"Mr. Xu hasn't been found yet?"

Jiang An's face was extremely ugly, Luo Yiniang pouted, a little puzzled, why Jiang An became more and more unbanked, and she didn't do anything wrong, but Jiang An put on a face to look at her!

"If it's like this again, I'll go find a new Hanlang!" She thought to herself, even though she knew it was just angry talk.

"No, we've searched everywhere we might be going...... Either they were eaten by tigers, or they stumbled and fell under a cliff somewhere. Luo Zhu Ge was a little unhappy: "It's just an old man, he likes to pull people around and ask...... It's not your owner's father, if he dies, he dies. ”

Even with the relationship between Shi Luo Dong and Xinxiangzhai, it is impossible for them to attach as much importance to Xu Xiake as Yu Guozhen.

"A little clue ......" Jiang Kian still wanted to ask.

Yu Guozhen next to him interrupted him: "Forget it, don't ask." ”

"Little official!" Jiang'an is a little embarrassed, Yu Guozhen gave him full authority to deal with the people of Yu, he is also very popular in the village, but he didn't expect that something really happened, but the people were so unreliable!

"It's okay, I think if something happens, someone will come to us." Yu Guozhen took a breath: "Let's go back to Xinxiang." ”

It has been two days since Xu Xiake's disappearance, and Yu Guozhen has to accept this fact.

If Xu Xiake has unfortunately died, then looking for it is nothing more than looking for the body, on the contrary, if something happens to him and falls into the hands of a certain person, the person who grabbed him will sooner or later come to the door to ask for conditions.

When he returned to Xinxiang from Shiluotong and passed through the kiln on the way, Yu Guozhen deliberately stayed for a while.

Today's kiln yard is larger than that of Xinxiangzhai, and the small wharf in front of the kiln has also been expanded into a regular wharf, and it is divided into three sections, each of which corresponds to a kiln area. Every day, several ships carrying coal, limestone and clay anchor here, bringing large quantities of coal, limestone and clay here.

When Yu Guozhen arrived here, he happened to see Hu Jingshui probing his face here, and when he saw Yu Guozhen coming, he was not embarrassed, and saluted Yu Guozhen very casually: "Yu Gongzi, haven't you found Mr. Xu yet?" ”

"Not for the time being, what does Mr. Hu see here?" Yu Guozhen asked.

"The use of the water wheel is really wonderful, in Xinxiang Village, Yu Gongzi is also using a water wheel to bring a loom, right?"

He saw this at a glance, and Yu Guozhen had to admit that this maritime businessman, who had no reputation in history, was quite discerning.

"Yu Gongzi, the villain has an idea, I look at the water turbines, all of which are driven by iron teeth, which can be made so precisely, it is far better than Foshan. If Yu Gongzi really made iron tools, the villain was willing to sell them for Yu Gongzi! ”

The application of hydraulic turbines, gears is a major key, in order to produce qualified gears, Yu Guozhen has spent a lot of thought, and the technical reserves of turning sand casting molds are realized at this time. When Hu Jingshui saw these iron gears, he realized that Yu Guozhen's cast iron technology even surpassed that of Foshan, and at this time, Chinese ironware was not only sold to Southeast Asia, but also European colonizers, who also ran from the Americas to China to buy iron nails and other ironware!

If this transaction is handled by him, I am afraid that he will only make tens of thousands of taels in a year.

Yu Guozhen laughed: "If this is the case, Mr. Hu will not monopolize our production in Xiang'an!" ”

Hu Jingshui's face was not red and his heart was not beating: "Childe's miraculous skills, is it not only here, this iron tool is just a small profit but quick turnover, both hard work and hard work, it is handed over to me This stupid person to dispose of, as for Childe, I think there is a lucrative deal!" ”

His compliment was just right, not annoying, Yu Guozhen shook his head with a smile: "This doesn't work, I've already given you a good business...... However, if Mr. Hu really wants to get rich, and he will be rich for a long time, I don't think it is enough to just rely on the sea to earn the difference. ”

"Alas, if you don't run around to earn the difference, don't you have to buy land and property?"

"Mr. Hu, you collect silk and sell it to the Japanese and Xiyi, which is very profitable, but those who sell your silk, don't you know that you can get more profits by selling it to the Japanese Xiyi?" Yu Guozhen said: "They are only trapped in their own inability to sail now, so they will share this benefit with you, if they can also take the sea route from Guangzhou to Hoi An, are you still profitable?" ”

Hu Jingshui snorted slightly, of course he understood what Yu Guozhen said, but China is so big, where will everyone do business!

"Even if others don't do it...... To tell you the truth, I will organize a very large fleet to travel between China and the Tibetan kingdoms, and at that time my ships will always be full of goods, so that the exchange will not be lost. Yu Guozhen said again: "At that time, I will raise the price of Mr. Hu's goods by 10%, and Mr. Hu feels ...... How much more can you receive? If one percent doesn't work, then two percent, and if two percent doesn't work, three percent will be ...... In short, it was unprofitable to receive Mr. Hu. ”

"This, this...... Yu Gongzi is joking, right? ”

"It's not a joke, although business is a way to get rich, but if there is no industry, only relying on business, after all, it is rooted and subject to others. If Mr. Hu has his own industry, a factory, and finished products, then no matter how strong I am, I can't restrict Mr. Hu from this point. ”

"Yu Gongzi!" Hu Jingshui was suddenly anxious, he knew that Yu Guozhen was right, with Yu Guozhen's strength, it was really possible to pull up a fleet in a few years and monopolize the trade route from Guangzhou to Hoi An, he had both property and force, if that was the case, then he Hu Jingshui had to change his career and go home to go to Gu Weng!

