Before coming to the Zhao Mansion, Su Hao had thought about the conditions for trading with the Zhao family, that is, to transform the large red soil wasteland at the foot of the mountain for the Zhao family. In later generations, the method of transforming red soil land is very standardized, which is nothing more than applying quicklime to neutralize acidity, applying phosphate fertilizer to increase the phosphorus content of the soil, and then planting green manure crops to increase the organic matter content in the soil, so that for a few years, the red soil can basically be transformed into a medium-yield field.

Su Hao can find small phosphate rocks, so there is no need to worry about the source of phosphate fertilizer. After having coal, as long as you go to the mountains to mine the limestone that can be seen everywhere, you can burn quicklime, and the cost per 100 catties will not exceed 4 cents of silver, and if you sell it to the Zhao family at the price of 8 cents of silver, you will have half of the profits, why not?

Su Hao supported the Zhao family to renovate the red soil land, in addition to wanting to waive the cost of renting a mountain farm, another goal was to use the Zhao family as an advertisement to attract more farmers to buy lime and phosphate rock powder produced by Su's firm. There is a lot of red soil wasteland in the Jiangnan area, and if it can produce a demonstration effect, Su's business alone will be enough to earn cramps.

In addition to the motive of personal profit, the transformation of red soil wasteland is also a project for the benefit of the people. The overall situation in Fengcheng County is that there are many people and little land, and increasing the effective supply of cultivated land can increase the grain output of the whole county. As long as there is an abundance of grain, there will be a foundation for the development of other industries.

From Zhu Xi's point of view, the big cake that Su Hao painted for him was really full of temptation. As Su Hao said, a thousand taels of silver will eventually run out, and owning land can be reaped year after year. If you can really transform the 50 hectares of wasteland under your name into medium-yield fields, and then rent them to farmers to cultivate, one mu of land will be calculated according to the rent of half a stone of rice, and the income will be 2,500 stones a year, which is equivalent to more than 1,000 taels of silver, which is much more than the rent of the mountain field from Su Hao.

Zhao Luo is a gentleman, and he doesn't know these ways of doing business. Seeing that Zhu Xi and Su Hao were all full of joy, he knew that this choice was a win-win result, and he couldn't help but be happy, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to prepare a banquet, wishing the two sides a successful cooperation.

The banquet was staggered, and the guests and hosts had a good conversation. When Zhao Luo was happy, he boasted to Su Hao and others about his experience of traveling all over the world, one would say that he had fought against Confucianism in a certain academy, and the other would say that he had a very good relationship with a certain Confucian. Su Hao didn't know much about the social customs of the Ming Dynasty, and listening to Zhao Luo's nonsense, he really gained a lot of knowledge.

"By the way, have you ever heard of Li Hongfu, a Wenling layman?" Zhao Luo held the wine glass and asked Su Hao and Ma Yu.

"I haven't heard of it in my later years." Su Hao said. Most of the celebrities Zhao Luo said, he hadn't heard of them, the celebrities back then were all cultural people, Su Hao, as a geology, what intersection can he have with them?

Ma Yu nodded and said, "What Mr. Fengling said is Huang An's Li Zhen and Li Hongfu, right?" ”

Zhao Luo said proudly: "That's right, it's him." However, when Mr. Hongfu was in the twelfth year of Wanli, he had already left Huang'an and went to Macheng. When I went to visit him, he lived in the Zhi Buddha Monastery on Longtan Lake in Macheng, devoted himself to writing books, and occasionally opened the altar to give lectures. I've had the pleasure of listening to it twice, and it's better than reading a book for ten years. ”

Ma Yu's eyes showed a look of admiration, and said, "Mr. Fengling has actually heard Mr. Hongfu's lectures, which is really the envy of the late students. In his later life, he once heard the former Gu Jiaoyu of the academy talk about Mr. Hongfu and his person, and Gu Jiaoyu also bowed to him, calling him the first great Confucian in the world. ”

"Deserved, deserved, Mr. Hongfu is definitely worthy of the first Confucian in the world." Zhao Luo said repeatedly.

Su Hao listened to the two of them talking lively, couldn't help but poke Ma Yu, and asked, "Brother Duwen, what kind of layman are you talking about, and who is it?" Is there really such a god? ”

"That's nature." Ma Yu said, "He once taught Mr. Wang Dongya, and after Mr. Dongya passed away, Mr. Hongfu became a generation of masters of Xinxue. ”

"Uh...... Who is this Mr. Dongya? The younger brother is stupid, and he doesn't know anything about these great Confucians in the world. Su Hao himself felt embarrassed.

