The Prodigal Son of the Empire

"How is it? Are you tired!"

Li Qingman poured a cup of tea for Wang Kang.

"That's not right, my throat is about to burst into smoke!" Wang Kang muttered, and drank a few more glasses before he felt better.

"Oh, I wanted to be a carefree prodigal, but it's so difficult!" Wang Kang sighed.

"Wait to develop Xinfeng County and let the Earl's Mansion continue to grow, and then fight with the gang of old nobles."

"According to the news from Qing Erniang, Dong Yiwu has returned to Yangzhou City, and Dong Qian has also been appointed magistrate of Anyi County as he wished." Li Qingman said.

"It seems that they have passed this test," Wang Kang said with a sneer, "but it's okay, this time I will make them completely unable to turn over."

"There is also Dong Qian. If I remember correctly, Anyi County seems to be a neighboring county of Xinfeng County. They are really tarsus maggots. Let him try this time. What is real despair!"

The two talked, the carriage was also moving, and the road gradually became uneven. After walking like this for a while, Liu Jin's voice sounded outside the carriage.

"The young master is here."

Wang Kang and Li Qingman got out of the carriage. This is a valley with a hidden entrance, and there are special soldiers guarding it. Seeing Wang Kang walking in, the soldiers bowed and saluted.

Going further in, the valley gradually widened, and there were hundreds of people working in front of it.

This is where Liu Shan told him the iron mine was.

In fact, after Wang Kangqing suppressed the bandits, he began to find a place to mine iron ore, and the labor for mining iron ore was the remnants of the previous bandits.

Wang Kang didn't show any mercy when dealing with them, and he was directly detained here to serve as a labor force.

Iron is an indispensable thing for future development. With iron ore, iron and steel can be smelted. Some ideas of Wang Kang can be realized...

[Author's Digression]: The third update, ask for votes, call for construction plans, if appropriate, I will add them in,

Chapter 2 He's Too Tired

Before Liu Shan committed suicide, he wrote a letter to Wang Kang. This letter was passed to Wang Kang by his friend, third wife Zhao Mei.

In the letter, he told him the location of an iron mine, and this has always been kept in Wang Kang's heart.

This is also the reason why he worked so hard in the feudal competition. In the eyes of outsiders, Xinfeng County is a barren and desolate place.

But in his eyes, it is a treasure land!

It is because of iron ore!

In fact, the reason why the land in Xinfeng County is red, the mountains do not grow trees, and the land does not grow grass is largely due to the geology here, which contains more iron elements.

Needless to say the importance of iron ore, iron is also inseparable from the development of the country.

This is true for both civilian and national use.

Where there is iron ore, there is capital for development!

This is also the core of Wang Kang's focus.

Since he first entered Xinfeng County, he had secretly sent people to search for the location of the iron mine given by Liushan.

After some dark searching, I finally found it.

It is indeed an iron ore, and it is still an open-pit iron ore, hidden under a piece of rock, rich in reserves, and it is still a hematite ore!

Hematite is also called iron oxide.

The iron content is as high as 70.00%, and it can be produced in large quantities, so hematite is one of the most important iron ores.

When Wang Kang came here, a soldier in military armor came over immediately. He was a hundred-man general of the family's private soldiers, and he was about forty years old.

He had participated in the Battle of Vietnam and Zhao three years ago, and was injured on the battlefield and retired. At that time, Wang Dingchang donated a huge amount of money and goods for the war, so he admired him and came to join him.

His name was Deng Yu, and he was favored by Wang Dingchang. Because of his sophistication and stability, Wang Kang asked him to take charge of mining with 150 soldiers.

"Master Kang, you are here." Deng Yu greeted respectfully.

Although this young master is young, he is very respectful, not because of his status, but because of his style of means.

From the moment he came to Xinfeng County with him, everyone saw Wang Kang's deeds, which convinced them, the family soldiers and generals.

"Uncle Deng, you and I don't have to do this," Wang Kang said, waving his hands.

"The proper etiquette is still there," Deng Yu said solemnly.

Wang Kang was helpless, and immediately asked: "Are they honest?"

Deng Yu knew what Wang Kang was asking, "I was not honest at first, but I will be honest after killing a few."

"En!" Wang Kang nodded without paying attention.

These bandits were members of the previous bandits, they robbed houses and houses, and did a lot of evil, so naturally they were not polite to them.

"How about the output of iron ore?" Wang Kang asked again.

"It's okay. The main reason is that there are rich reserves here, and it's not difficult to excavate. According to my estimation, there should be all of them in this mountain." Deng Yu said.

"And it is more convenient to have the gunpowder provided by you."

"The guards must be done well, and sentries must be placed around the area, and even the villagers are not allowed to approach."

Wang Kang ordered: "The iron ore must not be hidden, but how much is mined, it must be kept secret!"

"I see."

Deng Yu nodded in response, needless to say how important iron ore is, iron ore with such reserves is even rarer, which inevitably arouses prying eyes.

"When you're not busy, take someone to level a small path outside, which can be used for carriages and horses. I will transport the iron ore in a few days."

"Yes!"

Then Deng Yu took Wang Kang into the interior to inspect. The mining area is in this valley, and there are soldiers standing guard everywhere to supervise, while bandits are carrying.

Because of the existence of gunpowder, manual excavation is not required, which saves a lot of effort.

On one side of the valley, there are some red-red stones piled up on the outside. These are hematite ore.

And next to it is a small pile of powder, which is the iron powder that will be blasted from the hematite in the gunpowder explosion and has been screened.

Iron powder is also very useful. Since it is impossible to have large-scale crushing machines in this era, Wang Kang specially asked people to collect it.

After the inspection was over, Wang Kang gave a few more instructions, and then returned to the mansion.