Li Zhaoji warmly invited the two to dinner, and in the banquet hall of the Luming Pavilion, the main course was a charcoal-grilled deer.

"Come, shopkeeper Xu, the meat on this deer's leg is the fattest, please taste it." Li Zhaoji personally cut the meat on a deer's leg into small pieces, handed it to Tang Mu, and asked him to serve it to Xu Rongxing.

Xu Rongxing smiled, pointed to the deer's buttocks, but said, "Big shopkeeper, I want this deer tail?" ”

"Oh, what's the point?" Li Zhaoji saw that he was not for the desire of his tongue, and asked with a smile.

Xu Rongxing said: "It is an honor for Xu to be able to attach the tail of the big shopkeeper." ”

"Hahaha, shopkeeper Xu is polite, it was Li who neglected you, and he was supposed to entertain you early." Lee Siu Kee said.

Xu Rongxing personally cut off the tail of the deer and put it on his plate, he said to Li Zhaoji: "It's not to talk about slackness, the big shopkeeper really taught me a lesson Xu Rongxing, the regenerator, the variable gear, are all amazing, my Xu family three generations of iron smelting, but it is not as good as the big shopkeeper to do it, it is really embarrassing." ”

"Master Ma lost the bet to me, so when you go back, you can take Master Ma first, let him go to Foshan, and build this iron smelting furnace with a regenerator for you. As for the fan of the variable gear, it is really not a mystery, you can dismantle it, find a skilled carpenter, and you can make it. Li Zhaoji waved his hand, extremely generous.

Xu Rongxing nodded again and again, speechless with excitement.

Hai Shuzu asked: "Shopkeeper Li, so to speak, the secret of your new-style iron-smelting furnace has been learned by the man surnamed Ma?" ”

"Yes, how can such an important secret be taught to outsiders?" Xu Rongxing was so excited, and only after Hai Shuzu said this, did he remember this section.

Li Zhaoji waved his hand, not caring: "If it weren't for this Master Ma, I wouldn't be able to build this furnace." Besides, he agreed to work for me for two years. ”

"Two years, then two years later, wouldn't he want to build this advanced furnace all over the entire Foshan Town, and then we will ..... Isn't our iron-smelting workshop about to lose its advantage? Hai Shuzu said.

Li Zhaoji laughed: "What if you learn, to be honest, there is no Master Ma, with the wisdom of your shopkeeper Xu, I have seen it today, go back to ponder and trial production, you can also make a similar furnace, and an iron workshop, hundreds of people at every turn, it is difficult to guarantee that someone will steal the technology to go out, I look at it in less than two years, only a year, there are similar iron smelting furnaces everywhere, maybe people are smart, and they can make better ones." ”

Xu Rongxing nodded slightly, there are many people in the iron workshop, and the heat storage room is really simple, the structure is placed there, and those who know how to read it can indeed guess it.

Li Zhaoji said: "The two of them think that if they want to maintain their technological superiority and rely on keeping secrets, can they do it? ”

"So what to do?" Xu Rong got up and saluted: "Please teach the big treasurer." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "Keeping secrets is just a section, and it may not be done." But there is one thing, as long as it is done, then there will always be a technical advantage. That is innovation, as long as new technologies are constantly invented, others will always lag behind us. ”

"New technology ......." Xu Rongxing nodded slightly, his heart was such a truth, it seemed that he thought of a section, his eyes looked at Li Zhaoji, and thought that this regenerator iron smelting furnace was invented by the young shopkeeper in front of him, and he must know other better technologies.

Li Zhaoji said: "The addition of a regenerative furnace only reduces charcoal consumption by 30% and reduces smelting time by a quarter. In the future, the continuous improvement of the iron smelting furnace can smelt wrought iron, and even directly smelt the molten steel. ”

The pig iron produced in Foshan is one or two or four dollars per 100 catties, but if it is wrought iron, at least seven taels start, as for steel, there is no fixed price, the output of steel is not stable, and the price is also high and low, but the steel is smelted by the method of frying steel, which is very cumbersome, if it is really like Li Zhaoji said, smelting steel like smelting pig iron, this iron mill must be the largest iron mill in Foshan.

