Qin Official

Heifu raised his hand high above his head and pointed it at the winter sun. He held a golden ring between the index finger and thumb of his left hand. After taking a few glances, he grinned with satisfaction and his eyes were full of greed. light.

"baby!"

He threw the gold ring to his men, stood on the river bank and looked around. The slowly flowing Fanshui was full of sandbanks and Xiaozhu. Here was a small gold mine for washing gold sand. It was called "Gold Mining". ", located halfway from Pengli Lake to Fanyang City.

On the first day of December, according to the custom of the Yue people, after becoming "brothers" with Wu Rui, Heifu led the Qin army and the Qianyue people to break out of the camp. It took three days. When they arrived here, the Dongmen Leopard had already brought the Five hundred forwards took control of the place.

The land south of the Yangtze River in Chu State is vast and rich in resources, especially metal minerals. Changsha produces lead and tin, and Yuzhang produces gold. As soon as Heifu arrived, Dongmen Leopard came to him with some gold cakes and gold plates to offer him treasures, mixed with some gold. gold ring.

Also brought along was a skinny mine slave in ragged clothes.

Dongmen Bao reported: "Sima, this mining slave claims to be a Qin soldier captured by Chu. When we arrived here, he led the mining slaves to kill the Chu miners and greet our army."

In the twelfth lunar month, this man was wearing brown clothes that were difficult to cover his body. He bowed to the black husband and called himself Wu Yang. He was from Longxi County, Qin State. When Li Xin last attacked Chu, he was a military commander. He was captured by Xiang Yan and fell into the hands of Lord Fanyang. He was brought back and thrown into gold mining as a slave.

There were seven or eight Qin people with him. When they saw the Qin army's flags and drums arranged neatly beside Fanshui, they all howled and cried.

Hei Fu took pity on them and immediately asked people to get winter clothes to keep them warm from the cold.

After Wu Yang thanked him, he said bitterly: "There were originally twenty people, but most of them were northerners. When they came to this hot and humid place in the south, half of them fell ill and died. The gold mining work was heavy, whether it was hot summer or cold winter. They drove us to work, we were not well fed, and a few more people died, and now we are the only ones left..."

Several people who had participated in the Battle of Linyang couldn't help but sigh. If they had been captured by the Chu people, they would have ended up like this.

Because they had suffered a lot, Wu Yang and others cut the bodies of the Chu miners into pieces to vent their anger after the riot was successful. Therefore, Hei Fu could only ask him everything about this small gold mine.

"Gold mining is roughly divided into two parts. One is the gold panning area by the water. Gold sand is often found in rivers such as Fanshui and Daxi. The deposits are the largest in this area. On weekdays, mine slaves dig sand by the water and place it there. On the gold bucket, washing in the water..."

Wu Yang showed Heifu the so-called gold pan, which is a wooden plate placed in the water. The sediment will move away with the water, and the heavier placer gold will settle in the plate. This method is laborious but very effective. Small, so there is a poem in later generations: Although it is hard to search for thousands of pounds, you will only get gold after blowing all the sand.

Although the land of Yuzhang is located in the south, it is also a bit cold in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. According to Wu Yang, even in this climate, the mining slaves were forced to go into the water to pan for gold.

Heifu asked the military officials to gather their soldiers and build a meal, while he went to inspect the gold-casting workshop not far away.

Wuyang and the others managed to save the lives of the goldsmiths. The gold sand washed out was brought here, put into a refractory crucible, and burned on a charcoal stove with blazing flames.

Gold has a low melting point, and within a short time, the gold sand inside melted into sparkling gold water, boiling and rolling. Pour it into a conical pier with a large mouth and a sharp bottom to cool. The contents in the tank will be separated into layers according to specific gravity. Pour it out and use a mallet to knock off the slag blocks on top, and you will get inferior gold nuggets. After the second smelting in this way, you can get the finished gold cake...

The beauty's jewelry and the royal seals all come from the sand and the bottom of the sea. This is true.

Under the threat of the sword, the goldsmith completed the operation cautiously, and couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no mistakes were made.

