Soldiers come to the world

Just when Yu Jin and Zang Ba were opening a road in Yunmeng Lake, Liu Jing also came to inspect the largest copper mine in Jiangxia. This copper mine is called Green Copper Mountain. It is today's Daye, Hubei.

Green Copper Mountain is not an isolated mountain, but a general term for a hilly mountainous area. As early as the Warring States Period, Chu State mined and refined gold here. During the Han Dynasty, it was an important place for copper mines.

Green Copper Mountain is not close to the Yangtze River, it is nearly [-] miles away from the Yangtze River, but there is a long and narrow lake in the east, called Xisai Lake, which is connected to the Yangtze River. More than [-] prisoners of war spent a month digging a [-] A mile-long small canal connects the mine with Xisai Lake and leads to the Yangtze River.

This canal is extremely important to ensure that the copper ore is transported from the mine directly to Xiakou. This is because the smelting center of Jiangxia is located in Xiakou, and the coal transported from Bashu and the iron ore transported from Jiangnan are all concentrated. Pig iron was smelted in Xiakou, and more than a thousand craftsmen continuously smelted high-quality fine steel for Jiangxia's army.

When Liu Jing arrived, the canal had already been built, and [-] prisoners of war were mining ore in the huge mine, transporting it to Lake Xisai by small boat, and then transferring it to a large ship to Xiakou.

More than [-] prisoners of war were guarded by the Three Thousand Jiangxia Army, and there were more than a hundred civilian officials responsible for the management of food, camps, and ore transportation for the prisoners of war.

Li Zhengfang is also Li Yan, whose name is Zhengfang. After he fled from Xiangyang to Jiangxia, he became a staff member of Wenpin, and was soon promoted by Liu Jing to Cao Canjun, who was in charge of logistics and food. Li Yan was extremely capable and open-minded. , a pioneering official, especially suitable for opening up new businesses, and it is for this reason that Liu Jing appointed him as a smelting envoy to be in charge of copper mining.

In the morning, accompanied by Li Yan, Liu Jing came to the mine. The reason why it is called Green Copper Mountain is that the whole mountain is green copper in color. There are no trees on the mountain, and the rocks are exposed, only covered with dense bushes. There are hundreds of huge mine holes distributed on the mountain that is more than ten miles long, and the ore veins are hidden in the mountain.

The miners first burned the cave with a strong fire, and then poured cold water on it, and the ore exploded and became easy to mine. Cracked into gravel, densely packed prisoner-of-war miners collected ore on the mountain more than ten miles long, and carried baskets of crushed ore down the mountain with baskets, and transported them to the warehouse.

"I remember that the old mine is not here!" Liu Jing looked at the mine above his head and asked Li Yan in puzzlement.

Li Yannian is about 600 years old, with a medium build, dark and thin skin, and full of energy. He slightly bowed his body and said with a smile: "The original mine is more than [-] miles away to the west, and there is a huge mine over there." , but after five to six hundred years of mining, it is not easy to mine, and the canal is far away, so it is inconvenient to transport.

So we decided to mine the mines here. The mines here have been exploited for nearly 50 years. The conditions are relatively good, and the ore grades are also high. There are not only copper, but also gold. The key is the convenience of transportation. "

As he spoke, he pointed to the ore storage warehouses not far away. They were three large warehouses built with giant logs. They were a bit crude and leaky on all sides. There were hundreds of thousands of catties of ore piled up inside. The three warehouses were all built on the river bank. About one foot above the river bed, a smooth discharge port is made of iron sheets. The miners only need to shovel the ore onto the iron sheet funnel in the warehouse, and the ore can slide along the smooth iron sheet hopper into the tank boat in the river, which is very convenient. .

Liu Jing nodded, and asked again: "How are the prisoners of war arranged? It seems that there are only seven or eight people working here!"

"Reporting to Zhou Mu, in order to ensure the physical strength of the prisoners of war, his subordinates divided more than 1000 prisoners of war into two parts: mining and ore transportation. Among them, 7000 mining workers were divided into three teams. Each team had [-] people and four workers. In this way, the prisoners of war will not be overworked, and they can mine with peace of mind, so that after three years, most of them can return home safely."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "That's right! You've considered it very carefully. In addition, you might as well consider giving them some wages so that they also have something to look forward to, so that they won't rebel and cause trouble."

