Chapter 51: Continuous Mines (V) Update
Xiguan County.
At the beginning of May, another group of more than ten craftsmen, carrying fresh water, salt, grain, cloth and other supplies needed for the mining area, arrived at this place named Xiguan Queping Mining Valley by Liu Ziye.
After Liu Ziye spent more than half a month climbing over mountains and surveying, he basically figured out the direction of the mountains in this mine.
Starting from their camp on the south side of the mountain foot, following the newly blazed path into the mountain, the mountains on either side of the mining area resembled a peacock's spreading tail, with the richest hematite deposits concentrated right in the center of each fold. As the vegetation on the mountain surface was cleared, the hematite ore gradually became more and more breathtaking, its crimson color like a red eye.
“Ouch—”
At the dismounting ground in front of the mining camp, Fu Zhener stopped her horse and jumped off.
He looked up ahead, a few feet away from the mountain area. Apart from a road that was obviously carved out by humans, this mountain seemed to be no different from an ordinary natural mountain range.
If you want to take the main road into the mountain and enter the main part of the forest, you must first pass through the living area in front of you, which stretches for several miles and is neatly arranged with various colors of smoke and tents.
However, as soon as he reached the edge of the mining area, he was stopped by the guards stationed there. Only after he produced the pass issued by the Xiguan Marquisate was he allowed to enter the mining area. His horse was quickly taken over and taken to a designated stable for feeding and care.
"Where is the young Marquis of Xiguan now?" Fu Zhener asked the guard.
Although the guard was newly recruited, he knew Fu Zhener's identity after seeing the badge.
He immediately said, "The Marquis is on the mountain every day during the day. If Chief Fu wants to find the Marquis, he will probably have to go into the mountain first and ask specifically."
"Okay, thank you very much."
Fu Zhener thanked the guard and stepped into the mining area that he had heard Mr. Du mention many times in Yucheng.
He was not in a hurry to go into the mountains to look for the trace of the young marquis of Xiguan, but just walked around the living area of the mine.
In just two months, the area he had entered had grown to the size of a small town in Xiguan County. There were dozens of rows of uniformly arranged tents, with the occasional bare-chested artisan with a towel draped over his shoulders wandering in and out. This was clearly the mining area's designated rest area for all artisans.
Two newly dug wells, one is mainly used for eating, washing and drinking, and the other is used for cleaning and other public purposes.
There were also other public cooking and bathing areas, a medicinal area with a strong herbal aroma, and Fu Zhener even discovered that under a pergola, tea, dried fruits, and dried meat were provided, specifically for people to relax and gather in groups of three or four to chat and brag.
When he walked to the western edge of the area, he could still see craftsmen operating the novel "bulldozers" to level the land.
Several iron and wood workshops will soon be built on the newly leveled ground.
Backed by the Queping Mining Valley, which provides a steady supply of wood and iron, these workshops use local materials.
Fu Zhen'er only needed to imagine a little, and she seemed to see that at the foot of the mountain, new processing workshops were about to grow bigger and bigger.
What kind of things will be delivered from these workshops, things that you have seen before, or things that you have never seen before and can only sigh about their novelty?
Fu Zhener stopped and turned around.
We followed the smooth mountain road paved with a mixture of gravel and green mud and entered this mountainous area.
After only a few hundred steps into the forest, Fu Zhener noticed a huge difference in what he saw. Without the dense forest in front and the peaks on either side obscuring his view, Fu Zhener could see the true face of the mining area.
The gravel road beneath my feet forked into three paths a few feet ahead. One led directly ahead, winding along the center of the two peacock screens. Every so often, new paths branched off, leading to the mountains on either side. Presumably, each terminus had a hole being drilled for ore, or perhaps a uniquely ingenious site.
Fu Zhener walked to the first fork in the road and looked to both sides.
In this place, there are identical mines dug out of the mountains on both sides. From the mines, carts of newly dug ores of various shapes and sizes, either red or magnetic black, are driven out.
What is quite novel is that two wooden tracks, four or five feet wide, are laid halfway along this gravel road.
From time to time, wooden carts with wheels that fit perfectly with the tracks, loaded with stones, were towed out.
When the wooden cart reached the main road in the middle, it automatically turned under the pulling force of the knot and was transported to an open space a hundred feet ahead.
Fu Zhener looked around, trying to find Liu Ziye's trace.
After a moment's thought, I decided to follow the direction of the wooden cart.
Sure enough, he followed the wooden cart to a flattened open area on the mountain. He saw Liu Ziye leading a dozen people around a stove in front of a stone dome house, gesturing and giving a speech.
The dozen or so people surrounding them all had turbans on their heads and wore short T-shirts and long trousers.
Some of them looked very strong and sturdy, with dark and shiny skin. Fu Zhen'er knew at a glance that they were craftsmen who made a living by swinging iron.
Xiying followed Liu Ziye, also listening attentively and seriously. However, she hadn't spotted Jin Jie, the leader of his private guards who was almost always by his side.
Fu Zhen'er walked until he was a few feet away from the group before someone finally noticed him. At this point, Liu Ziye also turned his eyes and saw Fu Zhen'er.
