Chapter 144 Take off
Zhu Yuanzhang was very heartbroken.

He couldn't help but stamp his feet and curse. He had a bad temper and had always been frugal. Now he thought that he had to give away mountains of gold and silver. How could he accept this!
But when Empress Ma saw his angry look, she smiled and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, since this land belongs to Deng Qianqiu, why do you have to be so angry..."

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "I can't stand it. I usually ask him to be frugal. Well, he is so frugal that he doesn't even care about gold and silver."

He almost said, if you are so willing to give, why don't you just give the gold and silver to me.

Empress Ma knew Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, so she gently advised: "Even if there is something wrong, Your Majesty should not blame him. He is still young. Whether it is a blessing or a curse, he will know it after he eats it himself. Blaming him now will not help."

This made Zhu Yuanzhang feel a little better. Empress Ma's words really hit the nail on the head. You have to let your child suffer a loss. Otherwise, how can he understand the truth? He gets anxious when something happens, which makes people afraid to do anything. But can he accept it in his heart?
So Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Deng Qianqiu and asked, "Are you really giving it to me as a gift?"

Deng Qianqiu explained: "Your Majesty, this mine... it would be time-consuming and laborious for me to develop it... it would be better for us to work together..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, the land is yours. No one can interfere with it, not even me. I approve of this matter..."

Deng Qianqiu breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

As he spoke, Deng Qianqiu bowed to Empress Ma again and said sincerely, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Empress Ma chuckled and said, "I am about to give birth. Now I think I owe you a lot. You haven't written to me often these days. I'm sure you are very busy helping His Majesty. In the future, if you have some free time, you must write to me often."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to stare at Deng Qianqiu with his eyes bulging.

Deng Qianqiu felt a chill on his collar and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, I will obey your order. Then... I will take my leave."

As soon as Deng Qianqiu left, Zhu Yuanzhang called Yegaixian over and said, "Yegaixian, take this oral order to Jiangning County Magistrate Deng Jian."

You should also listen carefully first.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Just tell him what happened just now. Let him discipline his son himself."

You should also say, "Yes."

Empress Ma smiled and said, "Your Majesty is thoughtful... It is not easy for him to intervene, but he asked Deng Jian to teach his son."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "Deng Qianqiu is a man of great ability, and he will be of great use in the future. But what you said is also reasonable, he is still young, in fact, some of the words of those corrupt scholars are not without reason, virtue and talent are both important, and virtue comes first. The so-called virtue is not the so-called pedantic gentleman, but the ability to understand the truth, such as practicing frugality, which is a very good thing. This is a mountain of gold and silver... How can this kid give it away?"

Outside the hall, a figure came in and out, left and didn't leave, just stopped and listened to what Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma said.

Empress Ma noticed something and asked, "Is it Jing'er?"

The person outside came in slowly and said, "Meet the Emperor, Father. Meet the Empress, Mother."

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Jingjing, he remained silent, put his hands behind his back, and walked away.

…………

Deng Qianqiu began to spread the news everywhere, and when the news came out, the capital was shocked.

In fact, most people don't care about this.

How could we find mountains of gold and silver in that barren land?

Isn't this a joke?
Therefore, at most it is just a topic of conversation.

"Brother Lu, Brother Lu..."

Fei Ju hurried to the Lu family.

Without waiting for the doorman to inform him, he rushed in.

He had a close relationship with Lawrence Lu and rushed straight into the backyard.

Soon, several disheveled Hu girls were frightened and scattered.

Lawrence Lu came out in his coat and slippers, his face dark, and said angrily: “Fei Ju, you are so rude.”

Fei Ju looked at Lawrence Lu with admiration: “Brother Lu did it in broad daylight…”

Lu Zhongheng asked angrily, "What's the matter?"

Fei Ju finally calmed down and said, "Brother Lu, have you heard? That piece of land...that piece of land..."

Lawrence Lu raised his eyebrows and said, “Land, what land?”

Lawrence Lu became alert. Last time, the two of them split the land 70% to 30%. Could it be that Fei Ju felt that he got too little?
Fei Ju stamped his feet anxiously: "Your piece of land, that barren land, has discovered a mountain of gold and silver... The whole capital is talking about it."

When Lawrence Lu heard about mountains of gold and silver, his eyes suddenly lit up, but soon he thought of something and suddenly showed anger.

So he said, "Nonsense, nonsense, how is it possible? That is a barren land, most of it is forests..."

"Because it's a forest..." Fei Ju said: "So..."

Lawrence Lu laughed and said, “Hahaha, I laugh at your stupidity. You believe this nonsense? Impossible, absolutely impossible. If there really is a mountain of gold and silver, I will twist my head off.”

Lu Zhongheng said this with gnashing teeth. For him, he would rather swear a poisonous oath than believe...that barren land has now become a treasure land.

After hearing this, Fei Ju also began to calm down: "This may not be impossible. It may really be rumors in the market and cannot be believed. However...if it is really a mountain of gold and silver, it would be really painful. I can bear it. Anyway, this land is not mine."

Lu Zhongheng said angrily: "Don't listen to these rumors anymore. People nowadays are all evil and love to stir up trouble..." Not long after, a servant suddenly came to report: "Mr. Hu, the Minister of State Affairs, is here to visit."

