Surveying and discussing, in Tongshan Town and Qiao'an Town, Xiao Mo and Li Yuan and others stayed for ten days.

During this period of time, Li Yuan and the squires have also seen the rich dolomite reserves in the two towns, and their eyes are shining, and now in the An Dynasty, lime is still quite expensive, and the rich and noble people can't afford it at all!

But that's just the old days! Li Yuan thought, since you want to do it, then make it bigger, at least Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jianghuai, as well as the capital, this area will be your own world in the future!

Of course, Li Yuan is referring to the lime business, don't misunderstand here!

Taking out the documents that Zhou Chang gave him, Xiao Mo said to Li Yuan: "This lime official will be handed over to you to handle, the craftsmen and workers are also your own business, and the county government will only take a cut in the future, of course, if there are any difficulties, I will tell the official that it is ......."

Li Yuan paused and asked, "My lord, are you going back?" ”

"Hmm!" Xiao Mo nodded, he saw Zhao Guanying in the morning, Li Ji had already returned to the county, according to Zhao Guanying, now the county is very lively, there are many caravans, Li Ji wants Xiao Mo to go back and help preside over the overall situation!

Xiao Mo nodded, such a situation is indeed a bit head-wrenching, but for the county government, it is a good thing.

After explaining to Li Yuan and others, Xiao Mo and Zhao Guanying, riding alone, hurried to the county seat.

At least it was Xiao Mo's first time, he was a little rusty, and he was a little nervous, so he didn't dare to ride too fast, and when he returned to the county office, it was already dusk.

In the yamen, Li Ji waited anxiously for Xiao Mo, and as soon as he saw Xiao Mo, he stepped forward, "Ziheng, go and take a look, the businessmen of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are making trouble in Xiya!" ”

"How so?" Xiao Mo frowned, making trouble? "Are there a lot of merchants here?"

"Do you need to ask?" Li Ji was a little caught off guard. "Who knew that these merchants were so interested in iron ore!"

"Hehe......" Xiao Mo nodded, now is the era of cold weapons, iron is equivalent to gunpowder in later generations, can businessmen not care?

"You can still laugh!" Li Ji also smiled, since Xiao Mo could put forward the idea of bidding, then he had a way to solve it. "Let's go, let's go and have a look!"

Following Li Ji, the two came to Xiya, and before they entered the door, they heard the sound of businessmen talking inside.

"Boss Pu, is this Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce really coming?"

"What's really coming? People's caravans have arrived at Chaohu, can this matter be fake? ”

"Huh? The Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce is here, what else is going on with us? There are more monks and less porridge...... Alas! ”

"Can't! What did Master Lee say? ”

"Everyone!" Li Ji's voice sounded, and the merchants all quieted down, and then looked at Li Ji's side.

Li Ji nodded at Xiao Mo, and Xiao Mo said: "The rank has come from afar, why don't you rest at the post station, but gather here?" ”

Who is this? The businessmen were puzzled, looking at Xiao Mo's appearance, it seemed that his status in the yamen was not low, and they all immediately spit bitter water at Xiao Mo one by one.

"My lord, you don't know!"

"Alas...... At first, I thought that there would not be many people who came to Shen County to bid for tenders......"

"Who knew that even the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce would come, if we had known, we wouldn't have gone to this troubled water!"

"Who's to say it isn't?"

"Master Li, you called us to Shen County, you won't just leave it alone, right?"

There were more than a dozen businessmen present, one person and one mouth, Xiao Mo almost understood.

Feelings these businessmen before coming to Shen County, have discussed, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the richest places in the country, of course, businessmen are not comparable to other state capitals, can come to Shen County, dare to bring grain, are some of the big business masters.

But no matter how big a person is, how can he compare with the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce?

Besides, these businessmen have brought this grain team one by one, each family has thousands of stone grain, from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Shen County, this freight cost a lot of silver, if the bidding is not successful, this time and again, there will be a loss of thousands of taels, even if there is money, it is not such a waste, is it?

It turned out that they were really anxious because they were afraid that the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce would swallow the iron ore and make their scattered businessmen lose all their money...... After understanding the reason, Xiao Mo will be easy to deal with! "Everyone, listen to this official! First of all, Lord Li will not ignore you, and secondly, the iron mine is not anyone's reputation and capital, it is anyone's family, this official has not said this, so don't worry! ”

That's it! The businessmen nodded, but they all looked at Li Ji, obviously not believing much in Xiao Mo's words.

Li Ji nodded and said: "The matter of the iron mine has always been the responsibility of Xiao Shaofu, if you have anything in the future, you can find Xiao Shaofu!" ”

"It turned out to be Lord Shaofu!" Some businessmen reacted at the time, and then saluted Xiao Mo with a fist.

Xiao Mo nodded and said: "It's not too early, let's disperse first, as for the food, you can place it in the City Supervision Department first, and the official will order someone to paste the seal and keep it for everyone!" ”

"Yes, yes!" The person who spoke was called Boss Pu, he nodded, and then said to Xiao Mo: "In the evening, we will prepare a little wine in Wangjiang Tower, I hope that Shaofu and Master Li can enjoy it......"

Please eat again? Xiao Mo shook his head, this national bad habit seems to have been prevalent in ancient times, glanced at Li Ji, Li Ji said: "This official will not go, if there is anything, find Xiao Shaofu!" ”

There is no way, in addition to Li Ji's political achievements, he also has to clear his name, of course he can't get involved with businessmen.

"Let's go back first, as for the dinner...... The official will go home first, and the evening will naturally pass! Xiao Mo had no choice but to agree, otherwise he was afraid that these businessmen would not give up easily.

After leaving the Yamen, the merchants did not return to the post station, but went to Wangjiang Tower.

"Boss Pu, in your opinion, what does this Lord Shaofu mean?" The businessmen discussed, after all, it was a matter of success or failure of the trip to Shen County, and they did not have a low heart.

"Alas! I knew it would be like this, so I wouldn't have come. Boss Pu frowned, he was originally the president of the Fuyang Chamber of Commerce, this time he heard that there was an iron mine in Shen County, and he wanted to outsource it, so he was moved, but then he heard that the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce was also interested in the iron ore in Shen County, so he waited and watched, and later heard that Li Ji rejected the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce, so Boss Pu made up his mind, pulled a few familiar businessmen, and gathered some caravans that planned to go to Shen County, and made up the current formation.

It stands to reason that if these businessmen stand together, it is a sure thing that the iron ore will be won, and it can also be pressed on the price, after all, the businessmen are standing on a front, and the so-called bidding advantage of the Yamen will be gone!

However, the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce actually went and returned, which caught Boss Pu and these people off guard, everyone knows that with the financial resources of the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce, they are not afraid of the Shenxian Yamen sitting on the ground and raising the price, and they do not put their own people in their eyes!

The current situation is very unfavorable to foreign businessmen like them!