Zhao Fuxiang was originally going to Haikou Pier today to receive a new shipment of pig iron. This time, a total of 5,000 kilograms of pig iron, 2,000 kilograms of wrought iron, and the most expensive 500 kilograms of steel were shipped.

In ancient China, because the temperature it could provide was not enough, the quality of iron could only be improved through various ingenious methods. Before the Song Dynasty, steel was obtained through multiple forgings. The Song Dynasty began to use the steel filling method to make steel. By the Ming Dynasty, the technology was

Progress, the steel frying method was invented. Iron ore can be melted to directly produce steel. Of course, this crude production process cannot produce steel stably. Each pot of molten iron can only be controlled by the skills of the steel frying master. As for the specifics

Whether what comes out is steel or wrought iron depends on fate.

The five hundred kilograms of steel that Zhao Fuxiang bought were all rare high-carbon steel. These steels cost Zhao Fuxiang almost three thousand taels of silver. It was really expensive, but there was nothing we could do about it. Zhao Fuxiang needed these high-carbon steels to make drill bits. The old man was there.

All kinds of machining equipment require drill bits and cutting tools, so this money must be spent.

When Li Zhengdao saw Zhao Fuxiang coming to the dock in person, he smiled and said, "Brother, why are you worried? Come and see for yourself?"

Zhao Fuxiang nodded and asked: "How is the construction of the simple dock on Haidian Island? How long will it take for it to be operational?"

The docks in Haikou are all on the main island, but what Zhao Fuxiang needs are bulk materials. Unloading the goods from the main island and transporting them to Haidian Island is very labor-intensive, so half a month ago Zhao Fuxiang arranged for Li Zhengdao to find craftsmen to build a new dock on Haidian Island.

Hearing what Zhao Fuxiang said, Li Zhengdao smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, the pier is so easy to build. In addition to the plank road, it also needs a breakwater. It took hundreds of years to build the scale here in Haikou!"

Zhao Fuxiang also knows that things are not simple. In this era without mechanical applications, everything requires manpower, and the progress of the project will naturally not increase.

Zhao Fuxiang had no choice but to wait. Before the Haidian Island pier was built, all kinds of supplies could only go through Haikou Port.

Zhao Fuxiang watched the workers unpacking the packed iron ingots piece by piece and loading them onto oxcarts. Zhao Fuxiang asked: "Brother, isn't this pig iron easy to buy? Why did it take so long?"

Zhao Fuxiang placed the order in February, and now it is March. It took one and a half months for the pig iron to arrive. Li Zhengdao explained: "Brother, there is plenty of pig iron, but the steel you want is in short supply. You also want the best steel.

I traveled all over Foshan's iron smelting workshops and used countless connections to get these five hundred pounds!"

Mentioning this, Zhao Fuxiang was full of lawsuits again. He asked: "How is the iron ore in Changjiang? It's been almost two months. A lot of money has been invested, but not a single piece of ore has been shipped!"

Buying pig iron can only be a stopgap measure. Of course it is okay if you need a small amount now, but when hundreds or thousands of tons are needed in the future, it will not be appropriate to buy pig iron. The production in Guangdong cannot keep up, so you must produce steel yourself.

OK. Ore veins have been found at Shilu Iron Mine, but there are no roads and there is a lack of manpower, so the iron ore cannot be transported. In order to transport the iron ore to Haidian Island as soon as possible, Zhao Fuxiang has invested in the past two months.

I put in thousands of taels of silver, but now I don’t even see any money left in the house.

"Brother, the iron mine has hired more than 200 local people to build roads. As long as the road is built to the Changjiang River, small boats can be used to reverse big boats and the ore can be transported back! I asked about the progress a few days ago, and it's probably

There are still more than twenty days to complete the road construction, and the iron ore can be transported to Haidian Island in a month!"

One month? Zhao Fuxiang calculated it

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It was almost time, and he said: "When things here are over, you and I will go to Guangzhou to find some reliable iron smelting masters!"

