Yu Fuyang looked at the map and saw some large and small circles drawn on it, as well as some roads and rivers. He didn't know what the circles represented, but from the path of the road and the river, he could find his location. He drew a small circle with his finger on the picture and said:

"Zhao Yuanwai and I didn't make it too clear, it's roughly this small area. In fact, our coal mining occupies a small amount of land on the ground, but piling up coal will defile the ground, so we have to pay some money to the mountain farmowner. As for the time, I didn't say that it was dead, a kiln is usually dug for a year, and this silver is considered to be bought out. ”

Su Hao said: "In this way, the price of renting a mountain farm is not too expensive." ”

Yu Fuyang said: "These mountain farms were originally barren, and they were surrounded by red soil, so they couldn't grow crops. If you want to plant some camellia in the mountains, you can only plant some camellia oil, and after a year, the camellia seeds harvested are not enough to pay short-term workers. I gave Zhao Yuan 20 taels of silver, which was for him to choose for nothing. ”

Su Hao asked again: "How big is the mountain farm of Zhao Yuanwai's family, can you point it out to me on this map?" ”

As a coal miner, Yu Fuyang often has to look at the map, so he is no stranger to Su Hao's map. He pointed a few points on the map with his hand and said, "Zhao Yuanwai is a wealthy man in Xuanfeng Township, and the mountain field left by his ancestors is very large. From here to here, a radius of more than ten miles is his family's property. However, the only useful piece of land is the westernmost piece, about 2,000 acres, which has been planted by others. The rest of this large area is barren mountains and wasteland, that is, it can grow some firewood. ”

"Okay." Su Hao said, "Yu Tongtou, you can buy this kiln for 200 taels." You let your brothers continue mining first, and I will pay them by day as much coal as I can dig out. In addition, I need to rent all the mountain farms in this area and prepare to open five coal kilns, can you help me recruit enough husbands? ”

"Open five coal kilns!" Yu Fuyang's eyes widened, "Master Su, do you believe that more than five ore veins can be found in this mountain field?" ”

"It's not just five." Su Hao said with a smile, "There is coal under our feet, but you have the patience to dig down, dig 200 zhang deep from any place, there must be coal, and it is all good coal, the key is just whether you can dig so deep." ”

According to Su Hao's knowledge, in this area of Jiangnan, there are actually no less than three coal-forming formations. Yu Fuyang is now digging the topmost stratum, that is, the Wang Panli Section, numbered as the C Coal Formation, and Yu Fuyang has only dug the top layer of the C Coal Formation. Below nearly 20 coal seams in the Wangpanli section, there is also the Laoshan section called the B Coal Formation and the Guanshan section called the A Coal Formation, and the depth is estimated to reach below minus 800 meters above sea level. Such a deep coal seam would certainly not have been possible to mine under the conditions of the time.

In the past two days, Su Hao has taken people around this mountain field has gone around a big circle, and has taken a general look at the basic rock formations, Su Hao can speculate that at least 10 or more shallow coal seams can be found in this mountain field, and from these sections to dig vertical shafts, about 100 meters deep, you can find coal seams with mining value. A well depth of 100 meters was still achievable with the technology of the year.

Master Su said with a smile, 200 zhang deep, which is beyond the reach of manpower. Even if there is coal, there is no way to dig out the small ones. Yu Fuyang said.

Su Hao said: "Don't worry, I won't let you dig a 200-zhang deep well." In this mountain field, I can definitely find a coal vein that is no more than 30 zhang buried, and the thickness of the coal seam will not be less than 6 feet, so you just have to help me find someone to dig it. ”

Yu Fuyang saw Su Hao's confident look, and couldn't help but believe a little. He said: "Master Su is very talented, and the small ones are beyond his reach. However, Master Su, if you want to rent this entire mountain farm, the cost is not a fraction. ”

"How much do you estimate it will cost?" Su Hao asked.

Yu Fuyang shook his head and said: "I can't figure it out, according to my guess, it has to be more than 500 taels." ”

"Well, 500 taels is indeed not a decimal number, I want to find a way to see if I can let this Zhao Yuanwai rent the mountain farm to us for free." Su Hao said.

"Master means to ......" Yu Fuyang dragged a long voice, and some disapproval appeared on his face.

Su Hao was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood what Yu Fuyang meant. Yu Fuyang obviously thought that Su Hao wanted to use the power of the county government to forcibly requisition the mountain farm from Zhao Yuanwai for free. As an ordinary person, Yu Fuyang is disgusted with this kind of behavior, but it is inconvenient to say it directly.

