Ang Lee didn't point out the shabbiness of the Ge Clan's residence. That would be too rude. But if the Ge Clan's patriarch said it himself, then the meaning would be completely different.
"Assistant Minister Li, my humble residence is too shabby. I'll have to trouble Assistant Minister Li."
The Ge Clan's patriarch smiled and pointed at his residence.
Li An smiled and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. It looks quite spacious and simple! Even if you live in a golden house, you can only live for a lifetime! "
"Yes, yes, yes, Assistant Minister Li is right. Please, come in."
The Ge Clan's patriarch was very polite and led Ang Lee into his residence.
When Ang Lee arrived at the Ge Clan's territory, the Ge Clan's patriarch had already ordered his family to prepare food and wine. All kinds of ingredients had already been prepared. They took out all the good ingredients that the entire clan could take out without hiding anything. After all, they were too poor. Even if they took out the best ingredients, it would only be ordinary. But the intention was completely different.
The reason why they treated Ang Lee so well, besides the fact that Ang Lee was a high official of the imperial court, was that they needed his help too much. The technology needed to smelt copper ore was not something they could grasp. They had to ask for help from Ang Lee. And since they asked for help from Ang Lee, they naturally had to treat Ang Lee well so that they could ask for help.
Even though the Ge Clan's patriarch's residence was very shabby, the interior space was relatively large. All kinds of rooms were relatively complete. There were also servants in the residence. There were more than twenty men and women. There were also more than twenty children in the family. Including the grandchildren, there were more than sixty people in total.
Because the Ge Tribe was too small, there weren't many servants in the clan leader's house. There were more than forty masters and only twenty servants. This meant that the masters had to work as well or they wouldn't be able to handle the workload.
Most of these servants were women who were mainly responsible for doing housework. They were all young girls in their teens. Ang Lee looked at them and saw that they were all quite good-looking. At first glance, he could tell that they were all beauties. Although this place was poor, what was unexpected was that the women here were all very beautiful. This might be the reason why the mountains and rivers were more nourishing! The Ge Clan had verdant hills and limpid waters, and the environment was really very good. In places with good environments, it was easy for people to look handsome, and it was easier for beauties to appear.
Ang Lee wasn't here to look at the beauty, but since the beauty was in front of him, Ang Lee wouldn't be polite. He carefully looked at the beauty, which was also a rare enjoyment.
After Ang Lee sat down, all kinds of delicacies were served one by one. These were all natural delicacies, all local delicacies. There was no lack of good wine and meat, making people feel a sense of enjoyment just by looking at them.
During the banquet, outside of the greetings, the Ge Clan's patriarch was most concerned about the copper mine. From time to time, he would ask about copper smelting. He almost wanted Ang Lee to hurry up and help them build a workshop.
There was no doubt that Ang Lee would naturally help them build a workshop. However, Ang Lee also wanted to eat and drink to his heart's content before he could start work. The Ge Clan's patriarch was too impatient.
However, after eating and drinking to his heart's content, Ang Lee was a bit sleepy and didn't have the mood to draw. He must have a good night's rest so that he could help the Ge Clan the next morning.
Ang Lee had already planned to help the Ge Clan, but the Ge Clan's patriarch didn't know about this. He was very worried that Ang Lee wouldn't help them, and he was even more worried that he didn't do something right and made Ang Lee unhappy. Then, all of his plans would be ruined.
But no matter what, the Ge Clan's Patriarch still had hope. Thus, they sent a large group of people to the place where there was a copper mine and started mining. They also found a piece of empty land nearby and prepared to build a copper smelting workshop. This was prepared to imitate the Jiang Clan's style.
What excited Ang Lee the most about the copper mines in the Ge Clan's territory was that the copper mines here were actually red copper ores with a high copper content. In addition, there were also some other copper ores like peacock stones, which were not common.
For Ang Lee, red copper ores were most suitable for smelting. Although peacock stones had a high copper content, they were still lacking compared to red copper ores. In addition, peacock stones were also very delicate and could be used to make handicrafts. It would be better to use them as ornaments.
