The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 149 The Golden Sun Rises in the Northern Frontier

On the third day after Li Xiao and Xiao Yanyan got married, he said goodbye to Xiao Simo, mounted his warhorse, waved the whip, and marched his army towards Jinzhou.

When they arrived, the cavalry under Li Xiao's command advanced like a hurricane, and in just three days, they arrived at the Eastern Capital at lightning speed.

But this time, the return journey was like an old ox carrying a heavy load, moving forward with difficulty, and it took a full ten days.

The reason was that the large number of slaves slowed down the march.

"Finally home."

Ten days later, Li Xiao looked at the mirror-clear lake at the end of the world and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The shimmering waves sparkle and dance in the sunlight, that is Dragon Bone Lake.

It is like an old friend who has been waiting for a long time, carrying familiarity and peace.

After passing Longgu Lake and walking about ten miles, you can see the familiar outline of Hexi Fort.

Just as Li Xiao was sighing, a Khitan general wearing leather armor rode over from a distance.

"Captain."

"General Bali." Li Xiao chuckled and nodded in response.

"Commander-in-Chief, now that we have arrived in Jinzhou, I intend to take our men to Dahei Mountain to settle down first."

Hearing this, Li Xiao waved his hand and said, "Hexi Fort is just ahead."

"No matter what, let's go home and sit down first."

"Let Bendu show his hospitality."

Facing Li Xiao's cordial invitation, Baliala smiled and shook his head: "No."

"It would be a shame to leave these thousand households here and trouble the governor. We should first arrange for them to go to the rear of Dahei Mountain."

"I will come to visit the governor again."

After hearing this, Li Xiao was no longer polite.

He nodded gently and said, "Have you told the princess?"

"No, I was just about to ask the princess for instructions."

"It would be better to settle the herdsmen first. After a few days, Bendu will hold a banquet in Hexi Fort to welcome Governor Bali."

Upon hearing this, Baliala smiled and nodded: "Okay, it's settled."

"I've heard for a long time that there's a fine wine in Hexi Fort called Xifeng Lie."

"When the time comes, I will enjoy it."

Li Xiao laughed: "Drink as much as you want."

"If you like, I'll give you a few cars to take away."

Although Li Xiao became the governor of Jinzhou, Xiao Simo appointed a deputy governor according to the rules.

It was Baliala.

In fact, according to Bali Ala's qualifications and abilities, he is fully qualified to compete for the position of Governor of Beihai.

However, due to the mistaken trust in Xiao Linta, the army suffered a night attack by the Kangli people.

Therefore, he had no chance to be the governor of Beihai, and was instead appointed as the deputy governor of Jinzhou.

It's also a kind of derogatory rebuke.

At the same time, he was accompanied to Jinzhou by five hundred Khitan herdsmen and five hundred herdsmen from other Yinshan tribes.

Bali Ala also served as the chief of the thousand herdsmen households.

But in fact, these one thousand herdsmen were the dowry that Xiao Simo gave to Xiao Yanyan.

It also gives Xiao Yanyan the confidence to support her in Jinzhou.

Although Li Xiao could command this army as a commander-in-chief, in essence, these thousand herdsmen were Xiao Yanyan's private army.

Because the Khitans have always had the tradition of the queen being in charge of the military.

During the Liao Dynasty, it was called Shancong Army, and during the Western Liao Dynasty, it was called Fengbu Pishi Army.

The army under Xiao Yanyan's command is called the Black Mountain Thousand Households Army.

Because Li Xiao settled them in the northern part of Jinzhou, living on a grassland near Dahei Mountain.

After staying for a while on the west bank of Longgu Lake, Li Xiao and Xiao Yanyan watched Bali Ala and his men leave, and then led them back to Hexi Fort.

"I'm so sorry, Ah Man."

"The house was too dilapidated and I didn't have time to clean it up."

"It's really unfair to let you live here."

Before they even got home, Qin Dani looked unnatural and said while holding Xiao Yanyan's hand.

