choke element

Chapter 984: Hitting the Shore (Part )

There were two thick wooden boards on the ground, each of which was eight feet long, one foot wide, and half a foot thick. They were made of five layers of overlapping carriage boards and were fixed with iron nails at the edges.

Two planks were roughly parallel, and a frame made of hardwood and iron fittings ran across the top. On the top beam of the frame was a flexible structure, like a windlass placed at the mouth of a well to draw water. Several men were shouting and turning the windlass to lift the stone slabs placed on the carriage.

As the stone slab was completely lifted, the wheels of the cart, which were deeply stuck in the mud, moved faintly. The mule responsible for pulling the cart keenly felt the change in the force on the shaft, chewed the grass happily, and snorted.

This slab of stone was the last structure to cover the surface of the ditch. It was particularly long and heavy, and was wrapped with dry grass and felt to prevent damage during transportation. After being pulled into the air, it left a huge shadow on the ground.

"Alright, alright! That's high enough, stop! Now move this way!"

After the slab was hoisted, Shi Qing, who was standing on the roof of the car next to him, called out repeatedly. However, the laborers did not listen to him, but looked at the foreman next to Shi Qing. When the foreman put two fingers in his mouth and whistled rhythmically, the man in charge of turning the windlass stopped and pulled the rope at one end of the beam to slowly move the entire beam forward.

The windlass was heavy, and the places on both sides of the beam that received force from the frame made a harsh creaking sound every time it was dragged. Fortunately, the frame was made of solid materials and was assembled carefully, so the stone slab finally landed safely above the canal and was placed in the pre-determined position.

The laborers then pushed the beam back. Next, they had to remove the windlass, lay down the frame, and transport it to another location along with the base to continue installing stone slabs on the canal.

There were both Han and Mongolian laborers among the laborers, and most of the delicate work such as disassembly and assembly was done by the Han. The Mongolians then took out the leather bags, drank the water mixed with a small amount of liquor, and waited happily by the side.

According to the official records of the imperial court, this area near Yuerluo is not under the jurisdiction of the Great Zhou for the time being, but is the sphere of influence of the Mongols. From here to the east, 200 miles to Linhuang Prefecture, it was still under the control of the Mongols not long ago. It was because the Great Zhou emperor led his troops to fight a battle that forced the Mongols to withdraw.

Although Linhuang Prefecture has been restored, there are few soldiers and civilians stationed there, and if you go out of the city, you will run into Mongolian herds. Experienced frontier soldiers said that this situation of interlocking forces almost certainly means a brutal fight. Under the harassment of the Mongols day and night, the soldiers and civilians of Linhuang Prefecture will not be able to sleep peacefully for a long time. They will be like sheep facing the attack of wolves, constantly bleeding and dying until they are completely wiped out.

However, what actually happened was different from what the veterans had predicted.

Perhaps because the wolves were not as ferocious as they were in the past, or perhaps because there were many sharp-toothed dogs among the sheep, the Han people and Mongolians near Yuerluo maintained a harmonious and friendly relationship in the past six months. When Shi Qing, the governor stationed in Linhuang Prefecture, was building roads and bridges, many Mongolians responded to his call and came to sell their labor in exchange for food.

Some people also advised Shi Qing that hiring Mongols was fine in the rear, but it would be too dangerous to do so on the border, deep in the Mongol-controlled area.

Shi Qing turned a deaf ear to all these advices.

First of all, no matter how fierce the Mongols were, the soldiers guarding the border were all elite soldiers who survived the chaos in the Central Plains. There were tens of millions of people in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and there was no reason why the tens of thousands of people picked out from tens of millions of people were inferior to the Mongols, so there was no need to be afraid of them.

Secondly, the Mongolian tribes in the eastern part of the grassland had suffered losses in recent years in the face of the Zhou army. Large-scale tribes were gradually disbanded, and the thousand households of the Nayans left by Genghis Khan were shrinking their forces. The Mongolians who stayed in the area inevitably came into contact with the Zhou army's garrisons, and inevitably suffered repeated attacks from the Zhou army.

Under this situation, the Mongolians were willing to work hard, and Shi Qing did not have to worry too much about their treatment or even their life or death, so they were indeed qualified beasts of burden.

Taking a little risk for this is nothing.

As a ruthless character who has been rebelling for many years and a powerful general of the Great Zhou faction in Linhuang Prefecture, Shi Qing is famous along the entire boundary trench... He is the best at making money among the capable generals, and he is also the boldest and most daring to fight among the good money-makers.

