Chapter 1022: You Fu Returns

Qu Bing and his men captured 9,000 cannibals alive at one time. That night, they rested in the temporary camp. At about 3 a.m., the prisoners woke up one after another, but now they were all handcuffed, so it was useless for them to wake up now.

The Han tribe didn't care and just waited until the next morning. You Ye had people prepare broth and corn cakes for the prisoners. After watching the prisoners finish eating, he tied them all up in a string using the same method as before. There were 9,000 people, and even if they were tied up and stood there, they were still densely packed. Add to that the 6,000 people from the surrounding Han tribe. The scene was truly spectacular, as the saying goes, with over 10,000 people, and there was no end to it.

Qu Bing had people drive all the prisoners together, take photos from multiple angles, and then set off to force the prisoners back.

It is from now on that the first phase of the disease elimination plan has been officially achieved. The goals that should be completed in the first three months of winter in the north have been completed, and the herds of animals in the hunting grounds have all fled south. They will not come back until the spring and summer of next year. Without herds of animals in the hunting grounds, the cannibals will not come here to hunt again.

Now, because of the Han tribe's disruption, the cannibals have not only lost a lot of people, but also have not completed the food reserves for the first three months of winter. So in the foreseeable future, in the last three months of winter in the north, the cannibals will definitely go south in groups, because there is no food in the north, and they can only risk going south to hunt in more distant places, just like they did before when they ran to the Han tribe.

The second phase of the strategic goal set by Qubing was to set up an ambush on the way to intercept the cannibals who were preparing to go south, and to annihilate part of the enemy's manpower again. At the same time, the Salt Pond had to follow the new strategic deployment and abandon positions from time to time to attract the enemy to continuously send troops to the Salt Pond. In this way, the Han tribe could continuously eliminate the enemy's manpower from both the Salt Pond and the enemies going south. At the latest, when the cannibals could no longer send people in the spring of next year, they could start to clear the cannibal's base.

After Qubing brought the prisoners back, he wrote down the recent results and reports, photos, predictions about the future direction of the war, his own strategic goals, etc., all in a letter and sent it to Luo Chong. He also asked Luo Chong to prepare to receive the prisoners and prepare for transportation. His ship was definitely not able to transport so many people at a time.

After sending the battle report to Luo Chong, Qu Bing divided his troops again, and ordered the first battalion to take the 1,000 militiamen recruited from the hunting ground area, a total of about 1,800 people, and all of them were deployed to the salt pond camp, letting them fight a seesaw battle with the enemy on their own. If the enemy sent people to occupy those salt ponds, they would kill them once, and then the Han tribe could not occupy there and defend it, but had to give up the land and wait for the enemy to deploy troops to the salt pond area again.

On the other side, Qu Bing also took the rest of the second and third battalions, the guard company, and the remaining 3,000 militiamen to the river bend position, which was the main passage for the cannibals to go south. According to You Ye, those bastards always walked along the river when they went south, so that they would not get lost and could find their way back no matter how far they went.

And this river bend position will become the main battlefield of the Shen Ce Guard in the future. In the next three or four months, there will definitely be a large number of cannibal teams passing through here and going south, and what they need to do is to intercept them here and capture all those guys who go south.

A few days later, in early December of the first year of Da Ming, the battle report sent back by Qu Bing from the north was also sent to Luo Chong. Luo Chong also knew the great results of their annihilation of tens of thousands of enemies at one time. At the same time, there were also many photos sent, which made Luo Chong very happy.

Luo Chong also followed the convention and sent the victory report to the counties of the Han tribe again, announcing the good news to the people, letting them know the merits of those soldiers in the north this time, and the Han tribe has been winning battles, which can also boost the morale of the people and help to consolidate the people's national self-confidence. Of course, this depends on how to publicize and guide. Luo Chong is still very good at this, mainly because he has seen too many such things in his previous life.

In mid-December of that year, You Fu, who was looking for coal mines in the south, also returned with his team by boat. This time they found coal mines, and also found potatoes and iron mines from the Baiwu tribe they discovered. In addition, they also surveyed and mapped the surrounding areas, selected transportation routes and habitable areas, and prepared to bring the maps back for Luo Chong to plan personally. In addition, they also brought those minerals and crops.

