After eating, seeing that it was still early, Quan Erlang jumped up from the ground and said, "The mountain over there is not high, I'll go over and see if I can pick up a roe deer rabbit or something, let's roast and eat." Without these, it's good to dig out some eggs. ”

Yang Dalang said: "Although there are many wild things in the mountains, where is there such good luck to be picked up by you?" Or don't run around and beware of getting lost. ”

Where is Kwon Jiro willing to listen? As he walked towards the foot of the mountain, he said, "If you can't find any wild things, you will touch two fish from the stream and eat them." ”

In this era, fish and shrimp are considered vegetables, not meat. Even the monks eat fasting and keep precepts, and many of them do not avoid fish. In the concept of ordinary people, eating fish is not eating meat. This is true in many places, and only in China.

Along the stream, Quan Erlang walked to the foot of the hill, looked up at the densely wooded hill, and then looked at Yang Dalang, who was sitting and resting not far away, hesitated, and still climbed up the mountain. I didn't climb far, and suddenly I tripped under my feet and almost fell. When I looked down, I saw a thick wooden stick on the ground, buried under the dead leaves, covered with moss. I had the intention to pick it up as a crutch, and bent down to pick it up, but I didn't want the stick to be heavy, and suddenly it was flashed, and my feet slipped, and I stepped on a pumice stone, and sat on the ground with my butt.

The stone rolled down the hillside, and after a while it fell into the water, and there was a "plop" sound.

Quan Erlang muttered: "Blame, does this stick grow in the ground?" Why is it so heavy! ”

With all your strength, lift the stick from the ground. When I held it in my hand, I realized that it was not a wooden stick, but a lost stick. There is a point in the front, and if you look good, it should be a crowbar.

Holding the crowbar in his hand, Quan Erlang tried it, and said in his mouth: "It's a good piece of iron, which can be used as a mace, but it's a little heavier." ”

I fell down just now, and then I looked at the hill in front of me, and my heart was weak and I didn't want to go up. I remembered that there was an obvious sound of water in the place where the stone had fallen down the mountain, and it might have been a pond, so I wanted to go down and catch fish. There are not many people here, as long as there is water, there are many big fish.

Walking down the hillside, not far away, I saw a hole in the dark ahead, just below the foot of the mountain. When he arrived at the cave, Quan Erlang stretched out his head to look at it for a while, and saw a pool of clear water below, and the cave wall was extremely rough, with traces of artificial excavation. This hole is too small, where does it look like a waterhole? Quan Erlang circled around, and he didn't dare to go in. I don't know what kind of road this is, Quan Erlang had to take a crowbar and return to Yang Dalang's resting place.

Seeing Quan Erlang coming back with a stick, Yang Dalang said lazily: "In this kind of place, how can wild things be so easy to hunt?" Rest well, and we'll get back on our way in a moment. Turn the hill and find a leeward place to spend the night. ”

Quan Erlang went to the fire and sat down, handed the crowbar in his hand to Yang Dalang, and said: "Although I didn't hunt wild animals, I picked up a good piece of iron, and when I was free in a few days, my brother gave me a Pu knife with me." ”

"Deep in the mountains, how to strike iron?" Yang Dalang took the iron rod in his hand and looked at it. "It's an iron drill that looks like it's been rusting like this for many years. There is no one here to live in, how could anyone leave such a thing behind? ”

Saying that, Yang Dalang remembered something and stood up suddenly: "No, the iron drill may be used for mining!" Brother, tell me what you saw in front of you. Perhaps, there is a place where the ancients mined! ”

Quan Erlang said: "That's a small hill, there is nothing, how to open a mine?" But under the hillside, a hole was dug in the flat ground, one or two zhang square, and the hole was full of water, I don't know how deep. When I look at the walls of the cave, it looks like someone dug it out. ”

Yang Dalang said: "Since it is dug by people, in such a place, in addition to mining, what else can you do?" Take me to see it! ”

Quan Erlang was a little reluctant, but seeing Yang Dalang's serious appearance, he had to stand up and lead him to the cave.

As soon as Yang Dalang looked at the hole dug in the ground, he had a rough guess in his heart. I walked around the hole, picked up a few pieces, and watched carefully in the sun. There is nothing special about these pottery shards, they may have been clay pots and pots in the past, but they are very old.

Quan Erlang stood aside and said to Yang Dalang: "Brother, what do you think that is doing?" This kind of thing, it's all over the place. ”

Yang Dalang didn't look back and said, "It's nothing special, I'm just going to see when it is." If my guess is correct, this should be a hole left by previous mining. It's just that there is no smelting furnace left nearby, and there is not even a trace at all. Either they transported the ore to another place for smelting, or because it was so old, the furnace was long gone. ”

Hearing this, Quan Erlang smiled and said, "The mine is so easy to find? If this is the case, why should the government reward him heavily, isn't it a fool! ”

Yang Dalang put down the pottery shard in his hand and said: "There were a lot of iron smelting in this area in ancient times, and this kind of mining relics are certainly not difficult to find. But once you've found a place, you have to make sure that there are really veins here, and that it's a big mine that only gets a reward. If you don't have this ability, how can you get the reward? ”

After speaking, he pondered for a while and said: "This pottery shard looks very old, at least hundreds of years ago, according to my estimate, no later than the two Han Dynasty." ”

Where is Quan Erlang willing to believe? It's just a piece of pottery, can you still see the age?

Seeing Yang Dalang bending over to look around, Quan Erlang was bored, holding an iron rod and stirring in the grass. After a few strokes, he found that there were some small stones on the head of the iron rod, and scolded: "Blame, how can the stones here get on my stick!" ”

When he lifted the stick and was about to get rid of it, Yang Dalang turned around abruptly and said, "Wait!" Show me the stone! ”

Quan Erlang was startled, walked up to Yang Dalang with a stick, stretched his head over, and said, "What's so beautiful about the stone!" ”

Yang Dalang took off the stone, looked at it carefully, tried it on the iron rod again, and nodded: "There is a mine here, and it is a rich mine." Brother, take a look around, if there are any such stones around, the bigger the better. ”

Gonjiro didn't believe that it was so easy to find the mine, so he looked around like a small stone, and after a while, he really found a few big pieces.

Yang Erlang carefully examined the stone and said to Quan Erlang: "Brother, our luck is good, we really found a good mine here." You see, this stone can be sucked up to the iron rod, and this is the magnet inside. Looking at the appearance of this stone, it is not born like this, it must have been quarried from other places. Coupled with the iron drill in your hand, you can be sure that this is the place where the ancients mined iron. ”

Although Quan Erlang didn't believe that it was so easy, seeing that Yang Dalang said it categorically, he said happily: "In this way, we can go to the government to receive the reward?" ”

Yang Dalang smiled: "Where is it so easy!" We also need to see if there are any veins in this hole and what the trend is. If it's just a small mine that has already been harvested by the predecessors, which one will give you a reward. The latter thing is the most troublesome. ”

Quan Erlang said: "How to investigate this?" We just need to report it, and the government will do it. ”

Yang Dalang shook his head again and again: "There must be a lot of such ancient mining pits around. Now that I report it, even if there is a reward, it will not be much, and it is not a waste of opportunity. Let's stay here and explore this place for a few days to see if there are any seedlings around. ”

The most abundant iron ores are magnetite and hematite, and in addition to the color, magnetite is naturally magnetic and is not difficult to find. What really shows the technology is to estimate the size of the ore from the general direction of the ore seedlings and veins, the different points where the ore seedlings are exposed. This is the value of Yang Dalang.