Mainly because time was too tight, the Li family went to Dongdu immediately after receiving the notice from Li Xiao.

I didn't have time to clean up the yard at home.

Qin Dani felt embarrassed that they still lived in the old house.

After all, Xiao Yanyan is a princess, and it is really unfair for her to live in this place.

However, Xiao Yanyan smiled and quickly comforted Qin Dani, "It's okay, mother."

"The house is fine. There's no need for so much trouble."

"I don't care, as long as I have a place to live."

Xiao Yanyan herself has suffered a lot, so she doesn't have very high requirements for food and accommodation.

I even feel that as long as Li Xiao is around, it would be fine even if I live in a tent every day.

But the old man shook his head and said, "A new bride should be treated like a new bride."

"Otherwise, others will say that our Li family doesn't know etiquette."

Then he looked at Xiao Yanyan and said, "I'll have to ask you to stay at home for the next few days."

"I'll find someone right away to quickly build another big yard."

"It's okay, Grandpa~"

Xiao Yanyan was about to refuse when she was interrupted by Li Xiao.

"Grandpa, Ah Man, you don't have to worry about the new house."

"I'll make arrangements."

Li Xiao also supports building a new house.

It’s not for enjoyment, but because the old house is really no longer habitable.

After all, Xiao Yanyan didn't come here alone this time.

There were also several maids and servants, and more than a dozen guards.

The Li family’s house is completely uninhabitable.

So, Li Xiao simply cleaned up the house and let the maids live in the tent in the yard for a while.

The next day, Li Xiao led his men away from Hexi Fort.

Heading southeast, we arrived at a plain.

This place is about thirty miles away from Hexi Fort, and less than ten miles to the north is Longgu River.

The terrain is flat, and as far as the eye can see, there are some low shrub vegetation such as cattle grass and sea buckthorn grass growing around.

“It’s a bit desolate here.”

"Why aren't crops grown here?" Xiao Yanyan asked while riding on her horse, looking at the plain.

Logically speaking, as long as there is soil, the Han people would like to grow crops there.

Why is it so bare here?
"Because Jinzhou has no shortage of arable land, but the soil here is too poor," said Li Xiao.

Jinzhou is a vast and sparsely populated area, and the distance between two forts can reach dozens of miles.

Unfortunately, the population of Jinzhou is very small, and the land around these forts cannot be cultivated.

The Han people would not go to other places to reclaim wasteland.

What's more, the land under Li Xiao's feet is really barren compared to the area around Hexi Fort.

The soil quality is poor, and is mostly gravel and sand, with rocks scattered all over the mountain.

It would take a lot of manpower and material resources to reclaim such land.

Totally not worth it.

"Then what are we doing here?" Xiao Yanyan asked curiously.

Li Xiao smiled faintly: "I plan to build a new city here."

Hearing this, Xiao Yanyan was shocked.

"New City?"

Li Xiao nodded heavily: "That's right."

"Jinzhou, there should be a city."

The role of a city is not just a place to live, it is also a spiritual pillar in people’s hearts.

The city represents Jinzhou.

As long as the city is not captured, Jinzhou will not fall.

The belief in the hearts of Jinzhou people is to never fall.

Therefore, Li Xiao’s purpose of building a new city is to unite people and make Jinzhou people find a sense of belonging.

After listening to Li Xiao's explanation, Xiao Yanyan nodded silently.

“It’s time to build a city.”

After this war, Jinzhou had a large number of craftsmen and slaves, and there was no shortage of gold and copper coins. It had abundant manpower and material resources.

It is indeed time to build a city.

Moreover, the place chosen by Li Xiao is also good. It is surrounded by open space and close to water. It is located in the center of Jinzhou and has convenient transportation.

If this city is built, it will indeed greatly establish the majesty of Jinzhou.

"In the early stages, the city doesn't need to be very large. It only needs to be large enough to accommodate 20,000 people."

