Chapter 280

In later generations, Longyan had 64 proven mineral types, among which 16 — including gold, copper, iron, coal, kaolin, and limestone — ranked first in reserves across all of Fujian Province, making it the undisputed frontrunner in mining.

For the Transmigrators, what they needed most urgently right now was the copper mine at Zijin Mountain.

Zijin Mountain, less than 20 li from Longyan County seat, had five elegantly sheer peaks that glowed with the morning sun and reflected the evening light, its color purple like gold; in later generations it was not only a mining district but also a tourist scenic spot.

Zijin Mountain lived up to its name. It held over one ton of gold reserves and more than two million tons of copper reserves, making it China's second-largest copper mine, vividly described by later generations as "a copper baby wearing a golden hat."

The Transmigrators were not particularly concerned about the gold mine, but the copper mine was a different matter.

In fact, due to the shortage of copper material, the Kiln District had already turned much of its stockpiled silver ingots into wire — the Transmigration Nation's financial system was now on a wire standard.

The Manhattan Project sounded impressive, but in the 17th century it meant little; silver mines all over the world were just waiting for the Transmigrators to come dig them up.

Besides the most urgently needed copper mine, the Makeng Iron Mine northeast of the county seat was the largest iron mine in East China; the "Donggongxia" kaolin mine north of the county seat was one of China's four major high-quality kaolin mines. In addition, the coal fields at places like Baisha and Changfushan, and the limestone at Zhangping Ridge, were also very famous in later generations.

In short, sweeping away the demons and monsters around Longyan, while simultaneously dredging the waterways and making preparations for transporting the various ores out — this was the mission of the advance force led by Ding Liqiu and Wei Yuan.

In fact, the Transmigration Nation's most important annual foreign investment was Longyan County. The Ming People could never have imagined that Longyan, already designated as a mining base, would receive so many resources in the future and undergo such earth-shattering changes.

In today's meeting with Yu County Magistrate, Ding Liqiu naturally did not need to go into such detail; if the scope was too grand, he feared frightening Old Master Yu. So Ding Scribe only picked the parts the Ming People could understand to discuss, focusing on the coal mine and iron mine.

As for the Zijin Mountain copper mine — that place would not be prospected until the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" period in later generations; the Ming people had no knowledge of it yet.

"So that's it, so that's it... Hmph, your tails are showing now!" Yu County Magistrate appeared disdainful, but the way he relaxed comfortably against the back of his chair and the slight upward curl at the corner of his mouth had already betrayed him.

When Yu Yinggui finished listening to Ding Scribe's explanation, a great stone in his heart finally settled. This bandit suppression campaign, which had seemed utterly bizarre from start to finish, now at last had an explanation.

Yu County Magistrate was not afraid of outsiders coming to dig up whatever damned coal or iron mines.

In later generations, Longyan's forest coverage rate in that industrial world was 78%; in the primitive era of the 17th century, the forest coverage rate exceeded 85%, so the local folk had absolutely no habit of digging for coal.

With firewood and brush everywhere, who would bother laboriously digging out that filthy black coal — even though everyone knew where the coal was.

As for the iron mine, that was even simpler. Longyan had produced iron since ancient times; there were plenty of private kilns in the mountains. If the Cao Family wanted to go dig, they were welcome to — Yu County Magistrate would not interfere. Of course, collecting a tax was still necessary.

He had harbored many worries before. His primary fear was that these were Battle Power Weakling guest soldiers come to scrounge; what he feared even more was that this was some high-level backroom deal — sending a bunch of pampered young masters to gild the resume of some official's son, a fake bandit suppression to claim military merit, that sort of thing.

In the latter scenario, if anything went wrong, he, Old Yu, would bear the political responsibility. That was why, ever since meeting Ding Liqiu, Old Master Yu had been constantly probing for the Transmigrators' true intentions.

Now it was fine. Once he understood what these outsiders were after, Yu County Magistrate immediately felt at ease.

At ease, his wits returned. Old Master Yu now leaned back comfortably in his chair, tea bowl in hand, his expression turning into something between a smile and a smirk. "Mr. Ding, you see clearly — this Longyan County is poor in mountains and trapped by waters, its people's strength depleted. As for corvée labor... well, with the Rear Palace repairs these past few days, the county has already conscripted a number of craftsmen."

After a sip of tea, Old Yu continued, "If we were to undertake a major project, it would harm the people excessively — truly difficult to justify conscription."

Corvée labor was the feudal government's most precious resource. Adult males serving corvée not only had to provide their own labor but also their own food — the vast majority of government projects were completed through annually conscripted corvée labor.

Throughout every dynasty and era, corvée labor was the harshest of tyrannical policies. Labor service, miscellaneous service, military service — these methods of squeezing the populace had ruined countless families.

Ming Dynasty corvée was divided into three types: first, Lijia Labor, which handled the affairs of a li; second, Equalized Labor, which provided regular service to the government; third, Miscellaneous Labor, which covered all temporarily assigned duties.

