Luoyang City, Henan Prefecture, is eighty miles south.
This place is under the jurisdiction of Yanshi County, Henan Prefecture.
It is famous because it is located under Songshan Mountain and has the Shaolin Temple sitting on the top of the mountain.
However, the incense on the mountain is prosperous all year round, but it has nothing to do with the people below the mountain.
In fact, half of the fields in Fudian Town under the jurisdiction of Yanshi County have been gradually returned to the name of the Shaolin Temple on the mountain over the years and have become temple fields.
Less than twenty miles away from Songshan Shaolin Temple in a straight line, there are several foothill villages located in the northwest corner of Songshan Mountain and Huanglongdong Mountain, where the three mountain ranges intersect the river.
Foguang Village and Anle Village are separated by a mountain trail.
On the mountains surrounding the two villages, among countless green forests, there are mining areas exposed like scars.
The blue-gray rocks can be seen at a glance from a distance, even from a distance of more than ten miles.
Especially the mountain on the north side of Anle Village extends from the northwest mountain pass to the northeast side. The entire mountain slope is covered with bluestone mines that have been mined for countless years.
In the entire Fudi Town, especially the villages such as Foguang Village and Anle Village that are close to Songshan Mountain, there is almost not much land for farming.
Quarrying.
It has become the main source of income for these villages.
The government is also happy about this. The court or the government always repairs various cities and forts every year. People from Foguang Village and Anle Village are here to continuously mine stones from the mountains. The court and the government can also save a lot of trouble.
Ten miles south of Fudi Town is Niuyao Village, which is surrounded by mountains and is a mountain pass.
After passing Niuyao Village, there are several villages located behind several mountains surrounded by mountains.
The troops quietly divided into three groups. Sun Cheng, the envoy of Fusi Town of Jinyiwei North Town, who led one group, and more than a dozen of his subordinates, disguised themselves as a group of merchants and thugs.
Sun Cheng rode a thin horse with mixed hair, and his subordinates behind him drove several carts, slowly walking along the dirt road toward the mountains.
A subordinate who was also riding a horse took a look around and whispered: "Zhenfu, further in there is the place. The bluestone strips and gray stone bricks used on the rivers in Henan Prefecture are all taken from here. Your Highness Chu Chu
After deciding on river management, the Ministry of Industry also built a cement factory here, and the Ministry of Industry and the Henan Prefecture sent people to sit in and call on the surrounding people to work."
Sun Cheng frowned. He had checked the sources of various materials on the river in the past two days and found no problems.
Now only the source verification of cement and stone in Henan Prefecture remains.
But.
Can there be problems with stone quarried from mountains?
Or will there be a problem with the cement produced by the imperial supervisor?
Sun Cheng was a little hard to predict for a while, as both places were places where there was absolutely no chance of anything going wrong.
After thinking about it, Sun Cheng still said in a deep voice: "Check the cement factory first. If there is a problem, it is most likely that there is a problem with the cement."
How is cement made?
Sun Cheng recalled what he saw when he went to the cement factory with His Highness Taisun when he was in Yingtian.
It seems that the rock is mined and then calcined?
Among them, there are many things to be added.
It's just that he doesn't understand these things.
But since there are so many steps added in the middle, there will definitely be some fraud.
In a short while, everyone had already crossed the mountain pass.
The cement factory covers an extremely large area and can be seen from a distance.
The chimneys that kept spewing thick smoke seemed to never stop.
Sun Cheng sat on the horse and forgot to take a look at the mountains to the southeast.
I don’t know what the masters on the mountain over there will see when they look up at the sky now.
soon.
The group of people arrived outside the cement factory.
The official stationed here by the Henan Prefecture's Yamen immediately walked out from behind the long gate.
"Who are you?"
The official looked at Sun Cheng and others carefully. The cement factory is now used by the government and is not sold to the outside world.
Nowadays, the cement factories built by the entire imperial court are not enough for the imperial court and local governments. Whatever they produce can be used up, which cannot meet the needs of the outside world.
Sun Cheng looked calm and drove his horse forward.
I saw his palms retracted into his sleeves, and then displayed in front of the official.
The official's expression suddenly changed.
He was about to clasp his fists and bow.
Sun Cheng, who was on horseback, said calmly: "Forgive me, I don't want to attract the attention of outsiders."
