At this time, there was a look of relief in the eyes of the miners, they had also learned from Cai Jiu before, but what they said was unfounded, and seeing was believing.

At that time, the miners were the most free people, because the professionalism of mining and ironmaking was one of the strongest professions at that time, and the requirements were relatively strong, and they also needed some craftsmanship.

Including the mine owners, the owners of the iron mines in the south are not necessarily locals, but those who have mastered the technology of mining and ironmaking, and at the same time can encircle and subdue the miners.

As said in the "Qingliu County Chronicle": "The prosperity of the iron furnace is deserved by the local tyrants and powerful people, and its interest is very large and there are many grievances." Who? Build factories in the mountains, gather people, carry iron sand, endless streams, wash sand and flowing water, liquid like ointment, the graves are dilapidated to them, the mountain villages are lonely and poor, one person is patented, a thousand mouths are screaming, or ten days are not inciting, chickens and dogs are thieves, and they gather Bo to be fierce......"

From this record, it can be seen that the iron mining industry has caused great damage to the local natural environment and economy, and it is the mine owner who has benefited, and the miners are both good and bad, and they are all brave and powerful people who have left home, and they have caused great damage to the local security and people's livelihood.

It is not necessary to restrain such a crowd, and the miners are also afraid of encountering too strong proprietors, who will not be able to hold their heads up.

This can be regarded as a game between the two sides, at least from the current point of view, this young proprietor is not the kind of heroic and powerful gentleman who talks to others with his face raised, and this layer is really reassuring.

"Boss, please look, there is a small stream over there, the flow speed is not small, enough to wash and clean the iron sand," to a flat land, Cai Jiu pointed to Zhang Han with great interest: "There are three or four acres of land here, there are already many open veins around, and it is also very convenient to dig mines...... Here is the site of the furnace, which is very close to the veins and streams, and there are some open spaces where houses can be built, and where they can be used as dwellings and storehouses......"

Cai Jiu has been working in the mine since he was a teenager, and he has been doing it for more than ten years, and he knows almost every process well, but he has never been in charge of the general manager and has been a family member, so when he speaks, his voice still has a trembling feeling.

"The furnace is two feet and four feet, and it is estimated that if the ore and fuel are sufficient, if the manpower is sufficient, it can produce 4,000 catties of iron every day."

Li Shenming interjected on the side: "How much iron can be produced in a year?" ”

Cai Jiu already knew Li Shenming's identity, and replied very respectfully: "Back to Mr. Li, this matter is not very accurate, after all, this furnace sometimes looks at the sky, and the furnace cannot be opened if the continuous rainstorm does not stop, so it can only wait for the weather to be clear, and there are snowy days, mountain torrents, and other kinds, and they have to stop work. ”

Li Shenming calculated in his heart, according to Zhang Han's plan, a furnace needs more than one million catties a year, and I don't know what he can do to increase production.

Moreover, Zhang Han not only produces ordinary pig iron and refined iron, but also plans to produce steel.

Steel was very rare at the time, ten times more expensive than pig iron, and the production was seriously insufficient, and the process was very complicated, and it could only be used in a few places, such as to make sophisticated weapons.

Zhang Han didn't say anything for a while, and then said, "The place is too small, too small." ”

Cai Jiu snorted and said: "Owner, there are dozens of iron furnaces here in Dongshan, there are streams, the place is big enough, and the ones that are close to the ore veins are all in the hands of others, unless we use strong ones, we can't buy them with silver." ”

When Cai Jiu left Xinpingbao, Zhang Han gave him a large sum of silver and told him to make preparations for the first time. Cai Jiu is indeed quite down-to-earth, two rows of houses have been built here in front of him, all of which are tiled houses built according to Zhang Han's instructions, the kitchen and the thatched house are far apart, the accommodation and sanitary conditions are very good, the ordinary square bricks and refractory bricks for the stove have been prepared a lot, the salt is also piled up in a large pile, and some of the other forging tools are also covered with grass to prevent rain and moisture.

As far as the preliminary work is concerned, it has been done well.

"Stove, you only prepare a big blast furnace, the pattern is too small, Cai Jiu?" Zhang Han scolded with a smile: "I have the silver here, I may not only sell you a furnace of pig iron in the future, how much iron does our Shanxi political envoy produce in a year?" Tell you, less than 10 million catties a year, but in the whole north, the place with the most iron is ours, most of the places in Hebei that produce iron are not used, and there are not many iron in Liaodong, and the court is now building iron armor to make weapons of fine iron is not enough, folk plowshares, iron pots, every few years have to be replaced by a batch, the entire north of more than 100 million people, how much iron is used a year? Besides......"

Zhang Han said that he had a pause, and the matter of smuggling pig iron could not be told to Cai Jiu for the time being.

