Chapter 115 Slag Cement
Manager Zhou stared at the refined salt on the table and fell into deep thought.
The young eunuchs around him dared not say anything or ask anything, and just stood respectfully by his side.
"Good stuff, good stuff!"
Manager Zhou's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled, and his fingertips ran across the fine salt, as gently as if he was caressing a lover.
Several young eunuchs nearby rushed to ask, "Grandpa, whose family is this? They don't even know how to come to pay respects to the ancestor?"
"That's right, this is too unkind!"
"We didn't even know this kind of stuff was flowing into the capital. How incompetent of us!"
Manager Zhou laughed and said, "What do you think?"
At this time, a young eunuch came back from the door, sweating profusely, "Grandfather, I have found out everything. This refined salt is in the capital, and it costs 20 taels of silver per liter! It was first brought to the capital from the Prince of Lu's mansion in Pingzhou!"
"Oh? King Lu?"
Manager Zhou narrowed his eyes.
Several young eunuchs nearby looked at each other, and one of them tried to test him: "Grandfather, if we talk about this salt transport, it will definitely cost you your life! But this Prince Lu is the brother of Your Majesty. You said he didn't say anything. If we report it to Your Majesty, wouldn't that be presumptuous? Besides, why should we worry Your Majesty about such a small matter?"
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I will go to Prince Lu's Mansion right away!"
"I must ask for the truth and come back!"
Several people were smiling slyly.
If they were involved in this matter, how could they not benefit from the prison? As for whether to behead or not, who would dare to speak nonsense if His Majesty didn't know? His Majesty hadn't attended court for several months. If the civil and military officials in the court wanted to see His Majesty, they had to get the consent of the prison and go through various interrogations. This meant that the prison could completely intercept any information about this matter at this time! What were they afraid of?
Manager Zhou laughed happily, "Okay, my sons know my heart very well, go ahead."
"The secret guard has arrived!"
Just then, a man in black walked in.
Seeing the androgynous secret guard dressed in black and covered with a black mask, the eunuchs shuddered all over and hid aside, not daring to breathe.
Manager Zhou greeted him with a smile: "Secret Guard, please come and sit down."
The man in black shook his head: "What do you want, Chief Steward Zhou?"
This rooster voice!
Manager Zhou muttered inwardly, then laughed dryly, "Secret Guard, this matter is confidential, I'm afraid you will need to go there in person."
The secret guard said nothing and waited for the next words.
Manager Zhou said seriously, "This matter concerns the national economy and people's livelihood. I need your help to investigate the things inside, but in order to avoid alerting the enemy, you must go in person and be responsible only to me!"
"yes!"
After all, the secret guards were under the command of the inner court. The man in black clasped his fists, accepted the order, took the bag of refined salt, and turned to leave.
When the man in black walked away, several young eunuchs were shocked and muttered, "Grandfather, this guy is really disrespectful to you, isn't he?"
"That's right, what is he!"
"If the ancestors told him to die, he must die!"
Manager Zhou shouted, "Shut up!"
Several young eunuchs were silent.
Manager Zhou said slowly, "After all, I just took over the secret guards. Before, the secret guards were directly responsible to His Majesty, do you understand? Now His Majesty has no time to take care of such trivial matters, but what about in the future? No matter who takes the throne, the first thing they will do is to take over the secret guards. Don't we have to be careful?"
The eunuchs' faces changed drastically.
This is a lot of information...
Doesn't this mean that Steward Zhou, who accompanies His Majesty every day, is conveying the message that His Majesty does not have much time left?
Of course, this is no secret.
Years ago, this matter was a hot topic. Didn't you see that Queen Zheng Fu did not obey the imperial edict and rushed back to the capital from Liangzhou overnight, fearing that the emperor would die and it would be too late to fight for power. In the past few months, the capital has been treacherous and the situation complicated. Everyone is busy taking sides, and the open and covert struggles between the princes have begun to heat up.
In this situation, their prison became a hot commodity, and every camp was trying to win them over.
But Manager Zhou is a very cunning person. He doesn't listen to anyone and doesn't rely on anyone.
This also allowed the Jianlanyuan to obtain countless benefits from all aspects. The dynasty was about to change. As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers. If the current emperor passed away, no matter who ascended to the high position, would the group of guys in the Jianlanyuan still be able to make money?
So, take advantage of the present and do as much as you can.
"Prince Lu, Prince Lu..."
Manager Zhou chuckled.
…
"King Lu?"
The man in black who had just walked out of the palace was also muttering to himself.
This Prince Lu is the brother of the current emperor. Since ancient times, when a new emperor ascends the throne of the Longyan Dynasty, he must go through a round of intrigues and infighting. The one who fights to the end is the next emperor. Generally speaking, the emperor in power will not have brothers left in the world...but Prince Lu is a special case. It was because when Prince Lu was fighting for the throne, all the princes were eyeing him covetously, but he pretended to be crazy and stupid in his fiefdom Pingzhou. When the new emperor came to the throne, he saw that he was a fool and could not threaten his throne, so he let him do whatever he wanted and gave him various rewards.
As a result, not long after, King Lu was cured.
When the emperor saw this, he realized that this guy was just pretending, but it didn’t matter because the political power had been smoothly transitioned.
