Chapter 145 Earth-shattering
Liu A Ba looked at Deng Qianqiu. He couldn't understand what was going on in the mind of this young captain.

But at the moment, it seems that the treatment here is not bad, so naturally everything will go according to this kid's wishes. As for the future...

Liu Ah Ba looked at Deng Qianqiu deeply and suddenly said, "At that time, when we were exploring the terrain, I..."

Deng Qianqiu said: "Who do you think you are? You are just a tomb raider..."

Liu Ah Ba's face sank, as if he had suffered a great humiliation, but he had to correct himself: "I... when I was exploring in the mountains, I noticed traces of burning saltpeter."

Deng Qianqiu was surprised and asked, "gunpowder?"

Liu A Ba nodded: "That's right."

Deng Qianqiu frowned. "How could there be such a thing in this deep mountain with no human habitation? It seems that you should be careful. Bring more people with you when you explore the terrain next time."

Seeing that Deng Qianqiu did not take this matter as seriously as he thought, Liu Ah Ba could not help but remind him again: "Qian Hu...ordinary people...can't use gunpowder."

Deng Qianqiu smiled and said, "You are very attentive. It seems that you have some opinions in your mind."

"Yes, there are some." Liu A Ba looked at Deng Qianqiu cautiously: "But I don't know what the captain likes to hear?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "My stomach can hold a boat and the sea can hold a hundred rivers! In front of me, you can talk about anything and say anything."

Liu Ah Ba smiled and said, "I...what I find strange is that, first of all, gunpowder has always been strictly controlled and ordinary people cannot get access to it. If you refine it yourself, it is not easy. It is not something that one or two people can do. Secondly, if you need to use gunpowder, why would you use it in an uninhabited place? Is there someone who just doesn't want to be discovered..."

Deng Qianqiu asked: "Is it possible that they are hunting?"

Liu A Ba looked at Deng Qianqiu with a strange look in his eyes. "Hunting? In this world, what fool would use a musket to hunt? The musket has a very poor accuracy and a very short range. Compared with a bow and arrow, it is a huge difference. Moreover, who can get a musket and gunpowder, risking his head just to hunt a rabbit?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "I'm just looking for some ideas to think about. Why are you arguing with me?"

Liu Ah Ba was like a man who had eaten a fly. He finally bowed to reality and said, "I am a wretch and I deserve death."

Deng Qianqiu thought for a moment and said, "You should pay more attention to this matter, but don't make it public for now. Since there are traces, we can follow the clues to find out the cause, but if we make a big fuss, it will alert the enemy."

Liu A Ba said: "As you command."

This summer was particularly hot, so Deng Qianqiu ordered people to send out ice.

The so-called ice gift is originally a gift given by a subordinate under the pretext of helping his superior to cool down.

I don't know when this rule started, but it has become a common practice. Even during the Hongwu Dynasty, this trend was not curbed.

However, it was unheard of for the Qianhu Office to distribute ice money to the officers and soldiers under it. Even the new lieutenants who had not yet been promoted received one.

In fact, this ice gift is not worth much, just some items to cool off, plus a hundred coins. In real comparison, it may be just a few days of food expenses.

But even so, everyone in the Qianhu Division was extremely jubilant.

Deng Qianqiu clearly felt that everyone here looked at him with more respect.

So Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but secretly take out a pen and ink and secretly make notes.

He developed the habit of taking notes and writing down some of his insights.

In this hot summer, both Qianhu Suo and Qixia Mountain are extremely bustling.

Various news about gold mining and silver mining came in one after another.

At first people didn't believe that anyone would allow this mine to be mined.

But after the first group of people entered the mountains, there followed the second and third groups.

Even some merchants began to take action. They started to recruit manpower and gradually began to scale up.

Suddenly, it was very lively.

People praised Marquis Ji'an for his righteousness.

But there are some people who know the inside story, but they keep their mouths shut.

Deng Qianqiu himself was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. It was clearly a good deed done by him, Deng Qianqiu, so how did it become the credit of Marquis Ji'an?
After asking around, we found out that when the emperor granted the Marquis of Ji'an this piece of land, it was in the middle of a desolate mountain, so there was a lot of heated discussion in the capital, and many people speculated that this might be a sign that the Marquis of Ji'an had committed a crime.

So much so that whenever people think of this piece of land, they will inevitably think of Lu Zhongheng.

Deng Qianqiu was also happy that he avoided becoming the target of public criticism.

In this way, several months passed.

As Deng Qianqiu spent his time in the Qianhu Office, more and more talented people gathered around him, especially the three princes. They were simply the most talented of all. They were extremely gifted, and with Deng Qianqiu's guidance and guidance from the shoulders of giants, all affairs in the Qianhu Office progressed very quickly.

At this time, a memorial was delivered to Zhu Yuanzhang's desk.

