Nanming Engineer

Chapter 79 Mining

Wang Huan stopped riding in the carriage and sat on Ma Wannian's horse's butt, roaring back. He also took Ma Wannian's riding crop and whipped it wildly, until blood dripped from the horse's butt. As if it wasn't fast enough, the heartbroken Ma Wannian's face twitched.

After nearly a hundred miles of mountain road, several people arrived that night. Wang Huan rushed straight to Tusi City where the Xuanwei Envoy was located and asked to meet Qin Liangyu.

In the flower hall of Tusi City, Qin Liangyu met him, Wang Huan looked dusty, Qin Liangyu was very puzzled, didn't he let him rest and hang out, why did he get this look.Can't help looking at Ma Wannian fiercely, and blamed: "I asked you to show Wang Huan around to understand the customs, how did you make it look like a war?"

Ma Wannian looked aggrieved, but he didn't dare to defend himself, so he could only secretly stare at Wang Huan.

Wang Huan hurriedly said: "Mother-in-law misunderstood. Mr. Ma really treated Wang Huan with respect and was very considerate. Today, Wang Huan came back in a hurry, but it was his own idea. It's not Mr. Ma who treats me wrong."

Qin Liangyu wondered: "Then why are you so urgent to see me?"

Wang Huangong said: "No one else, I just want to ask my stepmother for an errand."

Qin Liangyu couldn't help smiling when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "So that's the case, you don't have to be so eager, first go around and familiarize yourself with the geography of mountains and rivers, and after you understand it clearly, I will have a job to make you tired."

Seeing that Qin Liangyu mistakenly thought that he was eager to become an official, Wang Huan quickly defended, "My foster mother misunderstood, Wang Huan didn't mean that. I went to Tubaozhai today and saw that there were many refugees and their lives were desolate. I couldn't bear it. Suddenly I had an epiphany, so I came back in a hurry, and wanted to make a move to my stepmother, to reassure the people and strengthen the army."

Qin Liangyu said solemnly: "It can reassure the people and boost the army's prestige? Well, let's talk about it in detail."

Wang Huan said seriously: "I see that the number of refugees in Tubao Village is close to tens of thousands. These people have fled here and have no one to rely on. They rely on adults to maintain their food and drink. If this continues, it will not be a long-term solution. Shizhu Food If you don’t produce much, it’s not cost-effective to waste it in vain.”

Qin Liangyu frowned and said: "But if we don't provide relief and just sit and watch the refugees starve to death, it will be disrespectful to me, the Minister of Comfort."

Wang Huan complimented: "My foster mother cares about the people, and we can learn from the sun and the moon. What I mean is that since we have to give food and drink to the refugees, we can't give them for free. We have to let them work in exchange. First, we can contribute some labor, and second, we can't give them food and drink for free." They have something to do when they come, so they won’t sit around waiting for food and drink, which could lead to trouble.”

Qin Liangyu sighed and said: "I have also considered this. I wanted them to farm on the spot so that they can support themselves in the future, but firstly, there are many stone pillars, and the good fields are all terraced fields, so it is not easy to reclaim them; secondly, these refugees are people from neighboring counties. , only came here to avoid the military disaster, once the bandits go, they will return to their hometown, and they will have to wait for the next year to harvest the fields. By then, they may have already left, so no one is willing to open mountains and farms, and the comfort envoy feels that there is no such thing Necessary, so the refugees have nothing to do."

Wang Huan showed a smile, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "I have a plan to make many refugees work for me."

Qin Liangyu smiled without any surprise: "I know you are resourceful and resourceful. You came to see me in a hurry today, so you must have a plan in mind. Tell me, what is your idea?" Proud.

Wang Huan hurriedly said: "My boy was observing the mountains in Tubaozhai, checking the terrain, picking up stone samples, digging out the details of rocks and mountains, and after exploration, he came to the conclusion that there are silver deposits in the mountains of Qiyue Mountain, and the reserves are huge enough for us. Shizhu is needed for a strong army! I want to ask my stepmother for this mining job, and use the refugees as miners to kill two birds with one stone."

Qin Liangyu frowned, and asked, "Mining? Is there really a silver mine in Shizhu?"

Wang Huan replied: "It's true, I know the method of prospecting, as long as I recruit a few miners, build tunnels, and spread countless refugees to mine, I will definitely gain a lot!"

When Qin Liangyu heard this, her eyes blurred for a while, and she remembered that her husband Ma Qiancheng was framed by Qiu Chengyun, the mine supervisor, for not bribing and befriending him, and died in prison. , became a good story of the comfort envoy, so when mentioning this mining, Qin Liangyu felt countless emotions in his heart.

