Shenhou also stood up: "My country has lived in Jianghan for a long time, and I am familiar with geography, and I ask to lead my own soldiers and horses as the vanguard and lead the way in front. ”

Ji Zheng said to Zhao Bohu: "What Shenhou said is very true, we are not familiar with the path when we first arrived, so it is better for Shenhou to know the way." What's more, with the guidance of the son of E, you will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. ”

Zhao Bohu waved his hand: "Then according to Shenhou's request." ”

Before Ji Duoyou could say anything, he was glared at by Ji Zhengyi, reprimanded him, and came out in a huff.

When night falls, a bonfire is lit by the Han River, and both soldiers and civilians gather around this flame, or barbecue food, or sit and chat, and enjoy this moment of tranquility. Waiting until dawn will be another difficult journey.

Out of nowhere, there was a loud voice, low and tactful, soft and melodious, like a woman whispering in the quiet night. This song is soothing and sad, like flowing water, like a daughter, like lovesickness------ but no matter how different the artistic conception is from the Central Plains, it is so reverberating in the ears.

The moonlight is like water, the mist is filled, the sound of Xun has stopped, and the aftermath is endless. Everyone looked at the green mountains in the distance, and their chests were shrouded in lingering and sad feelings, and the bonfire gradually went out, and no one went up to add firewood, for fear of breaking the dreamlike silence. Ji Hu had tears on his immature little face, and somehow, at this moment, he missed his queen mother so much. I've been out of the palace for a long time, and I don't know if she's okay? Will her father blame her?

"What's wrong? Crying so sadly? Zhao Bohu asked in a low voice, and quietly handed him a handkerchief. Ji Hu refused to answer, and wiped his face with his sleeve indiscriminately: "It's nothing, it's just a little homesick." ”

E Yao put down the Xun in her hand and said sadly: "After all, the little boy still has a home, but my brother and I have both parents dead and have no home. ”

"Why should the girl be so sorrowful? When we expel the Chu people from Echeng, you can recover your homeland. Ji Duoyou comforted.

"How easy is it to say?" E Shizi Yao Yufang was not as optimistic as him at all: "You don't know how powerful that Xiong Qu is. He is extremely brave, especially good at archery, it is said that he can shoot stones without feathers, even the ancient Hou Yi can not be compared. He has been plotting against my Hubei country for more than a day, and now he has finally broken through the city of Hubei, how can he easily spit out? Alas, I only hoped to lead my people to find another place to live in the country, and I got my wish. Anyway, it's not the first time I've moved. ”

Ji Hu wanted to redeem his gaffe, so he changed the topic and asked, "Brother Shizi, why does the Chu State have to destroy your Hubei State?" Is there some deep hatred? ”

"Alas-" Yao Yufang sighed, "That's a long way to say." Our Hubei country was originally a tribe that hunted crocodiles here for a living during the Xia and Shang periods, and always used crocodiles as totems. In the Shang Dynasty, he was ranked as the third duke, oh, and your ancestor King Wen is the same status. Later, the daughter of the Nine Marquis saw that she was guilty of the king of Shang, and both father and daughter were made into meat sauce. My fathers spoke for them, and they were condemned with them. At that time, the country of Hubei was still in the land of Hefen.

Later, the Jin State continued to oppress, and our country had to move to Jianghan. When King Xianzhao attacked Jingchu, my country was a pawn of the horse, and he followed the expedition three times. Therefore, the Chu people hate our country to the bone. Of course, this is not the main reason. The reason why the Chu State has been conspiring for our Hubei State for decades is just for the copper mines in the territory, with copper, they can make tripod weapons, make armor, and use chariots, and dominate Jianghan and even the Central Plains in the north. ”

"As long as I, Ji Duoyou, are here, we must not let their plans succeed!" Duoyou pressed his sword and said angrily. The faint moonlight shone on his face, reflecting his silhouette as clear and deep as a distant mountain.

Zhao Bohu ordered in a firm and unquestionable voice: "I will follow Shenhou tomorrow, guided by the prince of E, Ziliang, you will follow the army!" ”

"I'm going to be with the young ------, no, with my brother!" Ji Hu tugged at his sleeve and pleaded, Zhao Bohu was afraid that if he didn't agree, this child would be even more troublesome, so he had to nod helplessly.

The Yangtze River and Hanshui basins are said to be plains, but they are actually hilly areas. Although the mountain is not as steep as the mountains in the north, it can rise and fall continuously, stretching for dozens of miles. If it weren't for the fact that E Shizi led the way, the Wang Shi led by Zhao Bohu would not have realized that the inconspicuous hill in front of him, which was only two kilometers in circumference, was actually the famous Tonglu Mountain.

Since crossing the Han River for more than ten days, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, and the group was really tired, so they decided to rest at the foot of the mountain for a night, and then go up the mountain to explore the copper mine. Zhao Bohu knew that "it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books", and took this opportunity to familiarize Ji Hu with the mountains and rivers here, so as to make a good reserve of knowledge for governing the country in the future. These days, he often gave lectures to Ji Hu from time to time. Now that I have arrived at Tonglu Mountain, I have opened the conversation.

The two brothers, who were actually teachers and students, leaned on the side of the car and began to ask and answer questions.

