The intelligence gathering work did not take much time.
Although from Zheng Yi's perspective, the Zhao family's current rule is actually in turmoil.
If this were not a world dominated by immortal cultivators, the Zhao family would have a being like Cang Yue Yanhuang who could suppress the entire world.
Their rule has been overthrown countless times.
But Zheng Yi also knew that except him, no one would think so.
The Zhao family still regards themselves as lofty gods, and ordinary people have never thought that such a behemoth might suddenly collapse.
Because of this, almost no one has taken any precautions in this regard.
Just like the mine where they are now.
In terms of management, there are simply countless loopholes.
If it were in the Great Yu Immortal Dynasty, whether he was the person in charge of this mine or the officials responsible for managing the nearby areas, he would have beheaded him long ago.
But here, the Zhao family really doesn't seem to care much about this kind of thing.
For this mine, their only concern is whether they can get the fire rock ore they need on time.
In addition, no matter what Zhao Tianming did, they had no intention of paying attention.
The most obvious point is that Zheng Yi learned through inquiring that Zhao Tianming went to report on his work.
But later, when I came into contact with more information, I realized that the so-called work report was just Zhao Tianming's excuse.
It's just that life here in the mine is not very comfortable, so Zhao Tianming will go to Qingjiang City every now and then to the outer room where he is raised.
Zhao Tianming doesn't care much about the affairs of the mine, which is good news for Zheng Yi.
"I used to be a somewhat capable person, but now... I'm just a useless person." After finding out all of Zhao Tianming's past, Zheng Yi quickly made a judgment.
When he was young, Zhao Tianming was indeed quite accomplished.
But as I grew older and saw more things, I began to give up on myself.
This is also normal.
In the Cang Yan Realm, the only ones who can really show off their talents are the Zhao family.
No matter how hard others try, they can only be regarded as slaves of the Zhao family at best.
Perhaps it was upon realizing this that Zhao Tianming completely degenerated, becoming less and less concerned about his work and just muddle along.
After all, no matter how well he does, it doesn't mean anything.
As long as one member of the Zhao family is dissatisfied with him, no matter how well he does his job, he will probably have to sweep the streets tomorrow.
"Very good!" Although Zhao Tianming's situation was not very good, Zheng Yi felt more and more satisfied as he looked at it.
Because the worse Zhao Tianming's situation becomes, the easier it will be for him to execute his plan.
"Lord, I have brought the village chiefs of the three most reliable villages."
In the morning, Zheng Yi asked Zhou Kunshan to contact reliable villages for cooperation.
Unexpectedly, he had brought everyone here so quickly.
"It's so fast, there won't be any problems, right?" Zheng Yi believed that Zhou Kunshan would not joke about such a thing.
But the matter was so important that Zheng Yi asked one more question. If there is anything inappropriate, even if it arouses suspicion, Zheng Yi will immediately terminate the meeting.
"Please rest assured, my lord, these people usually stay close to me, and the situation in their villages is also very bad. If there is no improvement, I am afraid they will not be able to hold on for much longer."
"Stop them now. Even if these people do not agree to cooperate with us, they will not tell anyone about this."
"After all, it won't do them any good. The Zhao family won't give them any rewards just because they sold us."
"Very good!" Zheng Yi nodded slightly. He really didn't choose the wrong person.
Zhou Kunshan's appearance is rough, and the first impression he gives is that of a rough man who can't hide anything.
In fact, this guy is a very thoughtful guy.
The villagers have dug out a relatively spacious space in the middle section of the mine allocated to Hewan Village.
Fortunately, there are igneous rocks everywhere in the mines. Those igneous rocks that contain better spiritual energy can be used as good light sources with a little processing.
Otherwise, in the dark mine, not to mention seeing each other's appearance, I'm afraid even normal communication would not be possible.
During the process of arriving here, Zhou Kunshan also briefly introduced the conditions of these villages to Zheng Yi.
