County mansion.

Seeing that the time had come, Magistrate Jia smiled with emotion and said, "Sir, there is no need to be so. When I first took office, I heard the elders of Changxing praising the glorious deeds of Lord Wu and Lord Gui for pleading for the people. Especially for Lord Wu's experience, the people of Changxing all beat their chests and stamp their feet, wishing they could go to jail for him."

The several local gentry who were sitting with him all nodded and sighed, and some even wiped away tears.

"So when we learned that you rescued Mr. Wu and allowed him to enjoy his old age in Suzhou, everyone in the county was celebrating and grateful." Magistrate Jia thanked Zhao Hao emotionally. The gentry also stood up and bowed. Their affectionate and righteous appearance gave Young Master Zhao goose bumps.

After everyone sat down again, Magistrate Jia asked generously, "Sir, you came to our county for more than just sightseeing, right? If there is anything we can help you with, please feel free to ask."

"Indeed, there is something wrong." Zhao Hao said logically, "Jiangnan Group consumes a lot of coal, and it is difficult to sustain it by relying solely on the island's own production. I heard that people often find black flammable stones in the Niutou Mountain area of ​​your county, which should be coal. So I came to take a look."

"Is that so?" Magistrate Jia was confused and looked at several gentry.

"That's true." Several gentry nodded and said, "When my parents were alive, they also made an on-site investigation. They heard that there were coal mines in the Niutou Mountain area, and they wanted to use it to benefit the people. Unfortunately, there was an abundance of firewood in the south of the Yangtze River, and there was no market for this product, so it was delayed."

Zhao Hao nodded. He knew very well that before the advent of the industrial age, the utilization rate of coal was indeed very low. In the agricultural society, its high calorific value had almost no use. On the contrary, due to its defects such as difficulty in ignition and choking smoke, it could not replace the firewood that was everywhere.

Shanxi and Beijing used coal early on because they lacked firewood and had to settle for the next best thing. The South did not have this demand, so naturally they would not bother to mine it.

Therefore, although several gentry knew the legend of Xishan Company, they were not as eager as the dignitaries in Beijing. They just enthusiastically expressed that they were willing to provide all conveniences for Jiangnan Group if the young master needed it.

Some people also said that they had their own land in the Niutou Mountain area and were willing to sell it to the Jiangnan Group at a low price.

Magistrate Jia even guaranteed that the Jiangnan Group would receive the highest level of treatment in the county and that they would be able to use Changxing coal as soon as possible.

Zhao Hao was so moved that he couldn't help but ask if they needed his help with anything.

Magistrate Jia and the other gentry were embarrassed when they heard this. Pan Shujun, who had been smiling and saying nothing, laughed out loud:

"You guys are really anxious. It's just that. If Mr. Zhao didn't ask, would you have told me in the middle of the night?"

"What's going on?" Pan Shujun had already explained everything to Zhao Hao on the way here. But Zhao Hao still pretended to be confused and asked.

"What else?" Pan Shujun said with a smile, "Huzhou and Suzhou have the same disease, and they want to ask you for help."

"Just as Third Master said." Seeing Third Master Pan taking the lead, Master Huang immediately followed up, "Our county is quite dependent on the silk weaving industry. Almost every family raises silkworms and reels silk, and the Hu silk we produce is famous all over the world."

Zhao Hao nodded and listened to him continue:

"In the past, most of our raw silk and silk products were sold to Suzhou. The market has been bad in the past two years, and Suzhou can barely take care of itself, let alone us."

"Alas." Magistrate Jia sighed, "Spring is almost here, but farmers are all worried. They don't know if they can still raise silkworms this year. The silk cooperatives are also full of last year's raw silk, and there is no money to lend to them to tide over the spring famine... How can they survive this spring? When I think of this, I can't sleep or eat well."

A group of gentry also sighed, and some wiped away tears.

"I see." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Your county wants to follow Suzhou's example and let Jiangnan Textile back you up?"

"That's right." Magistrate Jia nodded hurriedly. Fearing that Zhao Hao would refuse, he took the initiative to say, "We also know that the costs in Suzhou are higher than ours. We don't plan to do the same as them. As long as we can keep our capital, we will thank God and thank you, young master."

