Chapter 63 Black Gold Furnace (I) Update
But within a month or two, Xiying's appearance had changed drastically. He had grown half a head taller, and his youthfulness had obviously faded. Now, both in appearance and in the tone of his voice, he seemed to have been reborn.
He held several fern stems in his hands.
"The young marquis said that where these black gold mines are located, the soil is often acidic, and ferns that prefer acidic soil will grow there. Just now, while I was out looking for water, I saw a patch of these ferns!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhen'er immediately put her books away and took out another book from her briefcase.
He was also quite happy and surprised. He took the stems and leaves covered with rain and soil from Xiying's hand with one hand, and quickly flipped through the book with the other hand, and found the plant drawings that Liu Ziye had drawn for him.
Here Liu Ziye explained to him the habits of ferns and drew diagrams of several common ferns.
The stems and leaves of these plants in my hand are all rusty yellow.
Small leaves, many branches.
The leaves are densely packed, with almost no interstices or petioles.
When he compared the two, these characteristics all matched those recorded in Liu Ziye's album.
Fu Zhen'er raised her head again, her eyes dancing with joy. "It's a fern, for sure. Where did you see it? Take me there now!"
"Okay! Let's go now."
Although it was raining in the forest, Xiying was not at all surprised by Fu Zhener's request.
During these days, they shared the joys and sorrows.
When he brought these plants in, he had anticipated that Fu Zhen'er would make this decision.
Others who heard the noise also poked their heads out of the tents. The two men explained the situation in general terms, and then left half of them to guard the camp. The rest each took a rain hat and raincoat, stepped on the mud and water that was constantly squeezed out from under the heavy leaves, and headed in the direction pointed by Xiying.
This forest has some slopes and is a small hill.
The direction Xiying pointed to was to go up the hillside. It was raining heavily, and the road was slippery. The climb up was obviously not that easy.
Fu Zhener looked at his teammates who were struggling, pulled out the rope from his waist, and stopped the group from moving forward.
"Everyone, pull out the ropes and connect them together to prevent anyone from falling."
Everyone stopped, untied the ropes tied around their waists, locked the metal buckles at the ends of the ropes together, and pulled them to a distance of three to five steps where no one was between them before continuing forward.
The rain showed no sign of getting any lighter, but instead it got heavier.
Looking up from the dense forest in the woods, there was dense rain and fog like pearl threads, which made people's faces cold and their vision blurred.
As Xiying walked, she tried to turn around and explain to Fu Zhener, "Little Clan Leader Fu, when I went up the mountain, the rain wasn't this heavy! The road is much easier to walk on!"
In the rain and fog, Fu Zhen'er listened hard and tried to understand Xiying's words by her lip movements.
He waved his hand: "I know, it's okay, you continue to lead the way!"
They had been walking for so long, and today there was finally a sign that they might have found it. How could he just sit in the tent and wait for the rain, which would never stop, to end?
While walking on this difficult mountain path, even Fu Zhener knew that they would most likely return empty-handed again.
But at this moment, he could no longer help but imagine the joyful and satisfied look on Liu Ziye's face when he brought the news of finding the black gold mine back to him.
When he thought of this, Fu Zhener felt that even if the rain came even harder, he could still hold on!
Xiying understood what Fu Zhener meant, so he didn't think much anymore. In the increasingly blurred vision between the mountains and forests, he tried hard to distinguish the path he had taken before.
An exclamation.
A teammate behind Fu Zhen'er slipped and fell into the mud, and his body immediately slid down the hillside uncontrollably.
Fu Zhen'er was above him and was the first to be pulled by the suddenly falling rope, falling sharply for a distance.
Fortunately, he reached out in time and grabbed a bush beside him to stop his downward trend. Xiying in front of him also took a few steps back and controlled her body like Fu Zhener.
Fu Zhen'er said, "Hold the rope! Use the rope to help you climb up!"
The man fell, his face covered in mud and grass, and his rain hat fell off. He reached out and wiped the rain and mud from his face, barely able to open his eyes. Then, listening to Fu Zhen'er's words, he held the rope with both hands while looking for some grass and trees to use as leverage, and finally climbed back to the team.
After the team regrouped, a few people rested briefly on the spot and continued to climb forward.
After walking along the forest road in the rain for another half an hour, Xiying finally found traces again from the grass on the ground.
He turned his head happily and shouted to Fu Zhen'er, "Little Clan Leader Fu! Look at this! Isn't this the Chinese thorn grass? And this ground money moss!"
Fu Zhener took two steps to catch up, and looking through the gaps between the fallen leaves on the ground, he saw the Chinese aralia and ground money moss that he had circled and drawn in the notebook Liu Ziye had given him. They were exactly the ones that Xiying had brought back for him before.
He continued walking forward along the direction of the grass's growth and spread. Not far ahead, he could hear the sound of raindrops hitting the water, and his vision became wider.
A stream in the jungle is flowing down with the help of the rain.
Fu Zhen'er said to everyone, "Everyone, dig the ground where these ferns grow and see if you can find any black soil underneath the plants!"
"good."
