There were only five or six wolves chasing after this group of gazelles. They were a small branch of the wolf pack. It seemed that this wolf pack was planning to attack from all directions. After all, the size of this wolf pack was too big. One prey couldn't fill the stomachs of all the wolves. Splitting up to attack would allow them to obtain more and fill their stomachs.
The loss of the wolf pack along the way immediately attracted the attention of the Wolf King. The Wolf King was very shrewd. He quickly discovered that the hiding place of Ang Lee and the others was not right. After five or six adult wolves rushed into this area, there was no movement at all.
"Woo woo woo …"
A burst of wolf howls sounded. The adult wolves that were chasing elsewhere all returned and gathered around the Wolf King.
The Wolf King growled in a low voice for a while. Then, Li An saw a pack of wolves surrounding them from several directions.
Seeing that there were thirty to forty wolves, the villagers of Black Mountain Village sucked in a breath of cold air. However, fortunately, there were more than thirty of them. If it was a one-on-one fight, they would not be afraid of the wolves. They were strong and had weapons in their hands to defend themselves. Dealing with one adult wolf was not much pressure. If there were more than two adult wolves attacking them, they would be under pressure. If there were more than three adult wolves, they thought that they could only run for their lives.
"Assistant Minister Li, wolf meat is delivered to our door. It seems that our harvest is not small! It's just that the mountain road is too difficult to travel. It's not easy to transport so many wolf carcasses back. It seems that we can only abandon some of them. "
Chen Long said with a smile.
Not to mention wolf meat, it was also difficult to transport the dozens of gazelles that they hunted. A soldier could only transport one gazelle at most. This was already the limit. It was not easy to transport dozens of kilograms of goods on such a rugged mountain road. Of course, if they were not in a hurry to go back, they could leisurely eat barbecue. The mutton and wolf meat were very delicious food. They did not need to replenish their supplies. They could find clean water in the mountains, and there was no lack of fuel. They would not starve to death even if they wandered in the mountains for a month.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "I don't plan to go back tonight. I'll camp here tonight. However, I have to kill this pack of wolves first. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep well."
Obviously, since the supply was not a problem, he naturally had to stay in the mountain for a while longer. After all, there were many places that needed to be explored, and it was not easy to enter the mountain. Li An did not want to enter the mountain frequently, as that would be too inefficient. Previously, because he was not familiar with the interior of Black Mountain, he did not make up his mind and did not tell the people outside when he would return. Now that he had figured out the situation inside, there was naturally no need to go back. At least, he had to stay in the mountain for a few more days to explore all the areas that needed to be explored, leaving nothing behind, and strive to confirm the railway line in one go.
The pack of wolves quickly rushed over, but how could these fellows pose a threat to Li An's group? More than half of them were easily killed by Li An's entourage, while the rest fled under the cover of the dense forest. Li An did not chase after them, since these wild beasts did not pose any threat to them. All he needed to do was to increase his vigilance.
"Woo woo woo …"
Soon, very miserable wolf howls sounded. The Wolf King would never have dreamed that his wrong decision would cause the entire wolf pack to pay such a heavy price. More than half of the adult wolves were killed by Ang Lee's group. There were less than ten adult wolves left. To the entire wolf pack, this was definitely a great loss.
The wolves would never have dreamed that they would suffer such a great loss. They would never have thought that such a large group of humans would suddenly appear in the depths of the black mountain. The entire wolf pack had dominated this valley for decades. Even the tigers near the valley did not dare to provoke them. They were the kings of this valley, but they did not expect to lose so many wolves all of a sudden. The wolf pack had lost too much. This meant that they would lose the ability to continue occupying this valley. They had to leave this valley.
Ang Lee did not care about the lives of a group of animals. Now that there was enough food and building materials in this valley, Ang Lee arranged for the soldiers to cut down black pine trees and directly built a camp at the edge of the valley.
The camp was built in the style of an army camp. The outer wall was built with black pine wood. A few houses were built inside. On one side of the wall, there was a gate that could be easily closed and opened.
