Chapter 162 What Reward

Yu Jiaming and Xiaowu came from another direction. Xiaowu's eyes were fixed on the fish in Ye Mingzhu's hand.

Jiang Hongyu was busy flipping the fish, without even looking up: "You guys sit down and eat together."

Ye Mingzhu stepped aside and said, "Let's sit down and eat together."

Yu Jiaming and Xiao Wu both sat next to Jiang Hongyu. Xiao Wu leaned over and sniffed, "I didn't expect Brother Jiang could grill fish. This smells better than the chef in the restaurant."

Ye Mingzhu couldn't help laughing when she saw Xiaowu pretending to be greedy and Yu Jiaming sitting upright. The three people opposite her looked at her at the same time.

"Brother Yu, I think the fish is almost ready. Let's put the dry food we brought on the fire and roast it." Ye Mingzhu said to Jiang Hongyu.

Jiang Hongyu nodded obediently and handed the grilled fish to Yu Jiaming and Xiaowu. He took out a few meat buns from his bag and put them on the fire.

This meat pancake is Ye Mingzhu's favorite. The leftover lard is fried and mixed with dough, and then baked with lard. When it is just out of the pan, the aroma is fragrant, and the aroma of meat and wheat mixed together hits the taste buds.

Ye Mingzhu no longer ate the grilled fish and was waiting to eat the meat pancakes.

Seeing that she didn't want to eat, Yu Jiaming and Xiaowu felt embarrassed to eat, so they just held the grilled fish in their hands.

Xiaowu and Yu Jiaming asked about the situation in the nearby sea area, while Yu Jiaming's eyes switched between the grilled fish and the meat pancakes.

Ye Mingzhu caught a glimpse of his expression of wanting to eat but being embarrassed to do so, and burst out laughing.

When the three people looked at her, she lowered her head and started eating the grilled fish.

Jiang Hongyu's attention was always on her, so he naturally noticed Yu Jiaming's gaze.

"You guys eat the fish, it won't taste good if it gets cold." Jiang Hongyu invited them to eat the fish, and then said to Ye Mingzhu, "Eat slowly, it will taste better with some sesame seed cakes later. I brought two or three, enough for you."

Yu Jiaming and Xiaowu always felt that Jiang Hongyu had something else in mind, suggesting that they should just eat the fish and not think about the sesame cakes, but he had no evidence.

Jiang Hongyu finished baking the pancakes and sat down next to Ye Mingzhu. He handed the pancake to her and took the grilled fish from her hand: "If you don't like it, forget it."

Ye Mingzhu sniffed and took a bite of the meat pancake: "I just think the pancake smells so good."

Yu Jiaming's nose twitched, and he suddenly felt that the grilled fish in his hand no longer smelled fragrant. Ye Mingzhu and Jiang Hongyu did not look at him. Although they both knew that he was the county magistrate, he did not deliberately put on airs, so they simply ignored the situation.

The four of them didn't speak for a while, only the sound of light chewing could be heard.

This was the scene that Old Chen saw when he came over. He smelled the aroma of grilled fish in the air and looked expressionlessly at the fish bone in Yu Jiaming's hand that he was about to finish chewing.

"Master, the investigation has been completed."

Yu Jiaming looked like he was enjoying the food just now, but now he looked at the fish bones in his hand with regret and lowered his hand.

"Let's talk about it right here."

Old Chen paused for a moment and looked at Jiang Hongyu and Ye Mingzhu, who immediately stood up.

"Let's go take a look at the side."

Yu Jiaming stopped them: "No need, this island was discovered by you guys, there's nothing wrong with listening to it."

According to Ye Mingzhu, she didn't want to listen, but Jiang Hongyu sat back, so she had to sit back as well.

"This small island must have floated up from the sea. It's a large gold ore island. There must have been some unusual movement before, and some gold dust fell on the island, but it was only where Young Master Jiang and the others were sitting."

Lao Chen thought that the two of them were lucky, as such a small amount of gold powder could stick to their bodies.

If this is not the case, it is unknown when this island will be discovered.

Yu Jiaming's face was clearly filled with joy. "Really? That's great! There are very few gold mines discovered in Dashun Dynasty. I didn't expect to find one right after I arrived. Brother Jiang, you are truly my benefactor."

Jiang Hongyu waved his hand and said, "This is all due to Brother Yu's good luck. Otherwise, we have lived here for so many years and never knew there was an island here. I didn't expect that you would discover the island here after only being here for a few days."

Although this statement is meant as a compliment, it is not wrong in terms of timing.

"Brother Jiang, discovering the gold mine is a great achievement. I wonder what you think?" Yu Jiaming lowered his voice and looked at Jiang Hongyu.

Jiang Hongyu and Ye Mingzhu had discussed this matter a long time ago, but they didn't know Yu Jiaming's thoughts, so both of them remained silent.

Yu Jiaming waved to Lao Chen, who bowed and retreated. Xiao Wu also stood up and walked to the side to look at the sea, as if there was something there that attracted him.

"Brother Jiang, a gold mine has been discovered here. Logically, they should send troops here, but I don't know where they'll be sent from. I thought I'd find some connections for you and arrange a position for you there. However, given Brother Jiang's status, the position he'll be assigned won't be too high."

Yu Jiaming expressed his thoughts.

Jiang Hongyu and Ye Mingzhu looked at each other, and only they knew what they meant.

Yu Jiaming's idea was actually the same as Jiang Hongyu's, both of them set their sights on the garrisoned troops.

"Do you know where the troops will be sent from?" Ye Mingzhu asked.

"The closest army here is General Bai's army, but General Bai probably won't agree to such a major undertaking as mining gold. The most likely scenario is that he will directly send troops from the capital, and we will then recruit miners locally."

Yu Jiaming expressed his guess.

Ye Mingzhu understood that the current government would not allow generals with large armies to dig for gold, lest they enrich themselves. In other words, if one wanted to join the garrison, one had to find connections in Beijing.

She glanced at Jiang Hongyu, and he nodded secretly.

Yu Jiaming continued, "I can send a message to my father and ask him to arrange a job for you in Beijing, but I can't guarantee you an official position."

Jiang Hongyu shook his head: "I won't bother you with this matter, Brother Yu. I'll figure it out myself."

Yu Jiaming was really surprised. Could it be that the Jiang family still had connections in the capital? As far as he knew, those people who spoke for the Jiang family in the past had never mentioned the Jiang family again in these years.

"Brother Jiang, don't be polite with me. We have known each other for a long time. You are my saviors and have won me such a great credit. I must repay you and will not let you suffer any loss."

Seeing Yu Jiaming's sincere face, Jiang Hongyu knew that what he said was true. He thought about it and decided not to hide it anymore.

"There's a general in the capital who's in high esteem. My mother saved him before. He's sent people to visit us every year over the years. I'll find a way to contact him."

A retired general? Yu Jiaming's eyes were filled with surprise. As far as he knew, there was only one retired general in the capital. If he were to take action, he would only need to deploy one person in a remote place and would not alert anyone.