When Luo Chong heard the news that You Fu had returned, he personally led people to the dock in Liuyang County to greet him, and brought a lot of photos that Qu Bing had sent back from the north.

"Chief, Fu has lived up to your trust and finally found the coal mine that you wanted."

You Fu said this to Luo Chong the first time he saw him after getting off the boat, and bowed deeply to Luo Chong. Luo Chong immediately stepped forward and helped him up to show his closeness.

"You have worked hard. Look at your face. You have been exposed to the wind outside and you are even darker." Luo Chong took You Fu's hand and started to greet him.

"I dare not say that I have worked hard for the development of the tribe. This is what I should do." You Fu also hurriedly became modest.

"Don't worry, I will remember all your contributions, and I will definitely not reduce your rewards. When you go back, you will report the list of people who have made contributions this time. Those who deserve to be promoted will be promoted, and those who deserve to be rewarded will be rewarded. I will definitely not hesitate to reward anyone who has contributed to the development of the tribe." Luo Chong also said again to You Fu and the followers behind him.

Of course, You Fu's men were very happy to hear this. They had been living in the wilderness for nearly a year, just for these merits and rewards.

"Thank you, Chief. By the way, Chief, we brought back some of the mineral specimens we collected this time. Anyway, as long as we can see them, we brought back some of them, regardless of whether we know them or not. In addition, we brought back nearly 200 kilograms of taro from the Baiwu tribe. However, when we were about to move them down, we found that the taro had turned green. I don't know if it can still be eaten." You Fu immediately reported the results of this exploration.

"It's turning green? That's a good thing. It's about to sprout. You may not know how to grow it. In fact, the taro you mentioned is a seed. It will turn green and sprout in a warm environment. After it sprouts, cut off the buds and the flesh and bury them in the soil. It will grow into a new fruit. In addition, that thing should not be called taro because it is buried in the soil and is bean-shaped, so I named it potato."

Hearing You Fu talking about the green potatoes, Luo Chong immediately told him what he knew.

You Fu was stunned. He didn't expect that before he asked about the situation, the leader had already figured out how to grow this thing.

"Potato? This name is easy to understand. It turns out that the leader has already mastered the planting method. Then next year we don't have to rush to exchange planting technology with the White House tribe." You Fu nodded and spoke.

"Well, don't worry. Let's not talk about this today. I have already prepared a welcoming banquet for everyone in Liuyang County, waiting for you heroes to come back. You won't be able to eat anything good on the ship, so I will treat you to hot pot later to warm you up."

After talking about potatoes, Luo Chong took You Fu and the others to Liuyang City for dinner. At the dock, Luo Chong also ordered his guards to wrap the potatoes with quilts and not let them get cold. The mineral specimens brought back by You Fu were directly loaded into a small boat and sent to the comprehensive research institute on the island in the middle of the lake. According to convention, all new minerals collected outside must be sent to the laboratory for testing to see if they are new minerals, because some stones look the same and it is impossible to distinguish their internal components with the naked eye.

The welcoming banquet prepared for You Fu was set up in the inn, because You Fu's entourage had 200 people, and there was no room in the government office. Luo Chong also found She Xin, the governor of Liuyang County, to accompany him. He was the one who arranged all the meals here. Luo Chong just gave an order.

In the hall on the first floor of the inn, more than 200 people sat down. On each table was a charcoal stove hot pot, various meats, stored cabbage, frozen tofu, and nothing else. There were no fresh vegetables in this season, but there was plenty of wine and meat. After everyone had poured wine, Luo Chong stood up with a glass of wine and said,

"Come, today I welcome you all. The soldiers have been working hard to expand the territory for the tribe. I, as the leader, should toast you a glass."

Everyone also stood up and raised their glasses to sing, "Thank you, leader!"

"Okay, let's eat and sit down."

After everyone drank a cup together, Luo Chong ignored them and asked everyone to sit down. He then started to eat and chat with the people at his table.

Luo Chong stretched his hand back and immediately a guard handed him a paper bag. Luo Chong took it and put it directly in front of You Fu and said,

"This is the war report sent by Qu Bing from the north. He also took a lot of photos for your brother You Ye. They are doing well in the north now. A few days ago, they captured tens of thousands of cannibals alive. You and You Ye haven't seen each other for several years. I give you these photos to ease your longing for each other."

