The old man Zhaoqu got up early in habit, drank a bowl of hot porridge, and ate a few hot buns full of fat. He felt much more comfortable. Then he put on his silk jacket and slowly turned around the mine with his hands on his back, like an old wolf patrolling his territory.

A few months ago, with the support of the Song Dynasty court, the old man Zhaoqu took the initiative to provoke Chahedong with his tribe members from Wuliodong. When the other party couldn't help but start a war, Wuliodong finally destroyed the other party in one fell swoop, and annexed the territory and population of Chahedong, becoming the overlord of the Li tribe in a radius of hundreds of miles. At the same time, he also included Shilu Iron Mine in his jurisdiction.

However, although Old Man Zhaoqu knew that his strength had been greatly enhanced, all this was actually due to the support of the court. In the eyes of the court, forces like him were nothing at all. In addition, he was old and just wanted to live the rest of his life peacefully, so he honestly cooperated with the court to develop Shilu Iron Mine.

In fact, it is a bit too polite to say that cooperation is a bit too polite. At most, they help the court to help build roads and do odd jobs. The main miners who start mines are recruited from Jiaozhi, where the manpower is cheap, and a miner only needs to pay a few cents a month for remuneration.

After these miners arrived, the men in Wuliedong began to act as supervisors. They didn't work every day and only needed to monitor others' work. Moreover, their wages were higher than those of miners. Naturally, they were rushing to do good things like this. In the end, almost all the men in Wuliedong came to the mine to do things. So the old man Zhaoqu gathered the tribe's people and discussed it, and simply moved the tribe's resident to Shiluling, which would make it easier for men in the tribe to go home and reunite frequently.

The sons and son-in-law of the old man Zhaoqu also worked in the mine. He was also a small leader and earned a lot. In addition, the mine also paid him a wage alone, and he didn't need to do it normally. However, whenever a Li people from other caves came to interfere with the mining of iron ore, the old man Zhaoqu was responsible for coming forward to persuade the other party to leave the work. If it really didn't work, he could only use force. Of course, in name, it was the old man Zhaoqu who led Wuliodong to destroy the other party. It had nothing to do with the court.

When the mine was first started, people around Li often came to make trouble, just jealous of the benefits of the iron ore, so they planned to get a piece of the pie. However, this was simply a snatch from Wuliodong's mouth, so the old man Zhaoqu naturally disagreed and persuaded him but couldn't go back. Finally, after a few quarrels, they started fighting. After several armed conflicts, the Li people around him finally became honest, so the old man Zhaoqu is also very leisurely now.

The sun in the east had just revealed half of its face, and the miners in the mine had already started working under the supervision of the supervisor. Old man Zhaoqu walked past the mine, and the supervisors greeted him one after another. They were all from Wuliedong. It was under the leadership of Old man Zhaoqu that he lived a prosperous life now, so he was naturally very respectful to him.

Old Man Zhaoqu was also very satisfied with his tribe. Although the mine gave priority to the use of people from Wuliodong as supervisors, if someone dared to be lazy, the mine would dismiss the supervisors, so he got up so early every day. In addition to being a daily habit, he also wanted to see if there were any cheating. If there was, he would not have to speak in the mine, and he would drive the Hui people to continue farming and hunting, so as not to be quit by the mine in the future.

Shilu Iron Mine has just been mined now, so the scale of mining is not very large. This is mainly because there are not enough miners. Although the Deepwater Port has been recruiting miners from local Jiaozhi people, and the Jiaozhi people also like this job that is very rewarding compared to their domestically, Jiaozhi has been secretly boycotting this matter, which has led to the inability to recruit people in the Deepwater Port. Therefore, there have been a shortage of miners in the mine. Fortunately, it is open-pit mining, otherwise it may not be able to open it until now.

The old man Zhaoqu walked around the mining area. It was already noon. He found a big stone on the hillside and sat down to rest. At the same time, he reached out and beat his sore legs and waist. This made him sigh: "Old, it's really useless. If I were young, this little road would not be a step!"

After resting for a while, the old man Zhaoqu stood up again and was about to go home to see if his grandson woke up. However, not far from him, he suddenly saw someone running towards him in the mining area, shouting loudly as he ran: "Dong... Dongtou, it's not good, there are people dead in the mine again!"

"What!" Old Man Zhaoqu also shouted when he heard this, and then gritted his teeth at the mountains outside the mining area, "If you can't beat us, we can use this kind of secret trick. Those who have the ability to fight us with a clear sword and a spear!"