The official nodded repeatedly: "What Shangguan said is absolutely true! Shangguan wants to go into the factory to take a look? The factory is full of cement dust. I'll take some mouth and nose masks, so Shangguan can wear them and enter the factory."
Sun Cheng nodded and got off his horse when he got to the door.
"Just say that we came from Kaifeng City to work for the palace."
When the official thought of the plaque he had just seen, he didn't dare to say anything and just nodded vigorously.
Sun Cheng and others entered the factory gate.
The official had also taken out several mouth and nose masks sewn with thick cloth.
Sun Cheng held it in his hand and didn't know how to use it for a moment. However, he saw that the official was also a smart man and demonstrated how to put it on in front of him. Then he remembered it in his heart, but he didn't put it on immediately.
.
And his subordinates all put on mouth and nose masks one by one.
Enter the factory.
The officer leads the way sideways in front of his head.
Sun Cheng stared around cautiously, and just entered the factory. Within a few steps, the air was filled with floating dust, with a little excitement.
Without any further reminder from the official, Sun Cheng had already quietly put on his mouth and nose mask.
Only then did the official say: "I didn't know it at first, but as time passed, many people started coughing for no reason. Then I realized that I had to wear this nose mask to reduce some coughing. But, many people started coughing for no reason.
The people who work here will still have lumps of black ash in the thick phlegm they cough up."
Sun Cheng couldn't help but move his eyes as he listened to the official introduction.
However, just when Sun Cheng was leading people deeper into the cement factory.
At the foot of a mountain outside the factory, from a distance, several people who seemed to be from the foothills had long discovered the whereabouts of Sun Cheng and his party.
"Did you see clearly? The man just showed his hand to the officials in the factory and entered the factory."
One of the leaders squinted his eyes and looked thoughtfully at the empty factory door.
Another person beside him had nervous eyes and whispered: "Except for our people, only people from the government can enter the factory..."
The leader turned his head with a gloomy look on his face: "Then why do these people from the government dress up like businessmen?"
"Brother Zhicheng! Could it be that the government found out about us?"
The youngest person here immediately asked nervously.
The leader, a villager from Anle Village named Li Zhicheng, couldn't help but glare at the young man: "Sanshi! If the court finds out what we did, do you think they can keep us till now? They can go to the factory instead of going straight to
Our Anle Village?"
Li Sanshi thought for a while, nodded but still worried: "Brother Zhicheng, I'm just worried."
Li Zhicheng became a little impatient, waved his hand and slapped Li Sanshi on the head, and glared: "Our method has been used for many years! Who has discovered it? Who can find out?"
After being beaten, the young man did not dare to speak anymore. He just stared at the horses and carriages tied up outside the cement factory in the distance, feeling panicked and uneasy after all.
Li Zhicheng looked at the brothers who were almost all grown up together in the village, and whispered: "You two go up the mountain and tell them that people from the government may come over. The others stay here. Sanshi and I will go back to the village."
trip."
Several people nodded.
Li Zhicheng took Li Sanshi along the path at the foot of the mountain, hiding his whereabouts and heading to the village.
The mountain pass is not far from Anle Village, less than a quarter of an hour's journey.
Walking a little further in, you can see Anle Village located in the mountains in the distance.
A small amount of land cannot feed an entire village.
The mining areas on the north side are the guarantee for Anle Village to support its family.
Almost to the entrance of the village.
Li Zhicheng slowed down his steps: "Three stones."
Li Sanshi, who was called out, caught up from behind and asked, "What's wrong with Brother Zhicheng?"
Li Zhicheng stared at Li Sanshi for a while and then said: "You have to remember that everything we do is for our Anle Village and our Li family!"
Li Sanshi didn't know why Brother Zhicheng suddenly said this to him.
It's just that the uneasiness in his heart recently made him feel very uncomfortable.
Li Sanshi nodded heavily: "I understand, brother Zhicheng."
Li Zhicheng looked at Li Sanshi for a while, then turned his head and continued walking towards the village.
When the two of them entered the village, there were not many people in the village who had nothing to do. Most of them were mining bluestone strips in the mine to the north.
Li Zhicheng did not go back home, but took Li Sanshi to the ancestral hall in the center of the village.
When the two of them arrived at the ancestral hall, they did not go in. Instead, they bowed respectfully outside the door.
After entering the very simple ancestral hall, there were confessions in the middle and tablets on both sides.
