At nine o'clock in the morning of the next day, the heavy snow that had fallen for most of the night finally stopped, but the howling north wind still blew non-stop, and the Hushan Manor, located on the edge of the Yangtze River, was white, even more cold and damp.

Zhu Daolin put the valuables and four large boxes of precious materials into the underground secret room of the back study, carefully inspected the iron door of the passage leading to the four secret rooms in the back, and then inserted the thick iron chain, then turned around with confidence, counted the 12 tons of silver and 3.45 tons of gold that were neatly stacked again, and finally blew out the candles and climbed the twenty-first stone steps at the entrance.

Zhu Daolin closed the heavy iron-clad solid wood door, locked the big lock, put away the key and got out of the hidden small door on the inside of the big bookcase, closed the small door and pushed the bookshelves two meters high and one meter wide into it, and the big bookcase that occupied the entire wall immediately became tightly sealed, and there was no trace of it.

A sound of footsteps from far and near came, Zhu Daolin put a box of matches in his hand into the drawer, stood up and strode to the door, after listening to the report of the little shadow girl, he was slightly surprised, and told the little girl to help him cover the door of the study, tidy up his clothes a little and rush to the main hall.

The two Dongchang Qianhu, who were sitting in the main hall drinking tea, saw Zhu Daolin come out, and immediately got up and saluted together.

The tall and thin Qianhu official, who was about forty years old, stepped forward half a step, first showed his waist card, and then handed over the secret letter sent back by Wu Jingxian with both hands: "Fu Yinglong and Li Kuanji of the Qianhu under the command of Gonggong Wu pay a visit to the Taoist!" ”

Zhu Daolin politely took the secret letter with both hands: "You don't need to be polite, two brothers, please sit here." ”

"Thank you, chief!"

The two Dongchang Qianhu were very respectful, followed Zhu Daolin to the quiet tea room behind the main hall, and several little maids immediately brought braziers and small charcoal stoves, and quickly laid out exquisite tea sets, brought exquisite pastries, dried fruits and preserved meat, and began to make tea again without Zhu Daolin's instructions.

Zhu Daolin silently put away the letter after reading it. looked at Fu Yinglong, who was smiling: "How did Brother Fu know that I was coming back today?" ”

Fu Yinglong smiled embarrassedly: "I didn't know that the Dao Chief was coming back, but one of Wu Gonggong's relatives was in the workshop of Hushan Manor, and he used his identity as a craftsman as a cover to secretly protect the Dao Chief's family, as for who he was, I haven't seen him in Xia." I didn't have the right to know, but I rushed to him immediately after receiving his secret letter. ”

Zhu Daolin smiled noncommittally, Gonggong Wu had already told him about this before leaving, and he knew that with the arrival of more than 500 craftsmen under the veteran war bureau and the Ministry of Industry, there was definitely more than one master of the East Factory hidden in the Hushan Manor.

"Did my uncle ask the two of you to bring me a message?" Zhu Daolin asked politely.

Fu Yinglong humbly turned sideways, and Li Kuanji, a scholar on his left who was dressed as an ordinary person, immediately arched his hand: "My father-in-law instructed us to inform the Daoist Chief of the situation of the Imperial City Military Bureau and the Firearms Bureau of the Original Ministry of Engineering in Yifengmen, as for which place to choose, how to handle it, which set of rules to implement, and who to use as the head of all levels, it is up to the Daoist to decide!" ”

"What kind of craftsmen are needed, what kind of raw materials are purchased. We, the clerks, are responsible for running errands. ”

Zhu Daolin nodded: "From the perspective of the two of you, when will the emperor's decree arrive?" ”

"If it's fast, within five days, if it's slow, within seven days, it is estimated that at this time, the father-in-law and more than 100 craftsmen of the Beijing Military War Bureau have entered Shandong, the weather has suddenly turned cold in the past few days, it is estimated that the north wind is blowing, and the boat on the Grand Canal will be much faster than ordinary days. You should be able to return to Jinling within seven days. Deputy Qianhu Li Kuanji replied very methodically.

Zhu Daolin thought about it and stood up and asked the two of them to wait for a while. When he arrived in the back study, he took out the "Jinling Topographic Map" edited and printed by Chu Mei on the basis of the topographic map of Nanjing and according to Zhu Daolin's requirements, returned to the tea room, and spread it out directly on the root carved coffee table with a diameter of one meter and a half.

The two Dongchang spies were shocked when they saw the map, and Zhu Daolin didn't care what their reaction was, took the red and blue pencils off his ears, and drew a red circle around Beigu Mountain, two kilometers outside the Shence Gate:

"The cannon foundry can use the old workshop of the Ministry of Engineering in the southwest of Lion Rock. Although the factory has been abandoned for many years, it has a good location, sufficient water sources, no residential houses and no markets around. It can be used after a short rest, even if it is stationed with 5,000 craftsmen and apprentices. ”

"As for the fire. The medicine factory can only be located outside the city, and the military battle bureau in the northeast corner of the palace must not be selected, in case something goes wrong, I'm afraid that half of the street will be razed to the ground, so the fire. The pharmaceutical factory can only be located in Beigu Mountain, which is far away from the periphery of the city and has no residential houses. ”

The two Dongchang thousands of households didn't care to appreciate the exquisite topographic map, stared at the Beigu Mountain surrounded by a red circle in the middle, and nodded in unison.

