Chapter 329: Not Here to Seek Justice
After showing Qin Yu the artificial ink stone, Zhou Tieyi certainly wouldn't let Qin Yu take it away alone easily.

He really needed Qin Yu to try to find a new path, but the importance of artificial inkstone meant that even if Qin Yu wanted to study it, he could only do it around him.

As for whether Qin Yu could research something, Zhou Tieyi was not worried about it. If he wanted to research a new path, he certainly couldn't just rely on one person.

I control so many resources now, even if there is a slight waste, it is worth it to bet on more possibilities.

Of course, the artificial ink stone will be handed over to my second uncle Gongshu Sheng for research, and a control group will be formed from the Gongshu school and the Mohist school, one high and one low.

After all, even if his second uncle Gongshu Sheng had researched a new path, it would be difficult for him to give up his original Gongshu family cultivation and switch to this path at his current level. This naturally highlights the importance of Qin Yu.

After subduing Qin Yu, an order came from the Golden Tower the next day that Zhou Tieyi was going to meet with officials from the Shantong Mansion to investigate the Moshi case.

In just a cup of tea, officials of all ranks gathered in the Shantong Prefecture's yamen. The Wu family's steward and the head of the family were all tied up. They had been tamed and obedient in prison so they naturally knew what to say today.

By the time Zhou Tieyi's carriage arrived at the prefectural yamen, the sun had already risen and was approaching noon.

Zhou Tieyi, Cui Wanxia and Deng Zhenquan got off the carriage and a clerk immediately came forward to welcome them into the main hall.

Zhou Tieyi looked at Chu Shengyan, the prefect of Shantong Prefecture, who came to greet him, and asked, "Are the people from the Wu family detained there?"

Chu Shengyan nodded and said, "The suspect is already in the hall."

The Wu family's problem was actually very easy to resolve. Even the officials of Shantong Prefecture had reached a private agreement with the Wu family. Although privately withholding the miners' burial money was extremely bad, it was not enough to punish them with the death penalty. With a little mediation, it would be easy to get the Wu family to plead guilty and sentence them to exile or even flogging.

What is more important is the account books in the hands of the Confucianists regarding the sale of inkstone from Shantong Mansion to King Ning and how many clues about the smuggling of inkstone the Confucianists in Shantong Mansion have found during this period.

Zhou Tieyi waved his hand casually, "Bring him out, get in the car, and go to the airport."

"Bring it out?"

Zhou Tieyi sneered, "Do you think I came all the way from Tianjing just to uphold justice? This is not something I am good at!"

Zhou Tieyi's words immediately surprised and delighted the officials.

Chu Shengyan looked at Zhou Tieyi in confusion, then looked at Cui Wanxia and Deng Zhenquan beside him. Neither of them objected. He thought for a moment and asked someone to bring the Wu family out.

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In the late afternoon, Feipeng flew over mountains and landed in an open area. This is where airships are superior to airplanes. The requirements for the landing site are not high. All it needs is a large enough open area.

This place is located in Ning'an County, which is also the beginning of the entire Mo Shi case.

During this flight, Zhou Tieyi had a clearer understanding of the terrain of the Taihang Three Provinces Road. Because of the huge Taihang Mountain Range, Xiaoshi Town and Shantong Prefecture are not far apart in a straight line, but it would take ordinary people two to three days to get there.

This requires even more miniaturized civilian flying peng, that is, steam airship. This technology will work wonders in such short-distance flights between mountainous areas.

In terms of transportation costs, if Feipeng could fully use steam technology instead of expensive inkstone, it could even compete with trains.

At the same time, both airship technology and steam engine technology are ready-made and it is not difficult to integrate and transform them.

After making a note of this, Zhou Tieyi planned to have a private conversation with Mohist Sun Shiheng in the evening.

After Fei Peng landed, a carriage had already been prepared outside the open area.

Although Zhou Tieyi came to Xiaoshi Town on a whim, the senior officials in this world wanted to be informed of the news in advance, which was not much different from the previous life. Especially since the entire Moshi case originated from Xiaoshi Town, they had already made all the necessary preparations to deal with Zhou Tieyi's spur of the moment decision.

Seeing the carriage prepared by the local officials, Zhou Tieyi did not pretend to be serious. He got on the carriage directly and ordered, "Go to the mining area."

An hour later, Li Jianhu saw the familiar scene in Xiaoshi Town and squeezed his palms slightly. When he arrived at the door of his home, he even doubted whether this was his home.

Originally, Li Jianhu's father was a miner of medium size, so a courtyard with two entrances was built in his home, which could even ensure that Li Jianhu and his younger brother each had a room of their own.

But what about the yard in front of me?

Although it only had two entrances, the white walls and gray tiles were neatly painted, the courtyard was carefully maintained and planted with osmanthus and beech trees, and even the wooden doors were brand new and painted with the finest paint, so they looked shiny even in the gray sky.

Of course, the news that Li Jianhu was treated favorably by Zhou Tieyi in Tianjing had reached Shantong Mansion early on.

In addition, Li Jianhu awakened his righteous spirit and saw his true nature in public. The officials of Shantong Prefecture were not stupid either. They knew that even if the case was eventually suppressed by Zhou Tieyi's means, Li Jianhu's rapid rise was already doomed.

Therefore, the door lintel of Li Jianhu's house would naturally be raised, which would be a win-win situation with no harm.

