Ang Lee and his group of more than 30 people slowly moved south along the valley. The road in the valley was quite flat, at least for horses, there was no pressure at all.
On both sides of the valley were ridges that were inclined more than 40 degrees. However, this slope was not too dangerous. It was considered a gentle slope. Moreover, the mountains on both sides were hard stone mountains. They would not collapse easily unless there was a major natural disaster such as an earthquake. Only then would there be a major accident of collapse.
Ang Lee was quite relieved to lay the railway in such a valley. He did not have to worry too much about the possible collapse. The safety of the railway was still guaranteed.
There were two forks in the south of the valley. One led to the southeast, and the other led to the southwest. Ang Lee naturally took the southeast direction. This way, he could quickly meet up with the main group.
The path in the southeast direction was very narrow. It could only accommodate one person and one horse. It was a very inconspicuous path. If Elder Liu had not told Ang Lee that there was an inconspicuous path here, Ang Lee would probably have taken a lot of detours. In this way, it would take more than half a day to catch up with the main group.
This path was too small and remote. Basically, no one used it. Such a remote path was naturally not man-made. It was a natural path. There were no traces of man-made carvings on the path. There were only stones and weeds. Fortunately, it was relatively flat. Otherwise, there would be no way to walk.
"This path is too narrow. If it can be widened, it can barely meet the needs of the train."
Ang Lee suddenly said.
"Assistant Minister Li said that it can be widened a little. In this way, the train line will go around the valley. The cost will be reduced by more than half."
One of the people said.
"Haha! This is what we gain! If we did not go to Shuangliu Village and ask Elder Liu these questions, we would not have found this valley. "
Li An said with a happy smile.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. It seems that we have to ask more along the way."
One of the people nodded and said.
Sometimes, when going out, it was not enough to rely on a map. The map might not be very accurate. Many details could not be marked on the map. Sometimes, the places that were not marked were very important. Just like this time, the valley west of Shuangliu Village was a very important passage. Without this passage, the cost of the railway would be many times higher. This was a very good unexpected gain for Ang Lee.
After passing through this path, they indeed encountered the winter road. Moreover, Ang Lee and his group of 30 people seemed to have run in front of the main group. The soldiers not far away were the scouts of the main group. They usually maintained a distance of 20 miles in front of the main group.
"It seems that this hidden path is really easy to walk on. We took a big detour but ended up in the front. Let's go, there seems to be a village nearby. Let's try our luck."
Ang Lee said happily.
The small village next to them was Nan 'an Village. It was also a very small village with a population of about 300 people. Only one-third of them were able-bodied workers. This village was also close to the railway that Ang Lee planned. Therefore, Ang Lee naturally wanted to go there to learn a little about it and see if there was anything that could happen.
The village head of Nan 'an Village was also very enthusiastic. After experiencing such a catastrophe, everyone was full of hope for their lives. They all knew that a peaceful and stable life was hard to come by. Nobody would like to destroy such a peaceful and stable life. They all hoped that such a peaceful and stable life could last forever.
Through chatting with the village head of Nan 'an Village, Ang Lee also gained a lot. Not only did he have a better understanding of the nearby terrain, but he also learned that there were many precious resources nearby. These resources were very important for the construction of the railway by the Tang dynasty in the future. Without these resources, the construction cost of the railway would be greatly increased. After all, it was very troublesome to transport road construction resources over a long distance, but it was relatively more convenient to get local materials.
There were inexhaustible trees and stones in the nearby mountains, both of which were necessary for road construction. In addition, there was an iron mine here, which surprised Ang Lee. However, because the famine in the village had not been completely solved, the iron mine belonging to the village had not resumed production. Instead, it had been shut down. Only when the problem of food was completely solved would they consider producing iron. In the absence of food and water, they naturally would not consider producing iron.
