The First Corrupt Official of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 48 Zhu Yuanzhang is holding asphalt in his hand, but he can't escape the eyes of Mr. Ye!
Under the urging of the supervisor and jailer, Zhu Yuanzhang and Mao Xiang quickly got up to carry the asphalt.

It's just that this big bucket of black oily viscous liquid made Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and fell into deep thought!
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang is no stranger to asphalt, a high-viscosity, waterproof, moisture-proof and anti-corrosion organic gelling material.

It can also be said that it is no stranger to this era.

You must know that humans have used asphalt for 4000 years.

Take Zhu Yuanzhang as an example. In order to prepare for the Poyang Lake water battle, in addition to borrowing fishermen's boats, he also ordered many boats to be built.

And building warships requires a lot of waterproof sealant, that is, bitumen called 'black tar' in this era.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not have the technology to refine asphalt, and only used natural asphalt visible on the surface.

The natural asphalt known in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the Longmen Mountain area in Guangyuan, Sichuan, is known as "the first black mine in China".

Since the output of this kind of thing is small, but it is extremely versatile, the price is also very expensive.

As a natural sealant or adhesive, it is used in construction, incense making, pottery making and shipbuilding.

Even after the death of a rich and noble family, it is necessary to use it to keep the body from decaying.

"This is obviously 'black tar'!"

"asphalt?"

"This is how the black avenue came from?"

"Using such a rare and precious natural black tar as a bonding waterproof material for pavement stones?"

"How much manpower and financial resources will it take to purchase and transport from Sichuan?"

"Although the tolls Ye Qing charged are high, if this is the case, he may not be able to make money, and he may have to lose money!"

"He, Ye Qing, pays for the road repairs?"

"That's right, in the name of taxation, he insisted on [-]% of the profit from the brothel and [-]% of the profit from the gambling house, which is enough to spend!"

"Good official, what a good official who is 'greedy for the people'!"

"."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Mao Xiang carried such a large bucket of asphalt, and the bamboo bars followed their steps, bending and straightening, straight and bending.

One can imagine how heavy their bucket of asphalt is!

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's cognition, this is not as simple as a barrel of asphalt, it is a rare material obtained from Sichuan after spending a lot of manpower and financial resources.

To put it simply, even if this is not a bucket of silver, it should be a bucket of copper coins!

But because he was thinking about the problem in his head, he kicked a stone directly. If he hadn't been good at it, he would have fallen on his back.

In the wide-eyed eyes of the guards disguised as agents,

This pair of carrying combination, before falling down, still supported the ground with one hand, and a flip saved the day.

With this skill, it is only a fool who would believe that they are just rich businessmen and not Beiyuan spies!
next moment,
Several jailers disguised as agents walked in front of them and began to tease:
"You're good at it!"

"It's a pity to treat this skill as a businessman!"

"If you are a spy, you will still have a lot of money!"

"."

But the scene in front of them was something that these spies, who were not only good at skills but also clever, never expected.

Because of their ridicule, Mao Xiang's temper suddenly came up, and he clenched his fists and was ready to go straight to the fight.

But before he could do it, he was dragged down by Zhu Yuanzhang.

He actually wanted Mao Xiang to accompany him to pick up asphalt?

Even if asphalt is a high-viscosity material, it is still a sticky liquid, and there is no other way except to scoop it with a ladle.

They are really open!

Fortunately, the natural asphalt has been evaporated for a long time, and there are no toxins. If not, they must have some problems.

Especially this middle-aged reform-through-labour prisoner whose prison uniform is No. 88 is simply more precious than money dropped on the ground!
In fact, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, these asphalts are really more precious than money.

Because in his perception, these pitches not only cost a lot of money, but also cost a lot of manpower.

Just looking at the asphalt, he saw the "difficult to go to the blue sky" Shu Road.

He knew that on the way out of Sichuan, the pack horses were often useless, and he had to rely on his strength to carry and carry.

Maybe even Lifu lost his life in order to earn so much money!

Just thinking of this, he praised it even harder!
The agents watched this scene, but did not react for a while.

As a Northern Yuan spy, how could he be so sorry for the materials used in Yanmen road construction?

But judging from the skills of the two of them, who would believe that they were just ordinary businessmen?

For this extremely contradictory question, they can't figure it out for a while, and they can only report to Ye Qing when the time comes.

"Okay, don't pick it up!"

"Such a big bucket, just the two of you, when will it take?"

"We have a lot of these things, and there is no shortage of this bucket."

The agent in jailer clothes said impatiently.

Immediately afterwards, he asked someone to use a shovel to spread the asphalt on the spot.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at this scene with disbelief in his eyes.

"How is this going?"

"How can there be no shortage of materials that can only be obtained through such a waste of manpower and financial resources?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought so.

He really couldn't believe that these people just used two layers of asphalt on the same road, and they still looked like they didn't care.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to ask these jailers directly, so as not to deepen the misunderstanding that they were spies.

After the guards pretended to be agents left, he ran to another inmate and asked, "Brother, this black tar is so precious, why are they wasting it like they don't want money?"

The inmate gave Zhu Yuanzhang a blank look, and laughed at his ignorance: "You don't know something!"

"In Yanmen County, there was originally a large natural asphalt lake. It was as if there was a spring emitting asphalt underneath, and it couldn't stop bubbling out."

"If it is not used, the surrounding land will also be damaged by asphalt."

"I've also heard that before Master Ye took office, there was no such natural asphalt lake here, but after Master Ye took office, there will be."

"It can only be said that Mr. Ye is the lucky star of Yanmen County!"

"Of course, it's also a blessing for us. If we were in other places, we felons who are only a little short of the death penalty would have been killed long ago!"

"Master Ye won't, he gave us this opportunity to commit crimes and make meritorious deeds!"

"Okay, hurry up and go to work, maybe you will be assigned to mine asphalt tomorrow, and you will see it by then!"

"."

After the inmates left, Zhu Yuanzhang froze there.

Such a rare and precious material, because of the arrival of an official, it is directly out of nothing, and it is inexhaustible?

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and looked at the god who had already begun to show his power!
"Is this God's will?"

"The sky is helping this corrupt official?"

After having such an idea, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes also changed from unbelievable to gratified and lucky.

Zhu Yuanzhang just smiled in relief, and then looked at the Yanmen Pass Garrison Pass not far away.

Yes, the road is almost complete.

If there is no accident, it will be repaired to the garrison pass tomorrow!

Compared to mining asphalt and seeing the asphalt lake that was created out of nothing because of Ye Qing's appointment, he would rather continue to build roads tomorrow.

When he got to the garrison pass of Yanmen Pass, he could check whether Ye Qing stepped on his bottom line.

He hoped that Ye Qing didn't get involved in important military affairs!
As long as he doesn't get involved in important military and political affairs, it's not impossible for him to use the trick 'one who doesn't know is not guilty' against Ye Qing!
After all, as far as the current situation is concerned, he, the emperor, has not suffered too much, and it is still within the tolerable range!

Just when Zhu Yuanzhang made such calculations,

In the woods on the small hill behind him, Ye Qing's eyes became sharper.

Beside him, Wu Yong respectfully said: "My lord, this so-called Master Guo has been staring at the direction of my Yanmenguan garrison pass, and his eyes are sharp."

"According to the officer, he hopes to continue building the road tomorrow."

"Do you want to do what he wants?".
　The new book is about to set sail, and I ask the readers to recommend tickets, monthly tickets, and rewards for support, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)