With the wall and houses, Ang Lee's group did not have to worry about wild beasts approaching. Regardless of whether it was a large wild beast or a medium-sized wolf pack, they would not be able to break through the strong wall. The wood used for the wall was genuine black pine wood. No matter how strong the wild beast was, it would not be able to break it. Even if a herd of wild bulls were to attack, it would not have any effect.
Of course, in order to prevent heavy wild beasts like the wild bulls from attacking, there was a circle of barricades around the wall to prevent heavy wild beasts from attacking. As long as there was a barricade, the wild bulls would not be able to cause any damage to the wall.
Because there were more than thirty people, there were more houses built. There were seven or eight of them. Five of them were enough for the master. The rest were rooms to store supplies, a pavilion and a lookout.
Building these facilities required more energy and time, but in order to establish a foothold in the valley, these facilities were necessary.
Perhaps after staying for a night, Ang Lee's group would leave this camp and head to the next valley. However, building this camp still had a great meaning because it could still be used when they returned. Ang Lee would be wandering around Black Mountain, so building a few more camps was very important. According to Ang Lee's plan, the distance between two camps should be at least half a day. This way, when going back and forth to scout, they would be able to quickly enter the camp and rest. It would be much more convenient.
The soldiers had all undergone training, so the speed at which they cut down the Black Pine Forest and built the camp was extremely fast. In just a few hours, the construction of the camp could be completed. In order to not let the soldiers left behind in Black Mountain Village worry, Li An sent two villagers and four soldiers back to Black Mountain Village to inform the soldiers left behind of the situation here. They also brought more resources and people over.
As long as there were camps in Black Mountain, the soldiers in Black Mountain Village could take turns to enter Black Mountain to scout the terrain and find important resources.
Ang Lee would not believe that there were no important mineral resources in Black Mountain. In the interior of Black Mountain, there must be many mineral resources. As for what these mineral resources were, Ang Lee did not know at the moment. These all required Ang Lee and his soldiers to carefully scout. Scouting for resources and mapping the terrain required a large number of people. Therefore, in the interior of Black Mountain, many camps must be built. Every larger valley must have a camp. If two valleys were too far apart, a camp could also be built in the middle valley. In short, they had to ensure that they would encounter a camp every half a day's journey to avoid sleeping out in the open.
The villagers in Black Mountain Village were also recruited by Ang Lee. These locals were more familiar with the terrain of Black Mountain. Letting them be in charge of scouting the terrain and searching for resources was naturally more effective. Ang Lee was generous, so these local villagers were naturally willing to help. In addition, in the process of scouting Black Mountain, if they found anything valuable, it would also belong to these villagers. Ang Lee and his soldiers would not take advantage of them. This made them feel much more comfortable.
Almost all the younger men in the village were recruited by Ang Lee. Because they could get a lot of rewards every time, much more than what they could get from hunting and farming, they were very supportive of Ang Lee. As long as he recruited them, they would agree without hesitation. After all, they were just leading the way. If they encountered danger, with so many soldiers helping them, the wild beasts could not hurt them.
Just as the people of Black Mountain Village said, there was indeed the king of beasts, the tiger, in the depths of Black Mountain. Moreover, there was more than one. Traces of tigers were found in several larger valleys. These tigers were very powerful. However, in front of Ang Lee and his men, their strength was not enough. As long as the tiger dared to come out, it would immediately be beheaded by Ang Lee and his men. In half a month, Ang Lee and his men had already beheaded five tigers and killed seventy to eighty wolves. There were also many other wild beasts. As for the herbivores, Ang Lee and his men did not hunt them on a large scale. These were the heritage of Black Mountain Village. Ang Lee could not go too far. If he hunted all the wild cows and goats, the hunters of Black Mountain Village would have no prey to hunt in the future.
Ang Lee's actions won the praise of the villagers of Black Mountain Village. They were very sure of what Ang Lee was doing. They were very worried before, worried that Ang Lee and his men would kill all the prey in Black Mountain Village. However, Ang Lee ordered his men to try their best not to kill the herbivores. As for the carnivores, because these were a threat to the lives of the soldiers, they had to be hunted down. After the carnivores were killed in large numbers, the herbivores would be able to reproduce faster. In this way, the villagers of Black Mountain Village would be blessed. They could hunt more prey with greater ease.