"If you are a businessman and don't do a job, it will not last long." Yu Guozhen said with a smile.

Hu Jingshui thought about it for a while, Yu Guozhen said this, of course, not to rob him of his job, with Yu Guozhen's belongings, he wanted to rob him of his property, and he said it in Yingdao at the beginning. In this way, it should be a wake-up call for him to know the inferiority of business. He thought about it carefully, since ancient times, there have been some people who have earned thousands of family fortunes in business, but after having thousands of family fortunes, most of them buy land and property, cultivate and read heirlooms, the reason why this is so is not only because the status of businessmen is not high, but also because of the fact that the status of businessmen is not high, another reason is that there is some weakness in the heart.

He pondered on the side, and Yu Guozhen inspected the kiln area by himself. Construction of the fourth and fifth piers is also underway, and it will take some time to complete. These two wharves were mainly built for the glass kilns and iron smelting furnaces that were to be built, not like brick kilns and cement kilns, which could be built with clay at will, and these two kilns had much higher temperature requirements, so they had to be refractory, and kaolin was a pretty good refractory material.

In addition, Yu Guozhen remembers that he had read a book called "The Legend of Dongning" before crossing over, in which the author mentioned that kaolin has a moderate pH, which can reduce chemical reactions and extend the service life of blast furnaces.

With the experience of brick kiln and cement kiln, the kiln built by Yu Guozhen is a reflex kiln, separated from the fire, because the sulfur content of the coal as fuel is too high, so there is also a special flue to discharge the exhaust gas out of the kiln to prevent it from polluting the material.

"Kaolin has already arrived?" When he saw the gray-white clods of earth piled up on the edge of the pier, Yu Guozhen was very happy.

"There are a total of six ships shipped from Lingshan County, and Huang Shun and his brothers are now energetic to work."

Ji Xun is in charge of the kiln here, and his son Ji Yan is relatively outstanding among the young guards, so he also got the title of steward, in addition, Yu Guozhen's kiln design, he has also made a lot of efforts, and he is a rare authority on how to build a kiln.

He was also accompanied by four potters hired in Nanjing, who served as his assistants.

"Okay, okay, since it's already here, you can allocate manpower and use this kaolin to build a test kiln first." Yu Guozhen let go and let him do: "I will hand over the matter here, and the crucible, after the kiln is ready, try whether the crucible can be burned first, remember to let those boys in the family school help, pay attention to their safety is ......"

Yu Guozhen came with nearly twenty teenagers under the age of fourteen in the family school, Jiang Youzhong is now their leader, these teenagers Yu Guozhen has high expectations for them, as long as he has time, he will personally inquire about their homework.

These nearly 20 people were selected from dozens of homeschooling children, all of whom were smart and willing to learn and were willing to endure hardships, so they got Yu Guozhen's blue eyes and were brought directly to Xinxiang by him from Xiang'an.

"Yes, the villain understands what the little official means!" Ji Xun couldn't help laughing.

These teenagers under the age of fourteen are the time when they have the most whimsy, Yu Guozhen organized them, every group of three, to do all kinds of group experiments, like the raw materials of the crucible, Ji Xun is a blacksmith in the army, but he knows a little bit about it, it is nothing more than lime, porcelain clay, clay, etc., mixed in a certain proportion and calcined at high temperature, but he does not know what is the best ratio.

At this time, homeschooling children can come in handy, they are divided into different proportions, and then group experiments, which can not only cultivate the empirical spirit and hands-on ability of these children, but also allow them to participate in the construction of Xinxiang, and increase their sense of belonging to Xinxiang.

"Be sure to pay attention to their safety, these boys, they have tight skin, you just beat and scold when it's time to beat and scold." Yu Guozhen confessed again.

Some time ago, it happened that a few boys jumped into the Yuhong River to swim without permission, and the two almost drowned because of cramps, and finally they were all dealt with by Yu Guozhen with military law, with three whips and confinement. Yu Guozhen never felt that in order to care for the healthy growth of the so-called young minds, corporal punishment and personality insult should not be allowed, on the contrary, he felt that appropriate corporal punishment and shame education really helped these naughty little guys grow into responsible men.

"Petty officials, please rest assured."

As he was talking, Hu Jingshui over there slapped his leg suddenly, came up and said to Yu Guozhen: "Master Yu, the villain has figured it out...... The villain is also willing to buy land and property in Qinzhou and borrow the east wind of Yu Gongzi! ”

Yu Guozhen smiled, this guy is still a little reluctant to say this now, and he doesn't care about it. Just as he was about to reply, he suddenly saw a ship docked at the dock, and then a man ran towards him quickly, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Little official, someone from the mountain came and said it was ...... Mr. Xu is in their hands! The Guardian reported.

(To be continued)