The officials of Shantong Mansion have been carefully watching the changes in Zhou Tieyi's expression. Once there is something wrong, they can immediately attribute the changes in the Li family to the financial support of the Li family's fellow clansmen. Anyway, they have hinted at this, and it was not they who paid to help the Li family paint the walls.

Li Jianhu was slightly stunned, but Zhou Tieyi was not. He smiled and pointed at the door and wall in front of him, "Are the places where miners live so well now?"

The officials were embarrassed. Chu Shengyan, the prefect of Shantong Prefecture, stepped forward and said, "The mining area is dirty and full of coolies. We are afraid of polluting the eyes of the angels." Zhou Tieyi snorted coldly and said nothing.

Chu Shengyan exchanged glances with the local official of Xiaoshi Town, and the latter nodded slightly.

Chu Shengyan spoke again, "Three angels, please."

Only after entering the real mining area did Li Jianhu see some of the familiar scenes again: miners coming in and out, their bodies as black as charcoal, the smell of sweat wafting in the air, and black smoke rising from the pig iron factory on the distant hills.

The only good thing is that the feces that were seen everywhere before have been cleaned up manually, making the entire mine look a little tidier.

A tall and strong middle-aged man trotted forward and was about to kneel down and kowtow to Zhou Tieyi and others.

Zhou Tieyi raised his hand, and an invisible force held the man up, "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man first glanced at Li Jianhu carefully, then said, "I am the manager of the Baizhishan mining area, Min Huorong."

This Min Huorong was the manager who came to Li Jianhu's house to convey the news.

Li Jianhu has always had a good impression of Manager Min. When his father was alive, he was a small mine owner under Manager Min. After his father died, the burial money that Min Huorong reported to his family was also the original price, but the manager of the Wu family intervened.

"Your Excellency, do you want to summon the miners for questioning?"

An official asked cautiously and with a bit of pride, they had naturally arranged all these.

"What can we ask them?"

Zhou Tieyi chuckled and said, "Go down to the mine."

The officials around him looked surprised and suspicious. Zhou Tieyi was asking ordinary miners, and he could say that he was here to investigate the inkstone case, but what about going down to the mine himself? Was he going to hold the ore accountable?

Moreover, from the very beginning, Zhou Tieyi never really interrogated either Li Jianhu, who filed the complaint, or the Wu family, the source of all the trouble.

Chu Shengyan, the prefect of Shantong Prefecture, said with a stiff face, "Master Zhou, why don't you try the case first? The mine is dangerous..."

Zhou Tieyi pointed at himself, and then at Cui Wanxia and Deng Zhenquan beside him, "No matter how dangerous the mine is, it is impossible for it to eat us."

If he had done this in his previous life, it would of course only increase the difficulty for those below him. However, in this world, practice is a way of showing one's sainthood. Officials themselves can practice, and even have powerful practice abilities, in order to maintain the stability of the entire social structure.

Zhou Tieyi had said this, so Chu Shengyan naturally stopped refutation. He signaled Min Huorong to lead the way into the mine.

After three hundred years of black stone mining, Daxia, despite being a feudal dynasty, had accumulated mining technology that should not be underestimated.

This place is not as backward as imagined. When Zhou Tieyi first entered, he even had a feeling that it was extremely spacious. In the tall mine pit, bright mechanical lights were hung, and mine cars were pushed out by miners on the sleeper tracks.

Min Huorong was called to Zhou Tieyi's side and introduced him, "Lord Zhou, this Baizhi Mountain mine is a 'new' mine, and it has a history of thirty years."

"Generally, when going down the mine, there are two ninth- or eighth-rank warriors, one deputy and one chief, who lead a mining team of about ten people. This can not only ensure that the mining team has enough strength to support rescue in case of danger, but also determine the inkstone veins."

"It usually takes at least four hours to go down into the mine. In many cases, you need to stay in the mine for six hours. In special cases, you may even stay there for a day or two."

Having said that, Min Huorong continued to look at Zhou Tieyi.

Zhou Tieyi chuckled, "Since we are going down to the mine, it is normal to stay for a day or two. I am mentally prepared."

Everyone first got on the mine cart, which was low, like a children's train, and the power that drove the mine cart was inkstone.

Outside, one ounce of inkstone is worth one ounce of gold, but in the mining area it is a necessary consumable.

In connection with the mechanical light that had just been hung, Zhou Tieyi suddenly asked, "Using the inkstone like this in such a confined environment must be very harmful to the body of an ordinary person."

Everyone present was slightly stunned, including Li Jianhu, because they were all practitioners.

After hearing this, Chu Shengyan felt strange, but he had to admit that Zhou Tieyi's "kindness" was not fake. Over the years, the use of inkstone mechanisms in mining areas has become commonplace, and everyone knows that only the most impoverished ordinary people would choose to be miners. They themselves would not think about the harm that the inkstone mechanisms would cause to their bodies in a small space, but Zhou Tieyi would think of this first.

Chu Shengyan looked at Manager Min.

Min Huorong thought for a moment and replied, "If we don't use the inkstone mechanism, the mining conditions for the miners will be more difficult and more dangerous. This is a last resort."

Zhou Tieyi was silent for a moment, "There will be a new solution."

When everyone heard Zhou Tieyi say this, most of the officials thought that Zhou Tieyi was just speaking for show, but only Qin Yu, who was beside Zhou Tieyi, witnessed the whole process. He sighed in his heart, and he finally understood why Zhou Tieyi came to Shantong Mansion in person. He never came here to uphold justice, but to solve problems.

(End of this chapter)