Su Hao didn't expect that he had created such a great reputation just by digging a few wells, so that Yu Fuyang immediately changed his attitude towards him, from the original somewhat unruly, to the appearance of throwing himself to the ground.

Yu Fuyang was so convinced by Su Hao for two reasons. One is that Su Hao drilled a well and saved thousands of farmers; The second is that Su Hao's accurate well surveying makes people feel like a god. The ancients did not have a strong sense of science, and for this ability beyond mortals, it was often attributed to the theory of gods and ghosts. In the minds of many people, including Yu Fuyang, Su Hao is a person who can crack the heavenly machine, with a shining aura on his body.

The little worker pulled over the big basket used to go down the well, let Yu Fuyang and Su Hao sit in it, and then slowly put it down the well. This basket is a few points larger than the one that Su Hao and Han Qian sat in together, because the mine is different from the water well, and the miners and coal mining tools have to enter and exit through this wellhead, so the diameter of the wellhead is much larger than the water well.

Yu Fuyang held a torch in his hand to illuminate Su Hao. Seeing that Yu Fuyang was carrying an open flame, Su Hao felt a little surprised, the coal mines in later generations were strictly forbidden to open flames, and the electrical appliances underground were specially designed, and there could not be any bad contact that would cause sparks. However, Su Hao thought about it and understood that in the Ming Dynasty, there were no miner's lamps that used batteries, and the underground lighting could only use open flames. At this time, the mine is generally not too deep, and the roadway is not long, as long as attention is paid to ventilation, the underground gas is not enriched in one place, and there will be no worry about gas explosion.

As when he first surveyed the well, Su Hao asked the small worker in charge of rocking the wheel on the ground to slowly put down the rope, and he himself carefully observed the wall of the well by the light of the fire and analyzed the geological conditions underneath.

In the eyes of others, the wall of this well is nothing more than layers of stones and soil, but in Su Hao's eyes, this is a living record of stratigraphic evolution. From the structure of the rock strata, Su Hao can see that the coal kiln mined by Yu Fuyang is located in the Wangpanli member of the Longtan Formation of the Upper Permian, and its coal-forming environment belongs to the lagoon and coastal plain coal-gathering sub-environment in the sedimentary system of the sea-retreating barrier island, which is characterized by the unstable coal-forming environment of peat mud, the number of coal layers is large, and the thickness of each layer is significantly different.

What Yu Fuyang is currently mining should be a coal seam at the top, which is not fully developed, or rather, this is just a little skin of the entire coal reservoir. If he has enough geological knowledge, then he will shake off this layer and dig down. As long as you dig down another 10 meters or so, you may encounter a well-developed thick coal seam. The thickness of such a coal seam can reach more than 2 meters, and the distribution range is wider, which is enough to support an annual output of more than 1 million catties.

Su Hao silently analyzed the geological structure in his heart, but he would not tell Yu Fuyang the results of this analysis stupidly. In fact, the area chosen by Yu Fuyang was very good, but he was very unfortunate enough to come across a thin coal seam and stop here. If Su Hao didn't break this layer of window paper, then Yu Fuyang would fill in the well after mining the coal from this thin coal seam, and then return in amazement.

Yu Fuyang sat in the big basket and watched Su Hao observe the wall of the well little by little, his heart was full of admiration. Although he had learned some techniques for coal prospecting, he mainly observed from the ground, and he knew nothing about the relationship between the underground structure and the coal-forming environment. Looking at Su Hao's appearance, he obviously knows everything about what those rock formations of different colors represent, and this ability is something that Yu Fuyang can't catch up with on a fast horse.

"Master, what do you see?" Yu Fuyang couldn't help but ask.

Su Hao smiled and said, "Yu Tongtou, the position you chose is very good." ”

Yu Fuyang said: "Master, don't laugh at me, I thought there was a big coal vein underground at first, but when I dug the well, I saw that it was just a small coal vein two or three feet thick, and now I regret that my intestines are green." ”

Su Hao didn't explain much, just smiled. He had already decided to buy this coal from Yu Fuyang, and after the delivery, he would tell Yu Fuyang to throw away the coal seam that was currently being excavated and continue to dig down. When Yu Fuyang sees the big coal seam below, I'm afraid that his intestines will really regret it.

The rope finally came to an end, and the two went down to the bottom of the well. Su Hao walked out of the big basket, looked up, and saw that several horizontal roadways had been dug out of the mine, because the coal seam was thin, so the height of the roadway was also limited, only four or five feet, and the workers could only enter it with their waists. In the tunnel, the light of a bean-sized fire flickered, illuminating the figure of the workers who were struggling to chisel the coal wall with an iron pickaxe.

Yu Fuyang also walked over and explained to Su Hao: "In these lanes, you can't light a fire, for fear of igniting the coal. It's just a little bit of light, and it can shine on the face of the palm. ”

As he spoke, one of the lanes began to go out with coal, and the workers crawled out with great difficulty, bending over, on all fours, and pulling a rope on their shoulders. Behind the rope was a huge basket filled with coal.

