"Mining Superintendent Zhou, what is this sound?" Guo Song asked, looking at the mine.
"Your Majesty, this is the explosion of fire and thunder. The ore is too hard and requires fire and thunder to break it loose."
Guo Song suddenly became interested and said with a smile: "Let's take a look!"
Everyone walked up to the mine. The mine was full of miners standing in the distance. Above the mine, several soldiers were placing blasting mines.
The brigade commander of the Firearms Battalion in charge of mine blasting saw Guo Song and quickly ran forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "I'm sorry to see you, envoy!"
Guo Song had a vague impression of him. His surname seemed to be Zhuang. Guo Song nodded, "Are you Captain Zhuang?"
"It's a humble job!"
"Is this what's going on?"
Guo Song looked at the soldiers installing the fire mine and asked, "Did the explosion fail just now?"
"Your Majesty, the installation of fire mine generally requires two explosions. One time can only loosen it slightly, and the second time can explode the ore."
Guo Song nodded. He could understand that the power of this kind of porcelain bottle fire thunder was indeed not very good. It could only blow up wooden doors and mud walls once, but it was not enough to blast rocks when mining. Two blasts in a row could only slightly loosen the ore.
One loose.
At this time, there was a loud shout from above: "It's going to explode!"
A dozen soldiers ran away and hid behind rocks.
"Boom!" There was another violent explosion, porcelain fragments flew and thick smoke rose into the sky.
For a moment, the miners below rushed up one after another, digging with pickaxes and smashing with hammers. Large swaths of ore tumbled down from above.
"How much ore can you get from these two explosions?" Guo Song asked again.
The scout of the Firearms Battalion said: "Reporting to the envoy, we can probably dig out tens of thousands of kilograms of ore, and if we are lucky, we can even get hundreds of thousands of kilograms."
Guo Song frowned, "How much fire thunder will be consumed?"
"I have used sixty-five mines so far. It will be easier to mine from now on. I won't use fire mines as much. Otherwise, the consumption will be too high and we won't be able to bear it."
Guo Song looked at it for a moment longer, then turned around and went down the mountain to the warehouse. The first batch of pig iron had been smelted. There were large black iron lumps piled in the corner of the warehouse. There were probably hundreds of them, weighing about 10,000 kilograms, and thick copper.
Also, four to five thousand kilograms of pig iron and blister copper will be shipped directly to Zhangye for further refining.
At this time, it was almost dark. Guo Song ended his inspection, got on his horse, and led everyone out of the mine and back to Zhangye City.
...........
Two days later, on the official road south of Ganzhou, a carriage drove up, followed by two horseback attendants. In the carriage sat an old man with white hair and beard, looking at the scenery on both sides with interest.
This old man with white beard and hair is Yan Zhenqing who came from Yuanzhou. Historically, Yan Zhenqing should have died in the hands of Li Xilie at this time, but after Guo Song tried his best to persuade him, he retired from his official position and went home to retire the year before last, so he just escaped.
Last year's Jingyuan Mutiny.
His wife was from Pinggao County, Yuanzhou. He first hid in his wife's natal home in Pinggao County for a while, and then went to Kongtong Mountain and lived in Li Ganfeng's Taoist temple for several months. A few days ago, he received a letter from Duqiu.
I wrote a letter asking him to go to Ganzhou to be a matchmaker.
Yan Zhenqing also wanted to go to Hexi to see what the unique Hexi is like.
At this time, the carriage slowed down slowly. There was a checkpoint in front of it. It seemed that there were merchants passing the checkpoint. Yan Zhenqing's carriage could only pull aside and wait.
"Your money is wrong, the weight is too light. Your usual money is six catties and forty taels. See for yourself, your usual money is just over five catties."
"There's something wrong with this money. The Kaiyuan Tongbao is clearly engraved on it. It's small money. This money is used in the Central Plains."
"Fart! What a small amount of money, I haven't heard of it here, or you can use money to pay taxes, and you won't take the money!"
"We came all the way here just to buy horses. Your Hexi Jiedu government keeps saying it encourages business, but you are making things difficult here. Is this encouraging business?"
"I've never seen this money, so I can't accept it, otherwise you'll have to pay taxes elsewhere!"
Yan Zhenqing heard this clearly, so he got off the carriage and walked over. He saw several businessmen driving hundreds of horses, blushing and thick-necked, arguing with the tax collectors at the checkpoint.
"How can we not collect this money? We use this money to buy horses. Silver is so expensive now, and it can't be exchanged at all. We have already bought our horses, but we are not allowed to go out. What should we do?"
