Although a copper mine had been discovered in Black Mountain, the scale of the copper mine could not be explored. In addition, there were not many people in Black Mountain Village. There were less than 30 young and strong men who could mine. With such a small amount of manpower, the amount of copper ores that could be mined was relatively small. In addition, the road leading to the depths of Black Mountain was not easy to walk on, so it would consume a lot of manpower to transport. Therefore, the amount of copper ores that they could really obtain would not be too much. For today's Tang Empire, such a small amount of profit was simply a drop in the bucket. It would not be a big problem for the people of Black Mountain Village to mine.
In addition, the more copper ores circulating in the market, the lower the price of copper ingots. The lower the price of raw materials, the more advantageous it would be for the development of science and technology of the Tang Empire. Therefore, Ang Lee supported the tyrants in various places to boldly mine various mineral resources. These resources were the foundation, the foundation for the rapid development of the Tang Empire. Without these resources, it would be more difficult for the Tang Empire to develop better.
Although a copper mine was nothing in Ang Lee's eyes, in the eyes of the villagers of Black Mountain Village, this copper mine was a treasure cave that could change their destiny. They were very clear about the price of copper ingots. As long as they mined these ores and smelted them into copper ingots, they would definitely be able to sell them for a lot of money, which would greatly improve the living standards of the people in the village.
They had already thought about it. They would build a smelting workshop near the cave and maintain a scale of 20 people. The workshop would be surrounded by wooden fences to prevent the harassment of wild animals. Every once in a while, they could bring the smelted copper ingots back to the village. Anyway, the location of the copper mine was very remote, so they did not have to worry about outsiders taking the opportunity to occupy it.
Each of the 20 strong men could carry up to 50 kilograms of copper ingots. After smelting 500 kilograms of copper ingots at a time, they could return to the village. According to their original level of smelting copper ingots and the time needed to mine the ore, it would take them at least a month to smelt 500 kilograms of copper ingots. Returning to the village once a month was just the right time. 500 kilograms of copper ingots could be sold for a lot of money. They only needed to take these copper ingots to the county to earn a lot of money, which would completely change their current living standards.
In addition, they didn't have to worry about safety. They formed a group of twenty people and could protect themselves even if they encountered a pack of wolves. At this time, the larger packs of wolves in the black mountain were almost all killed by Li An's group. The largest pack of wolves was less than ten. They couldn't cause any trouble at all. The most terrifying tigers were all killed. There were not many wild beasts left that could threaten the safety of the villagers.
Finding a copper mine of good quality was an unexpected gain. Although it was given to the people of Black Mountain Village to mine, as long as the number of copper ingots on the market increased, it was enough for Ang Lee. This was the effect that Ang Lee wanted. He did not care who had the copper mine.
Since the terrain of Black Mountain had been completely explored, Ang Lee had no reason to continue staying in Black Mountain Village. After bidding farewell to the villagers of Black Mountain Village, Ang Lee and his men continued to move forward. They still needed at least a month to leave Nanzhao and enter the Pyu territory.
However, this was on the basis that they did not stop to rest. If they walked and stopped, it was normal that they would not reach the Pyu in a year.
Dongnu Province had many mountains and rivers. Nanzhao had even more mountains and rivers. After leaving Black Mountain, what they encountered was naturally still mountains and rivers. There were almost no plains here. There were mountains and rivers everywhere. Some county towns were built in the larger valleys between the mountains and rivers. It was not an exaggeration to say that Nanzhao was the mountain country.
Red Lotus Mountain was the next mountain range that Ang Lee encountered after leaving Black Mountain. This mountain range was filled with red maple leaves. The shape of the mountain was very similar to a lotus. That was why it was called the Red Lotus Mountain Range.
The most abundant trees in the Red Lotus Mountain Range were naturally red maple leaves. Of course, these red maple leaves were not red all year round. They would only turn red during autumn. A red maple tree was nothing. When the entire mountain range was filled with red maple trees, the scene was quite spectacular. Especially at dusk, when the sun was red, the entire mountain range looked like a sea of blood from afar. It was very spectacular.
"The Red Lotus Mountain Range is a mountain range dominated by red maple trees. The maple trees here are probably more than all the maple trees in the entire Tang dynasty combined. I don't know what's wrong with the soil here. It's really strange that red maple trees grow here."
