Rushing all the way back to the camp, Tang Ming learned that Li Ba had arrived as soon as he got off the horse, this guy had been gone for more than ten days, and if he traveled back and forth between Nanjing and Weihai Island, it would be enough for ten days at most. It was a full five or six days of delay, and there must have been something delayed.

Tang Ming came directly to the dock with questions, and the small dock was a busy scene at the moment. Nearly a hundred craftsmen and guards helped unload a large amount of copper from the ship, Tang Ming looked at it at a glance, good guy! Many of these copper materials are cast ornaments and household utensils.

I just need more than 3,000 catties of copper, is it necessary to make such a look? Li Ba was discussing something with Xiao Shu at this time, and when he saw Tang Ming coming, he hurriedly saluted together: "My subordinates see Lord Hou." ”

Tang Ming waved his hand casually and said, "Don't come here to these vain, there are no outsiders here." Li Ba, I just want you to ask my father-in-law for 3,000 catties of copper, what's the matter with you, how can I see that most of them are cast household items? ”

As soon as he asked this, Li Ba instantly showed a bitter melon look, of course he knew that as long as he got three thousand catties of copper, the problem was that he ran to tell Zheng Heyi. The other party immediately showed a look of embarrassment, this copper material is not more than steel, and it is also one of the most valuable materials in the current Ming Dynasty.

If there is no permission from the emperor, as a Hou Ye who is released and is still stationed overseas, he would not want to get so much copper at all. Copper and iron are expressly forbidden to circulate to other countries, and once they are verified, there is no room for negotiation.

Li Ba and Zheng He worked hard to get these 3,000 catties of copper for Tang Ming. Zheng He went to negotiate with the emperor and only got more than 1,000 catties of copper, and the rest of the copper products with ornaments and household utensils were all purchased by Li Ba himself and Zheng He on the market.

Among them, Tang Ming's eldest brother also heard that his younger brother needed a lot of copper materials, and he also bought a lot of them, and together with Zhang Yu in the army, he also sent a lot of copper products. In this way, they almost harvested the copper products in Nanjing, so that they could make up the amount that Tang Ming demanded.

Li Ba recalled the crazy behavior of buying copper materials in Nanjing in the past few days, shook his head and arched his hand to Tang Mingyu: "Master Hou doesn't know, this copper material is not cheaper than steel at all. Moreover, this thing is forbidden to flow out of the country, and the emperor only promised to give more than 1,000 catties of the 3,000 catties you asked, and the rest was harvested by Inspector Zheng and I in Nanjing City to make up these quantities. ”

This copper is a precious metal Tang Ming knew it, but what he didn't expect was that he only needed 3,000 catties, which should be a drop in the bucket for Zhu Di, the emperor who dominates the entire Ming Dynasty. But that's it, he only gave himself more than 1,000 catties, and he picked the door to this extent, Tang Ming admired Zhu Di so much at the moment.

Doing things under an emperor who is so picky, what else can Tang Ming do, he can only rely on himself as much as possible. Living on this small island overseas, although there is no need to face the competition in the court, but even if you are far away, what if you are far away?

Once he is still dependent on Daming, he can't leave Zhu Di at all, it seems that he has to think carefully about how he will go next. Perhaps Zheng He's voyage to sea soon after was an opportunity for him. It was impossible to be self-sufficient on this small island, if he didn't want to rely on Zhu Di too much, then the only thing Tang Ming could rely on was those overseas places.

Tang Ming shook his head lightly, throwing away the messy thoughts in his mind, for now he could only rely on Zhu Di, thinking about these too early would not help.

He looked at the crystal stone that was still in his arms, and suddenly laughed, although Zhu Di, the emperor, was a bright monarch. It's hard to ask for something directly, maybe I should change my method and exchange something new with him.

Tang Ming asked Li Ba to wait in place for a while, but he called Xiao Shu to the other side, muttered for a while, and finally handed the crystal stone in his arms to Xiao Shu. Xiao Shu just kept nodding his head from beginning to end, his eyes gradually lit up with a blazing light, and then he said goodbye to Tang Ming and hurriedly ran in the direction of the camp.

Such a mysterious and mysterious thing made Li Ba, who was not far away, frown, frown, but fortunately, he didn't doubt it for long, and Tang Ming called him to walk towards the camp together. As he walked, he said to him: "Brother Li, everything in Nanjing has been arranged, right?" Don't go back this time, I'm in dire need of manpower here! ”

Nanjing's matter, naturally, was the person who killed Li Xing here, he and Tang Ming expected it to be good, Li Xing really couldn't do anything to him.

"Master Hou, don't worry, my delay for a few days is because of the copper material, as for Li Xing? Hehe, when he heard that all his henchmen were dead, he naturally lost his temper. Although he had doubts about what I said, he could only be suspicious, and he couldn't do anything to me at all! ”

Li Ba rarely showed a smug look, recently Li Xing set up the East Factory, and his first target was Jinyiwei. Li Ba was originally in the system of Jinyiwei, and naturally he was also the target of Li Xing's attack, and secondly, he was on an errand in the palace, and it was inevitable that he would be squeezed out by Li Xing.

Li Ba, who has long seen Li Xing unpleasantly, naturally wishes that Li Xing, the old guy, would not die well. It's a pity that Jinyiwei still can't compete with the new East Factory, although he left Nanjing, there are still many brothers there who are living a desperate life.

Ji Gang was transferred to Beiping by the emperor, and the Jinyi guards in Nanjing were leaderless, and no one could confront Li Xing. The emperor even wanted to see the decline of Jinyiwei, turning a blind eye to Li Xing's unscrupulous style, and Jinyiwei, who was already very discouraged, has now fallen to the bottom.

There are already many Jinyiwei brothers with families, and under the pressure of Li Xingdongchang, they either switched to his subordinates, or resigned from their jobs and left for others.

Li Ba's silence made Tang Ming notice that something was wrong on his face, he understood Li Ba's unwillingness, but when he heard that the emperor was going to set up Dongchang, he had already expected this day of Jinyiwei, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

Patting Li Ba's sturdy shoulder, Tang Ming said lightly: "Okay, what's the sigh of the big man, isn't this the situation happening when Brother Ji Gang is transferred out of Nanjing, he is now assisting the eldest prince, one day the eldest prince will become the crown prince, and the prince will inherit the throne. ”

Li Ba nodded in agreement with Tang Ming's point of view when he heard this, he was indeed too pessimistic. Commander Ji will definitely not let Jinyiwei fall like this, maybe he will be planning how to confront Li Xing, but he just doesn't know.

Retracting the sadness on his face, Li Ba smiled heartily, and followed Tang Ming all the way, Hou Ye said that he would wait for a surprise for himself, and he had no worries in his heart, at this moment Li Ba was looking forward to what kind of surprise was waiting for him.