Chapter 274 Ding Xu, the Mine Supervisor

"Zhang Chengye, he can give me an official voice, you think you are, if you really force me to be too impatient, then no one can think of it if you just beat me up."

"You kid has no eyesight, and you have to do so many evil things to Huang Ping. You can blame others for your fault. If you believe it or not, I will ask someone to come in and get you!"

The words of the two people were extremely hot, but if someone eavesdropped, even outside the window, they might not be able to hear clearly what the people in the room were saying. In the private house of Zhang Chengye of Gaotang Prefecture, Gaotang Prefecture, said that an old friend came to visit. He drank tonight and had a deep conversation and dismissed his servant early, but in fact he was not an old friend. The two started to argue and make noise as soon as they sat in the banquet. But the voices of both of them were very low, for fear of disturbing others.

"If you have the ability, please ask someone to come in. When I have no eyesight during the day, what are you planning? Outsiders thought that you came to Dongchang Prefecture City to defend the city. You were preparing to rob Li Erlang of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, go to Jiaozhou to blackmail or contribute to the Tartars!"

When Zhang Chengye, who had always been stern when he heard the other party say this, finally couldn't calm down. He suddenly stood up from the chair, pointed at the other party and shouted angrily:

"Zhou Baxi, don't swear by others. If you have the ability, take out the evidence!"

Zhou Baxi, who was sitting opposite the table, saw Zhang Chengye panic, but was a little bit lustful. He picked up the wine glass, drank the wine in the glass, and said with a smile:

"We have no evidence for the message you sent to us by kid, but let's go to your General Li to surrender. After saying this, you see if he will ask us for evidence!"

The expression on Zhang Chengye's face changed. A smile appeared on his face, which was originally full of anger, and he spoke gently:

"You and I have known each other for many years, and we are all our own brothers. Why do we have to be so irritated? Drink first, drink first, and discuss what happens next day."

Zhou Baxi squinted his eyes and looked at Zhang Chengye opposite him for a while, and said with a sneer:

"I can't stand you in the Tianlong, so how can you say that you are in a relationship? When I was a thief military advisor, we only met. I also made it clear that if I had a good time these days, someone would go to the General Office to complain and tell me about your contribution to defending the city."

Having said this, Nanshan bandit Zhang Chengye finally realized that he had no choice but to put his wine glass on the table and said dejectedly:

"What's the use of finding me? I, Zhang Nanshan, can't even be considered a sesame in his eyes. I don't know how many people around me are spies. Whether I protect you or keep you, it won't last long!"

Zhou Baxi, the Huntianlong, stopped talking harshly, just lowered his head and drank glass by glass, and cursed to himself in a low voice:

"The bastard Jiaozhou Camp has become the king in Shandong and has not left a way out for others..."

Zhang Chengye, who was opposite, seemed to suddenly remember something and said:

"I really remember that there are people who are not afraid of Li Erlang on this Shandong ground. Instead of waiting for me, it is better to try your luck. They are also recruiting people from the martial arts world and are not dealing with Li Erlang. Brother, why don't you go there!"

Zhou Baxi's eyes finally lit up, and Zhang Chengye continued:

"The Laiwu Iron Smelting Station in the south of Jinan, Ding Xu, the mining supervisor there, is the leader of the Iron Smelting Station of the Emperor's tribe. He is always in charge of the production of Laiwu Iron Mine. He has always been very powerful. Li Erlang first discussed the iron buying with him. The price was not reached at all. Ding Xu is also a eunuch from the inner court. He never takes these local officials seriously, let alone a warrior, and the two sides are in a stalemate..."

"Okay, let's be a minion of the eunuch party, and borrow the strength of this eunuch Ding!"

Huntianlong Zhou Baxi excitedly patted the table and made up his mind.

The next morning, Zhang Chengye asked the housekeeper to prepare 500 taels of silver, and went to the wealthy house in the city to exchange it for gold, and handed it over to Zhou Baxi. Zhou Baxi was already dressed up as a merchant at this time, and was very inconspicuous. After taking the gold, he left the city and rushed out of the city.

Zhang Chengye stood on the high ground of his house and watched Zhou Baxi gradually fade away. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he followed Zhou Baxi's servant back and reported that the "relatives and friends" had already left the city gate, he relaxed and sat directly on the chair, his whole body became soft.

Nanshan bandit Zhang Chengye sat on the chair. After thinking about it, he thought about the detailed methods of Jiaozhouying. He didn't know whether it was hot or nervous. He quickly sweated profusely in the cool room. It didn't take long. Zhang Chengye suddenly jumped out of the chair and greeted outside loudly:

"Go and find a messenger. I have an urgent letter to the General!!"

