Chapter 660 The Biggest Obstacle

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Yang Chengye set off to leave Shenmu Island.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi stood at the port, looking at the ships going farther and farther away, thinking.

"We have to go to Darong too!"

Yang Zhengshan said.

"What for?" Yu Qingyi asked.

"Visit an old friend and remove the biggest obstacle for Chengye!" Yang Zhengshan said.

"The biggest obstacle?" Yu Qingyi was a little confused, "Who?"

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Xuan Zhen, that old guy!"

The strongest person in Darong today is none other than Xuan Zhen.

An Yuxing has entered the Tao and has a deep attainment in the Tao, but Xuan Zhen has also entered the Tao, and his understanding of the Tao is still better than An Yuxing.

With Xuan Zhen's strength and the prestige of Wuzhen Dao Palace in Darong Jianghu, it is not possible to say that it can influence the situation in Darong, but the influence is also very huge.

Although the Yang family is very strong now, it is a bit outrageous, but this does not allow Yang Zhengshan to underestimate the world.

Take Wuzhen Dao Palace for example, this is a sect with a thousand-year heritage, and its foundation is absolutely beyond imagination.

Yang Zhengshan estimated that Xuanzhen's cultivation might not be much worse than his, far above An Yuxing.

Yang Zhengshan could ignore other innate warriors in Darong, but he couldn't ignore Xuanzhen.

Yu Qingyi nodded, and Yang Zhengshan said, "We still have to visit Zhou Lan and Liang Chu!"

"They are different from us. Our Yang family is just a noble family that has just risen for a hundred years, while the Ningguo Mansion and the Changping Marquis Mansion, especially the Changping Marquis Mansion, share the same fate with Darong. If you want them to completely abandon Darong, you still need to spend some time talking!"

Yu Qingyi naturally had no objection to this, "Just go, anyway, wherever you go, I will follow you!"

"Haha~~"

...

Yang Zhengshan arranged the things on Shenmu Island, and then took Yu Qingyi to Darong.

There are many things on Shenmu Island, but Yang Zhengshan doesn't need to worry too much.

However, Yang Chengye still needed help from Shenmu Island, especially money and grain.

In order to support Yang Chengye, Yang Zhengshan almost took out all his family's wealth. Without affecting the operation of Shenmu Island and Yang's business, Yang Zhengshan gave Yang Chengye 10 million taels of silver.

The money that the Yang family has saved over the years is not as much as imagined. The 10 million taels of silver are almost all the money contributed by Luo Shang and Zhen Yang.

The Yang's business is very profitable, but the Yang's expenses are also high. It takes hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year just to support the family. In addition, Shenmu Island now needs immigration and construction, and there are many places to spend money.

So the money that Yang Zhengshan can take out is only 10 million taels.

Yang Chengye did not take the 10 million taels of silver back to Chongshan Town. He left the money in the Yang's business. He needed the Yang's business to help him buy food, weapons, medicine, elixir, cloth, cotton and other war materials in Wanli Sea and the Southern Dynasties of Darong.

Although it is not the time for Chongshan Town to start the rebellion yet, it is not wrong to store various materials in advance.

Just when Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi left Shenmu Island, Shenmu Island and Yang's business were also operating to support Yang Chengye.

Yang Mingcheng was still in the space, so the affairs of supporting Yang Chengye were undertaken by Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao, the two uncles.

As for Yang Mingzhao, he also went to Darong, but he promised to help Yang Chengye conquer Bashu.

Chongshan Town still has to wait for the opportunity, but the Taiping Army does not need to wait and can swallow up the entire Bashu as soon as possible.

Yang Mingzhi has asked Yang's business to purchase as much food as possible. To be honest, purchasing food from Wanli Sea and transporting it to Chongshan Town is a very unprofitable business.

The voyage is long and transportation is not convenient. To transport a ship of grain, the guards and sailors on the ship will consume half of the ship, plus the labor costs and ship maintenance costs. When the grain arrives in Chongshan Town, the cost price is 50% higher than the grain price in Chongshan Town.

But there is no way around it. The problem of Chongshan Town and Liaodong is not how expensive the grain price is, but that they simply cannot buy enough grain.

Unless Yang Chengye is willing to raise the grain price in Chongshan Town and Liaodong, he may be able to receive a lot of grain in Liaodong, but doing so will definitely affect the people's livelihood in Liaodong, which is definitely a result that Yang Chengye does not want to see, so he can only spend more silver and buy grain from Wanli Sea.

It is still easy for Yang's business to buy grain. Not to mention other things, just say that the Zhang Dynasty and the Dajing Dynasty can provide Yang's business with millions of stones of grain.