Li Zhicheng and Li Sanshi kowtowed three times respectfully.
After that, he turned back to look at Li Sanshi: "Your father died early. Do you still remember how he died?"
Li Sanshi was a little confused and looked sideways at the confession. One of the tablets belonged to his father.
He nodded: "Remember, he was killed by a stone falling from the mountain while quarrying."
Li Zhicheng hummed: "Do you know why your father was stoned to death?"
Li Sanshi shook his head: "If you don't tell me, I don't know."
In the ancestral hall, Li Zhicheng sighed, with some resentment and sorrow on his face: "It was the government that increased the mining volume and urged our Anle Village to mine bluestone so that those officials could build big houses! Your father was killed.
The government didn’t even give me a grain of rice!”
Li Sanshi's eyes turned red.
Li Zhicheng continued: "Ever since there were people in our Anle Village, we have been digging stones on this mountain. The mountain is empty, but we don't have any money in our pockets. Don't look at the fact that the government is clamoring for benevolent government every day, but it falls into the hands of people like us.
, it’s just a hand-to-mouth existence.”
Li Sanshi suddenly became frightened and hesitated: "Brother Zhicheng, I don't understand this."
Li Zhicheng glanced at Li Sanshi, shook his head and sighed: "You will follow me to see the clan leader later. Don't say anything, just listen to what we say. By then, you will understand why we did this."
Li Sanshi nodded obediently.
My mother died very early, and my father was stoned to death in a mine before he could remember.
He was raised by uncles from the whole village.
And Brother Zhicheng treats himself as his own brother.
When I was young, I protected myself from being beaten by others. When I grew up, I allowed myself to do things that were effortless.
In Li Sanshi's heart, what Brother Zhicheng said is right and will never be wrong.
The two of them walked around the front of the ancestral hall and arrived at the back.
After entering the house, there was already an old man with white hair waiting here.
Seeing the two people coming in, the old man closed a thick account book in front of him, raised his head with a smile on his face: "It's Zhicheng and Sanshi, why did you go back so early today? The government has issued an order again, these days are going to be good.
If you are doing something good, send all the stones over as early as possible."
After finishing speaking, the old man lowered his head again and turned over the account books that seemed to be endless and made little profit.
Li Zhicheng entered the room, but without speaking first, he walked up to the old man, sat aside, poured himself a bowl of tea, raised his head and poured it into his stomach.
Only then did he reveal a ruthless look in his eyes and said, "Some people from the government took off their skins and entered the cement factory."
The old man who was looking at his account books immediately raised his head, a flash of panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly calmed down: "Will you go to the mountain?"
Li Zhicheng shook his head, then nodded: "If they are really from the government, they will definitely go to the mountain. I have asked them to go to the mountain first and tell people who may be from the government to go there."
The old man hummed and said in a low voice: "I'll just pick it up for the next few days, and don't do anything else. I'll put it off later and talk about other things."
Li Zhicheng turned his eyes, leaned forward and moved the stool closer to the old man: "Uncle, you are the leader of the clan, so naturally you make the decisions on these matters."
Li Youfu snorted, looked at Li Sanshi who was standing aside, and then glanced at Li Zhicheng.
"We have always done that in Anle Village, but we have to take care of it. You, on the other hand, have been doing this no matter where you are sent to over the years."
Li Youfu sighed and said, "If you do it too much, you will get into trouble."
Li Zhicheng frowned, put his hand on the table, and said in a deep voice: "Uncle, today is different from the past! The court wants to control the river, no problem! The river can be repaired, but they must not let them build the dam!"
Li Youfu closed the account book in his hand, leaned on his chair, and looked at Li Zhicheng.
This kid is getting older now, and everything in Anle Village, big and small, is in his hands.
Speaking of which, life in Anle Village has been much better in the past two years, and it is also due to this kid.
But...
Li Youfu sighed: "Be more careful. Only our Anle Village knows how to do it. We are keeping a close eye on everything. If anyone dares to say nonsense, please ask the family to bring it to justice. I will nod."
A smile appeared on Li Zhicheng's face: "I feel reassured by what my uncle said. As long as the court doesn't build the dam, everything will be fine.
I have heard from the government that once the dam is built and the embankments are in place, the Yellow River will be safe.
The river is safe, who do we sell our bluestone strips to? Where do we make money from?"