Upon hearing this, You Fu immediately opened the bag and took out the photos inside. Seeing his brother's high-spirited appearance, he could tell at a glance that he had not suffered much.

Speaking of which, the two brothers are also interesting. The eldest brother has been running around and has made many contributions, but he still has no stable job. His younger brother You Ye is now in charge of the affairs of three settlements with a population of tens of thousands in the north, and he has great power.

"Thank you, Chief. I am relieved to see that Youye is doing well." You Fu put the photo aside and said.

"Well, he is fine. Let him go to the war with Qubing first. After two years, the war will be over. By then, the north may officially establish counties. Then we can see what he means and make arrangements for him. Let's not talk about him for now. What did you find during this exploration? Tell us in detail." Luo Chong picked up some mutton and threw it into the pot, saying while rinsing it.

"Since the chief asked this, I really have something important to report." You Fu immediately put down his chopsticks and continued.

"Hmm? What important thing? Tell me." Luo Chong also nodded.

You Fu took off a small cloth bag from his waist and put it on the table and said.

"Chief, when we were surveying the transportation road this time, we found another large mine a hundred kilometers northwest of the coal mine. We initially suspected that it was a new metal vein, but it was not any metal we already had. It was a new type of metal mine." As he spoke, he untied the small cloth bag and took out a silver-gray stone with obvious metallic reflections.

Luo Chong and She Xin's eyes were immediately attracted to it. They saw that the stone was still attached to some granite, which was obviously mined from granite.

She Xin took a look and immediately said, "Isn't this tin ore? Our tribe has it. This kind of tin ore is produced in the Babaoshan Mine. Why do you say it is a new metal vein?"

Luo Chong took it in his hand and looked at it for a few times, but he couldn't see anything. There are too many silver-gray stones with obvious metallic reflections in metal minerals. Tin ore is like this, lead ore is like this, silver ore is like this, and there are many others, such as rhenium, nickel, molybdenum, etc., which cannot be identified with the naked eye. So he also looked at You Fu, waiting for him to explain.

You Fu saw that everyone was looking at him, so he spoke.

"Chief, this is what we discovered by accident when we passed by there and saw the mountain shining in the sunset. I thought that since there was metal reflection, there must be a metal vein, so I took people to explore and found this kind of stone.

"When I first saw these stones, I also suspected that they were tin ore, lead ore, silver ore, etc., but I verified it and found that none of them were.

"You all know that tin ore has a low melting point and turns into water at 300 or 400 degrees. Lead ore is even worse and will melt at more than 200 degrees. But this kind of stone can't be burned at all. How can it be lead tin?"

Luo Chong and She Xin nodded immediately, and She Xin continued, "Well, that makes sense. Could it be silver ore?"

"No, I have seen silver ore. Although it looks very similar, silver ore is harder. Look at this stone. It is very soft, as soft as graphite. I have tried it myself. I can use this stone as a pencil to draw marks directly on paper. How can it be a silver ore?" You Fu explained again.

Luo Chong frowned and thought about it. The silver-gray color, metallic reflection, soft texture, and heavy weight in the hand indicated that the metal had a very high density and could not be burned by fire, indicating that it was not lead or tin. Thinking of this, Luo Chong suddenly remembered a rare metal, so he asked.

"You said you did an experiment. How did you burn it? Did you put it together with carbon and burn it in the furnace, or how did you burn it?"

"I used mud to build a vertical furnace and put coal in it to burn it. Nothing came out, and the ore disappeared directly. There was no metal in the coal ash." You Fu immediately talked about his experiment.

Luo Chong was excited when he heard this, "Are you sure the ore was burned directly? Could it be that the burned debris was mixed with the coal ash, and you couldn't tell it apart?"

"This..." You Fu thought about it. He really didn't pay attention to this matter at the time, so he had to say, "It's possible, but I didn't pay attention. I was only thinking about finding metal at the time."

Luo Chong's guess was more certain after hearing this, so he shouted immediately.

"Come here, knock a small piece of stone down from here, hold it with iron chopsticks, and put it over the flame of the calcium carbide lamp to roast and see if there is any white powder. Remember to wear a mask to prevent poison gas."

(End of this chapter)