"Assistant Minister Li, the map we have drawn in the past half a month is here. The Black Mountain is only so big. We have almost finished exploring it."
Chen Long looked at Ang Lee and said.
Ang Lee nodded and asked: "Did you find any mineral resources? Other than the Black Pine Forest, are there no mineral resources?"
Obviously, in the past half a month, not a single soldier reported finding any mineral resources. This made Ang Lee slightly disappointed. The Black Mountain was so big, no matter what, there should be some mineral resources.
"Assistant Minister Li, until now, we have not found any mineral resources. It seems like the Black Mountain only has the Black Pine Forest and normal rocks. There are no mineral resources."
Chen Long said.
Li An was a little disappointed. "I didn't find any ores. Forget it, it's impossible to find ores in every mountain. There's nothing strange about this mountain not having any ores. If there's nothing else, we can leave."
Obviously, Ang Lee did not want to stay in the mountain for too long. He only wanted to explore the terrain of the Black Mountain. There was no need to delay for too long.
"Assistant Minister Li, we found a cave. It is the nest of a tiger. The soldiers killed the mother tiger and captured four tiger cubs. However, there seems to be some mineral resources in the cave. We are not sure what kind of mineral it is."
A soldier hurriedly ran over to report.
When Li An heard this, his interest was immediately piqued. To be able to hunt a tiger and capture four tiger cubs alive was already very interesting in itself. Furthermore, the fact that there were ores in the cave where the tiger was hiding made him even more excited.
"Let's go, bring me there."
Ang Lee did not hesitate to go to the cave where the tiger was found.
After entering the cave, Ang Lee could confirm his judgment. There must be mineral resources in the cave because the walls of the cave were very smooth. It was obvious that it was man-made. A natural cave would not be like this. Why would someone dig a cave in the Black Mountain for no reason? Naturally, it was to mine ore.
However, from the traces of excavation on the walls of the cave, this cave had existed for at least a thousand years. It was no wonder that the people of the Black Mountain Village did not know anything about it.
"A mine from a thousand years ago, interesting."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Continuing to go deeper into the cave, Ang Lee saw ores shining with a metallic luster on the walls. These ores were obviously copper ores. This was actually a copper vein. From the looks of the ores on the walls, it was a copper vein of good quality. It was just not clear whether there was an associated vein of copper.
"Not bad, not bad. Whoever found this, I will give him a merit, hahaha!"
Ang Lee laughed happily. He was planning to leave the Black Mountain when he suddenly found a copper mine. This made Ang Lee very happy.
"Is there anyone in your village who knows how to smelt copper?"
Ang Lee asked.
A villager of the Black Mountain Village replied, "There is a villager who is already in his fifties. When he was young, he worked as a copper smelter in a county a few hundred miles away. He should know a little."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Then it's easy. This copper mine will be handed over to the Black Mountain Village. You can mine the copper ore. After you smelt it, you can sell the copper ingots. With this copper mine, the lives of the Black Mountain Village will be improved a lot. You will not have to suffer anymore."
"Ah! Such a copper mine is given to the Black Mountain Village. This … "
The villagers of the Black Mountain Village were at a loss. They did not know what to say.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "It's just a copper mine. We still have a very important mission. Naturally, we can't stay here for too long. However, you will have to take out a portion of the income from the copper mine to pay taxes. However, most of the income will belong to you. The imperial court will not make things difficult for you. You are the closest to here, so it is most suitable for you to mine the copper mine."
"The imperial court? Our Black Mountain Village is too isolated. We don't even know who is in charge of the imperial court now. "
A villager said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "You are now the people of the Tang dynasty. Don't worry. When the road is repaired, you will naturally know the time outside. It doesn't matter if you don't pay taxes for the time being. The imperial court will not care about this little benefit. You can rest assured."
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