Ang Lee would not take advantage of the Zhan Clan for nothing. If he could find some minerals in the Zhan Clan, it would be considered as repaying them. However, the Zhan Clan's territory was relatively small. The probability of discovering minerals should be relatively small. Moreover, the manpower here was not sufficient. The total population was only about a thousand people. After excluding the old and young, there were only about two hundred able-bodied laborers left. With such a small population, it was indeed difficult to mine minerals on a large scale. Smelting and so on required a lot of manpower. Without sufficient manpower, these things could not be done.
Because of the insufficient manpower, when farming, the elderly and women would also work in the fields. This could greatly reduce the pressure and increase the manpower to more than six hundred people. It was barely enough to maintain the operation of the fields.
After entering the Zhan Clan's main city, Ang Lee received very friendly treatment. Although the Zhan Clan's population was not large, they were very hospitable. They took out all the delicious food and drink in the clan and did not hide anything.
Ang Lee was naturally very touched by the Zhan Clan's hospitality. Giving a certain amount of compensation was necessary, but directly giving money was looking down on people. If he could find minerals in the Zhan Clan, it would be great. However, the previous three clans had discovered minerals. Would there be minerals here too? What kind of minerals would there be here?
Regarding the terrain of the Zhan Tribe, Li An had a clear understanding of it through the map. As for whether or not there were mineral resources here, Li An wasn't very clear. Perhaps there were, perhaps there weren't. This needed to be investigated. Without investigation, there was no way to be sure.
However, perhaps Ang Lee's luck was too good. When he was eating and drinking, Ang Lee found mineral materials, which were the stone tables and stone stools in the Zhan Clan's patriarch's house. These stone tables and stools were carved from stone. Looking at it from a distance, it might seem like white marble. However, when Ang Lee looked carefully, he found that it was not white marble at all. The color and texture were completely different. After careful analysis, Ang Lee was surprised to find that the stone tables and stools were actually tungsten ore.
Generally, tungsten ores were dark and metallic, but there was also a type of tungsten ores that were white with gray. It looked very beautiful, especially after being polished and waxed. It would give people a very high-end feeling, but this was indeed tungsten ores.
However, tungsten ores were generally associated with each other. These grey-white tungsten ores were tungsten iron ores. Not only could tungsten be extracted from them, but also iron. Tungsten was much more important than iron, and its price was far higher than iron.
"Tungsten ore, tungsten ore associated with it. What great luck!"
Ang Lee looked at the stone tables and chairs and said excitedly.
"Assistant Minister Li, it can't be! There are too many ores in this world. How many have we found along the way? "
Chen Long said in surprise.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "You're right. It's really great luck, great luck! The previous three clans have already discovered ores. This small territory actually has ores, and they are even more precious than the previous ores. However, in the current Tang dynasty, there are not many people who can use tungsten, mainly in a few places like the capital. In such a remote place, tungsten ores have probably never been heard of, let alone used. "
"Tungsten ores? What a familiar name. Oh, I remember now. The filament in the electric light bulb that can be lit at night in the capital is made of tungsten ores. "
Chen Long suddenly remembered the use of tungsten ores and said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "You're right. The thing in the electric light bulb is indeed tungsten ores. This tungsten ores are not produced much in the Tang dynasty. Even I am reluctant to use it."
"Assistant Minister Li, the electric light bulb requires very little tungsten ores. Why? Can tungsten ores be used in other places?"
Chen Long asked curiously.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Of course. Swords and sabers are made of pig iron. If tungsten is added, it will have the effect of cutting iron like mud. However, the Tang dynasty needs too many swords and sabers. If tungsten is added, tungsten ores will definitely not be enough, so I am reluctant to use it! The limited tungsten ores are used to make the tungsten ores of the electric light bulb. After all, the electric light bulb is the most important thing. In the current Tang dynasty, it doesn't matter whether there are swords or sabers that can cut iron like mud. "
Although tungsten ores could cut iron like mud, the Tang dynasty was already powerful enough. Even if they were not equipped with such awesome swords and sabers, they could still look down on the world. In the case of insufficient tungsten ores, it naturally could not be wasted on swords and sabers. The best use of tungsten ores was to make electric light bulbs.