It is not the first time that people died in mines like this. Since he and the tribesmen of Wuliedong drove away the other Li people who were trying to get a piece of the pie, the Li people were not willing to do so, but they could not defeat Wuliedong. So they came up with a solution, which was to secretly attack the people in the mine. As long as someone accidentally stayed a little further away from the mining area, or even on the edge of the mining area, they would be attacked by these people. The dead people included Jiaozhi miners and supervisors of their Wuliedong, but no one dared to kill the officials and craftsmen sent by the Han people, because they were not stupid. They knew that if they killed the people sent by the court, they would definitely attract the encirclement of the imperial army. Not to mention getting a piece of the pie, it would be good if they were not destroyed by the imperial court.

At that moment, the old man Zhaoqu rushed to the dead place, and what made him even more angry was that this place was actually inside the mining area. Because a lot of stones were opened, it was piled together to form a pile of rocks. People died in the pile of rocks, and their heads were cut off by someone. The only thing that made old man Zhaoqu more pleased was that this time the death was a Jiaozhi miner rather than their Wuliedong tribe.

"Brother Zhaoqu, you promised last time that the Li people outside would not let the people outside attack the mines again, but now the other party has touched our mining area. If this continues, I'm afraid I won't explain it to the higher authorities!" Seeing Zhaoqu come in, one of the Han officials who had already arrived here spoke with a serious look on their faces.

This official's surname is Wu, and was an official sent by the court to take charge of the entire Shilu Iron Mine. Wu Yi was very kind and had no airs. He often drank with the old man Zhaoqu. He especially liked the bamboo rice made by the old man Zhaoqu, but his personal relationship was private. Now the mine was attacked and killed by the Li people outside. If Zhaoqu did not come up with a solution, he could only ask the court to send troops to encircle and suppress them.

"Minister Wu is angry. The old man is indeed not dealing with this matter well. However, I have sent someone to investigate which cave was done these times. Now I have some clues. As long as I find out who the other party is, the old man will definitely destroy the other party and will never let them attack the people in the mine!" Old man Zhaoqu promised again, but this is not the first time he has promised Wu Yi, so he looked ashamed when he spoke.

Seeing the expression of the old man Zhaoqu, Wu Yi actually knew that such sneak attacks had exceeded the old man Zhaoqu's ability to handle them. After all, if you only have a thousand days to be a thief, how can you defend against the thief for thousands of days? What's more, the old man Zhaoqu is just a tribe leader, and only his tribe members can use. Most of his tribe members are supervisors now, and there are only some old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the tribe, and they are unable to provide protection for the mining area at all.

Thinking of the above, Wu Yi couldn't bear to blame Old Man Zhaoqu anymore. He asked someone to pack up the dead miner's body, and then took Old Man Zhaoqu aside and said, "Brother, I don't need any guarantee, but the incidents of the deaths here have been reported to the court, and now it has attracted the attention of the court, and an important person is also coming here. You must be careful at that time. If that important person is unhappy, I'm afraid even your Wuliedong will be implicated."

"Important person?" Old man Zhaoqu also raised his head in surprise when he heard this, and then asked in confusion, "Didn't Magistrate Su come here in person last time? Is there anyone more important than him?"

In the heart of the old man Zhaoqu, the Qiongzhou Prefecture Office was actually the court, and the magistrate Su Song was naturally the most important person in his heart. However, after Su Song came last time, he summoned several nearby Dongtou in the name of the magistrate to warn him, but this only made them honest for a while, but now it has become even worse.

"This time I came not only Su Zhizhou, but also a few more important people than Su Zhizhou. You must also be prepared and don't let people collide with the big figures!" Wu Yi said solemnly at this time. He had just received the news. When he learned that the visitor was His Highness of the King of Yue from the Song Dynasty, he was also shocked, so he solemnly warned Old Man Zhaoqu.

"Are they the people who are more important than Su Zhizhou?" Old Man Zhaoqu was stunned when he heard this, and then he said to himself. He thought that before the mining was started, Su Zhizhou had accompanied several young people to his home. The young people were all very dignified, and even Su Zhizhou had to accompany him. Could it be that the other people were coming this time?

"They? Brother Zhaoqu, who knows who is coming?" Wu Yi was stunned when he heard the words of the old man Zhaoqu. He didn't know that Zhao Yan had brought people here before the mine was started, and of course he didn't know that Zhao Yan had had a meal at the old man Zhaoqu's house.
Chapter completed!