Chapter 138: Catching a Turtle in a Jar
A supervisor from the Mint heard the shout and rushed forward to check. After carefully identifying it, he nodded repeatedly, "It's gold. There is a gold mine in here!"
There is a gold mine in the mountains! When the Mint heard about this, they were immediately delighted.
Copper ore can be used to make copper coins, while gold ore can be smelted into gold nuggets.
Although both are used to make money for the imperial court, the latter is obviously more valuable. Not only will the salary increase, but the imperial court will also reward people of all ranks. It is guaranteed that they will have both fame and fortune!
"We need to report this to Lord He, Lord Wan, and Prefect Qu."
He Yanxiu and Wan Mingjun were both recuperating from illness, and the person in charge of all affairs at the Mint at this time was a man named Chang Hongwen.
"You two, hurry down the mountain and report to the prefectural government. Also, check how much gold there is here."
If the amount of gold mine is huge, the matter must be reported to the court as soon as possible.
"Yes." After receiving the order, the subordinates went to do their work.
The news of the discovery of gold in the mine quickly spread.
At first, the news spread throughout the entire mine, then reached the government office, and soon spread to every corner of Hedong Prefecture. Then, even several surrounding prefectures and counties knew that gold mines had been discovered in the mountains under the jurisdiction of Hedong Prefecture.
"It's a gold mine. It's really expensive."
"Yes, it is gold after refining. One ounce of gold is equivalent to ten ounces of silver, and one ounce of silver is equivalent to one string of copper coins. If we can refine one ounce of gold, it is equivalent to ten strings of copper coins."
"Tsk, this is much faster than minting copper coins, and it's also very valuable. The court must be very happy."
"Of course, they will definitely be praised. I'm afraid the prefect and the people sent down by the higher authorities will all be promoted to higher positions."
"I heard that a mine caved in before, and several officials of the imperial court nearly lost their lives. The discovery of gold in the mine this time can be considered a blessing in disguise for them."
"More than that, it's a blessing from heaven..."
Because gold was discovered in the mine, the number of guards guarding the mint increased. Also, because gold smelting became more complicated, the previous smelting furnace was not enough and a new smelting furnace needed to be built. A new group of craftsmen came into the mine one after another.
The valley seemed increasingly lively.
At night, the craftsmen rested, and only the night watchmen patrolled back and forth, with the sound of footsteps and the crackling sound of the burning torches.
"Several gentlemen."
A hunchbacked man who seemed to be old and had a lopsided figure came up to the patrolling guards with a food box in his hand.
Seeing the man's attire and the apron he was wearing, he seemed to be from the kitchen. The guards relaxed their vigilance but also asked, "Why are you still not asleep so late? What are you doing here?"
"I'm thinking of you all for your hard work on night watch, so the kitchen steamed some pork buns with soy sauce for you all to have a bite of so you won't feel hungry at night."
As the man spoke, he opened the large food box in his hand and said, "It's still hot, please eat it while it's hot."
They had steamed buns with soy sauce pork a few days ago, which tasted good. Everyone hadn't eaten enough and were thinking about it very much. Now that they saw buns with soy sauce pork, which were a reward for the guards on night patrol, they didn't refuse and each took two to eat.
Seeing that there were buns to eat, the guards also came over one after another to take the buns.
For a moment, these buns seemed to be snatched away.
"We have everything. There are a lot of buns here. You must eat them while they are hot."
The middle-aged man greeted them while distributing buns to the guards.
After the guards had each taken their buns and started eating them, the man nodded and bowed as he walked towards the kitchen.
After eating two steamed buns with marinated pork and taking a sip of tea, the feeling of fullness in their stomachs brought them a complete sense of happiness, and the guards continued their patrol with great satisfaction.
"Swish!" A guard suddenly fell to the ground.
Then, there was one, two, three...
All the guards fell to the ground in a disorderly manner.
The thin figure who was originally hunched over stood up again, stood straight, and picked up a torch that had fallen on the ground. The light of the fire shone on his cheek, revealing a conspicuous scar on his cheek.
The man dug out the lamp oil that had been hidden long ago, picked up the can, and scattered the lamp oil on the nearby tents, the door panels of the houses, and even sprinkled it in several circles around the area.
Only after all the four cans of lamp oil were poured out did he throw the torch in his hand onto the lamp oil.
but……
The fire did not burn as fast as imagined, turning the place into a sea of fire. Instead, when the fire fell to the ground, it made a "sizzling" sound and was mostly extinguished.
This is……
The man leaned over, lifted the oil jar to his nose and sniffed it.
It was definitely the smell of lamp oil, how could it not burn? The man frowned, took another torch from the torch rack next to him, and threw it on the tent.
Still no fire.
What is going on!
The man's face suddenly changed and he reached for the fire starter on his body.
"Don't bother. This fire won't start."
The door creaked open and He Yanxiu walked out of the room, followed by Qu Zhiwen, Wan Mingjun and others.
The doors of other rooms were also wide open, and the guards surrounded the man. The guards who had already been knocked unconscious by the knockout drug also jumped up, drew their steel knives, and pointed them at the man who was surrounded by layers of people.
The man looked gloomy, looking at the people in front of him, gritted his teeth and sneered, "It seems that this is inviting you into a trap."
"Not really." He Yanxiu denied.
"Oh? What is that?" the man shouted.
"It's like catching a turtle in a jar."
Such a person is not worthy of the title of Jun.
man,"……"
You are the turtle, your whole family is turtles! The man was angry, and he pulled out a soft whip from his waist. He stomped his left foot on the ground, and the whole person immediately flew into the air. The whip in his hand was even more fierce, and he rushed straight towards He Yanxiu.
Sure enough, they were coming for him! He Yanxiu sneered.
Several guards around him immediately took action, using their swords to block the whip in the man's hand.
The nearby guards swarmed over and wrestled with the man.
The man was obviously a martial arts expert, and he wielded a whip with great skill. The whip was densely embedded with steel needles, and it glowed coldly under the firelight.
It seemed that even when facing a group of people, the man still had the upper hand, and even took advantage of a gap to rush towards He Yanxiu.
"Protect Lord He!" Qu Zhiwen shouted.
The guards immediately swarmed forward to protect He Yanxiu.
But the man took out a "thunder bomb" from his arms and threw it at everyone's feet.
“Boom!”
Smoke rose up and everything in front of me was white.
Everyone waved their sleeves, trying to make the smoke dissipate as quickly as possible.
When his vision was restored a little, he saw the steel whip in the man's hand, which had already rushed straight to He Yanxiu's face! (End of this chapter)
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