The iron output of the Ming Dynasty, according to Zhang Han's various books recorded inconsistently, in the early Ming Dynasty Hongwu was 18 million jin to 20 million jin, but to Wanli recorded more than 9,000 tons, this figure Zhang Han does not know whether it is accurate, after all, the population figure in the Hongwu period and the Wanli period are several times different, and after the pig iron is released to the private sector, many small iron furnaces may not be counted in the statistics.

"Hire more people ......"

Zhang Han was about to continue talking, but hundreds of people poured in at the mouth of the valley, and the black pressure came from the other side of the mountain road.

Li Shenming was startled at first, and then smiled: "Which one is this?" ”

Zhang Han smiled and scolded Cai Jiu: "Cai Jiu, do you still have this hand? These are the miners who are looking for them in ambush? ”

"Proprietor, I'm afraid you're looking for trouble, right?"

Cai Jiu's face turned pale, it is not so easy to find miners, this is not something that can be done by finding a group of farmers, only a few positions can be used by novices, such as washing ore, or buying goods, fanning the fire, standing furnace, and making iron, which are all relatively professional work, not something that can be done by random people.

"Let's go, let's see." Zhang Han looked at Cai Jiu and said with a smile: "I'm afraid, Liang Xing and they don't eat rice." ”

This time, because it was expected that there would be some trouble, Zhang Han brought Liang Xing and the Jiang brothers and others, and they brought a team of dart division subordinates as guards, and the small twenty dart divisions were all good pickers, all of them were strong men, with sophisticated weapons, rich fighting experience, and more than half of them had participated in the fight against bandits.

The crowd stopped riding horses and walked straight over, and the distance of a few hundred steps was instantaneous.

When I arrived at the valley mouth, I found that it was indeed a group of mountain people, including men and women, old and young, and there were more than 100 men, most of whom were still holding fork rakes and the like, and a few people were holding weapons such as rusty waist knives.

These people must have rushed over directly, but they asked Liang Xing and others to stop them at the mouth of the valley.

"Wait here." Liang Xing smiled, drew a line on the ground with the tip of his waist knife, and then said to the mountain people: "Whoever crosses this line will be stabbed." ”

"I don't believe you dare?" A sturdy mountain man held a snow-bright iron fork and glared, "There is no royal law yet?" ”

"You can give it a try." Liang Xing still has a smile on his face, but his face is full of anger, and his eyes are also very ruthless, this kind of temperament is not a person who has fought hundreds of fights on the street and done many evil things, even if he wants to, he can't pretend. This breath made these mountain people very jealous.

"Let's all rush together." An old man with white hair shouted, "They are such a small number of people, I don't believe they can't beat them." ”

At this time, the miners all retreated far away, showing a state that had nothing to do with them, and it was Liang Xing and others who really stepped forward to block people.

It's no wonder that these miners, they have just been found, and they have not received their salaries once, so we have to see if they can do it again, and at this time they will fight for the new owner, what if there is a dead or injured? If the new proprietor can't cover it, he is taken by the government, and the mountain people are beaten to death, it is not cost-effective, of course, it is better to retreat farther, and if you want to fight for the proprietor, you have to take at least a few months' salary, and then see if the proprietor's personality is so beautiful and good-looking, and then talk about it.

As soon as the old man shouted, sure enough, more than a dozen young and strong mountain people rushed over with a roar, how could Liang Xing and the others be polite, and they also used knives and guns to meet them.

The dart master has practiced martial arts, and there is the method of battle in a formation, and in an instant, two small horizontal formations came out, each other's waist knives and spears, and long knives cooperated, but listened to a sound of gold and iron, and then there were screams again and again, and there were five or six young mountain people lying on the ground, and the long knife edges were cut off, and the knife edges opened, and the blood gugu flowed out, and those few people kept crying out in pain on the ground, and they were scared half to death.

Zhang Han looked at it and smiled secretly, Liang Xing and the others were still measured, looking ruthless, in fact, it was a flesh wound, first stop the bleeding, then debridement, and then wrap it after applying the wound medicine, at most it will grow a knife edge in a few days, and if the injury is deeper, it will be good in ten days and eight days.

There are a lot of injuries on the mountain's side, but the dart masters are not injured, not even scratched, Zhang Han also nodded secretly, Wang Changfu's practice is not in vain, and the daily sweat and practice are not in vain, at least from the current point of view, the dart master in this part of the foot man has the appearance of a strong soldier, Lahu is hindered by the original identity and temperament, the drill is not much effort to contribute, and it is easy to be cowardly in battle, this is also the so-called courage to fight privately and be cowardly in public war, this kind of temper Zhang Han now knows that it can't be changed, so this time it comes out, Most of the people are involved in the battle with the bandits, when they just shot, Liang Xing performed very well, but Wang Yikui and Li Laibin in the team are the Dinghai Shen Needle, when each person shoots, these two team leaders are responsible for the direct command, under their command, whether it is a change of formation or an attack, and then close the momentum, they are all organized, after a thunderous blow, they resolutely close the momentum, still maintain deterrence, the formation is still strict, this one is rare.