The bronze box looked very unique and was locked. It gave people the feeling that there was treasure inside. At least, that was what Ang Lee and the rest thought.
"General, this unique bronze box is locked. There must be valuable treasures inside."
"The gold here is stored in wooden boxes. There must be something even more valuable in this bronze box."
"A treasure more valuable than gold? What could it be?"
Ang Lee grinned and looked at Li Kunxiong, who was holding a hammer, "Kunxiong, break it open."
"Yes, Big Brother."
Li Kunxiong replied and raised the hammer. He smashed the lock on the bronze box.
"Kacha!"
The sound of metal breaking could be heard as the lock was smashed open.
Li Kunxiong gently opened the bronze box. His eyes immediately widened. This was an extremely astonished look. This meant that the items in the box were completely out of his expectations. In fact, it was far beyond his expectations.
Ang Lee and his subordinates all held their breaths and looked curiously at the inside of the bronze box.
"It's a weapon. It's actually a weapon."
"This weapon looks like a crossbow. However, it's very different from the ones we usually use."
"This crossbow is actually made of bronze. It looks very exquisite. However, the string is already broken. It can't be used anymore."
"There are also ten bronze featherless crossbows in the clip. This is the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. That's right, this must be the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow mentioned in the books."
"I've heard of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. However, I heard that it was lost. Could it really be this thing in front of us?"
The subordinates were both astonished and excited.
Ang Lee had naturally heard of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. It was a very powerful weapon. According to the records of Zhuge Liang, its brilliance was better than ingenuity. The Profit and Loss Repeating Crossbow, Wooden Ox Moving Horse, all came from the same meaning.
Wei Shi said in the Spring and Autumn Annals: The brilliance of the Eight Duties, Seven Precepts, Six Fears, and Five Fears all had their own rules. The Profit and Loss Repeating Crossbow was also known as the Yuanrong. The arrows were made of iron and were eight inches long.
These records were enough to prove that the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow was designed by the Shu Country Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and was made by craftsmen.
"The Zhuge Repeating Crossbow should be made of wood, and the bolts should be made of iron or wood. This set of crossbows and bolts are all made of copper, so it must be expensive to make. It seems like it wasn't used for war, but as a souvenir. However, if it was really made of wood, then it would have turned into powder by now, just like the arrow shafts."
Ang Lee smiled and gave his judgment.
"Big Brother, how do you explain the tens of thousands of copper tufts over there? Are they all for collection?"
Obviously, in the era of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, iron weapons had completely replaced copper weapons and became the main force on the battlefield. The arrowheads should be made of iron. Only during the Shang Dynasty did copper arrowheads appear. If these copper arrowheads were all for collection, then they wouldn't need so many. Moreover, the wooden arrow shafts had already rotted. With such a large quantity, it should be for war. Using copper arrowheads for war was something that Ang Lee couldn't understand. Could copper be cheaper than iron?
"General, there are hundreds of copper arrowheads at the bottom of the box. They should all be made for this repeating crossbow."
"There are hundreds of copper arrowheads? Could it be for war?"
Ang Lee took out a few copper arrowheads and tested the flexible arms of the crossbow. He suddenly realized that his judgment was wrong. This crossbow made of copper was very likely for war.
Using copper arrowheads for war was truly a nouveau riche. However, there was a gold mine here after all. The owner of the gold mine definitely didn't lack money. Moreover, there was only one copper Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. Perhaps only the people with the highest status would be able to use it.
Ang Lee always felt that the copper repeating crossbow was too heavy. It was far inferior to a wooden repeating crossbow. Moreover, the flexibility of the copper crossbow wasn't as good as wood or bamboo. It would affect the shooting range of the arrowheads to a certain extent.
"General, there are hundreds of damaged wooden repeating crossbows here."
Ang Lee walked over lightly and picked up a rotten repeating crossbow. He nodded and said, "That's right. These are all wooden repeating crossbows. It's a pity that there are hundreds of them. Below are the copper tufts and wooden arrowheads. It's a pity that the shafts have already rotted."
"Big Brother, from the looks of it, the leader used a copper repeating crossbow and fired all copper arrowheads. The rest used wooden repeating crossbows and fired wooden arrowheads."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "That's right, it should be like that. Other than the repeating crossbows, there are also large amounts of swords, spears, and rotten wooden shields. They were prepared by the mine owner to defend against enemies. However, in the end, the enemy still attacked this place. The large amount of corpses outside should be the traces of a battle. However, we don't know what exactly happened at that time. We can only make some reasonable guesses based on the situation here."
