At the same time that Fanning and his entourage left Yangzhou to continue north, the brothers Mingren and Mingli also arrived by boat in Minxian County, Fuzhou, which is today's Fujian, and was the most important source of silver and tea in the Song Dynasty.

In addition, ceramics, crops and port shipbuilding industries are also very developed, such as Quanzhou in the south, is the most developed ocean port in the Great Song Dynasty, Nanyang, Tianzhu and even Persia, Dashi merchant ships will come to Quanzhou to anchor and trade.

In addition to abundant products and developed shipping, Fuzhou's humanities imperial examination was also very famous in the Great Song Dynasty, so that there were many talents, such as the famous Cai father and son in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Xiang, Cai Bian, Cai Jing, Xiangguo Zhangdun, Yu Shen, etc., all of whom were from Fujian.

In addition to the government-run silver mines in Fuzhou and Jianzhou, there are also many powerful people who have obtained mining rights, but the silver they mine and smelt is generally required to be sold to the government, but it is not so strict, otherwise there will be no special name for 'official silver'.

A large number of privately minted silver ingots were also circulated throughout the Great Song Dynasty.

The Zhu family also has a mine in Fuzhou, and the Zhu family buys lead ore, but the lead ore is also associated with a large amount of silver, and there is also a roasted tea factory, which has been operating in Fuzhou for more than ten years, and is run by a senior chief steward.

In addition to the mine, the Zhu family also opened a Zhu money shop in Fuzhou and Quanzhou.

The steward who received the Mingren and Mingli brothers was surnamed Wang, and was the supervisor of the Zhu family's roasted tea workshop, which happened to be in Lianjiang County.

The day after Mingren and Mingli arrived in Min County, they rushed to Lianjiang County in an ox cart.

"I inquired about the kind of stone you're looking for two days ago, and someone really knows."

Akihito and Mingli glanced at each other, the two were overjoyed, there was news so soon, Akihito hurriedly asked, "Is the mine in Lianjiang County?" ”

"It seems that between Lianjiang County and Luoyuan County, on both sides of a river, I haven't had time to see where it is, and when you wait for the tea factory, you can ask in detail, it was told to me by a roasted tea craftsman in my workshop."

The carriage bumped all the way north on the official road in poor condition, and Lianjiang County was very close to Min County, and the ox cart arrived at the Zhu family's roasted tea factory in Lianjiang County that night.

Eighty percent of the tea in the Song Dynasty came from Fuzhou and Jianzhou, where the tea quality is good, the output is large, can meet the huge demand of the Song people for tea, the tea leaves should be simply fermented after picking, and then made into tea cakes, and then baked and dried, and shipped to all parts of the Great Song Dynasty.

There are hundreds of roasted tea workshops in Fuzhou and Jianzhou, and the Zhu family's workshop is a relatively large one, with more than 100 craftsmen and several rows of houses built in a tea farm.

In addition, there is also a tea house in the workshop, which specializes in raising a small number of high-end tea cakes, such as the phoenix tea that Zhu Pei gave to Fanning, which took ten years to cultivate.

In a room of hojicha, wood was burning in the stove, and an old craftsman squinted at the phoenix warm jade in his hand, which was a sample brought by Akihito and Mingli, which Fanning had found in the strange stone alley.

"That's right, this is the phoenix egg from my hometown, I didn't expect it to become so beautiful, it really looks like honey is solidified, and it's generally not that big, it's probably the same size as a fist."

"Are there a lot of these stones?" Mingli asked.

"We have a lot of hometowns, and there are more on both sides of Shoushan Creek, but I haven't heard of them anywhere else."

Akihito hesitated for a moment and then asked, "You mean, this stone is buried in the earth, not in the mountains?" ”

"Of course, they are in the soil, but in fact they are buried deep in the rice fields on both sides of Shoushan Creek, and many people call it Tianhuangshi."

"That's right! It is Tian Huangshi. ”

Mingren and Mingli suddenly became excited, that's what Fanning called it, Tian Huangshi.

"But this kind of stone is not valuable, the peasants pick it out from the field, throw it into the Shoushan stream, or pick it up at home, use it to build a house, or build a pigsty, you might as well buy them as well buy Shoushan stone, that thing is more valuable, a big stone can be worth hundreds of Wen."

