragon Zhou Baxi slapped the table excitedly and made up his mind.

Early the next morning, Zhang Chengye asked the housekeeper to prepare five hundred taels of silver, went to the big household in the state city to exchange it for gold, and handed it over to Zhou Baxi.

Zhang Chengye stood at the height of his house, watching Zhou Baxi gradually go away, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, and waited until the underground people who followed Zhou Baxi came back to report that the "relatives and friends" had already left the city gate, which was even more relaxed, sitting directly on the chair, and the whole body was soft.

Zhang Chengye, a thief in the southern mountains, sat on the chair, thought about it, thought of the meticulous methods of the Jiaozhou battalion, and didn't know whether it was hot or nervous, and he was sweating profusely in the shady room, and it didn't take too long for this Zhang Chengye to suddenly jump up from the chair and greet loudly outside:

"Hurry up and find a messenger, I have an urgent message to the chief soldier here!!"

Hurry up, it doesn't take too much time in Shandong, Li Meng, who is stationed in Jiaozhou, soon got the news that Zhang Chengye, the capital of Gaotang Prefecture, reported that Zhou Baxi, a gangster in the rivers and lakes, had taken refuge in Ding Xu, the supervisor of Laiwu Mine.

Mine supervisors, tax supervisors, and various supervisors, in general, are the representatives of the Ming Emperor who discharged them to monitor various industries and collect taxes, and these representatives are all eunuchs in the inner court.

In the Wanli and Apocalypse years, the mine supervisors and tax supervisors sent to various places made a great tide everywhere, and the people continued to revolt, which was considered to be the evil government of the previous dynasty, and it was one of the most unpopular evil policies, both the emperor and the ministers hoped that the place could be peaceful, but the eunuchs sent to various places became the source of cholera.

Therefore, when Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he accepted the advice of the ministers to withdraw the mine supervisors and tax supervisors in various places, and let the local officials manage this

However, the emperor soon realized the problem, without these eunuchs collecting taxes and monitoring at the local level, the imperial court could not collect a penny, and the local people all said that their own family had such disasters and famines, so taxes and various state-owned revenues could not be completed in accordance with the requirements of the imperial court.

In desperation, the emperor had to send eunuchs and eunuchs to various places again, Emperor Chongzhen did not ascend the throne before, he also heard rumors, saw the notes of the literati, said that the mine supervisors and tax supervisors in various places handed over to the court gold and silver is a few million taels a year, but privately intercepted more than ten times, Chongzhen, who was still a pro-vassal at that time, felt that the Ming Dynasty had to lose much because of this, but he only understood when he was the emperor, intercept it, and the eunuchs always have to pay some gold and silver to the court, which is better than those local officials who do not pay a penny.

The history of iron production in Laiwu can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and all dynasties and dynasties have set up government-run institutions here to manage the iron government.

At this time, the mine supervisor who presided over the iron administration in Laiwu was Ding Xu, the eunuch sent out of the Beijing division in Chongzhen for three years, this Ding Xu was quite talented, after coming to Laiwu Iron Mine, he rectified the more decaying mining and smelting workshops, and after the mining volume increased greatly, he began to look for buyers everywhere, so that this place became more and more prosperous.

Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, did earn a lot of extra silver, which was divided into ten parts, four of which were kept for himself, four of which were sent to the capital to the chief eunuchs, and the remaining two were used to pay for the state and maintain production.

Even if he did this, Ding Xu also won a reputation for loyalty and diligence in the court and the opposition, and the eunuchs who received his gifts also defended him, after all, this Ding Xu knew how to be polite, and the gold and silver he sent were indeed rich.

In almost ten years, Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, is already about to run Laiwu into an independent kingdom, and there is a song in Laiwu that says, "I only know Eunuch Ding, but I don't know Governor Lu!" "It's about Eunuch Ding's dominance in the local area, and even the governor of Shandong is helpless.

Salt and iron state monopoly, strictly speaking, the iron trade is also controlled, but the mine supervisor Ding Xu does not care about this, buy farm tools to farmers to make a few money, most of the iron ore and finished products in Laiwu Iron Smelting are bought by private blacksmith merchants, made into high-profit weapons and sold to those who need them.

Shanxi's Goldman Sachs is one of the important buyers, and another important buyer is the Lingshan firm in Jiaozhou. Because of the expansion of the army, the demand for iron ore and iron tools increased sharply by the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau of the Jiaozhou Battalion, and the Lingshan Commercial Bank was looking for nearby suppliers of iron ore and iron tools, which was naturally the best choice for Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute.

When Lingshan Commercial Bank went to talk to Ding Xu, he said that he hoped to contract all the production of Laiwu Iron Mine, hoping that the other party could give a lower price, but Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, wanted to raise the price, the reason was very simple, saying that it was originally sold to several merchants, and if one fluctuated, other families could make up for it, and if it was only sold to Lingshan Commercial Bank, the risk would become greater, and it could only be made up by increasing the selling price.

This requirement is also expected, although Ding Xu is a mine supervisor, he is as shrewd as a businessman, but he doesn't know how Ding Xu got the news, knowing that this Lingshan Commercial Bank is the industry of Li Meng, the general soldier of Shandong, and the price has risen to a height that the Jiaozhou battalion cannot accept, and the key is that the only place to buy iron ore in Shandong is this Laiwu area, and the Lingshan Commercial Bank used to buy here, if the price rises to an unreasonable situation, there is no suitable alternative source for a while.

According to the eunuch Ding Xu, "We don't care what this iron ore is going to do, and we don't want to know, but the chief soldier has weapons allocated by the imperial court, but he wants to buy them privately. ”

This Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute seems to be Ding Xu's private property, and Ding Xu is a eunuch directly under the emperor, and it is indeed impossible to buy his iron ore, and the Jiaozhou camp is in urgent need.

Things are really a bit of a hassle.