All of the generals nodded in agreement. They were very sure of Ang Lee's opinion.
"General, what do we do with these weapons? Just leave them here?"
"Send all the copper heads to the supply regiment to make arrows. This set of Zhuge repeating crossbow and full copper crossbow bolts will also be sent to the supply regiment. Recruit reliable craftsmen and immediately start the work of making them. The army really needs weapons like the Zhuge repeating crossbow to kill enemies."
"Yes, General, I understand."
Ang Lee and his generals continued to search the cave for a period of time. According to the situation they discovered, they made more reasonable guesses. Because it was too cold inside, after persevering for a period of time, they slowly left and walked towards the entrance of the cave.
When Ang Lee and his generals walked out of the cave, the sky was already completely dark. However, the surrounding soldiers of the military supply division didn't leave. Many pairs of curious eyes stared straight at the entrance of the cave and discussed something in low voices.
"The General is out, the General is out."
The surrounding new soldiers reminded their comrades in low voices and looked towards Ang Lee and the others who had walked out of the cave.
Seeing that the new soldiers were still standing at the entrance of the cave and almost no one had left, Ang Lee was stunned for a moment. He scolded, "Why are you still standing here? Aren't you hungry? Go back to camp."
When the new soldiers heard this, they touched their stomachs. They were really hungry. One by one, they left in the direction of the camp.
"These new soldiers are quite curious."
Ang Lee looked at the sky and ordered, "Immediately mobilize fifty soldiers of the Dragon Martial Army to guard the entrance of the cave. Put up barricades around it and set up temporary tents nearby. We must ensure the safety of the cave. The treasures inside are extremely important to our army."
"Don't worry, General. Leave it to me."
A lieutenant accepted the order and immediately went to mobilize the Dragon Martial Army soldiers.
"Who is it? Stop."
Li Kunxiong saw a black figure approaching quickly and shouted loudly.
"It's me, it's me."
Ang Lee recognized the voice. It was Nan Jiyun's voice. After he joined the army, he was assigned to the special forces reconnaissance team stationed in the West Valley. This was the East Valley. What was he doing here?
"Nan Jiyun, why didn't you stay in the West Valley? Why did you come to the East Valley?"
Ang Lee asked loudly.
Nan Jiyun looked excited. "General, I heard that there was a cave in the East Valley, so I came to take a look."
"There is a cave in the East Valley. This has nothing to do with you. Your mission is to train, understand?"
As a general, Ang Lee had to teach Nan Jiyun a lesson. He had to let him know what he should and shouldn't do.
"I understand."
Nan Jiyun grinned and looked in the direction of the cave. "General, there is a gold mine inside, right?"
"Nan Jiyun, how do you know that this is a gold mine?"
Ever since they walked out of the cave, Ang Lee and his subordinates did not reveal that there was a gold mine inside. How could Nan Jiyun know? Could it be a random guess?
Nan Jiyun thought for a moment. "General, this might be the Shu Kingdom's gold mine from 500 years ago."
"The Shu Kingdom's gold mine from 500 years ago, Nan Jiyun. What do you know? Tell me everything."
Ang Lee felt that Nan Jiyun must know the origin of this gold mine.
The Dragon Martial Army soldiers also looked at Nan Jiyun curiously, waiting for an answer.
Nan Jiyun said, "General, if I'm not wrong, this cave should be the gold mine that Shu Kingdom's Prime Minister Zhuge ordered to excavate."
"Go on."
"General, it is said that 500 years ago, Shu Kingdom's craftsman Tong Tie discovered a gold mine and reported it to Shu Kingdom's Prime Minister Zhuge. Prime Minister Zhuge was actively preparing for the northern expedition at the time. When he heard that the gold mine had been discovered, he was overjoyed and personally summoned Tong Tie. He saw that Tong Tie had an impressive appearance and was a rare talent. That night, he appointed Tong Tie as a Gold Commandant and put him in charge of excavating the gold mine. He also mobilized a thousand miners for him.
"And then?"
Li An and the generals under his command had their appetites piqued. They wished that Nan Jiyun would be able to explain everything in one breath without pausing.