"Our old man wants to use this kind of Tianhuang stone to build a tower, so let our brothers buy a large number of them." The two brothers began to talk nonsense.

Steward Wang said on the side: "Lao Guan, give you three days off, you take them to the production area to see, I will follow, and I will pay you 500 yuan a day." ”

"Yo! Thank you so much for the stewardship. ”

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Shoushan is at the junction of Luoyuan County and Lianjiang County, there are several monasteries here, the population is also quite a lot, there are two mines specializing in mining Shoushan stone, Shoushan stone is more famous in the Sui and Tang dynasties, mainly used for carving, itself does not belong to the ornamental stone, many temples of the Buddha statue is carved with large pieces of Shoushan stone.

At the foot of Shou Mountain, a long stream meanders to the south, this is Shoushan Creek, Tian Huangshi is produced in the middle of the river on both sides of the underground sand layer several miles long, but above is rice fields.

The steward of the king, who accompanied Mingli and Mingren, spoke the local dialect, otherwise the two brothers would not understand what they were talking about.

In addition, they were also accompanied by the local Li Zheng, whose surname was Yang, with dark skin and a thin appearance, and he could speak some more lame official language.

Yang Lizheng pointed to the rice fields on both sides of the stream and said: "The Tianhuangshi that the little official said is under the rice field, and if the soil is dug up, there will be a layer of sand, and Tianhuangshi is in the sand." ”

"Can you buy these paddies?"

Yang Lizheng smiled, "Of course you can buy it, as long as you bid to make everyone satisfied." ”

At this time, Steward Wang pulled Mingren aside and said in a low voice: "Little official, the price of land here is very cheap, don't buy it directly from the peasants, you have to buy it through the government, otherwise you will be miserable." ”

Akihito frowned, "But we don't know the government." ”

"Don't worry about this, the Zhu family still has a little face here, tomorrow I will ask Steward Liu to come forward to find Luoyuan County Order, he has a good relationship with the government, and the land price here is only two yuan, at most three yuan can make them happily sell."

Akihito calculated in his heart, they brought 10,000 yuan, and the first phase of buying 1,000 acres of land required 3,000 yuan, plus hiring people, building a few rows of houses, and renting a boat for transportation, about four or five thousand yuan was enough.

"Dick!" Mingli was calling him.

Mingren stepped forward, Mingli pointed to Li Zheng and said: "Yang Lizheng said just now, many people have this kind of stone, we can buy it, there are also a lot of them in the river, the river is very shallow, children can touch it, what do you think?" ”

Akihito nodded and smiled: "Yes, I will bid for a hundred yuan to buy it, and in addition, I will give Lizheng three money to help us find a place to buy it, and then publicize it." ”

Yang Lizheng said with a smile: "I don't need money to help you publicize, but it is estimated that you need a guide who can speak the local dialect, my son is seventeen years old this year, he has studied in Min County, he can speak official language, and he is also very capable, so it is better to let him help you." ”

Of course, this favor can be done, and Akihito immediately said: "I will pay six yuan a month to hire your son, and if it is used well, it will be hired for a long time." ”

This price is three times the local labor fee, and Yang Lizheng was overjoyed, he was the head snake of the land, and quickly helped them rent a few rooms in the nearby Ciming Temple, and asked his son Yang Qing to help the two brothers.

Everyone immediately split up, Steward Wang went back to find Steward Liu to contact the government, and the three entourages followed Mingren and Mingli to stay, and they brought 500 yuan in cash, which was specially used to purchase Tianhuangshi in the hands of the peasants.

The news soon spread, someone wanted to buy Tianhuangshi with a hundred dollars, the bigger the stone, the higher the price, this news immediately caused a sensation in Sixiang.

Beginning in the afternoon of the same day, for five or six consecutive days, there were farmers carrying burdens one after another, pouring to Ciming Temple from all directions.

Children from various villages also jumped into the stream one after another, looking for Tianhuangshi in the stream.

The harvest was unexpectedly abundant, and on the first day of the arrival of the brothers Akihito and Mingli in Shoushan Creek, they collected more than 1,000 large and small Tianhuang stones.

The two brothers then wrote a letter back to Pingjiang Mansion to report the situation to their father.