Chapter 121

Wei Shen laughed uncontrollably, the Great King fell and broke a small tree, now the whole dough ball is pressing on the poor sapling, it's so funny his cousin forgot the 'waist chop' and laughed until he snorted.

Everyone said it might be secretly hidden wealth; they surely concealed it well. This road usually has few travelers, so the conditions are a bit messy, and the Great King accidentally ran into trouble.

The Great King rose, intending to throw stones at his ridiculously laughing cousin, but after feeling around, this broken mountain didn't even have a suitable stone!

The Great King clenched his fists and slammed a palm onto the nearby large stone—who knew that the gray, lumpy stone would just… crumble like that……

His cousin seemed to have his throat choked, unable to laugh, and the Great King picked up a broken piece and threw it at him!

Wei Shen hurriedly dodged.

When he threw the second piece, huh? He picked up a nice-looking one!

"There's a black, shiny stone underneath…… This isn't white… who was it that said that something earlier?"

Wei Shen intended to quickly move on from this, he went over and enthusiastically said: "It's quite bright, is it the black bead bracelet you're selling?"

Great King: "Obsidian? Not really~"

Wei Shen rushed over and rubbed it carefully: "Really not, it's still losing color—look, your hand is black!"

The Great King raised his little black hand and suddenly realized: "Coal!"

And it's an open-pit coal mine!

When the Great King had nothing to sell, Bai Yang had analyzed with him the possible mineral deposits in Youzhou. The Great King knew about gold, silver, and jade mines; Bai Yang mentioned what they lacked in the Great Jin, which included coal.

Because Youzhou winters are cold, the people cut down all the trees for firewood; Baiyang said it would be great if there were a coal mine, it burns well. The King also inquired about it specifically!

The King instantly forgot about propriety, got up and started looking around for black stones; in a short while everyone had dug up four or five pieces around.

The King was extremely excited, already forgetting to look for the bandits' property, "Quick! Who has a fire starter on them?"

Weishen had one on him; the soldiers quickly gathered some dry twigs, wrapped those few black stones in the middle, and started a fire.

Although they didn't even know how to properly look for a cave, they suddenly stopped and began burning the stones; but after mixing with the owl cavalry for so long, they all knew whatever the King said was right.

After piling up twigs twice, the King's face was smoked into a little flower pattern; that black stone caught fire!

Lingyin, being a calm person, was fine; the whole hilltop was filled with Weishen's shocked clamor.

"What's going on? How did the stone catch fire?"

"What's the reason?"

"Is it not going out?"

"Your Highness, say something!"

His Highness gave a foolish laugh: "Hehe~"

Who would have thought that suppressing the bandits would also uncover an open-pit coal mine; even if the scale is small, the King isn't greedy, he doesn't mind getting a little less for free.

A crowd gathered around the open space waiting for it to die out, but this coal burned surprisingly long; the King's grin grew wider and wider: "Let's go find their property first."

The King led the team, after accurately sensing the direction twice, they found a cave; the soldiers inside discovered plenty of food, over a hundred sacks. The King finally understood why the household census showed many small villages fleeing down the mountain—this stronghold was still standing firm, its people truly had no worries about food and drink.

The second cave yielded several hundred taels of silver and some jewelry, but the King didn't even glance at them, his mind solely on his coal.

When the troop turned back, the coal left in place was still burning; this time everyone finally realized it was a treasure.

Everything went smoothly; they withdrew from the mountain before nightfall, leaving a few people to handle the aftermath—corpses, captives, and women and children—because the King was eager to learn about the coal mine, the main force turned back that very night and hurried back to Youzhou.

Unfortunately, it was too late; they didn't find Baiyang at home.

The next day, the Youwang Prefecture posted a notice that the bandits of Yanque Mountain had been eradicated; consequently, the surrounding roads could be used normally again, and families whose daughters had been abducted could go to Tongshui County to reclaim them.

For Youzhou city it was at most a cause for applause, but Tongshui County, which had suffered disaster for many years, practically celebrated a New Year—its great worry had just been eliminated like that!

Only then did the deserted Tongshui realize that the troops that had passed through yesterday belonged to the Wang Prefecture, not to the northern barbarians heading south.

Instead, they began praising the King's personal guard camp as divine soldiers descending from heaven, so brave!

In Tongshui, even if you randomly grab an old woman on the street and ask, everyone knows the newly arrived King is quite reliable—having been here less than a year, he already wiped out Yanque Mountain; previously, no matter how many prefects were changed, nobody ever gave them justice.

The common folk don't know that Youzhou's prefect basically has few troops; normally they rely entirely on Shanggu Pass, and even combined they still don't outnumber the bandits; people only know the King is young and accomplished.

The young and accomplished King skipped class to go suppress a bandit; returning from Yanque Mountain he barely slept, and the next day he not only skipped class but also skipped the court assembly. The Chancellor and Grand Tutor came together; upon hearing they were both there, the King said, "Those who come harbor ill intent~"

Zhao Bao: "... You know that too."

After the two were ushered in, the King took the initiative: "The Chancellor and Grand Tutor have arrived! Perfect, I just woke up and was about to summon you two! Quick, look at what treasure I found yesterday!"

The King clapped his hands; Zhao Bao presented a tray with a speechless expression, on which lay two large, dull black stones.

The Grand Tutor wanted to laugh; this King clearly knows why they came, he's deliberately making an excuse to divert them. He glanced at Xue Xiang beside him—can the Chancellor really let him get away with that?

Who would have thought Xue Xiang would be so gullible: "What kind of gemstone is this?"

The King nodded like a pecking chick: "It's something even better than a gemstone!"

Xue Xiang: "Oh? I'd love to hear the details, and let this servant broaden his horizons."

Grand Tutor: "... Cough cough!" We came here for what, and you already forgot?

The King had already begun rattling on about promoting his coal mine: "... Do you dare believe I fell and stumbled into a coal mine? This black stone is called coal; Grand Tutor, despite your wide learning, you may or may not have heard of it. It can burn for a long time, the top choice for heating and forging! Do you know how long just this piece can burn? Half an hour! I've heard there are little tricks; I'll go ask Mr. Zhao for more details—with this coal, Youzhou could save plenty of trees..."

At first the two just thought to see what excuse he could make up, but after hearing about the two black stones, the two bigwigs exchanged a glance, both eyes filled with shock.

Youzhou's mountains have been stripped bare; if there really is something that can provide warmth, it's indeed more useful than decorative gemstones you can only wear.

But, "Your Highness, are you sure this stone can burn? I've never heard of such a thing." Could it be that they know you've come to admonish them, and now you're making up an absurd excuse?

The King: "Ah, we've already burned a few pieces on the mountain, it truly can burn for a long time! Chancellor, do we have any talent for mining? How to extract the coal mine still needs research; in three months Youzhou will be cold, let's stockpile some coal!"

"I've never heard of a coal mine; Doctor Liu once served in Jiu Shan, where there are iron mines—should be similar, right?... Your Highness, are you sure it really can burn?" The Chancellor truly has never seen a stone burn; it's beyond his comprehension.

The King had no choice but to burn a piece for the two close attendants to see; fortunately he had found several large pieces and brought them back.

He picked out an ugly-shaped piece and gave it to Zhao Bao: "Break it into a few chunks, put them in the charcoal basin and bring it over; don't forget to bring some tinder, wait! Add a few sweet potato vines as well."

The Grand Tutor stroked his handsome beard and speculated: "Could it be that this stone needs sweet potato to ignite?"

The King: "No, that's not it. I just think roasting sweet potatoes with it would definitely smell great!"

Grand Tutor:...

Sorry to disturb you.