The contract between Liu Zheng and the Zheng family was naturally signed in secret.
No matter what, when Liu Zheng started to invest in Wanhua Tower, he had already planned to focus on building cooperation with the Zheng family. One is because his impression of Zheng Yueru is much stronger than that of the other three dandy brothers, and the other is that the Zheng family's reputation has always been very good, and their strength is also good.
After signing the contract here, Liu Zheng immediately led his people to take over the iron smelting workshop that should have belonged to the county marquis.
Smelting iron and casting iron are actually the same thing in this era.
What surprised Liu Zheng was that Liangzhou was rich in minerals, so the scale of the iron smelting workshop in Yinzhou was actually not small. This ironmaking workshop is not far from the city. It is backed by a mountain. There is some land in front of the ironmaking workshop. There are many buildings in the entire workshop, including a workshop dedicated to ironmaking and nearly a hundred craftsmen.
Liu Zheng was immediately overjoyed.
The geographical location of this ironmaking workshop was exactly the workshop he was looking for. After all, as his control over Yinzhou became stronger and stronger, he needed a secret manufacturing base of his own. This ironmaking workshop surrounded by mountains on three sides is just what he wants!
One hundred skilled craftsmen are exactly what he needs!
"From today on, the iron smelting workshop will return to the jurisdiction of the County Marquis. You are all craftsmen of the County Marquis!"
One hundred people, Liu Zheng gathered together to lecture.
"Sir, I know you, but..."
"Will the monthly payment be less?"
"We all need to support our families!"
A group of people were a little unhappy. Since the Zheng family took over the iron smelting workshop, the monthly payment given to them is still very attractive.
Liu Zheng chuckled: "Don't worry, everyone, the monthly money will only be more, not less! The Zheng family will give you fifty yuan a month, and I will give each of you one tael of silver!"
Everyone was overjoyed immediately. This tael of silver was really a lot.
"but……"
Liu Zheng's eyes suddenly turned cold and he looked around: "From now on, you are all members of my county's marquis, and you should abide by the rules of my county's marquis!"
"When the county governor's office was first established, the confidentiality system was very strict. Anyone who violated it would be guilty of treason!"
One hundred craftsmen suddenly changed their expressions and immediately swore their promise on the spot.
"Who's the boss here?"
Liu Zheng was frightened and then asked.
A bearded man ran out and said: "Mr. Liu, I, Lu Dachui, thank Miss Zheng for not disapproving of it, and will temporarily take charge of this iron smelting workshop!"
Lu Dachui?
When Liu Zheng heard this, he almost wanted to laugh. All of his subordinates had the same names, Wei Tiezhu and Lu Dachui.
Just right!
"Okay, from today on, your monthly salary will be increased to five taels, and you will continue to be in charge of the ironmaking workshop!"
Lu Dachui's eyes were filled with joy and he quickly agreed.
Liu Zheng saw that Lu Dachui did have some prestige among this group of people, so he nodded and called him to the resting room next to the ironworks. Then he took out some drawings he had drawn and handed them to Lu Dachui and asked. : "How? Can these things be made?"
Lu Dachui looked confused: "Sir, what is this?"
Liu Zheng explained, but Lu Dachui still didn't understand. Liu Zheng was also very patient. After all, these people had not received modern education, so he could only try to teach them with easy-to-understand theories.
"Young master, what you mean is that the armor is made separately and then connected together?"
It took half an hour for Lu Dachui, who was sweating profusely, to understand what Liu Zheng meant.
"That's right!"
Liu Zheng laughed and wiped his sweat: "Can we forge fine iron?"
Lu Dachui said with a simple and honest smile: "I, the Yinzhou craftsmen, are all masters of forging iron!"
"This is enough!"
Liu Zheng was a little surprised. He didn't expect that refined iron was already available in this era. Although it was not as tough as steel, it could still be used to create plate armor.
"This is one thousand taels. You are responsible for purchasing iron ore and casting this kind of plate armor!"
"From now on, this place will be renamed Shengongfang!"
Lu Dachui's eyes widened. He was so moved by his trust in Liu Zheng that he knelt down and said, "Lü Dachui is determined to fight for his son through fire and water, even to the death..."
"It's true that you will go through fire and water, just don't give up until you die."
Liu Zheng hurriedly helped him up and laughed loudly: "I have a mother at home and a wife and children at home. Don't give your life to others easily. Do you understand?"
Lu Dachui nodded with red eyes.
In fact, Liu Zheng's words also had some threatening meaning, but Lu Dachui didn't take it seriously. These days, it is not uncommon for parents, wives and children to be used as hostages, not to mention that they have become accustomed to paying a thousand taels of silver.
"Okay, make it as soon as possible. Remember, this kind of thing must not be disclosed to outsiders!"
"Yes, sir!"
After explaining this, Liu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the county magistrate's house in a good mood.
time flies.
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, the gate of the County Marquis Mansion became lively. The first person to come was Chen Kui from the Chen family. It was just as Liu Zheng had guessed. Three days ago, this guy was respectful and arrogant, but today he was in a huge formation, with a four-horse cart followed by five. Hundreds of elite soldiers were banging, banging, banging, and the streets were in a state of chaos.
