Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 93 Fan Zheng Brings Shanxi Merchants
Liu Wenzhong flicked his sleeves, coughed twice, cleared his throat, and said, "Do you know what's going on in the court today?"

"What does the current court situation have to do with me?"

"No, the situation in the court is closely related to you. Today, today's favorite minister is Cao Huachun, the chief inspector of ceremonies and the admiral of the East Factory.

Cao Huachun's words are extremely important in today's world. If you can follow Cao Huachun's path, you can avoid a lot of trouble. "

Liu Wenzhong stroked his beard lightly and said calmly.

Zhao Wenduan said: "Impossible, let me curry favor with a eunuch, it's impossible. Okay, don't talk about it. For Xiaoying's sake, I can take you in. Don't let me do this again in the future." carry."

"Hey, why don't you listen to persuasion. It's not good to be young and frivolous. It just let you live for a while, but didn't let you live forever." Liu Wenzhong became impatient when he heard that Zhao Wen didn't accept his opinion. .

"You are not young and frivolous, can you still be called a young man? That's enough, I won't talk to you anymore. I still have things to do." Zhao Wen waved his hand casually, and then said to Li Xiaoying: "You lead him first Familiarize yourself with the various things in Longmen Fort."

"Ugh!!!"

Liu Wenzhong looked at Zhao Wen's leaving back, slapped his thigh heavily, and sighed.

Li Xiaoying looked at Liu Wenzhong who had a resentful expression, and said with a smile, "Uncle Liu, don't worry about him, that's just how he is."

"Will he be able to do it? The entire Ming army is rotten. If he is ignored, what should we do if we encounter unspeakable things in the future?" Liu Wenzhong rubbed his face and sighed.

…………

Thousands of miles away from here, in Yinchuan Mansion, Ningxia Town, a young man wearing a hat and patched postman uniform looked at the Yinchuan post station with its closed gate, and frowned tightly.

"Hey, this is well done. Why did the imperial court want to close the station? Now that there is nothing to do, what should I do?"

This big man is Li Zicheng, but now he is still called Li Hongji.

"This errand that has been passed down from generation to generation, how can it be passed down to me? How can I meet my ancestors after I die?"

A gray-haired middle-aged man over half a century old was squatting by the gate of the inn, smoking dry cigarettes with a sad face.

Li Hongji looked at the middle-aged man, and asked suspiciously: "It's good, how can it be gone if it's gone?"

"Who knows, people in the world now say that today's son is a sage king who is rare in a thousand years. In my opinion, it's nothing more than that. Otherwise, how could the post station be abolished? Suddenly, the entire Ming Dynasty didn't know that there was How many postmen have lost their jobs. Alas!!!"

A puff of thick smoke spewed out of the middle-aged man's nose, and the creases on his face became a little more serious.

Li Hongji looked at the inn with the gate closed, heaved a long sigh, pulled the horse out of the inn, turned around and left.

There were originally more than 20 horses in this station, but when the news of the dismantling of the station came, they were all snatched up by the postmen in an instant.

Relying on his youth and strength, Li Hongji also snatched one.

This Yinchuan Prefecture is nearly a thousand miles away from Mizhi County. If you don't ride a horse, you don't know how long you will waste on the road.

After going back, it would be good to sell the horse for some silver, buy some land, and become a self-cultivator.

Li Hongji flicked the whip in his hand, and disappeared into the smoke and dust of Yinchuan Mansion.

…………

"My lord, I got that glass mirror you mentioned for you."

Zhao Wenzheng was sitting in the hall, listening to Zhao Daniu and Song Hu report the recruit training situation to him, when Wang Liuqi hurried in from the outside.

"Really?" Zhao Wen stood up from his chair with a look of excitement.

Wang Liuqi nodded with surprise on his face, and then took out a palm-sized mirror from his arms.

Zhao Wen took the mirror, and his excitement gradually calmed down a bit.

"Not bad, not bad, Liuqi, I can't see that you are quite capable."

Looking at the palm-sized, clear glass mirror in his hand, Zhao Wen couldn't help but praise it.

"Hmph, he's an old man over fifty years old, and he's still so unsteady in his work." Seeing Wang Liuqi's expression of asking for credit, Zhao Daniu immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Da Niu, what are you talking about? Don't look at this small glass mirror in my hand. This thing is worth a lot of silver. It is estimated to be worth at least 50 taels." Zhao Wen stroked the mirror with a look on his face. Said joyfully.

When Zhao Daniu heard this, his eyes straightened, and he pointed at the glass mirror in Zhao Wen's hand in disbelief, "Is this thing really worth so much money? My lord, are you kidding me?"

Zhao Wen put away the mirror and said with a smile, "When have I ever lied to you? This mirror is really worth so much money."

"Oh my God, aren't we going to send it?" Zhao Daniu exclaimed, and hurriedly said to Wang Liuqi: "Hey, I was a little abrupt just now, I hope you don't have the same knowledge as me."

Zhao Wen looked at Zhao Daniu whose attitude had changed so much, and laughed and scolded: "No one is right, that's fine, you two go down first, I'm going to the glass kiln."

"My lord, according to the production process you gave, we also made a square mirror that is three feet square." Wang Liuqi bent over and walked slowly behind Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen's face brightened, and he turned his head to look at Wang Liuqi, "Really? How is the effect of the mirror? Is the figure clear?"

"Go back to my lord, it's clear."

After hearing Wang Liuqi's affirmative tone, Zhao Wen was determined.

"The next step is to wait for Fan Zheng's group of Shanxi merchants." Zhao Wen squeezed his chin, squinted his eyes, and smiled at the corner of his mouth.

