Four magistrates stood outside the gate of the railway station and looked quietly at the opposite side of the river. In less than a year, the place had already changed its appearance, with restaurants and shops one after another, and pedestrians on the road were bustling.

A few days ago, during the dry season, a bridge was built on the Li River to facilitate travel. As more and more things were produced by the railway supervisor, merchants gathered on the other side, and large trucks loaded on the bridge were one after another. The railway was opened, except for a few small places in the east, no one was transported by ship. They all crossed the river to the station, transported by trains or Xiangcheng in the north, or Tangzhou in the south. The Ru River in the north was connected to the Bianhuai water system, and the Han River in the south entered the Yangtze River system.

Ouyang Xiu stepped on the slag under his foot and praised: "What a prosperous scene! Just look at the opposite side of the bridge, there are many shops, and I don't know how much goods you sell in a day. There are so many merchants who don't know how much commercial tax they charge, so where is the iron supervisor still short of money!"

Song Qi on the side said, "Uncle Yong, you're not thinking too much. These merchants came here to buy goods from the Iron Supervision Bureau, so how much is the tax? The payment for goods received when selling goods is the big one. Looking at this way, wouldn't the Iron Supervision Bureau have to collect more than one million guan a year?"

Liu Zhi said: "A few months ago, the iron supervisor smelted iron and could not sell it. The grain and rice were still needed to be separated from the states and Zhouji. In our states, we have sent a lot of rice here. Now they have made money, so we have to be able to help us."

When the others heard this, they laughed together and said that they should.

The road was desolate, and they were still a little doubtful on the way, is the Iron Supervision not as powerful as those circulated outside? When they arrived at the place, they only looked at the grand yamen and the gate, and they knew that they were thinking too much. Among the four states, Chenzhou is the most prosperous, but the state government offices there are also shabby than here. Just looking at the wide iron gate outside and this wide road covered with slag, which state can afford it?

This iron gate made several magistrates envious. It was made of iron plates and had wheels underneath, so it could be opened without much force. If it weren't for the width limit, the etiquette level was insurmountable, and it could be opened wider.

Such a large iron plate is not pig iron, and it makes people feel shocking. How much does it cost to buy it outside?

Du Zhongxiao stood aside and remained silent. This time, it was obvious that everyone was going to divide the money from the Iron Prison, and they couldn't stop it. The previous few states helped a lot, but this time they were afraid that they would take back the capital and interests. Du Zhongxiao discussed with Su Song beforehand that the Iron Prison should not be an iron rooster, and should give others the benefits they should give. But insist on one thing, give something, but not money.

For the iron regulator, the market is still growing rapidly and cannot keep up with the speed of production. Almost every product has a backlog. Giving things out and reducing the inventory of the iron regulator is not a bad thing. Money is the capital to expand production in the future. When it comes to the iron regulator, every penny must be useful. With the back of the factory, the iron regulator's money will be born.

After looking at the surrounding scenery for a while, Du Zhongxiao said, "The Houya has prepared a banquet to welcome you. It's not too early, so please go to the table."

Several people were in a good mood and entered the gate with great enthusiasm. After Du Zhongxiao arrived at the Houya. This was the iron supervisor yamen in charge of the factory. The Baiting supervisor yamen was not here, and the layout was very distinctive. Unlike the Houyamen in other yamen, there was no place for officials to live here, but a special official party was built outside. The Houya buildings were conference rooms, classrooms, warehouses, etc., and of course, there were canteens. The yard was very empty, with no ponds and rockery, and there were large fields of flowers, plants and trees. Instead, a large straw shed was built as a place for officials to rest and relax.

At this time, a table of wine banquet was set up under the shed, and several soldiers stood there quietly.

The guest and host took a seat and Du Zhongxiao said, "Iron Supervisor Xinli, there are no decent restaurants around, nor are there any suitable singing girls. The husbands will just use some wine and meals, so don't feel shabby."

Everything here is different from other places. After listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, everyone didn't say anything.

Du Zhongxiao said again: "Before the husbands came, the Iron Supervisor made some new things. The officials specially prepared two things to express their feelings. Two days later, we took the train to Tangzhou. We can take a walk in the past two days to see if we have any wishes and buy them at will."

The four prefectures are closest to the Iron Supervision Bureau, and they will soon know what new products are there. The four prefectures came and each had a list of things that their family members told them to buy. Such as enamel products, pastries, candy, honeycomb coal stoves, etc. Yan Shu's house, who is most particular, even listed various knives for kitchens, various scissors for cutting cloth, paper and even nails.

It’s not that Du Zhongxiao was stingy and refused to give them gifts. It was because four people came together, and things were difficult to do. Some people wanted this, while others wanted this, with different goods, different prices, and different quantities. If you accidentally offend someone, it would be better to give the same gift and everyone else would buy it themselves.

The soldiers were ordered to bring five small wooden boxes, one of the four magistrates, and one of them was placed in front of Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao opened the wooden box, picked up an oil lamp, picked up the glass lampshade inside the box and covered it. He said, "A few days ago, I invited several glass craftsmen to come. I tried it many times and burned out this transparent glass to make a cover. When the oil lamp is lit and covered with this cover, it can not only prevent wind from being blown out, but also prevent oil smoke from stinging the eyes."

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao took off the lampshade again, took out a lighter, and said, "This is a newly made fire. Just turn the mechanism - that's it - to ignite the turtle. Although this thing is not much different from the turtle and flint, it is much easier to use."

After saying that, he nodded the oil lamp with a lighter and covered the cover again.

After the demonstration to everyone, Du Zhongxiao put away the lighter, twisted a knob on the lamp with his hand, and said, "Write here by hand, you can adjust how long the wick extends. The brightness of the lamp will naturally be different. The brighter the oil, the faster the oil will be, and it will take longer to burn. The oil in the lamp and the oil in the fire will be made during the iron supervision to coke and cannot be mixed. This kind of lamp oil not only burns brightly, but also smokeless and odorless, which is better than candles."

As he said, Du Zhongxiao turned the lamp to the brightest. At this time, the sun had set and the night was hazy. The oil lamp was indeed brighter than a candle.

It's okay to use this light. According to Du Zhongxiao's meaning, it is extremely troublesome to use oil made by iron. The fire is very interesting. A few people were playing with it in their hands, and they saw that they were all brass shells, and they were shining with golden light. They learned to Du Zhongxiao to open the lid, and a trigger and a string of Mars ignited the wick.

In Du Zhongxiao's eyes, oil lamps are important, not only bright, but most importantly, they can be moved at will and protected from wind. It's fine, but it's very useful in the wild, and it's very useful for people rushing to the night and marching. It's much better than lanterns. But in the eyes of the four, it's a little more interesting. They are all high-ranking officials, with a generous salary, and it's not that they can't afford candles at home, so the oil lamps are really irrelevant. This self-starting fire is exquisitely made and easy to carry, and is a good toy. Usually, they can't light the lamps at night, and they can be used for lighting.

Song Qi played for a while, then lit the fire and then turned it off, and smiled and said, "This is interesting, it's very bright, and it's very good to study at night. Fortune, how much does this fire cost outside? I'll buy a few more and give it to my guests and friends when I go back."
Chapter completed!