"Quiet." Xu Youcai tapped his fingers on the table several times.
The owners of the steelyard who were noisy gradually became quiet.
Xu Youcai said loudly: "Who are the people occupying Chen Dafu Iron Yard? Bandits and grass bandits. If you want coke ironmaking technology, fine, go find the bandits in Hutou Village and see if they can give it to you. .”
There was silence below, and many owners of the iron yard lowered their heads, as if something on the table was attracting them.
Fatty Xu curled his lips and said disapprovingly: "Dr. Xu, you have gone in such a big circle, why bother? What do you want to do? Just tell them directly."
"Yes, Boss Xu, you tell everyone what to do, and we listen to you." Boss Youtiechang stood up and said.
Xu Youcai glared at Fatty Xu who was trying to undermine him, and then said: "The bandits from Hutou Village killed people and occupied the iron yard. They also robbed passing caravans at the foot of Hutou Village and robbed the people of their food. This made people angry and angry. Governor Liu heard about this. , was so angry that he ordered the governor's Yamen to issue an official document to suppress the bandits, and now the official document has been sent to our garrison in Lingqiu via the Bingbei Road. "
"Then let Li Shoubei lead the troops to suppress the bandits. Why do you want us people to come to the banquet building?" Fatty Xu raised the corner of his mouth slightly, showing a sarcastic look.
The last time the Xu family had a banquet at the Yanbin Tower, they wanted many iron yard proprietors to pony up money to form a township corps for training. This time the Xu family invited all the iron yard proprietors to the Yanbin Tower, and naturally nothing good would happen.
"If Li Shoubei was willing to send troops to suppress the bandits, I, Mr. Xu, would not invite everyone to the banquet building for discussion." Xu Youcai glared at Fatty Xu fiercely.
Fatty Xu curled his lips and said, "If we find all of us, will Li Shoubei agree to go out of the city to suppress the bandits?"
Sitting at the main table, Li Lidong said: "Since the garrison office has received the official document to suppress the bandits, why are they unwilling to send troops to suppress the bandits?"
"Alas!" Xu Youcai sighed and said, "It's not that the garrison master doesn't want to send troops. It's actually that the garrison mansion hasn't paid any money for a long time, and the soldiers below are unwilling to go to war. The garrison master is also a clever woman who can't make a living without rice."
Fatty Xu on the side said sarcastically: "After going around for so long, I still don't want everyone to get money."
"This silver is not for Xu, but for the garrison master to send troops to suppress the bandits." Xu Youcai's face sank, and he looked at the many owners of the ironworks present and said, "Only two thousand taels of silver, we don't have to pay for it in Dongshan." There are many iron fields, and each family can come up with it."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was silence.
Two thousand taels of silver is not much for the Xu family, but it is a lot of money for many small iron factory owners.
After waiting for a while, Xu Youcai's face gradually turned ugly when he saw that no one said anything.
"Everyone, this sum of money is a lot of money, but it can save our iron furnace." Xu Youcai said, "Have you ever thought about it, the bandits in Hutou Village have only built one iron furnace now, and when they have two, they will have three. If you have one or even ten iron furnaces, will Dongshan still have your business at that time? By then, even if you lower the price, it will not be able to lower the cost of coke ironmaking, and the only way waiting for you is to turn down the furnace."
No one from the iron yard owners present said anything. They spent their own money to suppress the bandits. Many people were unwilling to do so.
It took a long time before an ironworks proprietor said in a low voice: "We all run ironworks. The gap between Shanxi Iron and Fujian Iron is indeed not small. Even if coke is used to make iron, it is still not as good as Fujian Iron." !”
Many iron yard proprietors nodded in agreement with his words.
Fatty Xu suddenly said: "The refined iron produced by coke ironmaking is no worse than Fujian iron. On the day the furnace was opened, I, the manager of the Xu family iron yard, was present. I saw the molten iron coming out of the furnace with my own eyes. One furnace is at least four to five thousand kilograms, with few impurities. If you don't believe it, you can see Let’s see if the quality of the refined iron sold by their iron yard is comparable to that of Fujian iron.”
After the words fell, many owners of the iron yard whispered to each other and started discussing with each other.
An ironworks proprietor said: "Can't they hand over the technology of coke ironmaking? We are all willing to pay money to buy it."
"Yes, yes, yes, we are willing to pay for it."