Of course, Zhao Fuxiang went to Guangzhou not only to hire an iron-smelting master, but also to go to the governor's office of Guangdong and Guangxi. Zhang Rong's post of Qianhu must be appointed by the governor's office, and he had to get the nod of governor Shen Youlong.

At this time, a man hurriedly came to Li Zhengdao's shop and asked after entering the door: "Is Master Zhao Fuxiang here?"

Zhao Fuxiang frowned, came to the door and asked, "I am Zhao Fuxiang, who are you? Why are you looking for me?"

The man was sweating profusely as he ran, and he didn't bother to wipe it off at this time. When he saw Zhao Fuxiang kneeling on his knees, he said: "Master Zhao, this villain is Master Zhang Rong's slave. My master has revealed a big problem. Let's You should go to Qianhusuo Yamen immediately!"

Big problem? Zhao Fuxiang knew that Mao Jiao was going to attack the Zhang family today. Zhao Fuxiang originally wanted to go, but he thought that after all, his name was to go back to his hometown to visit his relatives, but now he came out to persecute his relatives. It was not good for people to know. In addition, Important goods arrived today, so Zhao Fuxiang didn't get involved. According to Zhao Fuxiang's plan, as long as the Zhang family and his son died, everyone else would disperse. Then he would just wait for the money. Why wasn't that part planned well? , let the Zhang family and his son escape?

Zhao Fuxiang quickly asked: "What, what went wrong? Did the Zhang family and his son run away?"

The family member shook his head and said: "Both the Zhang family and his son are dead, but my master still asked me to invite Mr. Zhao to come over. My master didn't tell me the specific problem, he just said the big problem!"

Zhang Rong was a very strict person and would never make any jokes. After hearing this, Zhao Fuxiang knew that something must have gone wrong, so he handed over the transportation of goods to Li Zhengdao and followed the family to the Qianhu Office in the city.

When they arrived at the Qianhu Office, Zhang Rong was already waiting at the door. Seeing Zhang Rong covered in blood, Zhao Fuxiang asked, "How was it? Was it successful?"

Zhang Rong pulled Zhao Fuxiang aside and whispered: "Both Zhang Chengde and his son are dead, I did it myself! But the problem now is that Master Mao discovered the secret of the Zhang family and said that the ancestors of the Zhang family are direct descendants of Zhang Shicheng. After hearing the news, I didn’t dare to neglect, so I quickly called you, Brother Zhao, to discuss countermeasures!”

Zhao Fuxiang had known the secret of the Zhang family for a long time, but now that Mao Jiao knew the secret, Zhao Fuxiang frowned and asked, "What do Mao Jiao and Zhao Mengguan say?"

"I don't know about this. At that time, I followed Mr. Mao and Mr. Zhao into the cave and found a large amount of Zhang family's treasures. But Mr. Mao somehow found Zhang Shicheng's gold seal. As soon as Mr. Mao found out, he took us away They were all kicked out, so I don’t know what their plan is!”

Zhang Rong is very anxious. Although he is not a bloodline of the Zhang family, his official position belongs to the Zhang family. If the Zhang family is really a descendant of Zhang Shicheng, then he will be implicated. Not only the thousands of households that have not been obtained, but also his hereditary hundred. The household was about to be lost, so Zhang Rongcai quickly sent someone to invite Zhao Fuxiang, hoping that he could find a way out.

Unlike the panicked Zhang Rong, Zhao Fuxiang knew what the secret of the Zhang family was, so he was not in a hurry. After hearing what Zhang Rong said, Zhao Fuxiang sneered: "It seems that this guy Mao Jiao is not giving up yet! Okay, Let him give up completely today!"

After Zhao Fuxiang finished speaking, he said to Zhang Rong: "Take me to the cave now, and find more people to stand there. The more people, the better. Also find some officials from the Qianhu Office. Don't make it all yours."

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people!"

Zhang Rong didn't know what Zhao Fuxiang wanted to do, but now he was helpless, so he quickly prepared according to Zhao Fuxiang's arrangements.

