Traveling through time and space to become a concubine's daughter, leading the whole village to

"How did you find such a coal mine?"

Zhou Chenli didn't hesitate to ask how the coal mine was discovered.

Xu Miao first licked his lips, as if he was about to start a grand speech.

Then he quickly organized his words in his head before beginning to explain to Zhou Chenli.

"Duke, didn't you send me ten thousand taels of silver? I wanted to use this money to build a few houses in Hanjia Village. When I was digging the foundation, I dug out this black stone."

"I didn't expect this black stone could burn. Once it was lit, the flames were even stronger than wood."

At this time, the village chief Han also said: "Duke, we in Hanjia Village have tried it. Now the whole village uses this black stone to cook and boil water. It is much easier than using wood."

“As long as we dig it out of the ground, we can use it.”

After Han, the village chief, finished speaking, Xu Miao continued, "I've seen a passage in a miscellaneous book about this black stone. It's called coal, or black elixir. It's a stone that burns."

"Hanjia Village discovered this coal mine, but we didn't dare to mine it ourselves rashly, so we wrote to the capital to hear the Duke's opinion."

After listening to Xu Miao and Village Chief Han's description, Zhou Chenli was silent for a moment, then said, "Let's go back to Hanjia Village tomorrow morning to take a look."

"You didn't tell anyone about this, did you?"

After listening to Xu Miao and the others' explanation, Zhou Chenli felt that this black stone might really be a new discovery. He had seen gold mines and iron mines before.

But what is this coal mine that Xu Miao and the others are talking about? I have to see it with my own eyes before I can make any plans.

When Xu Miao and Village Chief Han heard Zhou Chenli's question, they reacted quickly and shook their heads in unison.

They kept this matter a secret. No one dared to say a word except the villagers in Hanjia Village.

They are like guarding a huge secret, afraid that it will be leaked out accidentally.

After Xu Miao and Village Chief Han settled down in the inn, Village Chief Han hurriedly found Xu Miao.

"A Miao, now that the Duke has arrived in Han Village, how should we entertain him and where should he stay?"

Village Chief Han anxiously asked Xu Miao, "What should we feed the Duke? We don't have anything in our village. I'm so worried!"

This season is the time when there is a shortage of food. Apart from grain, the only things left in Hanjia Village are the dried vegetables from the winter.

We can't just feed the nobles in the capital with dried vegetables. The Duke is the savior of Village Chief Han, but what to use to entertain the savior has become a problem.

When he heard that Zhou Chenli was going to Hanjia Village, Village Chief Han became extremely nervous.

Xu Miao also became anxious when he heard what Village Chief Han said. He also knew the current situation of Hanjia Village.

Zhou Chenli came all the way from the capital, and they had something to ask Zhou Chenli to do, so at least they had to treat Zhou Chenli well.

Finally, Xu Miao gave the innkeeper some money and bought some fresh vegetables and meat from the inn's kitchen, waiting to take them back to Hanjia Village the next day.

The next morning, Zhou Chenli saw Xu Miao and Village Chief Han with vegetables and fresh meat hanging on their horsebacks.

With a puzzled look on his face, he asked Xu Miao and Village Chief Han, "What are you doing? Why are you taking these things back?"

Zhou Chenli hated to carry things when he went out. He just carried money in his pocket and bought things wherever he went. He never carried extra things on his horse.

Seeing Zhou Chenli asking about vegetables, Xu Miao smiled sheepishly and said, "Duke, it's the season when there's nothing left in Han Village. As soon as we heard you were coming, we had to prepare these foods first. Otherwise, when you go, we really don't know how to entertain you, my dear guest."

Xu Miao told Zhou Chenli the truth.

After hearing what Xu Miao said, Zhou Chenli was still muttering in his heart: How could Hanjia Village be so poor? I don’t know how Xu Miao has been living in Hanjia Village this year.

It seems that Xu Miao's first letter was not just a way of complaining about poverty. Hanjia Village is truly poor!

Zhou Chenli didn't say much, he just jumped on his horse and followed Xu Miao, Village Chief Han and the others, riding towards Hanjia Village.

After leaving Dingzhou City, the road becomes more desolate as you walk towards Hanjia Village.

During a break, Zhou Chenli munched on the dry biscuits and dried meat Commander Ye had brought out that morning and asked Xu Miao, "How have you managed to survive here this past year?"

Along the way, except for Dingzhou City, which was relatively prosperous, there were strangers fleeing famine everywhere.

Moreover, the closer we walked towards Hanjia Village, the less people we saw. It seemed as if Hanjia Village was isolated from the world.

While chewing on a dry biscuit, Zhou Chenli asked Xu Miao, "Don't you want to go back to the capital?"

Xu Miao sat next to Zhou Chenli and replied with a smile, "Duke, it's nice here. Although it's not as prosperous as the capital, I feel comfortable here. Although life is a little hard, I feel happy."

Zhou Chenli expressed his incomprehension of Xu Miao's carefree and happy attitude.

He had grown up in the capital and had never experienced poverty or being bullied. Of course, he couldn't understand Xu Miao's feelings at the moment.

Seeing that Xu Miao had no intention of returning to Beijing, Zhou Chenli asked her how she planned to deal with the coal mine issue.

"With this coal mine, what are you going to do in Hanjia Village?"

"Do you want to hand it over to the authorities, or do you have other ideas?"

When Xu Miao saw Zhou Chenli asking about the key point of the matter, he quickly stood up and said to Zhou Chenli, "Duke, if possible, could we let Hanjia Village mine this coal ourselves for a few years? It doesn't have to be much, just three to five years would be enough."

Xu Miao didn't dare to make too high demands. As long as there were three to five years, it would be enough for Hanjia Village to make a lot of money.

After listening to Xu Miao's words, Zhou Chenli did not give Xu Miao an immediate reply. He nodded slightly, as if he knew what Xu Miao and the others were thinking.

Xu Miao was discussing with Zhou Chenli, and Village Chief Han was standing by, eavesdropping with his ears perked up.

Village chief Han's ears were almost standing up like antennas, and his eyes kept glancing at Xu Miao and Zhou Chenli from time to time, for fear of missing any important information.

After Xu Miao and Zhou Chenli finished their discussion, Village Chief Han felt relieved when he saw that Zhou Chenli did not object to Xu Miao's opinion.

The more he thought about the coal mine these days, the more he felt that it was a business that could make a lot of money.

Especially when I saw that even Zhou Chenli came to Hanjia Village in person from the capital, I became more certain of this idea.

Who is Zhou Chenli? He is a nobleman in the capital. If there is no major event, no one would bother him to make a personal trip there.

I sent a servant over to check on the situation a long time ago.

Xu Miao, Zhou Chenli and others did not rest on the road at night, mainly because there was no place to rest on the road.

Every time Xu Miao and her friends went out, they would take a short rest in the dilapidated house on the way.

But when Zhou Chenli saw the shabby house, he was so disgusted that he didn't even go in. He just rode past with Xu Miao and the others.

Along the way, Xu Miao was still fine, but Village Chief Han was a little overwhelmed.

When they arrived at Hanjia Village, he forced himself to lead Zhou Chenli to the coal mine and said briefly to Xu Miao, "Ah Miao, you stay here with the Duke. I have to go home and get some sleep. I really can't hold on any longer."