Chapter 204: Copper-Gold Mine

The boulders of Ningyuan City were taken from the depths of the mountain range where the Yeji River originated. Since the beginning of the construction of Ningyuan City, almost throughout the entire construction period, tens of thousands of slaves have been kept working hard in the deep mountains. In the course of four months, tens of thousands of slaves contributed millions of boulders to Ningyuan City, and almost everything that could be moved in the deep mountains was swept away, and only by using chisels and hammers to continue to ask for the mountains could they get the boulders needed to build the city.

Solup, a man of Bahanna, a man of men under the command of Achiti, who was responsible for collecting firewood, was forcibly transferred to a slave camp to do the most tiring and dangerous quarrying work. The high-intensity physical work in the deep mountains made Soluup tired and lived like a year.

Unwilling or unable to endure the intense labor, slaves ran away every day. There were only two ways to escape from here, either through the heavily defended garrison barracks and fleeing downstream, but there was little chance of success, and a dozen dazed slaves tried to 'touch' the fish in the muddy waters downstream, but they were found by the rangers outside the mountain, or by the hounds of the overseer, whose heads still hung on a cliff tree in the quarry, and their fate could be seen by casual looking up. Another way to escape is to go deeper into the mountains, over cliffs and snow-capped peaks, and face the challenge of all kinds of beasts and hunger at any time, and everyone knows that this chance is even more remote. But this still did not stop the madness of some of the outlaws, and from time to time, there were faint shrill and terrifying cries in the distant 'gloomy' mountains, accompanied by the occasional roar of some beast, which made people shudder.

It wasn't until the general in charge of the place made a solemn announcement in public that gave everyone hope that the momentum of the flight was stopped.

The slaves were told that once the construction of Ningyuan City was completed, as long as their diligence was recognized, they could be freed, or choose to join the Ministry of Light, or leave on their own, and those who made meritorious deeds could be free and rewarded in advance. And, henceforth, the right of the overseer to be whipped at will was abolished, and in its place was a record, that is, a record of bad performance, although there was no corporal punishment of whipping, but this new method of punishment was even more terrible, and once it was recorded in the overseer's book, they almost lost hope in life. However, this is also an opportunity, as long as merit, happiness will follow.

Hearing this announcement, Solup's heart moved, it should be said that it was 'excited', and he opened his mouth and almost shouted the word "meritorious service" on the spot. In the end, he still resisted the impulse, and his heavy concerns made him have to be cautious, in case the credit was not obtained, but someone with a heart found an excuse to make him disappear, and then he couldn't get the credit. This kind of thing is normal, and he has seen it with his own eyes. So, Soloop decided to wait and see.

This wait is dozens of days, the painful days almost wear out his patience, several times, he wants to forget it, just as a big gamble, life and death are up to the sky, maybe the ghost makes the gods, he is tight-lipped after all. It wasn't until a few days ago, when the boulders were almost chiseled, that Solup began to get anxious when the watchman offered to move to a farther hill to quarry. Because, there is a secret of his meritorious service, and once the quarrying army goes there, his merit is likely to be lost.

Soluup was unwilling, like an ant on a hot pan, restless and restless.

"Hey, are you stealing 'rape' and playing tricks? If you desert again, you will be a slave for the rest of your life. "One of the overseers' baggage guards was shouting at Soloop, threatening to leave him with a bad record.

"You all listen, General Cui has an order, if anyone is lazy today, don't think about the chance to regain your freedom." The overseer's soldiers shouted a warning to all the slaves in the vicinity.

Although the threatened slave was dissatisfied, he did not dare to protest, the pen in the overseer's hand was dozens of times more powerful than the scimitar, and if the pen was waved at someone's name, then his life would be over, and his previous efforts and sweat would be in vain. The slaves didn't know why the overseers were so nervous today, and they felt the change in the atmosphere, more tense and depressed than before.

The mountain absorbed the heat of the whole summer, and the snow on the mountains almost melted, and in early autumn, the flow of the Yeji River was greatly reduced, and the flow of water in the river was reduced, which meant that the transportation of boulders was once again a bottleneck for the construction of the city.

