Wang Tong said: "Don't look at me like that. It was Li Huaixin who asked for two thousand taels. It has nothing to do with me, but I think he means it. If he can't get the money, he will really not send troops."
"Do you need money?" Xu Youcai said with a serious face, "If he dares not to send troops to suppress the bandits, let's see how he will explain to the governor."
Wang Tong shook his head and said: "He is a military commander and he is hereditary. It is a legitimate reason why he cannot go out to suppress bandits due to lack of pay. People like the governor will not blame him for such a trivial matter. At most, he will be transferred out of the city." Lingqiu, in other places, he is still hereditary to thousands of households."
"Master Wang, do you want me to pay this money?" Xu Youcai frowned.
It's not that the Xu family didn't have two thousand taels of silver, but he was not willing to use the money to suppress bandits. Why should he be asked to provide this money for government affairs?
Wang Tong did not answer, but said: "Before coming to Mr. Xu, Li Huaixin asked me to bring him a sentence, saying that he does not open an iron yard, but he also knows about Dongshan."
Hearing this, Xu Youcai's expression changed.
The main reason why he was anxious for the government to send troops to suppress the bandits was because of the iron farm where the bandits lived in Hutou Village.
A company that produces high-quality iron, with quality comparable to Fujian Iron, but only has the price of Jin Iron, is a disaster for all the iron yards in Dongshan, and the first one to bear the brunt is the Xu family, which owns the largest number of iron furnaces in Dongshan.
When the bandit's iron yard in Hutou Village expands the scale of the iron furnace, it will shake the Xu family's position in Dongshan and dig out the roots of the Xu family's iron yard.
This was something he didn't want to see, so he was always eager to mobilize the government to suppress the bandits, even if it offended the county magistrate Guo Binchang.
Wang Tong said: "I brought the message. Mr. Xu will give you an accurate answer as to whether the two thousand taels will come out, so I can give a reply to Li Huaixin."
Xu Youcai tapped the armrest of the seat with his fingers, looking thoughtful.
Wang Tong didn't press any more, picked up the tureen and slowly drank the tea.
After a while, Xu Youcai seemed to have made up his mind and said, "Master Wang, go back and tell Li Huaixin, give me three days, and I will deliver the two thousand taels to the garrison mansion."
"Then let's wait for the good news from Mr. Xu." Wang Tong put down the tureen with a smile, stood up, and raised his hand to Xu Youcai.
When the two thousand taels were sent to the garrison, he naturally had a share. If he divided them into his hands, he would end up with at least one or two hundred taels.
After Wang Tong left, Butler Xu said: "Master, we really want to pay for the two thousand taels."
"Yes, but I can't be the only one from the Xu family to contribute this money." Xu Youcai said, "Go and notify all the ironworks owners in Dongshan. Go to the Yanbin Building tomorrow morning and say that you have important matters to discuss."
"Okay." Butler Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "Do I still need to call in the iron yard left by Chen Dafu?"
Chen Dafu died, and the iron field was occupied by bandits from Hutou Village. Butler Xu was afraid of offending his boss by mentioning Hutou Village directly, so he mentioned Chen Dafu in a subtle way.
Xu Youcai glared at Butler Xu and said, "I asked you to go to the Yanbin Building with the iron farm owner from Dongshan to discuss how to deal with the bandits in Hutou Village. Could it be that you think that the bandits in Hutou Village are as stupid as you, so you can spend your money to deal with them yourself?" Own."
Butler Xu was so scolded that he didn't dare to raise his head and kept saying yes.
When Xu Youcai had scolded him enough, he left the study and arranged for his servants to contact the owners of various iron yards in Dongshan.
Most of the ironworks owners in Dongshan are in Dongshan, especially some small ironworks owners, whose only livelihood is the ironworks at home, and they usually live in the ironworks.
Big ironworks owners like Fatty Xu and Li Lidong, as well as some ironworks owners with more iron furnaces, will live in Lingqiu City.
The Xu family came out with a few fast horses and went to the city and Dongshan to inform the owners of the iron yards about going to the Yanbin Building. It was not until the city gate was almost closed that all the owners of the iron yards were notified.