The iron mine was more than 10 miles south of the village. It was a very high-quality open-air iron mine. A large number of iron ores were exposed in the mountains. As long as they were slightly excavated, they could get the iron ores. Because the local transportation conditions were not good, no one would steal the iron ores. Who would be so free as to steal iron ores? Stealing iron ores under such conditions was definitely not worth the loss. Only a fool would do that.
When Ang Lee proposed to take a look at the iron mine, the village head of Nan 'an Village naturally did not object, nor did he have any reason to object. After all, food was the most important thing for them now. The most urgent thing was to restore food production as soon as possible. The iron mine was not so important at this time.
Soon, Ang Lee led 30 people and rushed to the iron mine more than 10 miles away. He wanted to explore the size of the iron mine. For the construction of the railway in the future, the more resources there were, the lower the cost of construction. Therefore, the bigger the iron mine, the better.
They soon arrived at the iron mine. On an inconspicuous hill, Ang Lee saw the surrounding iron mines. At a glance, almost all of them were red stones, including several hills nearby. After picking up a few broken stones, Ang Lee was sure that they were iron ores. Therefore, he concluded that a large area nearby was iron ores. Such an inconspicuous Nan 'an Village actually had iron ores of such a scale. This was really out of Ang Lee's expectation. With so many iron ores as the foundation, they would not have to worry about the lack of pig iron to build the railway in the future. After all, the railway required a lot of iron resources. In addition to the railway, the auxiliary facilities such as the bridges along the way also needed iron resources. Without enough iron, the construction could not be carried out. This was a helpless situation.
"Yes, there are several mountains of iron ores here. If they are mined, it will be enough to build the railway for tens of thousands of miles. Nan 'an Village is really a good place!"
Ang Lee said happily.
As he spoke, he took out the map in his hand and marked the Nan 'an Village. Of course, the iron ores next to the village must be specially marked. In the future, when the railway was built, they could purchase iron ores from here. They could even directly build an ironmaking workshop nearby. The people of Nan' an Village only needed to collect iron ores and sell them to the workshop. They could also work in the workshop, and their income would definitely be high.
In the middle of several iron ores, there was a very simple workshop. Ang Lee and the others walked to the workshop and saw some very simple ironmaking tools. Of course, the valuable ones had been taken away by the villagers. Only houses made of earth and wood and some blast furnaces made of mud were left in the same place. These things were not very useful, and generally, no one would steal them. After all, mud and wood were worthless.
Looking at these simple blast furnaces, Ang Lee felt that the people here were too backward in ironmaking technology. Obviously, it was very difficult to smelt high-purity pig iron with these simple blast furnaces. Moreover, this primitive smelting method did not make full use of the iron ores. Originally, five kilograms of pig iron could be produced from ten kilograms of iron ores, but with this smelting method, only three kilograms of pig iron could be smelted. The rest of the pig iron would be wasted as slag, which was really a great waste. However, the railway would not be built within ten years. Therefore, there was no need to teach the people of Nan 'an Village how to smelt iron. It would not be too late to teach them when the railway was built. Anyway, it would not be too late to teach them when the railway was built.
Thirty guards scattered to check the iron ores in the nearby mountains and gave some samples to Ang Lee. Looking at these samples, Ang Lee was very excited. These were all high-quality iron ores. The quality of the iron ores here was really very good. It was just that the ironmaking technology of the people here was too backward. If the ironmaking technology was advanced enough, the effect would be better.
After the exploration of the iron ores, it was very late. Ang Lee rode back and joined the main force. Although there were villages and small towns along the way, Ang Lee did not like to disturb others. Ang Lee preferred to be alone. It was also good to camp in the wild. He could enjoy the natural starlight more freely.
"Yaofu, we are full. Let's go to the nearby hill and have a walk!"
After dinner, Li An held Zhao Yefu's hand and said, "Don't worry.
"Okay! The starry sky tonight is very beautiful. Let's go to the hill and see the stars. "
Zhao Yaofu said.
