Unfortunately, Magistrate Zhou could only guess that Han Du had a purpose in buying these barren mountains, but he could not guess what Han Du's purpose was.
But County Magistrate Zhou couldn't say anything, not to sell it.
Firstly, it was because he had no reason to refuse Han Du's request to buy barren mountains. These barren mountains were in the hands of the government, but they were nothing of benefit. Since Han Du was willing to spend money to buy them, it was equivalent to
It has generated revenue for the government, which is beneficial to the government. It can also be regarded as a political achievement of County Magistrate Zhou. He has no reason to refuse.
Secondly, Han Du has always been very polite to County Magistrate Zhou, and even expressed respect for him in his words. For an official like Han Du who is young and in the heart of the emperor, it is certain that he has a bright future. Anyway, Zhou
No matter how the county magistrate looked at it, he felt that Han Du's future was much better than his. Rejecting Han Du rashly might offend a future boss, which was extremely uneconomical for Magistrate Zhou.
However, although there were various reasons for Magistrate Zhou to sell the barren mountain to Han Du, he had feelings about it in his heart. He vaguely felt that Han Du had a significant purpose in buying the barren mountain.
Han Du didn't care. He pointed out several barren mountains he had visited on the fish scale atlas, then sat on his chair and drank tea calmly.
Magistrate Zhou was confused in every possible way, trying to find out something from the expression on Han Du's face. As a result, Han Du remained expressionless from beginning to end, as if the purchase of Barren Mountain was just a casual mention, and whether it was successful or not was of no importance to him.
There is no general difference.
In the end, Magistrate Zhou couldn't survive Han Du.
"Haha, since Mr. Han intends to buy these barren mountains, I can't refute Mr. Han's intention." Seeing the stalemate, County Magistrate Zhou had no choice but to agree.
Hearing this, Han Du smiled slightly, without revealing the ecstasy in his heart. He took a sip of tea without hesitation, put down the cup, bowed his hands to County Magistrate Zhou, "Then please take care of yourself, Mr. Zhou."
"Haha, easy to say, easy to say." Magistrate Zhou rolled his eyes, "It's just that no one has ever bought this barren mountain. Should it be sold by a seat or by an acre? Also, the price...
.”
At this time Han Du spoke up, "These are barren lands, how can they be sold by acres? I think it's better to sell them by seats. As for the price, I am willing to pay ten thousand dollars for a barren mountain. How about it?"
Although Han Du came here with 300 taels of silver and more than 100 guan of treasure notes, he was not taken advantage of. Why should he pay a high price when he could buy things at a low price? His silver did not come from the strong wind.
of.
Ten guan of money for one? Then four of them are 40 guan of money.
Although this was a free profit, Magistrate Zhou was still a little reluctant to just buy it. After all, the total price was too small and the benefit to the county government was limited.
Shaking his head, he objected, "Master Han, you can't say that. Since these barren mountains are marked with the number of acres on the fish scale atlas, they should be sold according to the number of acres. I don't ask Master Han how much you want, just how much does one acre of barren hills cost?"
?”
After Magistrate Zhou finished speaking, he smiled and stroked his beard.
When Han Du heard this, his eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Magistrate Zhou in disbelief and said in surprise, "Is this a joke? Are you going to sell the barren mountain to Xiaguan at the price of land?"
"Besides, this barren mountain is hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. Do you think that I would spend thousands of dollars to buy a useless barren mountain?"
County Magistrate Zhou also felt that he was too loud and looked at Han Du with some embarrassment, "Master Han, don't be angry. As the magistrate, I naturally have to consider the county."
Han Du placed the tea cup heavily on the coffee table and said in a cold voice, "Master Zhou, good land has its own price, and land has its own price. There is no way you can sell barren hills for the price of land. It seems that the official is here in vain.
One trip, farewell."
Han Du bowed to Zhou County Magistrate and left.
County Magistrate Zhou quickly took Han Du's hand and said, "Master Han, don't be angry. The price, the price can still be negotiated..."
Han Du didn't really want to leave. He was stopped by Magistrate Zhou and sat down, but he still had a very angry look on his face.
"Sir Zhou, if you sell it by the number of acres, the maximum I can offer is ten cents per acre, and I can't add any more."
County Magistrate Zhou didn't care about Han Du's anger. Since Han Du could sit down again, it meant that he really wanted to buy it. Since Han Du wanted to buy it, it would be much simpler. It was nothing more than "raising the price on the ground and paying back the money on the ground."
"That's all.
"Mr. Han, if you only pay ten cents per acre, then I might as well sell you a house for ten cents. It's not appropriate, it's not appropriate. Seeing that I have hit it off with you, I will give you a sincere price.
Five hundred cents per mu, this is the lowest price, no matter what, it cannot be less..."