They cut the still-hot gold nugget with an iron blade and pressed it into a gold plate. They were about to put the copper seal with the word "Fanyuan" on it as usual, but Hei Fu stopped them. "From now on, I will no longer make gold couples, but instead make small gold cakes weighing one tael each."

The craftsman only agreed, and Hei Fu asked Xu Shu to ask him: "How much gold can you get from gold mining in one month?"

The gold-casting craftsman said: "As little as ten yi, as many as twenty yi..."

"So, you can get two hundred yi of gold a year."

Heifu was very satisfied. From the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, gold was widely circulated as a high-quality currency. This was due to the vast mineral deposits in the Chu region, which produced a large amount of gold and circulated to the north through trade.

Now the five kingdoms have been wiped out, and all the gold treasures have entered the Qin treasury. What Li Si and Wei Liao used to bribe the princes and ministers have also been returned to their original owners. Therefore, the King of Qin at this moment is known as "the gold is worth ten thousand yi".

However, Ru River and Han River, which were rich in gold more than a hundred years ago, can no longer find gold. The main gold-producing areas have been transferred to the Jiangnan area, and even Lishui (Jinsha River).

According to Xu Shu's words, Fanyang Jun is qualified to mint coins and is the richest man in Jiangnan area second only to E Jun. This gold mine should still be able to maintain for some years. In the Han Dynasty, the massive gold unearthed from the tomb of Haihunhou in Jiangxi may have been mined and transported there.

But now, this money tree has fallen into the hands of Heifu and has become his "treasure".

Well, at least until the end of the Southern Expedition.

He immediately appointed Wu Yang as the local supervisor, and his younger brother Jing also stationed here with a group of people. After Fan Yang was conquered, Heifu would capture some of Fan Jun's family members and attach them to him, so that the gold mining could resume.

Hei Fu didn't want to be surprised and continue southward, so he decided to stay here for safety. Seeing his brother's slight disappointment, Hei Fu emphasized sternly: "During the Southern Expedition, I'm afraid we will have to rely on you to raise our military expenses! This is the most important thing. Chong, Wu Yang and others maintain order, while you have to keep an eye on the amount of gold minted every day!"

Jing then agreed to accept the order, but at this moment, Ji Ying, who was responsible for the correspondence between the Qin Army, Xing Army, and the rear, hurried over and presented the wooden slip to Heifu Sima.

"Sima, it's an urgent report sent by Xiaotao from Pengze City via the waterway!"

Heifu read the hastily written message, frowned, and sneered: "Master Fanyang is very courageous."

…

Heifu asked Ji Ying to call in the scouts he was going to report to for questioning. After returning to the tent that had been set up, he asked the military officials to come over and have a small meeting...

He circulated the wooden slip to everyone and said with a smile: "When he learned that I had formed an alliance with Qianyue to attack, Lord Fanyang did not hide in the city and wait to die. Instead, he sent more than a thousand people to trace the country by relying on his familiarity with the local roads, mountains and rivers. He went up the stream, crossed the mountains and jungles, and appeared near Pengze. He wanted to kill me from behind!"

Upon hearing this, the military officers looked at each other in shock, and Xu Shu, Heifu's aide, changed his expression greatly.

He had analyzed this possibility to Heifu, but he didn't take it too seriously because the road was very dangerous. Only hunters and woodcutter would pass by occasionally on weekdays. It would be difficult for a large group of people to pass, so Heifu only left a hundred people to guard it. pass.

But what they didn't expect was that Fan Yangjun made what they thought was the most impossible choice.

"The Xu family still did not escape the disaster of weapons..."

Xu Shu couldn't help but secretly sigh. Now Fan Yang was taking advantage of the Qin army to attack Pengze. The whole Xu family lived outside the city. If their whole family hid in the city, they would be separated from the five hundred Qin troops who stayed behind. If we resist together, the house will be burned down at most.

But if Peng Ze falls, because Xu Shu kills Peng Zejun and surrenders, he will definitely suffer brutal revenge, and even the whole family will be destroyed!

