Although there were many dangerous cliffs and fissures in the mountains, Ang Lee still didn't believe that they all fell off the cliffs or were swallowed by the fissures.
Cliffs were very common in the Great Tang. As long as there were mountains, there would usually be cliffs, and this was an extremely common terrain. Earth fissures were much rarer, and not every region had earth fissures.
Due to the ancient people's fear of fissures, as long as there were fissures, people would always avoid them. They didn't dare to get too close, lest they were accidentally swallowed by the fissures.
In ancient times, there was a word called the falling of the sky and the fissures of the earth. It was a word used to describe disasters. The falling of the sky was a very terrible phenomenon. The fissures of the earth were another form of disaster that could be compared with the falling of the sky. The fissures of the earth could swallow people. Wasn't it terrible?
As for what a fissure was, it was naturally a crack formed in the ground. However, it was not a small crack like a trench, but a very large and terrifying crack. It was a crack that made people extremely fearful, a crack that could devour life.
According to the scientific explanation of later generations, the phenomenon of fissures of the earth was caused by various reasons such as structural and non-structural movements. Among them, the most eye-catching ones were the fissures caused by tectonic activities. This was a form of active fracture structure that developed on the surface of the earth.
In some strong earthquake areas, the phenomenon of fissures of the earth often appeared, which were external manifestations such as fissures and ground bulges. The arrangement of fissures had a certain pattern, such as flying geese, linear, sawtooth, arc, and other geometric shapes, or fissures formed by a series of fissures.
Because fissures of the earth were a terrible disaster that had a great impact on the lives of the people, as long as there were fissures of the earth, the people would choose to move away from this area to protect their own safety.
When there were fissures of the earth in an area, the imperial court would ask the people in this area to move to a safe area and erect warning signs to remind people outside not to enter this area casually, so as not to bring harm to themselves.
However, some areas couldn't move all the people because of the conditions. Some areas with fissures of the earth were some distance away from the residential area. As long as they didn't go there, there would be no harm, so the people wouldn't move. However, the people living near the fissures would always be hurt by the fissures, especially naughty children, who would always run near the fissures to play. If they were not careful, they might fall into the fissures.
No one knew the depth of the fissures. Some of them were bottomless. Once people fell in, it would be a terrible disaster. It was very likely that they would lose their lives. Even if the bottom could be seen, it would be very deep. After people fell in, they would be submerged in the dark of fear. The people above could hear the people who fell in, but there was no way to save them, or it was very difficult to save them....
In the later generations, there were people who had fallen into the fissure. Then, the imperial court mobilized the strength of dozens of people and exerted the strength of Herculean bulls and two tigers to rescue them. The price they paid was not small, and all of these people who were successfully rescued were very lucky. There were even more people who were not rescued and lost their lives.
One could imagine how desperate it would be for a person to be trapped in the depths of the fissures where they couldn't see their fingers when they stretched out their hands and called for help, but no one could save them. The degree of despair could be imagined.
A very wide fissure wouldn't make people nervous. Instead, it would become a scenery. A narrow fissure wouldn't matter either. After all, people wouldn't be able to fall into it. The scariest fissure would be one that was as wide as a person's body and had an extremely deep fissure.
There was a big rift valley in East Africa, which was a very wide fissures. However, this fissures was a scenery and wouldn't devour people's lives. It was quite safe. The small fissures on the ground were also insignificant. Even small fissures couldn't be counted as fissures. In many areas of Hua Xia, the fissures were as wide as a person's body. People would disappear after falling in, so it was very difficult to save them.
Because fissures were caused by geological movements, that was to say, any area with fissures was likely to have disasters such as earthquakes. For ordinary people, earthquakes were a very terrible natural disaster. When an earthquake happened, it was likely to cause serious losses of people and property. Everyone was afraid of earthquakes, so naturally, they would avoid fissures.
In Hua Xia, the occurrence of fissures was mainly in the western region. Because of the mountainous environment in the western region, it was easy for fissures to appear here. This was also considered a good thing. If there were a large number of fissures in the densely populated areas in the east, the impact would be great. For the western region with a small population, even if there were some fissures, it wouldn't cause too much of a reaction. It could also be said that the reason why the western region had a small population was because the natural conditions here were too bad. Fissures and earthquakes were frequent, so ordinary people couldn't live in peace.
In order to live a more stable life, ordinary people naturally preferred areas with a safe environment and didn't like areas with frequent disasters. Therefore, the population naturally gathered in the plains with better conditions. However, there would still be some people left in the mountains because the plains couldn't support too many people.
In the Western Detention Area in front of them, there were many fissures in the mountains, but the local people didn't leave this area. Instead, they lived here for many years. This was because their main range of activities was a certain distance from these cliffs and fissures. Only hunters who went hunting in the mountains could come into contact with these fissures more frequently. The hunters were all adults with better skills. As long as they didn't get close to these fissures, there wouldn't be any problems. In addition, they would also remember the location of the fissures and wouldn't go to this place in the future. Especially the places with more fissures and more dangerous, they were directly regarded as forbidden areas by the local tribes. No tribesmen were allowed to enter, so as to ensure the safety of these tribesmen.
None of the local fissures were new. All of them had existed for many years. Even the oldest person in the local area wasn't as old as these fissures. Because there were no new fissures, the local people naturally didn't need to be nervous and didn't need to worry about the fissures appearing near their houses.
