A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 159 Silver Mine
Hearing what Miss Ji said, Wang Dou looked at her, and it seemed that his relationship with her was not at this stage.

A servant girl came forward cautiously, and reminded Miss Ji: "Young lady, please be careful, this firearm is dangerous, if it explodes and hurts, how will the slaves and servants explain to the adults?"

Several family members of Ji's mansion also persuaded, but Miss Ji didn't take it seriously, she just urged Wang Dou: "Wang Dou, teach me quickly."

Wang Dou said: "You are watching."

He motioned to a guard beside him to hand him the firecracker, and took a fixed paper tube of ammunition from the guard, opened the fire door, bit off one end of the paper shell, poured part of the gunpowder in the shell, and then closed it. For the fire gate, put the gunpowder and the lead bullet in the barrel into the muzzle, poke it firmly with a stick, and finally light the match.

He moved very fluently, and he completed the procedure that dazzled outsiders in a short while.Holding the gun in his hand, he aimed at a small tree in front of him. After aiming for a while, he pulled the trigger, and the matchlock ignited the primer in the fire door. With a loud noise, the small tree was interrupted by the middle.

Miss Ji clapped her hands and shouted loudly, "I'll come, I'll come."

Wang Dou reckoned that she had, and she still had small feet like the young wife of Zhizhou Mansion, but she didn't expect to bounce around like this, without the grace and dignity of an official woman.The servants of the Ji Mansion beside her showed solemn expressions, the firecrackers under the command of the security officer of the Anzhou Prefecture were so sharp.

Mrs. Ji wanted a fixed paper tube of ammunition. She felt that there was a smell of gunpowder smoke, so she ran to a place more than ten steps away and filled it with great interest. However, after loading it for a long time, she forgot what Wang Dou said just now. When she saw Wang Dou standing far away, she stamped her feet and shouted, "Wang Dou, come here, what are you doing standing there stupidly?"

Wang Dou didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he could only get close to her, and taught her how to load and how to aim. The two of them were quite close, almost rubbing each other's ears. Yu, the clouds on the temples wanted to burn the snow on his cheeks, Wang Dou couldn't help but feel flustered, he quickly calmed down, and then looked at Miss Ji in front of him, her ears also slowly turned red.

Seeing that the two were so close, the eyes of Wang Dou's guards almost popped out, and the maids of Ji's family also opened their mouths in a daze.Only Xu Zucheng rubbed his cheek vigorously.

Miss Ji filled the medicine according to Wang Dou's method, then aimed and shot, there was a loud noise, but nothing was hit, but Miss Ji shouted happily, "It's so interesting, let's shoot again."
She fired two more gunshots with great interest, and judging by her appearance, she wanted to continue shooting one after another, at this moment a servant girl stepped forward and whispered to Miss Ji: "My lady, it's getting late, we have to hurry. "Give Wang Dou a meaningful look.

Miss Ji suddenly lost all interest, she didn't know what to think, and sighed faintly: "Wang Dou, let's go."

……

From Zhuanzi Nuanpu, there is Qizi Nuanpu, and then there is the civil post belonging to Huailaiwei.

When they arrived at the Tumu Post, it was already late, and everyone rested at the Tumu Post for one night, and continued on their way the next day.Passing through Chen Zi Nuan Pu, Lao Zi Nuan Pu, and Yi Zi Nuan Pu in Huailaiwei territory, the group finally arrived at Huailai City on the East Road of Xuanfu Town.

Wang Dou stayed in Huailai City for two days. When he came back, he brought back two hundred cattle, and there would be no more.Lu Cheng himself is also in difficulty, and it is impossible to support Wang Dou more.On that day when Wang Dou accompanied Xu Zucheng, the guard of the department, to pay a visit to Master Ji Shiwei, the military guard of Huailong, Master Ji received Wang Dou very cordially, and he praised him very much.

