Yu Fuyang looked at the map and saw some large and small circles on it, as well as some roads, rivers and other marks. He didn't know what these circles represent, but he could find his place from the direction of the roads and rivers. He drew a small circle with his fingers on the picture and said:

"Mr. Zhao and I didn't say it too clearly. It was roughly this small area. In fact, we don't occupy a large territory on the ground, but piled up coal and would damage the ground, so we have to pay some money to the owner of the mountain farm. As for the time, we didn't say it was dead. A kiln usually only lasts a year, and this silver was bought out."

Su Hao said: "So, the price of renting a mountain farm is not expensive."

Yu Fuyang said: "These mountain fields were originally deserted. They were surrounded by red soil and could not grow crops. If you want to plant on the mountain, you can only plant some oil tea. After a year, the oil tea seeds collected are not enough to pay short workers. I gave Mr. Zhao 20 taels of silver, which was a waste of time for him."

Su Hao asked again: "How big is the mountain ground of Mr. Zhao's family? Can you point it out to me on this picture?"

As a coal mining craftsman, Yu Fuyang often needs to look at maps, so he is not unfamiliar with Su Hao's map. He pointed a few points on the map with his hand and said, "Zhao Yuanwai is a rich man in Xuanfeng Township. The mountain field left by his ancestors is very large. From here to here, the area within a radius of more than ten miles is his family's property. However, the only useful land is the westernmost part, which is about 2,000 acres, and they are all planted for others. The remaining large area is all barren mountains and wasteland, which means that it can grow some firewood."

"Okay." Su Hao said, "Yu Dongtou, I can buy it for 200 taels of kiln. You ask your brothers to continue mining first, as much coal as you can dig, I will settle the wages for them on a daily basis. In addition, I need to rent all this mountain farm and prepare to open five coal mines. Can you help me recruit enough Yifu?"

"Open five coal mines!" Yu Fuyang widened his eyes, "Master Su, do you believe that more than five ore veins can be found in this mountain field?"

"It's more than five places." Su Hao smiled, "There are coal under our feet, but you have the patience to dig down. Dig 200 meters deep from any place, there must be coal, and it's all good coal. The key is just whether you can dig so deep."

According to Su Hao's knowledge, there are actually no less than three coal-forming strata in the Jiangnan area. Yu Fuyang is now digging the uppermost strata, namely the Wang Panli section, numbered as the C coal group, and Yu Fuyang is only digging the uppermost strata of the coal group C. There are nearly 20 coal seams in the Wang Panli section, and there are also Laoshan section called Coal Group B and Guanshan section called Coal Group A. The depth is estimated to reach an altitude of less than minus 800 meters. Such a deep coal seam would definitely not be mined under the conditions at that time.

In the past two days, Su Hao and his men had already circled around the mountain field and looked at the direction of the basic rock formations. Su Hao could infer that at least 10 areas with shallow coal seams buried in this mountain field. When you dig a vertical shaft from these areas, you can find coal seams with mining value within a depth of about 100 meters. The depth of 100 meters can still be achieved by the technology of that year.

"Master Su is joking, 200 meters deep, this is beyond the reach of manpower. Even if there is really coal, the small ones cannot be dug out." Yu Fuyang said.

Su Hao said: "Don't worry, I won't let you dig a deep well 200 meters. In this mountain field, I can definitely find coal veins buried no more than 30 meters, and the thickness of the coal seam will not be less than 6 feet. Just help me find someone to dig."

Seeing Su Hao's confident look, Yu Fuyang couldn't help but believe it a little. He said, "Master Su is very talented and has no choice but to look at it. However, Master Su, if you want to rent this entire mountain ground, the cost is probably not a decimal."

"How much do you think it will cost?" Su Hao asked.

Yu Fuyang shook his head and said, "I can't calculate it. According to my guess, it must be more than 500 taels."

"Well, 500 taels are indeed not a decimal. I'll think of a way to see if I can let Mr. Zhao rent the mountain ground to us for free." Su Hao said.

"Master means..." Yu Fuyang dragged his mouth a long voice, and a look of disapproval appeared on his face.

Su Hao was stunned for a moment, and then understood Yu Fuyang's meaning. Yu Fuyang obviously thought that Su Hao wanted to use the power of the county government to forcibly requisition the mountain ground from Zhao Yuanwai for free. As an ordinary citizen, Yu Fuyang was disgusted with this behavior, but it was not convenient to say it out directly.

Su Hao smiled and said, "Yu Dongtou, you are too worried. I don't want to bully others by robbing people from Mr. Zhao."

Yu Fuyang said a little embarrassedly: "Where is there, I know that Master Su is not such a person, otherwise he would not have paid for a small coal mine. I mean, there are also people in Mr. Zhao's family who are officials outside. If they say something badly, they will probably cause some conflicts and will mislead Master's future."