Li Yan nodded, "Zhou Mu is very right!"

At this time, a group of tank boats were loaded with ore and ready to set off. Liu Jing smiled and said, "I'll go to Xisai Lake with the boat! Let's see what's going on over there."

Li Yan hurriedly said: "Your subordinates will make arrangements now!"

He rushed away, stopped the fleet, gave some instructions, Liu Jing led a dozen soldiers and boarded the ship with Li Yan, and the fleet sailed down the water, slowly heading east.

If you don't consider the mines, the scenery in this area is simply fantastic, with green mountains and green valleys, clear water and flowing waves, beautiful mountains and rocks on both sides, and a huge mountain rock in the distance is like an axe. Grass and vines, the top of the mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist, and a group of cranes can be seen faintly flying to the top of the mountain, just like the dwelling of the gods.

Liu Jing was delighted to see it, and couldn't help laughing with his hands behind his back: "Beautiful! Egrets fly in front of Xisai Mountain, peach blossoms and mandarin fish are fat in the flowing water, green coir raincoats, green bamboo hats, slanting wind and drizzle don't return."

Li Yan next to him couldn't help but praised: "Zhou Mu has a good literary talent, but Xisai Mountain is still on the east side of the river. There is Zhaoyue Mountain. The stone walls are like mirrors, and the moon is full. It is also a place with extremely beautiful scenery."

Liu Jing chuckled, "In the future, we can build a detached palace on the top of the mountain. Come here to escape the heat in summer, or come here to fish mandarin fish in spring, and feel the artistic conception of slanting wind and drizzle."

Li Yan hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "If the state pastor allows, my subordinates will arrange people to go up the mountain tomorrow to find a place to build the palace, and complete the construction of the palace before winter. Next spring, the state pastor will be able to come."

Liu Jing glanced at him, saw his serious face, shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm just talking, the world is not peaceful, and it's far from the time of enjoyment."

"The subordinate understands!" Li Yan smiled bitterly in shame.

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An hour later, the fleet entered Xisai Lake. The lake is about ten miles long from east to west and two miles wide from north to south. It is actually a bay of the Yangtze River. It is very suitable for a port. A dozen huge buildings have been built on the south bank of Xisai Lake. Seven or eight large ships of three thousand shi are moored by the shore, loading ore.

The hanging tower is used to load the ore. This is also an invention of Majun Craftsman Institute. It has been popularized in various docks such as Xiakou and Wuchang. A hanging tower several feet high is erected, and the cargo is hoisted onto the ship by using the principle of fixed pulleys. , while the other one uses animal power and is pulled by five oxen.

Li Yan accompanied Liu Jing to the Xisai Lake Wharf, but he had another suggestion, "Zhou Mu, my subordinates have an idea, maybe it can get twice the result with half the effort, and it is more conducive to copper mining and smelting."

"Say, what's your suggestion?" Liu Jing asked with great interest.

"I want to build a rough smelting workshop here to smelt blister copper ingots, and then the fleet will directly transport the blister copper ingots to Xiakou for further refining. Isn't this more economical than transporting ore?"

Liu Jing saw the picturesque scenery on both sides of the strait, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, like a paradise, but it was a pity that so many warehouses and some tall wooden frames were built.

He shook his head and said with a smile: "Wouldn't it be a shame to build a smelter here, I would suggest that it would be better to build a rough refining workshop directly in the mine, what do you think?"

Li Yan was overjoyed, and quickly bowed and said: "This subordinate didn't think carefully. Since Zhou Mu agrees, this subordinate immediately prepares to build a rough refining workshop in the mine."

Liu Jing saw that Li was strict and resolute, and he did what he said, so he couldn't help admiring his pragmatic style, nodded slowly and said: "Li Canjun is indeed a great talent, please join the army to sort out the mine system as soon as possible, I will have another appointment. "

. . . . . . . . .

After leaving the mine, Liu Jing returned directly to Wuchang. At this time, Sun Quan had already returned to Wuhu. Now that he had finally decided to fight against Cao Cao with Jingzhou, Sun Quan had a new idea. Once Cao Cao was defeated in Jiangxia, he would lead his army to attack from the east. , Attacking Hefei, and expanding Jiangdong's power northward, this is also a rare opportunity.