Yan Zhenqing picked up a copper coin. He had presided over the coin casting in Shaofu Temple. When he saw the coin, he knew something was wrong. It was smaller than the normal copper coin, and the copper content was very low. The calligraphy on it was wrong. It was not Chang'an.
The minted official money should be private money. Yan Zhenqing squinted again and took a closer look. Sure enough, there was the word "Wei" on the edge of the money. This was a copper coin minted by Wei Bo Jiedu Mansion.
"Is this money universal in Chang'an?" Yan Zhenqing asked.
The businessman nodded, "There is a lot of money like this in Chang'an, and everyone calls it small money."
"This kind of money can't be exchanged for silver!" Yan Zhenqing said again.
"No money can be exchanged for anything now, and silver and gold have long since disappeared from the market."
"Old man, you judge, I said this money cannot be used, right?" the tax collector asked Yan Zhenqing.
"This problem is quite serious. I suggest you report it to the higher authorities and maybe ask the businessmen to go to the county to pay taxes. Isn't it Xiedan County ahead? It's only a twenty-mile walk away and it won't waste much time."
Several businessmen suddenly became anxious, "I'm telling you, old man, this money can be used in the world, why can't it be used in Hexi?"
Yan Zhenqing said calmly: "I advise you to quickly use the money to pay taxes! If you continue like this, hundreds of your horses will be gone."
Several businessmen knew it well, and they did not dare to entangle any more. They brought over a large sack and took out dozens of copper coins. This is the genuine Kaiyuan Tongbao, which is yellow and has a high copper content."
The tax collector stopped making things difficult this time. He accepted fifty thousand tax dollars and issued a tax invoice. Then several businessmen hurried away with hundreds of horses.
Yan Zhenqing then said to the tax collector: "I suggest you notify Liangzhou immediately and impound these horses. There is something wrong with the money they paid. If the superiors investigate, they will blame you."
"The old man is saying there is something wrong with those small coins?"
Yan Zhenqing nodded, "That money is Wei money minted by Wei Bo Jiedu Mansion. It is gray in color and is of poor quality. If they really use such small money to buy horses, Hexi will suffer a big loss."
The tax collector was startled and quickly informed the soldiers guarding the checkpoint. The soldiers guarding the checkpoint rode towards Xiedan County. Liangzhou would only execute the seizure order if the county government issued it.
Unless contraband or spies are discovered, caravans cannot be detained casually at checkpoints.
Yan Zhenqing's carriage continued northward, and finally arrived at Zhangye City at noon the next day.
The interrogation when entering the city was very strict, but it was not troublesome to get to Yan Zhenqing. He had a pass issued by Liangzhou, and the soldiers guarding the city did not embarrass him and let them into the city directly.
As soon as you enter Zhangye City, you will be greeted by a bustling and lively atmosphere. There are cries and bustling people everywhere. The shops have a dazzling array of goods, and traders from all over the country are bargaining. It forms a world away from the deserted Longyou side.
Don't.
Yan Zhenqing secretly praised that Guo Song was indeed very capable and managed Hexi in an orderly manner. Along the way, he saw people living and working in peace and contentment, business was prosperous, and supplies were abundant. He was not wrong about the person. The hope of the Tang Dynasty was indeed in him.
At this time, he saw people crowded in front of a notice board next to him, most of whom were illiterate. An official was reading something loudly, but his carriage was a bit far away, so he couldn't hear clearly what the official was saying?
Yan Zhenqing said to his entourage: "Go and listen, what are you reading?"
The entourage passed by and came back not long after and said: "Master, it seems that Hexi and Beiting are recruiting farmers. Each household will be given three hectares of permanent land. If it is a military household, five hectares of permanent land will be given. It will be tax-free for life."
This is a bit interesting. During the Kaiyuan period, the Long March athletes who were recruited to Anxi were only given one hectare of land to each household, but Guo Song was actually given three hectares and tax-free for life. This will definitely attract a lot of people.
It was promulgated directly without the consent of the court.
At this time, Yan Zhenqing's interest became even more intense. He wanted to have a good talk with Guo Song right away. He also wanted to walk around and see what other amazing things this guy did.
When the carriage arrived in front of the Yamen of Jiedu Mansion, Yan Zhenqing suddenly saw an acquaintance and shouted: "Xiao Du!"
Xiao Du is Du Siye. He is Yan Zhenqing's named disciple and follows him to learn calligraphy. Du Siye happened to come out of the gate. He heard a familiar voice. He looked along the sound and saw Yan Zhenqing. He was shocked and shocked.
He was so happy that he ran forward and said, "Master, why are you here?"
"Haha! I came to Hexi to have a look. Is your Commander Guo here?"
"Your Majesty is here, I will go and report to Master!" He turned around and ran towards the official office.