I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 259 Zunhua Iron Factory
"No wonder we need to use the land on the school ground. It turns out we want to expand it."

Everyone was a little stunned when they heard Ma Chi's explanation. They had long heard that this firearms workshop could produce dozens of artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, and countless other firearms in a month. If it were to be expanded this year, it would have to be What is the output?

"I guess it won't be long before we'll also be able to use firecrackers."

Ma Chi murmured to himself as he looked at the five or six large waterwheels being built by the North Canal. Each waterwheel was being built next to a complete supporting workshop.

So the group continued riding eastward, leaving Tongzhou and entering the border of Jizhou.

Jizhou, known as Yuyang in ancient times, is home to the Zunhua Health Center. This place originally had a government-run iron smelting industry in the Ming Dynasty. It was the largest ironworks and the longest-running ironworks, producing more than [-] kilograms of raw and wrought iron every year.

However, after the first year of Wanli, the imperial court began to lay off a large number of craftsmen due to the high cost.Civil servants and craftsmen changed the price to silver.In the ninth year of Wanli's reign, the Zunhua Iron Works was officially closed, and the government-run iron smelting industry basically came to an end. From then on, the imperial court only purchased iron to make ironware.

Although the imperial court no longer established government-run iron plants, the foundation of Zunhua ironmaking was still there. On the basis of the original government-run iron plants, a large number of private iron plants sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, specifically to supply iron to the capital and the imperial court.

"Let's go quickly. We'll stay in Zunhua tonight."

"As ordered!"

After a day's journey, everyone was tired, so Ma Chi and a group of people hurried into Zunhua County and found an inn to stay temporarily.

"You guys stay here for the time being. Luo Baihu and I will go out. Tian Baihu, you stay and watch."

"My subordinate understands."

As he spoke, Ma Chi took Luo Yangxing and three guards and left the inn, heading west to Zunhua City. The sun had set now, making the streets of Zunhua County not very bright. Coupled with the year-round iron smelting, Zunhua County's The air is filled with a thick smell of coal smoke and rust, and after breathing for a long time, it makes people feel the smell of decay.

"cough cough"

Pedestrians on the road are in a hurry, and some people have lived here for many years, making low coughing sounds from time to time.Even Luo Yangxing, who had just arrived, felt that his throat was hard and uncomfortable.

The group of people walked hurriedly under the leadership of Ma Chi. Looking at the Zunhua Yamen and the inn passing by, Luo Yangxing became more and more confused. Where were they going if not the government?Until he saw Ma Chi stopping at the door of a warehouse and looking at the closed door, Ma Chi was not surprised. Instead, after glancing around, he stepped forward and started knocking on the door.

"bang bang bang"

"bang bang bang"

"Sir, we are closed. If you want to buy something, please come back tomorrow."

After a while, a voice came from inside, and it sounded like the clerk of this store.

"I only buy one hundred catties of wrought iron and two hundred catties of pig iron. I need them tonight."

When the people inside heard this, there was no response for a while. After a while, the front door of the warehouse slowly opened, and a man dressed as a clerk came out. Seeing Ma Chi's face, he was startled and then calmed down. He immediately bowed and said:
"Master Qianhu, Sun Qianhu is waiting for you inside."

"Well, nothing happened recently, right?"

"No, everything is fine."

Ma Chi nodded and led everyone in. Only then did Luo Yangxing realize that this was a Jinyiwei stronghold in Zunhua, used for surveillance and connections.According to his father Luo Sigong, there were originally very few such strongholds. After the emperor ascended the throne, he personally gave Luo Sigong instructions and also specially allocated funds for Luo Sigong to establish underground strongholds in important cities, which not only facilitated the collection of information from various places, but also It's also good to pass on news.

After everyone entered, the man dressed as a clerk quickly relatched the door of the warehouse and led everyone into the backyard quickly.

Under the patio in the backyard, there were already seven or eight people sitting around the fire in the patio. Under the moonlight and firelight, the backyard was made warm and bright.

"Sun Qianhu, don't come to Wuliang."

As soon as Ma Chi came in, he immediately bowed and said hello to the person sitting at the head. He had never dealt with Sun Hailin and Sun Qianhu before, he had only heard of it before, and he was quite polite when they met for the first time.

When Sun Hailin saw Ma Chi and others coming in, he immediately stood up and bowed to greet him. He had long heard that Ma Chi was the commander's only confidant. This time he went to Yongping Mansion to investigate, and specially brought the commander with him. Your lord's son, Luo Yangxing, is here, which shows that the commander has your lord's trust in him.

"Ma Qianhu, I have admired him for a long time."

As he spoke, he looked behind Ma Chi and saw a handsome young man in his early twenties standing behind him, so he smiled and said:
"This must be the commander's son. He is truly a talented person. Please take a seat."

"Haha, Mr. Sun is really well-informed. He even knows this."

"Master Ma, don't laugh at me. This is what the commander wrote to say. He also asked me to cooperate with you, so today I specially transferred all the brothers here to give you a detailed report on the situation."

Ma Chi was secretly satisfied. It seemed that Sun Hailin was very thoughtful and meticulous in his work, so he called Luo Yangxing and others to take a seat.

"Sun Qianhu, you must have heard what the commander said. Let me make a long story short. I wonder if the iron manufacturers here in Zunhua have any secret affairs with the White Lotus Cult."

Sun Hailin had been keeping an eye on this information during this period. When he heard Ma Chi's inquiry, he immediately explained the situation here.

"Since February, we have been keeping an eye on the iron factories here and found that there are only five companies that secretly believe in the White Lotus Sect. Three of them are small in scale and only forge iron. They buy and sell raw and wrought iron. The other two are medium-sized. , in addition to selling raw and wrought iron, they also made farm tools.

But since April, their business has suddenly improved a lot. They work hard at night every day, and they are heavily guarded. It is difficult for us to get close to investigate for a while.Finally, I tried to follow their truck, and if I found out, they would send all the iron tools they made at night to the direction of Luanzhou. "

Hearing this, Ma Chi and Luo Yangxing looked at each other, with expected affirmation in their eyes.

"There are dozens of iron factories in Zunhua, so it seems that the White Lotus Sect's infiltration is not powerful. They must be building weapons every night. From this look, they must have evil intentions and intend to commit rebellion."

"Zunhua Iron Works has always been an important iron smelting center for the imperial court. Although the imperial court no longer recruits craftsmen for smelting, there are still officials to supervise these iron plants. It is still relatively difficult for the White Lotus Sect to penetrate."

Ma Chi felt reassured upon hearing this. When Luo Yangxing discussed with him before, he was afraid that all the iron factories in Zunhua would be infiltrated by the White Lotus Sect.That's why he was asked to go over in person and confirm.

Otherwise, if these blacksmiths and apprentices really rebel, not only the imperial firearms workshop in Tongzhou may be affected, but the troops assembled by these people are powerful enough to cause a headache for the imperial court.

"That's good. Apart from the iron factory, what's the situation like at the yamen and guardhouses here in Zunhua?"

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(End of this chapter)