The rice in the Zhang Dynasty and the Dajing Dynasty can be harvested three times a year. These two dynasties are the least short of grain, and in the Wanli Sea, there are many islands that can achieve three harvests a year.

Therefore, the grain price here in the Wanli Sea is really cheap.

The food problem can only be solved in this way, and Yang Minghao needs to purchase some weapons for Yang Chengye.

On the 20th of the first lunar month, Yang Minghao came to Dihuo Island.

Zhu Yanshan, the third master of the Zhu family, personally greeted him.

The most conspicuous thing about Dihuo Island is the volcano located in the center of the island. The crater is thousands of feet high and emits black smoke all year round, but it has never erupted.

The most powerful thing about the Zhu family is not their forging skills, but that they can actually control a volcano that is about to erupt, so that it can never erupt.

Standing in the distance, you can see that there are many holes on the huge volcano, and a large number of strong men are constantly carrying ore to the volcano.

And on one side of the volcano there is a red river, which is not water, but magma.

The Zhu family led the magma out of the volcano and let it flow like a river.

There are many black solids of different sizes in the magma. They are not stones, but metals smelted in the volcano.

The so-called earth fire steel is actually steel that has been smelted several times by volcanic magma.

Smelting, forging, smelting again, and forging again, after several times, the ordinary pig iron will become tough earth fire steel.

Standing under the volcano and looking up at the entire volcano, no one will not sigh at the Zhu family's amazing craftsmanship.

Using volcanoes to forge weapons is unique in the world.

There may be more powerful forgers than the Zhu family in this world, but there is definitely no force like the Zhu family that uses volcanoes to forge weapons in large quantities.

This is not the first time Yang Minghao has come to the Earth Fire Island, but every time he comes, he can't help but marvel.

"If you forge ordinary weapons and armor, how many can you forge in a month?" He asked Zhu Yanshan beside him.

Zhu Yanshan asked in confusion: "Ordinary armor?"

"Yes, it is the armor of ordinary soldiers in the army, forged with fine steel!" Yang Minghao said.

It is unrealistic to equip a large number of armor forged with ground fire steel, because the output of ground fire steel is very low. The Zhu family can only forge three or four hundred ground fire steel weapons every year, which obviously cannot meet the needs of Chongshan Town.

Zhu Yanshan showed a look of realization, "If it is just fine steel forging, it is very easy. For swords, 3,000 pieces can be forged in a month. If it is just a spear head, it will be even more. Thirty thousand pieces a month is no problem!"

Yang Minghao couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard it.

"It is a fine steel weapon, not five or ten refined steel!"

The so-called fine steel is actually a hundred refined steel.

The block of smelted iron is repeatedly heated and folded to forge, so that the steel structure is dense, the composition is uniform, and the impurities are reduced, thereby improving the quality of the steel. One refining is heating once, that is, how many times the fire is refined.

The standard weapons in the Darong Army have a minimum requirement of thirty refinings, but in fact, they are basically nine refining steel. Generally speaking, weapons forged with hundred-refining steel are very rare.

For example, the gilded flying fish gun used by Yang Zhengshan was actually a weapon forged with hundred-refining steel.

Apart from the difference in material metal, weapons forged with hundred-refining steel are already the best steel weapons.

Zhu Yanshan scratched his head, "The ordinary weapons we forge are not worse than the weapons forged with hundred-refining steel!"

"Is that so?" Yang Minghao was a little confused.

He knew that the weapons forged by the Zhu family were all very good, but he didn't know much about the Zhu family's forging skills.

"Well, that's it. To forge fine steel weapons, you don't need the master to do it himself, just let the younger generation practice!"

No mistakes in one sentence, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar, take a look!

"Forging weapons is easier, but forging iron armor is much more troublesome. If you forge iron armor, you can only forge a thousand sets a month at most!"

Zhu Yanshan explained.

Yang Minghao felt that he had underestimated the Zhu family.

In fact, the Zhu family did not like to forge fine steel weapons because it was a bit embarrassing.

What they liked to forge the most were magic weapons, not those weapons that had no meaning and could be mass-produced.

So all along, they did not sell many fine steel weapons. They just let the younger generation practice and forge some fine steel weapons. All the masters with some skills liked to forge earth fire steel weapons or magic weapons made of special materials.

Such as meteorite iron, black gold, cold iron, thunder pattern copper, etc., using these precious minerals to forge magic weapons is their pursuit.

They are not blacksmiths, they are forgers.

What else can Yang Minghao say? He took out a list and said, "We need these weapons!"

Zhu Yanshan took the list and glanced at it, and was also a little confused.