Concern leads to chaos. Xu Shu immediately stood up and said: "Sima, Lord Fanyang sent more than a thousand strange troops to attack my rear. There should be remnants of Lord E in Fanyang, with one or two thousand people staying behind."

"More than 3,000 people attack a city two miles away. It is difficult to win quickly against 2,000 people. If Pengze falls, the grain and grass are burned, and our army is trapped under the enemy's city, it will be difficult to capture the Chu people's grain. I am afraid that morale will be reduced. We are at a low level and are vulnerable to internal and external attacks. Our army is in danger."

As soon as these words came out, Dongmen Bao immediately slapped the table and said: "Mr. Xu, it is taboo to claim defeat before fighting!" Now they are only a hundred miles away from Fanyang, how can they give up the near for the far?

Gong Ao even said coldly: "I remember that honoring the enemy and fearing the public is against military law!"

Xu Shu insisted on his opinion: "I am not advocating the Chu army, but I think to be on the safe side, it is better to return to the army and kill those more than a thousand people first, and then plan for it slowly..."

"Sir, you must be worried about your clan and family property outside Peng Zeyi."

Li Xian revealed what Xu Shu was most worried about. Like Zhao Tuo, Xu Shu was also excluded by their small group. Recently, Heifu asked Xu Shu for advice more and more often, which made Li Xian feel threatened.

Seeing that his men were about to quarrel, Heifu stopped their argument with a slap on the table.

His views are no different from those of Dongmen Bao, Gong Ao and others.

After thinking about it, Heifu said: "If we return now, I'm afraid that I will fall into Lord Fanyang's plan of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao. Not only will Fanyang not be defeated, but the Chu people under Pengze City will not be caught either. Our army has traveled hundreds of miles back and forth. It's a waste of food. As the saying goes, if you make a big effort, it will fade away, and if you go to attack again, you won't have such high morale."

"Furthermore, if you give up halfway, the Ganyue people will also see this situation. Although it will not be repeated, it will increase the bargaining chips of Wu Rui and his son."

"But Sima..."

Seeing that Xu Shu was a little anxious, Heifu asked him, "Mr. Xu, what do you think of Xiao Tao, who I appointed as Peng Zeyou?"

"this……"

Xu Shu was stunned. Heifu's men had different personalities, but they all had their own distinctive characteristics. Man and Anpu, the two five-hundred masters, were quite decent, Dongmen Bao and Gong Ao were fierce and brave, and Li Xian was quite strategic. Can make emergency plans.

Only Xiao Tao rarely talks and has no chance to express himself. He rarely puts forward his opinions during military discussions. Therefore, Xu Shu, who had only met him a few times and had only a few acquaintances, did not understand this person. He only thought that Xiao Tao was just a transparent person with little ability.

Seeing that Xu Shu was having a hard time answering, Heifu laughed and said, "Of the five hundred people under my command, Xiao Tao is the most stable, so I ordered him to stay in Pengze as the officer of bow and crossbow materials. With Xiao Tao here, the rear will be safe." Rock!”

Everyone nodded, feeling this way.

In previous battles, perhaps Dongmen Leopard and Gong Ao led their troops to charge forward the most eye-catching. On weekdays, perhaps Lixian's strategies are eye-catching. But Xiao Tao and his men will always be the most stable part of the army, which is exactly what the saying goes: "Without wisdom and bravery, victory is not inevitable."

So Heifu trusted Xiao Tao and chose to hand over his back to him. He believed that Xiao Tao would not let him down.

"Moreover."

Heifu stopped laughing, looked at Peng Lize's position on the map and said, "Although Xiao Tao only has five hundred soldiers, Zhao Tuo's fleet has also learned about Peng Ze's attack and returned to Peng Ze It’s nearby!”

In this southern expedition, not only did Hei Fu take charge alone, but his subordinates also had the opportunity to lead their own troops and think independently.

As far as gold mining is concerned, gold is only found after blowing away all the sand. For employers, isn't it the same?

"Zhao Tuo, if you are really not an ordinary grain of river sand, then shine!"