(..) Perhaps because he felt guilty for Su Hao, Chen Dao arranged for Su Hao’s letter to be sent away the next day... However, with the traffic conditions at that time, even if he took the Eight Hundred Mile Express Express from the Ministry of War,
It would take four or five days for these letters to be delivered to Jiangxi. As for how to prepare the family and then set off for the capital, the time required is impossible to estimate.
It has been more than a year since he traveled to the Ming Dynasty, and Su Hao has slowly adapted to the pace of life in the Ming Dynasty. Unlike the fast pace of later generations, life in the Ming Dynasty is not measured by minutes and seconds, but by years and months.
.The distance from Jiangxi to the capital is three to four thousand miles. Calculated by walking 100 miles in a day, a normal trip would take a month. What's more, if it rains, gets sick, etc.
, the delay was even more. Therefore, from the time Su Hao sent the letter to his family entering Beijing, it took only one or two months, which was completely insufficient.
During this period, Su Hao was not idle. He personally took several professional miners to Yongping Mansion, which was later Qian'an, and Luan County area to determine the specific location of the mineral deposits. Kailuan Coal Mine and
The Qian'an Iron Mine was famous in later generations. Su Hao was very familiar with the conditions of these two mining areas. Even though it was more than four hundred years in advance, he was still able to accurately identify the locations of several large mineral deposits.
In order to prevent others from thinking that the mining process was too easy, Su Hao, with the cooperation of Chen Guanyu, put on a show at the scene, measuring compasses, drawing talismans, and collecting the things that Dong and Yang Erren found.
The miners were all confused. Although they didn't believe in this kind of trick, they couldn't find any flaw in Su Hao. After the miners actually mined the ore, these miners could only
I can be convinced.
In terms of mining, Dong and Yang Erru's men have rich experience, including how to dig rock formations, how to dig tunnels, how to ventilate, how to drain water, etc. They are all very well organized, which is much better than Su Hao's talk on paper. After that
After more than a month of hard work, the coal mines and iron mines predicted by Su Hao were completed and put into operation. According to the estimates of the veteran miners, the reserves of these mines have reached an astonishing level, and they are rare rich ores. Dong and Yang entered
Only then did I feel relieved, and at the same time I became a hundred times more enthusiastic about further cooperation with Su Hao.
Li Long immediately learned the news that Kailuan Coal Mine and Qian'an Iron Mine were put into operation. While Dong Yaozhang sent people to report the good news to Li Long, he also sent a banknote of 5,000 taels of silver, saying that the mine was
Of course, Li Long did not take the money for no reason. He greeted the mine supervisor in Beizhili and reduced the mining tax of the two mines to an extremely low amount, which was almost the same.
At the level of two small mines.
Su Hao returned to the capital from Yongping Mansion covered in dust. Before his butt was warm from sitting on the chair in Su Mansion, the young eunuch Wan Xiang came over and informed Su Hao with a smile that Eunuch Li had set up another facility in Defu Building.
After the banquet, I want to cleanse Mr. Su and celebrate his success.
"How does Eunuch Li know that I will return to the capital today?" Su Hao asked strangely.
Wan Xiang said: "Eunuch Li Yaoyao is asking when Mr. Su will come back. He said that as soon as you come back, you will report to him immediately. No, when Mr. Su's cavalry is still in Tongzhou, Eunuch Li has already obtained it.
News.”
"Eunuch Li is so polite. Su Hao is so virtuous and capable that he deserves to be so remembered by Eunuch Li." Su Hao said, pretending to be polite.
"Eunuch Li said that Mr. Su is gifted and will be a great fortune in the future. I will have to rely on Mr. Su to take care of him in the future." Wan Xiang said flatteringly.
Su Hao had goosebumps all over his body. He quickly changed the topic and asked, "Did Eunuch Li say who you want me to take with me?"
Wan Xiang said: "Eunuch Li said that this banquet is just for friends to hang out, so I ask Mr. Su not to bring anyone in."
"I understand." Su Hao said, "Let me wash up and change my clothes."
Wanxiang stayed at Su Hao's house honestly, waiting for Su Hao to take a bath and change clothes, and then accompanied him to Defu Building. Compared with before, Wanxiang's attitude towards Su Hao seemed much more respectful. Su Hao thought, maybe this was because
Because his cooperation with Li Long gradually deepened, his status in Li Long's mind also increased, so young eunuchs like Wan Xiang quickly took advantage of the situation and began to flatter him...
Wan Xiang showed a respectful attitude, but Su Hao could not show off in front of him. Instead, he chatted and laughed with Wan Xiang and showed affection. Su Hao knew that eunuchs were physically disabled and mentally disabled.
Chang Ru is more sensitive and easier to hold grudges. As the saying goes, it is better to offend a gentleman than to offend a small person. It is a very troublesome thing to have a grudge with an eunuch. Su Hao does not want to get into such trouble.
When they arrived in front of Defu Tower, as usual, a young man came forward to greet him. However, this time they did not question Su Hao, but greeted him with smiles on their faces: "It's Mr. Su, please come in quickly."
