Hef's hand was raised high above his head, aimed at the winter sun, and he held a golden ring between his left index finger and thumb, and after a few glances, he grinned in satisfaction, his eyes full of greedy light.

"Baby!"

He threw the gold ring to his subordinates, stood on the bank of the river and looked at the slowly flowing Fanshui, full of sandbar Xiaozhu, there is a small gold mine for washing gold sand, its name is "Gold Mining", located in the middle of Pengli Lake to Fanyang City.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, according to the customs of the Yue people, after forming a "brother" with Wu Rui, Heifu led the Qin army and the Ganyue people to pull out the camp, and it took three days, and when they arrived here, Dongmen Leopard had already taken control of this place with 500 forwards.

The south of the Yangtze River of Chu is rich in resources, especially the most abundant metal deposits, Changsha produces lead, tin, Yuzhang produces gold, Heifu has just arrived, Dongmen Leopard will hold some gold cakes, gold sheets to offer treasure to him, which is also mixed with a few gold rings.

Along with him was a ragged, skinny miner.

Dongmen Leopard Yu reported: "Sima, this mine slave claims to be a Qin pawn who was captured by the Chu State, and when we arrived here, he led the mine slaves to kill the Chu miners and greet our army. ”

In the month of the wax moon, this person is wearing a brown coat that is difficult to hide, he bowed to Heifu, called himself Wuyang, is a native of Longxi County of Qin State, in the last time Li Xin invaded Chu, as a commander in the army, was captured by Xiang Yan, and then fell into the hands of Fanyang Jun, was brought back and thrown in the gold mining as a mining slave.

With him, there were seven or eight Qin people, and when they saw the Qin troops neatly arranged by the water, they all howled and cried.

Heifu took pity on him, and immediately asked people to fetch winter clothes to protect them from the cold.

After Wu Yang thanked him, he said hatefully: "There were originally twenty people, but most of them were northerners, who came to this humble and hot place in the south, fell ill and died, and the gold panning was heavy, whether it was summer or winter, they all drove us to work, the food was poor, and a few people died, and now only we are left ......"

Several people who participated in the Battle of Kunyang couldn't help but sigh, if they were captured by the Chu people, they were afraid that this would be the end.

Because he suffered a lot, after Wu Yang and others successfully rebelled, they split the bodies of the miners of Chu to vent their anger, so about everything about this small gold mine, Heifu could only ask him.

"Gold mining is roughly divided into two parts, one is the gold panning place at the water's edge, there is often gold sand in rivers such as Fanshui and Daxishui, and the most sedimentation in this area is carried out, and the miners dig sand at the water's edge on weekdays, put it on the gold panning bucket, and wash it in the water......"

Wuyang showed Heifu the so-called gold panning bucket, which is some wooden plates, put them in the water, the sediment goes with the water, and the larger quality of the placer gold is precipitated in the plate, this method is laborious and the effect is very small, so there are poems in later generations: although it is hard to dig thousands of waters, blow all the wild sand to gold.

Although the land of Yuzhang is located in the south, it is also a little cold in the twelfth month of the summer calendar, according to Wuyang, even in this climate, the miners are forced to go into the water to pan for gold.

Heifu asked the soldiers to make a meal, and he went to the goldsmithy not far away.

Wuyang and they finally left the life of the gold casting craftsman, and the washed gold sand was sent here, put into a refractory crucible, and burned on a charcoal stove with a raging flame.

The melting point of gold is low, and after a while, the gold sand inside melts into shiny gold water, boiling and rolling. Poured into a conical pier jar with a large mouth and a sharp bottom to cool, the contents of the jar will be divided into layers according to the specific gravity, poured out, and the slag on the top is knocked off with a small mallet, and the inferior gold nugget is obtained. In this way, after the second smelting, the finished gold cake can be obtained......

The seal of the king of the beauty jewelry is all from the bottom of the sea in the sand, which is true.

Under the threat of the sword, the goldsmith completed the operation with trepidation, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no mistake.