"The most important thing is to move our workshop in here."

Li Xiaochang talked about the plans for this city.

Build shops along the street and develop business.

Designate special residential and industrial areas.

The textile shop, the liquor shop and the workshop that Li Xiao plans to build later will all be moved in.

From now on, this will be a city of industry and commerce and the absolute core of Jinzhou.

Finally, Li Xiao pointed at the land and said in a deep voice.

"Dragon City!"

"Its name is Dragon City!"

The city where dragons rise!

Afterwards, Li Xiao called a group of craftsmen and discussed the city construction with them.

Because it is a city built from scratch, many future factors must be considered from the beginning of construction.

"Two main roads were demarcated within the city, connecting the four gates in the east, west, south and north respectively."

“These two main roads need to be widened to accommodate at least twenty horses traveling side by side at the same time.

"The regulations for houses in the city must also be consistent, and every street must be straight and level."

……

After listening to Li Xiao's request, Carpenter Lao Li and others all nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

However, it will take a long time and require a lot of manpower and material resources.

"I can extend the time, but I can only give you 3,000 people," said Li Xiao.

It was those 3,000 Han prisoners of war that Li Xiao asked to build the new city.

However, Li Xiao still has great use for the more than 20,000 foreign prisoners of war.

Although building a city is important, nothing is more important than arming it.

The next day, Li Xiao took his men away and caught up with Li Erjiang.

When returning to Hexi Fort, Li Erjiang simply went home to take a look and did not stay. Instead, he led his men to escort more than 20,000 prisoners of war and all the blacksmiths and continued to move towards Jinshan.

March fifty miles a day.

Li Xiao caught up with him in half a day.

After a few more days, the group entered the mountains, stopped and walked, and finally came to the banks of the Bara River.

The Bara River is a tributary of the Irtysh River. The reason why Li Xiao knew it was mainly because the Mengku Iron Mine was located in the area it flows through.

The Mengku Iron Mine is the largest iron mine in western China. It has extremely high iron ore reserves and is an open-pit iron mine, making it relatively easy to mine.

At this time, Li Xiao stood by the Bala River, dismounted, and picked up a stone by the river. It was a red stone with sharp edges and corners, revealing a semi-metallic luster, and layers of stripes distributed all over it.

"This is iron ore!" Xiao Yanyan said.

After marrying Li Xiao, she has already regarded herself as the mistress of Jinzhou.

With nothing to do, he followed Li Xiao to Jinshan again.

Of course, the most important reason is to stick to Li Xiao and not give him the chance to have sex with other women.

She, Xiao Yanyan, must give birth to the eldest legitimate son.

Li Xiao weighed it in his hand, nodded and said, "To be precise, this is hematite!"

The scientific name of hematite is ferric oxide, and its iron content is 70%.

Compared with other iron ores, hematite contains less sulfur and phosphorus, which is very beneficial for smelting.

Because sulfur affects the hot brittleness of steel, and phosphorus affects the cold brittleness of steel.

In short, hematite is an excellent raw material for ironmaking.

Looking around, the entire mountain range is made of this red stone, as if you are in a mysterious world ignited by war.

Where the rocks are exposed, there are layers of hematite. As far as the eye can see, the rolling mountains are all dyed red, like a winding, dormant red dragon lying across the earth.

Li Xiao had no idea how much iron ore there was here.

He only knew that this was the largest iron ore vein in western China.

Even the exposed mountain is only a small part of the mineral vein, and there is much more iron ore buried underground.

"Second Uncle, arrange for slaves to dig for iron ore."

"it is good!"

"Let them get started now!" Li Erjiang nodded heavily.

He naturally knew the significance of this iron ore vein to the Golden State.

To put it bluntly, wars in today's era are actually wars between steel.

Whoever has sharper weapons, stronger armor, and more war horses will directly determine the outcome of the war.

With this iron ore vein and the large number of craftsmen plundered from Hu Siwoerduo, Jinzhou's iron smelting industry will develop rapidly.

