Li Ji frowned deeply and said: "Li Mu, are you mistaken? I have been dealing with Turks for many years, and I have never heard of iron mines near the Turkic Royal Court. How is this possible? If the Turks have iron mines, they will not
There will be a shortage of iron."
"It's normal to not know the adoptive father. This news is just my speculation at the moment, but it's almost certain."
The location painted by Li Mu was called "Baiyun Obo" in his previous life. Baiyun Obo, also known as "Baiyun Bogdu", means "fertile sacred mountain" and is a holy place where northern nomads have thrived for generations.
, not only the Turks, but also the Khitans, Tatars, etc. all set up royal tents here.
The first time Li Mu heard about this place was in a geography class in junior high school. When describing the distribution of mining areas in China, he specifically highlighted the Bayan Obo mining area. The main distribution areas in the Bayan Obo mining area are iron-fluorine-rare earth comprehensive deposits, which are rich in minerals.
of iron, fluorite and rare earths. Especially rare earths, the rare earth stock in the Bayan Obo mining area exceeds 100 million tons, accounting for one-fifth of the world's total, and enjoys the reputation of the rare earth capital in the world.
The so-called "rare earth" is not actually "earth", but a general name for a total of seventeen metal elements including lanthanide elements, scandium and yttrium in the chemical periodic table. Rare earth is called "industrial gold" because
It has excellent optical and electromagnetic physical properties, and can be combined with other materials to form a wide variety of new materials with different properties. Its most significant function is to greatly improve the quality and performance of other products. For example, special steel for building aircraft carriers and space shuttles
Titanium alloy plates, etc., are inseparable from rare earths.
It is also a natural catalyst, and rare earths are indispensable in the petroleum and metallurgical industries.
Rare earth oxides are essential raw materials for making different grades of superconducting ceramics, piezoelectric ceramics, conductive ceramics, dielectric ceramics and sensitive ceramics. It can be understood that rare earths are like vitamins for the human body. Although they are not used much,
Absolutely not.
In the Tang Dynasty, the role of rare earths was almost zero, and Li Mu had almost no use for it. Even in Li Mu's previous life, before rare earths were widely used, the Bayan Obo mining area was mainly developed as an iron ore. Li Mu also took a fancy to iron.
The value of the mine is why we decided to go here.
One characteristic of the iron ore in the Bayan Obo mining area is that most of the iron ore here can be mined in the open pit. This is the decisive reason why Li Mu chose this place. In this era, there is no large equipment, and the conditions for drilling and underground mining are not available at all.
Mines that can be mined in the open are the mines that can truly be utilized.
As for the problem of mineral depletion, Li Mu has not worried about it at all. Today, the Tang Dynasty has only more than 10 million people. In his previous life, this number was the population of a municipality. With such a small number of people, even if every household has a quota
Even with all the swords, guns, swords and halberds, you can't use much at all. There are many restrictions here, and it's not like in his previous life, where everything within reach was made of iron.
But these words were not something he could say to Li Ji because he couldn't explain them, so Li Mu made up a story about them.
"Father, for a while, I have been unable to figure out one thing. That is, the Turks clearly lack iron tools, and the Tang Dynasty has banned the export of iron tools to the Turks, but why do the Turks still have iron tools to use? Even if
Smuggling, I have calculated, is definitely not such a large amount. Then there is only one possibility, that is, the Turks still have their own sources of iron."
"I traced the history of the Turks again, and found a record in an unofficial history of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The book records the birth of the Turkic Khanate, and there is a sentence in it that says: The Turkic tribe was once the Rouran tribe.
Vassal, providing iron tools to the Rouran Department."
"This record makes me confused. Where did the Turks come from to provide the iron tools to the Rouran Department? For this reason, I did some more research."
"It was this investigation that surprised me."
Li Mu said seriously: "I discovered a shocking secret, and this secret is iron ore. The Turks' iron smelting technology is not good, but they are able to provide iron tools for the Rouran Ministry. It is also because of this iron mine. Because of this iron mine
The ore has a high iron content, which is also called "iron essence" in the jargon. It is "soft iron" and can be extracted without advanced iron smelting technology. It was precisely because of this that Tumen Khan discovered this iron mine.
, he was able to lead the Turkic tribe to rise rapidly under the pressure of the Rouran tribe and replace it!"
