"Xiao Ding, how many iron ores have been discovered in Qiongzhou?" How is the scale?"
"Your Highness, there are currently three iron mines in the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture. Two of them are medium-grade and one is low-grade.”
"Only this much?" Zhu Yunhao frowned.
There were only three iron mines on such a large island. This was a little too little.
One had to know that the iron ore they were talking about now had nothing to do with the large-scale iron ore in the future.
Due to the limitations of mining technology, if there was no blasting or drilling technology, only outcrop mines could be mined (referring to the ore body directly exposed to the surface).
There was no exploration technology to discover hidden ore bodies buried underground.
Even after so many years, the predecessors had summed up a lot of experience. Now, the Great Ming Dynasty mostly relied on iron sand, which was also magnetite, to smelt iron.
In short, he was lacking in technology.
Zhu Yunwen thought for a moment and said,"Find some ironmen and blacksmiths for this king. I have something to tell them."”
"Yes."
Xiao Ding responded and left.
Zhu Yunhao looked at the remaining 10,000 reputation points and felt a little pained.
However, he still gritted his teeth and exchanged for a document on iron ore exploration and crude smelting technology from the mall.
This was also divided into levels. Due to the lack of tools, it could only be exchanged for the lowest level of technology.
Therefore, it was not very expensive. It only cost him 3,000 reputation points.
When the others arrived, Zhu Yunhao taught them the technical knowledge of finding iron and smelting iron.
This process took another three days.
It was mainly because he needed to make a new batch of iron-making tools.
But it was worth it.
In the end, war was still about resources.
Iron was the most important resource.
……
"Your Highness, there's something I need you to handle.”
Xiao Ding found Zhu Yunhao again.
"Speak!"
"It's like this. A few merchants who worked with us in the past found out that we were in urgent need of iron. They took the opportunity to raise the price by about four times. They said that if they didn't increase the price, they would no longer supply iron and bronze.”
"Where is he? I'll go take a look." Zhu Yunhao frowned slightly.
Zhu Yunhao hated and loved these merchants.
During the critical period when he lacked materials, it was precisely because these merchants provided a large amount of materials that he could develop smoothly to this day. Otherwise, his progress would have been much slower.
However, he would also need to pay a large amount of money.
This was like a knife cutting through Zhu Yunhao's heart.
But there was nothing he could do.
In normal business transactions, he couldn't use force to take everything. Otherwise, who would dare to do business with him in the future?
The most important thing was that these merchants had a lot of experience and ways, and it was difficult for him to copy and replace them.
At least for now, he didn't have the time to do that.
Therefore, he could only use money to buy it.
However, he did not expect that merchants were black-hearted after all.
Once they saw that something was wrong, they would immediately raise the price.
Did he think that Zhu Yunhao would not dare to make a move?
That would be a huge mistake.
Now that he was racing against time, if he really had no other way, he could only use his methods.
After all, he could not be sure if things in this world would develop as they had in history.
In theory, his fourth uncle, Zhu Di, would need to fight for four years before he could take down Nanjing and win.
However, on the battlefield, there were always changes. A small deviation could lead to a huge change.
……
At the foot of Qiushan Mountain, the harbor.
This was the port that connected to the Leizhou Prefecture in the north.
Generally speaking, trade was conducted through this place, using ships to transport goods back and forth.
Due to the lack of technology, it was very difficult for ordinary people to go out to sea.
Therefore, there were people like sea merchants.
They had mastered the sea navigation technology and could safely travel between the two places. This was one of their chips.
At this moment, a few middle-aged men with big bellies were impatient.
"Lord Lou, as you know, there's been a huge incident in the country recently, causing people to panic. The difficulty of obtaining materials has increased by at least ten times, so it's already very fair to only increase the price by four levels.”
"That's right, Lord Lou, you should know that things are different now. The war has already broken out, so iron and copper are naturally scarce. For example, during the drought a few years ago, food couldn't be bought even if you had money.”
"It's not easy for commoners to do a small business. Lord Lou, your family is big, so don't make things difficult for us for this small amount of money.”
On the main seat, an old man dressed in official clothes frowned and said in a deep voice,
"You guys are too much. The price was agreed on in the past, but now you're going back on your word. Is this how you do business?”
He was Lou Jiye, the county magistrate of the Haikou Bureau, and was in charge of everything here.
He was also in charge of the trade in Qiongzhou.
"We had no choice. Please forgive us.”The merchants were fearless.
"Aren't you afraid that His Highness will blame you?”Lou Jiye narrowed his eyes and said in a dense voice.
"Of course they're not afraid!"
At this moment, a loud voice sounded.
Zhu Yunhao walked out from behind the door.
"Because there is someone supporting them from behind.”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。