When Zhao Wen arrived at the glass kiln, he saw the crowd crowded in a small room, and exclaimed from time to time.

"My lord is here, my lord is here, get out of the way quickly." Wang Liuqi frowned as he looked at the small house full of people.

"My lord, this is the mirror."

Wang Liuqi pointed to the mirror on the table in the room, facing Zhao Wendao.

Zhao Wen looked in the mirror with a smile on his face.

He reached out and tapped on the mirror.

That crisp voice was so pleasant at this moment.

In fact, this mirror is not as smooth as the later generations, and the surface of the mirror is even slightly distorted.

But in the eyes of people in this era, it is an extraordinary existence.

"Put this mirror in a box filled with straw and move it to the garrison for me. It will be of great use to me."

Zhao Wen pointed to the mirror on the table and said in a deep voice.

In the early morning of the next day, after Zhao Wen had just had breakfast, Fan Zheng rushed to Longmen Fort with other families of Shanxi merchants.

"I'm right. If you look at the entire Longmen Fort, it looks like it's made of steel."

Fan Zheng jumped down from the carriage, pointed at the city wall of Longmen Castle, and said slowly.

The outside of Longmen Fort's city walls were covered with cement, the overall appearance was dark black, and it really looked like steel.

Cao Fugui ran to the edge of the city wall with a look of surprise, and touched it with his hand.

"Sure enough, as Brother Fan said, this thing is really extraordinary."

"Okay, okay, don't waste time here, let's go to Mr. Zhao Wenzhao."

Fan Zheng looked at the astonishment of several people, and said slowly.

As soon as they entered the city gate, everyone was shocked by the scene in front of them again.

"I'll go, this Zhao Wen is really rich, the floor is paved with this cement."

Cao Fugui's eyes widened, and he looked at the concrete road under his feet in amazement.

A few migrant workers walked by the side of the road. Looking at Wang Fugui and the others with surprised faces, they couldn't help but mocked in a low voice: "Look at their faces who have never seen the world, they look like bumpkins."

"Who said it wasn't."

When Cao Fugui heard the ridicule of those migrant workers, his expression suddenly became gloomy.

Zhao Wen put the mirror on the table in the middle of the hall.

There was a basin filled with sand on the table, and the mirror was inserted into the basin standing upright.

Zhao Wen took a red silk cloth from Zhao Xiaoni's hand, covered it on the mirror, and sat on the main seat with a smile.

"My lord, they are here." Li Xiaosan trotted into the hall.

"Let them in!" Zhao Wen laughed.

"Oh, Brother Fan came from a long way, and I have not been able to meet you, so I hope Brother Fan will not take offense." Zhao Wen arched his hands, stood up from his chair, stood in front of the hall, and said with a smile on his face.

Fan Zheng and the others hastily returned a salute, and said, "What did Brother Zhao say? We are the ones who bothered Brother Zhao."

"What is this?" Fan Zheng asked curiously when he saw the red silk behind Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen said with a smile: "Well, please allow me to hold back first. Let's talk about it after we have visited the cement factory first."

Although Fan Zheng was curious, Zhao Wen didn't intend to tell them now, so he didn't ask any more.

"Will you have a cup of tea first?" Zhao Wen asked.

"You can drink this tea anytime, let's go and see the cement factory first." Cao Fugui said impatiently.

"Okay then, let's take a look at the cement factory first." Zhao Wen led the crowd out of the hall, then turned around and said to Li Xiaosan who was standing outside the hall: "Take care of that red silk cloth for me." No one is allowed to come near. Remember, anyone."

"Yes!"

……

Cao Fugui looked at the big chimneys emitting thick smoke, and asked doubtfully, "Is this the cement factory?"

"That's right, this is the cement factory." Zhao Wen looked at the cement factory and said solemnly.

Zhao Wen led the crowd into the building of the cement factory and walked back and forth between the cement kilns.

Today, only ten of the more than 20 cement kilns are in operation.

The reason is because the number of people is too small.

"There are more than 20 cement kilns here, and now only ten cement kilns have started production. And it has only been produced for two or three days."

Zhao Wen looked at the cement kiln and sighed.

The number of refugees Zhao Wen brought back from Zhangjiakoubao plus the migrant workers recruited nearby was only about 300.

And many of these 300 people are women, children, and the elderly.

"Why are only ten cement kilns started?" Cao Fugui looked at Zhao Wen eagerly.

If the number of cement kilns started is small, wouldn't it mean that the output of cement will be less, and the output of cement will be less, so how can we make money?

"There's no one here. I've recruited several times in a radius of tens of miles. But there are still very few people who are willing to work in this cement kiln.

Most of the people here are refugees I got in Zhangjiakoubao, otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to start ten cement kilns. "

Zhao Wen frowned as he watched the women, children, and the elderly walking back and forth by the cement kiln.

"Didn't I hear that you brought hundreds of Tartar captives from the grassland? Why don't you use them?" Fan Zheng looked at Zhao Wen curiously.

Zhao Wen smiled wryly and said: "Hehe, you think it's simple. The main material for firing cement in this cement kiln is stone. And the demand for stone is not low.

Those captives have been sent to dig stones by me, where are there any extra hands?Besides, these Tartar captives, can you work in the cement kiln in peace and contentment?

Also, if they are restless in the cement kiln and cause some damage, wouldn't the cement kiln be broken?How will cement be produced then? "

"That's true!" Everyone looked at the dozen or so cement kilns in the cement factory that hadn't started, and nodded.

　Thank you for the reward promised by Chen, and thank you readers for your support. I am very grateful to everyone here. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)