The child pouted and shook his head vigorously and said, "No, this is my baby."

Fang Ling smiled, 'touched' a piece of broken silver from his pocket, lit up and said, "Do you know what this is?"

"Silver!" the child blurted out.

Fang Ling laughed and said, "Then I'll exchange this piece of silver for this treasure with you, okay?"

"Okay!" the child nodded heavily, and handed over the stone.

Huang Jian took it and looked at it, and said firmly: "Your Highness, it is indeed iron ore, and the iron content is quite high, even I have never seen such a good quality iron ore in Zou County." ”

Fang Ling then asked the child, "Little friend, where did you get this stone?"

The child said a little proudly: "Stone Mountain!"

"Stone Mountain?" Fang Ling said strangely.

The child explained: "It's the bare stone mountains outside the city, and my father and mother don't allow me to go, so I sneaked to play, and I found that the stones were very interesting." ”

As soon as they said this, the three of them immediately understood that when they entered the city, they did see a lot of mountains with only stones, and they were not small.

When the child had finished speaking, he took the silver and walked away.

Fang Ling looked at Huang Jian and asked, "Uncle Huang, what do you think?"

Huang Jian replied: "Your Highness, as far as the grass people know, iron ore has been found in this border place, especially in the mountains, which is why the borders of the two countries are here, and there have been wars repeatedly, in order to grab one more mine ♀, the child can find iron ore on the mountain, it is estimated that it is a 'dew' sky mine." ”

"'Dew' Heavenly Mine?" Meng Zhiyuan said in surprise.

Huang Jian explained: "Some of these veins are 'naked' and 'exposed' outside the mountain, which is the 'dew' heavenly mine, and iron ore can be picked up everywhere, while others are born in the mountain and need to be excavated and drilled before they can be developed. It's just that I don't know now, which mountain is the mine, and how big is the storage capacity?"

Meng Zhiyuan said happily: "Your Highness, if it is really a big mine, wouldn't it solve the livelihood problem of Feng County?"

Fang Ling bowed slightly, he naturally knew what an iron mine meant, and he said to Meng Zhiyuan: "Brother Meng, you immediately go and inform Lord Cao and come to the hall to meet me." ”

By the time the two returned to the hall, Cao Jingyuan had already arrived, and Meng Zhiyuan also told Chen Mou about the matter, and when he heard that there might be an iron mine, Chen Mou couldn't sleep, so he also went to the hall.

Fang Ling put the iron ore on the table and asked Cao Jingyuan, "Lord Cao, have you ever sent someone to explore these stone mountains?"

Cao Jingyuan shook his head and said: "The subordinate is just a scholar, he doesn't know much about this iron mine and other things, as far as I know, the officials here in the past dynasties have not had such an idea, originally there is still some soil on those stone mountains, and some people have moved the idea of planting fruit trees, but planting one tree dies another, so just do it." ”

Fang Ling continued to ask, "How many stone mountains are there nearby?"

Cao Jingyuan replied: "There are about six, it seems that they have been bare since the county records of this county, these six stone mountains are all on the northwest edge of this county, the nearest one is a mile away, and then outward are the 'misty' Fog Mountain and the Shilong Mountain Range. ”

Fang Ling bowed slightly, and asked Huang Jian, "Uncle Huang, do you know anything about this prospecting method?"

Huang Jian replied: "This iron ore has different 'colors', some are black, some are red' and some are brown, but usually the darker and darker the 'color', the more iron content will be. In addition, there is an old saying that 'there is a magnet on it, and there is copper and gold below', which means that once a stone with magnetic "nature" is found, there is iron ore underneath it. On the basis of these two points, it is not difficult to inquire. ”

Fang Ling bowed slightly: "This is not simple. ”

Chen Mou said at this time: "What His Highness needs most at present is the people's support and prestige. Therefore, it is best to carry out this inquiry into iron ore in secret, in case there is really a large vein, it is very good, if it is only a little bit, it will not damage the prestige. ”

Fang Ling nodded, and said to Cao Jingyuan: "Then Lord Cao will mobilize the soldiers to defend the city early tomorrow morning, and we will investigate one mountain after another." ”

The next morning, the light snow had receded overnight.

Fang Ling was eating in the hall, and by the way he discussed some details of today's prospecting with Chen Mou, Huang Jian and others, when the guards outside came to report that the county commanders of Xihe County and Maling County came to visit.

Fang Ling was not surprised by the arrival of the two, the three counties are adjacent, and the news of his arrival in Feng County must have spread yesterday, and it is estimated that the two of them knew about it last night.

At this time, everyone had almost eaten, Chen Mou and the others put away the dishes and chopsticks, and after Fang Ling sat down on the chair, he asked the guards to pass two county orders in.

The county magistrate of Xihe County is named Luo Zhi, in his thirties, and his round face is full of smiles, so that his eyes are narrowed into a slit, his mouth is like a crescent moon, and his cheeks look fat.

