When he arrived in Dangtu County, Zhao Hao realized that he could not buy silk directly from the farmers.

The raw silk from each village is controlled by the silk cooperative.

During the spring famine, the heads of the silk societies would lend money to farmers to raise silkworms and reel silk. After the cocoons were formed, the farmers would repay them with raw silk, and the excess silk was also sold to them.

"Since the farmers have no silk left, why are they in such a hurry?" Yu Peng saw Zhao Hao looking puzzled and asked for him.

Zhao Hao gave him an approving look. As expected of the old captain's son, he was smart.

"The silk society and the villagers are one. If the silk society cannot sell silk, it will not be able to get the money back. How can it lend them money to tide over the spring famine?" Then Tang Youde laughed and replied, "In fact, it was the silk society that messed up. Above these silk societies, there is the raw silk guild. In order to sell raw silk at a high price, the guild sets a minimum silk price every year. Below that price, one or two ounces of silk cannot be pawned."

Zhao Hao nodded. The villagers in the Ming Dynasty were all engaged in a price alliance. No wonder the scholars and officials wrote in their notes that the common people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were cunning!

It turns out that I'm angry because I can't get any advantage.

"This method has always worked in the past, but who would have thought that the maritime ban has been strict in recent years, and the silk market has been sluggish. All the textile mills in the city have laid off a large number of people and reduced production. The country folks are still planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms in the fields. The market simply cannot use so much silk. Shangyuan and Jiangning, which are close to Nanjing, can reduce the price in time to ship goods. Although Dangtu is only 120 miles away from Nanjing, it is much more isolated. Silk is sold at such a high price. Who would go to such a long way to buy silk here?"

Zhao Hao thought to himself, this problem won’t be solved even after 400 years…

"Now each silk cooperative has a lot of goods in stock, but they can't ignore the farmers who raise silkworms because of the stockpile. This fixed bond is the foundation of the silk cooperative's survival. Once they lose the supply from the farmers, they will have no silk to collect." Then Tang Youde said with deep understanding: "So in bad years, they even have to spend money to win over the villagers. Seeing that the silk price is low, new silk will be on the market in two months. At that time, on the one hand, the autumn silk they haven't sold will depreciate, and on the other hand, they have to find money to collect the spring silk from the villagers. How worried do you think the heads of the cooperatives will be?"

As he said this, he looked at Zhao Hao proudly and said, "Sir, now you understand why I chose the far side instead of the near side, right?"

"You did a good job on your homework." Zhao Hao praised, patted Tang Youde on the shoulder and said, "I feel relieved now."

After saying that, he left Yu Peng behind and, accompanied by Gao Wu, walked towards the rapeseed fields all over the mountains.

"Where are you going, sir?" Tang Youde asked loudly behind him.

"Let's play." Zhao Hao smiled without turning his head back, "How can we miss such a beautiful view?"

"You, you... I, I..." Tang Youde smiled bitterly for a long time, waved his hand resignedly and said: "Alas, I am destined to run errands for you."

Having said that, he actually feels more comfortable when Zhao Hao is not here.

After several encounters, Tang Youde not only failed to defeat the boy, but was defeated by him. He didn't know when it started, but whenever Zhao Hao was around, Tang Youde felt as if he had returned to the days when he was a trembling apprentice.

~~

On the other side, after Zhao Hao walked some distance away from the dock, he actually took out a compass like a magic trick.

Gao Wu's eyes widened immediately. This compass was bought by the young master when he was shopping a few days ago. He thought Zhao Hao just thought it was fun, but he didn't expect that the young master could actually read Feng Shui!

How could Zhao Hao know Feng Shui? He spent a lot of money to buy this geomancy compass, just because he was worried that he would get lost when he went to the countryside, so he could use it as a compass.

After figuring out the direction, Zhao Hao strode towards the northwest.

Gao Wu hurriedly followed, only to see that Zhao Hao was walking in a hurry and had no intention of appreciating the mountain scenery at all.

The two of them walked one after the other for seven or eight miles in one breath, until a long mountain range appeared before them, blocking their way.

Zhao Hao then stopped and looked at the compass with excitement. The needle suddenly started shaking wildly and could not calm down for a long time.

Gao Wu looked at the mountain, which looked like a tiger emerging from the mountain. It seemed to have good feng shui. He thought to himself that it seemed that the young master had found a good feng shui site. Could it be that he was looking for a grave for the old man?

But this compass is too unusable. I will definitely ask the store owner to argue with me later.

After a long time, Zhao Hao sighed deeply and threw the compass to Gao Wu. He looked lost and was completely different from before.

The largest open-pit iron mine in Jiangnan is right in front of him, but he is temporarily unable to enjoy it. Is there anything more cruel than this in the world?

When Fatty Tang told him that the destination of this trip was Dangtu, he was excited for a while, because the famous Ma'anshan Iron Mine was here. But when he really came to Dangtu and stood at the foot of the famous Nanshan Mountain, looking at the green mountain with no trace of mining, he knew that no one knew at that time that there was a huge amount of iron ore buried here.

If someone else had already mined the mine, he could still try to get a share. But he didn't have the courage to take a first-hand look at the iron ore that had never been mined before, let alone the ability to do so - privately opening an iron mine was considered treason!

Zhao Hao thought about it silently and thought that even if his father passed the imperial examination, there would still be no hope, so he turned around and left. He really came with high hopes, but left with disappointment.

On the way back, he thought that since he was in Dangtu, he should go to pay tribute to Li Bai. However, he finally found a village and asked the villagers, and found out that Li Bai's tomb was still thirty miles away.

"Young master, the old man said that he can take you there in an ox cart." Gao Wu pointed at the old man's skinny ox in the distance and said in a muffled voice.

"It's dark and we won't get there..." Young Master Zhao rolled his eyes. He was now a respectable man, so how could he ride in a bullock cart on the dusty village road? How could he meet the immortal poet in front of Taibai's tomb with his face covered in dust?

"Forget it, we will be back sooner or later!" Zhao Hao looked back at the green mountains in the distance and said with gritted teeth, "Just wait, you will be mine sooner or later!"

If you don’t know, you might think that some evil young man has set his sights on some girl.

~~

The two men returned the same way they had come. Halfway through their journey, they suddenly heard shouting and cursing by the river.

Zhao Hao looked in the direction of the sound and his eyes lit up. There was actually a fight going on...

I saw seven or eight villagers holding shovels and hoes, besieging a skinny man. The man was waving a shoulder pole, clanging and blocking all attacks from all directions.

"This guy has good kung fu..."

Gao Wu hurriedly pulled Zhao Hao, who was about to go over to watch the fun, and was about to take him away from the trouble, but he was stunned. After a while, he said in surprise:

"This man's moves look very familiar, just like the martial arts of my Qi Family Army..."

"Then why are you still standing there? Go ahead!" Zhao Hao became excited upon hearing this and strongly encouraged Gao Wu.

Gao Wu looked at Zhao Hao in embarrassment, obviously worried about his safety.

"I'll hide behind the tree." Zhao Hao pushed him toward the riverbank and said, "We'll run back after you save the people. What's there to be afraid of when we get to the dock?"

"Okay!" Gao Wu finally put his worries aside, took off his jacket, wrapped his right hand with the jacket, and strode towards the riverbank.

ps. The second update is here, please vote for recommendation and comment on the chapter~~~~~