"30,000 fine steel long swords, 100,000 spear heads, 5,000 sets of fine steel Mingguang armor, 5,000 sets of fine steel cavalry heavy armor, and 500,000 fine steel armor plates?"

"Brother Minghao, what are you doing?"

Fine steel armor plates are used to make cotton armor and leather armor. The Zhu family certainly can't make cotton armor and leather armor, so they can only help forge armor plates.

"Fight a war, a big war!" Yang Minghao said.

"Is this the armor for 100,000 soldiers?" Zhu Yanshan is not stupid, and he can naturally see how many soldiers these armors can equip.

"Well, these may not be enough." Yang Minghao said.

Zhu Yanshan felt a little embarrassed, "Brother Minghao, we haven't made the arrowheads you ordered before, and as for this, it will take three to five years to complete!"

If the Zhu family and the Yang family were not close, they would never accept such an order, it was too unskilled.

"Three to five years is too long. It must be completed within one year!"

Yang Minghao laughed, "All these weapons and armors can be exchanged for wine and water. My Yang family will not spend a penny!"

"All for wine and water?" Zhu Yanshan's eyes lit up instantly.

"Of course, three thousand jars of wine and water for these weapons and armors, can it be completed in one year?" Yang Minghao said.

The magic weapons are the specialty of the Zhu family, and the wine is the specialty of the Yang family.

Although the Zhu family did not find that the best effect of the Yang family's wine is to improve potential, the effect of strengthening physical fitness and quality injuries alone is enough to make them excited.

The key is that the Yang family's wine is not sold but only given away, and there is no place to buy it if you want to buy it.

"Yes, absolutely!" Zhu Yanshan said without thinking.

"Don't discuss it with the two seniors?" Yang Minghao said with a smile.

Zhu Yanshan shook his head, "No, this place is under my control now. If I say it can be done, then it can be done!"

He said this with confidence.

Although he can only be ranked third in the ranking, he is the only forger in the innate realm of the Zhu family.

After he broke through to the innate realm, all the forging workshops on the volcano were under his control.

"That's good. After I go back, I will send someone to transport the wine and water. Your weapons and armor will be delivered in four batches, one batch every three months. Is that okay?" Yang Minghao said.

"No problem!" Zhu Yanshan said.

Although the master chef of the Zhu family is unwilling to forge these ordinary weapons and armor, the ordinary children of the Zhu family will definitely be willing.

Zhu Yanshan has thought about it. He will use wine and water as a reward and let the ordinary children of the Zhu family forge these weapons and armor.

He took out one-third as a reward, which was enough, and it would not even take a year to complete.

As for the remaining two thousand jars, naturally, they will be divided among several main veins!

In this way, the honest Zhu Yanshan became an evil middleman.

With the food from the Zhang Dynasty and the Dajing Dynasty, the weapons and armor of the Zhu family, plus the spiritual spring medicine soup and various medicinal materials of the Yang family, and the war horses of Chongshan Town, isn't that all?

As for other miscellaneous things, just take your time.

…

Shenmu Island began to be busy transporting food and medicinal materials to Chongshan Town, and Yang Zhengshan had already arrived in Songhe Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River.

Wuzhen Taoist Palace is located in Luyang Prefecture, just at the southern foot of Wanshanling. Sangzhou Prefecture, where Cuixia Valley is located, is just to the east of Luyang Prefecture, and Wuzhen Taoist Palace is actually on the mountain of Wanshanling.

If Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi want to go to Wuzhen Taoist Palace, the most convenient way is to transfer to an inland water boat from Songhe Prefecture, travel upstream along the Song River for 500 miles, and then follow the Rushu River to enter Nanchao Lake. After crossing Nanchao Lake, they have to enter Fengle River again, and finally arrive in Longshu County. Wuzhen Taoist Palace is on Daogong Mountain, 50 miles north of Longshu County.

After Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi arrived at Songhe Prefecture on the merchant ship of Yang Family Merchants, they asked the fleet of Yang Family Merchants to do business.

Recently, the fleet of Yang Family Merchants has been very busy. They have to help Chongshan Town transport various materials, and the business of the merchant cannot stop.

Yang Zhengshan has given all his coffins to Yang Chengye. In the future, hundreds of people in the Yang family will have to rely on Yang Family Merchants for their livelihood.

Therefore, the business of Yang Family Merchants cannot stop, and the scope of operation and trade must be expanded.

Yang Zhengshan will naturally not delay the business of Yang Family Merchants because of himself. Besides, he has traveled all over the country with Yu Qingyi in recent years, and he does not need anyone to lead the way.