The worker climbed in front of Su Hao and Yu Fuyang, stood up, panting, and asked Yu Fuyang: "Tongtou, what's the matter, the guests have all come down to the kiln, are they here to see the quality of the coal?" ”

Obviously, he regarded Su Hao as a merchant who came to buy coal, Yu Fuyang hurriedly shook his head and said, "Old Zhou, don't talk nonsense, this is Master Su in the county government." ”

"The master of the county government?" Lao Zhou was surprised, "Why did the master come to our kiln?" ”

"Hehe, I'm a master who specializes in digging coal, so I went down the mine." Su Hao said with a smile, "Master Zhou, let me inquire, how thick is the coal seam in the roadway you dug just now?" ”

Lao Zhou didn't know whether Su Hao was friend or foe, so he didn't dare to speak out, he threw an inquiring look at Yu Fuyang, and Yu Fuyang said: "It's okay, Lao Zhou, you can tell the truth." ”

Lao Zhou said: "The situation is not good, I just dug it into less than three feet, and the coal seam is two points thinner, and now there are only two feet and four points left." If I dig any further, I'm worried that there will be no coal to dig up. ”

Yu Fuyang sighed and said to Su Hao: "Master, look, this well is like this. If I didn't want to make some money back, I would want to fill the well now. The brothers worked hard all day, and one person could not dig 300 pounds of coal, so he really couldn't do it. ”

Su Hao smiled and said, "Don't worry about Yu Tongtou first, let the masters continue to dig coal first, and let's go to the top to talk." ”

Yu Fuyang nodded in agreement, he explained a few words to the workers in the mine, and then sat in the big basket with Su Hao and returned to the surface. Afterwards, he took Su Hao and his entourage to the outside of the small shack where he lived, took a few horses for everyone to sit down, and called a woman who was cooking and asked her to pour tea and snacks for everyone.

Su Hao took the tea handed over by the cooking woman, took a sip, and then said to Yu Fuyang: "Old Yu, I saw it in the well just now, and Yu Tongtou's craftsmanship is indeed extraordinary. This shaft is very neatly drilled, and the various arrangements under the shaft are also well organized, which can be seen to be done by experts. To be able to hire someone with a good craft like Yu Tongtou, with 100 taels of food and silver a year, I can be considered to have picked a little cheap. ”

"The master praised it falsely, the small one is just digging coal for a long time, and the hands are familiar." Yu Fuyang said modestly. This is a matter of giving face to each other, Su Hao praised his good skills, he had to be polite, so that everyone could continue to talk.

Su Hao said: "I also want to explain to you, I want to buy your kiln and hire you to continue to serve as the head of the kiln." If these righteous husbands of yours are willing to stay, I will accept them all, and the wages will be added to the amount you have given them in the past, plus twenty percent, what do you think? ”

"Then I'll thank Master Su for my brothers." Yu Fuyang said, "I don't know how much silver the master is willing to pay to buy my kiln?" ”

Su Hao smiled: "The kiln is yours, you have to make a price first, right?" How can I bid first? ”

Yu Fuyang laughed twice and said, "The little one is offended, in order to open this kiln, I specially invited a coal master to inspect it, and it cost a lot of silver." In order to rent this mountain farm, I also gave the mountain farm owner Zhao Yuan a diplomatic 20 taels. In addition, the cost of drilling wells and buying materials in the early stage is not in the decimale. These are added together, almost 300 taels, I want a whole price, or the master will give the small 200 taels, what do you think? ”

Encountering this kind of bargaining occasion, Chen Guanyu took the initiative to open his mouth without Su Hao's greeting, and he said: "Yu Tongtou, you are not authentic. The coal master you hired is a good thing, the coal veins surveyed are not good, this money is your unjust money, how can I let my master pay for it? As for digging wells and buying materials, I think you spent less than 100 taels in total, right?

Also, you've been mining coal for months and you've made some money, and you've got to cut it off. Besides, our master also said that your well will not be dug for long before it will be hollowed out, do you think the remaining coal can be worth 200 taels? ”

Yu Fuyang was not surprised by Chen Guanyu's rebuttal, he was also asking for a sky-high price, waiting for Su Hao to sit on the ground and repay the money. Hearing Chen Guanyu say this, he smiled and said, "Hehe, the small one didn't plan to make a price, but Master Su asked the small one to say it, and the small one just said a price." What Chen Daochang said is also reasonable, I don't know how much Master Su is willing to pay to buy this small kiln? ”

Su Hao did not answer Yu Fuyang's words, but spread out a map and said to Yu Fuyang: "Yu Tongtou, you just said that in order to open this coal kiln, you paid 20 taels to the mountain owner Zhao Yuanwai, I don't know how big your 20 taels are, how many years can you mine?" ”