Chapter 73: Autumn Wind (Part 3)
At the end of June, Huo Chong led a team of people and quietly walked along the road and arrived outside Muping County. As part of the agreement, Huo Chong's team quickly started their work and built a temporary residence on the land they had purchased.
The magistrate of Mouping County had informed him of Huo Chong's arrival. He had already received a sum of money from the deed tax for Huo Chong's land purchase, and had previously received another sum from the establishment of a shop. Now that Huo Chong was going to build a large shop, he could collect another sum.
As long as they can collect 200 taels more in taxes this year, all the goals can be achieved. The county magistrate is very much looking forward to it.
On the fifth day, the subordinate who was sent out to check on Huo Chong's progress came back to report, "Master, Huo Chong has already built the thatched house."
"Oh." The county magistrate replied calmly.
"Master, do you want to go and see it yourself?" asked the subordinate.
The county magistrate felt that his subordinate's words were simply asking for a beating. What's so good about a thatched house? It's not surprising that Huo Chong built a thatched house. If they don't build a house, can they live in the open air?
The county magistrate replied with displeasure: "No need. It will be July in a few days. You should be ready."
On the seventh day of the seventh month, a lean man arrived at Huo Chong's land, surrounded by a crowd of people. His demeanor and posture were very different from those of a farmer who was farming.
When the leader saw Huo Chong, he answered readily: "This is Master Huo, right? I am Feng Yukuan that Brother Yang mentioned."
After Feng Yukuan introduced himself, Huo Chong also introduced himself. Then he looked at Feng Yukuan and his men. These people all had tanned skin and looked lean. They were indeed very different from "Yukuan".
After inviting everyone to his residence, Feng Yukuan looked at the simple room made of wooden frames and straw curtains and sighed, "Master Huo, I didn't expect you to build a shack by yourself."
Huo Chong smiled and said, "Since we are going to make a living here, we must have our own house."
Everyone sat down in the straw shed that still smelled of straw, and Huo Chong's men served tea. While drinking tea, several boxes were brought up. Huo Chong pointed to one and said, "This is a gift that Brother Yang asked me to bring to Master Feng. Last time we went to Jinan, we didn't see Master Feng. The gift was left at Master Feng's house. Brother Yang still misses me. This time we agreed to meet in Mouping County, and he asked me to bring this. The others are all gifts from me to Master Feng."
Feng Yukuan did not open the gift immediately. Instead, he asked in confusion, "Master Huo, I read Brother Yang's letter. I don't understand why you want to do business at sea. Do you know that the court has issued another order to ban sea trade?"
"Another maritime ban?" Huo Chong really didn't know there was such a thing. But Huo Chong was not surprised. The Qing Dynasty often issued maritime bans. If the Qing Dynasty suddenly became enthusiastic about trading with the whole world, Huo Chong would be surprised.
"Master Feng, I want to make some money from the sea, but not money." Huo Chong replied.
"What does Mr. Huo want to buy?"
"Mercury, sulfur, copper, lead. I want to buy some of these mines in Japan."
"So what does Mr. Huo want to buy?"
Huo Chong took out a few boxes, which contained glasses, solid alcohol and other products. Looking at these things, Feng Yukuan smiled and said, "Master Huo, although these things look interesting, you can't buy much."
Hearing this, Huo Chong took out another thing and said, "The Japanese may not need this thing, but the brothers on the boat may need it.
Feng Yukuan took it and looked at it. It turned out to be a very delicate compass. The back cover was probably made of copper, and it was heavy and a bit heavy. It looked about the same size as a pocket watch, and the front was made of transparent glass. The pointer inside looked very flexible. The direction and degree were marked on the dial.
There is also a small expansion mechanism here, which can fix the pointer with a flick of a switch. For people who travel on the sea, this function is very popular with Feng Yukuan. He said with a smile: "Master Huo, you don't have to sell this thing to the Japanese. I want it."
"Since Mr. Feng likes it, give it to him." Huo Chong said readily.
The two sides only met once and did not reach any agreement. Huo Chong did not care and put all his energy into the autumn harvest. Huo Chong had sent people to buy some land here and rented a few abandoned lands to plant potatoes.
At this time, the factory building with rammed earth walls is almost completed, and the wooden wine vats are also almost ready, and all that is waiting is the potatoes for making wine.
Just when Huo Chong was about to launch a full-scale attack, Magistrate Zhang of Mouping County suddenly came here.
Looking at the thatched houses that were already in good shape, County Magistrate Zhang glared at his subordinate. Although this guy had asked County Magistrate Zhang to come to Huo Chong's place several times, and also said that Huo Chong's thatched houses were built very quickly, he did not say that Huo Chong's thatched houses were built so well. If this guy had said it earlier, County Magistrate Zhang would have come to see it a long time ago.
There was nothing else to say at this time, just polite words. Magistrate Zhang focused all his attention on the house. Although the house was simple in structure, the straw ropes woven into sheets to form the walls looked very interesting. This was really different.
