So what if I traveled through time? I'll continue to roll in another place

A few days later, Zhou Yao and his party arrived in Xizhou.

Xizhou was under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, where Zhou Yao's father Zhou Qitai was the co-magistrate. With this connection and Zhou Yao being a Beijing official, Xizhou prefect Zhang Baiyu received the news and went to the border of Xizhou with his subordinates to welcome him.

When Zhou Yao entered the border of Xizhou, he saw a man in official uniform waiting in front of the official road with a group of people.

The servant stopped the horse and Zhou Yaowenxiong got off the car to meet Zhang Baiyu.

Without waiting for Wen Xiong to introduce him, Zhang Baiyu took the lead in welcoming him, "I guess this must be Lord Zhou. Your father and I are old acquaintances. It is a great honor to see you today. A good father will have a good son!"

Zhang Baiyu is not tall and has a solid build. He is about fifty or sixty years old. His hair and beard are slightly graying, but he is full of energy.

Zhou Yao also bowed and said, "Thank you Lord Zhang for welcoming me from afar. This time, I am visiting the mine with Lord Wen, the chief of the Mining and Metallurgy Department of the Ministry of Industry. If there is anything that I have not discussed or detailed, I will trouble Lord Zhang and other lords again."

"Of course, I will tell you everything I know." Zhang Baiyu bowed. "Besides, Lord Wen has been the chief accountant for many years, so Lord Wen is very familiar with my affairs."

The Mining and Metallurgy Bureau of the Ministry of Industry is in charge of the annual mineral tax accounts of the whole country. It regularly reviews the mineral tax quotas in various places and supervises the payment of mining taxes to Beijing on time.

Wen Xiong had served as the chief clerk of the Mining and Metallurgy Bureau for more than 30 years. He was very familiar with the conditions of mines in various parts of Zhao Dynasty. Before coming to Xizhou, he introduced all the conditions to Zhou Yao.

Many mineral resources are always born together. The ancients mastered this law very early. "Guan Zi Di Shu" recorded: "If there is ochre on the mountain, there is iron underneath", "If there is magnet on the mountain, there is copper and gold underneath", etc.

These simple geological and mineral knowledge are generally in line with reality. The ancients of the Zhao Dynasty also discovered this law. Therefore, in addition to iron mines, Xizhou also has copper mines, lead mines and many other mines.

It is better to bite off more than you can chew. This time, Zhou Yao chose the largest iron mine in Xizhou for research. If he finds a way to improve efficiency, it will not be too late to promote it.

There are mines in almost every of the fifteen counties under the jurisdiction of Xizhou. In addition to managing the people's agricultural production, the local officials here focus their work on cooperating with the supervisors of the mines where the mining and smelting officials are located to carry out mine management.

Many officials in charge are also knowledgeable about mineral resources and smelting and casting. They talk about them endlessly and they all sound like experts.

The iron mine they were going to was in Nantai County, Xizhou. Zhang Baiyu accompanied Zhou Yao and his party all the way to Nantai.

The Zhao Dynasty had very strict management of mineral resources. The Zhao Law stipulated that any military or civilian who mined minerals privately would be sentenced to death and his entire family would be enslaved; those who gathered together to dig minerals secretly would be exiled to Guchang and Yueyun Border Guard. All mineral resources in the court were nationalized, and the people were not allowed to mine and refine minerals privately.

The Nantai Iron Mine is very large, and all the facilities and work in Nantai County are basically built around the iron mine.

According to Wenxiong and others, the workers in the mine are actually divided into two parts. One part is directly managed by the mine supervisor, and is composed of prisoners of war, slaves and their descendants, and criminals who are exiled here every year. This part of the workers is engaged in the hardest, most tiring and most dangerous work. Generally, the prisoners exiled to the mine will die here for various reasons within three to five years.

The other part is made up of ordinary people who come here to work and farm, and they both work in the mines and sell crops for a living. The money earned by working in the mines is slightly more than that of other "workers" in the market. Even though the mines are dangerous and hard, most of the strong laborers from nearby families still choose to work in the mines to make a living.