And this is the fiefdom of King Lu of Pingzhou, Pingzhou.
Just northwest of Jinghua and northeast of Liangzhou, the three cities form a triangle.
"Pingzhou?"
The man in black didn't think any more and rode out of the city.
…
Another half month's journey.
Despite the experience of crossing the desert last time, Liu Zheng encountered many unexpected changes and accidents during the second crossing. The camel caravan of several hundred people still lost a lot of people. If it weren't for Qin Changfeng's protection, Liu Zheng would probably have been completely submerged by the quicksand.
"came back!"
“It’s finally out!”
The camel caravan finally saw the green in the distance and cheered with joy.
Liu Zheng was also very happy and galloped on his horse.
Not far from the desert Gobi, many people were seen waiting for Liu Zheng.
"Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
"Son!"
Jiang Xuan came riding a horse, Qingyang Suo in a wheelchair, Hu Xier pushing a wheelchair, Liu Dahao, Liang Erfu, Wei Tiezhu, and even Shen Xing, all came one by one.
"My son, my son, my son has become thinner!"
Liu Dahao was getting fatter and fatter. With tears in his eyes, he threw himself on Liu Zheng and choked up.
Liu Zheng smiled bitterly: "Dad, Dad, are you going to kill me?"
Everyone laughed.
Liu Zheng saw that in the past two months, Jiang Xuan had grown stronger and more mature. Liu Zheng smiled with satisfaction and said, "How is Kezhou?"
Jiang Xuan was convinced: "Young Master, the teacher completely conquered Kezhou within a month of your departure!"
Liu Zheng looked at it in surprise.
Along the way, Jiang Xuan recounted the entire story of how Qingyang Suo captured Kezhou.
Liu Zheng was shocked when he heard this, let alone Zheng Yueru who was next to him.
He looked at Qingyang Suo, this evildoer, in disbelief. This was short selling! And he was directly buying out an entire city. What kind of concept was this?
If Liu Zheng had not been certain that Qingyang Suo was undoubtedly from this world, he would have suspected that he had traveled through time like himself!
"Mr. Great Talent!"
Liu Zheng clasped his fists and expressed his admiration.
Qingyang Shuo also laughed and said, "It seems that you have also gained a lot! We are equal!"
The two looked at each other and laughed.
This time, Loulan gave Liu Zheng a lot of things, and they were all precious! Various gold ornaments from Loulan, precious spices from Arabia, gems, corals, and even caviar, which made people astonished.
Liu Dahao asked in surprise: "Is my son going to the war?"
Talking and laughing, a group of people returned to Yintan City. Seeing the scale of Yintan City, Liu Zheng was also surprised. After two months of traveling to Loulan, both places were in bloom, and naturally everyone was happy. Yintan City had already prepared a banquet. At the banquet, Liu Zheng told everyone about the trip to Loulan. When they heard the thrilling parts, everyone was very nervous, and then they clapped their hands and exclaimed. The atmosphere was very harmonious.
"Enlightenment reading material?"
Qingyang Suo was shocked again when he heard Liu Zheng's enlightenment reading material.
Liu Zheng smiled and said, "I intend to implement the same in Yinzhou."
Qingyang Shuo's expression changed slightly: "Sir, have you ever thought that if Loulan implements this strategy, the national strength will surely increase greatly. By then, I'm afraid..."
Liu Zheng thought that Qingyang Suo was indeed Qingyang Suo, as he could think of this point at the first moment. He laughed and said, "So I will take over the ownership of the desert this time..."
As he spoke, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes: "If the desert belongs to my Yinzhou, no matter how powerful Loulan is, I will have nothing to fear!"
Qingyang Suo was in high spirits: "Sir, the desert wind is strong, and the sand has no roots, how can we cure it?"
Liu Zheng said: "There are earth forests on the soil, sand trees on the sand, and poplars and red willows in Loulan, which can resist drought and sandstorms. Plant vegetation first to gather fertile soil. This is a long-term plan, so we should work on it step by step."
"Posthouse, what is the posthouse?"
Liu Zheng laughed and said, "A wooden house is not allowed, a mud house is not allowed, and no one in the world can build it! Only I, Yinzhou, can build this desert house!"
Everyone was shocked.
Qingyang Suo couldn't figure out what this young master was up to.
Liu Zheng smiled and said nothing more.
After everyone's curiosity was aroused and they had eaten and drunk their fill, Liu Zheng stood up and brought a group of people from Yintan City to the fine iron workshop of his Divine Workshop. Although everyone was puzzled, they followed him.
Wei Tiezhu slapped his forehead and said, "Master, the slag you asked Tiezhu to collect has already piled up into a small mountain. What's the use of it?"
Liu Zheng smiled and said, "Of course it is very useful!"
Following Wei Tiezhu, Liu Zheng came to the slag after steelmaking. He exclaimed, "Wow!" It was indeed the size of a small mountain. He smiled and said, "This thing can fortify a house in the desert!"
Everyone was surprised.
Qingyang Suo asked: "Sir, what is this?"
"This thing can be used to make cement that is not afraid of strong winds!"
"cement?"
Several people were confused by what they heard.