They had reached a relatively flat area, and the locks connecting everyone were opened.
Everyone dispersed and took out the shovels from their backpacks, digging up layer after layer of accumulated fallen leaves, digging the shovel heads deep into the ground, turning over the soil, and observing the color of the soil in every place.
Fu Zhen'er and Xiying also split up, wielding shovels in their hands, digging up the surface soil a few feet at a time.
After searching for a long time, he did not find any trace of the black mud as Fu Zhener had said.
Someone found Fu Zhen'er and asked him, "Young Patriarch, could it be that we are digging too shallow?"
Amidst the rustling rain, Fu Zhen'er once again surveyed the surrounding terrain and vegetation. She said, "There's no need to dig too deep. Firstly, there's no need. Ziye said that if there were indeed a mineral vein here, it would be evident in the surface soil. Secondly, it would be too physically demanding on us."
At this time, he had already followed the direction of excavation and approached the bank of the stream.
The shovel in his hand accidentally fell to the ground and slid closer to the stream. With the help of his companions, Fu Zhener moved closer to the bank of the stream and tried to pick up the fallen shovel.
However, just when he bent down as low as he could and grasped the handle of the shovel with one hand, he suddenly discovered that the rushing stream was squeezing the mud and aquatic plants on the edge of the river bank, and there were faint black traces mixed in with it.
He immediately pulled a few times to loosen his companion's restraints.
The people behind didn't understand what was going on and shouted a few words: "Little Chief! Little Chief! What are you doing?"
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Dongwang Mountain was the secondary capital of Shanling County in the Zhou Dynasty.
On the long path leading up the mountain, groups of people were passing by, carrying bamboo baskets taller than their heads.
Whether ascending or descending the mountain, everyone's backpack was filled with rocks, wood, iron, and soil. Those ascending the mountain were transporting insufficient materials for the fortifications stretching ten miles along the mountainside. Those descending the mountain were carrying excess wood and soil from the excavations to designated dumping areas.
In order to allow each person to carry as much material as possible each time, this backpack is four feet deep and two feet wide.
Each step the laborers took on the stone mountain steps was as dull as the sound of a drum. The shoulder straps of their backpacks dug deep into their skin, bleeding from their clothes. Yet, everyone seemed accustomed to it, staring blankly at the road ahead, mechanically taking one step forward after another.
A thin servant accidentally slipped and fell on the steps.
He fell down more than ten steps with his backpack before he finally stopped. As a result of him, seven or eight laborers fell to the ground, and stones, wood blocks and soil in the mine were scattered all over the ground.
The backpack was tied to his shoulders with strong rubber bands. Even after the fall, the contents scattered, but the backpack remained firmly attached to him. Between the steps, the rubber bands tore under the force, already digging into his flesh, tearing both of his arms into a bloody mess.
The man was forced to wake up due to the extreme pain.
However, before he could come to his senses, a black leather whip with spikes still hit his chest, leaving a trail of blood and foam.
"Waste! Worm! Get up! Get up and clear the mountain path!"
The sound of whips hitting flesh and blood echoed out, and a chorus of shouts arose. The implicated laborers struggled to their feet, dragging their heavy backpacks, half-bent over, to clear the mountain path.
The skinny servant who fell first was not let off so easily.
The whips rolled down densely: "Useless! You can't even walk properly, what else can you do!"
Obviously, this was the servant who caused the accident and looked thin and weak, so he would be killed as an example to others today.
I will never give up until he is beaten in public until he is left with only one breath.
However, on the entire mountain road, apart from these two rows of farmers crossing each other and carrying heavy backpacks, there were many soldiers like this who were holding whips, wearing light armor and equipped with swords.
Everyone has long been accustomed to and numb to such scenes.
Amid the thin servant's increasingly subdued cries and the crisp crack of the whip, the mountain path was quickly cleared and unobstructed. The two rows of troops resumed their original interlaced, up-and-down movement.
The soldiers' occasional shouting and rude laughter as they teased each other echoed on both sides of the mountain path.
Looking east from the west-facing east slope of Dongshan Mountain, you can take in the beautiful scenery of the middle of Dongshan Mountain.
There is also one of the four wonders of Dongwang Mountain: the sun rises in the east, and you can sit and watch it every day. According to the blueprints, this is the location where the main hall for the emperor will be built.
The secondary capital and Yanjing are only a few dozen miles apart.
By now, autumn had already arrived, and the Emperor and his civil and military officials had returned to Yanjing. The Crown Prince, in charge of the construction of the Dongwangshan Palace, remained in the secondary capital along with Cui Rui, the Emperor's appointed deputy supervisor of the palace.
Of course, the person who was actually stationed in the secondary capital and was directly responsible for supervising the preparatory affairs was Deputy Supervisor Cui Rui.
The Crown Prince would often rush here on horseback every three to five days to fulfill his duties as the Governor-General regarding matters concerning the Liang Palace.
At this time, Cui Rui was leading Liu Ziling to an on-site inspection of the planning and construction of the main hall.
"Your Highness, please look."
Cui Rui pointed at the ladder that was four meters high and the layers of wooden scaffolding.
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