There will be a steady supply of steel produced to equip the soldiers of the Jinzhou Army.

However, iron ore alone is not enough, and another thing is needed to make iron.

Coke!

Afterwards, Li Xiao led his men to continue walking deeper into Jinshan.

We crossed the mountain pass and entered the east side of Jinshan.

Originally this place belonged to the Naiman people, and in later generations it belonged to Mongolia.

But now, it has been incorporated into the jurisdiction of Jinzhou.

Led by an old Naiman herdsman, Li Xiao and others came to a valley.

The land here is all black.

After digging down for a while, you can see pieces of black-glowing stones exposed.

The old Naiman herdsman looked awed and said slowly, "Sir, these black stones are very strange. Some people took them and burned them a few years ago, and they died inexplicably, one after another, in a miserable way."

"Since then, everyone in our tribe has avoided this place, and the livestock are restless even when passing through here. This black stone must be cursed."

As he said this, the old herdsman's voice trembled, his face gradually turned pale, he staggered back, his eyes full of fear.

When Li Xiao heard this, he shook his head and smiled.

Cursed stone?

It's obviously coal!
The Naimans died after burning coal because they wrapped their tents too tightly, which led to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Just make sure it's ventilated and you'll be fine.

Li Xiao had also heard the Naimans under his command talk about this kind of stone, and he immediately realized that there might be a coal mine here, so he brought people to check it out in person.

Now, he remembered.

This coal mine became quite famous in later generations, but he could no longer remember its name because it was in Mongolian.

But we know that this is one of the largest open-pit coking coal mines in Mongolia.

Coking coal mine is the highest quality coal mine for coking.

"Fourth Uncle, I will transfer 10,000 slaves from the iron mine to dig coal. This coal mine will be handed over to you."

"Keep an eye on it!" Li Xiao said in a serious voice.

"Don't worry." Li Sishui nodded heavily.

After Li Xiao subdued Xiao Linta's two thousand Jinzhou troops, he appointed Li Sishui as one of the captains.

Over the next month, he will lead the construction of a coal mine and supervise 10,000 slaves digging coal.

"After a month, I will send someone to replace you and take you home to have a good rest."

"Also, tell the soldiers that each of them will receive a reward of ten gold coins for staying here for a month," said Li Xiao.

The thousand-household soldiers under the command of Li Erjiang and Li Sishui had just returned to Jinzhou and had not even had time to go home, but they escorted the slaves to Jinshan.

It is indeed hard work.

Li Xiao cannot be unkind either.

Therefore, we can only reward them more materially.

Ten gold coins are roughly equivalent to ten taels of silver or ten strings of copper coins.

Li Xiao paid the workers in his workshop an average of two taels of silver per month.

Five times the wages is worthy of these soldiers.

Of course, this is only the first month and it is a special case. There will definitely not be so many people in the next batch to replace them.

Afterwards, Li Sishui sent people to set up a stronghold near the valley, and at the same time sent soldiers to escort 10,000 slaves to the coal mine.

Soon, a simple camp was built in the valley, fences were erected, and sentries were posted to prevent outsiders from spying and to prevent slaves from escaping.

In this way, the mining of coal and iron mines began one after another.

The raw material problem for ironmaking has been solved, and what remains is the technical problem.

Coking.

Although coal can also be used to smelt iron, it contains many impurities and the quality of the iron produced is poor.

The best raw material should be charcoal, or coke.

Turning coal into coke requires further refining.

A special area was set aside in the camp and was given special protection by the soldiers.

Li Xiao led his men to run around the surrounding area, found refractory clay, and ordered craftsmen to burn it into refractory bricks.

Half a month later, a tall and sturdy coking kiln finally stood before everyone.

It is built with thick, fire-resistant blue bricks in a rectangular shape, and has multiple layers of shelves inside the kiln for placing coal.