"Khan Tumen originally wanted to pass this secret down from generation to generation so that his descendants could enjoy it. But things didn't go as planned. He died of a sudden illness and the secret was not passed down." At this point, Li Mu paused.
After a moment, he said: "Has your adoptive father ever heard of a legend? The legend about the Turkic royal court?"
Li Ji frowned and thought for a while, then nodded slowly and said: "I have heard something. It is said that the location of the Yazhang of the Turkic King's Court is a geomantic treasure and the place where the Turkic dragon thrives. Tumen Khan once said something passed down, Yazhang
The place where the tent is located is the Orthodox Turks. It is for this reason that after the East and West Turks split, they generally regard the Eastern Turks as the Orthodox. After the Western Turks grew stronger, they were thinking of the Eastern Expedition, also to recapture the royal tent." Li Ji suddenly understood and said: "Your
You mean, they’re here for the iron ore?”
They may not know about the iron mines, at least I can be sure that Jieli does not know. If Jieli knew, it is impossible that he has not taken action in the past ten years. In last year's war, the Turks would not have suffered the loss of not having iron weapons.
.So, I still firmly believe in my inference that Tumen Khan should have not passed down this secret, or his words were unclear, and he only revealed the location, but did not reveal that the secret was an iron mine!"
Li Ji had already understood what was going on, and knew how closely this matter was related. If Li Mu's inference was correct, and there really was an "iron essence" mine that could be mined in the open pit where the Turkic King Tingya Zhang was, then for the Tang Dynasty, it would be absolutely
It is a huge benefit. For this benefit, it is worth paying any price!
"Have you told His Majesty about this?"
Li Mu shook his head and said: "This is just my inference. How can I report it to His Majesty if there is nothing certain? I mentioned this matter to my adoptive father because I wanted him to bring my Yubu Secretary with him when he returns.
, let them conduct an on-the-spot investigation, and if my conclusion is true, I will report it to Your Majesty before it is too late."
Li Ji nodded approvingly and said: "You did this very appropriately, as it should be. If His Majesty is only happy for nothing, he should remember your fault."
Li Mu laughed: "My foster father is always so cautious."
"So what if I'm not careful?" Li Ji sighed, but didn't say anything more. Seeing that it was getting late and the business was finished, he headed back to the city. Li Mu suddenly remembered that today is the premiere day of "The Injustice of Dou E"
, and invited everyone to join him.
Li Ji had never been interested in singing and dancing. The same was true for Qin Qiong, and both of them declined. Only Li Siwen was willing to join in, so he did not return to the city with the two elders. He planned to stay later, and after dinner, he and Li Mu
Go back together.
Seeing that it was getting dark and there was still some time, Li Mu was not idle and asked Chang Sun Chong to bring the roster of the first batch of students from Datang Technical School. After reading it over, he called all the students to the hillside of Xishan Mountain.
After several rounds of torture by Li Mu, there were only seventy-two students left in the first batch of Datang Technical School. These seventy-two people, regardless of their ability, are now good at work.
Whether it is building walls, plastering, or slotting hanging wires, they are all of a decent quality. Although they cannot be compared with the decades-old carpenters and bricklayers, under the evaluation of system standards, they are still at the level of elementary skills.
Li Mu sat down on the chair brought by Chang Sun Chong, flipped through the roster in his hand, looked up at everyone's anxious eyes, and suddenly laughed: "Why are you so nervous? I won't eat you."
No student dared to answer the call. They had all learned their lesson and were no longer fooled.
"Boring!"
Li Mu muttered, put the roster aside, and said: "You have all performed very well these days. When you knew that the principal had something to do at home, you didn't just watch the fun, and you all took the initiative to come over and help. This principal feels very gratified. You are a wise man.
Respect me as much as I respect others. You respect me, and I respect you too. So I have gathered you here today, under the plaque of Datang Technical School, to tell you good news. Congratulations, you
Among them, 70% can graduate!"
When everyone heard the words "graduation", they were a little stunned. They understood the meaning of graduation because Li Mu had explained it to them. They were stunned because they did not expect that the suffering would suddenly end. They were used to it every day
The days of working with open eyes ended so abruptly, which made them very uncomfortable.
Looking at the unfinished courtyard wall, the first thought in many people's heads is: We have graduated, who will build this wall?
