The mine mentioned by Cao Dalin is more than ten miles outside the city of Guixin, not far from the county seat of Guixin, but it is a bit off. Wu Ji took people, rode horses, and soon arrived.

Seeing a big mountain in the distance, I don't know how big it is, faintly red, Wu Ji's heart beat fiercely: "It can't be hematite, right?" ”

Hematite is the highest grade of iron ore, with an iron content of up to 70%. If it's hematite, how much ore does this get? If all of them are ores, not to mention the Wu military industry, even if there are one hundred and eighty Wu military industries, they will not be able to use up.

"Do you see, boss?" Cao Dalin pointed to the mountain in front of him and said, "It's all ore, it's just not easy to mine, so it has to be abandoned." In other words, it is quite regrettable.

The mountains are full of ore, but they can't be mined, it's equivalent to looking at treasures, but they can't be turned into money, who can not regret it?

Wu Ji's guess was confirmed, although he had expected it, he was still shocked, it would be great if it was all down, and then there would be no need to worry about running out of iron.

Soon, we were at the foot of the mountain, where the mine was located. There were dozens of people on the mining site, packing up their things, looking like they were leaving.

A slightly short and fat man, standing still, the cold wind blowing on him, he didn't feel it, his eyes were very complicated, looking at the crimson mountain.

"He's the owner of the mine. The surname is Yao, and his name is Yao Gui. Cao Dalin introduced Wu Ji, came to Yao Gui, turned over and dismounted: "Shopkeeper Yao, what do you think?" It's useless for you to look at it again, do you still want to move the mountain away? ”

"It's a pity, there are so many good mines, but they can't be mined, it's a pity!" Yao Gui's voice was slightly hoarse, very regretful, his face was a little decadent, he retracted his gaze and looked at Cao Dalin: "Shopkeeper Cao, what are you doing here?" Didn't I tell you that I'm closing, you have to prepare. You too, sooner or later, expand when I close the door, where do you go to find ore? ”

"This ...... Yao's shopkeeper, this is my owner, it is the commander of Wu who exterminated the Liufeng thieves. Cao Dalin introduced Yao Gui.

As soon as he heard this, Yao Gui became respectful, his body bowed ninety degrees, and his figure was extremely low: "The little one has seen Commander Wu." I didn't know that Commander Wu was coming, and I asked Commander Wu to forgive me. ”

Wu Ji waved his hand to stop him from saluting, and went straight to the point: "Shopkeeper Yao, I heard that you are going to close the door, so I came to see if I can take down your mine." ”

"Okay!" Shopkeeper Yao was first happy, and then shook his head and sighed: "Commander Wu, although it is said that selling it to me will be beneficial and harmless, but I still have to remind you that there are a lot of iron ores on the mountain now, but there is no way to mine it." I've picked everything I can take. If you take it down, you'll lose it. ”

This person is not bad, not so annihilated, Wu Ji has a good impression of him: "This matter, let's talk about it later." If you can, please take me to see it and make a decision. ”

"Please! Please! Wu Ji's reputation in Guixin County is extremely loud, and Shopkeeper Yao only feels that he can contribute something to Wu Ji, which is a great honor, and he is busy inviting him sideways.

Wu Ji was also not polite, and followed Yao Gui to check. This mountain is very large, and the iron ore on it is all hematite, but it is difficult to mine. Along the way, I saw a pit in the east and a pit in the west, and the places that could be mined were all mined by Yao Gui, and the rest was very difficult to mine.

After checking it, Wu Ji already knew it in his heart and asked, "Shopkeeper Yao, how do you want to sell it?" ”

"Do you really want to buy it?" Shopkeeper Yao was a little incredulous.

Cao Dalin touched Wu Ji's elbow and glared at Wu Ji, meaning that he wanted Wu Ji not to buy it.

In their eyes, the mountain has been abandoned, it is impossible to mine it anymore, and only those with bad brains will take it down.

"You make an offer." Wu Ji nodded.

Cao Dalin wanted to say more, but when he saw Wu Ji shaking his head at him, he had to keep a sentence in his heart and muttered secretly: "The owner has always been shrewd, how can he be so blind?" This is obviously useless land, but he wants to buy it, and he doesn't spend it like this when he has more money? Ay! ”

Yao Gui looked at Wu Ji again and again, and confirmed that Wu Ji was not laughing, and then said: "Commander Wu, you killed the Liufeng thieves and saved the converts, I am also a convert, my family survived because of you, I am grateful to you, this mountain, if you want it, I will give it to you." I kept it, but it was useless, and I was sad to look at it. ”

Such a big treasure can be picked up for nothing, Wu Ji was a little surprised, this Yao Gui is a good person, and said with a smile: "Thank you for the kindness of the shopkeeper Yao, how can this be done?" This silver must be paid, and the price must be offered. ”

"Commander Wu is as incorruptible as water, and his reputation is outstanding, and so it is." Yao Gui sighed very emotionally: "If this is the case, then five hundred taels of silver." If Commander Wu thinks it's too expensive, you can give a price, and you can say how much. ”

Wu Ji did not withhold military salaries, and the military salaries of soldiers were repaid, and these things had long been spread in the proselytizing, because the converts respected him very much, and Yao Gui was no exception.

"Five hundred taels?" Wu Ji was so surprised, such a big treasure, Yao Gui regarded it as garbage, and couldn't help muttering in his heart: "If you know that I can mine it all, I don't know what you will think?" Will you go crazy with regret? ”

If you change people, you must be sorry for this, Wu Ji is not the kind of person who likes to take advantage of others, and said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Yao, I will give you 10,000 taels of silver." ”

"Good! Ah, 10,000 taels of silver? Yao Gui didn't react at first, and then he almost bit off his tongue, his eyes widened, he looked at Wu Ji, and couldn't speak anymore.

