When Zuo Aoran heard what the two said, his body and mind trembled, and he thought: "I didn't expect! I didn't expect! These two people are so patriotic!" Then he thought again: "That's right! These two people surrendered.
It is Cao Cao who holds the emperor hostage to command the princes. He can be regarded as a minister under the Han Dynasty's orthodoxy. Most people who are loyal to the emperor and patriotic will vote for him." Thinking of this, Zuo Aoran stood up and bowed deeply to Zhu Ci and Gao Lan.
, said: "I, Zuo Aoran, am very lucky to have two sworn brothers in this life! The two eldest brothers are really people with lofty ideals, and they are very righteous! Please accept my respects from my little brother!" After that, he flirted.
Yi knelt down and kowtowed three times with "bang bang bang".
Zhu Ci and Gao Lan were stunned by this. They didn't know what to do. They quickly helped Zuo Aoran and said, "If a wise brother can understand that he is a brother, he will be very happy." The two of them said
These words meant that Zuo Aoran had given up on the idea of buying an official position.
Unexpectedly, Zuo Aoran stood up and said: "My little brother didn't buy the official position just for himself. Firstly, he relied on his status as a court official to frighten Taiping Taoism and did not dare to attack us blatantly. Secondly, I also wanted to benefit the people.
It is much better to let the younger brother be the governor of a place than to let those corrupt officials who only care about pleasure and plunder the people's wealth! Although the younger brother sent the money to the hands of the eunuchs, the money is not ill-gotten wealth.
By helping me become the governor, I can also benefit the people of the area, and the money will not be wasted. As the saying goes: take it from the people, use it for the people."
After Zhu Ci and Gao Lan heard what Zuo Aoran said, they didn't know how to refute it, but they felt that it made sense in their hearts. If the truth is what Zuo Aoran said, it would indeed encourage the practice of buying and selling officials.
However, if the person who buys an official position has a heart that loves the people as a son, it will be a blessing to the local people.
Zuo Aoran knew that the truth would not be the same all at once, let alone the two generals. So he said: "If the two eldest brothers do not agree with the younger brother buying an official position, then the younger brother will not buy it. The worst is that the whole family will move. Wait until
I have enough strength to avenge my father's murder." At the end of the sentence, Zuo Aoran showed a sad expression on his face.
At this time, Ou Yepeng coughed and said, "I have something I don't know if I should say."
When Zuo Aoran saw Mr. Ou, he also wanted to express his thoughts, so of course he couldn't stop him. He hoped in his heart that Ou Yepeng would not contradict him, otherwise he might lose his arms in vain. He bowed to Ou Yepeng and said, "Old man, you have
Please tell me."
Ou Yepeng saluted everyone repeatedly and said: "I am a blacksmith and don't know much. I only know one thing: a good person will always be a good person. No matter where he is, a kind person will always be a kind person. No matter when and where he is, he will always be a good person."
"Young master is a man with a benevolent heart. If you can become an official, you will definitely benefit the people of this place. I don't know the big way anymore, I just accept this old principle."
After hearing Ou Yepeng's words, Zhu Ci and Gao Lan felt as if they were enlightened and bowed deeply to Ou Yepeng: "Ou Lao's words are like a wake-up call. Zhu Ci (Gao Lan) has learned a lesson."
"No, no, the little old man is just talking nonsense." Ou Yepeng said.
Zuo Aoran was overjoyed when he saw this. He quickly struck while the iron was hot and bombarded him with words. When he said that, the two of them nodded repeatedly. They no longer disliked the trend of buying and selling officials. Instead, they were quite fond of this trend. What they liked was not
Nothing else, but to create a good path for myself and others.
After noon, Zuo Aoran led Zhu Ci, Gao Lan, Liu Quan, Liu Hu, and Ma Sheng as the first team and took the lead in descending the elevator to the bottom of the cliff (Zuo Aoran asked the carpenter to make the elevator long ago.
, the appearance is similar to various current elevators, except that it is empty without any obstructions. There is a rubber wheel on it, which is powered by ten strong men to rise or fall.) The second team was led by Zuo Aohu, and the third team was led by Zuo Aohu.
Zuo Aobao led the team, the fourth team was led by Gao Huai, and the fifth team was led by Gao Ping... A total of fifteen teams went down, with six people in each team, a total of ninety people. The two brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang were responsible for supporting them on the cliff.
There are other matters.
After Zuo Aoran and others went down to the cliff, they saw nearly 500 people living and cooking in front of them. Zuo Aoran was not in a hurry, but waited for everyone to come down before they all showed their weapons.
A man rushed towards five hundred bandits who were eating, and everyone shouted: "Kill!"
For a time, the cry of killing echoed in the valley for a long time.
Those people were not bandits at all, but common people kidnapped by bandits from various places. They served as their slaves here and helped the village mine the ore. These people had never seen such a scene before and thought they were bandits on the mountain.
Feeling that they are useless, where are the people who came to kill them? More than 500 people knelt down with a "hurrah", kowtowed like green onions one by one, and still begged for mercy: "Master of the village, please have mercy on me! Master of the village, please have mercy on me."
! We must work hard at mining and never be lazy again." Anyway, these are the words.
When Zuo Aoran saw these five hundred people kneeling down all at once, he was stunned. Just as he was thinking about it, he heard these people begging for mercy. After listening carefully, Zuo Aoran understood that these people
It's not a bandit, it's a bandit who caught him to work.
Zuo Aoran asked everyone to put away their weapons. Zuo Aoran helped a nearby man up and said kindly: "We are not bandits. We have already eliminated all the bandits on this mountain. You people
Who is in charge? I have something to ask him."
At this time, an old man in his sixties stood up and said, "Are you really not bandits?"
"Of course! We are the local heroes of Zuojiazhuang." Zuo Aoran said.
When these people heard that the people in front of them had eliminated the bandits and came to save them, they all cheered, some shouted loudly, some jumped up, some knelt on the ground and prayed, and some ran into the cave.
…
The old man came to Zuo Aoran and asked, "Don't you know your benefactor's surname?"
"I am from Zuojiazhuang, Zhending County, Changshan Prefecture. My surname is Zuo and my given name is Shangaoxiaran." Zuo Aoran said.
At this time, Gao Ping and Gao Huai ran out noisily from the two caves respectively. They cursed endlessly after they came out. Zuo Aoran asked him the reason. It turned out that the two caves were not gold mines or silver mines.
Not even iron ore.
After listening to this, Zuo Aoran showed a look of astonishment and asked the old man what was being mined in the cave. The old man shook his head. Who knows? They were just responsible for collecting and had no idea what these things were. Then someone brought them to him.
Let Zuo Aoran watch the finished product.
Zuo Aoran was overjoyed when he took a look at the contents of the first basket. He knew that these white or gray crystalline ores with glassy luster were saltpeter, also known as flame saltpeter and potassium saltpeter. It is one of the raw materials for making gunpowder. Zuo Aoran felt vaguely
Zuo Aoran had some clues, but was not sure. When he looked at the second basket of things, Zuo Aoran understood clearly why Zhang Jiao valued Qipan Mountain so much, because the second basket was filled with sulfur.
Lime sulfur to be exact.
Black powder!? Zuo Aoran’s first reaction.
Zuo Aoran was overjoyed when he got potassium saltpeter and stone sulfur minerals, and ordered people to treat these people well. The people were very grateful to Zuo Aoran. In addition, their homes had been burned down by bandits, so they stayed in the mountains to continue mining.
, this time mining was for their benefactor Zuo Aoran, everyone risked their lives to do it, and the daily ore output was far more than double the previous day.
