December 3, 259 BC.

On this day, Zhao Dan came to the Longtai side hall in Handan as usual and began to deal with the day's government affairs.

A sound of footsteps sounded, and Mi Xian entered the side hall and bowed towards Zhao Dan and saluted: "I have seen the king." ”

Zhao Dan raised his head, glanced at Mi Xian, and a smile appeared on his face: "It turned out to be Mi Qing." What, is there any new news? ”

Yao Xian nodded very respectfully, and said to Zhao Dan: "The news just sent back has found the so-called stone that the king said... Uh, coal mines. ”

This news immediately lifted Zhao Dan's spirits, and he hurriedly asked, "Is there a sample?" ”

Liao Xian waved his hand, and immediately two palace guards walked in carrying a basket.

Zhao Dan got up from his seat and walked in front of the basket, and sure enough, he found that the basket was full of black coal.

Coal is a very magical thing.

According to the research of the Ming Dynasty scholar Lu Shen, there is a Dongfu Mountain in Yangquanping, Shanxi, which looks like a stove from a distance, which is the place where Nuwa refined the colorful stone to make up the sky in ancient times, and coal is the raw material used by Nuwa to burn the colorful stone, which was agreed by Gu Yanwu, who was also a scholar of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, the "Classic of Mountains and Northern Mountains" in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" of a generation of strange books also once said: "The mountain of Mengmen has many jades and gold on it, and topaz and Dorne stones under it...... The mountain of cardia has many jades on it, chalk and dorne stones under it. ”

Nirvana is a name for coal in ancient times, in which the "Mengmen Mountain" is about the south of Taihang Mountain, and the "Cardia Mountain" is about the north of Taihang Mountain.

From the perspective of application, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, coal was not actually promoted, and the dynasty that really made coal begin to be used was actually the Han Dynasty, and it was a matter of time before it was popularized on a large scale.

Coal is also very important for Zhao Dan and Zhao Guo today, as long as this resource can be used well, then it can provide great convenience for Zhao Dan on the road to unify the world.

Although he had already been mentally prepared, when this basket of coal really appeared in front of Zhao Dan, Zhao Dan was inevitably a little excited.

With this coal, and using it to make coking coal, Zhao Dan's idea of blast furnace steelmaking can even begin to enter the planning stage.

Zhao Dan thought for a while, and then opened his mouth to ask Miao Xian: "Miao Qing, have you found the iron ore that the widow told you to seek?" ”

In the late Warring States period, the land of China has actually begun to enter the Iron Age, and the same is true of Zhao.

And Zhao itself is actually convenient, the capital of Zhao is the origin of iron ore in this generation, and there are several official iron ore smelters in Handan City.

For example, the reason why the Qin State has been developing bronze weapons is because of the lack of iron ore in the territory of the Qin State, and this situation did not improve until the late Warring States period when the Qin State seized the iron ore fields and smelting bases Wancheng, Dengcheng and Yiyang from Korea and Chu.

Zhao is much stronger than Qin in this regard, in addition to Handan, there are actually several large and small iron mines in the territory of Zhao today, and the various marks recorded in the map that Zhao Dan gave to Mi Xian last time are exactly where Zhao Dan's iron mines in Zhao Dan's memory are located.

As before, Mi Xian, who has always been very reliable, also gave Zhao Dan a satisfactory answer this time.

"Iron ore has been found in two of the places where the king spoke. The rest of the places have not yet been discovered, and the minister is still organizing people to continue to explore. ”

To be honest, for the discovery of these coal mines and iron ores, Mixian was actually very shocked in his heart.

You must know that Mi Xian had already served Zhao Dan's father, King Zhao Huiwen, before Zhao Dan was born, and it can be said that he grew up watching Zhao Dan.

In Mi Xian's memory, Zhao Dan never seemed to have been to any of the places marked on the map.

So how did Zhao Dan know that there were iron mines and coal mines in those places?

As a clever courtier, Mixian didn't intend to ask, but buried this doubt in his heart.

Zhao Dan didn't know what was going on in his heart, but the news brought by Mixian still made Zhao Dan completely relieved.

As long as there are enough iron mines, coupled with the endless coal mines in the territory of Zhao State, Zhao Dan is confident that in the future, Zhao Dan will build the Zhao army into an "iron" army with the best armor and equipment in the world.

Not only does it have an iron will, but it also has an extremely sharp iron weapon!

Therefore, Zhao Dan immediately ordered: "Miqing, you immediately go to Yu Qing and ask him to transfer a group of craftsmen and slaves to these places to establish mines and smelters." This matter must be kept secret and not known to anyone else, understand? ”

If the blast furnace was to be found in Handan City, it would be too conspicuous, and it would be noticed by the spies and craftsmen of the other six countries in a matter of minutes.

But if it is made in those wilderness mountains, next to the mountain mines where there are no villages for dozens of miles nearby, then the concealment will be stronger, I don't know how many thousands of times, as long as the interior is controlled, then it is almost impossible to be discovered.

Mixian quickly led the order to retreat.

But to Zhao Dan's surprise, less than half an hour later, Mixian appeared in front of Zhao Dan again.

This time, the expression on Mi Xian's face was obviously much more dignified than the last time.

"Great King, the State of Chu has just sent an urgent report, the Qin general Wang Ling led 50,000 Qin troops to the south of the river, and he has conquered Yiling three days ago, and is now besieging Yingdu!"

Zhao Dan's face showed a surprised expression: "There is such a thing? ”

Although it was said that when the war began, all the monarchs and ministers of Zhao State believed that Chu State was definitely not the opponent of Qin and Qi joining forces, but Zhao Dan really did not expect that Qin State would be able to make a breakthrough in such a short period of time after the war began.

Zhao Dan stood up and walked to the map hanging on the wall.

Looking at it, Zhao Dan's brows gradually furrowed.

It can be seen from the map that once Yiling and Yingdu are breached, then Nanjun, which has been recovered by Chu, will fall into the hands of the Qin people again.

Not only that, after the complete fall of Nanjun, this strange army led by Wang Ling can continue to go north, directly outflanking the 200,000 Chu troops who are now organizing a defensive line in Wancheng to confront Wang Di, and threatening the main force of Chu led by Jingyang, the Shangzhu State of Chu, from the back.

Under such circumstances, the main force of the Chu State, which was attacked on the back of the enemy, was very likely to be defeated by the Qin people!

"Damn it!" Zhao Dan scolded a swear word fiercely, turned his head with a sinking face, and said to Mi Xian: "Mi Qing, quickly convene the ministers to discuss countermeasures!" ”