Ang Lee looked at the red sea in the distance and said faintly.
It was the same with the Black Mountain. Almost all of the Black Mountain was Black Pine Forest, and no other trees could be seen. A mountain range with only one type of tree was very suspicious. After all, forests should be rich and colorful, and there should be all kinds of trees. A mountain range with only one type of tree was a bit unreasonable.
According to Li An's understanding, the biggest problem was the quality of the soil. The soil quality of some mountain ranges was special. Only certain plants could grow normally. Other plants would die easily. For example, in the desert, there were only a few plants such as cacti. Other plants simply couldn't survive in the desert.
In the cold regions of the north, only pine trees with coniferous leaves could survive. Broad-leaved trees couldn't survive. Even in the temperate regions, broad-leaved trees would shed their leaves during winter to reduce the loss of nutrients.
Of course, other than the problem of the soil, there were also the factors of altitude and climate, as well as the influence of who came first. This was a complicated problem, and Li An did not have the heart to delve into it. In any case, Li An only wanted the terrain. As long as he could clearly explore the terrain of Red Lotus Mountain, there was no need for roads.
The soldiers scattered around the Red Lotus Mountain Range to explore the terrain. Ang Lee led a small group of people and climbed to the highest peak of the Red Lotus Mountain Range. He wanted to stand on the highest peak and overlook the entire Red Lotus Mountain Range. From there, he would have a complete understanding of the Red Lotus Mountain Range.
The Red Lotus Mountain Range was very objective. Ang Lee and his group climbed for at least half a day before reaching the peak of the Red Lotus Mountain Range.
"Not bad, the scenery is very beautiful."
Standing on the highest peak, Ang Lee looked at the surrounding scenery. He was very excited. The surrounding scenery was too spectacular, causing Ang Lee's mood to surge.
However, this Red Lotus Mountain Range was blocking the only way to build a road. It seemed like they had to dig a tunnel. They had to dig a tunnel under the main peak of the Red Lotus Mountain Range. This way, they could easily pass through the Red Lotus Mountain Range. However, this tunnel wasn't easy to dig. It was at least ten li long. The longer the cave, the harder it would be to dig. However, as long as it was to build a road, no matter how difficult it was, it still had to be dug. The terrain of the Red Lotus Mountain Range wasn't complicated, but it still couldn't be bypassed. The only way to pass through was to dig a tunnel. If they didn't dig a tunnel, they would have to dig a mountain. However, digging a mountain required a lot more earth than digging a tunnel. The cost would increase by more than ten times, or even more. For building a road, the lower the cost, the better. The current Tang Dynasty was carrying out large-scale construction everywhere. The consumption of manpower and materials was very large. They should save as much as possible. They couldn't waste too much money just because the Tang Dynasty was powerful. Every penny saved would allow them to build more roads. This was very important to the future development of the Tang Dynasty.
"Assistant Minister Li, this Red Lotus Mountain Range is blocking the route. We can't go around it at all. It seems like we can only dig a tunnel. However, this Red Lotus Mountain Range is also very thick! If we want to dig a tunnel, we'll have to dig at least ten li. The cost is really not small! "
A technical talent said with a worried face.
As a talent personally trained by Ang Lee, this young man naturally understood that digging a tunnel was very costly. The longer the tunnel, the more money it would cost. It might even be several times the cost. A tunnel that was one li long and two li long would definitely cost more than twice the cost. It would be at least three to five times the cost.
"That's how it is to build a road. Since we can't go around it, we can only dig a tunnel. What else can we do? Let's see the geology of the Red Lotus Mountain Range. If the geology isn't good, then it will be even more troublesome."
Ang Lee said.
Digging a tunnel wasn't something that could be done in any geological condition. It was impossible to dig a tunnel in areas that were prone to disasters. If one were to forcefully dig a tunnel, just the various disasters would be enough to give one a headache.
For example, digging a tunnel in the desert was obviously not feasible. It was impossible to dig a tunnel in sandy soil. Similar geological conditions like sandy soil were also impossible to dig a tunnel in. Only hard rock mountains or sticky soil like clay could be used to dig a tunnel.
Also, it was not easy to dig a tunnel in places with snowy mountains and frozen soil. There would be a large amount of water in the snowy mountains and it would be easy for the tunnel to collapse. Frozen soil was even more terrifying. It would cause the tunnel to deform and cause a terrifying collapse.
