Chapter 119 A New Storm Has Appeared...
In the early morning, the sea breeze blows across the shore, bringing fresh air and birdsong.
"Hoo..." Huang Dong closed his dry and sleepy eyes, stepped on a rock on the mountaintop, and gazed into the distance.
Standing beside him were five or six scouts, led by Li Fuqing, who had been there before, and a few bold natives.
"It's all forest," Huang Dong exclaimed, squinting his eyes.
They woke up and set off before the sun had risen above the horizon. Taking advantage of the early light, they not only witnessed a stunning sunrise over the sea from the mountaintop, but also finally got a clear view of the entire island.
This is a long, narrow, spindle-shaped island. As far as the eye can see, it is covered with lush green forests. The dense vegetation seems to cover every part of the island, and even the areas near the sea with beaches and coastlines are very few.
This place is pristine and untouched. Only in the far distance can one vaguely see wisps of smoke, as if something is burning, indicating the presence of human activity. But compared to Lingnan, which is also full of mountains and trees, this place lacks the humid heat and poisonous insects and miasma, only the mosquitoes and wild animals common in the forest.
It was exceptionally safe and peaceful.
Li Fuqing stood ramrod straight behind Lord Huang, silently observing him: "..."
He couldn't quite understand why Prince Rui named this place "Silver Island." No matter how you looked at it, a name like Forest Island or Green Island would have been more appropriate.
“The people who stayed in the village are teaching them Mandarin. Let’s go take a look over there.” Huang Dong squinted and gazed at the island for a long time before pointing in a direction.
As a master of landscape architecture and a mountain boy who spent many years hunting in the mountains, Huang Dong has his own understanding of how to judge the wild environment, how to observe the sky, and how to interpret the atmosphere. The direction he points out is where he judges the most likely place to have mineral veins.
"Understood." The scouts all responded and grabbed their tools. There weren't many real shovels on the ship. Of the hoes and shovels they had, only a few were intact; the rest were made the night before by grinding stones and binding vines to sticks.
"Looking at the mountain makes one run until the horse dies."
The direction Huang Dong pointed to looked very close, but the group had to cut weeds and branches and laboriously clear the land for two hours before they reached the mountain range. They were all panting and had to rest on the spot, hunt, and have a meal before starting the physical work again.
It was nearing noon, and the temperature was rising, but it was nowhere near as humid and muggy as Lingnan. The climate was pleasantly refreshing, making one feel drowsy.
"This...is also a good place," Huang Dong murmured fondly, grabbing a handful of soil from the ground.
He discovered it last night in the seaside village. Just a short walk out, the land was incredibly fertile, perfect for growing crops. Piles of bird droppings, untouched by human hands for who knows how many years, filled Huang Dong with happy anticipation for the future.
What a promising island!
Li Fuqing led the way in starting a fire, carefully gathering dew-covered leaves and damp branches to surround it and prevent the fire from spreading. While the others went hunting, Huang Dong, carrying a hoe, selected a nearby cliff face and began digging without hesitation.
He had noticed the mountain wall earlier; it had faint greenish-black stripes, a sign of mineral deposits on the surface. Sure enough, after digging for a while, Huang Dong unearthed some cube-shaped, brass-colored blocks, with specks of dark white in the soil.
"This is... a copper mineral containing gold and silver." Huang Dong examined the small objects from different angles with sharp eyes, already in professional mode.
Copper is a substitute for gold. Some gold ornaments actually refer to brass products. It is an expensive material that can replace jewelry, but it cannot be used as money.
It seems there are chalcopyrite deposits in the mountain range that Huang Dong chose. His keen eye is well-deserved, but unfortunately, it's not the silver mine he's looking for.
Huang Dong sighed and stopped digging. Instead, he carefully dug out the soil on the piece of brass clay that seemed to contain gold and silver, wanting to remember the patterns.
“%#￥@…” The native, who was sitting nervously by the fire, watched Huang Dong’s behavior with changing expressions. He ran over to him, pointed to the clod of earth, and then pointed in a direction.
"You've met before?" Huang Dong was pleasantly surprised.
This turned out to be a turning point. Even though they couldn't communicate verbally, the locals, eager to curry favor, found ways to ingratiate themselves with the leader. Huang Dong suppressed his eagerness and led the team to rest and eat on the spot. Only after most of the team had recovered their strength did they head in another direction, guided by the locals.
The journey didn't take long, only about half an hour. As Huang Dong looked at the sky above, which was fragmented by the treetops, he vaguely realized that they were actually heading back, or at least getting closer and closer to the village they had started from.
But before they had even reached their destination, Huang Dong's eyes widened, and he impatiently shook off the others and ran a few steps forward: "Huff... huff..."
He rushed over in one breath: "So many?!"
Even though they were still quite far away, Huang Dong could already see the shimmering silver mountains in the distance, but because the trees were so dense and lush, he couldn't see them from above. The scene was breathtaking; the entire mountain, or mountain range, was covered in silvery soil—a spectacle he had almost never seen before.
