I started with Dragon Elephant Prajna, and I pushed forward with my skill points.

Chapter 41 The relationship between Xiaofeng's lost copper and the artifact map

"Don't kill me, don't kill me.

I know all the county magistrate's secrets.

I also know where his secret stash of funds is."

In order to survive, Master Liu gave up everything and knelt on the ground, kowtowing continuously.

In the county government office, Su Qing seemed to have asked no questions and took Master Liu to the city gate.

It means that you understand that instead of going through the trouble of asking questions, it is better to be truly fierce and make people afraid.

Seeing the county magistrate, Wang Zhubu and several rebellious yamen runners being thrown into feces and lime water one after another, with miserable wails incessantly in the ears, the trembling Master Liu made a choice.

Su Qing didn't look at him for the time being, but instead glanced at the remaining yamen runners: "You have also seen the fate of the county magistrate, Wang Zhubu and others.

If you don't want to follow in their footsteps, you must work diligently in the upcoming disaster relief efforts."

The harsh punishment was so frightening that the remaining yamen runners immediately knelt on the ground, saying that they would never dare to do it.

Then, Su Qing looked at the victims and said, "You can rest assured.

This year, you have suffered a disaster, but taxes are exempted, and the court will provide seedlings after the disaster to help everyone complete farming!"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers immediately knelt down and said, "Great Lord!

He is truly an upright official!

We will build a temple for you!"

After everything was settled, he turned his attention to the Xiaofeng Copper Mine.

He came to Master Liu's side.

"The former county magistrate's stolen money..."

Mr. Liu was about to confess the stolen money of the former county magistrate.

Su Qing remained calm and took him to a deserted place.

"We can talk about the stolen money later. What happened to the Xiaofeng Copper Mine?"

Su Qing's words made Master Liu's whole body stiffen, and a trace of struggle appeared on his face.

"Ok!"

He just hummed softly, and Master Liu was so frightened that his legs immediately went limp to the ground.

"Sir, the owner of the Xiaofeng Copper Mine.

Although they knew that the mine was prone to collapse, they were unwilling to transport wood to reinforce the mine roof.

The entire mine collapsed, and only a dozen of the more than 300 miners escaped.

Next, the mine owner was so heartless that he was unwilling to pay even a little money to comfort the orphans and their widows.

The victims complained to the government, but Xiaofeng arrested more than a hundred of them and put them in prison.

Many people reported the case to the yamen, which arrested more than a hundred people.

How could they know that, led by the eunuch in charge of the mines in the palace, Xiaofeng, from the county government to the state government to the prefectural government, all shared the profits from the mines every year.

The phrase "Who are you, and why are you suing me?" can describe the whole story."

After hearing what Master Liu said, Su Qing felt that there was something illogical in it.

As a mine owner, I am in it for money.

If someone notices that the mine is about to collapse, he should reinforce it immediately to ensure that the copper mine can continue to bring wealth.

Now the copper mine is allowed to collapse. There must be something fishy going on.

“Who caused the Xishao River to burst its banks?”

This sentence was like a thunderclap, making Master Liu's brain buzz.

He's not stupid.

Since the Jinyiwei asked this question, it means that the flood was man-made.

He suddenly remembered that before the flood, the county magistrate suddenly told him mysteriously to store grain secretly.

At least, the county magistrate knew about this matter.

Who else besides the county magistrate?
Suddenly, Master Liu's eyes lit up: "Sir, among those previously captured by Wang Zhubu and intended to be corroded with lime water, several were survivors of the mining accident.

They should know something hidden." Soon, the miners who survived the disaster appeared in front of Su Qing.

Hearing the news from Su Qing's inquiry, the miners were filled with righteous indignation: "Sir, the collapse of the Xiaofeng Copper Mine was definitely not just due to negligence in supervision.

Before the Xiaofeng copper mine collapsed, Jinyiwei discovered that a large amount of raw copper ore had mysteriously disappeared. Apparently, someone had stolen the copper ore!

