Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Several days later, thanks to the tireless efforts of Su Yangyan, Huo Chengde, and others, the first draft of the law was finally completed and basically met Mo Yuming's requirements.

Subsequently, under Mo Yuming's authorization, Huo Chengde established the Supreme Law Hall in Shangyuan City, and at the same time set up local law halls in Luoxia County, Wangxiang County and Jian'an County.

They joined hands with various levels of government offices, with Su Yangyan at their core, to jointly govern the Great Xia Empire.

This brand-new management model is refreshing. It can not only govern the country efficiently, but also prevent officials from wielding too much power and acting arbitrarily, and effectively curb official corruption.

The advanced management concepts have been delivered to them; only time will tell how effective they will be in this world.

After that, all the trivial matters of managing the country were handled by Su Yangyan and others, while Mo Yuming only supervised from the sidelines and no longer interfered.

After all, this is the empire he built through hardship, and naturally he hopes it will become more prosperous and powerful.

However, the only way to safeguard this achievement and prevent it from being affected by external factors is through strong military force.

Although a new military management system has been established and will surely develop smoothly in time, this will only be reflected in the combat capabilities and quality of the soldiers.

However, weapons and other combat tools have been difficult to improve effectively.

Therefore, Mo Yuming decided to focus on improving weaponry, as powerful weaponry has always been the true reflection of an army's combat effectiveness.

In this world where cold weapons and magic coexist, weapons such as swords and armor are naturally the most important equipment.

Previously, Huo Chengde's pledge of allegiance was his family's high-quality black iron ore, and Mo Yuming planned to start with mining and iron smelting.

Efficient ore mining and refining reduce the cost of mining and iron smelting, and its most direct benefit is reducing military spending in this area.

The same amount of military spending can acquire more military equipment and supplies, which is also a way to enhance strength.

Mo Yuming gathered a group of weapon refiners and, accompanied by Huo Chengde, went to the Huo family's iron mine for inspection.

The Huo family's ore mine is located in Xuantianling, thirty miles away from Wangxiang Town.

After generations of mining and management, the iron ore mine has reached a certain scale.

The mine entrance was built of solid rock, and the road on the ground was paved with stone slabs in a very smooth and solid manner.

The ore mined on a regular basis is transported by mine carts to a mineral processing area hundreds of feet away for mineral processing, while the waste slag is transported to a slag pit not far away for dumping.

The once enormous valley has been almost completely filled in after hundreds of years of accumulation.

The workers' residential area in the mining area was built on a hillside about a kilometer away from the mine. The air there was fresh, and the area was much higher than the mine, so the people living in the residential area would not be polluted by the smoke and dust from the mine.

This shows that a lot of thought was put into the initial mining layout.

The mine shaft was large and deep, with an entrance made of huge stones that was more than 20 feet wide and more than 10 feet high, allowing two mine carts to move freely side by side inside.

Huo Chengde led the group along the sidewalk beside the mine, heading deeper into the mine.

Phosphorus lamps were installed every few feet along the walls of the mine. Although the light was not very bright, everything inside the mine could still be seen clearly.

The miners worked tirelessly in the dimly lit mine, transporting the collected ore to the outside.

"This is a vein of Fan iron ore that we are currently mining, and we have been mining it for more than 30 years!"

Huo Chengde led the group for nearly half an hour before reaching the end of the mine.

In the mining area ahead, dozens of strong men were laboriously swinging their picks and hammers, digging and hammering away at the ore.

Several people nearby were using shovels to scoop the excavated ore into a mine cart, which was then pushed out.

"Is this how you mine? Aren't there any other, more convenient methods?"

Mo Yuming looked at the busy miners and asked Huo Chengde.

"My lord, don't underestimate these miners. They are all miners who have undergone special training by our Huo family, and they are half as fast as others in mining!"

Moreover, the pickaxes and shovels they use are specially smelted and enhanced with runes. When the user infuses them with spiritual power, the striking force and the ability to break ore are doubled.

Therefore, our Huo family's mining speed is more than twice as fast as others!

"Oh!"

Mo Yuming was speechless for a moment, and could only swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue. It seems that the saying "what Xiao He made, Xiao He broke" is true, and it was all caused by spiritual power.

On this planet, rich in resources and full of spiritual energy, all of humanity's intelligence is devoted to cultivating profound arts. If something can be solved with spiritual energy, no other thought is given!

For thousands of years, the level of one's cultivation in profound arts has directly determined one's fate.

If a person has no self-cultivation whatsoever, no matter how intelligent they are, they will not be able to gain the recognition of others.

Even those born into royal families had no chance to achieve great things.

Therefore, on this planet enveloped in rare treasures and magical spiritual power, extremely peculiar social phenomena emerged:

A highly developed system of esoteric cultivation coexisted with extremely primitive social productivity.

On one side, practitioners of profound arts consume all sorts of rare treasures for their own use, while on the other side, ordinary people use the most primitive production tools, barely surviving with extremely low production efficiency.

How much ore can they mine in a day?

Looking at the bustling mining scene, Mo Yuming asked Huo Chengde a question.

"These skilled miners can extract up to 600 to 800 kilograms of ore per day, while other ordinary miners can extract up to 200 to 300 kilograms of ore per day."

Our Huo family has a total of twenty-five skilled miners, and they can mine more than 15,000 catties of ore a day.

We are currently conducting selective mining, not full-scale extraction, so our daily output is around 10,000 jin (5,000 kg).

Huo Chengde answered Mo Yuming's questions earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Mo Yuming chuckled to himself. He thought mining 10,000 catties of ore a day was a lot, but it was less than a small, haphazardly mined coal mine in his previous life.

"Huo Qing, where is that rich mine of black iron you mentioned? Can we go take a look now?"

"Yes, but the mine has been sealed off and disguised. Right now, all you can see are the disguised walls. It will take some time to remove the disguise."

"It doesn't matter. Since we're here, we might as well take a look at the location. We still need to make a series of preparations for mining and refining."

The site selection for the arsenal also needs to be done as soon as possible.

"Minister Huo is very busy. You can simply find a few capable people from your family to assist you with these matters. There's no need for you to do it personally!"

"Yes, my lord, I will arrange it immediately."