His phoenix eyes shone even brighter in the light of the fire.
When Fu Zhen'er met those eyes, she clearly saw the surprise and joy that burst out from them.
"Brother Fu! Why are you here?"
Liu Ziye straightened up slightly and asked him, then without waiting for Fu Zhen'er to answer, he waved and called him: "Brother Fu, come and sit down first. I will come to you after I finish speaking!"
After Liu Ziye finished speaking, she continued to demonstrate and explain the smelting process to the group of craftsmen who came to learn smelting technology under the guidance of a craftsman she had personally trained.
Therefore, she failed to notice that during her encounter with Fu Zhen'er just now, Fu Zhen'er's face, which was originally a hundred times happier than hers, quickly turned into surprise.
If Fu Zhen'er had not been too familiar with Liu Ziye, she would have been able to recognize him in the crowd just by looking at his vague back.
If it were someone else, even in the face-to-face scene just now, they might not recognize this once famous young marquis of the royal family in Xiguan County!
It was nearly two months since we met again. Although Liu Ziye's clothes were still clean and tidy, his overall style was very different from the luxurious style seen in Yucheng Marquis Mansion.
There were no more luxurious fabrics, or ribbons and hair crowns inlaid with gold or jade.
At this time, the young Marquis of Xiguan had a ponytail tied high behind his head and was wearing a plain casual suit. The sleeves slightly exposed to his wrists, which made it convenient for him to hold a wooden stick in his hand and move around according to his mind.
What shocked Fu Zhen'er the most was that when the young marquis turned around, his skin, which was illuminated by the firelight, was a light brown, tight and shiny skin due to being exposed to the sun for a long time and being roasted by the stove at close range.
Of course, Fu Zhener didn't think it was ugly at all.
Compared to the more arrogant and fragile temperament that the young Marquis of Xiguan had developed in his long-term wealthy and idle environment, the young Marquis of Xiguan that he saw now was healthier and more energetic.
Even from such a long distance, one can still feel the desire for vigorous vitality emanating from Liu Ziye!
At that moment, Fu Zhen'er even felt a kind of vitality coming towards her.
A young marquis of Xiguan, who is making great efforts, is not far away, and seems to be carving out a vast world for himself with his own hands!
Shocked, he did not sit down on the simple wooden bench in front of the stone house as Liu Ziye had said.
Instead, he walked over and quietly blended into the group of teaching and learning. He passed from behind the crowd, stood directly in front of Liu Ziye, and silently joined the group of people listening.
"The most crucial point of this quenching method lies here..."
"The amount of charcoal added is extremely important. If you add too much, the resulting product can no longer be called steel. It can only be called refined iron. In terms of hardness and plasticity, it is even inferior to ordinary wrought iron."
The craftsmen all listened with a serious look on their faces. It was obvious that some of them had encountered such a problem before.
Hearing this, he had an expression of sudden enlightenment.
Fu Zhener listened carefully. He usually helped Fu Mingyi deal with clan affairs, and of course he was familiar with several of the most important skills.
However, he had never heard of anything like Liu Ziye's today, such as the amount of charcoal added and the steel that was both flexible and hard!
He perked up, put aside those unnecessary loose thoughts, and concentrated on listening and watching.
After Liu Ziye finished his lecture beside the forging furnace, it did not end there.
Instead, he recruited this group of craftsmen to work on the rows of chairs made of wooden stakes. Liu Ziye stood in front of an upright wooden board made of exposed wood, and wrote and drew on it.
From the mine they were mining, all the types of ores, the composition of each type of ore, how to determine the mineral content of the ore, to the changes that would occur at each step after some ores were put into the forging furnace, etc.
It was not until the sun set that Liu Ziye finally completed his lectures for the day.
Xiying had obviously figured out her master's habits, big and small, during this period, and had already gone to get clean water for washing and drinking a moment in advance.
Liu Ziye took the towel soaked in cold mountain spring water, and simply wiped his face and neck comfortably. Then he sat down in front of the wooden stakes and tables that had been dismantled.
Fu Zhen'er followed him over, and Liu Ziye said, "Brother Fu, come and sit down!"
"good."
Fu Zhen'er was sitting opposite him. Now that she was closer, she could see clearly that although Liu Ziye looked energetic and full of spirit, there were still some obvious bloodshot lines in his pupils.
Before he came here, Liu Ziye would have had a hard time getting a peaceful rest.
He was even surprised to find that there were several very obvious small cuts on Liu Ziye's hands while he was washing in the basin. Some were new wounds, and some were almost healed.
He couldn't help but stand up and walk to the basin, squatted down to the same height as the basin, and carefully observed the hands of the young marquis of Xiguan.
The surface skin of the palm has been polished and has shown signs of natural thickening, and even a few thin calluses have grown.
Liu Ziye couldn't help but laugh at him as he squatted there in a trance, "Brother Fu, what are you doing?"
Unexpectedly, Fu Zhen'er raised her head in front of the basin, her eyes showing indescribable confusion and surprise, as well as a hint of puzzlement and heartache.
He couldn't help but ask again: "Ziye, what exactly do you want?"
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