"Don't you still say I want to bully people with my power?" Su Hao said, "I will definitely find a plan that is beneficial to both of us, so that Mr. Zhao willingly rents the mountain ground to me, and even cried and shouted that he would rent the mountain ground to me."

"Why is that?" Yu Fuyang was a little confused, and he didn't know what Su Hao had to do.

Su Hao was too lazy to talk to Yu Fuyang, and he ordered: "Old Yu, our affairs are decided like this. Let Master Chen draw a contract, and we both put it in the form of a formal cooperation. You are responsible for chasing Yifu for me, I am responsible for solving the problems in the mountain field, and then checking the coal veins. All the subsequent things will be entrusted to you."

"I'll follow the order." Yu Fuyang replied. Since the price between the two parties had negotiated and the price was satisfying him, he had already positioned himself as a hired employee in Su Hao and must be very obedient to his employer.

"In addition to recruiting people, you have to arrange a few other things." Su Hao said.

"Please give me instructions." Yu Fuyang said.

Su Hao said: "The first thing is to renovate the shack where Yifu's live, and do it in a clean and comfortable manner. In addition, we need to hire a few more old mothers to help Yifu's wash clothes and cook, so that after they come back from mining coal, they can clean and have a good hot meal."

"Thank you, Master." Yu Fuyang stood up and bowed to Su Hao. He did not expect that the first thing Su Hao told him was to improve the treatment of miners. You must know that these expenses must be deducted from Su Hao's profits. He was also a miner. He heard that his employer was so concerned about the life of miners, and he felt grateful from the bottom of his heart.

"You sit down." Su Hao waved his hand and asked Yu Fuyang to sit down, and then continued: "The second thing is to make a few new air ducts and replace your large bamboo pipes. The air duct can be swept into bamboo ducts, with a diameter of one foot and five inches, and coated with yellow mud on the outside to prevent air leakage. Install a wind wheel on the head of the air duct, and use it to drive it with your foot to exhaust the air."

While Su Hao was talking, he used charcoal strips to draw a schematic diagram of Yu Fuyang on paper. The wind wheel he mentioned was actually like the impeller of the range hood in later generations. It uses foot pedals as power and drives with belts to achieve active ventilation underground. The coal mine he wanted to mine was larger in scale, and it would not work without a good ventilation device.

Yu Fuyang looked at the picture drawn by Su Hao with admiration and kept whispering: "Sir Su is indeed a genius. He can actually come up with a method to use bamboo slabs as a wind drum. At my age, I really live to a dog."

Su Hao smiled but refused to answer. In fact, this method was not his invention. In the present, some coal mines in the north made air ducts in this way, but this method had not been passed down to the south. Su Hao also accidentally heard of this method when he was studying the course on Chinese mining history in later generations.

"The third thing is to make some underground coal transport trucks. I just saw your workers pulling coal baskets with ropes, which is very hard. If you can use a small cart with wheels to load coal and then lay wooden boards in the tunnel as a road, you can save a lot of effort." Su Hao continued.

Yu Fuyang also understood this principle, so he nodded and wrote it down. Su Hao then said several things to do, which were conducive to optimizing the coal mining process. Yu Fuyang remembered them one by one. Finally, Su Hao turned his head to Xu Zong and said to him: "Old Xu, if you assist Yu Dongtou in making these equipment and recruiting Yifu, you will assist Yu Dongtou in doing it. Yu Dongtou is the chief and you are the deputy. If you want to use the silver, you can ask Master Chen for it. When it comes to safety issues in the underground, don't be afraid of spending money. Life is more expensive than anything else, do you know?"

"I understand." Xu Zong agreed.

When Yu Fuyang heard Su Hao's arrangement, he hurriedly said, "Why would the young man dare to be in front of Xu Cha Ye, he should regard Xu Cha Ye as the chief and the young man as the deputy. If there is anything, Xu Cha Ye told the young man to do it."

Su Hao said: "There is no need to argue about this matter. Xu Zong doesn't understand the matter of coal mining, so he can only be a deputy for you. Everyone is doing things for the sake of their reputation, so there is no need to worry about it."

"That little one is overthrown." Yu Fuyang had no choice but to accept Su Hao's arrangement in fear and fear, and then turned his head to say polite words to Xu Zong countless times. Xu Zong knew that although Su Hao asked him to be Yu Fuyang's deputy, he was responsible for the money bag and had real power, so he naturally would not care about these positions.

After explaining these preparations related to coal mining, Su Hao asked Yu Fuyang about the location of Zhao Yuanwai's family, and then took Chen Guanyu and Ma Yu to visit.

—————

PS: The statements of contracts and contracts have already existed in the Ming Dynasty, so don’t be surprised.
Chapter completed!