“Silver…” Huang Dong’s lips trembled, his throat was so dry he could barely speak, “Silver mine…silver mountain…”
The sheer quantity of silver, not underground but right on the surface, was breathtaking. Li Fuqing's lips moved, his breathing becoming heavy. He took several deep breaths, clearing his mind of all doubts.
...As expected of Prince Rui!
No wonder this place was named Silver Island...
This is truly a silver island! It's all money, money everywhere! Money is everywhere!
"We found it!! We found it!" The other sailors cheered ecstatically. But before they could finish their cheers, Huang Dong, who was the first to come to his senses, solemnly shushed them and drew his knife.
Now that the natives know this place, we don't know if other natives have found it, if they've used silver as payment, or if they might be attacked...
Now is not the time to celebrate.
"Spread out and maintain alert!"
Only a few natives remained, standing there helplessly, muttering something that no one could understand.
Huang Dong glanced at them, already having a more detailed follow-up plan in mind.
They are determined to win this place, and the first priority is to teach the natives the Central Plains language... Then they need to subdue the natives around this island as the situation warrants.
Firstly, Silver Island Prefecture already belongs to His Highness's domain, and the people there should also become overseas citizens.
Secondly, mining silver is a long and arduous project. Some miners who were on their ships have spoken about how tiring it is, and how a single mistake could lead to death. Even if safety is guaranteed, a strong man would be so physically exhausted after ten years of such work that he would have to stay in bed.
So... the most important thing is manpower.
The sailors are precious talents that Huang Dong has painstakingly cultivated; it's impossible to send them to mine. Aren't the island's native inhabitants perfect? They live in such poverty, barely having enough to eat. If we can bring seeds and technology, teaching them farming and mining, it's like giving the people of Silver Island jobs and allowing them to be included in the rationing system.
This will facilitate Your Highness's future development. Otherwise, it would be terrible if miners could easily obtain silver as money. As long as the people on the island use vouchers but there are no banks to exchange them for silver, that will be enough.
Huang Dong, being a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), quickly turned his thoughts around and pondered deeply.
After a long day of reconnaissance, the group discovered that there were no traces of humans nearby. Huang Dong sent two men back to the village to gather the main force and the natives to begin mining.
He then carefully took out his MP4 player again, ready to report the good news to His Highness.
Huang Dong was very anxious.
He knew His Highness was more anxious, so no matter what, he had to make sure to take the ship back to the Central Plains during the August ocean currents and monsoon season. Before August arrived, they had to mine as much ore as possible and fill the ship's hold with as much silver as possible to bring back to His Highness!
...
[I understand. I'll send someone to pick you up in August, and the supplies you requested will also be delivered.]
Qi Chengming calmly typed out the message, took a deep breath, and wrote: "[Boats are prone to accidents on the road. You don't need to rush; safety is paramount.]"
He was anxious about the silver mine, but even more afraid that Huang Dong and his men would risk their lives to bring the silver back. The silver could sink with the ship, but the few people he had painstakingly built up absolutely could not be harmed.
"[Understood.]" Huang Dong replied, and then fell silent.
Qi Chengming knew perfectly well that the MP4 player had completely run out of battery.
He calculated the time and sighed, "It seems the most needed thing is a hand-cranked generator..."
Once he gets his hands on that thing, he won't have time to use it on the blender; he'll be tied to Mr. Huang! He'll have to charge the MP4 player all the time! I'm so fed up with this stingy way of trying to save time by saying just a few words.
Qi Chengming has been busy again lately.
Liuzhou has had a bumper harvest of corn and potatoes, and there is still plenty of time before the autumn grain delivery and the increase of military pay. Before that, he and Prefect Mu will mobilize the people and patiently teach them how to grind corn into flour and how to make various corn by-products.
The officials in the yamen were also extremely busy, calculating the surplus grain to see how much could be stored in the empty warehouses and how much would be handed over to the people to help them get through the winter.
There's also a map showing the distribution of fields where potatoes and corn were planted this year; we need to check off each one, inspect them, and distribute the seeds...
People in Liuzhou were working non-stop in the scorching heat.
The cotton flowers have also started to bloom, though in small quantities, enough for the people in the Prince's Palace to save up a portion of cotton-padded clothing.
After receiving the news, Song Gu pondered for a moment and then handed it over to Liu, the wet nurse, to arrange for the embroiderers. All the cotton seeds that had been picked were put into planting for the following year.
They must hurry up and finish the autumn harvest. Last year's hurricane scared everyone, and no one knows if there will be another major disaster during this year's rainy season.
Qi Chengming was naturally eagerly anticipating the day when Yu Linzhou's mission would be marked as complete, and he would receive a hand-cranked generator.
...Unbeknownst to him, during this period of agonizing waiting, the capital had submitted a memorial from Shen Shuzhi, the Imperial Commissioner for Flood Control, at the fastest possible speed.
This sparked a new uproar...
If Qi Chengming knew how he had won this round again without lifting a finger, he might discover the shady dealings among the officials in the capital.
Unfortunately, His Highness the Second Prince was thousands of miles away... He didn't know that Emperor Hongren, upon seeing the memorial, had once again erupted in fury.
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Author's Note: The storm stirred up by the butterfly's wings is coming, and we, Xiaoming, have won this round without even realizing it.
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