According to Yu Fuyang's introduction, Zhao Yuanwai's name is Zhao Luo, who was originally one of the largest families in Xuanfeng Township, and his ancestors were big officials, and later those uncles, uncles, cousins, nephews, etc., also had officials, but one generation was not as good as the next, and the officials became smaller and smaller.

This Zhao Luo is very elegant and not good at running a house, he has given himself a name, called Fengling Jushi, and sometimes he also calls himself Fenglingzi, and likes to let others call him Mr. Fengling. He has studied for a few years, but he has no intention of taking the imperial examination, so after gaining a reputation for showing talent, he no longer pursues progress. He prides himself on being a foreigner, and he likes to travel and make friends with some sour literati from all over the world. These literati took a fancy to Zhao Luo's gambling money, and when they had nowhere to fight the autumn wind, they would come to him, eat and drink the sea for a while, replenish the oil and water in their stomachs, and then take some silver from Zhao Luo and float away.

Because he was wronged all day long, and he had no intention of managing money, nearly 100 hectares of good land left to him by his ancestors were lost one after another, and now only about 20 hectares are left, that is, more than 2,000 acres. However, no one can look down on this mountain field covering an area of dozens of square kilometers, and it is still in his hands.

The land rent of the Ming Dynasty was roughly about 1 stone meter per acre, and Zhao Luo's family had more than 2,000 acres of land, and he could earn more than 2,000 stone meters a year, which was 1,000 taels of silver. In addition, there are some small industries in the county, and there is also a small output in that barren mountain, which is less than 1,500 taels a year. If Zhao Luo wants to be elegant and make friends with strange people, he can only slap his swollen face and become fat, and constantly sell land to make up for the shortfall.

A few years ago, Zhao Luo's family had a lot of land, and he didn't feel much when he sold 10 or 20 acres at a time. By the time he finally came back to his senses, nearly eighty percent of the 100 hectares of fertile land had been sold, and if he continued to sell it, he would go bankrupt. When an uncle who was an official in another place came back to save his relatives, he found out about this situation, scolded Zhao Luo with his head and face, and ordered him not to touch any of his ancestral property. Zhao Luo was quite ashamed of himself, so he no longer dared to go out to participate in any literary meetings, but read some idle books at home as a tmall. When those "literary friends" from other places came to visit, Zhao Luo's standard for receiving them also shrank greatly.

These are the situations of Zhao Luo introduced by Yu Fuyang to Su Hao, and Su Hao felt that it was so interesting after listening to it. Throughout the ages, there is no shortage of such rich second generations in society, and it is rare that this person has a gentle personality and is simple, although he is rich and powerful, he does not oppress the township, and he can be regarded as a harmless rich second generation.

Su Hao followed the position pointed out by Yu Fuyang, took Chen Guanyu and Ma Yu, and found Zhao Luo's home, which is a house not far from Qujiang Town, Xuanfeng Township. It is worthy of a century-old family, and the house of Zhao Luo's family covers an area of more than ten acres, surrounded by a one-person high wall. Due to its age, the walls are covered with moss, which looks quite ancient. The walls are lined with green trees, and the buildings with high eaves can be faintly seen, which makes people have infinite reverie about the magnificence of the courtyard.

The group came to the main gate of Zhao's house, Chen Guanyu stepped forward and explained Su Hao's identity and intention to Menzi, Menzi was very polite, saluted everyone, asked them to wait for a while, and then ran in to report, and didn't even take the few pennies red envelope that Chen Guanyu took out.

After a while, with a burst of laughter, Zhao Luo, the owner of this room, appeared with unhurried steps. He is a middle-aged man in his 40s, his figure looks a little rich, wearing a silk robe, and holding an unknown folding fan in his hand.

"Is this benevolent brother Master Su of the county government? Zhao has been looking up for a long time. The day before yesterday, I heard someone say that Master Su was surveying wells in the county, and if he had God's help, he would save thousands of people from fire and water. Zhao has always wanted to find an opportunity to ask Master Su for a lesson or two, and today Master Meng Su did not give up and came to the cold house, which is really full of brilliance. ”

Seeing that Zhao Luo said so politely, Su Hao hurriedly returned the salute, and said polite words about how to admire Zhao Luo's elegance, and then introduced Chen Guanyu and Ma Yu to Zhao Luo. Zhao Luo heard that Ma Yu was the head of the case in the county exam last year, and he couldn't help but make a fuss and compliment. This mutual praise took nearly a quarter of an hour.

Finally, under the guidance of Zhao Luo, everyone finally came to the living room of the Zhao family and sat down. Yahuan had already sent refreshments, and Zhao Luo proudly introduced to Su Hao that this tea was a certain famous tea, and this dim sum was a certain dim sum, and Su Hao and others naturally flattered Zhao Luo again, which does not need to be detailed.