Five hundred elite troops suppressed the county houfu!
This was also very arrogant. Chen Kui walked down swaggeringly with a haughty smile on his face: "Your Majesty, are you late?"
With that said, he walked into the county marquis' mansion surrounded by several big men.
Liu Dahao was angry, but he didn't dare to say anything. He could only smile and said: "Mr. Chen is the first one, please take a seat."
"Easy to say, easy to say!"
After Chen Kui, it was the Wang family. The head of the Wang family was Wang Zengming. Their battle array was no smaller than that of the Chen family. Then came Cao Zhen of the Cao family. For a time, the entire county prince's mansion was surrounded by the private soldiers of these prominent families. Average.
Finally, Zheng Yueru from the Zheng family arrived belatedly.
All four families were present.
Then Chen Kui couldn't help it anymore, he clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, your government has informed us that we are here to discuss the sale of Zuiyinzhou. Are you serious about this?"
The others also looked with burning eyes.
Zuiyinzhou has become famous and unparalleled in the past few days.
Everyone knows that controlling the sales rights of Zuiyinzhou is not the slightest benefit.
"Exactly!"
Liu Dahao followed Liu Zheng's instructions and nodded with a smile.
Several people were overjoyed at the same time.
"It's just that, Lord Marquis of the County, to which company should I hand over the sales rights of Zuiyinzhou? My Wang family's cavalry team can be found all over the country!"
Wang Zengming took the lead.
Chen Kui snorted coldly: "What, my Chen family's caravan can't do it?"
Cao Zhen laughed loudly: "Everyone, my Cao family is at the dock in Jianye, but there is a waterway for trade!"
Suddenly the place became noisy, and several companies were talking about their own advantages.
"Ahem..."
Liu Dahao coughed a few times, and the scene became quiet, but everyone snorted coldly, sat back down, and then stared at Liu Dahao with threatening eyes as if they were enemies.
Liu Dahao laughed and said: "Everyone, listen to me first."
"The sales rights of Zuiyinzhou are divided among four companies..."
"no!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Your Majesty, you are not being honest!"
The four families roared at the same time.
Liu Dahao had a huge headache and continued: "Everyone, listen to me first. What I mean is that this will definitely not work. Then, you can only choose one of the four!"
"It's really hard for me to handle."
"It's better than this..."
Liu Dahao smiled and said: "Today we will send a secret letter to each of the four companies to quote their prices! Write down the price at which you will purchase this drunk silver state from the county magistrate's house. The one with the highest price will get it, how about it?"
The four people were stunned at the same time.
Is there such a way to play?
Zheng Yueru's eyes lit up when she heard this. This must have been the idea of Liu Zheng again.
That's right.
This is the modern bidding model, a simple model that never happened in ancient times. Therefore, these people fell into deep thought one by one. Before coming here, they had thought of many ways to deal with this county, but at this time, none of them worked.
"That's the fairest thing to do, right?"
Liu Dahao said with a smile: "No matter who gets the sales right in the end, everyone will do it based on their own abilities."
This is true.
If you want to win, it shows that you are full of courage.
If you are going to lose, it means you are not strong enough. When the time comes, if you want to cause trouble in this county, you have to be reasonable, right? What's more, Liu Zheng's method is simply vicious!
Under such a fair method, if you lose and still cause trouble, what will the winner think? What do other families think?
You have private soldiers, don't they?
"Amazing……"
Zheng Yueru smiled bitterly and shook his head, once again refreshing his understanding of Liu Zheng.
"good!"
"That's it!"
"This is the fairest!"
Several noble men nodded one after another, and then glared at their competitors. Liu Zheng's outsmarting had firmly controlled the psychology of these people and directly transferred their hatred towards the county magistrate to other families.
Liu Dahao couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
When did my son become so transparent?
Immediately, four secret letters were sent out respectively. For the sake of fairness, the four people were taken into the study room by the maids of the house, and each wrote down the price in his heart in the secret letter, then sealed the secret letter and left. come out.
Because the four noble families already hated each other and were on guard against each other, there was naturally no possibility of communicating with each other.
Soon, four secret letters were placed on the desk of County Marquis Liu Dahao.
Liu Dahao chuckled: "Everyone, the secret letter was decided by the four of you, so the winner must be determined!"
The four people clasped their fists in response at the same time.
"Zheng family, ten taels of silver!"
Here is the purchase price for one catty, ten taels of silver per catty of wine, which is considered a sky-high price.
But Chen Kui smiled coldly and didn't care.
Sure enough, the next secret letter was from the Chen family.
"Chen family, twelve taels!"
Liu Dahao also took a deep breath.
This is higher than the price paid to Fengminglou!
"Wang family, thirteen taels!"
"What?"
Chen Kui's expression immediately changed and he glared at Wang Zengming: "Wang Yuanwai is so generous!"
Wang Zengming laughed proudly: "Drunken Yinzhou, this is a real fine wine, what is this little money? When you get to Jinghua, you will be a seller of at least 20 taels!"
The last one.
Liu Dahao opened it, and several people held their breath at the same time.
"Cao family..."
"Fifteen taels of silver!"
The whole place fell silent.