Now the clerks of Qianhu Office are all waiting for news in the main hall. Zhang Rong easily found enough manpower, so he led more than a hundred people to the cave in a short time. There were already more than a dozen Mao Jiao here.

When they saw so many people, they were about to ask what was going on, but seeing that Zhang Rong had led these people, they didn't ask.

Zhao Fuxiang stood at the front, waiting for Mao Jiao and Zhao Mengguan to come out. His plan today was to make the matter bigger. After these few months of contact, Zhao Fuxiang knew that these officials in the Ming Dynasty were much bolder than later generations.

After all, there weren't as many rules and regulations as later generations to restrict them, so in many cases it was local officials who had the final say.

Zhao Fuxiang knew that with the temperament of that guy Mao Jiao, he would definitely take advantage of the Zhang family incident to retaliate against him. He would probably be imprisoned together and die in prison for no apparent reason. In this way, the money would not belong to him, Mao Jiao.

Really? Zhao Fuxiang really knows Mao Jiao very well, and he is just going to do this. Although Zhao Fuxiang has a civil servant to protect him, but you are already dead, who can care about these things? After ten days and a half, the limelight has passed,

No one will care about the life and death of your Zhao family anymore. By then, won’t all the Zhao family’s properties be named Mao?

Mao Jiao was very smart in his abacus calculation, but he forgot about Zhang Rong. Although this guy was a son-in-law and had nothing to do with the Zhang family, all his official positions were given by the Zhang family. If the Zhang family was in trouble, he would naturally

It has also plummeted. Years of hard work have been in vain. Who can bear it? But Zhang Rong really can't afford to offend Mao Jiao, and of course he doesn't dare to offend Zhao Mengguan. He has no choice but to go to Zhao Fuxiang. I hope this omnipotent Mr. Zhao will be well.

way.

Facts have proved that this fat guy Zhao Fuxiang does have some skills. After Mao Jiao came out, he revealed the secrets of the Zhang family in front of everyone, and at the same time pointed out that he was not the eldest member of the Zhang family, but a direct descendant of Zhang Youguang, and Zhang Shicheng.

It doesn't matter at all. At the same time, Zhang Youguang's son Zhang Li crossed the sea to Nanyang in order to give up his throne to his elder brother. This kind act was unanimously praised by the onlookers.

The social atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty was much better than that of later generations. At the same time, the country still advocated filial piety, loyalty and trust. In order to live up to his old master, Zhang Youguang raised the old master's unborn son, which is the embodiment of loyalty. Zhang Li did not want to embarrass his father and leave for the sake of brotherhood.

Nanyang is a manifestation of loyalty. Zhang Youguang left a letter before his death, not allowing future generations to come to trouble the eldest son. It is also a manifestation of trust. The descendants of such a kind and righteous person, you Mao Jiao actually want to assassinate,

Even if the court can't do anything to you, can you silence the people of the world?

To be honest, Zhao Fuxiang has indeed caught Mao Jiao's weakness. You local officials can indeed be lawless, but no one can bear the pressure of public opinion. If it really gets serious, the court will definitely attack you, Mao Jiao, in order to calm public opinion. The fact is that

In this way, Mao Jiao and Zhao Mengguan immediately threw the enemy into the trap. Zhao Fuxiang was really the tofu in the ashes, whether it was taking or blowing!

In full view of the public, Zhao Mengguan had no choice but to act impartially and decisively, and said, "Don't worry, our Jin Yiwei will handle the matter impartially. We will never betray a traitor, but we will not wrongly accuse a good person!"

After Zhao Mengguan finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Fuxiang and said in a low voice: "Brother Zhao, can we move over and have a discussion? After all, if this matter gets serious, it will not be good for anyone!"

Zhao Fuxiang smiled slightly, pointed to a room not far away and said: "There happens to be no one in that room, let's go there to discuss it!"

(End of chapter)
Chapter completed!