Although they are all small villages with a small population, those that can continue to this day basically have a few brushes.
The people in Huorong Village are naturally strong. Even five years ago, they were the richest among all the surrounding villages.
Because the strong laborers in the village are generally stronger, their output of fire rock minerals is naturally the largest. In addition to turning in the apportionment, the remaining fire rock mines can always be exchanged for something.
Although trading in cultivation resources such as fire rock ore is expressly prohibited.
But there are policies from above and countermeasures from below.
Tinder Village will only use these fire rock mines to exchange for some daily necessities. Although this is very disadvantageous, and a helper like Zhao Qing will take away the majority.
But for Huorong Village, it is still a very suitable deal.
After all, these cultivation resources actually don't mean much to them.
Even if you get money from the black market, you will definitely be extorted by people like Zhao Qing to buy resources. After all the hard work, you may not get much more income than before.
Rather than go to such trouble, it would be better to trade directly with people like Zhao Qing.
Although they get less things, because they are given a lot of benefits, they will turn a blind eye to many things.
It's just that in the past few years, many of the strong laborers in their village were drafted by the Zhao family to fight in the war.
I originally thought that I was dealing with ordinary people, but monks suddenly appeared on the opposite side.
After a hard battle, although they defeated the enemy, they also suffered heavy losses in the strong labor force of Huorong Village.
But for such a huge loss, instead of showing any thanks, the Zhao family complained to the village chief that the villagers in Huorong Village were not strong enough.
Since then, Huorong Village has been in dire straits, and its situation has gotten worse and worse.
"Yes, it can be regarded as a blood feud with the Zhao family." Zheng Yi was very satisfied with this village. Their decline happened in the past few years, which means that the younger generation in the village all have a blood feud with the Zhao family.
The second Luma Village has relatively few men and many adult women.
It is basically impossible to complete the mining work relying solely on the strong labor force of their village. However, since Lumaxun can continue to this day, it is of course because of its own special means.
The women of Luma Village are extremely good at spinning. Although women in this era can spin yarn and make linen, Luma Village has its own secret recipe, and the linen weaved is good and strong.
Although these linen cloth cannot be directly exchanged for igneous rock ore, there is a demand for linen cloth in such a large mine and surrounding villages and towns, and it can always be exchanged for ore in various ways.
However, compared with the precious igneous rock ore, the value of linen is too low. Therefore, they can only exchange part of the share and struggle to maintain their lives.
The last one is Xiyuan Village, this village is what Zheng Yi values most.
Xiyuan Village is relatively far from the mine, and it also owns more land. It is the only village near the mine that produces a lot of grain.
For villages like Hewan Village and Huorong Village, the majority of their income comes from mining. In good years, they can dig a lot of extra ore every month.
However, because its output is relatively small, most of the ores have been replaced by resources such as grain and cloth.
Although it is cruel, these villages maintain this kind of peace in this strange state.
Zhou Kunshan chose these villages completely according to Zheng Yi's wishes.
The villages that can cooperate must have hatred against the Zhao family.
More importantly, their situation cannot be too good, and there must be as much benefit as possible between the two parties.
Promises with red lips and white teeth are far inferior to entanglements of interests.
Only by taking a two-pronged approach can we avoid the ambiguity between them and the Zhao family to the greatest extent.
"Guys, this is my lord." Zhou Kunshan introduced Zheng Yi to Lin Dadao and the others.
Then introduce the village chiefs of the three villages to Zheng Yi.
"This is Lin Dadao, the head of Huorong Village."
"This is Feng Lai, the head of Luma Village."
"This is Zhang Gu, the head of Xiyuan Village."
The three village chiefs looked at Zheng Yi curiously. At the first sight of Zheng Yi, they could tell the difference.
It was a kind of superiority in the bones, which gave them the same feeling as when facing the Zhao family.
But this feeling is slightly different. Zheng Yi is not as violent as the Zhao family. He is majestic but not scary at the same time.
When they looked at Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi also observed several people.
