While brick-making and lime production may present certain barriers to entry for ordinary people, these are only barriers. With money and skills, ordinary citizens can also participate in these businesses.
However, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was illegal to mine iron ore privately.
Because of this concept that had been ingrained in his mind for decades, Jiang Laoda had an instinctive fear of mining.
This is similar to the instinctive fear that ordinary people have of officials.
But when they met their sister's confident and determined gaze, and thought about all the great things she had led them to do after they arrived in the valley, the two brothers instantly found their courage.
The two nodded in unison.
Old Jiang said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Jiang Laowu asked, "Little sister, what should we do?"
"I'll teach you how to identify ores first," Jiang Tangtang said, picking up a stone from the ground and explaining it to the two of them.
The scanning system can detect where there are mineral deposits, but identifying which are high-quality ores and which are low-quality ores still requires some effort on your own.
Jiang Tangtang recently took some time to read a book about minerals.
In just a few months, she read more books than she had read in the previous few years. And not only did she read a lot of books, but the content of those books was also extremely diverse.
She has dabbled in industries she never imagined before her transmigration, from agriculture and construction to metallurgy and even military weapons.
She read the book quickly, but much of the content didn't quite stick in her mind.
While explaining to the two of them, she also took the opportunity to review the contents of the book and apply the theory to practice.
Even when she encountered knowledge that she herself couldn't understand, she would take advantage of the system to directly open the book, refer to the contents, and explain it to the two of them.
She not only imparted knowledge to the two of them, but also reinforced the knowledge she had acquired in a haphazard manner.
This can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
The two brothers were unaware that she was flipping through a book while talking; they only thought their sister was incredibly awesome.
Jiang Laowu looked at his younger sister with a look of worship and said, "Little sister, did the gods also impart this knowledge to you in a dream?"
Jiang Tangtang felt a little embarrassed thinking about how she had made up the story of a deity teaching her in a dream in order to justify her sudden knowledge.
But since she had already lied, the lie could only continue. She nodded solemnly and said, "That's right."
Jiang Laowu said, "Little sister, you are really amazing. If a fairy told me so much in a dream, I wouldn't be able to remember it all."
Jiang Laoda also said, "Don't even mention in a dream, I didn't remember everything your sister just told me."
Jiang Tangtang said, "It's okay if you don't remember it at all. I'll give you a book later. By referring to the book, you'll be able to remember it quickly."
Hearing his younger sister mention books, Jiang Laowu leaned closer and asked mysteriously, "Little sister, tell me honestly, was that book you gave me a gift from a deity?"
The illustrations in the book were so lifelike. And the colors—he had never seen a book like it before. He couldn't think of any other reason besides a divine gift.
Jiang Tangtang was originally thinking about what reason to give the two of them next time she used her points to exchange for books on mining from the system.
Seeing their expressions that said, "I already know your secret, but don't worry, I'll keep it a secret," she smiled and readily admitted it.
"It should be! Sometimes I dream at night that an old man with a white beard is teaching me, and when I wake up the next morning, there are books under my pillow."
As she said this, she gave an appropriate embarrassed look, "Fifth Brother, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you the truth last time because I was afraid of scaring you."
Jiang Laowu waved his hand and said, "There's nothing to apologize for. You did the right thing. These kinds of things should be kept secret and not let outsiders know."
Although this is a blessing from the gods, a good fortune for you, it's not good if you encounter someone with ill intentions who wants to take advantage of your good fortune to harm you.
Jiang the eldest nodded, "Fifth brother is right. Little sister, don't tell anyone about this except us."
After saying that, he instructed his younger brother not to let outsiders see the book.
In fact, Jiang Tangtang felt there was no need to be so nervous. Apart from the excellent artwork and the fact that the pictures were in color, the book's binding, paper, and other aspects were basically in line with the era.
As for the colors and painting techniques in the illustrations in the book, there are explanations for those as well.
However, Jiang Tangtang knew that her two brothers meant well and cared about her. So she obediently agreed without saying anything more.
The siblings learned about minerals while observing the surrounding terrain.
The group also discussed from time to time where to start mining, how to arrange the workers, how to provide accommodation, and how to ensure the safety of the miners in the deep mountains.
Time flies when you're busy. As darkness fell, the group started heading back to meet up with the villagers who were digging cassava.
The wild cassava field that Jiang Tangtang found had a lot of cassava. Dozens of men worked hard to dig it up, but there were still a lot of cassava on the mountain that hadn't been dug up.
The bags and baskets we brought in advance were already full. There was also a lot of cassava piled on the ground because we didn't have the tools to pack it.
Looking at the cassava on the ground, people felt both happy and worried.
Even Jiang Tangtang, who had no shortage of food, felt a surge of joy at the sight of the cassava piled up like a small mountain. "It's getting dark, everyone go back to the cave to rest. We can dig up these cassava again tomorrow."
"But what should we do with all these dug-up cassava? Should we just leave them piled up here?"
Although there was no one else in these deep mountains, everyone was still worried that animals might come and steal their food. "What if we get eaten by wild animals at night?"
"Have you forgotten that this cassava wasn't soaked in water and is poisonous? What wild animal is so stupid as to come here and steal poisonous cassava?"
After Jiang Tangtang's reminder, everyone realized that cassava was different from ordinary food.
Unprocessed cassava is poisonous.
Everyone started packing up and heading back to the cave.
Despite Jiang Tangtang's earlier remarks, the group still planned to move the already packed cassava to the cave first.
The cassava that couldn't fit on the ground were conveniently covered with cassava branches.
Knowing that the cassava branches would be brought back to the valley for planting, the cut cassava had already been bundled up.
It's also easy to cover up.
After everything was settled, the group carried the cassava back to the cave.
Inside the cave, the man who stayed behind to cook had already prepared tonight's meal.
Besides cooking dinner, they also slaughtered all the dead wild boars and cured the pork with salt.
Jiang Tangtang had prepared the salt in advance and brought it into the mountains before they even went in.
This salt is different from the salt they collect from the sumac tree; this salt is the one she smuggled from the Prince Duan's secret vault last time.
Although it cannot compare to the snow-white salt of modern times, according to the original owner's memories, this is already the finest salt of this era.
There were quite a few such salt spaces, and Jiang Tangtang didn't feel bad about it.
However, coarse salt was already very expensive in those days, let alone refined salt.
To avoid arousing suspicion, she didn't take out too much.
Although Jiang Tangtang didn't bring a lot of salt, it was enough to marinate several wild boars.
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