The Xu family had prepared the Yanbin Building in advance to set aside half a day for no business, and specially prepared a place for the ironworks owners from Dongshan to gather.
The Xu family was so powerful that the owners of the small ironworks in Dongshan didn't dare not come. But the owners of the big ironworks like Fatty Xu didn't care and wanted to know why the Xu family wanted them to come to the Yanbin Building.
On the second floor of the banquet building, several square tables were filled with people, all proprietors of various iron yards in Dongshan.
The waiter at Yanbinlou brought tea and placed a few dishes on the table with snacks such as melon seeds and snacks.
When the proprietor of Dongshan Iron Station arrived, Xu Youcai, accompanied by the housekeeper, came to the Yanbin Building.
"Dongzhu Xu."
"Master Xu."
...When some small iron pit owners saw Xu Youcai, they stood up one after another and respectfully called Mr. Xu or Mr. Xu.
Xu You nodded slightly as a response, walked to the middle of the main table and sat down.
At the same table with him were the other three ironyard owners of Dongshan Ironyard.
Sitting on the main seat, Xu Youcai said: "Dear proprietors of the Dongshan Iron Works, Xu is here to discuss a major matter concerning the life and death of all our Dongshan Iron Works."
After hearing this, many iron pit owners whispered to each other and discussed in low voices.
Ahem... Xu Youcai deliberately coughed twice, and the discussion below disappeared.
Xu Youcai said: "I believe everyone here knows that the iron yard left by Chen Dafu has now fallen into the hands of the Hutou Village bandits. His iron yard now uses coke to make iron. The furnace temperature is high, and the molten iron coming out is large and contains impurities. Less, the fine iron after forging is comparable to Fujian iron, but the price is the price of our Jin iron."
"This...is impossible!" Some iron farm owners didn't believe it.
"What kind of iron-making technology can a group of bandits know?"
"I know that Huang Huai, the man in charge of the furnace, is of average skill, otherwise the iron farm where he worked would not have collapsed."
The Dongshan Iron Works is either big or small. Many owners of the iron yards only care about one-third of an acre of their own iron yards and don’t care about other iron yards. Some owners of the iron yards have heard of coke ironmaking. But they scoffed at it and didn't believe it at all.
Many of Dongshan's iron fields are passed down from ancestors and have their own iron-making technology. I don't believe that a group of bandits have any better iron-making technology.
"Everyone, what Dongzhu Xu said is true. I, Fatty Xu, can prove it here." Fatty Xu suddenly spoke.
Dongzhu Yang and Li Lidong on the side also echoed.
The four largest ironworks owners in Dongshan all admitted this matter, and the discussions among the other ironworks owners gradually became quieter.
One family said that they might not be believed, but four families said so. Most of the iron pit owners present believed it to some extent.
The furnaces at Liu Heng Iron Works were established for such a short period of time that the news of coke ironmaking did not have time to spread. If only half a year passed, the owners of Dongshan Iron Works would know everything about it.
"If the Jin iron produced by their iron yards can really compare with Fujian iron, they should hand over the iron-making methods and let all our iron yards in Dongshan master this iron-making technology." An iron yard owner said loudly.
"Yes, let them hand over their iron-making technology."
"This kind of iron-making technology cannot be allowed to be in the hands of a group of bandits. It should be handed over to all our iron yards in Dongshan."
A group of ironworks proprietors got into trouble.
If coke ironmaking is real, it can really produce refined iron comparable to Fujian iron, which makes many ironworks owners want to master this ironmaking technology.
Nowadays, Jin Iron is no longer as cheap as Fujian Iron, and the Ministry of Industry is unwilling to use Jin Iron to make weapons and armor. Without the Ministry of Industry's procurement, Jin Iron has further declined. In many cases, Jin Iron is only used to make agricultural tools and spatulas. Things like this make life difficult for many proprietors of Jintie Iron Works.
If they could master coke-based ironmaking, their lives as owners of ironworks would immediately turn around.