Everyone has been waiting impatiently."
"Guests coming in? Do you mean Eunuch Li?" Su Hao asked.
"Uh... I don't know about this kid," the boy hesitated.
Su Hao didn't pay attention and followed the boy's instructions and walked towards the building. As soon as he walked into the door of the restaurant, he felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere. He looked around and saw seven or eight tables of customers sitting in the hall downstairs.
The entrance was no different from what he saw the last time he came here. But upon closer inspection, he found that all these guests were young men, with serious expressions. There were various dishes in front of them, but it was obvious that all of them were young men.
He didn't pay much attention to the dishes, but stared at Su Hao from the corner of his eyes, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
"Eunuch Wan, what's going on?" Su Hao asked Wan Xiang in a low voice.
"What's going on?" Wan Xiang asked in a surprised tone, but the expression on his face revealed his mentality. It was obvious that he knew there was something fishy about it, but he just didn't want to tell Su Hao.
"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just too worried." Su Hao replied.
The place where Li Long entertained guests was still in the private room No. Yao on the second floor. Su Hao walked to the stairs and was about to go upstairs when a man suddenly appeared in front of him and stretched out his hand to stop him: "Master Su, please stop me."
Wait."
There was a professional smile on the man's face, but Su Hao couldn't read any warmth from this smile. He noticed that the man's eyes were surprisingly similar to those of the people in the store, and they were all full of warmth.
A bit cold, a bit sharp. In other words, the young man pretending to be a customer in the shop and the man in front of him should be the same group, but one is in the light and the other is in the dark.
"May I ask, do you have any advice?" Su Hao asked coldly.
The man bowed slightly respectfully and said to Su Hao: "Mr. Su, for the safety of Eunuch Li and the guests, I would like to confirm whether you have anything inappropriate on you."
"You mean, you want to search me?" Su Hao said unhappily. At this moment, he almost wanted to walk away. He couldn't figure out why Li Long wanted to show such authority in front of him.
"Master Su, please calm down." Wan Xiang hurriedly stepped forward and explained, "This brother is Eunuch Li's bodyguard, and he is also thinking about Eunuch Li's safety. Master Su doesn't know anything. In the past few days, there are rumors that someone wants to kill Eunuch Li.
It's not good, so Eunuch Li has to be more cautious."
Su Hao said: "In that case, why don't we forget about today's banquet and let Eunuch Li take extraordinary risks to meet me. I really feel sorry for you. Eunuch Wan, I'll take my leave."
Hearing Su Hao say he wanted to leave, Wan Xiang was not willing to agree and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. He looked embarrassed and tried his best to smile at Su Hao and said: "Master Su, Eunuch Li sincerely wants to help you. This
Sorry for the minor inconvenience, I would like to ask Mr. Su Haihan. This brother is also doing his duty, Mr. Su, please don’t make things difficult for him."
Su Hao was very confused. He didn't know what kind of medicine Li Long was selling in his gourd. Logically speaking, there was no need for Li Long to engage in such tricks in front of him. If he really wanted to show off to himself, there was no need at all.
Treat yourself to a meal. On the one hand, he hosted a banquet very warmly, but on the other hand, he asked the guards to search his body very impolitely. What did Li Long want?
Su Hao said he wanted to give up the banquet, but he couldn't actually do it. After all, Li Long was very powerful and he couldn't afford to offend him. He nodded and said, "Since there is such a rule, then this brother
Just search me to see if I have anything inappropriate."
Seeing that Su Hao agreed, the man reached out and started to search. He searched very carefully, from Su Hao's hair to the soles of his feet. The strictness was comparable to the security check when flying in later generations. Su Hao noticed that the people who were searched during the body search were
The technique is very professional, unlike ordinary police officers who push and touch everywhere, but just touch everything, so that the person who is being searched does not feel humiliated.
"Master Su, I'm offended."
The man searched Su Hao's body and found no sharp weapons, so he took a step back, bowed and apologized to Su Hao, and at the same time made a gesture to allow Su Hao to go upstairs.
Su Hao felt very unhappy, so he just nodded slightly and went straight upstairs. When he got upstairs, Su Hao saw several young men who were similar to the group downstairs standing at the door of the private room No. Yao.
Knowing that they were protecting people entering the room. Looking at the other private rooms, although the doors were also closed, there were no attendants at the door. Su Hao had every reason to believe that these rooms were all empty.
"Eunuch Li is waiting for Mr. Su inside. Mr. Su, please go in by yourself. I won't disturb you if you are young." Wan Xiang sent Su Hao to the door of the private room No. Yao and refused to go inside.
If he hadn't seen Wan Xiang come to invite him in person, Su Hao would not have had the guts to walk into this private room. The posture Li Long put up was nominally for dinner, but it looked like a Hongmen banquet. He had just given it to Dong,
Yang Erru found the mine, and Li Long had no reason to be disadvantageous to him. Why did he set up this Hongmen Banquet?
Having reached this point, even if Su Hao didn't want to go in, there was no way out. He calmed down, reached out and pushed open the door of the private room, raised his legs and walked in...