Chapter 47: Continuous Mines (I) Update
The horses moved forward again, either galloping or moving slowly and in a roundabout way, depending on the road conditions.
Liu Ziye leaned sideways on Jin Jie's horse to avoid serious physical discomfort.
For her, there was a certain difference between being carried or held in public for a distance of only a few dozen meters and using the backs of guards' horses as cushions to go through a long and difficult journey.
Along the way, Liu Ziye has been paying close attention to the scenery and geography of Xiguan County.
Now, their team is trying to go deep into the most famous and largest uninhabited area in Xiguan County, where few people would rashly go deep.
The roads we have traveled are almost all unexplored.
As expected of an ancient era when natural geography had not yet been fully developed, even such an uninhabited area is not the desert Gobi understood by modern people, but is extremely rich in both geological topography and vegetation.
Yesterday, Liu Ziye was too tired. It was the first time since he traveled to this world that he did not do evening lessons and did not follow his usual sleep and rest schedule.
Jin Jie's horse riding skills were obviously much better than his own.
Even if the road conditions are complicated, she rarely feels obvious bumps and discomfort.
She took out the atlas she carried with her, and based on the Yansai Mountains, the Shuochuan tributary, and the hilly area that they passed yesterday that looked like five fingers, Liu Ziye found their location on the atlas.
It would have been fine if she hadn't looked at the map, but once she did, she couldn't stop feeling suffocated!
She was so tired yesterday, and she only walked twenty miles!
In her time, you could take the bus and arrive comfortably in less than an hour.
She called out to Jin Ji, who was concentrating on the terrain and road conditions, and he lowered his head and replied, "Young Marquis."
Liu Ziye held up the map slightly, pointed out their current location, and said, "I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the second planned camping spot tonight. Let's find a location at this fork in the road and set up camp for the night."
Unexpectedly, Jin Jie glanced at the blueprint and replied, "If the young marquis wants, we can come tonight."
Liu Ziye: "Hmm? Of course I want to be there!"
"Okay then."
After Jin Jie finished speaking, he gently whipped the whip and the horse's speed instantly increased.
While Liu Ziye was still stunned, he added, "If we reach a bumpy place where we have to dismount and walk, it would be best for you, young marquis, to stay on horseback for a while. I will hold the horse and prevent you from falling."
As Jin Jie's horse speed increased, the other members of the private guard team caught up without much effort.
Liu Ziye sat up straight and looked around. It turned out that she had only walked twenty miles yesterday. She was the one who was holding them back!
Fine, just lie down and be her good-for-nothing little marquis!
With a character like her who is strong, determined and unyielding, I'm afraid there's no need for her to persist in this place for the time being!
Over the next four days, the entire team's pace became noticeably faster.
Liu Ziye really doesn't need to expend too much physical energy most of the time. Even when she needs to dismount and walk, she can use support to reduce the weight bearing on the wound on the sole of her foot.
Most of his body weight was transferred to Jin Jie through his two arms. The original owner's height, according to modern height standards, was at least 1.75 meters, and his weight was far from light.
But after a few days, Liu Ziye didn't see Jin Jie show any sign of being unable to bear it.
Whether it's leading a team or treating minor wounds and clearing meridians, he can do everything.
It is really a must-have artifact when you are away from home or on long-distance travel!
At 5:00 p.m. on the fifth day, the team finally approached their destination.
If the people in the team had not personally set foot in this area, they would never have imagined that they would find such a green land with water and mountains deep in this uninhabited area.
As they were about to enter the mountainous area, the terrain began to become undulating again. Jin Jie Xiying and the others dismounted their horses. This was close to the end point indicated on the map, so Jin Jie also helped Liu Ziye dismount. After tying up their horses, the team sat at the edge of the woods to rest.
Liu Ziye looked into the depths of the mountains, where the view was limited, and asked her personal guards, "Has anyone of you been to this place before?"
Everyone shook their heads.
If it weren't for the young marquis' guidance, no one would spend several days crossing such an uninhabited area just to reach this place, which looked no different from the other Qiansongling and Yansai Mountain forests.
Xiying, who already knew the inside story, couldn't help but ask, "Young Marquis, is there really such a raw ore in this mountain as you said?"
Liu Ziye didn't say it directly, but kept it a secret and said, "You'll know soon."
All right, but Xiying was still worried: "No one has ever been to this mountainous area before. The mountain roads are undeveloped, so it must be very difficult to walk on. And there are these distant mountains, which seem to stretch for more than ten miles. Where should we start?"
"That's a good question." Liu Ziye nodded.
Due to the limitations of map making in that era, the locations of the mineral deposits marked on the drawings left by the King of Xiguan could only be roughly located in this mountainous area. It was impossible to obtain an accuracy of hundreds or thousands of meters.
She took out a wooden box from the bag on her horse's back, opened it, and took out more than ten pieces, some made of stone and some made of wood. In a moment, she pieced together a hanging compass.
Liu Ziye first asked Jin Jiexiying and the others, "Do you still know where He Fangwei Nan is?"
"Of course! When walking in the wilderness, you can never go wrong. This is south!"
Xiying answered first, pointing in the direction their group came from.
