Li Ye saw the official trembling with fear, his forehead covered with sweat, and knew that he was too timid.
"If you're afraid of being implicated, then find someone else."
The official thought for a few seconds and made up his mind after gritting his teeth.
"Your Highness is not afraid of me, so what do I have to fear? Being able to serve Your Highness is a blessing that I cannot achieve in several lifetimes.
I will bear all the consequences."
The official's name was Xu Qian, a local ninth-rank official.
Although they were officials of the imperial court, most of the local people had already fled.
It was Li Ye who promoted him and put him in charge of a village.
This population already exceeds that of most counties.
The power is no less than that of a county magistrate.
He knew very well that all his wealth and glory in this life depended on Li Ye.
Even if there is a risk of being investigated by the imperial court, it is much better than dying in poverty and having no hope in life.
Moreover, by doing this kind of favor for the prince, she would become his most loyal confidant, and her future would be limitless.
Made the choice immediately.
Li Ye saw that he was quick to react and was a talented person with great potential.
He became more patient with him and said, "That's right. As the saying goes, those who achieve great things do not pay attention to trivial matters.
Some things will definitely not be accomplished if you follow a routine approach.
We have betrayed the enemy country several times in a row, and sooner or later they will come after us.
If you don't increase your strength quickly, all your existing achievements will be destroyed.
And even if the emperor knew what we did, he would never blame us.
Because we do this for the greater good, not for rebellion or personal gain.
Father will understand."
"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I understand! I will arrange for the personnel to prepare for mining."
Once Xu Qian made up his mind, he completely tied his life and property to Li Ye.
Made an attitude of taking responsibility.
Although they have not been together for a long time, Li Ye's reputation is well known.
As long as you work hard, you will never suffer any loss.
Even if the court investigates him one day, he will bear the responsibility alone.
Even if the court executes him, Li Ye will take good care of his family.
In order to win a beautiful future, he risked his life.
Li Ye didn't say anything more. Since he had decided to fight for the throne, he had to train more trusted subordinates.
As long as they are reliable talents, we will try our best to promote them.
The same is true for building schools at the border so that all children can go to school.
These people have the opportunity to study without spending any money.
As long as someone succeeded in the imperial examination, he would be grateful for his rebirth and become his most loyal subordinate.
Li Ye brought Princess Ruyue and several others to watch the blast furnace that was being built.
In order to remove impurities and improve quality in iron smelting, coke must be used as fuel.
The mined coal must be coked before it can be used.
Not only is it smokeless but it also has a higher heat output.
Looking at the built blast furnace, Li Ye carefully inspected it and was very satisfied.
"Well done! With such a furnace, it will produce enough iron for our use."
Princess Ruyue was very surprised.
"Is this the kind of furnace in which iron is refined?"
"This is called a blast furnace, and it's different from the furnaces used to make iron.
That kind of furnace was too inefficient, not only producing too little output but also producing too many impurities in the freshly smelted iron.
It still needs to be hammered and purified by a blacksmith before it can be officially used.
The price of this iron was also quite expensive, especially when used to make armor and military equipment, which cost the court a huge amount of money.
With this kind of blast furnace, the cost is less than 10%, which can greatly reduce the price.
Plus, if we mine and smelt the iron ourselves, it will be even cheaper," Li Ye explained.
Several people looked at the blast furnace curiously but still didn't understand.
Seeing their curious looks, Li Ye could only try his best to explain in a way they could understand: "Actually, the principle is very simple. The high temperature of this blast furnace can easily melt the iron in the iron ore and make it flow out. Do you understand now?"
"So that's how it is!" Princess Ruyue suddenly realized.
At this time, someone came running over on horseback.
He jumped off the horse a few meters away and ran in front of Li Ye, panting tiredly.
But his face was full of excitement, and he said loudly: "Your Highness, we have found an iron ore, which stretches for more than ten meters and is buried more than ten meters underground.
This is definitely a rich iron ore mine, even if we mine it for hundreds of thousands of kilometers, we won’t be able to mine it all.”
"Really? We found it so quickly! That's great! Mining at a depth of over ten meters isn't difficult either. We're going to make a killing this time."
Li Ye was very excited when he heard this.
Although life in such harsh and cold places is inconvenient, they often have rich mineral resources buried underneath.
"It's all thanks to the location Your Highness provided that we were able to find it successfully. We're still exploring the specific area to find the most suitable mining site."
Li Ye's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly: "Mining iron ore is a very dangerous job, and we must take all kinds of protective measures.
In particular, the excavated roads must be supported by strong enough wooden beams to prevent accidents of collapse.
It’s okay to mine slowly, but safety must be the priority.”
"Yes, I will remember this."
After hearing Li Ye's caring words, his subordinates were deeply moved.
Their lives are worthless, but the prince values them so much.
In the past, when they were working, I just urged them to work quickly and never cared about these things.
"Let's go and take a look!"
"Okay, I also want to see where the iron mine is!" Princess Ruyue was also very interested.
Several people rode their horses to the iron mine, which was more than thirty meters away from the village.
Arriving at the scene, we saw many soldiers stationed there.
There are still many craftsmen who are ready to dig.
Look, Li Ye has come over to pay his respects.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
"No need to be so polite, everyone. How's the situation? Have you found a suitable excavation site?"
An experienced master said: "In reply to Your Highness, we have found seven entrances suitable for mining.
The soil here is relatively hard, so although it's slower and more laborious, digging in is very safe."
Li Ye nodded: "You are doing the right thing, safety is the most important thing no matter what.
Since we have plenty of manpower, we might as well start digging from these seven entrances simultaneously.
Farming must be completed before late autumn, and iron must be smelted as quickly as possible to forge enough plows.
The extra iron was also used to make weapons and armor.
Whether it can be successfully completed depends entirely on you."
“Please rest assured, Your Highness, the iron ore is of very good quality and not buried very deep.
If we dig all night long, it will only take two days at most to dig out the iron ore.
Everyone is grateful to His Highness and is full of energy and enthusiasm."
"Okay, okay, everyone has worked hard! We bought a large number of sheep from the barbarians.
Everyone must eat at least one pound of mutton a day, otherwise they will not have enough physical strength.
Also, eat as much as you can.
Physical work is very exhausting, so food must be provided.
If anyone dares to withhold food rations, send someone to inform me immediately." Li Ye instructed seriously.
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