"Big shopkeeper, in fact, on the carriage that just came back, I discussed something with Brother Hai, which was a bit abrupt, but when it came to this, Xu was not unhappy." Xu Rongxing clenched his fists and said.

"Brother Xu, please speak." Lee Siu Kee said.

Xu Rongxing picked up a glass of wine, drank it all, and said: "Although we bet that we lost, the regenerator smelting furnace will be Brother Hai's shares, but I always feel that it is inappropriate, and Brother Hai is too, thinking that it is better for the three of us to jointly set up this iron mill." ”

Hai Shuzu heard this, his eyes changed slightly, just now in the carriage, the two of them did not discuss like this at all, what the two discussed was that they could not be greedy for Li Zhaoji's technology, give Li Zhaoji a share, only use dividends, and do not participate in management, which can be regarded as buying out the technology, but Xu Rongxing came here and became a three-person joint iron workshop.

If this is the case, in terms of financial resources, Li Zhaoji is the strongest, in terms of technology and management, it is Xu Rongxing who takes the lead, and he can make some money, and even if he thinks that the thousands of taels of silver of the Hai family are useless, he must be the one who is kicked out, but Xu Rongxing said it, how dare he say no? If you say it, wouldn't you touch Li Zhaoji's moldy head yourself.

Hai Shuzu's heart suddenly rose to his throat, in his memory, Li Zhaoji was smart and cunning, and arrogant and unreasonable, and he was never afraid of his Hai family's background, let alone his own feelings, he was very worried, Li Zhaoji kicked himself out of the game with a word.

But Li Zhaoji didn't do this, he said: "The matter of the iron workshop, originally Brother Hai was taking the lead, I can't pick Brother Hai's peaches, before I Li Zhaoji was embarrassed and poor, Brother Hai helped me a lot, at this time to share his shares, isn't it ungrateful." ”

As he spoke, he picked up a glass of wine and lifted it to Haishuzu.

Hai Shuzu sighed in his heart, when Li Zhaoji was poor in the past, where did he help him a lot, it was clearly Li Zhaoji who took and asked for it, but now that people say so, Hai Shuzu still has a lot of face on his face.

Li Zhaoji also said: "Therefore, the matter of the iron mill can be done according to your previous plan, and the things I promised will naturally be delivered, and I only hope that you will smelt the iron as soon as possible, so as to meet my fresh water needs." ”

When Xu Rongxing heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, his posture just now was extremely low, and he even risked offending Hai Shuzu to ask Li Zhaoji to join the shares, but Li Zhaoji still didn't agree.

Li Zhaoji smiled, stood up, took the wine glass from Tang Mu's hand, personally poured wine for Xu Rongxing, and said: "The sky is high and the sun is far away, Brother Xu and Li are familiar at first sight, there will be opportunities to cooperate in the future, and other aspects can be, and it is okay to run an iron workshop, but it is not done in Foshan." ”

"What does the big shopkeeper mean by doing it in Tamsui?" Xu Rongxing suddenly became interested, if he was in Tamsui, as long as he became a shareholder, it would be nothing in his opinion.

Li Zhaoji shook his head: "I mean, it's in Brother Hai's hometown." ”

"Qiongzhou?" Xu Rongxing and Hai Shuzu said in unison.

Li Zhaoji nodded heavily: "If it is done in Qiongzhou, I, Li Zhaoji, am not just as simple as buying shares." ”

Hai Shuzu really couldn't understand it, and Xu Rongxing was even more so, when Hai Shuzu looked at Xu Rongxing, he saw the suspicious expression on this guy's face, as if to say, are you hiding something from me.

Of course, Hai Shuzu didn't tell Xu Rongxing the truth, but he really didn't understand the reason, Hai Shuzu thought about it carefully, but he still didn't have a clue, and simply asked: "Shopkeeper Li, why do you want to go to Qiongzhou?" What is so special about Qiongzhou? ”

Li Zhaoji said: "There is a large iron ore mine in Qiongzhou, which is in excellent condition, it is the crown of the East, close to the sea, there is a river navigable, and it can be mined in the open air, which is very rare. ”

"This ...... I don't know. "Hai Shuzu has never heard of the big iron mine in Qiongzhou.