Seeing her thinking, Wang Huan stood aside and waited quietly. Qin Liangyu was silent for a long time before he raised his eyes and said softly to Wang Huan: "My child, I am a young general in Shizhu Army. Even if I get countless silver coins, it will be in vain. I know what is in your heart." You have great ambitions, but you are stuck in the mountains of stone pillars, and I am old. Even if you have outstanding talents, it will be very difficult for you to enter the palace and become a noble general in the future. "

Hearing her words, Wang Huan was heartbroken. This heroine who was once a powerful female high school experienced countless tribulations and looked down on the warmth and warmth of human relationships. Now she is disheartened and has no fighting spirit like clouds in her prime. , the seventy-year-old, it's time to take care of her life. According to the historical process, after a hundred years in the next year, the stone pillar will be occupied by the Haoge Department of the Qing Army. The company will eventually turn into the dust of history.

But now that I have come here, everything will definitely change. Before Qin Liangyu dies, I must control a strong army, occupy the middle of Sichuan, and resist the Manchus with the strange dangers of Tianfu, otherwise everything will be empty talk.

So Wang Huan said with emotion: "Didn't my adoptive mother know that there are tigers in the mountains, and she prefers to go to the mountains? Without going through hardships, how can I achieve success? Wang Huan is not talented, and would rather use his own strength and blood to stain the mountains and rivers. Even if the future is difficult and dangerous, we are not afraid.”

Qin Liangyu sits firmly in the chair, motionless as a mountain, but her heart is full of emotions, full of emotions. When she looks at Wang Huan, there is a faint light in her eyes, full of kindness and love. What regrets do you have for such a child?

She said softly: "Since you have such an ambition, my dear, of course your adoptive mother will fully support you. I will make arrangements now to make the local leaders obey your orders and order the refugees to cooperate and open mountains and mines. You will serve as my consolation envoy." Counselor, please have full authority to handle this matter."

The king was overjoyed, knelt down and kowtowed and shouted, "How dare you disobey your adopted mother's orders!"

In the afternoon of the same day, Qin Liangyu vigorously recruited a few leaders, made them acquainted with Wang Huan, and issued orders in person, and also recruited a few officials from the Xuanwei Commissioner for Wang Huan to arrange, and finally summoned his own soldiers and generals , accompany Wang Huan to protect his safety.

Ma Wannian walked with Wang Huan these days and heard a lot of new things. When he heard that Wang Huan was going to open a mine, he even pestered him to go with him. Qin Liangyu had no choice but to agree.

Wang Huan was also unambiguous, and took his troops to Tubaozhai the next day. First, he ordered the officials to count the number of refugees living here in accordance with the Baojia system, record the names one by one, and compile them into Jiazhong according to the original living area. A appointed a chief to change the chaotic state of the refugees, and obtained a specific number of [-] households and more than [-] people.

Wang Huan, together with the local chieftains, changed the method of distributing relief food from two free meals a day to one meal every morning. The porridge was cooked in a big pot in the open space, and the refugees queued up to receive it. Then no more distribution was given on the same day. , If you want to eat again, you must work.

The way of doing the work, of course, is to dig mines in the mountains of Tubaozhai. As soon as this order was announced, it aroused a commotion among the refugees. Minus rations, but also to work, naturally unwilling, gathered outside the local headman's residence which was set up as Wang Huan's temporary office, clamoring and clamoring, demanding to restore the daily food supply.

"The ancients never deceived me." Wang Huan stood on the wall with a sneer, looking at the crowds of people outside, and said to the enemy: "When Ma Chongming first rescued these refugees, he never thought that today would happen. ?”

The leader standing next to him is called Ma Chongming, a short and fat man with small eyes and big bags under the eyes, a round face with a broad nose, and a goatee beard. His face is full of fat and trembles when he speaks. He governs the land. Around the fortress, there are only more than 2000 local households under it, basically all of them are old and weak, women and children. It is very difficult for so many refugees to come in at once. Wang Huanlai's appearance caused the refugees to make trouble, and sweat came out from his head , wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, and said in a trembling voice: "This food relief is allocated by the Secretary of Public Consolation. I just supply it on time. Counselor Wang, what should I do if there are so many people making troubles? Why don't we restore the food every day?" Are there two meals a day?"

During the more than a month of fleeing, Wang Huan had already hardened his heart and was used to life and death. At this moment, he said coldly: "Recovery? I am afraid that if you recover today, there will be more refugees coming tomorrow. Stone pillars are not born in the first place. In the grain area, where did they get so much grain for them to eat for free? Besides, the relief is the business of the imperial court. If the imperial court did not allocate a single grain of rice, would the envoy of comfort be swollen in the face to pretend to be fat? When the time comes, the rice in the warehouse will be exhausted. , these people will tear down your house and rob you of food, so what about the horse-headed people?"

(End of this chapter)