Wu Shigong listened to Wan Wendong's story with great interest. In modern times, no matter which novel has such a bridge, those private mine owners must be some negative characters, and the behavior of those miners against oppression will definitely be highly praised.

However, of course, Wu Shigong will not care about this kind of moral judgment. But after understanding the intentions of Li Lu and Wan Wendong, to be honest, Wu Shigong was not very interested in sending troops to help those private mine bosses and recovering those private mines.

Wu Shigong was still very confident in the combat effectiveness of his army. According to Wu Shigong's estimates, as long as an army of 1,500 to 2,000 troops was dispatched, it was completely possible to drive those miners out of the private mining areas. It is nothing more than the length of time it takes for the army to fight because they are located in mountainous areas and have complex terrain.

Of course, in case Wu Shigong sent troops, the food and salary of his soldiers would definitely be supplied by those private mine bosses. But that's not how the accounts are counted. For Wu Shigong, it is not cost-effective to let his carefully trained soldiers bear the sacrifice for the benefit of others.

In addition, Wu Shigong just needs some cheap iron. He can buy it from these private mine bosses through Li Lu, and of course he can also buy it from the miners of those horse bandit organizations. Perhaps, those horse bandits have no other channels to sell iron materials, and the iron materials sold to Wu Shigong will be cheaper. What to say, Wu Shigong himself will not suffer too much.

However, since Li Lu brought Wan Wendong to him for help, this refusal is not good. Besides, Wu Shigong also has to learn about the situation of those iron mines in detail through his own ears and eyes. Therefore, Wu Shigong also said to Wan Wendong very politely: "This matter is so big, and this official can't answer it immediately." Outside of the ten thousand people, you can have a good time in Runing Mansion for a few days, and when the official has agreed, I will give you an answer. ”

After sending Li Lu and Wan Wendong away, Wu Shigong immediately called his main staff and military attachés over to discuss whether to send troops. In the process of deliberation, everyone's opinions were surprisingly unanimous, and they all felt that there was little point in sending troops.

And Deng Qifan's words are also the most representative: "My lord, if the Runing battalion sends troops this time, those mine owners will only provide some food and salary. But the rule of the adult's Runing battalion is that the soldiers get double pay, plus the compensation for the casualties of the soldiers, so the adults must not get much. ”

"And if you want to make a profit, you must take advantage of this opportunity to occupy a part of the iron mine. Not to mention whether the mine owners are willing or not, even if those mine owners agree to give up to the adults, how can the adults guarantee that those miners will not make trouble again in the future? ”

"Therefore, in order to prevent those miners from rebelling again, the lord must station an army in Nanyang Mansion. The students didn't mention the question of why the garrison of Runing Mansion went to Nanyang Mansion to station troops. Even if this problem can be solved, where will the future food and salary of this new army come from? ”

"And what your lord is worried about now is nothing more than a problem: those troublesome miners don't sell iron to your lord, and cut off your iron supply. In fact, this problem is easy to solve, just let the Four Seas Commercial Bank send a shopkeeper to contact these troubled miners. ”

"Of course, if the interests of those mine owners are big enough, the adults can also send troops to help. However, there is no need for the adults to be busy answering now, and they will dry those mine owners in Nanyang Mansion for a while, in that case, they may make relatively large concessions. ”

Wu Shigong listened to Deng Qifan's words and thought so. That's the old way. So after the meeting, Wu Shigong asked Yuan Xingshan to send several shopkeepers and men from the Four Seas Commercial Bank to Nanyang Mansion to contact the miners who were making trouble and discuss the purchase of iron materials. On the other hand, he called Xue Zhinong over.

After all, Wu Shigong still has to be ready to send troops, so those preparations must also be done in advance. And the Shan Chuan Division will also immediately send people to find out the map of Nanyang Mansion and the situation of those troubled miners.

After Xue Zhinong came, Wu Shigong explained this task clearly, and he said to Xue Zhinong: "Zhinong, in addition to the things you just gave you, the people you sent to Nanyang Mansion this time have to find out two things. ”

"One thing is that I heard from Li Garrison that the combat effectiveness of the miners who made a rebellion has exceeded the combat effectiveness of ordinary officers and soldiers. There are 4,000 of them, and it always makes people feel a little uneasy to put such a large liliang around us. Although they are not a threat to us for the time being, we need to find out as much about their situation as possible. ”

"The other thing is that you also have to find some old local miners who really know the production of those iron ores. If the mine owners are willing to give us some shares, then we will not lose in negotiations. ”

"Hmm!" Xue Zhinong hurriedly nodded in agreement.