Because Liu Ziye's question also included Jin Jie, Jin Jie said after Xiying's voice fell: "Xiying is right."
Liu Ziye smiled with a slight sense of satisfaction, then raised the hanging compass in his hand and held the compass plate horizontally.
The small tetrahedral magnet in the middle, suspended by a silk thread, began to rotate freely.
No one knew what the young marquis was going to do, so they all involuntarily focused their attention on the rotating magnet.
The magnet finally stopped, and its tip did not point to the south as everyone thought, but instead pointed steadily towards the mountainous area to the north of everyone.
Jin Jie and Xi Ying immediately understood that they had come for the right reason!
The more experienced members of the private guard team also immediately thought of something. Xia Wu and his companions asked in surprise, "Is there magnetite in this mountain area?!"
Liu Ziye smiled and said, "That's right."
Upon hearing this, the guards were shocked and speechless for a moment.
It turned out that their young marquis gave up the salt mine in the salt lake and led them on a hard march for several days just for this iron mine!
No matter who he is, if he is asked to choose between an iron mine and a salt mine, he will definitely choose the iron mine without hesitation!
Everyone couldn't help but stare at this seemingly ordinary mountain range, which actually concealed such a profound mystery...
Wow, this is an iron mine!
One furnace of molten iron equals ten acres of fertile farmland.
Iron hidden in the mountains is better than gold buried!
Their Xiguan Marquis Mansion is really going to be rich this time!
Xiying also looked happy. The mineral vein really existed, and their young marquis’ trip was not in vain!
Prince Xiguan is truly heroic. I wonder how he could have accomplished such an earth-shattering feat despite all the difficulties posed by the emperor!
At this time, Liu Ziye also once again felt admiration and gratitude for the deceased King of Xiguan.
The salt lake did not bring much benefit to her system points growth, but as long as she could control the iron mine in front of her, plus the inexhaustible wood and stone in Xiguan County, no matter what she wanted to build next, it would be no problem.
These are undoubtedly great benefits to the growth of points and merit points!
The direction indicated by the magnetic needle seems to be due north and west. The magnet on Liu Ziye's suspended compass is only the size of an egg, but it can be strongly disturbed by the magnetite here, which means that the distance to the mining area is no more than a hundred feet.
She said to Jin Jie in a good mood, "We will set up camp here tonight and keep all the horses here. After everyone has rested for a while, send a small team to explore the mountain in the northwest direction indicated by the pointer."
Jin Jie accepted the order and said, "Yes."
Everyone was so excited to find out that they were actually guarding an iron mine that their daily efforts doubled in intensity, but no one showed any signs of fatigue or frustration.
They were all doing their jobs with great interest, and even stretched their necks, waiting to be called by Jin Ji to be one of the members of the team to explore the mountains.
At night, smoke rose from the bonfire, and everyone, full of joy, sat around the fire, playing games one after another.
Xiying naturally couldn't help it and was the first one to clamor to join in!
The entire evening was spent in the camp in such a lively atmosphere of singing and dancing. It was not until late at night that Jin Jie, who had led the team back from exploring the route, came over and asked everyone to take their turns and rest.
The next day.
After several days of hot water soaking, acupoint pressing and plaster treatment, Liu Ziye's feet no longer have any problems walking.
After considering it last night, she left Xiying and a team of five to guard the place, while she went into the mountains with Jin Jie and more than twenty people.
In the sparsely populated mountainous areas, there are no paths that can be followed by people who have walked before.
Even though Jin Jie and his companions had found a relatively passable path yesterday, their journey was still full of twists and turns, overcoming many obstacles.
Fortunately, the straight-line distance is only a hundred feet. The more you follow the direction indicated by the terrain, the more unusual things you will discover.
For example, in ordinary mountainous areas, the deeper you go, the more lush and dense the trees and vegetation tend to be. However, they can feel that as they move forward, the trees, flowers and plants on the ground are becoming sparse.
The ground under your feet is not the soft and fragile sand, but is covered with gravel. Often, you will even step on a whole piece of hard stone.
Green vegetation stubbornly emerges from the cracks in the rocks of varying sizes.
When he was about to reach his destination, Liu Ziye stopped, bent down and used a knife to dig away the vegetation covering a stone.
When the bluish-white stone with a reddish tint was exposed at the bottom, Liu Ziye swung his knife and cut a hole in the stone surface.
As the sharp blade cut across the surface, a shallow scratch was left on the stone, revealing the brighter red stone inside.
When Liu Ziye saw this, he was immediately excited.
"This is it!"
Whether it was the crimson color inside the mine or the preliminary hardness test of the ore conducted by the forged iron blade in her hand, all of them verified her guess.
This iron ore area does not only have magnetite deposits, but also hematite, which is more difficult to detect, has a simpler smelting process, but often has smaller reserves!
At the same time, the system's automatic prompt sound, which had been silent for a long time, rang in Liu Ziye's mind.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully identifying the magnetite and hematite deposits. Based on the detectable mineral content here, the host will soon receive 600 points of Imperial Merit!"
"Host, please utilize the iron ore deposits scientifically and rationally to maximize their value in order to unlock higher-level rewards!"
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