However, the foundation of the wall of the city wall of Ningyuan City has been laid, and at this stage, the main thing is the heightening of the city wall, and there is no deliberate demand for boulders, which can be replaced by smaller stones. Therefore, Li Huaitang's idea was that instead of 'wasting' his strength to dig huge rocks in the mountains and not being able to transport them, it was better to withdraw tens of thousands of strong slaves and let them speed up the progress of the city wall and various buildings in the city. Anyway, a lot of small stones have been accumulated, and there are also tens of thousands of transport armies pushing various vehicles, driving cattle and horses to Ningyuan City to transport back stones. Even if the stones are not enough, it is not too late to increase the number of people who can transport the crushed stones.

Early in the morning, Li Huaitang took Wu 'Meng' and Master Lu into the mountain to check the stone field. Before setting out on the expedition, Li Huaitang hoped that the force system of Ningyuan City's city defense could be built, the tall walls should reflect her great role, and the flow of people entering and leaving the city 'gate' must also be monitored. At the same time, Li Huaitang couldn't rest assured that there were a huge number of slaves, once they made any changes, the threat to Ningyuan City was too great. He needs to understand the situation personally and solve his worries together.

"In addition to leaving 3,000 strong slaves to mine lime, we can 'pump' 15,000 laborers." Cui Youyuan, the general of the Thousand Cavalry who was in charge of supervising the work, accompanied Li Huaitang and answered Li Huaitang's questions meticulously.

"These slaves are in good shape, and they work hard." Li Huaitang was very interested, and under Cui Youyuan's introduction, he appreciated it while watching.

"Thanks to the generosity of the General, these slaves, although they worked hard, never lacked food and clothing. Eat more and work harder, and your body will naturally be strong. Moreover, the general's foresight gave them hope and reassured them, and compared with the panic at the beginning, their emotions were absolutely stable. Only by working hard can they repay the general's kindness. ”

Wu 'Meng' and Master Lu, who came with them, felt that Cui Youyuan was suspected of compliments, but they were also honest and impeccable.

Li Huaitang nodded and unceremoniously accepted all of Cui Youyuan's appreciation.

The group hugged each other and slowly approached the slave who was working hard with his head down.

"You two, yes, just the two of you, come here." Li Huaitang casually pointed to the two slaves nearby, regardless of whether they understood him or not, and motioned for them to come over.

The two slaves looked at Cui Youyuan uncertainly, and only after getting their approval did they run to Li Huaitang respectfully.

"What's your name?" Li Huaitang turned to Litte to question the two slaves who were bowing before him.

"My name is Aries." "My name is Black Mud." Both slaves were from Bakanna, and Li Huaitang's lame Rite could barely 'mingle' with them.

"Do you know the doctrine of labor for freedom? What do you think? "It's not about showing off leadership, Li Huaitang just wants to know what these lowest-level slaves really think.

"This?" Aries and Black Mud hesitated, the answer was very broad and empty, and they didn't know where to start for a while.

Cui Youyuan said anxiously: "You guys just tell the truth, what do you have to say." ”

"Yes, yes, General Choi." In the eyes of the two, this General Cui is the sky above their heads, controlling their life and death.

The honest black mud of the foreign minister said first: "The rules are known. We were all happy with our ideas. ”

"It's not just satisfaction, it's quite satisfying. Don't you see, when General Cui announced the order, there was a thunderous cheer on the left, and a flag was waving and shouting on the right, which was quite a crowd of 'excited' and quite expectant. Seeing that the person who asked the question seemed to be still in charge of General Cui here, the white sheep's eyes rolled, and he sang praises of merit.

"Aries, don't be so exaggerated." Choi Youyuan embarrassedly reminded the flamboyant white sheep.

Aries sneered: "No, no, General Cui knows, I, Aries tell the truth." ”

This situation and this scene seem familiar, where have you seen it? Li Huaitang was full of doubts and confusion, this trio of Cui, white and black was too familiar, and he felt that this moment was the repetition of the traces in the dream.

