Female-to-male: I live on farming

"Yes, it's made from ground dried chilies." Qin Ke nodded, and then served a bowl of cooked porridge to Lu Youqing.

Gu Lanxi took another bite of the pork jerky that Qin Ke and the others brought. It was salty and slightly sweet, with a unique taste. She said meaningfully, "It seems that you have endless ideas in your mind."

"I do have a lot of ideas, but we have to take one step at a time and eat one bite at a time." Qin Ke already has a general plan for his future planting direction, but the details cannot be determined until he arrives in Liangzhou.

There were many people here, so Gu Lanxi didn't ask any questions for the time being. Now that they were tied together on a boat, she would know sooner or later.

After a simple dinner, Gu Lanxi's guards arranged their shifts and took turns to keep watch. Qin Ke and Lu Youqing went to the carriage to rest.

After a long journey of half a month, they finally arrived in Liangzhou.

Shortly after they entered Liangzhou, a group of people appeared in front of them. Leading them was a woman in black tights, with her tail tied up in a high ponytail with a green scarf. Her eyebrows and eyes were sharp and heroic, and her skin had a honey-colored glow. She was riding on a scarlet warhorse. When she saw their carriages, she immediately led the team towards them.

Dozens of people followed behind her, rushing over and raising a cloud of dust.

"I'm Xiao Anyi, the humble general, and I'm here to welcome the head of the Gu family on the order of His Highness." He came to the front of the carriage, pulled the reins, quickly dismounted, and bowed.

Gu Lanxi jumped down from the carriage, raised his hand to help her up, and said softly: "Jinyang had sent a letter to tell her about this before. Thank you for your hard work, General Xiao."

Since ancient times, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans have been the exclusive class, and merchants have a low status. Even if one is able to be a Gu family member, it still cannot change the low status of merchants.

Xiao Anyi was obviously of military origin, and her position in the army was probably not low. However, her attitude towards Gu Lanxi was extremely respectful. It seemed that she had a close relationship with the eldest princess, and these confidants knew it well.

Qin Ke and Lu Youqing just got out of the car and greeted her from a distance.

With Xiao Anyi and the others escorting and leading the way, they also sped up.

"Let's take a rest here at noon." Although Xiao Anyi was anxious to return to Liangzhou, she also knew that she must not tire out the head of the Gu family, so she arranged a place to rest taking her health into full consideration.

"Where is this place?" Gu Lanxi frowned and looked around at the surroundings. He saw the mountains in the distance rolling and undulating, solemn and majestic.

"My Lord, this place is called Black Stone Mountain because the stones here are famous for their black color." Xiao Anyi replied.

Hearing this, Qin Ke became interested. The dark stone seemed to be some kind of treasure. He immediately took two steps forward and asked, "General Xiao, could you find someone to take me to see this mountain? I'm very curious."

Xiao Anyi first glanced at Gu Lanxi, wanting to ask for her opinion.

Seeing Qin Ke's high interest, Gu Lanxi thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we go and take a look together?"

She had never been here before and rarely saw black stones. She always felt that Qin Ke knew many things that ordinary people didn't know, so maybe she would get some surprises this time.

The place where they rested was not too far from the bottom of the mountain. After leaving some people to look after the carriage and luggage, Xiao Anyi and his people were responsible for clearing the way in front, and the rest of the people went together.

Qin Ke had already seen black stones before he reached the foot of the mountain. He bent down and picked up a palm-sized so-called "stone". The "stone" was shiny black. He rubbed it with his palm, leaving black ash on his palm.

Is this... a lump of coal?

Qin Ke suppressed his excitement. There were only one or two pieces at the moment, and he had to first confirm at the foot of the mountain whether it was a coal mine.

Lu Youqing noticed Qin Ke’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Walking to the foot of the mountain, Qin Ke saw that the mountain was dark brown, like the skin of the earth, reflecting a faint light under the sunlight.

Oh my god! It’s really a coal mine! And it’s open-air!

It’s a big profit. At least we don’t have to rely on charcoal for heating in winter anymore.

"Husband, do you know what this is?" Lu Youqing looked at Qin Ke who couldn't help but take a few steps forward.

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads and stared at him.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Qin Ke calmed down a little and explained: "This is coal. This so-called Black Stone Mountain is actually a coal mine."

"Coal?" Gu Lanxi frowned in confusion. She had never heard of this thing. The villagers living nearby had been guarding it for many years but never recognized it. However, Qin Ke told what it was at a glance.

Everyone had a puzzled expression.

"Coal is formed by the continuous accumulation of plant remains, which are buried deep underground and gradually precipitated over the years." Qin Ke saw that they were still confused, so he tried his best to explain in a language they could understand: "In fact, the function of coal is similar to the charcoal we use, but the burning temperature is higher and the duration is longer."

Now they could understand a little bit, but Xiao Anyi frowned and said, "If that's the case, then why haven't the people here discovered its use for so many years?"

"The coal from these mines is not processed and when it burns, it produces toxic black smoke and gases."

Gu Lanxi keenly grasped the key point that Qin Ke did not say, and asked: "Can you handle this thing?"

Qin Ke nodded. When he picked up the coal on the road just now, he took the opportunity to take a look at the system mall, and sure enough, there were coal processing methods in it.

Gu Lanxi and Lu Youqing had already witnessed Qin Ke's extraordinary abilities, but many people didn't know Qin Ke very well, especially those brought by Xiao Anyi.

They obviously didn't believe what Qin Ke said.

Qin Ke didn't explain much and arranged for Lei Zhong and the others to pick up some coal and take it back to their resting place.

At this time, the person who stayed behind to guard the luggage had already lit the fire. Qin Ke broke the palm-sized coal blocks into small pieces and threw them into the pile of matches.

"These coals are a bit damp, so the black smoke produced is relatively large." Qin Ke explained to them while taking out a folding fan and fanning the charcoal fire.

As for why Qin Ke had a folding fan in winter, it was naturally because when he was watching TV, he always saw those humble gentlemen holding folding fans to show off, so he also prepared one, but most of the time it was thrown in the corner.

As the fire burned more and more vigorously, the coal was ignited. Everyone could naturally see the black smoke rising from it. Gu Lanxi took two steps back and thought: If Qin Ke hadn't said that, ordinary people would probably think that this black smoke is poisonous and stay away from it.

Qin Ke added a few more pieces of coal, and when they were burning, he smiled and said, "These few pieces of coal can burn all night."

Gu Lanxi's expression became serious. She realized the value of this Black Stone Mountain at this moment. It was something that could only be encountered by chance.

Xiao Anyi immediately turned around and ordered his men to dig some coal at the foot of the mountain and bring it back to Liangzhou to present to His Highness.