"Brother, how much copper is in this patina mountain?" Ji Hu asked curiously.

Zhao Bohu thought for a while and said: "Let's put it this way, all the ritual vessels cast by my Zhou Chamber every year, the casting soldiers needed by the Western Sixth Division and the Eighth Division of Cheng Zhou every year, and all the copper needed to repair the armor chariot are all produced here. There are also all the arrows that the army trained and fought for, all of which were mined from the great mines of the Tonglu Mountain. ”

Ji Hu stuck out his tongue: "Good girl, so much?" No wonder the Chu people are aggressive, they have to take the Tonglu Mountain? But in this case, we must not let Chu Man get this mountain! ”

"That's right! You remember, the major events of a country are nothing more than two things, one is to sacrifice to the ancestors of heaven and earth, and the other is to fight and protect the people. These two major events are inseparable from copper. A country cannot survive without sufficient copper resources, let alone expand its territory. Zhao Bohu's expression was serious.

"However, such an important mine is in the territory of Hubei. Now that the E-people don't even have the capital of the country, can they still rely on them to defend the Tonglu Mountain? The king can't stay here for a long time, and this is not a long-term solution! Ji Hu was a little anxious.

Zhao Bohu looked at him with more appreciation and surprise: "I can't imagine that you have such insight at such a young age, it's rare!" Rare! ”

"What are your brothers talking about?" Yao Yufang appeared out of nowhere and interrupted the conversation between the two.

"We're talking about this patina mountain! I just don't know why it's called that, but you just happened to be here, so you can explain it! Zhao Bohu deliberately diverted the topic.

"What's this," E Shizi's eyes turned to the grass on the side, as if looking for something, and he suddenly pulled up a clump of plants shaped like dog's tail grass: "That's because of this—the copper grass flower." Now it looks like a normal weed, but when it blooms in autumn and September, the mountain is full of these lilac wildflowers, and it is very beautiful. Legend has it that copper grass flowers only grow where there are copper mines underground, and where copper grass flowers grow, there are copper mines. However, it only blooms in autumn and September, bears fruit in October, and is only green in spring and summer, just like ordinary weeds. Therefore, this mountain is full of copper grass mountains, and it becomes a copper green mountain. ”

"Really?" Ji Hu's big eyes lit up, and he blurted out: "Is the flower beautiful?" When it was time to repel the Chu soldiers, I picked a handful and put it in a sachet when I triumphed, and brought it back to my mother ------ mother. ”

Zhao Bohu touched his head: "When you return to Haojing, your copper grass flowers will have already become dried flowers." ”

The three of them burst into laughter. E Yufang heard that Zhaogong's wife had died, but seeing that Ji Hu was not very old, he thought that he was born to Zhaogong's concubine, so he did not suspect it. The three of them chatted a little longer, and then they dispersed and went back to their tents to rest.

When the famous Tonglu Mountain mining site was presented in front of them, whether it was the well-informed Zhao Bohu or the fledgling Xiao Jihu, everyone was stunned. They were shocked by the scale of the copper mine and the complexity of mining. Who would have thought that a hill with an inconspicuous radius of four or five miles from the outside would have a lot of things to offer and could accommodate thousands of people at the same time.

On the rocky wall at the back of the valley, dozens of mine caves are densely packed, the size of which can only be entered by an adult's cat. There is a shaft attached to each mine, and from time to time, a rope lifts out the excavated ore baskets, and then the miners outside bow their bodies and hand them out in the bamboo and wood scaffolding built between the rock walls. Workers outside sort through baskets of collected ore and pour the essence into a huge furnace ready to extract the copper from the stone.

At the bottom of the valley, there are also two huge caves, outside which two furnaces stand side by side. E Yufang is like a commentator: "There are also two casting furnaces in the cave, once it rains and snows outside, you can also cast in it without missing the working hours." ”

"Open the furnace—" a long roar sounded at the bottom of the valley, and the horn sounded "hey, hey, hey, hey." A dozen topless miners stood on either side above the stove, stooping to lift a huge pole. With a loud "gurgling" sound, the furnace was lifted at an angle, and hot copper poured out of the furnace mouth and flowed into the copper fan that had been prepared underneath along a special diamond trough.

"Is this a tripod caster?" Zhao Bohu asked.

"Definitely. When the war is about to begin, the copper cake must be cast first, and then the weapon must be disassembled and forged for the needs of war. The more time comes to war, the more the Copper Green Mountain has to hurry up the work. E Yufang explained.

This scene made Ji Hu very excited, and he turned his face to E Yufang and said, "Brother Shizi, I want to go down the shaft to see how they are mining." ”

"This ------" E Yufang glanced at Zhao Bohu: "The underground is narrow and low, and those mining slaves are all crawling forward. Besides, in the shaft, there were collapses from time to time, and even I never went into them. He pointed to the countless empty caves on the rock wall: "These caves were abandoned because of the collapse, and once one of our mines collapsed, it was no longer used, so there are so many abandoned holes." ”

Zhao Bohu understood the stakes, and reprimanded: "You are only allowed to stand on the edge of the shaft and watch, and it is absolutely not allowed to go down." If you are verbose, let Shenhou also send you to Shen Guo to accompany your sister and Mrs. Shen. ”