"This..." Zhao Hao did not find it too difficult. First, once the sea transportation was successful, the raw silk and silk purchased now could directly make several times the profit. Second, with the continuous financial support from Jiangnan Bank, Changxing County and even the entire Huzhou Prefecture would be covered, so the pressure was not too great.

Thirdly, there is one point that many people do not realize: whoever can control Suzhou and Huzhou, the two major silk producing areas, will have the pricing power in this industry.

Of course, the risks are real. If sea transportation cannot be opened as scheduled, with so much raw silk and silk left in stock, the tragic scene of Hu Xueyan might happen to himself ahead of time.

Of course, he couldn't avoid pretending. He asked with a serious look on his face, "I wonder how big the plate is in your county?"

"Not much, not much. How much can Changxing produce?" Everyone smiled and said, "We can buy it all if we have 500,000 taels of silver a year."

"Is that so..." Zhao Hao nodded, as if he had made up his mind, and said, "Okay, I'll talk to President Jiang and ask her to come over so you can have a good talk."

Zhao Hao could guess without thinking that Jiang Xueying would take the opportunity to ask for the 500,000 taels to be paid in silver coupons. In the future, the tax revenue and government expenses of Changxing County would also be settled in silver coupons, right? In this way, Jiangnan Bank would be opened in Huzhou, and the influence of Jiangnan Group on the shores of Taihu Lake would be greatly enhanced.

I didn't expect that the trip to Changxing would yield such a big harvest. Add in the coal mine and the Xu brothers, it was like killing six birds with one stone.

Both parties have something to gain from each other, so naturally there will be deep affection and it will be a good thing for both of us.

At the end of the banquet, both the host and the guests were very happy. Magistrate Jia personally escorted Zhao Hao to the backyard of the mansion to rest.

Master Huang came up and asked quietly, "Sir, how do you want to deal with those human traffickers?"

"Of course, we handled it in accordance with the law." Zhao Hao answered seriously, and then said without any context: "Coal mines are places that need a lot of manpower. Just the small coal mine on Xishan Island has hundreds of coolies digging coal... They are all criminals sentenced to hard labor by the county."

"Oh, I see." Mr. Huang suddenly realized how to judge this case.

~~

After seeing off Magistrate Jia and Mr. Huang, Zhao Hao asked Secretary Ma to make some tea, and he and Pan Shujun drank it to sober up.

The main reason was that Pan Shujun was sober, and Zhao Hao just drank a few glasses of plain wine, so it was possible that he could not be detected for drunk driving.

"Sir, you shouldn't have asked CEO Jiang to come here today. You should have asked Changxing County to send someone to talk to you." Pan Shujun had been drunk a lot, so he spoke more casually. "Otherwise, once she comes, I'm afraid she will be pestered by our Fu Zun. What if the entire Huzhou is covered by Jiangnan Group?"

"That's just a reluctant way to do it." Zhao Hao thought, what else can I do? I can open a bank and use the money of Huzhou people to buy Huzhou people's silk.

As he said this, he raised his hand to stop Pan Shujun who was about to persuade him, and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this. Are you interested in investing in Changxing Coal Mine?"

"I can't help you with your affairs, and it's shameless for you to take advantage of me." Pan Shujun sighed.

"You don't have to worry about it. It won't go against the family rules if you help me collect the land, right?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"That's not a violation. Otherwise, how did my Pan family get the 100,000 acres of fertile land?" Pan Shujun replied with a smile.

"When you get back, you will help me collect the land." Zhao Hao ordered, "But don't collect the land in Changxing, but the land in Guangde Prefecture, along the Jieling Ridge all the way to the Big Niutou Mountain."

"Okay." Pan Shujun agreed immediately. Although the distance was not short, it was all in the mountains, and it would not cost more than tens of thousands of taels to collect them all.

"When the time comes, your family will use these lands to invest in the coal mine, and I'll give you 20% of the shares," Zhao Hao said with a smile, "Isn't this a case of not receiving reward without merit?"

"Hahaha, young master is so considerate and thoughtful, how can I have the nerve to make trouble again?" Pan Shujun responded with a big laugh.

ps. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you with the last chapter. Let's count the two-in-one as one chapter, and this chapter as the second chapter. I'll write another chapter, but you have to wait, and it's the same to read it tomorrow morning.