Fu Yinglong said with a smile: "Or the Taoist has foresight, it is said that during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the emperor of Wu, built an iron city around Beigu Mountain, and moved in tens of thousands of craftsmen and soldiers to make weapons for the Wu army to smelt copper and iron. ”

"It's indeed a good place, just invite the two merchants who started the mountain and burned lime away, and you can take down the entire mountain and the surrounding land, but it's just that rebuilding it from scratch will probably require a lot of money!" Li Kuanji candidly expressed his opinions.

Zhu Daolin glanced at the scale in the lower left corner of the figure, calculated for a moment, and asked in a low voice: "If you build a brick-clad city wall 7 miles long, 5 zhang high, and 8 zhang thick around Beigu Mountain, which is about north-south direction, build ten large factories along the foot of the mountain on the east side of Beigu Mountain, and then build a barracks and a small school yard that can accommodate 3,000 craftsmen and 1,200 guard officers and soldiers, how much silver do you estimate it will need?" When will it be repaired at the earliest? ”

Fu Yinglong and Li Kuanji gasped, looked at each other for a while and didn't dare to speak, Zhu Daolin didn't urge them, threw down the red and blue pencils, picked up the teacup and tasted the tea slowly.

Five minutes passed, and Li Kuanji replied stubbornly under Fu Yinglong's signal: "The city is not big, and it is estimated that it will not need so many gatehouses to be used as a workshop, if there is enough silver, mobilize more than 50,000 people, and buy a large number of stones, city bricks, lime and tung oil from the surrounding three hundred li prefectures, and it can be completed within half a year." ”

Zhu Daolin became interested in this ordinary-looking and thoughtful deputy Qianhu of Dongchang: "Brother Li, don't have any worries, let's be straight, how much silver do you think it will cost to build from scratch?" ”

"At least 500,000 taels, otherwise it's really difficult to do!" Li Kuanji closed his eyes after speaking, and Fu Yinglong on the side was so nervous that his palms were wet.

Zhu Daolin thought for a while: "As an aside, what is Brother Li currently responsible for guarding the yamen in Nanjing?" ”

Thirty-four-year-old Li Kuanji was stunned for a moment: "Ashamed! I have been experiencing housekeeping all the time, and it is all trivial and trivial, if it weren't for the mercy of Father-in-law Wu, I'm afraid that he would still be a miscellaneous hundred. ”

Zhu Daolin asked again: "Is Brother Li willing to serve as the guard of thousands of households in the Nanjing Firearms Factory, and concurrently serve as the deputy director of the firearms factory?" ”

Li Kuanji was taken aback, and hurriedly stood up and saluted in fear: "Thank you to the Taoist chief, who is humble and light in the lower position, and has insufficient talents, and has never done anything to manage people, it is really difficult to bear such a heavy responsibility, so I implore the Taoist chief to choose another capable person." ”

Zhu Daolin also stood up and replied with a salute and asked him to sit down: "The two of you should be able to see that the emperor personally issued an edict this time to restore the long-abandoned Nanjing Firearms Factory, which is completely a remedy in an emergency. ”

"I am convinced that the emperor has high hopes for Gonggong Wu, Zhu Daolin, you, Wei Guogong, Marquis Longping and others, and this manager is none other than me, because the emperor does not have a tael of silver for us, but I am willing to share my worries for the emperor, and I am willing to do my best for the Ming Dynasty, please support the two of you!"

"Brother Li, from your careful consideration, I know that you are a talent that you have never met, and now there is an opportunity for you to prove your talent, are you willing to miss it in vain?"

Fu Yinglong hurriedly pushed the righteous brother Li Kuanji: "Third brother, the Taoist chief is right!" Maxima often has, but Bole does not often have, don't you often hang this sentence on your lips? ”

Li Kuanji forcibly held back the excitement in his heart, slowly stood up, and bowed deeply to Zhu Daolin: "Thank you, Daoist!" Li Kuanji is willing to look forward to the head of the road, and he will go all out to smear his liver and brains! ”

Zhu Daolin hurriedly went over to help him up: "Brother Li, Brother Fu, from now on, everyone is a family, there is no need to be so polite!" ”

"Brother Li, I'll write a document later, you get the general number of Bofu Money Village in the city, they will open a special account for you, you sign your name, leave your seal, after you do it, you can withdraw silver taels at any time in Bofu Money Bank or other branches, the total amount of silver is 600,000 taels, I hope you can build a new iron city for the emperor and my Ming Dynasty within half a year!"

"Remember, don't be sorry for the craftsmen and people, I don't have enough money to ask for me, and I can't make up my mind from the poor who are bitter, this is my most basic requirement!"

Li Kuanji and Fu Yinglong were completely stunned, and after Zhu Daolin went to the study, the two of them were still standing there stunned, no one dared to believe that all this was true.

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PS: This is the third chapter of today!

Thank you for the big monthly passes, thank you for the empty wine jug, and the big reward for the melancholy lovers! Xiaohuo continues to ask for subscriptions, tips, referral tickets and monthly pass support! (To be continued......)