"If there's nothing to do, you go down."

Xue Zhinong turned around and was about to leave. But at this time, as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned around and asked Wu Shigong again: "The girl that my uncle arranged for the little one, the little one has been sent to Mother Li for training, and the little one wants her to do things for our Shanchuan Division in the future." ”

Wu Shigong was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it, he realized that Xue Zhinong was talking about the Tang Mei he gave to Xue Zhinong! Then Mother Li is the old bustard before Manling, but what did Xue Zhinong do when he sent Tang Mei to Mother Li?

"Since it's already been given to you, then you can make your own arrangements." Wu Shigong also immediately understood, Xue Zhinong said that if Tang Mei wanted to do things for the Shanchuan Division, it must be to use Tang Mei's beauty to use the beauty trick. However, for the specific affairs of the Mountains and Rivers Division, Wu Shigong still decided to let Xue Zhinong, the commander of the Mountains and Rivers Division, do it freely.

This two waves of people, one bright and one dark, set off soon under Wu Shigong's arrangement. Then, Wu Shigong also participated in his birthday for the first time since he arrived in the Ming Dynasty.

There is not much to say about the lively scene of the birthday banquet, but this time, Wu Shigong took advantage of the large number of guests who came to congratulate, and by the way, he held the concubine ceremonies of Qiongniang, Manling and Mei Yun.

When all this was done, the men sent out from the Four Seas Merchant House brought back satisfactory news as expected. After coming into contact with the leaders of the troubled miners, that is, the horse bandits, the horse bandits readily agreed to Wu Shigong's request to buy iron materials.

Moreover, after those horse bandits learned that Wu Shigong had purchased a relatively large amount of iron, they were willing to give Wu Shigong a more favorable price, which was even lower than the price of iron that Li Lu gave to Wu Shigong.

But after some time, the wave of people sent out from the Shanchuan Division also returned, and they brought Wu Shigong an unexpected news.

Xue Zhinong reported to Wu Shigong: The total number of miners who made trouble was indeed more than 4,000, plus their families were also more than 10,000 people.

And those miners don't usually gather together. They lived according to the hills where the iron ore was produced, and each hill was managed by a mountain owner. Only when something happens, will they gather together to defend against foreign enemies.

However, the horse bandits, who were the leaders of the miners, clearly had experience in the army. When the miners were in their spare time, the horse bandits organized the miners and conducted a certain amount of military training. Therefore, those miners are not without a little combat effectiveness.

Wu Shigong heard this, and there was no surprise thought. Because in the Ming Dynasty, among the horse bandits and bandits who fell into the grass, there were indeed many soldiers who fled from the army to join. Therefore, it is not surprising that among those horse bandits, there are people who know military training.

But the news that Wu Shigong heard next made him calm. Xue Zhinong then reported: Through inquiring about some old miners, I learned that the output of those iron ores is not satisfactory. And along with this iron mine, there are some small coal mines. And these minerals are enough to meet Wu Shigong's current needs.

However, in addition to the iron and coal mines, there is also a saltpeter mine in that area. However, because of its remote location, the saltpeter mine has not been mined, so the locals have basically left the saltpeter mine idle.

For Wu Shigong now, the temptation of this news must be great. Because of Wu Shigong's current army, the use of firearms is quite common, and the consumption of gunpowder is also quite huge.

However, because gunpowder was not easy to purchase, Wu Shigong's army could only maintain a relatively low level of training. As a component of gunpowder, Wu Shigong himself has a charcoal burning workshop. However, saltpeter and sulfur are more difficult to obtain.

Compared with sulfur, which is easier to procure, saltpeter is more difficult to procure, and the price is relatively high. If there is this saltpeter mine now, Wu Shigong's gunpowder acquisition problem will be solved by more than half.

It can be equivalent to the economic account, and what makes Wu Shigong even less negotiable is the political and military account. Whether it is iron or saltpeter, it is not only a commodity for Wu Shigong, but also a strategic material.

If there is only one kind of strategic material -- iron material, Wu Shigong may still be able to endure it, but with two strategic materials, then Wu Shigong will definitely not be able to sit still.

For this reason, after listening to Xue Zhinong's report, Wu Shigong had already made up his mind that he must send troops and take the iron ore and saltpeter mine into his own hands.

However, for the current Runing Battalion, the institutional setup has been relatively complete. Regarding the dispatch of troops, Wu Shigong cannot be too arbitrary. Therefore, he gathered his main staff and military attachés together to discuss.