They cut the hot gold nuggets with an iron blade and pressed them into gold plates, and were about to habitually press a copper seal with the word "Fan" on it, but they were stopped by Heifu.

"From now on, I will no longer make gold cakes, but small gold cakes weighing one tael each."

The craftsman only agreed, and Heifu asked Xu Shu to ask him: "How much Eridium gold can you get from gold mining in a month?" ”

The goldsmith said: "As little as ten eridium, as much as twenty eridium......"

"In this way, two hundred eridium gold a year can be obtained."

Heifu was very satisfied, from the Warring States period to the Han Dynasty, gold was widely circulated as a high-class currency, thanks to the vast mineral deposits of Chu, which produced a large amount of gold, and through trade, it circulated to the north.

At present, the five kingdoms have been swept away, and the gold treasures have been put into the treasury of the Qin State, and the things that Li Si and Wei Yi used to bribe the princes and ministers have also returned to their original owners, so the King of Qin at this moment is known as "gold is used for ten thousand yi".

However, Rushui and Hanshui, which were rich in gold more than 100 years ago, have no longer been able to dig for gold, and the main gold producing areas have been transferred to the Jiangnan area, and even Lishui (Jinsha River).

According to Xu Shu's words, Fanyang Jun is qualified to mint coins, and he is the richest man in the Jiangnan region second only to Ejun. This gold mine should be able to last for some years, and in the Han Dynasty, a large amount of gold unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haiyang in Jiangxi Province may be the gold mined and transported over.

But now, this cash cow has fallen into the hands of Heifu and has become his "treasure".

Well, at least until the end of the crusade.

He immediately appointed Wuyang as the local supervisor, and his younger brother Jing also took a group of people to camp here, and after the attack on Fanyang, Heifu would capture some of Fanjun's family members and followers, so that the gold mining could be restarted.

Heifu didn't want to continue to go south with surprise, so he still stayed here safely, and when he saw that his younger brother was a little disappointed, he emphasized that "during the southern expedition, I'm afraid our military expenses will have to be raised by you!" This is the most important thing, Wuyang and the others maintain order, and you have to keep an eye on the amount of gold minted every day! ”

Surprised, he promised to receive the order, but at this moment, Ji Ying, who was in charge of the communication between the Qin army and the Xing army and the rear, hurried over and presented the wooden slip to Heifu Sima.

"Sima, it's Peng Zecheng's Xiao Tao who sent an urgent report from the waterway!"

Heifu read the information written in a hurry on it, frowned, and sneered: "Fanyang-jun is not small. ”

……

Heifu asked the scouts who Ji Ying would return to come in and ask, and after returning to the camp tent that had been set up, he asked the military officials to come over for a small meeting......

He circulated the wooden slip to everyone, and said with a smile: "Knowing that I formed an alliance with Ganyue to attack, Fanyang Jun did not hide in the city and wait for death, but relied on being familiar with the local roads and mountains and rivers, and sent more than 1,000 people to trace the stream, cross the mountains and jungles, and appear near Pengze, this is to end my rear!" ”

At first hearing this, the military officials looked at each other, and Xu Shu, Heifu's staff, changed his face greatly.

He had analyzed this possibility, but he didn't pay much attention to it, because the road was very dangerous, and only hunters and woodcutters would occasionally pass by on weekdays, and it was difficult for a large group of people to pass, so Heifu only left a hundred people to guard the pass.

But what they didn't expect was that Fanyangjun made what they thought was the most unlikely choice.

"The Xu clan still hasn't avoided the disaster of the sword soldiers......"

Xu Shu couldn't help but sigh secretly, now Fanyang took advantage of the Qin army to pour out of the nest and sent troops to fight Peng Ze, the whole Xu clan lived outside the city, if their whole clan hid in the city and resisted with the five hundred Qin troops left behind, at most the house would be burned.

But if Peng Ze is lost, because Xu Shu killed Peng Zejun and surrendered, he will definitely suffer brutal revenge, and even the whole clan will be wiped out!