At the same time, Jiangdong's [-] troops also stationed in Zhukou, Jiangxia, tens of miles away from Jiangxia's navy.

Xisai Mountain is very close to Wuchang. It took only half a day for Liu Jing to arrive at Wuchang Wharf by boat. The harbor on the side of the wharf is full of civilian ships. Jiang Xia’s army has issued a ban on sailing. Chaisang, no civilian boats or fishing boats are allowed on the thousands of miles of river. The Jiangxia navy patrols the river. Once a civilian boat violates the order, it will be severely punished. Therefore, only official cargo ships and military boats appear on the river.

Non-governmental trade activities have also stopped at the pier, and only military or official cargo ships are loading and unloading goods. Compared with the bustle and bustle of the past, it is much deserted.

When Liu Jing went ashore, he saw more than a dozen official Qianshi cargo ships loading grain. Just like Xisai Lake, there were also more than a dozen hanging towers several feet high on the Wuchang wharf. There was a pulley on the top of the hanging tower. Just put the grain into the leather pocket at one end, pull the iron chain at the other end, and you can send a bag of grain to the big ship.

No longer relying on manpower to board the ship as before, not only greatly improves the loading and unloading efficiency, but also eliminates the need for so many dock workers, which helps to relieve Jiangxia's labor tension.

Ma Jun's invention was unanimously praised by Jiangxia's officials and people, and even Jiangdong sent officials to study. It is conceivable that in the near future, countless hanging towers will appear on Jiangdong's major piers.

At this time, Liu Jing saw Ma Jun by accident. He was standing in front of a hanging tower with a dozen of his disciples, discussing something. This is Ma Jun's usual style. more functional.

Liu Jing walked up with a smile, and Ma Jun also saw Liu Jing coming, and hurriedly led his disciples forward to salute, "See Zhou Mu!"

Although it is still difficult for him to speak long paragraphs, he no longer stutters short words. Compared with before, he seems more confident. Liu Jing asked with a smile: "What are you discussing? Do you want to improve the hanging tower?"

"Exactly, we are thinking about how to save effort?"

Liu Jing suddenly became interested, and said with a smile: "Maybe you can tell me in detail?"

Ma Jun winked at his senior disciple, who clasped his fists and explained: "We are considering installing an iron slide on the hanging tower, which is about two or three feet long. Only by putting the other end on the boat can the grain and sacks be transported." It is more labor-saving to slide directly from the slide bucket into the cargo warehouse of the big ship, but it is also inconvenient, that is, to modify the leather pockets on the hanging tower so that the grain can slide down in an orderly manner, and we have no solution for the time being.”

Liu Jing nodded and said with a smile: "Actually, it is very convenient to have a hanging tower. You only need to install another hook on the ship, and hook the leather bag directly to the warehouse entrance. You don't need to install any iron slides."

Liu Jing thought about it, and suddenly thought of the slide on the mine, and smiled again: "But the iron slide can be installed on the ship, and the goods can be directly sent into the cargo hold."

Ma Jun laughed and said, "Zhou Mu can go to the artisan school and become a teacher!"

In fact, Liu Jing thought of belt transportation, but it was meaningless without solving the power problem.

At this time, he suddenly saw more than a dozen people pulling the iron chain on the other side of the hanging tower. He couldn't help frowning, and he called the dock officials and asked: "What I saw at the mine dock were five cows pulling the iron chain. Chain, why is it pulled by people here, why not use animal power?"

The wharf official smiled wryly and said, "Reporting to Zhou Mu, in order to prepare for the war, most of the animal power was sent to Xiakou, so manpower can only be used temporarily."

Liu Jing nodded, so that's the case. At this time, the official said cautiously: "The humble official has a suggestion, I wonder if I can say it?"

"Any suggestion, you just say it."

The official said cautiously: "The last time Zhou Mu went to Qichun, he brought back a small elephant. I know that there are many such elephants in Jiaozhou and Nanman area. Can you find a way to buy some back so that you can use it for a living?" On the wharf, it saves more animal power."

Liu Jing couldn't help laughing, the wisdom of the people is infinite, this sentence is really true.