About seven or eight days later, I went down to the mine and unexpectedly discovered that the frame that had previously stably supported the mine seemed to have been tampered with.

When I realized it, I quickly alerted the workers around me, but only about ten of us escaped."

"Jinyiwei?

Is his name Su Yuntian?"

Su Qing immediately grasped the key.

"Not sure, but some people do call him Lord Su."

It can be basically confirmed that this Jinyiwei should be the original body's father.

Obviously, the collapse of Xiaofeng Copper Mine was caused by the theft of copper mines.

Even, the key to man-made floods.

Copper is a strategic resource for the country.

Take the copper mold case that happened in Beijing some time ago. What is the difference between the counterfeit coins and the real coins in the copper mold case?
The price of copper is about 5.7 times that of tin and 11 times that of lead.

This makes one of the main methods of making counterfeit coins, which is to mix cheaper metals such as tin or lead into copper coins, thereby reducing the copper content of the coins.

If a large amount of copper is added during casting, counterfeit coins can become real coins.

In addition to coins, copper can also be used to make bronze mirrors, bronze bells, and even bronze Buddha statues in some large temples.

Brass is similar to gold, so the Buddha statues in temples are also said to have golden bodies.

In short, the loss of copper ore is definitely not a trivial matter.

"Huzhou is famous for its exquisite bronze mirrors.

Could it be that all the lost copper ore was simply sold privately to the manufacturers of bronze mirrors?

wrong!

It is now certain that the collapse of the Xiaofeng copper mine and the Xiaofeng flood were both man-made.

There was no need to artificially cause a collapse or to kill the Jinyiwei to silence them, as they were only stealing ore and making bronze mirrors. There was no need to artificially create a flood to submerge the collapsed Xiaofeng Copper Mine, leaving no evidence.

In addition to copper mirrors and copper coins, copper can also be used to make muskets and cannons!

Some time ago, the Yuan Mongols stole the Ming Dynasty's artifact catalog. Could it be related to the loss of brass from the Xiaofeng Copper Mine?

If there really is a relationship, things will be troublesome."

The Yuan Meng stole the divine artifact list, and Xiao Feng lost the copper, which happened at the same time.

Su Qing never believed in so-called coincidences.

Making bold guesses and carefully verifying them is also his principle.

"Whether it's the mine collapse, the flood, or the murder of the original owner's father, every incident has the mine owner, Feng Wubo, as the key figure. We must find him."

Thinking of this, Su Qing left behind a few Western Factory guards.

He galloped all night long towards the upper-level government office in Xiaofeng, Huzhou Prefecture.

Huzhou is named after its proximity to Taihu Lake.

Because the local forces of Huzhou Prefecture helped Zhang Shicheng in the long-term resistance, Zhu Yuanzhang increased the taxes in Huzhou Prefecture, making the people's lives miserable.

Later, successive rulers of the Ming Dynasty always adjusted the management scope of the county government within Huzhou Prefecture.

For example, during the Chenghua period, the nine townships in the south of Anji County under Huzhou Prefecture were divided to establish Xiaofeng County, and the three townships of Jingxi, Shunling, and Yanzi in Changxing County were transferred to Anji;
In the future, in the first year of Zhengde, Anji was promoted to a prefecture, and governed Xiaofeng County.
Although the rulers repeatedly adjusted the system, they were unable to stop the villagers' resistance.

In the future, there will be a large-scale uprising by villagers Tang Maojiu in Huzhou, which will cause a large-scale decline in Huzhou's population.

In a word, Huzhou itself is not a stable powder keg.

This inevitably gave Su Qing a new idea: "Perhaps, there is another hidden calculation behind the flooding of the copper mines and the resulting suffering of the people.

The man-made copper mine collapse was sufficient to conceal the loss of the mine, and the flooding of Xiaofeng seemed to have wiped out all traces, but in reality, it was intended to drive the people of Xiaofeng into rebellion.

(End of this chapter)