Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1227 Iron Mine Breeds the Ming Army!

Wang Guangyang was worried, and Yang Shaofeng was worried too.

I roughly know where there are iron ore deposits.

Given the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, it could easily acquire those iron mines.

But it was of no use—coal mining requires a large number of able-bodied young men, which is exactly what the Ming Dynasty is lacking right now.

As for the laborers supplied by vassal states such as the Koreans and the short, ugly ones?

Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of laborers may seem like a lot, but when compared to the labor shortage in the entire Ming Dynasty, it's probably not even a drop in the ocean.

unless……

Yang Shaofeng's eyes suddenly lit up. He tugged at the clothes of the black sesame dumpling, walked to the side, and whispered, "As far as I know, there seems to be a large open-pit iron mine in Jiuyuan."

"Send someone to deliver a message to Liu Dingbei later."

"As long as this guy can persuade Wang Baobao to surrender, or persuade Wang Baobao to launch a westward expedition or flee northward, we can confidently go to Jiuyuan to look for open-pit iron mines."

"This should alleviate the current predicament to some extent."

Black Sesame Dumpling nodded, about to say, "Brother-in-law, you handle it," when Xia Yu hurriedly ran over, handed a secret report to Black Sesame Dumpling, and whispered, "Your Highness, a large iron ore mine that can be mined in the open has been discovered in Yunlong County, Dali. The estimated reserves are... incalculable!"

Yang Shaofeng and the black sesame dumplings immediately perked up.

Unpredictable?

Add the words "large iron ore mine" before "incalculable"...

The black sesame glutinous rice ball laughed so hard that tears almost streamed down her face.

"Brother-in-law, did you hear that?"

"A large iron ore mine that can be mined in the open."

"The reserves are so large that they are immeasurable."

"As long as transportation and smelting can keep up..."

Heizhi Tangyuan glanced at Wang Guangyang and then whispered, "Isn't he bringing up steel production? Brother-in-law, shouldn't you make him happy?"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice, walked straight to Wang Guangyang's side, and whispered, "Minister Wang, a large iron mine that can be mined in the open has been discovered in Yunlong County, Dali. The reserves are so large that they are incalculable."

Wang Guangyang's eyes widened, and he squeezed out a single word from his throat like a screaming chicken being choked: "Huh?"

The squeaking chicken attracted Li Shanchang and the others, but Yang Shaofeng calmly nodded and repeated, "Dali, Yunlong County, has a large open-pit iron mine with reserves that are incalculable!"

Li Shanchang immediately stroked his beard and said, "What Dali? Isn't that the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission of my Great Ming Dynasty?"

Xue Xiang, the Minister of Rites, said with great distress: "I have long heard that some people are ignorant and incompetent. Our Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission of the Great Ming Dynasty was called Yunnan Province during the Yuan Dynasty. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, it was Liangzhou, one of the Nine Provinces. How come it has become Dali in the mouths of some people?"

Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Xue Xiang.

Is that so?

That seems to be true.

So, is it true that I am truly ignorant and incompetent?

Before Yang Shaofeng could react, Xue Xiang continued, "It's pitiful that the ancestors of Liangzhou were coerced by a small group of rebellious people with ulterior motives and subsequently assimilated into barbarian culture. Now, although they are clearly descendants of the Yellow Emperor, many of them have forgotten the Chinese language and characters and instead speak a foreign language. It's truly tragic and painful!"

Xue Xiang pounded his chest, his face full of grief and indignation, and said, "Time waits for no one. The Ministry of Rites needs to increase the education plan for the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission. This year, a county school should be established first, and then the number of community schools should be determined according to the situation of villages and communities."

Yang Siyi, who was in charge of the national treasury, stroked his beard and said, "There is still about 10,000 strings of cash in the national treasury for emergency use. Xue Pifu, you can write up a budget later, and I will approve 5,000 strings of cash for you first."

Xue Xiang glared fiercely at Yang Siyi and roared, "Fifty thousand strings of cash!"

Yang Siyi was immediately enraged, "Fifty thousand strings of cash? What, are you going to build your county school and academy with gold? Do you think it's fifty thousand sheets of paper?"

Xue Xiang retorted sarcastically, "Fifty thousand strings of cash? If you take fifty thousand one-string-of-cash notes, isn't that just fifty thousand sheets of paper?"

Seeing that Xue Xiang and Yang Siyi were talking more and more outrageous, Li Shanchang coughed and said with a dark face, "The Duke of Qian is fighting in Yunnan now. It will probably take several years to completely eliminate the remnants of the Hu Yuan regime."

Wang Guangyang immediately became anxious: "What do you mean by several years? Where are we going to give him several years? What is the Grand Commander's Office doing?"

Yang Shaofeng's eyes darted around, and he suddenly chuckled twice, saying, "The Grand General's Mansion? The Grand General's Mansion is now completely focused on the grasslands, and the Duke of Wei is even more eager to capture Wang Baobao, so he can ask Wang Baobao what color dragon helped him when he crossed the Yellow River."

Li Shanchang coughed again, then pulled Yang Shaofeng aside and asked in a low voice, "Are there similar open-pit iron mines in the south and north of the desert?"

Yang Shaofeng said, "It seems there are some in Jiuyuan. Oh, Jiuyuan is where Dongshengwei is. A couple of years ago, some people were calling for the people of Dongsheng Prefecture, Yunnei Prefecture and Feng Prefecture to be moved to the interior."

Li Shanchang was furious. "I'll see who dares to utter such nonsense as relocation!"

It's one thing if there aren't any large iron mines that can be mined in the open, but since there are large iron mines that can be mined in the open in Jiuyuan, then Jiuyuan has been the territory of the Ming Dynasty since ancient times. Who would dare to abandon the land and not defend it? I, Li Shanchang, am still capable of wielding a sword!

"Isn't it just about getting close to Hu Yuan?"

"If Xu Da and Chang Heizi completely eliminate Hu Yuan, then there's no need to worry about Hu Yuan."

As Li Shanchang pondered, he stroked his beard and said, "First, let Xu Da and the others reinforce the troops in Dongsheng Guard and Datong Commandery. Then, we'll find a way to relocate more civilians and artisans there. Once the artisans arrive, we'll use local materials to make cement and bricks to build the city. Then, we'll relocate another 100,000 to 200,000 civilians there..."

Before Li Shanchang could finish speaking, Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice and said, "This is what the Duke of Han said himself. If Governor Hu and his entourage ask about it later, it has nothing to do with me."

If Hu Weiyong knew about Li Shanchang's immigration plan, he would be furious—because of the severe shortage of people in Liaodong, Hu Weiyong had been like a starving wolf for the past two years, his eyes gleaming with greed when he looked at the people of Jiangnan.

Now, Li Shanzhang is talking about moving 100,000 to 200,000 people to Dongsheng...

Yang Shaofeng clicked his tongue and continued, "Actually, besides these two places, it seems there are also iron mines that can be mined by open-pit mining in Laizhou Prefecture..."

Li Shanchang blinked blankly.

What do you mean?

Either there is no iron ore.

Or three large iron ore mines that can be mined in the open suddenly appear.

Yang Shaofeng continued, "The problem now is that there's no shortage of iron ore, but a shortage of able-bodied men to mine it. If there are too many able-bodied men for mining, agriculture may be affected. What does the Korean government think about this...?"