The red copper ores in the Ge Clan's territory were very good copper ores. This kind of red copper ores contained up to 90% copper. In other words, as long as it was refined properly, ten jin of copper ores could be smelted into nearly nine jin of copper ingots.
Red copper ores in nature were mainly produced in the oxidized zone of copper deposits. They were often associated with natural copper, peacock stones, blue copper ores, silicon peacock stones, and limonite ores. The red copper ores were in the form of dense blocks, granules, or soil. When they were fresh, they were magenta in color and had a diamond luster or semi-metallic luster. When exposed to the air for a long time, they would become dark red with a dim luster.
The red copper ores in nature were relatively soft but very heavy. Generally, they were formed gradually by the weathering of copper sulfides. The minerals formed in this way were called secondary minerals. Red copper ores were bright crystals. They were very beautiful. The bright red color gave off a diamond-like luster. However, if they were exposed to the air for a long time, they would become dark red. Some red copper ores were granules or soil. Some red copper ores were in the form of loose interwoven hairs. These were called hairy red copper ores. Hairy copper ores were a rare variety of red copper ores.
According to the research of later generations, the distribution of red copper ores was relatively small. It was a kind of ore that could only be found by chance. Although it contained a very high copper content, it was very difficult to find. Therefore, it was not the main copper ores. However, in the Ge Clan, a large amount of red copper ores had been found. This was enough to show how lucky the Ge Clan was. This was simply a good thing that fell from the sky. And this good thing happened to fall right on the Ge Clan's head.
In nature, copper existed more in the form of sulfides. After all, copper was a sulfur-loving element. It could only form an oxide under strong oxidation conditions. Under reduced conditions, it could form natural copper. At present, about 200 kinds of copper ores and copper-containing minerals had been found in the earth's crust. The main ones were sulfides and similar compounds, copper oxides, natural copper, copper sulfates, carbonates, and silicates of copper.
At present, there were still many copper ores found in the Tang Empire. However, there were very few red copper ores. Most of the copper smelting workshops smelted copper sulfides. They were all copper ores with only 50% copper content, which was much worse than the copper ores in the Ge Clan.
The copper ores in the Ge Clan not only had a large amount of red copper ores, but also a lot of peacock stones and blue copper ores. Among them, peacock stones were very good ornamental ores. It would be a big loss to use them to smelt copper. Of course, peacock stones were not like ores. They were a kind of jade material. In the ancient Hua Xia, they were called green stones. They were an ancient jade material.
Peacock stones were used as ornamental stones and ornamental craftwork. They required bright colors, pure and uniform, clear color bands, and dense blocks without holes. The larger, the better. Peacock stones and cat's eyes required a positive color and clear light bands. Peacock stones could be carved into heart-shaped pendants, egg-shaped rings, necklaces, and even made into seal materials. As peacock stones were a kind of corrosion product containing copper carbon salts, they were often associated with copper ores. They were very hard, opaque, dark green, and had striped patterns of different colors. This kind of unique beauty was not found in any other gems, so there were almost no imitations.
Naturally, turquoise stones were also green, but there were still differences between peacock stones and turquoise stones. According to a series of characteristics of peacock stones, it could be distinguished from other gems. The most similar to peacock stones was turquoise stones. However, turquoise stones were mainly blue with a hint of green. They were less dense than peacock stones, but harder than peacock stones.
There were also glass with green stripes that were used to imitate peacock stones. The main difference was that the stripes of the glass were short and the width was not stable. The glass did not have a silky luster and a shell-like fracture. Moreover, there were bubbles in the glass. The density of the glass was lower than peacock stones. Peacock stones had striped patterns of different colors, so it was easy to identify.
The word peacock stones had the meaning of a wife's happiness. Natural peacock stones were dark green and had an emerald luster. Although it did not have the brilliance of gems, it was still a noble stone with a unique elegance. There were many mysterious legends about peacock stones. As early as a few thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians had once respectfully called it a divine stone. They believed that it had the effect of dispelling evil, so they used it as a protective amulet. In the ancient Hua Xia, peacock stones were made into various kinds of jewelry, but because of its high price, ordinary people had no chance to wear it.