Zhu Yuanzhang read the memorial with a complicated expression.

This was a memorial submitted by Yang Yuangao, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture. Zhu Yuanzhang trusted Yang Yuangao, otherwise he would not have appointed him as the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

This person was not only a fellow townsman from Huaixi, but also a scholar. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang valued him very much.

Yang Yuangao's memorial mentioned the chaos of mining in Qixia Mountain. He said that merchants and common people were eager to enter the mountain to mine gold, which made people feel uneasy. If this continued, the social order would collapse. Yang Yuangao proposed a plan, that is, the court would set up a mining supervisor, take back the mining area, and strictly prevent the treacherous people from entering the mountain to mine.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the memorial and even carefully looked at a number reported by Yang Yuangao, which was about 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver per year.

This number is the income of the mining area reported by Yang Yuangao. As long as the court sets up a mining supervisor and orders the Ministry of Works to organize manpower for mining, the annual income will surely increase greatly.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the number and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He suddenly asked, "Why did Yang Yuangao of Yingtian Prefecture suddenly submit a memorial?"

She should have looked at Zhu Yuanzhang first, thought for a moment and said, "I don't know."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and said, "The rituals and music are in chaos... Can the rituals and music also be in chaos when the people go into the mountains to mine?"

I should be stunned first: "I haven't read much, but Mr. Yang is well-read, maybe... he has his own ideas."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of something, and narrowed his eyes slightly, with a sharp light in his eyes, and sneered: "I haven't thought about occupying this mine yet, but he, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, is anxious."

She should have a stiff face and said awkwardly: "Your servant... Your servant..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly asked, "Who did Deng Qianqiu offend recently?"

Should also first: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Call him into the palace."

He should have understood this sentence first, and hurriedly said, "I obey your order."

He left in a hurry, but after half an hour, he hurried back and said, "Your Majesty... Captain Deng is not at the Captain's Office."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "If it's not in the Qianhu Office, then go find it."

Ye Gai Xian said with embarrassment: "He has not been in the Qianhu Office for four or five days. I heard from the people in the Qianhu Office that he is now almost always in Qixia Mountain."

"He went into the mountains?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked surprised, and then said, "He handed the mine over to someone else, why would he go there? In that case, call the King of Jin and the others to come to me."

He should also put on a bitter face first: “The three princes have also entered the mountain.”

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and said angrily: "Why are you running around instead of studying hard? What if something unexpected happens when you are out of the city for a few days? And this Yang Yuangao..."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can gold really be dug out of that mine?"

He should have said truthfully, "Yes, it is said that many merchants and people have dug it out, and it is quite lively there."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be thinking about something, and then said, "Send an edict to Yang Yuangao. Qixia Mountain is also under his jurisdiction. Since he is concerned about this, he should go there in person. Words are not enough. I want concrete evidence of the collapse of rituals and music."

You should also say, "Yes."

It’s time to leave in a hurry.

But not long after, another eunuch came hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, Vice Minister Hu Weiyong is here to see you."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Call him."

Hu Weiyong hurried into the palace, bowed, and immediately said, "Your Majesty, something happened in Qixia."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Hu Weiyong and asked, "What's the matter?"

Hu Weiyong said, "Your Majesty, there was a sound of the sky collapsing and the earth splitting in Qixia Mountain... so loud that the valley was shaking. Even people several miles away could hear it. Some people... even saw clouds and mist rising in the mountains..."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly opened and he asked, "The ground collapsed?"

"Maybe it's not a landslide, but gunpowder..." said Hu Weiyong.

When this was said, Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked: "Did anyone get hurt?"

"I just got the news from the Five Cities Military Department..."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said: "Go and check it out quickly, go quickly."

But then, he began to worry, and hurriedly said: "Deng Qianqiu and my three sons are still there, damn it... Call Xu Da, select a team of people, and you go with me to take a look."

Hu Weiyong said quickly: "Your Majesty... this... I'm afraid it's not appropriate... the situation there is still unknown, I think... Your Majesty should not take the risk."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him and said, "I have nothing much in my life, but I have braved many arrows and stones. Do you think I am a Taiping emperor who was raised by women in the deep palace?"

Hu Weiyong had no choice but to say, "As ordered."

…………

"Too much gunpowder. This mine is really not for human beings to mine." Zhu Di cursed as he walked down the mountain, saying, "But... it seems that using gunpowder to blast rocks really makes mining much easier and reduces a lot of manpower. My teacher must have a way. I really want to saw his head open to see if his brain is different from ours."

Zhu Su followed behind and thought for a long time: "Master must have taken some miraculous medicine when he was young, so he is so smart. In the future, I will also make such a medicine, so that our Zhu family descendants can be as smart as our master."

(End of this chapter)