Many iron farm owners nodded in agreement.
Instead of spending money on suppressing bandits, they were more willing to spend money on coke and iron-making technology.
The owners of the iron yards present all had their own calculations. The coke iron-making technology they bought is their own, and it can be passed on to future generations in the future. The market share occupied by Fujian Iron and Steel can also be slowly regained, and each furnace can produce four to five tons. Kilograms, Fujian Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. do not have such high mass production, and the cost is even lower than that of Fujian Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.
"If it were you, would you sell your better iron-making technology to others? Or do you think you can steal the coke iron-making technology from a group of bandits?" Xu Youcai looked coldly at those present. The proprietor of the Iron Works.
Those ironworks owners who clamored to use their money to buy coke ironmaking technology kept their mouths shut.
If it were them, they would definitely not sell it to anyone else. With such good iron-making technology, as long as they open a few more iron furnaces, they can completely overwhelm other iron yards in Dongshan.
As for using force, don't think about it. The opponent is a bandit. The fate of Chen Dafu and Dice Six is the best example.
Seeing that the scene became quiet again, Xu Youcai said again: "There is only one way left for us, and that is to collect the money and give it to the garrison to suppress the bandits and clear out Hutou Village. By then, we will have the coke ironmaking technology, and we will go to the mountains." All the iron yards have a share, and from now on, when caravans pass by Hutou Village, they don’t need to pay any more money for peace."
Many ironworks owners discussed with each other that if they could obtain coke ironmaking technology, it would not be impossible to spend some money to suppress the bandits.
"I'll pay five hundred taels." Fatty Xu suddenly said.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Dr. Xu, you..." Dongzhu Yang stuttered, somewhat unable to believe that Fatty Xu would actually choose to support Xu Youcai.
Xu Youcai, who was at the head of the throne, was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what he was doing. He was afraid that Fatty Xu would regret it, so he hurriedly said loudly: "Business owner Xu is willing to pay 500 taels, so my Xu family will also pay 500 taels."
Fatty Xu sneered in response to Xu Youcai's little thoughts.
"Dongzhu Yang, Dongzhu Li, you two are also the owners of Dongshan's largest ironworks. Shouldn't you take the lead in contributing a share of the money?" Xu Youcai looked at Dongzhu Yang and Li Lidong on the left and right.
Li Lidong said: "I don't have as much money as the two proprietors, so just give me two hundred taels!"
"Where are you, Dongzhu Yang?" Xu Youcai looked at Yang Yuqian again.
Yang Yuqian gritted his teeth and said, "I will pay two...fifty taels."
Xu Youcai grinned and said, "Dr. Yang, are you... a little lacking?"
Dongzhu Yang had a bitter look on his face and cried out: "The Yang family iron yard is not as strong as you guys. Business has been really hard recently. Fine iron cannot be sold at a high price and we are encountering difficulties in turnover. Dongzhu Xu, don't be too little. You can take any amount." It’s Yang’s sincerity.”
He had already said this before meeting Yang Yu, so Xu Youcai couldn't say anything else.
With the four major steelyard proprietors taking the lead, the remaining twenty or so ironyard proprietors reluctantly agreed to provide money, but the money offered was less than Yang Yuqian.
In the end, all the owners of the iron yard added up to more than 1,800 taels, which made Xu Youcai very satisfied.
As long as the Xu family needs more than 600 taels, it will be enough, instead of the two thousand taels at the beginning.
Fatty Xu was helped up from his seat and said: "The money is almost collected, so I won't disturb Boss Xu. I hope that Boss Xu will send the money to the garrison as soon as possible so that the bandits can be suppressed earlier."
"It's natural." Xu Youcai said, "I don't know if the five hundred taels promised by the proprietor Xu will be delivered to my house, or if I will send someone to your house to get it."
"I almost forgot if you didn't remind me." Fatty Xu slapped his forehead, then leaned down and said in a low voice, "You Xu Youcai want to suppress the bandits, so kill them yourself. I, Fatty Xu, won't give you a penny, haha. "
Fatty Xu turned around and left, leaving Xu Youcaiqi with a pale face.
Li Lidong stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "My two hundred taels will send someone to your residence to say goodbye."
After saying that, he also left.
Yang Yuqian also stood up, hesitated for a moment, and finally took out fifty taels of silver ingots from his sleeves, put them on the table, and then left.