Lawrence Lu and Fei Ju looked at each other in bewilderment.

Why did Mr. Hu come to visit? Now...shouldn't he be on duty in the Secretariat?

The two of them became timid.

But he did not dare to delay and hurried to the middle gate to greet him.

Sure enough, at this time Hu Weiyong came towards them with a rosy face, and the three of them greeted each other.

Hu Weiyong laughed and said, "Brother Lu, congratulations, congratulations."

Lawrence Lu asked with full of doubts: “Where does happiness come from?”

Hu Weiyong said with a smile: "Didn't His Majesty discover gold and silver on the land he granted you? This time, your Lu family is destined to become very rich..."

Lu Zhongheng hurriedly explained: "Mr. Hu, these are all rumors in the market, and they are not credible."

Hu Weiyong shook his head and said, "At first, everyone thought it was just a rumor. But later, someone really went to that place and actually found gold sand. The news spread quickly and many people were attracted by it. Brother Lu... why do I still hear rumors that this mineral is going to be mined by anyone?"

After hearing this, Lawrence Lu's face turned pale and blue. He stood there in a daze, and for a moment, he seemed unable to breathe.

There is really gold...

Wouldn't that be...

He just felt a splitting headache and a throbbing pain in his heart, and even his breathing stopped.

Fei Ju was also startled, fearing that Lawrence Lu could not bear it, and worried that he had revealed his true colors, so he hurriedly joked: “Mr. Hu, the last sentence is a rumor, yes, it is a rumor…”

Hu Weiyong didn't seem to notice that Lu Zhongheng was not right. He was in a good mood and smiled and said, "Why are so many people rushing to the mining area? I heard that some people have started recruiting people and are going into the mountain. Brother Lu, there is no time to lose. You should take people there and seal the mountain to prevent others from coveting it."

Lawrence Lu: “…”

Hu Weiyong continued, "I never thought you would be so lucky, but... there is a saying that goes, 'A man is innocent until he is found guilty.' Today I came here for this matter. This is a gold and silver mine under the feet of the emperor. This is incredible. Once the news comes out, I don't know how many people will covet it! Even your majesty, I'm afraid he will lose his appetite."

Hu Weiyong's intention was very clear. Since they were all brothers, with such a big benefit, he simply let the brothers in Huaixi share a piece of the pie, so that everyone could benefit a little. So, it was obvious that this was not Hu Weiyong's intention alone, but someone had already hinted at Hu Weiyong, so Hu Weiyong had to speak on behalf of the brothers in Huaixi.

Seeing that Lu Zhongheng looked unhappy, Hu Weiyong thought to himself, no wonder he just said it was a rumor at first, and then he looked like he had lost his mother. It turned out... he had enjoyed so many benefits on a daily basis, but now he was pretending to be stupid.

“Brother Lu…Brother Lu…”

Fei Ju was worried and said, "Mr. Hu, I think Brother Lu might not be in good health. He works too hard every day. In broad daylight, he still..."

Having said this, Fei Ju fell silent. He suddenly realized that even this matter had to be kept secret.

Hu Weiyong's face was pulled, and he could not help but be slightly angry: "In this case, then I will not bother you any more. This is not what I meant, but if Brother Lu is reluctant, it is fine."

After saying that, he turned around and left as if he had been insulted.

Fei Ju felt relieved when he saw Hu Weiyong walk away. He turned around and saw Lu Zhongheng. He was startled and said hurriedly, "Brother Lu... Brother Lu..."

But Lu Zhongheng's eyes widened and he fell straight down.

"Come, someone come...something happened, something serious happened."

……

Deng Qianqiu, on the other hand, has been very busy. He has already planned the mining area and it is heard that many people have already heard the news and are interested in it.

As long as there are benefits to this kind of thing, Deng Qianqiu is not worried that people will not flock to it.

Gold and silver were expensive in the early Ming Dynasty. If gold could be mined, it would bring many benefits.

The most important thing is that this mine is close to the capital city, and is definitely not located in the deep mountains and old forests with no people living there for hundreds of miles. The cost of mining is also correspondingly much lower.

At this time, Deng Qianqiu was sitting upright, looking down at the map seriously, and at the same time called Liu A Ba to his front.

When Liu A Ba saw Deng Qianqiu, he felt frightened unconsciously, but to be honest, the treatment in this Qianhu Office was not bad, and he was quite satisfied. But he couldn't understand why Deng Qianqiu wanted to keep him.

At this moment, Deng Qianqiu pointed to a place on the map and said, "How many acres of land do I have near the mining area?"

Liu Ah Ba came back to his senses and answered honestly: "There are many more. In addition to the mining area, there are thousands of acres here. There is also a five or six li radius across the river, which is also... Strange to say, such wasteland..."

Deng Qianqiu interrupted him and said, "What did I ask? You answered it. Why are you talking nonsense?"

Liu Ah Ba smiled bitterly and said, "Yes."

Deng Qianqiu thought about it seriously and ordered: "You need to take a few people with you to explore the land outside the mining area. Mainly to understand its geography and hydrology, especially this river. Is this river a tributary of the Qinhuai River?"

Liu A Ba said: "Yes."

Deng Qianqiu continued to instruct, "Think about where we can build a dock nearby. How many ships can pass through this place? Also...measure the distance from the capital."

(End of this chapter)