Li Xiao ordered people to put the mined coal into the cave, and then ignite it. Through the ventilation holes reserved on the side of the kiln body, he carefully adjusted the air intake to allow the coal to burn slowly.

During the combustion process, the volatile components in the coal are gradually precipitated.

After a few days, when the coal is completely carbonized, coke is successfully produced.

Li Xiao held two pieces of still hot coke in his hands and knocked them against each other, and a low popping sound could be heard.

"It's done!"

Li Xiao smiled with satisfaction. This was the sound.

Then he spoke to the craftsmen around him.

“Build a few more kilns.”

"Just burn it like this."

"It's actually very simple. You just need to pay attention to the temperature and ventilation to burn out the coke."

……

Li Xiao felt at this moment as if he had turned into an omnipotent golden sun.

His mind contains the knowledge of the entire universe and he can provide precise guidance in any field.

Some people are pretending, but Li Xiao is genuine.

There's no way around it. Although he's not a professional, he's indeed a little better than the craftsmen of this era in this regard.

"Old Wu, I'm leaving the coking business to you."

"Fix it and don't let me down."

Li Xiao said to a craftsman.

These craftsmen basically came from Husiwoerduo and were actually Li Xiao's slaves, with a completely personal dependent relationship.

Li Xiao taught them the skills of coking and was not afraid that they would leak it out.

Anyone who dares to leak it will have his entire family killed.

"Governor, don't worry, I will not let you down." The person who spoke was named Wu Laowu.

He is Li Xiao's most outstanding disciple in the coking industry.

Although he himself is not particularly outstanding, but when it comes to coking, practice makes perfect.

If you fail a few times, you will figure out the pattern.

Li Xiao had no choice but to hand over this group of craftsmen to him for management.

There is only one requirement, to produce enough coke.

……

In this way, all the matters concerning the coal mine were arranged.

Li Si was the commander of the water and led a thousand soldiers to garrison this place. At the same time, the Naiman people of the Horma tribe were nomadic more than ten miles away.

Ten thousand slaves dug coal, while Wu Laowu led more than fifty craftsmen to refine the mined coal into coke and then transport it away.

The coke problem is solved.

On the way back, Xiao Yanyan walked on the undulating mountain road and couldn't help feeling emotional.

“The mountain road is difficult to travel, but fortunately the packhorses can still make it through.”

"Otherwise, even if the coke is refined, it cannot be transported to Jinzhou."

Li Xiao also nodded slightly. If you want to be rich, build roads first. This is a true saying.

The coal mines and iron mines are located on both sides of Jinshan, separated by half a mountain, so transportation is a big problem.

There was no need to think about horse-drawn carriages, and we could only use oxen, horses, and camels to pull the things one trip at a time.

Although it is troublesome and inefficient, there is no other way and it can only be done this way temporarily. After all, there are no other coal mines in Jinzhou.

There is one in Dongdu, but Li Xiao can't reach it.

"How is it? Are you tired from following me around these days?" Li Xiao asked.

"No!" Xiao Yanyan shook her head slightly.

"I didn't do any work, so how could I be tired?"

Xiao Yanyan grew up as a nomad and also traveled around a lot.

He has very good physical condition.

On the contrary, I found it interesting, after all, I saw so many new things.

"Husband, I find you are really amazing. You actually know so many things."

“I even know how to scorch it.”

"I really don't know what else you don't understand." Xiao Yanyan looked at Li Xiao while riding on the horse, with an expression of admiration showing on her face at the right time.

Like a little fangirl.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiao knew that she was deliberately trying to make him happy and provide him with emotional value.

Suddenly, a little head collapsed on her smooth forehead.

"naughty."

"It's just burnt! It's nothing."

"Next, I'll show you how your husband makes iron." Li Xiao laughed.

If you want to produce large quantities of steel, it is definitely not enough to rely solely on the previous crucible smelting method.

Li Xiao still needs to continue using black technology.

Blast furnace ironmaking!

In short, he, Golden Sun Lee, knows everything.

(End of this chapter)