Li Huaitang asked again: "Then what do you think of the regulations on rewarding meritorious service?" ”

Black Mud blurted out: "I'm looking forward to it!" ”

"What are you looking forward to? That's quite anticipation, don't you see......" Aries was excited again and ready to drown Li Huaitang with a flying spit.

Seeing this, Cui Youyuan hurriedly stopped him: "Come on, shut up for me!" Don't bother the General. ”

"General!?"

Black Mud and White Sheep were stunned for a moment, came back to their senses and quickly knelt down towards Li Huaitang, kowtowing desperately. Even the nearby slaves stopped what they were doing, knelt down and shouted, "The general is mighty!" ”。

This general Shenlong saw the head and the end, none of them had seen it, but the name of the general was like thunder for them, and the powerful Aliti Department was like a 'chicken' and a dog in front of the general, and he was easily swept into the garbage basket of history, and disappeared in an instant, leaving no trace.

Nearby Soluup was taken aback, and at the same time he felt that an opportunity had come, and his heart was beating like a deer, and his heart was almost beating out of his chest. Don't miss the time! Soloop rushed towards Li Huaitang desperately, and before the guards intercepted him, he suddenly fell to his knees and shouted hoarsely: "General, I want to make meritorious service, I want to make meritorious service!" ”

The distance was so close that Li Huaitang clearly heard the shout, turned his head in confusion, and saw a strong slave kneeling more than ten steps away, repeating that he wanted to make meritorious contributions.

"Oh? Make contributions? Li Huaitang is very curious and looking forward to it, does he want to give gold and silver to the beauty?

"Bring him here!" Li Huaitang said.

Under the watchful eye of the guards, Sorop knelt tremblingly in front of Li Huaitang, and said cautiously: "General, my name is Sorop, and I 'want' to offer a golden mountain to the general." ”

"Jinshan? If there is really a mountain of gold, can there be everyone? Li Huaitang was interested, and his voice increased a lot.

Sorop took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down before he said slowly: "The general doesn't know, when I was in the Ajeti Division, I was mainly responsible for the collection of firewood, and in order to collect wood, I often had to go into the mountains to cut wood. Once, when I went into the mountains, I stumbled upon a mountain stream full of gold, both lumpy and sandy. At that time, because I still had a companion with me, I was worried about my safety, and at the same time, I was also 'selfish' and kept it in my heart. I have never been able to thank the general for his kindness, and I hope that the general will not give up and accept my humble gift. ”

Li Huaitang said: "If it is as you say, then there will be no loss of your credit, not only will you be freed from slavery immediately, but thousands of households will also give you a reward for your merits." ”

"General Xie, General Xie. I'll lead the way, the gold mine is not far from here, only half a day's journey. Soloop nodded in frustration.

Wu Meng, who had been silent, was worried that Li Huaitang would not be able to bear the golden 'temptation' and 'bewilderment', so he hurriedly took a few steps forward and said, "General, about the matter of the gold mine, I think it is better to put it aside for the time being. At present, our goal is still on Ningyuan City. ”

Li Huaitang understood that Wu 'Meng' was worried about causing trouble, because opening a gold mine not only required labor, but also a large number of soldiers to escort it, thus occupying the manpower of the city and dispersing the defense force.

"Well, that makes sense, I agree with that. However, this gold mine needs to be verified and evaluated, and we will come back to it when we have time. "Li Huaitang dispelled Wu Meng's concerns.

Wu 'Meng' is very relieved, Li Huaitang is not the kind of lord who sees money, if it is replaced by Kublai Duo, the monarch of the pre-history country, the result will definitely be the opposite side. U'meng' then said: "Then, U'meng' will lead people to follow Soluup to investigate, and then report to the general again." ”

Li Huaitang has always needed an opportunity, just like the Qin Dynasty Shang Ying's reform, he also wants an opportunity to "hang the wood bounty" to win the trust of many slaves, and the born Solupu is the one who carried the wood for him.

Before the sun went down, the U'Mong and his party returned, returning with a bag of ore.

After Li Huaitang saw the "ore" in the bag, he was taken aback, where is this ore, isn't the piece of gold gold?

"This, it's a nugget of gold, it's all this stuff there?"

