Qian Shun quickly ran over upon seeing Chen Jie, his face breaking into a full smile as he said, "Fifth Master, what brings you here?"
Chen Jie dismounted and handed his horse to an Eagle Guard beside him, chuckling, "Manager Qian, does that mean you aren’t welcoming me?"
"Not at all, you’re warmly welcomed."
Qian Shun said, "Come, Fifth Master, it’s quite dusty here, let’s talk in the shed."
Chen Jie nodded and followed Qian Shun into the workshed. Then, Qian Shun said, "Hurry, brew some of my best tea for the Fifth Master and change to new tea sets, wash them several times."
"Manager Qian, there’s no need for such trouble."
Chen Jie said to Qian Shun, "Let’s skip the tea and go see the mining area."
"Fifth Master, it’s so filthy there, what would you want to do there?"
Qian Shun said to Chen Jie.
"Oh, is Manager Qian hiding a beauty in the mining area that you don’t allow seeing?"
"Fifth Master, you’re wronging me. What beauty could I possibly hide here? Fine, since you want to see, let’s go."
Manager Qian said, leading Chen Jie directly to the mining area.
"Sir, this is the mining area, and there are eighty mining workers."
Chen Jie looked and saw a group of mining workers banging away at the dark red iron ore with their hammers.
"Sir, past this area is our smelting zone. The collected iron ore is forged into iron ingots here for storage."
"Sir, this is the storage area where the smelted iron blocks are kept."
Qian Shun said, while Chen Jie observed and commented, "Hmm, right, where do you keep the substandard scrap iron?"
Qian Shun was momentarily taken aback upon hearing this but quickly recovered with a forced smile, "Oh, those scrap irons are all stored separately."
"Take me to see them."
"Why would you want to see that?"
Qian Shun forced a smile, but Chen Jie stared at him and said, "Don’t tell me there’s no scrap iron."
"How could that be? No one wants that stuff. Come, sir, this way."
Qian Shun quickly led Chen Jie to a small storage room, and upon entering, Chen Jie saw a small pile of iron bars lying isolated on the floor.
"Fifth Master, this is the scrap iron."
Chen Jie walked over and noted that these scrap irons looked no different from normal iron ingots, curiously saying, "These look just like regular iron, why are they called scrap iron?"
Qian Shun said, "Fifth Master, try taking two pieces and you’ll know."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie picked up two iron bars made of scrap iron, feeling no difference in the hand, just ordinary iron.
Seeing no issue, Chen Jie knocked the two iron bars together, and in the next moment, heard a loud clang as both bars shattered to pieces.
Chen Jie was also stunned. This was not iron at all, more like those props cheats use in fraudulent martial arts demonstrations in his past life.
Thinking this, Chen Jie picked up another piece from the floor, made a punching motion, and...
The iron piece broke into pieces.
Seeing such brittle iron, Chen Jie finally understood why it was called scrap iron.
Chen Jie looked at Qian Shun and asked, "Why is this iron so brittle?"
Upon hearing this, Qian Shun said, "I don’t know. Mining and smelting follow the same procedure, but some iron just turns out this brittle. I don’t know the reason."
"Hmm, I see. So, this scrap iron has always been piling up here?"
"That’s right, no one wants it. It’s all here!"
"The scrap iron from the past few years is all here?"
Chen Jie pressed further, and upon hearing this, Qian Shun confirmed, "Yes, all here!"
Chen Jie demanded, "The account book."
At that moment, Zhou Chu handed over the account book, and Chen Jie said, "Manager Qian, according to this record, there was thirty thousand jin of scrap iron last year alone, and up to now this year, twenty thousand jin. Do you have fifty thousand jin of scrap iron here?"
Hearing Chen Jie’s pressing query, Qian Shun swallowed and then replied with a forced smile, "Heh, well, Fifth Master, we dealt with the previous scrap iron."
"Dealt with it in which year?
Chen Jie didn’t give him a moment to breathe and continued to press.
"The year before last. No, no, last year?"
"Oh, that means all the scrap iron here is from this year’s new iron? Bring a blacksmith here to check if this is this year’s new iron."
Upon hearing this, an Eagle Guard immediately responded and was ready to leave with an iron piece.
At that moment, Qian Shun said, "Fifth Master, come over here; let’s step aside and talk."
"No, you’ve seen it. Eagle Guard, I was expressly ordered by the Hall Master to investigate. If you don’t tell the truth, consider the consequences yourself."
Gulp, Qian Shun swallowed again.
Chen Jie continued to pressure, "You just said this iron was processed by you? How did you process it?"
"Buried, smelted, or sold?"
"Buried, where? Smelted, what about the after-smelt residue? Sold, sold to whom? Speak!"
"This, this, Fifth Master, spare my life!"
Qian Shun fell to his knees with a thud, knocking his head on the floor frantically as Chen Jie watched him and said, "It’s not up to me to spare you, it depends on whether you want to save your own life."
"I want, I want to live!"
"Good, then tell me, where did you dispose of all this scrap iron?"
Chen Jie looked at Qian Shun, who swallowed again before saying, "Sold, I sold it."
Chen Jie continued his questioning.
Hearing this, Qian Shun looked uncomfortable and said, "I don’t know them; they just come here regularly to buy, and I give them the iron, they give me silver."
"Who ordered you to do this?"
Chen Jie asked, and upon hearing this, Qian Shun’s face turned the color of liver, knocking his head and saying, "Fifth Master, please spare me, I can’t tell, if I do, I’ll surely die."
"Not telling will also lead to your death."
Chen Jie sharply declared.
Qian Shun was clearly frightened, Chen Jie softened his voice and added, "Of course, if you just tell, I will report to the Hall Master, and you will be kept safe."