Chen Yaozuo took a sip of tea and said to Xu Ping with great sincerity: "Xu Longtu, you are still young and you are not thinking about things thoroughly. Not bad. It's a long way to transport it from Jiagu Town to Bian River, and it takes a lot of manpower and material resources. But have you ever thought about how difficult it is to open a stone? Do you think it's easy to build a new quarry? If we have to build this river for three or five years, we can quarry in Guangwu Mountain, but it will be inappropriate for only two or three months."

“It’s difficult to build a quarry?”

"It's hard, of course it's difficult! Have you ever seen a quarry? You often say that it's as hard as a stone, so you know that the stone is not easy to open. A quarry that has been built can be mined along the way, so it's much easier. If it's a new construction, just digging the soil layer and exposing the stone, you don't know how much manpower it will take. Besides, where do you go to find people who quarry in Guangwu Mountain? You don't know how many prisoners have sacrificed their lives every year in Jiagu Quarry. Some people are covered in stone chips when they die."

Xu Ping frowned. Isn’t the occupational disease of quarry pneumoconiosis? The stone shavings should be in the lungs, right? However, there is no need to discuss these details with Chen Yaozuo. After thinking for a while, he said, “My husband, I still think it’s not as difficult to quarry in Guangwu Mountain. Now there is gunpowder between the bridge and the Guangbei siege. We can just blow up the mountain directly. There is no need to chisel and chisel to chisel the mountain. There is not so many people. The craftsmen only need to trim the blown stones and become the required shape. The manpower required can be transferred from the Jiagu Quarry, and even those with less guilty will be released after completing the river repair task. This way, it is still much more cost-effective to transport stones from Jiagu to here.”

"Gunpowder? Can gunpowder explode mountains? I have seen your fireworks in Zhengzhou, but it's just lively!"

Xu Ping then remembered that during the days he returned to the capital, Chen Yaozuo had been in Zhengzhou and had never seen the power of artillery. He thought gunpowder was the same as fireworks. Guangbei siege was also casting and making gunpowder. The officials in the capital had seen test guns and knew the great power of gunpowder. However, they were all cannons, but they were just installed on the walls of the capital and were not transported to the border. Now they were in peace with the Khitan and Dangxiang, so there was no need to stimulate them. Besides, Xu Ping was afraid that there would be a conflict and was snatched away by foreigners.

Looking at Chen Yaozuo, Xu Ping smiled: "My husband misunderstood. Fireworks and firecrackers are just toys. How can they compare with gunpowder? Once the gunpowder is blown up, it is just a trivial matter. Last year, the Qiaodaoxiang Army only built roads around Kaifeng Prefecture. My husband had never seen them explode the mountain, so he had this misunderstanding. There is nothing wrong with the people in the past few days. Tomorrow we will ask the Qiaodaoxiang Army to bring gunpowder and blow it up on the mountain to see the power. What to make a decision?"

Chen Yaozuo looked at Li Shen who was not talking. Li Shen hurriedly said, "Please be careful, there is nothing important tomorrow."

"Okay, that's it. Let's see what gunpowder looks like tomorrow. Can it really blow up the mountain?"

Xu Ping said: "Taking this opportunity to make fun of you can be considered a groundbreaking celebration."

On Guangwu Mountain, Amu took Uncle Li Er's hand and looked up at the group of people walking across the gate. After looking for a while, he felt his neck sore, so he stopped his feet and stood up. He asked Uncle Li Er who was on the side: "Uncle Er, look at many people from the government coming up there. They all said that they were going to dig a river at the foot of the mountain. Why did they run to the mountain for nothing?"

"Who knows? We ordinary people should not worry about the affairs of the government. As long as they don't come to us to find us bad luck. We have only earned some money in the past few months, so we must be careful."

Amu said excitedly: "That's right, that's right! The money I earned in these few months is worth the wages of several years ago! We have to keep an eye on the entrance of this cellar and don't be snatched away!"

Uncle Li touched Amu's head and smiled: "This is the entrance of the official cellar, who dares to rob it? However, the half-year period is coming soon, and many people will definitely join the club. We will not be able to share such money next year."

Amu was silent for a while, rubbed his left foot on the ground, twisting his body, and then whispered for a while, "Uncle Li Er, you said that the entrance of this cellar was so prosperous now. Others joined the club, and they paid the same amount as we had before, and then they shared the money like us. I always felt that it was a bit unworthy of us."

"Oh, Amu, I have this thought, and after thinking about it, I just can't figure it out. A few days ago, I happened to have the opportunity to enter Mengzhou, so I went to see Judge Li Tong. He enlightened me and then I understood a little."

Amu said excitedly: "What did the judge Tongren say? Can you convince Uncle Er?"

"Persuad?" Li Er shook his head, "That's a lot of money, which can be convinced in just a few words? However, what the judge said makes sense. Although he is unwilling to do so, he still has to follow the previous one."

Amu grabbed Uncle Li Er's arm and shook it hard: "What did the judge Tongren say? Uncle Er quickly tell me!"

"The judge said that this cellar entrance belongs to the government, not to us. We joined the community at the beginning, but the government took care of the people working here and was willing to pay more money. Now the capital we paid had already paid off, and the monthly payments were all for nothing. We should not be greedy. Entering the community just allows the people working here to pay more money and be willing to do things here, not to sell the cellar entrance. If we break the rules, we will break the community and return the capital we paid to us in a row. Since we are following the rules, we will naturally not be allowed to stop others from entering the community."

"But I still don't understand, there is no benefit for those of us who join the club first?"

Uncle Li Er touched Amu's head: "How come the silly kid, how come there is no benefit? The money we have obtained in the past few months is a benefit! The judge Tongguan said that it is right that other workers who work in the future who have the opportunity to join the club, so they regard this cellar as their own, and do their wholeheartedly to make money. If it is really like those who work in other places, do you think the cellar will make money? This cellar is small in the mountains, so how can there be so much money to make!"

"But, this time, Tan Bo is going to join the club, and he also brought his two sons to join. Thinking of this, he tried hard to stop the establishment of this club. I was unhappy when I thought of this."

"Think about everything better, and you will gradually become happy. We are just workers. Can we really occupy this cellar? What should come always comes. If you think about it, you should make half a year more money than others, and you should always feel better."

Opposite the Hungou, Xu Ping stopped and pointed to the cellar on the other side and said to Chen Yaozuo: "My husband, I came here to check the river a few months ago. Not far away, there were local big-name gambling privately. By chance, I discovered it and caught them all. Many people who worked in the cellar also participated in the gambling, which really affected many people. At that time, because the cellar was in the mountains and was too small, they could not pay for it, so they asked them to manage the porcelain themselves. Unexpectedly, when they came back this time, they heard from Li Tong that these people were in charge of themselves. The cellar became popular and they paid a lot of taxes."
Chapter completed!