For a moment, everyone stood blankly and no one spoke.
"It seems that some of you are a little reluctant to leave!" Li Mu guessed everyone's reaction. He had almost the same feeling when he graduated from high school. Even the day after the college entrance examination, he habitually took out
I went through the questions mechanically on a set of papers, and only when I was halfway through did I remember that the college entrance examination was over. This kind of situation has a professional term in psychology, called Stockholm syndrome, which is a mental illness caused by long-term abuse.
Li Mu narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to leave. I just said that 70% of you can graduate, and the remaining 30% will not be able to graduate. You have to repeat the grade and retake it. These unfinished walls are also
You trash who failed to graduate are here to practice, do you understand?"
Only then did the students understand that not everyone can graduate. Only seven out of ten can graduate, and three unlucky ones have to continue to work hard! Realizing this result, all the students' eyes suddenly burst into flames. Every student's eyes lit up.
Everyone's thoughts are surprisingly consistent. I want to graduate. I must not repeat a grade. I can't stay here to build walls and move bricks!
Li Mu didn't care what the students thought, and continued to talk about the bad idea he came up with on a whim: "Since we have to select talents and trash, we must have a set of evaluation criteria. I have a keen eye, and of course I can guess what you are thinking.
I must be thinking in my heart that the principal must be decisive again, and he must be nepotistic again. Even those guys from Shandong aristocrats and wealthy backgrounds must be thinking, it's over, I'm definitely out of luck." Li Mu glanced at
The two students sent by Wei Zheng had an intriguing smile on their lips and said, "I guessed it, everyone?"
“Students don’t dare!”
All the students bowed in unison. At this time, even if they thought so in their hearts, they couldn't say it.
"It doesn't matter, these prejudices will be broken by the Japanese principal today. I want you to understand that after leaving this school, you will never have such a fair opportunity again."
Li Mu waved his hand. Li Siwen held a piece of red silk in his hand and unfolded the red silk with Tang Guan. Li Mu picked up a pen and wrote ten departments on the red silk, which were the "nine departments" under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Bureau One Guard".
"Guangzhou Prefecture Bureau, Imperial Property Bureau, Accounting Bureau, Construction Bureau, Patent Office, Printing Bureau, Industrial and Commercial Bureau, Salesian Bureau, Fengchen Bureau, Jinyiwei." Li Mu read it over, looked at the students, and said: "House Affairs
I'm sure you don't need to explain to me what the ninth bureau guard does. You all know what it does. Now, I'll give you a fair chance. Listen carefully. I'll only say it once."
"First of all, I need you to vote for the classmate you are most convinced of. This admiration can be in many aspects, such as ability, talent, hard work, and willingness to help others. As long as you think he is the best classmate in your heart, you
You can vote for him anonymously, and you can choose anyone but yourself."
"The top ten selected by this vote will directly get a chance to directly choose where they want to go to the Yamen. For example, if the person with the most votes is Changsun Chong, then he can choose where he wants to go and where he wants to go.
He can go wherever he wants. He can go to the Accounting Bureau or the Printing Bureau. As long as he is a guard of the Ninth Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he can go. This is the power you have given him."
There is such a thing!
The students were all caught off guard. Some were delighted, while others felt it was unfair. A merchant's son couldn't help but raised his hand and said: "Principal, student Cui Guangfu is brave and has something to say."
Li Mu nodded and said, "Please speak."
"Students think it's unfair!" Cui Guangfu said with some excitement: "Although the principal has just been strict and voted to choose the one who is most convinced, but our backgrounds are different, even if the principal said so, there will definitely be someone who will hinder the power.
Even if you are not convinced by this person, you will still choose to vote for him. Such a vote cannot represent your true thoughts!"
Li Mu did not answer directly, but asked instead: "So how do you think you can represent your true thoughts?"
Without waiting for Cui Guangfu to answer, Li Mu added: "The voting is anonymous, no one knows who voted for whom. People who vote do not need to consider power or face at all. He has the opportunity to follow his heart, but if he does not want to do so
, that is also his choice. He can use the voting rights I gave him to bribe and flatter him. This is also a choice and very fair. Because everyone has such an opportunity, as you said, origin
Depending on your level or background, you may take some advantage. You think it's unfair, but how can there be complete fairness in this world?"