Although the laws were strict, not many people were sentenced to death by beheading each year in the Zhao Dynasty. Human resources were precious resources, so of course they should be used to their maximum value. Except for the most heinous criminals, most criminals were eventually sent to guard the border or work in the mines.

For many officials in the capital, it would be better to be granted death directly and retain their dignity rather than to do heavy physical labor here every day and endure the torture of purgatory on earth.

During the conversation, the carriage arrived at the Nantai County Government Office.

Nantai County Magistrate Yan Luo had already prepared a banquet in the county government office, just waiting to welcome Zhou Yao.

Wen Xiong had already sent a message saying that Zhou Yao came to study the smelting method and focus on improving the smelting and casting technology, not to monitor the mine accounts or evaluate the performance of officials.

Therefore, Zhang Baiyu and Yan Luo both behaved in a relaxed and easy-going manner, thinking that Zhou Yao had just arrived at the Ministry of Works and was a new official who wanted to make some achievements, so they just let this young man take a look.

However, Zhang Baiyu still gave Yan Luo many instructions in private. This Lord Zhou had caused a lot of chaos when he was supervising water conservancy in Jiangzhou. He had brought down a number of corrupt officials, even the prime minister's brother-in-law. He was no ordinary person.

Now that I'm in Xizhou, I don't know if they will investigate anything secretly. I have to pay close attention to his every move. If there is a chance to test him, I must find a way to establish a relationship with him.

But Zhou Yao's inner core had already been replaced, so he didn't expect Zhang Baiyu and Yan Luo's inner drama, and they were all focused on refining molten iron.

Yan Luo invited them to eat, so they ate. After eating, they could work.

"Master Zhou, Master Zhang, Master Wen, please take a seat." Yan Luo invited them to sit down. "My Nantai County is a remote and poor place. There are no delicacies from the mountains and the sea. We only have simple meals. I hope you will not despise us."

This was a very polite remark, but the dishes were unambiguous. The round table was filled with exquisite dishes such as Tonghua beef, Guangming roasted beef, Guomenxiang, Xianren meat, Xiaotiansu, Zhutouchun, and Sheepskin flower filaments.

The plates under the dishes were carefully filled with boiling water to keep them warm, for fear that the dishes would get cold and lose their flavor.

"The weather is cold, Lord Zhou, Lord Wen, why don't we eat and talk at the same time?" Zhang Baiyu suggested starting the meal.

"Okay." Zhou Yao agreed, "The banquet is too luxurious. Lord Zhang and Lord Yan are sorry for the trouble. There is no need to be so polite in the future. I will just eat with the official chef of the county government."

He seemed to be a man who kept himself clean. Zhang Baiyu thought to himself that he should not bring up the matter of bribery for the time being and just wait and see.

"I added a few more dishes today to welcome you all. These dishes are all local delicacies of Nantai. They don't cost much. I just want you all to have a taste of our Nantai flavor." Yan Luo said obediently.

The group started to eat. Wen Xiong had already made sure that Zhou Yao did not like drinking and socializing. After Yan Luo confirmed it again and again, he did not arrange too many toasts. They just had a few drinks and the meal was a great enjoyment for both the host and the guests.

"It's getting late today, so please ask Lord Yan to arrange for me to visit the mine tomorrow. Lord Zhang is very busy, and if I feel uneasy about accompanying you, it's very appropriate for Nan Tai to have Lord Yan to help me. I will say goodbye to you after I finish my official business." He said politely.

Zhou Yao had made a lot of preparations for this official business trip, and had studied many official greetings in order to avoid being exposed.

"Thank you, Lord Zhou, for your consideration. I have been to the mine with you for the past two days and will then return to the provincial capital. I will meet you again when you finish your official business." Zhang Baiyu was also very polite.

After the meal, Yan Luo personally escorted Zhou Yao and others to the guest rooms in the government office to rest. All necessary daily necessities were provided, and every detail was thoughtfully arranged.

Zhou Yao had been performing for the whole day and just wanted to take a break, so he prepared to politely see a few people off and successfully end today's performance.

Unexpectedly, Yan Luo winked at his subordinate Chang Sui, who understood and brought up a young woman.