Li Huaitang's reaction was exactly the same as the expression on the initial face of U'meng', and when Solup led them to the untouched mountain stream, U'meng' and they were stunned. In the 'bed' of a river that has been dry for a long time, between the gravel and the sediment, there are dazzling gold nuggets, and the mud and sand are also 'mixed' with countless gold sand. At the same time, the rocks of the mountain stream are full of patina, which can easily be broken up, and the inside is gray.

In addition to the gold nuggets, U'mong also brought back a lot of broken stones, and if after a few days, the broken stones also turned green, it proved that the whole rock contained copper. And copper is equivalent to the coins of the Tang Dynasty.

Wu 'Meng' confirmed to Li Huaitang that what Solup said was true, that the scale of the gold mine was very large, and there was also a copper mine, and perhaps there was gold in the copper mine.

"Congratulations, Soloop. From this moment on, you are no longer a slave. Because of your contribution to my Ministry, you are allowed to join the Ministries of Light and become a member of it, and like other people, you are free and protected by us. Another bounty of 100 taels and 100 sheep. ”

Li Huaitang patted Solupp's shoulder with a smile on his face, and announced in public that Solup was freed from slavery. Soluup, who finally got his wish, almost fainted unhappily, and his coolie career has finally come to an end, and a better tomorrow is just around the corner!

Wu 'Meng' then stood up and said: "I, the grandson of Wu 'Meng', the grandson of the five thousand households of the Ministry of Light, on behalf of the Ministry of Light and the Ministry of People, appoint the Ministry of Light and the Ministry of Light as hundreds of households, responsible for the collection of firewood in the entire Ministry of Light!" ”

Li Huaitang and Wu Meng's words were loud and loud, like a thunderclap, and they exploded in the crowd of slaves. In the crowd, a voice of envy sounded.

"Do you hear that? Soloop is free and an official! ”

"Oh my God, why didn't you let me get such a good thing?"

"Sure enough, there is faith in the word, and there is hope in the future."

……

Li Huaitang struck while the iron was hot, and announced in public that the excavation of the boulder would be suspended, except for the 3,000 slaves and hundreds of baggage soldiers who stayed behind in the lime field, the rest of the people were immediately cleared and returned to Ningyuan City to join the army of city building and building houses.

Compared to mining and transporting boulders, building a city and building a house is much easier. The slaves, who felt that their salaries had been improved, immediately cheered and shouted that the general was mighty.

When Ati was defeated, the captives heard the loudest and most memorable words of the victor as "The Admiral is mighty!" "They know it's a compliment or a compliment." Under the agitation, he took this sentence as a slogan.

Before leaving, Li Huaitang gave Cui Youyuan a directive.

"The one called Aries can speak, read words, and look at 'color', and is a talent. Pay attention to him, investigate his identity and origin, and if you can, it would be 'quite' to train him to be a lobbyist. Pay more attention to see what other talents are available, as long as you can recommend the right one, it will also be counted as your credit. ”

"Yes, I promise to tell the truth and never disappoint the general's expectations!" Cui Youyuan agreed loudly.

After a night, early the next morning, tens of thousands of troops were cleaned up, and under the response of the light cavalry, they marched towards the lower reaches of the Yeji River and Ningyuan City.

The city wall of Ningyuan City is already more than two zhang high, and then tens of thousands of strong slaves are invested, it only takes one month, and the part of the city wall can be basically completed, because of the time constraint and the relationship between the main and secondary, some auxiliary buildings, such as the 'female' wall, the urn city and the arrow tower, etc., will be built after the main city wall is built. In this way, before Li Huaitang led a light horse to the territory of the Tuqi Shi people to "turn the edge", there was basically no problem with the defense of Ningyuan City. Relying on the tall Ningyuan City, as long as the food is sufficient, the armed cavalry and baggage soldiers can completely resist the hundreds of thousands of troops without heavy siege equipment.

After solving his worries, Li Huaitang began to intensively prepare necessary items such as "Huayuan" tools, and at the same time prepared to mobilize morale for the main force of "Huayuan". Please keep in mind the URL, if you like "War Owl in Tang" written by the wolf under the moon