"Adding tungsten ores can make swords and sabers that can cut iron like mud. This is amazing. In this way, the Zhan Clan is rich! This tungsten ores must be more valuable than copper. How can the Zhan Clan be so lucky? "
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "It's too early to be happy. Although tungsten ores are valuable, we can't conclude that the Zhan Clan has a large amount of tungsten ores just based on this table and stool. What if this stone table and stool are just furniture that they bought from other places? Or maybe there is only a small amount of tungsten ores here, so there is not much mining value. We must have enough ores to have mining value. "
Chen Long nodded and said, "This is easy. We can just ask the Zhan Clan's clansmen to come over and ask them about it."
"What does Assistant Minister Li want to ask?"
When the Zhan Clan's patriarch heard that Ang Lee had not rested and was enjoying the night view in the pavilion, he walked over and happened to hear their conversation.
"Patriarch, you came at the right time. Where did this stone table and stool come from?"
Ang Lee looked at the Zhan Clan's patriarch and asked.
The Zhan Clan's patriarch frowned in confusion and said, "Assistant Minister Li, is there anything wrong with this table and stool? This was made by our clansmen! "
Ang Lee had already guessed half of the question. He said, "Then where did the stones used to make this stone table come from?"
"These stones! They were picked from the mountains! "
The Zhan Clan's patriarch replied in confusion.
"They were all picked from the mountains? From the mountains nearby? That's great, that's great. "
Ang Lee said.
The Zhan Clan's patriarch was confused and asked, "Assistant Minister Li, is there anything wrong with these stones?"
Ang Lee said, "Patriarch, you may not know this, but these stones are famous heavy stones, which are tungsten ores. It is a type of ore that can be used to smelt tungsten ores and pig iron. Tungsten ores are more useful than gold, and pig iron is also very useful. The Zhan Clan is going to be rich!"
"Ore, this is actually ore, tungsten ores. Tungsten ores are more valuable than gold, is that true?"
The Zhan Clan's clansmen were very excited. How could they not be excited when tungsten ores appeared in their territory? It was simply indescribable.
As the Zhan Clan's patriarch was not very clear about what tungsten ores were, Ang Lee needed to explain to the Zhan Clan's patriarch what tungsten ores were and what their important uses were.
Of course, Ang Lee did not explain too much because there were many questions that he could not understand at all. Explaining too much would be a waste of time. In addition, Ang Lee was exaggerating when he said that tungsten ores were more valuable than gold. The price of tungsten ores was not as high as gold. Moreover, with the development of tungsten ores here, the price of tungsten ores on the market would further decrease in the future. However, no matter how low the price of tungsten ores was, it would definitely be much higher than the price of copper and iron.
In other words, the Zhan Clan's possession of tungsten ores was equivalent to owning a mountain of gold. The tungsten ores and pig iron that they mined could bring a lot of wealth to their clansmen. Their population was smaller, so their per capita wealth would definitely be higher in the future.
However, these were all predictions. After all, various mineral resources in the Tang Dynasty were being discovered continuously. Every discovered mineral would be quickly mined. Once too much was mined, the price would definitely decrease. However, no matter how much it decreased, the price would not be too low. There was no doubt that it would be more profitable than farming.
"God is really kind to our Zhan Clan! He actually brought us tungsten ores, but we don't know how to smelt them! "
The Zhan Clan's patriarch suddenly thought of the key problem and said.
Ang Lee looked at the stone table in front of him and said, "Patriarch, you don't have to worry. Just leave the smelting to me. By the way, there is a lot of tungsten ores here. How much is there?"
Obviously, the amount of reserves was very important. The higher the reserves, the higher the value of the resource. If there was only a small amount of ore, it would be easy to mine it in a few months. Then, it would be meaningless, and the investment in the early stage would easily be wasted.
The Zhan Clan's patriarch said with a smile, "There are a lot of them. We have a lot of tungsten ores here. It's just that they are a little far away. Twenty miles to the west, they are close to the border of the Lang Clan. "
"Oh, they are close to the border of the Lang Clan? In that case, there are also such stones in the territory of the Lang Clan? "
Ang Lee asked.
The Zhan Clan's patriarch nodded and said, "That's right. The Lang Clan also has such stones. After all, the mountains are connected. If we have them here, they must have them too. When I was young, I often went to the Lang Clan and know that they also have such stones. There are also a lot of them."