Nan Jiyun took a deep breath and continued, "Tong Tie did not disappoint. After receiving the appointment, he immediately brought a thousand miners and three hundred Yuan Army crossbowmen into the mine and mined a large amount of gold for the Shu Kingdom. Because of this, Prime Minister Zhuge was able to have a steady stream of money to continue the northern expedition to the Central Plains."
"Oh, so Zhuge Kongming was able to leave Mount Qi six times because of this gold mine. Then what happened after that?"
Nan Jiyun continued, "Later, Prime Minister Zhuge died of illness. Tong Tie continued to work for Jiang Wei and provided him with a large amount of gold. This allowed Jiang Wei to conquer the Central Plains nine times and inherit Prime Minister Zhuge's legacy. Unfortunately, the Shu Kingdom had an unworthy Ah Dou. In the end, they were unable to recover the Central Plains. Instead, the Wei Kingdom's generals, Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, invaded Central Sichuan, and the Shu Kingdom was defeated."
"The defeat of the Shu Kingdom is indeed regrettable. Then?"
"Because the gold mine is related to the lifeline of the Shu Kingdom, it is a top secret of the Shu Kingdom. Ordinary people do not know the location of the gold mine. Jiang Wei was unwilling to admit defeat and wanted to revive the Shu Han Dynasty. Therefore, he kept this secret and did not let the Wei Kingdom's generals know of its existence."
"What else?"
Ang Lee's curiosity was piqued and he continued to ask anxiously.
Nan Jiyun scratched his head, "General, that's all I know. You can only ask Tong Tie's descendants for more information."
"Tong Tie still has descendants? Who are they?"
Ang Lee asked anxiously.
"General, it's Third Fatty Tong who broke into the military camp. Once, he was drunk and told us about the situation. He also said that he would be rich as long as he could find the gold mine that his ancestors were operating. However, they searched for several generations and searched all the mountains and hills in Luzhou but could not find it. They did not expect it to be here."
Nan Jiyun was also happy. This was what it meant to travel far and wide in search of the gold mine, only to find it by chance. Third Fatty Tong's ancestors had been trying to find the gold mine for several generations, but it was accidentally discovered by the military. Perhaps this was fate.
"What does Third Fatty Tong do for a living now?"
"General, he opened three taverns and five bronzeware shops in Luzhou City. In addition, he operates a mine outside the city. He mines copper and has more than 500 miners."
"Third Fatty Tong is also a rich man."
Ang Lee smiled and looked at Nan Jiyun, "Nan Jiyun, go back and sleep immediately. We will set off at dawn tomorrow and invite Third Fatty Tong to Luzhou City."
"Yes, General."
Nan Jiyun replied and ran back to the West Valley.
"Big Brother, I didn't expect this cave to be a gold mine of the Shu Kingdom. It was even mined by Third Fatty Tong's ancestors. Haha."
"No matter who owned this place before, it now belongs to the Tang Dynasty."
"As for why this cave was abandoned, we will ask Third Fatty Tong tomorrow. Perhaps we will know the answer."
Soon, 50 fully armed soldiers of the Dragon Warrior Army arrived at the entrance of the cave and immediately began to set up the defense. Barricades and tents were also gradually set up.
Ang Lee touched his stomach and felt hungry. After checking that there was no problem with the defense of the cave and personally giving instructions, he slowly left with his confidants.
The discovery of the gold mine was a great surprise for Ang Lee. With this gold mine and the gold that had been smelted inside, Ang Lee would no longer have to worry about the soldiers' pay. Moreover, he could improve the weapons as much as he wanted to to make the army more powerful. Then, he would be able to better deter the entire southern part of the Tang Dynasty and make the rascals obediently accept the rule of the Tang Dynasty.
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Ang Lee took a walk outside the tent and thought about how to mine the gold mine. After returning to the tent, he wrote a memorial to the Emperor, Li Longji, and reported the general's difficulties and the discovery of the gold mine. However, because he did not check carefully, Ang Lee did not report the scale of the gold mine and the stock of the smelted gold. It was enough to let Li Longji know about it.
Ang Lee was completely a layman when it came to the profits of gold mining. Ang Lee did not know anything about the management of the mining process at all. Therefore, he could not mine the gold mine with the highest efficiency. It was a good idea to give the gold mine to someone who knew the business and directly divide the profits. Third Fatty Tong was a good partner.
However, because Ang Lee did not know the cost of mining the gold mine, he did not know how much it was appropriate to divide the gold mine. This gave Ang Lee a headache.
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