"Assistant Minister Li, we found a tunnel at the foot of the mountain. The soldiers are investigating inside."
A soldier in charge of investigating hurriedly ran over to report.
Ang Lee was very happy when he heard this. He said, "Let's go and take a look at the cave. If this cave leads to the other side, then it will save us a lot of trouble. We won't even need to dig a tunnel ourselves."
Of course, Ang Lee knew that the probability of this happening was very low. Even if there was a tunnel at the foot of the mountain, it couldn't possibly lead to the Red Lotus Mountain in a straight line. It would definitely be curved, or the direction would be different from the train route that Ang Lee had designed. There was no reason for it to completely fit the train route that Ang Lee had designed. The probability of this happening was too low.
Going up the mountain was a waste of time. When going down the mountain, Ang Lee used the cableway to go down the mountain. His speed was three to five times faster. Therefore, they returned to the foot of the mountain within two hours and arrived at the tunnel that the soldiers had found.
"How is the investigation going? What kind of tunnel is it?"
Ang Lee asked.
"It has been investigated clearly. It is just an ordinary tunnel that leads to the other side of the Red Lotus Mountain. The tunnel is straight and there are no curves at all."
The soldier answered truthfully.
Ang Lee was very surprised when he heard this. The best way to build a road was to dig a tunnel in the Red Lotus Mountain. Now that this tunnel had suddenly appeared, it was like a meat pie falling from the sky. It was like someone handing a pillow to you when you were feeling sleepy. Wouldn't you be excited?
"Let's go, quickly follow me in to take a look."
Ang Lee's excitement was indescribable. This tunnel had come at the right time. However, how could there be such a large tunnel in such a remote mountain? Ang Lee couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure out who had dug this tunnel.
After entering the tunnel, Ang Lee felt a gust of cold air blowing from the tunnel. Obviously, this wind was blowing from the other side of the Red Lotus Mountain. Because there was a large amount of cold air in the tunnel, this wind was also cold, causing one to feel cold all over.
"Not bad, not bad. The tunnel is wide and big enough. The grooves on the walls are also quite flat. It can definitely be used as a train tunnel. Digging such a large tunnel would require a lot of manpower. Who exactly dug it? Digging such a large tunnel in the Red Lotus Mountain doesn't seem to have much meaning."
Once they entered the tunnel, Ang Lee was very happy. At the same time, he was very confused. He didn't understand what was going on. Such a large project couldn't have been dug for no reason. There must be a reason.
After carefully observing the walls of the tunnel, Ang Lee discovered that this tunnel had existed for at least a thousand years. In other words, this tunnel was dug by the ancient people more than a thousand years ago. As for the reason why the ancient people dug such a large tunnel, Ang Lee had no clue at all.
"Are there any villages around here?"
Ang Lee asked. Perhaps the elders in the village would know some information that could clear up Ang Lee's doubts.
"Assistant Minister Li, there is a village ten miles away from the two sides of the Red Lotus Mountain. Why don't we go and take a look?"
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee asked someone to bring the horses over. Then, the group rode through the tunnel and soon arrived at the opposite side. The height of the cave was ten feet. Even an adult could pass through it without any hindrance.
"Yugong Village, it's actually Yugong Village. Don't tell me it's Yugong Village from Yugong Shiyi Mountain! Interesting. "
Li An's lips curled into a smile as he led a group of people towards Yugong Village.
There were a few children playing at the entrance of the village. When they saw Ang Lee and the group riding over, they immediately stopped playing. They looked at Ang Lee and the group nervously, as if they were afraid of strangers.
When the few elders saw Ang Lee, they smiled and walked over. Their attitude was very respectful.
Li An exchanged pleasantries with a few elders below.
"Elder, who was the one who dug the tunnel on Red Lotus Mountain?"
Ang Lee asked.
"The tunnel! It's our ancestor, Yugong! He was the one who led the people in the village and dug the tunnel bit by bit. "
The elder replied.
"Yugong? Your ancestor is the famous Foolish Old Man! It seems that the legend has its basis. Interesting. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
The Yugong in the legend was Yugong Shiyi Mountain, while the Yugong in this village was Yugong Shiyi Mountain who dug the tunnel. Although there were some differences between the two, they were generally similar.
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