The head of Huorong Village is about fifty or sixty years old. His hair and beard are obviously a lot of gray, but the muscles on his body are still like those of a bodybuilder, as if they were chiseled with a knife and an axe.
Surprisingly, the village chief of Luma Village is a woman. A woman who works in a mine all year round is naturally not very beautiful in appearance. She has a relatively plump figure. In addition to being slightly short, her appearance can still vaguely reveal the characteristics of a woman.
The village chief of Xiyuan Village is the youngest, probably around thirty years old. He is thin and dark-skinned, the most typical image of an ordinary farmer.
"How many of you? The village chief must have introduced you before. Why am I inviting you here?"
Lin Dadao laughed and said: "Zhou Xiaozi told me that you seem to want to do business with us. Am I right?"
Zheng Yi nodded slightly: "Village Chief Lin is right. I do have some business that I want to do with you. Your villages have goods that we are in short supply."
"It just so happens that our village recently got a lot of meat for some reasons. These things cannot be stored for a long time, so the best way is to replace them with things that can be stored for a longer period of time."
"There's no problem with that." As soon as Zheng Yi finished speaking, Feng Lai replied eagerly: "It just so happens that our village also has some linen stockpiled. How about I send someone to Hewan Village tonight?"
In order to complete the Zhao family's apportionment, this kind of transaction is often done in Lumaxun.
Originally, due to various reasons, their latest batch of linen sales were not very satisfactory, and Feng Lai was still worried that this month's distribution might not be completed.
But she didn't expect that just when she was worried, Zheng Yi actually wanted to trade with them. This was no different from giving help in a timely manner.
Zhang Gu frowned and thought for a while and said with a wry smile: "Although our village has some food stored, the value of this stuff is not very high. Of course, if you want to buy it, we will be happy to sell it."
Only Lin Dadao from Huorong Village frowned and said: "Both of their villages have goods for sale, but our Huorong Village does not have such products. Are you looking for the wrong person?"
Zheng Yi laughed: "Don't be impatient, Village Chief Lin. If I read correctly, you should be able to get salt, right? This thing is also an important material for us. If possible, I hope to get it from Lin Village Long term purchase.”
Lin Dadao's eyes lit up. Meat was very important even to their Huorong Village.
If you don't have the right channels, you can buy enough salt. It is impossible for everyone in Huorong Village to be as strong as a calf.
These people all had a tacit understanding and did not ask about the origin of the meat.
After all, no matter how Zheng Yi got the meat, as long as it can be eaten and it can fill the bellies of their villagers, it is enough, right?
"Lord, are you really not going to tell them our plan?" Zhou Kunshan asked doubtfully after seeing off the village chiefs.
"It's too early now..." Although the situation in these villages is very bad, it has not reached the point where they cannot survive at all.
Therefore, both parties still need to have a certain degree of contact.
The most important thing is that Zheng Yi needs them to experience for themselves the benefits of trading with Hewan Village.
That night, the linen cloth from Lu Ma Village was delivered.
For the salt from Huorong Village, they need to contact the seller to order it. The food from Xiyuan Village needs to be delivered the next day because of the distance.
Even though he didn't see the goods, Zheng Yi still asked someone to secretly deliver the meat to them.
With Zhou Kunshan and Feng Haitao, two masters who have greatly increased their strength, it is not difficult to escape the so-called defenders who are in name only.
In fact, there are almost no forces around the mine that can be used as guards.
At most, it's just a few symbolic checkpoints set up at traffic arteries and other places.
This is because more and more people have rebelled in recent years, so the number of hand defenses has increased.
A few decades ago, there wouldn't even be such a level of guarding.
People who can do such a thankless job will naturally not take this kind of work seriously.
The guards at many levels can only take a walk around for a while at most. Other times, everyone hides and sleeps.
Many times, Zhou Kunshan and the others didn't even need to bypass the level.
Just wait for the guarding soldiers to go slack off, and then swagger past. (End of chapter)