Jing Yi has been thinking about finding out if there are any mineral deposits around. After all, these areas in Beiyan are sparsely populated, the distance between cities is relatively long, and the population and food resources are very small. There will be a lot of wasteland.

In such a place, there is nothing of value except for minerals.

Although there is a lot of land here, there is a lot of wasteland, and it takes not only people but also time to develop it, and even if someone doesn't have a few years, don't think about developing it.

Therefore, if you want to maximize the benefits, you must try to find something valuable in this land. It can also be used as a reference for their future negotiations.

In the evening, when Jing Yi and Xiao Yilin were having dinner together, she said, "Brother Xiao, are we just stationed here?"

Xiao Yilin said, "I think Beiyan should have sent someone to sue for peace, and the people should arrive soon, so let's just wait here." I would like to continue to advance with a large army, but our food and grass are limited, and we can't get food in Beiyan, so it's better for us to be cautious and safe."

Jing Yi nodded, "Indeed, the march of the army needs multiple guarantees, especially the grain and grass, which is related to the combat effectiveness of the entire army. Even if we don't attack again, we will already make Beiyan suffer heavy losses.

It just so happens that we can use this time to look around to see if there are any mineral deposits. If we had it, we would have gained even more this time."

Xiao Yilin nodded and said, "Then have a good night's rest tonight, and tomorrow I will go around the surrounding mountains with you."

After resting in the General's Mansion for one night, after breakfast the next day, Xiao Yilin explained to Yuan Zhenchuan and Shu Shenglun, and then took Gu Yu and some other guards out of the city with Jing Yi. Not only did they carry baskets on their backs, but they also carried shovels and pickaxes.

They didn't go anywhere else, but first went to the mountains not far from Pingyang City to investigate.

Jing Yi knows a lot about plants that absorb metal elements, so she can first make a rough judgment based on the plants growing on the ground, and then use her ability to explore the ground through plants. It's a little easier that way.

The group walked up the mountain not very fast, and when they met the herb Jingyi, they picked medicine. The excuse for her and Xiao Yilin to enter the mountain was to collect medicine. Pick some herbs and go back to hide people's eyes.

Jing Yi stopped and dug up a lot of herbs. Sometimes Xiao Yilin will also follow along. Gu Yu and other guards were not idle, they were responsible for carrying herbs and hunting.

I finally have free time, and it is on the mountain where there are a lot of wild things, of course, I have to hunt some wild animals and go back to feast on them.

Little by little, they walked into the mountains, and Jingyi did not find any plants that absorbed metal elements.

However, Jing Yi was not discouraged, and they climbed over this not very high mountain to another mountain.

This mountain may not be visited by many people, so the medicine collection on the mountain is even more abundant. Jing Yi picked a lot of herbs, and the back baskets of Gu Yu and several of his guards were almost full.

When they were halfway up the mountain, Jingyi found a grass that had already produced seeds. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the grass. This kind of grass Jingyi has seen before, called Haizhou fragrant herb, also called copper grass.

Copper grass can absorb the copper present in the soil, and many scientific researchers in Jingyi's previous life have discovered multiple copper deposits under the guidance of Haizhou Xiangzhi. In addition to being a good indicator of coppergrass, its roots, stems, leaves, and flowers can even be used to smelt copper.

Haizhou Xiangzhi whole herb into medicine, it is pungent, slightly warm, the function of relieving heatstroke, dispersing dampness and water, mainly treating headache, fever, chills, no sweating, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, edema, athlete's foot, etc. It is an herb with great medicinal value.

Jing Yi looked at the copper grass growing around her, and was pleasantly surprised. Jing Yi activated his ability and began to try to communicate with the copper grass, using the copper grass to explore the underground world.

Xiao Yilin saw Jing Yi happily starting to dig the grass on the ground, thinking that this was a herb she urgently needed, so she said, "Jing Yan, is this herb very useful? Do you want to dig more?"

Jing Yi leaned close to Xiao Yilin and whispered, "Brother Xiao, this grass can not only be used in medicine, but it can also guide people to discover copper mines. I guess we've found copper."

Jing Yi has already used his ability to communicate with Tongcao and found out that there is indeed a copper mine below, but the specific reserves are unknown. Her abilities weren't that powerful yet.

Xiao Yilin's eyes were full of surprise when he heard this

looked at Jing Yi, "I'll let Gu Yu dig and see."

Jing Yi nodded, "Dig it, just tell them to dig up these herbs first, their roots can also be used in medicine, and they all need to be dug out."

Xiao Yilin understood what the little girl meant, and now the matter is still unclear, so it is not appropriate to publicize it. And if you do find a copper mine, it will be even more secret. Fortunately, this time he brought all his henchmen, so he didn't have to worry about the news leaking.

Xiao Yilin called out to Gu Yu, who was hunting, "Gu Yu, you take a shovel and an iron pickaxe to dig out these herbs. Be careful to dig deeper, the roots of these herbs are also going to be used in medicine."

Gu Yu and the others were quite curious about why their prince had to bring so many tools with him when he went into the mountains to collect medicines, but it turned out that he really wanted to dig herbs.

Gu Yu picked up a shovel and an iron pickaxe and began to carefully dig up the herbs that had already borne seeds on the ground, very careful, for fear that the herbs would be damaged and the medicinal properties would be destroyed.

Soon Gu Yu and the others dug up a piece of land and dug up all the herbs.

Then Xiao Yilin said, "Put the soil in this place aside and keep digging."

Although Gu Yu and the others didn't understand why, they unconditionally implemented the words of their prince.

As Gu Yu dug deeper, they quickly dug into the stone layer. This is where the iron pickaxe comes in handy. Gu Yu quickly dug out a few stones from the ground.

Jing Yi was pleasantly surprised when she saw the color of the stone. Because the color of this stone is lovely green.

Jing Yi knows that in the oxide zone in the upper part of the copper mine, there is often a kind of green malachite. Malachite gets its name because it resembles a peacock's feathers. Malachite also has another nickname called "patina", which is a sign of prospecting.

Jing Yi picked up a green stone and looked at it, yes, it was patina.

Jing Yi's eyes flashed with surprise and nodded to Xiao Yilin.

Xiao Yilin couldn't hide his excitement and said to Gu Yu and them, "Keep digging."

Gu Yu and the others continued to work hard, they were not stupid as Xiao Yilin's henchmen, they had a hunch that they might have found a baby.

As the pit got deeper and deeper, the excavated stones gradually turned greenish-black and copper-yellow.

Xiao Yilin is not a reckless man who doesn't know anything, on the contrary, he is very knowledgeable. And he had really seen the appearance of the copper ore coming out of a copper mine currently being mined in the territory of the Jin Kingdom, which was similar to this.

Xiao Yilin was very excited, he turned his head to look at Jing Yi, "Jing Yan, have we found it?"

Jing Yi smiled and nodded, "The hard work paid off, and I finally found it." The harvest of our expedition has far exceeded our expectations."