There were also natural copper elements in peacock stones, which could activate the natural antioxidant enzymes in the skin. This allowed the antioxidant enzymes in the skin to play their greatest role, achieving the goal of anti-oxidation. Wearing peacock stone jewelry could slow down the formation of the skin stratum corneum, thus achieving the effect of delicate and tender skin.
As a kind of jade, peacock stones also had the ability to disinfect and regenerate. The ancient Egyptians had once ground peacock stones into powder and smeared it on festering wounds to achieve the effect of healing. Therefore, wearing peacock stone jewelry could absorb the natural energy contained in peacock stones and absorb the external radiation to reduce the stimulation to the skin.
Although there were not many peacock stones in the Ge tribe, they were basically all big chunks. These chunks could be carved into larger handicrafts. These handicrafts would have a very high value, so it was best to use them as a tribute. The inferior ones could also be sold in the market to earn a lot of money.
Like the red copper ore, the peacock stones were just discovered. When the tribesmen were exploring the red copper ore, they accidentally found them in the red copper ore. This made the tribesmen of the Ge tribe very excited. They might not recognize the red copper ore, but the peacock stones were gentle. At first glance, they could tell that it was a high-quality jade. Although the local people were ignorant, they still had a lot of knowledge about jade. Some of them even had some jade jewelry, especially the female members of the patriarch's family, who had some jade bracelets and the like. Naturally, they could distinguish the material of jade.
The discovery of the red copper ore and the peacock stones was a good thing for the Ge tribe. This made them very excited. They felt that their good days were coming.
In the Jiang tribe's territory, Duan Jianhan and his men also felt that their opportunity had come. Through careful investigation, they could confirm that Ang Lee and his team had left the Jiang tribe and arrived at the Ge tribe's territory. In this way, they would no longer have to worry about being caught.
In the past few days when the Tang Army searched the mountain, they had been hiding. Under the guidance of the local bandits, they had evaded the Tang Army's search again and again, so the Tang Army had gained nothing. Now that everyone had left, they felt that their opportunity had come. This was the perfect opportunity to destroy the wall-hanging mountain road.
Duan Jianhan and his men only had about ten people, but there were dozens of bandits. As long as they destroyed the fragile wall-hanging mountain road together, it would not be difficult for them to destroy it. One night was enough for them to destroy it.
Just as Ang Lee was sleeping soundly, Duan Jianhan and his men, as well as dozens of bandits, officially began the operation.
Under the leadership of Duan Jianhan, they found the location of the wall-hanging mountain road under the cover of the night and were ready to destroy it.
For Duan Jianhan, destroying the road here was his task. For the bandits, the existence of the wall-hanging mountain road did not affect them much. In addition to the wall-hanging mountain road that could be used by cars, there was also a nearby mountain road that could only be used by individuals. The bandits generally had good physique, so it was no problem for them to climb mountains and cross rivers. Therefore, they did not care whether the wall-hanging mountain road existed or not.
Duan Jianhan's promise to the bandits deeply moved these bandits and made them believe in Duan Jianhan. They believed that as long as they accompanied Duan Jianhan to destroy the mountain road, they could get the life they wanted. They could go to Dongnu Province to enjoy a happy life and live a superior life.
In fact, this was just the bandits' wishful thinking. Even if they followed Duan Jianhan's orders, they would only end up on the road of death. Duan Jianhan could not give them the life they wanted at all. They were too naive. They would be killed by others, so why would they help others count the money?
Duan Jianhan was empty-handed, while his men and bandits were all holding various iron tools, such as chisels and hammers. These tools could be used to destroy the wall-hanging mountain road. Moreover, once the wall-hanging mountain road was destroyed, it was extremely difficult to repair it. This would cut off the communication between Dongnu Province and the imperial court of the Tang dynasty for a long time. The consequences were extremely serious.
"General Duan, we're all ready. Where do we start?"
A brainwashed bandit asked.
Duan Jianhan put on a superior attitude and said, "Of course, we'll start from the narrowest place. After that, we'll go directly to Dongnu Province to enjoy a happy life and climb into the boudoirs of young women."
"Okay, we'll listen to you. We'll listen to you."
The bandit leader said happily.
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