The fast horse is expedited, and it doesn't take much time to stay in Shandong. Li Meng, who is stationed in Jiaozhou, soon received news. Zhang Chengye, the chief minister of Gaotang Prefecture, reported secretly that Zhou Baxi, a bandit in the world, had defected to Ding Xu, the Laiwu Mining Supervisor.

The various prisons of mine supervision, tax supervision, are all the representatives of the imperial envoys who were arranged by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to monitor various industries and collect taxes. These representatives are all eunuchs from the inner court.

During the Wanli and Tianqi periods, there was a huge wave of mine supervision and taxation supervision sent to various places everywhere, and the civil unrest continued to change. It was considered to be the evil policies of the previous dynasty and one of the most unpopular evil policies. Whether it was the emperor or the minister, they hoped that the place would be peaceful, but the eunuchs sent to various places became the source of cholera.

Therefore, when Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he accepted the advice of the ministers and withdrew the mining supervision and tax supervision in various places, so that local officials could manage all this.

However, the emperor soon discovered the problem. Without these eunuchs collecting taxes and monitoring locally, the court could not collect a penny. Local people said that they had such famine and difficulties, so taxes and various state-owned incomes could not be completed in accordance with the requirements of the court.

In desperation, the emperor had to send eunuchs and eunuchs to various places again. Before Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he had heard rumors. He saw the notes of literati, saying that the mining and taxation supervisors in various places paid millions of taels of gold and silver a year, but the amount of it was intercepted in private was more than ten times more. Chongzhen, who was still a relative vassal in the day, felt that the Ming Dynasty would lose so much because of this, but he only realized that he would intercept it as the emperor. The eunuchs would still have to pay some gold and silver to the court, which was better than those local officials who didn't pay a penny.

The history of iron production in Laiwu can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. All dynasties have established official institutions here to manage the iron government.

At this time, the mining supervisor who presided over the Iron Zheng in Laiwu was Ding Xu, an eunuch sent from the capital in the third year of Chongzhen. Ding Xu was quite capable. After coming to Laiwu Iron Mine, he rectified the increasingly declining mining and smelting workshops, and after a large increase in the mining volume, he began to look for buyers everywhere, making the place more prosperous.

Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, did make a lot of more money. The money was divided into ten parts, four of which were left to him, and four of which were sent to the capital to the eunuchs. The remaining two were paid to the state and maintained production.

Even so, Ding Xu gained a reputation for loyalty and diligence in the court and the public, and the eunuchs who received his gifts also maintained him with all their strength. After all, Ding Xu knew how to be polite, and the gold and silver he sent was indeed generous.

In almost ten years, the mine supervisor Ding Xu was about to operate Laiwu into an independent kingdom. There was a song in Laiwu saying, "I only know Eunuch Ding, but not Governor Lu!" It was about the situation where Eunuch Ding was the dominant situation in the local area, and even the Governor of Shandong was helpless.

The national specialty for salt and iron is strictly controlled. However, Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, doesn't care about these things. He can only make some money by buying farm tools for farmers. Most of the iron ore and finished products of the Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute were bought by private blacksmith merchants, making them into high-profit weapons and selling them to those who need them.

Goldman Sachs in Shanxi is one of the important buyers, and another important buyer is Lingshan Trading Company in Jiaozhouying. Because of the expansion of the army, the Jiaozhouying Weapon Manufacturing Bureau's demand for iron ore and iron tools has increased sharply. Lingshan Trading Company is looking for nearby suppliers of iron ore and iron tools, and this Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute is naturally the best choice.

When Lingshan Trading Company went to talk to Ding Xu, he said that he wanted to pack all the production of Laiwu iron ore, hoping that the other party could give a relatively low price. However, Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, wanted to raise the price. The reason was very simple. He said that he had sold it to several merchants, and if there were any fluctuations in one of them, the other could make up for it. If he only sold it to Lingshan Trading Company, the risk would be increased and he could only be compensated by increasing the selling price.

This requirement is expected. Although Ding Xu is a mining supervisor, he is as smart as a businessman, but he doesn't know how Ding Xu got the news. He knows that Lingshan Trading Company is the industry of Shandong General Li Meng. He has now raised the price to a height that Jiaozhou Camp cannot accept. The key is that the only place in Shandong where iron ore can be purchased is Laiwu. In the past, Lingshan Trading Company also bought it here. If the price rises to an unreasonable situation, there will be no suitable alternative source for a while.

According to the eunuch Ding Xu, "We don't care what to buy this iron ore and don't want to know. It's just that the general has weapons assigned by the court, but he has to buy them privately. There must be something strange about it. For this strangeness, your business should also spend more money to buy it with peace of mind."

The Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute is like Ding Xu's private property. Ding Xu is also a eunuch directly under the emperor. It is indeed shameful to buy his iron ore, and Jiaozhou Camp is in urgent need.
Chapter completed!