As for the root cause of the fissures, it was mainly natural disasters. At least in the Tang dynasty, the fissures were all natural disasters and had almost nothing to do with human activities. However, the fissures in the later generations were different. Some of them were caused by human activities. For example, in areas with more coal mines, due to the frequent mining of underground coal resources, a large area underground was empty. Therefore, some fissures naturally appeared on the ground. These fissures were caused by the empty space underground, which could no longer support the soil on the ground. As a result, fissures appeared on the ground. These fissures were caused by the empty space underground, which could no longer support the soil on the ground. As a result, the fissures appeared on the ground.
Due to the frequent occurrence of fissures on the ground in these coal mining areas, the later generations of the imperial court had no other choice but to evacuate all the people here to prevent serious loss of people and property.
No one mined coal in the Western Detention Area. Whether there was a coal mine or not was a problem. Moreover, the people didn't seem to need coal very much. There was so much firewood on the mountain. They could just chop some firewood. There was no need to mine coal.
If coal was discovered in the future, it would definitely be mined. However, the premise was that there must be a good road here. Otherwise, there wouldn't be much point in mining.
The local people could support their lives with firewood. Most of the coal would definitely be taken out. If the road was very bad, it would be too expensive to transport coal outside and no one would be willing to buy it. However, after the road was repaired, the transportation cost would be greatly reduced. The same coal would be much cheaper to transport outside, so it would be more competitive.
Therefore, while Ang Lee was searching for Duan Jianhan and the others on the mountain, he could also explore the terrain and resources on the mountain. He wanted to see if there were any mineral resources suitable for mining in the local mountains, other than trees, fruit trees, and game.
If there were mineral resources suitable for mining here, it would be great. Not only could it develop the local economy, but it would also be very beneficial for the road construction in the future. Road construction required a lot of manpower and resources. It required a lot of crushed stones, cement, steel bars, and other materials. If these materials could be directly produced locally, it would naturally be a great thing for road construction. If they had to rely on outside transportation, it would be too troublesome. The cost of road construction would also increase greatly.
"I didn't find Duan Jianhan, but I found a lot of good things."
Ang Lee said while holding a stone.
Chen Long said with a smile, "Assistant Minister Li, this is just a broken stone. It's nothing good."
Obviously, Chen Long didn't know much about minerals. He might not be able to recognize a gold ore if it was placed in front of him.
"A broken stone? How can this be a broken stone? This is authentic iron ore. Moreover, this kind of stone is everywhere in this area. If we mine here, we can produce a lot of pig iron in a year. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Chen Long frowned and looked at the stone in Ang Lee's hand. He said, "Assistant Minister Li, this is iron ore! Since this is iron ore, why don't the local big tribes mine it? Although the price of pig iron isn't high, it's still more profitable than farming! "
Obviously, he couldn't figure it out. These mountain people didn't live a rich life, so why did they still guard these iron ores and not mine them? Wasn't that stupid?
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Why else? It's because they don't recognize iron ores. Even if you don't recognize iron ores, they might not. These tribes are all mountain people. Their ancestors have been farmers and hunters for generations, not miners. Naturally, they don't recognize iron ores. They won't mine it even if it's given to them."
Obviously, the Western Detention Area was still very backward. There was no industrial foundation in the area, not even the most basic iron smelting workshop. The local people didn't recognize iron ores and didn't even know where pig iron came from. The ironware used by the local people all came from Central Sichuan of the Tang dynasty. They obtained it from Central Sichuan of the Tang dynasty through trade. For this reason, they had to pay a huge price. In the case of inconvenient transportation, the price of ironware shipped from Central Sichuan to the Western Detention Area would be many times higher. Ironware was a precious commodity in the Western Detention Area. No one would care if a wooden carrying pole was lost at home. However, if a shovel, chisel, or hammer were lost at home, it would be a big deal. Whoever lost ironware would be so distressed that they wouldn't be able to sleep for several nights.
In addition, when the local people used ironware, they were very careful and took good care of it. They usually took good care of it, fearing that it would be damaged.
The quality of ironware in ancient times wasn't high. It contained a lot of impurities and was relatively easy to be damaged, especially when it collided with stones. Therefore, it was necessary to have a scientific strategy instead of using brute force. In the fields near the mountains, there were usually a lot of broken stones. When farming, it was necessary to avoid touching the stones with farm tools as much as possible. When there were stones, it was necessary to cleverly dig them out and place them on the periphery of the field. If iron farming tools were used to hit the stones, they would be damaged very quickly.
Of course, some ironware that was specially used to deal with stones was another matter. For example, iron chisels were specially used to chisel stones. It was also a necessary ironware to open mountains. The quality of this kind of iron chisel was generally higher. A chisel with poor quality could not be competent for the heavy task of chiseling stones. Even if the quality of the chisel was reliable enough, it would not use brute force when it was used. Instead, it would chisel according to the weak parts of the stone. Even when the stone was relatively large, it would be burned first and then watered with cold water. In this way, the stone would become relatively softer and even crack directly. This way, the chisel could be saved. It saved effort and did not wear out the iron tools. It was a very useful method. In ancient times, the working people liked to use this cheap and convenient method.
The local people did not recognize iron ore. Even if iron ore was placed in front of them, they would not recognize it. In their eyes, iron ore was a very ordinary stone, a material used to build cities and houses.
If Ang Lee told them that these stones were iron ore and could be refined into steel, then the local people would definitely mine for their livelihood. Who didn't want to live a better life? Mining iron ore could greatly improve their living standards. In this case, no one would refuse to live a more comfortable and prosperous life.
Of course, most of the local stones were very ordinary stones. Stones with metal content were definitely a minority, but even the most ordinary stones were very useful. When building roads, concrete was needed. Among them, broken stones were an indispensable part. The local broken stones were very suitable for the raw material of concrete.
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