But compared to mountain products like kudzu root, bracken root, and oak fruit that can fill one's stomach, people still prefer cassava.
Cassava is not only filling, but also delicious. The key is that you can often dig up a whole basket of cassava from just two or three cassava plants.
After being soaked to remove toxins, these cassava roots can be eaten whole.
Only a small amount of starch, the sediment from pounding kudzu root and bracken root, is edible. Oak seeds are small and slow to harvest, making them far less efficient than cassava.
However, cassava was hard to find, so the villagers had to rely on the mountain produce they were familiar with for the time being.
Some people also came to Jiang Tangtang to inquire whether she was going to the mountains to dig for wild produce. They wanted to see if they could go with her to dig for wild produce and share in her good fortune.
Jiang Tangtang is indeed planning to go into the mountains soon.
However, her goal was not the mountain produce, but the iron ore in the mountains.
To further research and develop bombs, in addition to raw materials such as saltpeter and sulfur, iron is also needed.
In addition, the development of the valley and the growth of the army both require a large amount of iron.
Therefore, the iron in the mountains must be mined as soon as possible.
Jiang Tangtang went into the mountains to carefully determine the area of the mine, the difficulty of mining, and other related matters.
She had previously discovered that the mountain with the iron ore deposit was located deep in the mountains and was quite dangerous. She had originally planned to take the black eagle and invite her Jiang brothers to go with her.
Since the villagers also wanted to go to the mountains with her, she decided to select some able-bodied men to go with them.
This is also a good opportunity to observe more closely and see who is suitable to be recruited into the weapons research and production team.
While Jiang Tangtang was leading the villagers into the mountains, Fang Dayong and Lu Fusheng finally came up with a way to escape from the mine.
Actually, the two of them hadn't really come up with a solution.
After all, the idea of the miners in the mine escaping together is not a good solution.
Since the mine opened, every year miners, unable to bear the oppression, have banded together to try to escape, but they have never succeeded.
Every time the mine foreman caught a runaway worker, he would tie them up and torture them in front of the miners to intimidate the remaining workers and prevent them from escaping.
The workers who escaped and were caught were tortured terribly, and some were even tortured to death using various cruel methods.
Having witnessed these methods, most of the workers no longer had the courage to escape.
Fang Dayong and Lu Fusheng spoke to many miners in private, but most of them had lifeless eyes and looked resigned to their fate.
Fang Daqi was incredibly brave and lowered his voice, saying, "Are you willing to be enslaved here for the rest of your lives?"
The foreman at the mine doesn't watch over everyone while they sleep, but he does guard the miners' living quarters to prevent them from escaping.
The mine managers didn't treat the miners like human beings, so naturally they wouldn't provide them with good living conditions.
Hundreds of miners were crammed into a small room, which reeked of a terrible stench.
The living conditions were appalling, but it made it easier for Fang Dayong to persuade the miners.
However, no matter how indignant Fang Dayong was, the miners were not very emotional.
Some miners had already closed their eyes and gone to sleep.
After a long while, a thin man kindly reminded them, "Do you think we don't want to escape? You haven't been here long enough to see what those people are capable of. Once you do, you'll understand why everyone is working so diligently and doesn't want to escape."
Fang Dayong retorted, "Who says I haven't seen anything? I tried to escape on the way here, but I failed and got caught and beaten up."
“You only got a beating, but at least you’re still alive. Have you ever seen someone hanged up and slowly sliced to death? Have you ever seen someone have their skin torn off? Let me tell you, these are the fates of those who escape from the mines and get caught.”
As the man spoke, he sat up, glanced in Fang Dayong's direction, and said, "A leader like you will suffer an even worse fate. I advise you to behave yourself and not do anything rash."
In the darkness, meeting the man's dark gaze, Fang Dayong couldn't help but shiver.
He thought that beating someone to death was already a very cruel method, but he never expected that this group of people would be so brutal.
Another thought popped into his mind: if only Lu Sanlang were here. If Lu Sanlang were here, he could definitely wipe out this group of people.
With his skills, he certainly wouldn't be afraid of them.
Unbeknownst to him, his jealousy and resentment towards Lu Shiyan had turned into admiration.
Having gone through all of this, he finally realized the gap between himself and Lu Shiyan.
Knowing that escape was not an option, Fang Dayong had to come up with other ideas.
He bit his cheek and thought for a while, then suddenly stood up and said to the man who had spoken to him earlier, "Brother, what's your name? You've been here for quite a while, haven't you? Judging from your build, you must have come from a well-off family before, right? What brings you here?"
Although the man was thin, he was quite tall. In this era when people generally lived a difficult life, ordinary people were actually not very tall.
Those who are tall at least indicate that their families are not lacking in food and drink.
The man seemed to be thinking of something, a bitter smile appearing on his face. He sighed and said, "If you hadn't asked, I would have almost forgotten my name. Well, if I die one day, at least people will know that I am Zhang Xu, not just a number in the mine."
To facilitate management, the mine foreman assigned a uniform number to all the miners who went into the mine to work.
Each miner was assigned a unique number based on the year they worked.
The foremen called out the miners' work numbers.
Zhang Xu's number was Wu 48, while Fang Dayong's number in the mine was Xin 153.
Upon hearing Zhang Xu's name, Fang Dayong praised, "Brother Zhang, is there a scholar in your family? This name sounds like it has a distinguishing lineage, unlike us rough folks who choose our names so casually."
When asked about the origin of his name, Zhang Xu seemed lost in memories, murmuring, "My father named me Xu, meaning the rising sun. He said I was the hope of the Zhang family, but I never imagined..."
In the end, he not only failed to become the Zhang family's hope, but also ended up in such a state. If he were to meet his father in the afterlife, he would surely be very disappointed!
Fang Dayong, oblivious to his sadness, exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Zhang, you have scholars in your family, so you must have been educated, right? Think about it, is there any way to send a message out? I have a very capable cousin; if he knew I was here, he could definitely rescue us all."
Zhang Xu shook his head and sighed, "Don't even think about it. Those who can leave this mountain are all their people. They have no way of sending messages out."
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