Concerned about the chaos, Xu Shu immediately got up and said: "Sima, Fanyang Jun sent more than a thousand strange soldiers to attack my rear, and Fanyang should still have the remnants of Ejun, one or two thousand people left." ”

"More than 3,000 people attacked the city of Erli, and it was difficult to win quickly against 2,000 people. If Peng Ze is lost, the grain and grass are burned, and our army is under the enemy city, it will be difficult to seize the grain of the Chu people, I am afraid that it will be demoralized, and it will be easy to be attacked from inside and outside, and our army will be in danger. “

As soon as these words came out, Dongmen Leopard immediately patted the case and said: "Mr. Xu, defeat without a battle is a big taboo!" "Right now, they are only a hundred miles away from Fanyang, how can they be willing to go far?

Gong Ao even said coldly: "I remember, the reputation of the enemy and the fear of the public, but it violates military law!" ”

Xu Shu insisted on his opinion: "I am not advocating the Chu army, but I think that for the sake of safety, it is better to return to the division first to destroy the more than 1,000 people, and then slowly plan to ......."

"Sir is worried about the clansmen and family property outside Pengzeyi."

Li Xian said what Xu Shu was most worried about, and like Zhao Tuo, Xu Shu, a descendant, was also excluded by their small group. Recently, Heifu has been asking Xu Shu more and more for advice, which makes Lixian feel threatened.

Seeing that his subordinates were about to quarrel, Heifu stopped their argument.

His views are no different from those of Dongmen Leopard, Gongao and others.

After thinking about it, Heifu said: "Returning to the division at this moment, I am afraid that I will fall into Fanyang Jun's plan to surround Wei and save Zhao, at that time, not only Fanyang will not be successful, but the Chu people under Pengze City will not be caught, and our army will go back and forth for hundreds of miles, emptying food." As the saying goes, if you are full of energy, then you will decline, and if you go to attack again, you will not have such high morale. ”

"Moreover, if you give up halfway, the Ganyue people will also see this situation in their eyes, although it will not be repeated, but it will also increase the bargaining chips of Wu Rui's father and son."

"But Sima ......"

Seeing that Xu Shu was a little anxious, Heifu asked him rhetorically: "Mr. Xu, what do you think about being appointed by me as Peng Zeyou's little Tao?" ”

"This ......"

Xu Shu was stunned, Heifu's subordinates have different personalities, but they all have their own distinctive characteristics, Man and Anpu, the two five hundred masters are decent, Dongmen Leopard, Gongao is fierce and brave, and Lixian is quite strategic and can make urgent plans.

Only Xiao Tao rarely talks on weekdays, and he has no chance to perform, and he rarely puts forward his own opinions during military discussions. So Xu Shu, who had only met him a few times and had a little friend, didn't know this person, and only felt that Xiao Tao was a little transparent and had no skills.

Seeing that Xu Shu was a little difficult to answer, Heifu laughed: "Among the five hundred people under my command, only Xiao Tao is the most stable, so he ordered him to stay in Peng Ze with a bow and crossbow officer, with Xiao Tao here, the rear is as safe as a rock!" ”

Everyone nodded their heads, all feeling this way.

In the previous battles, perhaps the Dongmen Leopard and Gongao led the charge to the front of the most eye-catching, and on weekdays, perhaps Lixian's strategies are eye-catching. But Xiao Tao and his subordinates are always the most stable corner of the military array, which is in response to the sentence "No wisdom and no bravery, so it is not good to defeat".

So Heifu trusts Xiao Tao and chooses to hand over his back to him, he believes that Xiao Tao will not let him down.

"Besides."

Heifu stopped laughing, looked at Peng Lize's location on the map and said: "Although Xiao Tao only has five hundred soldiers under his command, Zhao Tuo's fleet has also learned the news of Peng Ze's attack at this time, and has returned to Peng Ze's vicinity!" ”

In this southern expedition, not only did Heifu take charge alone, but his subordinates also had the opportunity to lead their own troops and think independently.

As far as gold panning is concerned, blowing away the wild sand to reach gold, in terms of employing people, why is this not the case?

"Zhao Tuo, if you are really not an ordinary grain of river sand, then shine!"