The county magistrate of Maling County is named Yu Zhengqi, who is slightly older than Luo Zhi, a little shorter, and his face is thinner, but he also has a flattering smile.

As soon as the two of them came in, they immediately made a big salute, and then said in unison: "Xiaguan Luo and Yu Zhengqi pay a visit to the King of Shicheng." ”

"It must have been very hard for the two of you to come here so early in the morning. Fang Ling said lightly.

Luo Wei hurriedly said: "Thank you Your Highness for your concern, the two officials originally got the news that His Highness came to Fengxian County last night, but they just remembered that His Highness had a long journey all the way, so they didn't come to see him in time, and I ask Your Highness to forgive me for the sin of neglect." ”

"The two adults are so concerned about this king, how can this king blame you?" Fang Ling smiled slightly, different from the cold and arrogant Cao Jingyuan, these two people looked good at first glance, living a leisurely life, and they were all in the same breath.

According to Chen Mou's resume, the Luo family is one of the largest families in Xihe County, Luo Zhi later obtained fame, and was transferred back to Xihe County after serving as a county commander in other places, this person has been an official in Xihe County for ten years, and it is said that he has quite a political achievement.

Yu Zhengqi and Luo Zhi's family backgrounds are quite similar, but they are not from Maling County, they have been officials in Maling County for more than ten years, and they have also made a lot of political achievements, and they are highly respected by local squires and celebrities.

At this time, Luo Wei said with a smile: "Your Highness has first come here, and the officials have prepared some small gifts, and please ask Your Highness to smile." ”

"Oh, then I'm going to see what kind of thin gift it is?" Fang Ling smiled slightly, not the slightest bit angry because of the other party's stammering.

Luo Wei suddenly laughed, called outside, and saw two entourages walking in with a wooden box in their hands, and when they came to the hall, they presented the things to Meng Zhiyuan who was nearby.

Meng Zhiyuan sent two wooden boxes up, and Fang Ling directly opened one of them, only to see that there was a layer of red satin inside, and a jade lion was placed on the satin.

This jade lion is made of high-quality mutton fat white jade as the material, the jade quality is warm and smooth, the carving is quite a master's style, it is first painted with a rough knife to the outline, and then carved with a jade knife in the details, so this jade lion has both rough wind, and delicate beauty, and the value is naturally expensive.

Seeing Fang Ling bowing slightly, as if he had a taste of appreciation, Luo Zhi and Yu Zhengqi glanced at each other, and the corners of their mouths "revealed" a smile.

Fang Ling opened another wooden box, and inside was a night pearl, which was round like a pearl, and the "color" was white and showed a millimeter of fluorescence, which was also a rare thing.

Where had Huang Jian and Meng Zhiyuan seen such a valuable thing, and they were amazed on the side.

Fang Ling put away the two wooden boxes, and pretended to appreciate it: "The two adults have really governed the county abundantly and richly, and this small gift has opened the eyes of this king." ”

Luo Zhi and the others hurriedly replied: "That's all Huang Enhao'. ”

Fang Ling smiled slightly: "Wait a while, this king still has something to do, and the two adults are busy with official business if they want to come, so there will be no two left." ”

Luo Zhi and the others hurriedly said: "Then the lower officials will not bother, and welcome His Royal Highness in the county another day." ”

After the two of them left, Fang Ling smiled at Meng Zhiyuan and asked, "Brother Meng, why do you say these two adults gave me these two generous gifts?"

"This ...... The grass people did not dare to speculate. Meng Zhiyuan hurriedly replied.

Chen Mou smiled and said, "Little Brother Meng, don't you still understand Your Highness's intentions? Sooner or later, you will become Your Highness's right-hand man, what if you can't even answer this question? Since Your Highness asks, just answer whatever you think." ”

Meng Zhiyuan replied: "In my opinion, there are nothing more than two possibilities, one is that these two people don't do anything good on weekdays, and they are afraid that His Royal Highness will come to the county and punish them after knowing about their evil deeds, so the two will give generous gifts. ”

Fang Ling smiled slightly: "What about the second possibility?"

Meng Zhiyuan said: "The second is that these two people know the way to meet each other, and if they want to meet His Royal Highness, they can't give gifts too shabby, so they spent a lot of money to get these two gifts." ”

"If these two speculations are true as Brother Meng said, then it would be good. Fang Ling said lightly.

Meng Zhiyuan said confusedly: "What does Your Highness mean, is there any other possibility?"

Fang Ling said: "On the surface, these two possibilities are reasonable and correct, but Brother Meng doesn't know if you have ever thought that these two possibilities are based on the assumption that this king is a greedy person, if this king is an honest and honest person, do you think you will ask for their heads when you get angry?"

Meng Zhiyuan was stunned when he heard this, and Chen Mou said on the side: "What does Your Highness mean that they have something to hold?"

Fang Ling narrowed his eyes and said, "That's just the worst plan, it's good if I can't get rid of them if they're really so shallow." Speaking of which, he didn't say any more, waved his hand and said, "Put this matter aside for the time being, let's go see Master Cao first." ”