The rain outside the window kept falling, and the officials were chatting and laughing in the signing room.

In addition to Zhao Hao, Wang Bengu and Yang Bo, there was also a middle-aged man named Yang Sihe, who was the nephew of Yang Tianguan.

He said he met Zhao Hao by chance, and because he had admired Zhao Hao for a long time, he stayed to meet him.

No matter what others say, Mr. Zhao will believe it.

Wang Bengu knew that his boss and his nephew had something to say to Zhao Hao, so he chatted with them for a few words and then tactfully made an excuse to leave.

After Wang Bengu left, Yang Bo stood up from behind the desk, sat down next to Zhao Hao, patted his shoulder affectionately and said:

"I used to serve in the same palace with your ancestor and we had a very close relationship. I never thought that I would serve in the same court with his descendants. It is truly a deep bond."

"Grandfather often mentioned the extraordinary deeds of the Heavenly Official." Zhao Hao also flattered with a smile.

In fact, Yang Bo was eight years younger than Zhao Liben, but he passed the imperial examination three times earlier, and was appreciated by the boss at a young age, and rose to prominence early. It would be strange if he could have any friendship with an old man who passed the imperial examination in his thirties and whose career was suppressed by the boss for ten years.

But who can blame him for being a heavenly official? So what can he say?

"Oh, really?" Yang Bo laughed happily for a while, and then smiled at his nephew beside him: "Sihe, don't you have something to ask Mr. Zhao? Why don't you say anything?"

"Didn't you hear your uncle and Mr. Zhao talking?" Yang Sihe had a neatly trimmed mustache and looked smart and capable. He took over the conversation and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao's Midas touch in the past six months has really made us Shanxi merchants feel inferior. Who would have thought that millions of taels of wealth could be earned from the humble coal?"

"Hehe..." Zhao Hao's brain was working quickly, and he extracted two key words from Yang Sihe's words: "Shanxi merchants" and "coal".

Damn, that's what's going on. Mr. Zhao understood most of it, but still pretended not to understand and only answered politely.

"Sihe, stop beating around the bush." ​​Yang Bo couldn't stand it any longer and reminded his nephew, "Young Master Zhao has even played the young cabinet minister around, you better be more honest."

"Yes, uncle." Yang Sihe smiled awkwardly and said, "Nephew, I feel that this is too abrupt and I don't know how to start the conversation."

Zhao Hao was amused by the two men singing in unison. "Okay, tell me when Shanxi Coal Industry was established?"

"Ah?" Yang Sihe was surprised, "So Mr. Zhao knows everything?"

"I didn't know anything before today. But I think Mr. Yang wanted to see me so eagerly, but he definitely didn't want to get me into the salt merchant business, right?" Zhao Hao said with a faint smile.

"See, people can see it at a glance, and you are still making a fuss." Yang Bo scolded his nephew, then took Zhao Hao's hand and said:

"My dear nephew, you know that Shanxi is a poor place. There are no crops growing on the land, only these black coal lumps. Seeing the booming Xishan Coal Industry of my nephew, the businessmen in Sihe, Shanxi, realized that they were begging for food with a golden bowl in their hands."

In order to boost the economic development of his hometown, Yang Tianguan directly gave Zhao Hao a generation increase.

Zhao Hao thought to himself, yes, they all went to Liaodong later. But he smiled kindly and said, "Shanxi's coal is the best in the world, and Shanxi merchants are even more powerful, so we can definitely make it!"

"Mr. Zhao really has confidence in us..." Yang Sihe couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Mr. Zhao couldn't understand how much sadness and frustration were hidden in that bitter smile...

~~

In fact, the Shanxi merchants have been following him and eating his farts for a long time.

How powerful were the Shanxi merchants in the capital? They set their sights on coal lotus roots as soon as they came out.

With their keen business acumen, they realized that this product would have great potential, so they ambitiously prepared to use their financial advantages to grab most of the coal market!