Li Zhaoji is talking about the Shilu iron mine in the west of Qiongzhou, which in the Ming Dynasty was just a small iron mine stolen by the local people, and it was not well-known at all.

"I also read it in a unique book, so it's not surprising that Brother Hai doesn't know." Naturally, Lee also had no obligation to inform him of his location.

Xu Rongxing said with a smile: "It seems that the big shopkeeper intends to open a mountain and smelt iron in Qiongzhou in the future." ”

Although he had a smile on his face, Xu Rongxing didn't pay much attention. Li Zhaoji's identity and the position of the Oriental Trading Company are somewhat special.

Speaking of which, there were rumors in Guangdong that Li Zhaoji, a righteous businessman, was once a guest of the governor Shen Youlong, but now he has achieved a foundation in Tamsui, but he is not even a Ming people. And Qiongzhou is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, if Li Zhaoji has a bad relationship with the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that he will not be able to go to Qiongzhou to open an iron workshop.

However, Hai Shuzu knew that Li Zhaoji participated in the training of the naval division in Guangdong, and many gentry in Guangdong were also ready to use the ships of the Oriental Trading Company to go to sea to trade, and when these things were done, Li Zhaoji was tied up with the Guangdong gentry, and when that time came, it seemed that it was not a big deal to go to Qiongzhou to open mountains and smelt iron.

"Shopkeeper Li, I will go to Qiongzhou to run an iron mill in the future, and I am willing to join the ancestors." Hai Shuzu immediately said.

Xu Rongxing saw that Hai Shuzu was so serious, although he didn't understand what he was, he immediately agreed, and Li Zhaoji nodded: "Brother Hai is a family in Qiongzhou, and Brother Xu is Taishan Beidou in the iron smelting industry, so naturally he will have to cooperate with the two of them in the future." But there is one thing, when the two iron mills are set up, they still have to try to use coal to smelt iron, accumulate some experience, and go to Qiongzhou in the future, so that they can become bigger and stronger. ”

"Well said, well said." Xu Rongxing and Hai Shuzu immediately agreed.

Li Zhaoji clenched his fists and said: "Today's iron smelting is to cast cannons, and the two of you also know that I made a bet with someone that I had to use iron fan to cast cannons successfully, so tonight I won't match." During the freshwater period, the trading company will bear the expenses, and the shopkeeper Liu will personally entertain the two. ”

"Where do you need to be so polite, I will go back to Foshan tomorrow. Nowadays, the big shopkeeper is a start-up, and there are places where iron is used everywhere, and I am bothering here, it is not a little help to help, it is better to set up the iron mill as soon as possible, the sooner the cheap iron material is sent, the greater the support for the big shopkeeper.

The big shopkeeper has a deep affection for someone Xu, and someone Xu is the only way to repay one or two. Xu Rongxing said immediately.

After the banquet, Li Zhaoji hurriedly changed into short clothes and returned to the arsenal, Xu Rongxing couldn't help but sigh and said: "It's really vigorous and resolute, this Li shopkeeper is arrogant and does it so personally, if you don't achieve a career, it will be God who won't open your eyes." ”

Hai Shuzu nodded: "Indeed, my friend, is indeed different. ”

Xu Rongxing shook Hai Shuzu's hand: "I really didn't expect that Brother Hai would have such a face here in Shopkeeper Li, if there is no Brother Hai, how can we get it?" ”

Hai Shuzu couldn't help but be a little embarrassed, Li Zhaoji had cheated him too much and harmed him too much, and he was a little uncomfortable with being kind to him for a while.

"Brother Xu, if you leave tomorrow, go back first, and I'll stay for a few more days. As the saying goes, the county official is not as good as the current management, although my friend is atmospheric, it is difficult to guarantee that the subordinates have any other thoughts, if I can't bring back the sample of the transmission gear with Master Nama, I am not reconciled. Hai Shuzu said.

Xu Rongxing nodded heavily: "Yes, Brother Hai is thoughtful, although Shopkeeper Li is generous, but where we should spend money, don't be stingy." You and my brothers work together, and they have mastered such technology, so we have to make the iron mill prosperous and surpass other iron mills in Foshan, otherwise, we will be laughed at by others. ”

"That's nature."