The two people, an old man and a young man, just came and went and bargained. During this period, Han Du got up several times and prepared to leave.
In the end, a result was reached that both of them were quite satisfied with.
Han Du bought a total of 4,516 acres of land in four barren mountains at a price of one hundred cents per acre, and Han Du had to pay Zhou County Magistrate a total of 451 acres.
As for the last part of the six hundred coins, Magistrate Zhou waived it for Han Du with a generous wave of his hand.
After the two reached an agreement, Magistrate Zhou called on the county magistrate to prepare the land deed.
First, in the blank space of the four barren mountains on the fish scale album, list the name of the place, the original amount, and the name of the business (that is, the name of the head of the household, Han Du).
) and other items. After the Zhou County Magistrate solemnly stamped his official seal on the land deed, he handed the land deed to Han Du.
Han Du took the land deed with a glum look on his face. After carefully making sure that there was nothing wrong with it, he folded the title deed and put it in his arms.
He bowed to County Magistrate Zhou, said "goodbye" angrily, and left the county government office without looking back.
"Master Han, don't be anxious. I have already prepared a banquet. Why don't you go after eating..." County Magistrate Zhou watched Han Du leave with a smile on his face and shouted towards Han Du's back.
.
After hearing this, Han Du's departure speeded up even more. As a result, the yamen servant took the reins in his hands and climbed onto his horse together with Xiong Shi and left with a whip.
When County Magistrate Zhou saw Han Du leaving angrily, he didn't care. Instead, he was very proud that he was able to get more than 400 yuan from Han Du.
Han Du rode his horse until he was completely far away from the county town, then pulled the reins to stop the horse. He couldn't help laughing loudly on the horse's back for a long time.
"What happened to you, sir? You are so happy?" Although Xiong Shi ran with Han Du for a day, he had no idea what Han Du did when he ran to several barren mountains. Moreover, Han Du was still very happy every time.
He soon left the barren mountain, which made him even more confused.
While Han Du and Magistrate Zhou were talking in the study, Xiong Shi was also waiting outside, not to mention what Han Du and Magistrate Zhou talked about.
Han Du turned to look at Xiong Shi with a smile, "It's nothing, you will know in a few days. When you go back, go to Mr. Huang and ask him to arrange a few craftsmen who know quarrying to go to the places we visited today.
Pick one of the barren mountains and dig it."
"Yes..." Xiong Shi responded with his head lowered.
At the same time, he also had some speculations in his mind. Han Du stopped firing the lime kiln because there was no coal and ran out.
Could it be that he discovered coal beneath those barren mountains?
But this was too unbelievable. He accompanied Han Du all the way. Han Du came out of the east city gate and went all the way to the barren mountains. But Han Du didn't stay in the barren mountains for long. If it was just such a short time, Han Du would
It is certain that there is coal under the mountain, but this is too much to be believed.
But it doesn’t matter. Since Mr. Han asked the craftsmen to dig it out, won’t they know the result when they dig it out?
A few days later, several carriages pulling loads of coal drove into the banknote bureau.
Han Du immediately arranged for craftsmen to use coal and start burning lime.
Looking at the blue flames burning in the lime kiln, Han Du smiled. The quality of these coals was better than he expected, and they were the finest anthracite.
Just like light petroleum is the king of petroleum, high-quality anthracite is also the king of coal.
Coal is known as the food of industry. Without coal, industry can only starve to death.
The news of the discovery of coal in Jurong County under Yingtian Prefecture spread like wildfire, spreading throughout the entire capital in the shortest possible time like a hurricane.
At this time, people had actually used coal as a fuel to burn.
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, coal wells of a certain scale and corresponding coal mining technology appeared. Coal was not only used to produce fuel, but also for iron smelting. Not only raw coal could be used, but also pulverized coal could be processed into shapes.
into coal cakes, thereby increasing the use value of coal.
During the Yuan Dynasty, coal was more widely developed and used more widely. Metallurgy, ceramics and other industries all used coal as fuel. Coal became the main commodity in the market, and its status became increasingly important. People's understanding of coal became deeper. Even, even
Coal coking technology has reached maturity.
In the Yuan Dynasty, there were records of people using coal as fuel, which was several times cheaper than firewood.
But why don’t we see any coal in the capital?
The main reason why there are no traces of charcoal in the capital is that no charcoal has ever been found in the surrounding area.
The mining and use of coal are mostly in the northwest and other places, and those places are sparsely populated, and the development and utilization of coal has always been tepid.
On the contrary, although the capital is densely populated and has a huge demand for fuel every day, because no coal has been found in the surrounding areas, the only way to use coal is to transport it thousands of miles from the northwest.
Land transportation at this time can only make people cry. Even if the coal is transported to the capital, I am afraid that the cost of coal will soar to a point far higher than that of firewood. It is simply unrealistic and no one will do it.