Master Ji heard that Wang Dou was vigorously reclaiming wasteland in Lucheng, and he was very moved by his hard work. There are really few generals who are so diligent in the Guochao. In addition, Wang Dou fought bravely. something to be proud of.However, although Mr. Ji valued Wang Dou, but limited by the conditions, more supplies for farming cattle, Wang Dou had to figure out a way by himself.

After two days in Lucheng, Wang Dou also got news that Miss Ji was actually the daughter of Mr. Ji Junjiao, Mr. Ji. Mr. Ji had three sons and five daughters. Ji Junjiao was the youngest and most respected by the military constitution. Couple doting.Wang Dou had always suspected the identity of Miss Ji, but after hearing the truth, he was still taken aback.

……

On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou returned to Baoanzhou City. Seeing that Wang Dou had successively brought a large number of farming tools from Acropolis and Lucheng, everyone admired Wang Dou's methods, especially the soldiers and civilians in the state city. Cheers, full of confidence in Wang Dou.

However, although Wang Dou had brought hundreds of cattle from various places, it was still too far behind the needs of the soldiers and civilians in Baoan Prefecture, so he had to find a way.

On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Dou invited Lai Mancheng, the proprietor of Baoqing Tianfu Commercial Firm in Shun Township. All kinds of draft animals such as horses, oxen, mules, and camels are sold.

After receiving Wang Dou's invitation, Lai Mancheng came here with joy, he was still the same greasy face, in the cold weather, he was still waving that golden fan like a signboard.

Seeing Wang Dou, Lai Mancheng grinningly kowtowed, and when he got up, he said to Wang Dou with a smile: "Thinking that the lord was still the defense officer of Shun Township Castle, in the blink of an eye... tsk tsk..."

He was envious, and took out a gift slip like a magic trick, saying that it was Wang Dou's promotion to congratulate him. Wang Dou smiled and handed the gift slip to Xie Yike next to him, and said seriously: "Brother Lai, today I invite you, There is business to discuss."

Lai Mancheng also sat up straight, with shrewdness in his eyes: "The adults just give orders, as long as the villains can do it."

Wang Dou looked at Lai Mancheng: "I want to buy a thousand cattle from you, can you do it?"

"A thousand heads?"

Lai Mancheng was so surprised that he almost slipped off the chair. He tried his best to sit still and looked at Wang Dou: "Is what your lord said true?"

Wang Dou said: "Of course it's true, will I still deceive you?"

"I just ask you if there is a way to do it with a thousand cattle."

Lai Mancheng thought for a long time, and said with certainty: "Yes, it just takes a few months."

Wang Dou said: "It doesn't matter, just get it together before next autumn sowing, a thousand heads is the minimum, maybe we will need more in the future."

Lai Mancheng looked left and right at Wang Dou, Wang Dou smiled and said, "Why, don't you trust me? I can give you a part of the money first."

Lai Mancheng laughed, with pride in his eyes: "You don't need a deposit, I, Lai, still can't trust you, a man of integrity?"

"The adults can give the boy money after the cattle arrive."

Wang Dou smiled and said: "Very good, he is doing great things, and we will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future."

"By the way, what's the price of your cattle?"

"My lord buys so many cattle gear, and the villain will give you the best price, five taels and five dollars per cow."

Wang Dou frowned: "It's too expensive."

Lai Mancheng called Zhuang Tianqu: "My lord, the price of farm cattle in this country is getting higher and higher every day, and they have to be transported long distances. This man eats and chews a lot of cattle."

"Not to mention the escort guys, there are also guards who eat and drink, just this cow."

He gestured to Wang Dou: "Trafficking cattle over long distances is like working on the land. You have to eat and drink with all your heart, and you must be full of beans. This cow is very particular about eating grass. It is green grass in spring and summer. That kind of tender grass in spring, such as hay for feeding cattle, needs to be cut very finely, and then mixed with rice soup bran and wheat bran, and it must be fed frequently, and the amount of feeding should be small, especially in winter. If you are in a hurry, I also need to feed enough beans for the cattle, it’s beans, my lord, counting the odds and ends, it’s five taels of money per cow..."