Ma Yu knew that Su Hao was just a rural scholar, and he was able to be admitted to Xiucai, but he only relied on some rote memorization, his academic skills were not deep, and his knowledge was even more shallow, which could not be compared to Ma Yu, a Xiucai who studied in the city. Seeing Su Hao's shameless questioning, Ma Yu briefly introduced the relationship between the characters to Su Hao:

The so-called Mr. Dongya, whose real name is Wang Xiang, is the son of Wang Gen, the founder of the Taizhou School, and Wang Gen is a disciple of Wang Yangming, the founder of Xinxue. Wang Gen is a native of Taizhou, Jiangsu, after he learned the theory of mind from Wang Yangming, he returned to his hometown to create the Taizhou School, and there are many elites under his disciples, including Wang Dong, Xu Yue, Zhao Zhenji, He Xinyin, etc., the most famous of which are two, one is the great thinker Li Zhen, and the other is the great politician, Xu Jie, who served as the first assistant of the cabinet during the Jiajing period......

Li Zhen is a native of Quanzhou, Fujian, born in the sixth year of Jiajing, 26 years old, and later served as the teacher of Henan Gongcheng, Nanjing Guozijian Doctor, Běi Jingguo Zijian Doctor, Nanjing Criminal Department member Wailang, Yunnan Yao'an Prefect and other positions. After three years as prefect, he got tired of this life and began to slack off, only to be impeached and ordered to be dismissed.

After the dismissal, Li Zhen did not return to his hometown, but went to live with an old friend named Geng Dingli in Huang'an, Hubei, and wrote books and lectures. In the twelfth year of Wanli, Geng Theorem died, and Li Zhen moved to Macheng until now.

Li Zhenqi's biggest characteristic is that he has a flamboyant personality. According to his autobiography, when he served in any of the yamen, he had a lot of fun fighting with his superiors and colleagues. After abandoning his official position, he focused on writing books and disseminating his ideas. He claimed to be a heretic of Confucian and Mencian traditions, and called his writings deviant. He objected to all kinds of hypocritical benevolence and morality, saying that those Taoists "are called mountain people, but their hearts are the same as that of merchants, and they talk about morality, but they are determined to wear through the kiln."

"Hehe, this old gentleman is a little interesting, if you have the opportunity in the future, you will definitely go to see you." Su Hao said. In his mind, the ancient Confucians should be the kind of people who want to quote scriptures and say something "Zi Yue Shiyun" at every turn, and he can't imagine that there are still people who claim to be the heresy of Confucius and Mencius. Such a person is worth getting to know him.

"When you want to go, be sure to inform Zhao, and Zhao will walk with you." Zhao Luo said.

Su Hao shook his head and smiled: "I'm just talking, there are so many things to do right now, who knows when I will be free." Mr. Fengling, I think you are usually very leisurely, which is really enviable. ”

Zhao Luo sighed: "It's boring to be leisurely for a long time. When my uncle returned to his hometown, he gave me a grounding order, forbidding me to leave Fengcheng, so that I could take care of the family business at home with peace of mind. Actually, it's good to have Mr. Zhu in charge of this business, and I'm just a superfluous person. ”

"Why did the owner say this, the old man is already old, and he can take care of the owner for a few years?" Zhu Xi hurriedly said.

"Mr. Zhu said this, your old health is very good, and it doesn't hurt to work for another 20 years." Zhao Luo said.

Su Hao said with a smile: "Mr. Fengling is really in the midst of happiness and does not know the blessing, like me and Brother Duwen, who want a quiet desk but can't, this is the bitterness." ”

"I'd rather be as busy as you are. By the way, Master Su, when you start mining coal and burning lime in the future, Zhao will also go to observe, maybe you can also help Master Su. Zhao Luo said in a begging tone.

Su Hao saw that Zhao Luo, a 40-year-old uncle, was actually playful like a child, and he couldn't help but laugh dumbly. He promised: "Mr. Fengling wants to see coal mining, and he can go at any time." Actually, there are more interesting things on our side, I wonder if Mr. Fengling intends to participate? ”

"What's the matter?" Zhao Luo asked.

Su Hao said: "I already know that Lord Han of the county plans to build a reservoir in Luoshan in the south of the county this winter, that is, a large Pitang, and plans to store one million cubic meters of water. Brother Duwen and some classmates from Longguang Academy will soon go to the Luoshan area to conduct geological surveys, and Mr. Fengling can also go if he is interested. ”

"Is there such a good thing?" Zhao Luo was really moved by Su Hao's words, he looked at Ma Yu with sparkling eyes, and said, "Brother Duwen, if you don't think Zhao is stupid, I want to go with you to do that investigation." Pitang, which stores millions of cubic meters of water, is unheard of by Zhao, and if he can contribute to this matter, he can also give an explanation to his ancestors and ancestors in the future. ”

"This ......" Ma Yu hesitated. In his opinion, Zhao Luo is just an old gentleman, and it doesn't hurt to chat and brag together, but to let him go to the survey with him, it seems that there is a feeling that the bull's head is not the horse's mouth. But seeing Zhao Luo's expectant look, it was not easy for him to say no directly. Anyway, I'm still eating someone's banquet.

Su Hao responded happily: "No problem, I have the final say on this matter." Mr. Fengling should make some preparations in advance, the conditions in the mountains are difficult, and Mr. Fengling must be prepared to endure hardships and fatigue. ”

"I didn't say it, don't look at me as an outsider, if you want to endure hardships and hardships, Zhao can also survive." Zhao Luoniu said coaxingly.