How can anyone take the initiative to give money to others? 10,000 taels of silver, but he offered twenty times the price.

"Owner, you ......" Cao Dalin was also taken aback and almost bit off his tongue.

"Commander Wu, this can't work, this can't work, this is a barren mountain, no one wants a thousand taels of silver, how can 10,000 taels be done?" Yao Gui finally reacted and was busy refusing.

"Shopkeeper Yao, don't worry, I can still mine some, and I won't lose anything." Of course, Wu Ji wouldn't tell him that he could mine all this mountain, if that was the case, maybe Yao Gui would regret it.

"Really?" Yao Gui and Cao Dalin asked in unison.

Yao Gui has been mining all his life and is an experienced master, so he can't believe this. Cao Dalin knew that Wu Ji had a set of steelmaking, but he didn't believe that he could mine.

"Nature is true!" Wu Ji's voice was not high, but he was full of confidence: "If Shopkeeper Yao agrees, we will make a contract." ”

"Hmmm! All right. Yao Gui thought for a while, but still reminded: "Commander Wu, the little one has to remind you again, once the contract is signed, you won't regret it." ”

"Don't worry, I won't regret it." Wu Ji added a sentence in his heart: It must be you who regrets it.

Cao Dalin, under the instruction of Wu Ji, began to negotiate a contract with Yao Gui. Wu Ji called a pro-soldier and whispered in his ear for a while, and the pro-soldier rode away.

Cao Dalin and Yao Gui were both veterans of this contract, and they were quickly agreed. Wu Ji signed with Yao Gui and asked Yao Gui to go to the Wu military industry to receive the silver. Yao Gui was trustworthy about Wu Ji's credit, and he left happily.

In order to express his gratitude to Wu Ji, he gave the mine directly to Wu Ji, which saved Wu Ji a lot of trouble.

"Dongjia, Yao Gui is not bad, why didn't you invite him?" Cao Dalin has a good impression of Yao Gui and has to be reminded. In Convert, there are really not many experienced mining masters like Yao Gui, and if you invite them, it will be of great help to Wu Ji.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it, it's because this matter involves one of my big secrets, because I can't let him be in charge of this mine. I'm going to let the third uncle manage it. Wu Ji smiled, called the miners, said the conditions for hiring, and asked them if they were willing to stay?

Wu Ji's conditions are very generous, and besides, Wu Ji's reputation is outstanding, how can these miners disagree, and they immediately agreed. The wages given to them by Wu Ji were much more generous than before, and they were hired by Wu Ji, and they were all overjoyed.

Wu Ji asked Cao Dalin to sign an employment contract with them, and then took them to the front of the mine, found a place, and instructed them to dig a hole.

The miners immediately picked up the hammer and began to make holes, all of them were not lazy and worked hard.

"Boss, what are you doing with the hole?" Cao Dalin was puzzled and had to ask: "This mining, you don't need to go underground." ”

In the Song Dynasty, mining was mainly open-pit mining, going underground mining, which was not available at that time.

"You'll understand later." Wu Ji knew that he would explain it to him, but he didn't understand it, so it was better not to explain.

Under the guidance of Wu Ji, the miners worked hard to dig a hole, and it didn't take much time for a hole five or six feet deep and more than two feet wide to appear. Wu Ji then told them to stop, took them, went to the next place, and then dug a hole.

After digging three holes in a row, Wu Qing arrived with a few people from Wujiazhuang and a few carriages. As soon as Wu Qing saw Wu Ji's face, he was surprised and asked, "Ji'er, what do you want the third uncle to do?" You're not going to buy this barren mountain, are you? ”

"Third uncle, did you bring anything?" Wu Ji didn't answer his question.

"Brought! Brought! Ji'er, what do you want gunpowder for? Wu Qing looked curious again.

"Tell them to move over." Wu Ji did not answer his question, but instructed the people of Wujiazhuang to move the gunpowder down and put it in front of the cave.

"Third uncle, this mine will be under your control in the future, you have to remember it." As soon as Wu Ji finished explaining, he instructed Ding Zhuang of Wujiazhuang to fill gunpowder, install leads, and then compact.

With Wu Ji's guidance, this thing was not difficult to do, and it was completed quickly.

Wu Qing looked curious and asked what was this doing? Wu Ji didn't answer, and asked everyone to leave immediately, go to the designated place to hide, and not be allowed to take the lead.

Then, Wu Ji pulled Wu Qing and a few people from Wujiazhuang and said: "In the future, this mine will be mined with gunpowder, and you must take charge of the gunpowder and not leak it in the slightest?" ”

"Can gunpowder still be mined?" Wu Qing looked incredulous.

In addition to being used for weapons, gunpowder is also a good thing for mining, which is what our ancestors did.

Under Wu Ji's guidance, Wu Qing lit the fuse, and the group followed Wu Ji to hide. As soon as they hid, Wu Qing and the others asked vigorously: "Can this work?" Can you really mine? ”

There are quite a lot of questions, Wu Ji didn't answer them, just waited quietly.

"Boom!"

There was an earth-shattering bang, the ground was shaking, and the smoke and dust were filled, as if the sky had fallen.

Wu Ji came to him with people, only to see that a large piece of iron ore had collapsed here, and the iron ore that was originally very hard had become loose. Cao Dalin and the others looked at the scene in front of them, and they all turned into statues.

(To be continued)