Yang Si and his friends soon opened a coal lotus root yard in the capital. They recruited some skilled workers from the Lugouqiao coal yard, learned how to make molds and coal lotus roots, and wanted to get a piece of the pie.

It was not difficult to imitate that thing, and the coal lotus roots of Shanxi merchants soon came out. They looked exactly like the ones from the Lugouqiao coal yard, but they were much more choking when burned than the latter.

They found that even if they switched to anthracite, the smoke and dust produced was more than the original one. The clever Shanxi merchants soon realized that there must be a secret recipe.

It took the Shanxi merchants more than a month to discover the secret batching factory at the Lugouqiao coal yard. Then they spent a lot of money, coerced and induced the workers to finally get the slaked lime and its proportions.

They finally managed to produce coal lotus roots of similar quality.

The Shanxi merchants breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly prepared to expand production. But at this time, coal prices rose again.

What’s even more outrageous is that the price of coal at the Lugouqiao coal yard was reduced by one tenth in disguise.

With the squeeze from both inside and outside, the profit of coal lotus root has suddenly become much thinner.

Thinking about having to engage in close combat with the eldest princess' coal yard, the Shanxi merchants suddenly felt that the coal lotus roots they had been longing for all spring were not so fragrant anymore.

However, they were still reluctant to give up the huge market in the capital, especially when they saw that others were doing business all over Zhili, which made the Shanxi merchants next door almost cry with envy.

So several Shanxi merchants got together and invested 100,000 taels of silver in Mentougou to acquire more than 20 coal mines, preparing to be self-sufficient and no longer be controlled by others.

But misfortunes never come singly. First, the "earth dragon turned over" occurred, and Shuntian Prefecture banned coal mining in Xishan. After waiting for the ban to be lifted, there was a loud bang in the sky, and Xishan Coal Industry made a brilliant appearance again.

With a whoosh of the drain king, the waste coal kiln is turned into treasure!

Moreover, Xishan Coal Industry has the best timing, location and people, and all technologies from production to transportation are far ahead, and the cost per hundred kilograms of coal is almost half of theirs.

By the time the three mountain roads in western Beijing are repaired, we can completely strangle these small households and control their life and death at will, right?

The Shanxi merchants were indignant, so they instigated the coal bosses to give the aggressive Xishan Coal Industry a try, asking them to restrain themselves and leave everyone a way out.

Unexpectedly, just as the verbal threat stage began, the East Factory, Shuntian Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice came one after another to give warnings.

They also brought a group of coal bosses from Zhaitang to Beijing and detained them in a cell for a few days, and made them write a letter of guarantee and pay a deposit before releasing them.

What the hell is this for? Just play by yourselves!

The Shanxi merchants were willing to admit defeat, feel inferior, retreat, and pay their respects. They completely gave up the idea of ​​competing with Mr. Zhao for food in the capital...

Although Mr. Zhao had no idea that he had an opponent from the beginning to the end, it did not prevent the Shanxi merchants from paying him the highest respect.

Of course, the Shanxi merchants were able to admit defeat and withdraw so calmly because not only did they not lose money, but they made a lot of money following Zhao Hao!

The so-called opponent is the one who knows you best. Shanxi merchants were the first to realize how valuable Xishan Company's stocks were.

Although they didn't get the original shares, they came back with a lot of gains at Diaoyutai's first round of IPO.

Most of the buyers who offered the highest bids and subscribed for the largest shares were merchants from Shanxi.

Among them, Yang Sihe bought a full 1,000 shares! Now he has made a floating profit of more than 200,000 taels.

Moreover, the coal mine they bought for 100,000 taels had its mining life extended by at least one or two times because Zhao Hao opened up all mining technologies, so they should make a rough profit of 100,000 taels.

Even in the coal lotus business, which they thought was a failure, the Shanxi merchants made tens of thousands of taels of silver.

ps. Third update, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~~