"Mining on Mount Damo has been going on for close to a hundred years, but there hasn't been much progress. Mount Damo can be said to be completely made of iron. It is extremely hard and difficult to mine. After so many years, it has only been mined to the extent that you can see now. One person might not even be able to mine one piece in a day. "
Gu Qiong led the crowd in the direction of Mount Damo and introduced them to Ren Baqian.
He actually knew Tao Jiyuan as he had met him a few times before. This time, this Imperial Deputy Prefect had a special status and was here for the first time. He was the one who needed to be introduced.
Ren Baqian's previous understanding of iron ore came from the information he found on the Internet. After listening to Gu Qiong's introduction, he realized that Mount Damo might be different from what he had imagined.
As they got closer to Mount Damo, the soldiers from the three nations who were locked up here appeared in front of them.
Other than the guards, very few outsiders came here.
In particular, there was a Dayao official in the middle of a group of aboriginals who was obviously different from the rest. This made many people's eyes light up.
These people had been locked up here for the longest period of 20 years and the shortest period was at least five years. They were constantly thinking of leaving this place and returning to their homes.
However, the 300 guards were enough to suppress any riots here. In the past, no one who had such thoughts survived, regardless of whether they fought back or escaped.
This made the remaining people somewhat resigned to their fate.
However, today, they actually saw an official who wasn't an aboriginal. Even though he was still a Dayao official, it gave these people a little hope. One by one, they stood on the spot and looked over expectantly.
"What are you all standing there for? Get out of the way and get to work! If you continue to slack off, I will hang your heads over the wall. "A few guards with knives drove the crowd away.
"Where are they from?" Ren Baqian also noticed that these people were obviously from the other three nations.
"The aboriginals still trade slaves?" Ren Baqian immediately thought of this.
"They are soldiers from Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation. There are also some death row prisoners from the south." Gu Qiong introduced them to Ren Baqian. He was also curious about the identity of this Imperial Deputy Prefect. Not only was he a Secondary class, Rank 5 official, but he was also in charge of the Imperial Deputy Prefect, an organization that was responsible for the affairs of the palace.
Even though the news about the empress's husband had spread like wildfire in Lan City and its surrounding areas, and even some of the mountain villages had heard about it, it was obvious that Ren Baqian hadn't heard about it yet.
Ren Baqian immediately understood after hearing this. The aboriginals weren't stupid and knew how to use war criminals to open up mines. As for the prisoners on death row in the south, they were the remnant citizens of the Hao Nation.
Ren Baqian sized up these people as he walked. Their complexions were still alright, completely different from the sallow and emaciated state he had imagined. Many of them had bulging muscles.
After all, working here, even an ordinary person's body would develop a body of muscles after a long time. However, if he really had the body of an ordinary person, he probably wouldn't be able to live for long.
Everyone was only wearing tattered pants, and their tanned upper bodies were covered in scars. Some were from mining, and some were from whips.
Apart from that, each of them had a rope tied around their feet. Every three of them were tied together, and the distance between them was about two meters.
After asking, Ren Baqian found out that the rope was woven from the bark of a type of tree known as the knot tree and then soaked in oil. It was very sturdy, and even a Man Realm expert couldn't tear it apart. Even swords would have to expend some effort to cut it.
On the way up, Ren Baqian saw a few people with missing limbs. They were using their hands to pick up the scattered slag from the ground and put it into a basket.
While observing these people, he also saw that they were looking at him with hope in their eyes. Their numb eyes were filled with a look of longing.
Ren Baqian knew what they were longing for, but it was a pity that he couldn't help them.
After the people in front were driven away, Ren Baqian followed Gu Qiong to the front of Mount Damo.
From where everyone got off the train at the foot of the mountain, the first thing they saw was a large platform with many wooden houses. This was where everyone rested. Following which, there was another small platform. After which, there was a pitch-black Mount Damo without any soil or weeds. It was as if it was made of iron.
The mining here was done layer by layer from the outside to the inside. There were no tunnels or anything like that.
There were all kinds of racks in front of Mount Damo. Everyone climbed on the racks and slowly mined along the protruding edges. This way, it would be easier.
However, after reaching a certain height, even the racks couldn't reach the top. Hence, they had to continue digging deeper.
"Sir, the iron mine in Mount Damo is really difficult to mine. Even with my strength, I can only mine a small piece in one go." As Gu Qiong spoke, he picked up a pickaxe from the side and smashed it against the dark iron wall with a whistling sound.
"Dang." Sparks flew from the explosion. The wooden rake of the pickaxe was immediately smashed into pieces. The head of the pickaxe flew out and spun a few times in the air before falling to the ground.
Along with the head of the pickaxe, there were some small fragments that were about the size of a fist.
"Those people can't even mine such a big piece in a day."
"So hard?" Even though Ren Baqian had heard about it before, he was still shocked.
Even though he didn't know Gu Qiong's actual strength, as the person in charge of this mine, he had 300 guards under him. His strength couldn't be weak.
Furthermore, Ren Baqian clearly saw that the wooden handle of the pickaxe, which was as thick as a wrist, was directly smashed into pieces. Even if he didn't use 500 kilograms of force, he still only managed to smash out a piece the size of a fist.
How was this a mine? This was simply an iron mountain.
Ren Baqian stretched out his hand and touched it. It was indeed iron. The iron content was at least 95% and there were very few rocks.
If it wasn't for the fact that there were very few rocks, Ren Baqian would have thought that this was man-made and not naturally formed.
Even though there were rocks, they were very hard. Ren Baqian picked up an iron awl from the ground and pressed it against the link between the iron ore and the rocks. He used a hammer and hit it with all his might. At that moment, sparks flew and there was only a white dot on the rock.
Looking at this situation, Ren Baqian wasn't very confident about the explosives that he had brought.
Even if it was effective, it probably wouldn't meet his expectations.
"I have no other way. Sir, please feel free to look around." Gu Qiong didn't have much hope for the two of them. In fact, in his heart, he could only mine slowly like this. He wasn't very optimistic about the purpose of their trip.
Tao Jiyuan was already clear about the situation here. He looked at Ren Baqian with ease and wanted to see if this person, who was personally appointed by Her Majesty, was really capable.
After interacting with Ren Baqian for a few days, she could tell from his words that he indeed had some ideas in some areas. Furthermore, he always said some strange things, but it was useless to just talk. There were plenty of countries that were full of boastful words.
He was also a little unconvinced that this person was actually favored by Her Majesty.
Therefore, he wanted to see if this person was relying on Her Majesty's favor to be whimsical and deceive Her Majesty with his big talk or if he really had a way.
If he was personally appointed by Her Majesty to be the person in charge with great fanfare and returned with his tail between his legs, it would be interesting.
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