The Peeping Tom Boy

  Two men were passing by a copper mine outside Luoyang City when a group of people were driving more than a dozen horse-drawn carts slowly out of the mine.

  Each carriage was drawn by four horses that were scarred and wounded, looking like they were having a hard time pulling the heavily loaded vehicle.

  At the front of the team, a man riding a tall horse led the way, followed by two cavalrymen wearing heavy armor, with a blue triangular flag on their backs bearing the character "Liu". The leading man had a full beard and held a golden spear with its head pointing down, looking relaxed yet dignified. His face was stern, but his simple and unadorned attire was immaculate, clearly that of a seasoned general who had been through many battles.

  On the road, there were not a few refugees in tattered clothes and gaunt faces. When they saw the convoy approaching from afar, they hastily hid in the bushes by the side of the road, peeking out to watch the convoy pass by.

  Fei Long hastily pulled Zhen Ming Su and flashed to the side of the road, far away from the official path.

  Zhen's face was puzzled, and Fei Long explained in a low voice: "Those are official carts, specifically for transporting ore. Most of the mines outside Luoyang City are fiefs of the imperial family, and most of the ore produced is sent to the Imperial Military Factory and the Mint. Salt and minerals are controlled goods that cannot be privately bought or sold, only officially sold by the government."

  "How come there are so many refugees here?"

  Those people all came to the mine to find work, the mine is the only place where you can find work without needing someone to introduce you, but it's a job that costs your life, one careless move and you'll be buried in the mine, you can only blame yourself for having bad luck, and no one cares about their lives or deaths. However, not everyone can do this job, you have to endure the beatings from the overseer inside, if you don't meet the mining standards, you won't get paid, the overseer doesn't treat them as human beings. In the past when my wife was still alive, I also worked here for a while to support her and the children, after they fell ill and died, I stopped doing it too.

  As the cavalry passed by, a large number of refugees suddenly poured out of the forest like a tide. Zhenming was silent for a moment, then turned his head and asked: "Isn't the Wei Chi blacksmith shop an official workshop? Where did they get so many iron ore?"

  Fei Long said mysteriously, "There are people in the imperial court who can get things done. The Mining Guild originally had a profitable relationship with the government and even helped the Imperial Guard forge weapons, so of course they have privileges. If ordinary civilians dare to privately smelt ore or cast coins, they will be punished by having their family property confiscated and their clan exterminated."

  Zhen Ming frowned: "Without ore, can't we refine alloy?"

  "Hehe, actually there's no need to worry, as long as you have silver, everything can be bought here. Just give some silver to these guards and you can buy as many minerals as you want. Many people use this method to buy copper mines and cast private coins. However, privately casting coins is a serious crime, once caught, it's punishable by death and the whole family will be implicated. So, these people usually have strong backing and are in cahoots with the mining guards, sharing profits. Many people have made their fortunes this way."

  Zhen Ming bitterly asked: "Can ten taels of silver buy how many mining stones?"

  "A few hundred catties, I suppose," Fei Long replied, then asked somewhat perplexedly: "Zhen Ge, why must you go to such trouble yourself to find materials? Can't those miners at the ironworks help?"

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said: "The protection of intellectual property rights is very important, I don't want my hard-earned patents to be misused by others."

  Fat Dragon's head was foggy: "Intellectual property? What is it?"

  "You won't understand even if I tell you."

  ……

  After returning from the mine, Zhen Ming gave Fei Long ten taels of silver and asked him to bribe the guards at various metal mines outside Luoyang City every day, secretly carrying some back.

  The tungsten-producing mine was originally an official gold mine, and the tungsten ore was just one of the associated minerals. Because no one knew what this mineral was, it was extracted and used as waste to fill in.

  Even if it's slag, it's not something ordinary people can take for themselves. Fei Long spent nearly five taels of silver to secretly buy back several dozen kilograms of black tungsten ore from the mine guards.

  Zhen Ming had a hard time grinding these ores into powder and took them to the Wei Chi blacksmith shop, letting the masters think of ways to smelt them. Unfortunately, even the best furnace in the blacksmith shop was useless against this kind of ore.

  The tungsten ore slag that has just been taken out of the furnace shows no signs of melting at all, and this is already the sixth time the smelting has failed.

  Zhuzi walked to his side at some point, with a schadenfreude expression on his face as he looked at the waste: "Look what our great master has come up with? Tsk tsk tsk, can't even reach the temperature and yet wants to smelt, isn't this just wishful thinking?"

  Zhen Ming did not show any displeasure, instead he humbly asked: "Zhuzi, what is the highest temperature that our iron forge's furnace can reach?"

  "How many degrees?"

  "How hot can it get when the fire is burning most strongly?"

  Zhuzi looked at Zhen Mingshu with a silly gaze and sneered, "How would I know? No one has put their hand in to test the temperature. If you want to know, just stick your own hand in and see. I guarantee that if the three of us are blowing air into the furnace, your hand will turn to ashes instantly. You won't even have time to feel pain, haha..."

  He finished speaking and left with a big laugh.

  Zhenming bitter is not in mind, turned around and looked at the crucible, muttering to himself: "Could it be that the furnace temperature does not meet the requirements?"

  ……

  In the evening, every household in Luoyang closed their doors and lit oil lamps.

  There are few pedestrians in the streets and alleys of the south city. Occasionally someone passes by, also with a hasty look.

  Under the window of a brick house in one of the alleys, several figures were flashing.

  "Give me a bit more stability! I'm going to fall off, watch your butts, forward, forward, higher, higher, okay, don't move..."

  A beautifully dressed young man, wearing a bright pearl hairpin and green silk shoes, was riding on the heads of two middle-aged men in servant attire, quietly directing them to move closer to the window of the house.

  Look at that young man's appearance, he is only thirteen or fourteen years old.

  After much difficulty, the young man finally reached the window and gently poked a hole in the thin paper covering it with his hand. He narrowed one eye and peeked inside through the opening.

  Through a small hole in the window, one can see that the room inside is simple but exceptionally clean.

  In the middle of the room there was a small stone mill with a little donkey tied to it, quietly chewing on its fodder.

  Next to it was a stove, with something simmering in the pot, emitting a misty vapor and a fragrance of beans.

  Opposite the stove, a small wooden bed that could barely hold one person was placed, with several pieces of women's undergarments neatly stacked on top.

  A faint light was coming from one corner of the room, a screen isolating it into a tiny bathroom.

  Under the lamp's illumination, a woman's slender and elegant figure was projected onto the white curtain, with full breasts, a pert bottom, and a waist that seemed to invite grasping.