When Ang Lee heard this, he said, "In that case, there is also a gold mine in the territory of the Lang Clan. This is a good thing. Previously, I was worried that there were too few people in the Zhan Clan and it would not be good for the mining of tungsten ores. Now, since the Lang Clan also has such ores, then both of your clans can cooperate. After you earn the money, both of your clans can share it. This will solve the problem of insufficient manpower."
Obviously, the mining and smelting of tungsten ores could not be done by a small number of people. Each of those complicated processes required manpower. In order to ensure the quality, more furnaces were needed. The demand for fuel was also very large. With the population of the Zhan Clan, the pressure to maintain the operation of the tungsten ores was too great. They also had to farm and hunt. If all the strong laborers were sent to smelt the tungsten ores, the task of farming would be placed on the old, weak, women and children. Naturally, the pressure would be great.
With the Lang Clan and the Zhan Clan sharing the burden, the effect would be different. The manpower of the two clans would definitely be stronger than that of one clan. In this way, whether it was the scale or the pressure of manpower, it would be much better.
However, it was not all benefits. There would also be many uncertain factors in the cooperation between the two clans. For example, in the distribution of benefits. Once there was a problem with the distribution of benefits, it would lead to many internal conflicts. Once the internal conflicts continued, it would seriously affect the mining and smelting.
Since ancient times, uneven distribution had been a huge problem. Whether it was thieves or ordinary people, or even the cooperation between empires, there would always be problems with the distribution of benefits. When the distribution of benefits was uneven, there would be dissatisfaction among the people. As a result, there would be a lot of chaos. This was also the problem that Ang Lee was most worried about.
"Assistant Minister Li, why must we cooperate? Can't our two clans each set up a smelting workshop? If we combine them together, there will be conflicts! "
The Zhan Clan leader was obviously aware of this problem. He felt that each clan would not have any problems managing themselves. However, once the two clans cooperated, there would be many uncontrollable conflicts in terms of benefits and contributions. Therefore, he did not wish to set up a cooperative workshop. He wanted to set up a workshop that was completely his own.
Ang Lee had naturally thought of the Zhan Clan leader's worries. However, Ang Lee thought more than the Zhan Clan leader. The Zhan Clan leader only considered that there would be conflicts between the two clans if they cooperated to build a smelting workshop. However, he neglected the fact that there would also be many disadvantages if they built their own workshops. The conflicts would not be alleviated.
First of all, the tungsten ore resources were not separated. It was at the border between the two clans, or even at the border mountain between the two clans. Therefore, when mining, as long as one was not careful, they would dig into the other's territory. Perhaps they could still control the situation on the surface, but the minerals were not all on the surface. The underground was the main source. If they dug underground to mine tungsten ore, it would be very easy to dig into the other's territory. In this way, there would be a serious armed conflict. Ang Lee did not dare to imagine what kind of chaos it would cause.
Secondly, the process of smelting tungsten ore was more complicated. It was much more difficult than smelting pure pig iron. It required more processes and materials, and naturally, more manpower. In order to reduce the unit product cost, they had to expand the scale. This way, they could reduce waste and reduce the unit product cost. However, under the situation of insufficient manpower, it was very unrealistic to expand the scale of the smelting workshop. Only when there was sufficient manpower could they smoothly expand the scale of the smelting workshop and thus reduce the cost.
In other words, if the two clans set up their own workshops, they would not be able to avoid conflicts in the future. In addition, the two clans could only obtain the greatest benefits and reduce the product cost if they cooperated. To put it simply, if they cooperated, both sides would benefit. If they fought, both sides would lose. The conflict between the two clans would seriously harm the interests of both sides.
Ang Lee explained his reasons to the Zhan Clan leader in detail. He wanted the Zhan Clan leader to understand that only when the two clans cooperated, they could obtain the greatest benefits. If the two clans refused to cooperate, not only would their interests be damaged, but the conflict would also be greater. After all, the border mountain was shared by the two clans. There was a rough border, but the two clans had never drawn a clear border, let alone a boundary marker. Therefore, who could say for sure which clan the ores that were being mined belonged to?
The Apex
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