The exploration of mineral deposits on Dayuan Island has been continuing, but the methods of exploring ore veins in this era are too rudimentary, and many times it depends on luck, and there is really nothing that can be done about the ore veins buried deep in the ground.

Therefore, as early as a few years ago, Li Tianyang split a team from the exploration team and followed He Yong's ocean-going fleet south to find Li De, a wild shark who had gained a foothold in Luzon.

The purpose of their visit was simple, that is, to try their luck and explore the existence of hidden gold and copper resources in the Luzon Islands.

Luzon was known as the country of a thousand islands in later generations, and there were countless islands in its waters, which was quite a lot of work for a team of only a dozen or so people.

However, according to Li Tianyang's vague memory, it was mentioned in "Official Residence Yipin" that the gold ore veins in the Luzon Islands are very large, so those small islands are bound to be the main branch of the Luzon gold veins, so if they are excluded, then the vast majority of the islands will have no exploration value.

The remaining archipelago, centered on the three main islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, has exploration value.

On the side of the main island of Luzon, the north, as Li De's sphere of influence, naturally raised his hands in favor of Li Tianyang sending this exploration team to find available resources for him; The southern side was under the actual control of the Spanish foreigners, and the exploration team did not stay too long for safety reasons.

Unfortunately, after searching for this island for more than half a year, the exploration team was not able to find any trace of the ore, and regrettably sent back their exploration results to Li Tianyang.

Subsequently, on Visayas, the exploration team also did not make any progress, but the Luzon Islands are blessed with a complete sovereign state, and they are located in the center of the east-west shipping route, and the indigenous people on the island have already begun to contact with the outside world, and they are not as xenophobic as the natives on Dayuan Island, so the exploration team was escorted by the Li De Shark Gang and Hongmen's own team members, and did not suffer much life safety problems during the exploration process.

Until they arrived in Mindanao, the local regime of the Sulu Sultanate, established by Arab traders more than 100 years ago, was being attacked and suppressed by the Spaniards from the West.

As the Sultanate of Sulu, which believes in the predominance of religion, and the Spaniards who believe in the teachings of the Jesuits, there has been a deep blood feud since ancient times, and at this time, in front of the powerful Spaniards, the land and people of the Sultanate of Sulu were slaughtered frantically, as a reward for the Jesuits' unsuccessful expeditions to Jerusalem, the holy land.

At this time, the king of the Sultanate of Sulu had to be driven out of the Luzon and Visayas Islands by the Spaniards and languished himself on Mindanao.

For Westerners, the Sulu Sultanate has a strong resistance mentality, but for the Ming people, who are powerful ancient countries in the East, they have a different attitude.

From ancient times to the present, the attitude of the land of China towards the surrounding subject countries has always been the arrival of all nations, and I have greeted each other majestically, but I have never made any unfavorable actions to the subject countries because of the strength of my own side, and in this regard, the Ming Dynasty is the best one.

Since Zheng He went to the West and passed through the Sulu Sultanate with the powerful Ming sailors, and met with the second king of the Sultanate at that time, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Sulu Sultanate has always been very harmonious.

This made the exploration team sent by Hongmen bring great convenience to the operation on Mindanao, and Li Tianyang put the official hat on his head, allowing the exploration team under his command to walk freely in the country of the Sultanate of Sulu, and also did not receive too many difficulties.

When they accidentally discovered naturally occurring dog's head gold in a small stream south of Mindanao, and then discovered a large amount of placer gold ore around it, they finally verified the fact that Li Tianyang had a huge gold mine in the Luzon Islands.

This discovery was actually made in August and September of the second year of Chongzhen, and from the day the ore vein was discovered, the exploration team subsequently discovered more placer gold resources in many areas south of Mindanao.

But this secret, except for the members of the exploration team, only Li Tianyang and a few other people who were far away on Dayuan Island knew about it, and even the Shark Gang who escorted and protected them all the way, as well as the people sent by the king of the Sulu Sultanate, did not know.

Li Tianyang's heart just wanted to lay out in advance, and when his father Li De grew old and the foundation was inherited by himself, then he could start to exert efforts to develop this rich wealth and resources.

However, people are not as good as heaven, no matter how good Li Tianyang's plan is, it can't compare to the speed of this reality change, Li Tianyang is now facing a situation that is: between a gold vein that he has already obtained, and a rich gold mine that he doesn't know when it will be used by himself, which one should Li Tianyang choose.

The exposure of the Jilong Mountain vein, without a heavy diversion target, is likely to plunge Hongmen into a dire situation in the future.

The simplest thing is that when the news of the gold resources on Dayuan Island leaks out, other teams may be hindered by the fact that Hongmen is now strong enough in the South China Sea, even if they are interested in the wealth obtained by Hongmen, they do not have the ability to snatch food from Hongmen.

But as long as they poke this news to the top, let the Ming Dynasty court know that this gold ore vein exists, for the treasury is empty at this time, and the unexpected wealth is urgently needed to fill all kinds of expenditures to the Ming Dynasty court, they will inevitably ask Li Tianyang to hand over the Jilong Mountain mineral deposit to the mining right.

To make friends or not to pay Li Tian?

Hand it over, as a source of income that can now produce tens of thousands of taels of gold and stable wealth a year, and also needs huge financial expenditures to stabilize the rapid expansion rate, it is tantamount to a big hole in their financial returns, and Li Tianyang is naturally unwilling in his heart.

But if you don't hand it over, then judging from the way Emperor Chongzhen is so poor that he begs his grandfather to tell his grandmother to donate to the officials under his hands, this vein that can bring hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year is equivalent to putting a delicious big meat bun in front of the hungry Emperor Chongzhen.

Unless Li Tianyang decides to part ways with the Ming Dynasty and ignore each other, with the current situation that the Ming Dynasty is difficult to support, Li Tianyang is 70% sure that Emperor Chongzhen will not and does not have the energy to use force against the Hongmen team on Dayuan Island.

However, many of Hongmen's previous layouts in the Ming Dynasty are probably about to fail, and Qixintang's businesses in various parts of the Yangtze River and the branches of "Youjian" inns in various provinces are opened, and I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not tolerate Hongmen to continue to develop in various places comfortably.

The final result is also what Li Tianyang does not want to see.

(End of chapter)