Because there was no one around for a few miles, the guards did not need to be close to Ang Lee. They just needed to follow from afar to make sure that they could not hear what Ang Lee said. Otherwise, Ang Lee would have no privacy.
On an inconspicuous hill, Ang Lee and Zhao Yaofu stood hand in hand and enjoyed the beautiful night scenery in the wild. It was a very comfortable feeling.
"An, where did you come from today? How did you run ahead of us?"
Zhao Yaofu looked at Ang Lee and asked curiously.
Li An smiled and said, "There's a problem with the map you gave me. There's a nice flat path next to Shuangliu Village. However, there are no villages around that path. Therefore, no one uses that path, so it's ignored. In fact, that path is a smooth path that's easy to walk on."
"Oh, there is such a thing. It seems that the person who made the map was negligent. Fortunately, we went to Shuangliu Village. Otherwise, we would not have found it."
Zhao Yaofu said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Yes, so along the way, we have to ask more questions. We can't trust the things on the map too much. There are too many things on the map that are not marked. It is too rough."
Ang Lee had deep doubts about the professionalism of the relevant cartographers in Dongnu Province. He even seriously doubted that these guys were too bad at doing things. They were not serious and meticulous in the drawing. A map of this level could be drawn by just finding someone to learn from. How could a professional cartographer be at this level?
However, for Zhao Yaofu's sake, Ang Lee did not care about this. After all, this map was given to Ang Lee by Zhao Yaofu. Naturally, Ang Lee had to give some face to his wife.
"An, we only have a few hundred people. Will it be dangerous to enter Nanzhao like this? After all, this rebellion in the south has the shadow of the Nanzhao people. If it were not for the Nanzhao people making trouble, there would never be such a big rebellion. "
Zhao Yaofu said.
Ang Lee was naturally very clear about this problem. This rebellion in Dongnu Province, Nanzhao's shadow was too obvious. Although Ang Lee did not intend to use this to threaten Nanzhao, there was no guarantee that Nanzhao would correct their mistakes. In case Nanzhao was determined to go against the imperial court, it was indeed quite dangerous for them to enter Nanzhao with only a few people.
However, Ang Lee was not afraid of danger. Although there were only a few hundred people under his command, there was no pressure to protect his safety with these few hundred people. In addition, the secret weapons that Ang Lee carried with him were not to be trifled with. The two pistols were equipped with thousands of bullets. In addition to a small number of bullets, there were also many in the accompanying box. With these secret weapons, Ang Lee did not think that anyone could do anything to him. Even if it was an army of tens of thousands of people, as long as the most elite one or two thousand people were eliminated, this team would completely fall apart. There was no threat at all.
In addition, Ang Lee believed that Gelofeng was not a person who was too impulsive. This guy did not want to be a king. As long as this guy dared to touch him, he would die. The imperial court of the Tang dynasty would never let him go.
"Yaofu, don't worry! Gelofeng is not so bold. If he dares to attack the team, then his time of death will come. In addition, although we only have a few hundred people, our combat power is not weak at all. Even if we encounter an army of tens of thousands, we can protect you. "
Ang Lee said with certainty, which was a reassurance to Zhao Yaofu.
When Zhao Yefu thought about it carefully, it seemed to make sense. Previously, when they were exterminating the rebels, Li An and his three hundred men easily exterminated a group of four thousand bandits. Then, with Zhao Wufu's cooperation, they exterminated another four thousand. After that, they wiped out more than twenty thousand rebels in a smooth journey. This strength was really too strong. Zhao Yefu had no choice but to be convinced.
"Well! I believe in your strength, but you still have to be careful. If you are sneak attacked, it will be troublesome. "
Zhao Yaofu said worriedly.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Don't worry! I will let the soldiers raise their vigilance. The vigilance should be at least twenty miles away. In this way, there will be enough time to prepare. "
Ang Lee had a lot of experience in alerting his subordinates to prevent sneak attacks by the enemy. There was no doubt about it.
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