Wang Dou said indifferently: "Five taels."

Lai Mancheng said: "My lord..."

Wang Dou said: "Five taels."

Lai Mancheng frowned for a long time, then suddenly he burst out laughing and gave Wang Dou a thumbs up: "My lord, you are smarter than a villain."

He said boldly and honestly: "Okay, five taels is five taels, and within three months, a thousand cattle will be transported to the adults."

……

On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou watched the residence newspaper. At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Governor Hong Chengchou led his army to fight Li Zicheng in Longzhou. Li Zicheng was defeated and retreated to Qingyang and other places.And just today, Li Zhenyu, the magistrate of Baoan Prefecture, also urgently sent someone to invite Wang Doushang to discuss matters in the prefectural government.

He pointed to an official document worriedly: "Master Wang, we have sent more people, and there are quite a few people assigned to our Baoan Prefecture. What should we do?"

Wang Dou took it to watch, but it was an official document that had just arrived, and the imperial court distributed additional tax and silver, and there was 270 four taels of silver on the head of Baoanzhou.

Wang Dou once read the mansion newspaper. As of September this year, the Lianghuai salt department had accumulated a loss of more than 200 million taels. In November this year, the imperial court decided to build a capital to prevent the Qing soldiers from invading, but Liu Zunxian, Minister of Industry, reported that there was no silver in the treasury. Then, the cabinet discussed to send more money to the world.

Sure enough, in December, the decision was made, and the provinces of Daming added a total of more than 290 taels of silver. Except for Northern Zhili, which was exempted by decree, the additional silver of all provinces was within a few hundred thousand taels. Among them, Yanqing Prefecture on Xuanfu Town East Road added 10 taels of silver, and Baoan Prefecture added 950 taels of silver.

Looking at the official document, Wang Dou remained silent, while Zhizhou Li Zhenzhen looked at Wang Dou eagerly. Now that he is on the Wang Dou thief ship, he will be exempted from the grain collection of the households in the state city next year. , and now there is additional money coming, if the money can't be paid next year, what should I do?
Li Zhenyu has read the residence newspaper. It was November of this year that Yao Yongji, Zhu Zhichen, and Zeng Daowei, the chief envoys of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang, were all taken away because they could not complete the collection of taxes. The Holy Majesty has great determination , Li Zhenzhen is afraid.

After a while, Li Zhenyu saw that Wang Dou had reacted, and he asked anxiously, "How is it?"

Wang Dou smiled and said: "Master Zhizhou, why worry, but the extra few hundred taels of silver, don't worry, I can afford it."

He comforted Li Zhenyu to come out, and when he returned to the mansion of integrity, a group of generals also surrounded him, obviously they also knew the news, they all looked at Wang Dou anxiously, and only Wang Dou could think of a way for them.

Wang Dou took out an ingot of silver and tossed it in his hand, said with a slight smile, "Speaking of it, this silver is nothing more than dead things, gold, pearls and jade, which cannot be eaten by the hungry or clothed by the cold. It is not as good as grains and hemp.

He recruited Han Chao into the inner room, and said to him: "Brother Han, there is something I want you to handle."

Han Chaodao: "Please show me, my lord."

Wang Dou took out the map of Baoan Prefecture, pointed to two of them, and said, "Each of these two places has a silver mine. I want you to take someone to find out the truth."

That’s right, it’s the silver mines. In later generations, Zhuolu County’s Huiyao Xiangguang and Luanzhuang’s Shangjinggou have several silver mines, with reserves of nearly [-] tons.

Wang Dou sent someone to look at it a long time ago. At present, these places are empty, and these few silver mines must still be unknown.

(End of this chapter)