Many people secretly said that Shi Qing was thrown from the post of Tongzhou Defense Commissioner to Linhuang Prefecture by the emperor, mostly because he was too greedy for money and violated the emperor's taboo. Shi Qing heard all these rumors, but he didn't care at all, because he knew very well that Northern Xinjiang needed a person with a quick mind like him. After he arrived in Northern Xinjiang, he quickly found a new source of income.

For example, the largest felt field in Linhuang Prefecture was built with the funds of Shi Qing and his subordinates. Including himself, more than 40 old brothers who had fought together with him each had a share, and everyone became rich. Moreover, relying on the close connections of countless old Red Coat Army members, he had already opened up the sales channel from Linhuang Prefecture to Qingyuan Prefecture in the Southern Dynasty.

But Shi Qing was born to be a flexible and bold person. The profits from selling felt were lucrative for ordinary soldiers and low-ranking officers, but they were far from satisfying him. Moreover, the trade between the Great Zhou and the Southern Song Dynasty had reached such a scale that the numbers seemed to force him to jump every day and force him to find more sources of income.

God helps those who work hard, a new source of income appeared a month ago.

After Shi Qing entered Linhuang Prefecture, he arranged sentries in accordance with the usual practice, with a range of hundreds of miles. One day, a sentry wandered to the hilly area east of Yuerbo and brought back a few pieces of shining stones, which he placed in the garrison as decoration.

Unexpectedly, one of his companions was a miner from Shandong in the early years, and he went down the mine at the age of eleven. He recognized at a glance that this stone was extraordinary, and it was a piece of ore with a high copper content.

The companion reported the news to Shi Qing, who was a thoughtful person and immediately led his men to search the hilly area. As a result, they found a copper mine relic left over from ancient times, which could be mined again.

What is copper? It's money!
The Jin Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, and has been troubled by low domestic copper production and low coin-making technology. Although the Zhou Dynasty has made some progress in this regard, the foundation is still too poor. In recent years, as the expenses of all parties have increased dramatically, they have become more and more dependent on the several money houses shared with the Song people in Huainan. But the annual output there is only 600,000 strings of cash, how can it be enough? In recent years, the coins of the Song Dynasty have been circulated more and more in the territory of the Zhou Dynasty. It is said that Prime Minister Yelu has already jumped up and down to plan to restore the issuance of paper money.

At this time, if Shi Qing could open up a copper mine with a large enough output on the grassland...

Shi Qing initially thought whether it was possible to steal the copper mine and make a fortune on his own. Later, he tossed and turned for a long time, and estimated that such a benefit was definitely not something a general manager could grasp. If things went wrong, he might lose his head. So he sent the news back in a confidential form, and soon a specially formed team was welcomed to start serious development.

This mining team was really capable. They spent only two months exploring the mining area, and then spent a lot of time repairing roads, digging canals, and leveling the ground. The tools they used, such as this windlass for transporting historical materials, were all new equipment with a lot of iron parts.

More importantly, the mining team had similar ideas to Shi Qing, recruited a lot of Mongolians, and paid them generously. At the peak, there were more than 2,000 Mongolian men gathered at the construction site, and it was a scene of bustling activity. The Mongolians got money and cloth, and many of them rushed to Linhuang Prefecture to exchange for salt, tea and wine, and the merchants in Linhuang Prefecture also benefited from it.

However, in the past few days, the peripheral projects have gradually been completed, and fewer people are used, but the number is still maintained at around a hundred people.

The strange thing is that since yesterday, the number of Mongolians who were supposed to come on horseback to start work has suddenly decreased. Yesterday, only about 40 people showed up, but today only a dozen of them came, and none of them came in advance. Even if it didn't delay anything, it still made people feel uncomfortable.

Seeing that the stone slabs of this section of the waterway had been laid, Shi Qing jumped off the cart and prepared to go to the leader of the mining team to ask about the situation. After taking a few steps, he suddenly saw a trail of dust coming from afar, and a knight was galloping towards him.

Sorry for not updating for a few days. It was really a sudden trouble that was beyond my expectation. First, my teammate got sick and sought medical treatment everywhere. Just when it came to an end, I fell down again. Yesterday, I finally got out of bed and walked around after many days. My legs were weak and I was floating everywhere. Fortunately, I recovered quickly and will continue to update from now on.

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(End of this chapter)