After the greetings, Zhao Luo returned to business, and he asked Su Hao: "Shicai listened to the report of the disciple and said that Master Su wanted to borrow the mountain field in the lower part of his trip, I don't know the details?" ”

Su Hao said: "Mr. Fengling, who is currently the master of the county government workshop in his later life, saw that the people of this county were trapped in the lack of firewood and had difficulty in making a living, so he proposed to the county lord that he should open a coal kiln to mine coal in this county to help the people. In the past few days, together with Chen Daochang and Brother Ma, I have surveyed some places in Xuanfeng Township, and found that there are coal veins in this mountain field owned by Mr. Fengling, so I want to rent this mountain field to open a kiln, I wonder if Mr. Fengling can agree? ”

Zhao Luo said: "The mountain field left by the ancestors is not prosperous, and some people have always said that there are coal veins underground. A few days ago, there was a Tongtou surnamed Yu who led some people to open a coal kiln in this mountain, and I heard that the income was not very good. Master Su wants to mine coal here, I don't know how much it can be done? ”

Su Hao said: "We just came from Yu Tongtou, and we already know about the coal veins in this mountain field, and now it depends on whether Mr. Fengling agrees." ”

Zhao Luo nodded and said, "Since Master Su is already optimistic, it doesn't matter, I don't know where Master Su plans to open a kiln." ”

Su Hao took out the map he had shown Yu Fuyang before, spread it out to Zhao Luo, and said, "I want to rent Mr. Fengling's mountain farm, what do you think?" ”

Zhao Luo looked at the circles of lines on the map, and couldn't recognize them as contour lines, and thought it was some sign of Su Hao's survey of feng shui. At that time, the people who were able to find coal veins underground were called coal masters, and in the eyes of ordinary people, they were the same as Feng Shui masters, they were all three points of skill and seven points of mystery, and it was inevitable to draw some marks on the map.

Zhao Luo found some directions on the map, determined what position the area Su Hao was referring to, and couldn't help frowning and said, "The ground that Master Su wants to lease is inevitably too big, and this radius is also up and down five miles." ”

Su Hao said: "There are coal veins in these places, and I want to build a mining area, and I may have to open dozens of wells before and after, so it is better to rent the mountain field in advance." ”

Zhao Luo said: "Okay, anyway, these mountain farms are also barren, since Master Su is doing things for the benefit of the people, Zhao should help him." ”

Su Hao asked: "Renting these mountain farms, I don't know how much Mr. Fengling wants?" ”

Zhao Luo opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed it back, he turned his head and ordered Yahuan who was standing aside and waiting: "You go and ask Mr. Zhu to come, just say that I have something to ask him." ”

Yahuan left in response, Zhao Luo turned his head and said to Su Hao embarrassedly: "Master Su, it stands to reason that these mountain farms are also barren mountains, and Master Su wants to use them, even if they are used, why bother talking about this yellow and white thing, which pollutes everyone's ears." Helpless, a few days ago, Zhao's uncle returned to his hometown and scolded Zhao for not being good at running the family and ruining the foundation left by his ancestors, so he strictly ordered Zhao to let the housekeeper grasp the matter related to money.

Mr. Zhu, whose name is Zhu Xi, was hired by his father when his father was there, and it was better to let him discuss the rent with his master. ”

"Uh-huh, that's as it should be." Su Hao replied, "I am waiting here to open a mine, how can there be a reason not to pay money to the mountain owner?" It's just that if the price offered by this housekeeper is too high, I'm afraid that I can't afford it later. ”

"No, no." Zhao Luo said repeatedly, "Mr. Zhu is also an old man who has followed his father for many years, and he is still very fair. ”

While the two were talking, Yahuan led a bad old man in. Su Hao and the others hurriedly got up to greet them, and the bad old man clasped his fists and saluted everyone: "Old Zhuxi, I am polite to you." ”

Everyone saluted each other, Zhu Xi found a seat to sit down, and then asked Zhao Luo: "Dongjia, call the old man over, I don't know what to order?" ”

Zhao Luo told Zhu Xi about Su Hao's desire to lease the mountain farm for coal mining. Zhu Xi wanted to go over Su Hao's map again, stared at the presbyopia and looked at it seriously for a long time, then shook his head and said, "Dongjia, this matter is not appropriate." ”

"What's wrong?" Zhao Luo was a little surprised and asked.

Zhu Xi said: "This coal mining matter is related to the earth's gas. Although the mountain field left by the old owner is a little deserted, it is where our Zhao family's feng shui lies. The Zhao family was able to be rich and prosperous, all relying on the nourishment of this local qi. If coal mining leaks the earth's gas, the Zhao family's luck is only afraid that it will be damaged. ”

"Mr. Zhu, this feng shui theory, it doesn't seem to be explained by you like this......" Chen Guanyu was anxious on the side, as a feng shui master with deep awards, he could hear that this surname Zhu was talking nonsense.

Su Hao raised his hand and stopped Chen Guanyu, and then said to Zhu Xi with a smile: "Mr. Zhu, listen to what you mean, can't this mountain farm be rented to us?" ”

Zhu Xi raised his head, looked at Su Hao with cloudy eyes, and said slowly: "I heard from my owner that Master Su was ordered by the county to mine coal, and it was for the benefit of the people, if our Zhao family refused to rent the mountain farm, I am afraid it would be a little unreasonable." ”

"So, you can rent it?" Su Hao still asked with a smile.

Zhu Xi said: "The Zhao family has always been a family that pays attention to righteousness, so Master Su wants to lease a mountain farm for coal mining, and the Zhao family has no reason to refuse, but the loss of this leakage of land gas needs to be made up." I thought, can Master Su give some silver taels to make up for the earth's qi? ”