Su Hao said with a smile: "Yu Tongtou, you are too worried, I don't want to bully others and snatch the mountain field from Zhao Yuanwai's hands." ”

Yu Fuyang said with some embarrassment: "Where, where, I know that Master Su is not this kind of person, otherwise he would not have paid for a small coal kiln." I mean, there are also people who are officials outside the family of Zhao Yuan, and if they don't say it well, they are afraid that it will cause some entanglements and miss the future of the master. ”

"Aren't you still saying that I want to bully?" Su Hao said, "I will definitely find a plan that is beneficial to both of us, so that Zhao Yuanwai willingly rents the mountain farm to me, and even cries and shouts to rent the mountain field to me." ”

"Why is that?" Yu Fuyang was a little confused, and he didn't know what tricks Su Hao had.

Su Hao didn't bother to talk to Yu Fuyang more, he instructed: "Old Yu, our matter is decided like this, go back and let Chen Daochang draw up a contract, and the two of us will draw up a bet, even if we officially start to cooperate." You are responsible for recruiting a husband for me, I am responsible for solving the problems of the mountain field, and then surveying the coal vein, and the rest of the matter will be entrusted to you. ”

"The little one obeys." Yu Fuyang replied that since the price had been negotiated between the two parties, and the price was also satisfactory to him, he had already positioned himself in the position of Su Hao's employee, and he must be very obedient to his employer.

"In addition to recruiting, there are a few other things that you have to arrange." Su Hao said.

"Please ask the master to command." Yu Fuyang Road.

Su Hao said: "The first thing is to renovate the shack where the righteous husbands live, and to do it in a clean and comfortable way." In addition, it is necessary to hire a few more old mothers to help the righteous husbands wash clothes and cook, so that when they come back from coal mining, they can clean up and eat a hot and good meal. ”

"Thank you, master." Yu Fuyang stood up and bowed to Su Hao. He didn't expect that the first thing Su Hao explained was to improve the treatment of miners, you know, these expenses were to be deducted from Su Hao's profits. He was a miner himself, and he felt a sense of gratitude when he heard that his employer cared so much about the lives of miners.

"Sit down." Su Hao waved his hand to let Yu Fuyang sit down, and then continued: "The second thing is to make a few new air ducts and replace your big bamboo pipes." The air duct can be swept into a grate, with a diameter of one foot and five inches, and coated with yellow mud to prevent air leakage. On the head of the air duct, a wind wheel is installed, which is driven by a foot pedal to extract air outward. ”

Su Hao said as he drew a schematic diagram for Yu Fuyang on paper with a charcoal strip. The wind wheel he said is actually like the impeller of the range hood of later generations, which uses the foot pedal as the power and the belt drive to realize the active ventilation of the underground. The coal kiln he was going to mine was much larger, and it would not work without good ventilation.

Yu Fuyang looked at the picture drawn by Su Hao with admiration, and sighed: "Master Su is really a genius in the sky, and he can come up with a way to use a hair dryer with a sweep cylinder, and at my age, I really live to a dog." ”

Su Hao smiled and didn't answer, in fact, this method is not his invention, in some coal kilns in the north nowadays, this is how to make hair dryers, but this method has not yet been transmitted to the south. Su Hao also heard about this method by chance when he was studying the history of Chinese mining in later generations.

"The third thing is to make some underground coal trucks. I just saw your workers pulling coal baskets with ropes, and it was very hard. If you can load coal with a cart with wheels and lay wooden planks in the roadway as a road, you can save a lot of effort. Su Hao continued.

Yu Fuyang also understood this truth, and he hurriedly nodded and wrote it down. Su Hao then said a few things to be done, all of which are conducive to optimizing the coal mining process, and Yu Fuyang remembered them one by one. In the end, Su Hao turned his head to Xu Zong and said to him: "Old Xu, about making these equipment and recruiting a righteous husband, you will assist Yu Tongtou to do it." Yu Tong's head is positive, and you are the deputy. Where you want to use the silver, you can ask for it. When it comes to underground safety, don't be afraid to spend money, human life is more valuable than anything else, you know? ”

"My subordinates understand." Xu Zong agreed.

When Yu Fuyang heard Su Hao's arrangement, he hurriedly said: "How dare the little one be in front of Xu Chaye, or take Xu Chaye as the main and the small one as the deputy, if there is anything, Xu Chaye will tell the little one to do it." ”

Su Hao said: "There is no need to fight about this matter, Xu Zong doesn't understand the matter of coal mining, so he can only be your deputy." Everyone is doing things in order to do things, and there is no need to worry about the priority of the name. ”

"The little one has trespassed." Yu Fuyang had no choice but to accept Su Hao's arrangement with trepidation, and then turned his head and said countless kind words to Xu Zong. Xu Zong knew that although Su Hao made himself Yu Fuyang's deputy, he was in charge of the money bag, and he had real power, so he naturally didn't count these titles.

After explaining these preparations related to coal mining, Su Hao asked Yu Fuyang about the location of Zhao Yuanwai's house, and then took Chen Guanyu and Ma Yu to visit.

――――――

PS: The saying of contracts and contracts already existed in the Ming Dynasty, don't be surprised.