The corvée labor Ding Liqiu and Yu County Magistrate were discussing now fell into the latter two categories.

Hearing the county magistrate's evasions, Ding Liqiu did not grow angry. "Your Honor cares deeply for the people under your governance — truly admirable. However, Old Magistrate, you may have misunderstood. The corvée labor this student wishes to conscript will be paid."

At this point, Ding Liqiu tapped the tabletop twice with his middle finger, then added two words in a very firm tone: "Rice. Salt."

"Oh? Paid?" At the mention of payment, Yu County Magistrate's and Wang Scribe's ears both perked up. "How so?"

"All civilian laborers who answer the call will be provided with food and lodging, wages settled daily — silver, rice, or salt, all acceptable." Ding Liqiu smiled and tapped the table again. "Your Excellency need only summon the idle hands from the mountains. As for the rest of the expenses — heh, to be frank with Your Excellency, they are not even worth my general's consideration."

"Hiss—" Hearing this, Yu Yinggui could not help but draw in a sharp breath. "These sea bandits really do have money! In that case, perhaps that matter can be laid upon these fellows..."

At this thought, Old Master Yu was instantly energized. He straightened his back, his eyes bright and intent as he looked at Ding Liqiu, then said slowly, "General Cao has come to Longyan to accomplish great things. As a fellow servant of the court, this student should offer his full support. However, there is one matter currently tying up this student's hands and feet — I wonder..."

Ding Liqiu knew the real play had arrived. "We are all on the same side. If Your Honor has something to say, please speak freely."

Yu Yinggui drew a long breath, then slowly exhaled two words: "Bridge repair."

"Done."

Ding Liqiu smoothly caught the thread while the County Magistrate stared dumbfounded, as if he had known all along.

In fact, he did know. Historically, this County Magistrate had "solicited donations" from local wealthy households to get silver for bridge repairs. Now that he had encountered a fat mark, it was naturally hard to change his nature. Having navigated Ming Dynasty officialdom these days, Ding Liqiu had long since figured out these officials' temperaments — if not for fame, then for profit; they always had to claim one side.

Once His Honor the County Magistrate confirmed that this side would donate funds to build a bridge, and that it would be constructed in his venerable name, the biggest problem was solved.

In fact, the Transmigrators would be building several bridges in the future. Whether it was the gold-copper mine or the coal and iron mines, all these ores required bridges and roads to be transported out of the mountains, so bridge construction had been part of the plan all along.

Once the key agreement — the County Yamen conscripting civilian laborers, the Transmigrators footing the bill — was reached, there was nothing left worth discussing.

As for the bandit suppression matters the two sides had originally intended to discuss, Ding Liqiu naturally could not tell the County Magistrate the true strength of these 200 soldiers — after all, today these soldiers had been deliberately showing weakness by carrying only large blades and spears.

So in the end, he could only use the excuse of "reinforcements are coming" to fob off the County Magistrate: You, old sir, should focus on organizing the civilian laborers — leave the bandit suppression to us.

By the time everything was settled, it was already dusk. Ding Liqiu took his leave from the County Yamen and returned to the military camp at the Rear Palace.

By now the sky had darkened, but battery electric lights already glowed at key positions within the camp. A bonfire blazed in the center of the main courtyard, and the soldiers were eating their meals around the fire — everything was in perfect order.

The 200 soldiers Wei Yuan called the "Red Spear Camp" were precisely the elite of the Transmigration Nation's earliest-trained army unit — the reinforced First Company, First Battalion.

With the influx of large numbers of immigrants and the geometric rise in Dayuan's permanent population, the Transmigration Nation's military had also received numerical reinforcements. The army had grown from its initial 100-man company to over 2,000 men now, organized into four battalions.

The soldiers sent to Longyan for bandit suppression were those 200 troops armed with original imported redwood rifles. And sending this elite unit to suppress bandits was a decision the army had made after careful deliberation.

First, this was the army's first time stationing and fighting at scale on the Ming mainland — an event of historical significance — so sending these "red-rooted, upright" soldiers of the First Company was fitting for the occasion.

Second, Army Headquarters was preparing for the Enthronement Ceremony one month away.

According to the already-established protocol, on the day Cao Huangshang ascended the throne, certain individuals and units would be granted titles. Among them, the Army's First Company would certainly receive a designation like "Imperial Guard" or "Royal Firearm Camp."

So this was the reason for sending them deep into Ming territory to suppress bandits: with genuine battle merit, they could then rightfully accept the title when the time came.

"So, is everything coordinated?" After returning to camp, Ding Liqiu went straight to the battalion HQ of First Battalion Commander Wei Yuan — which was actually a side hall in the middle of the Rear Palace, now converted into a barracks room with wooden board partitions, a strong smell of disinfectant permeating the space.

"It's settled. Starting tomorrow, civilian workers will report to the county seat in batches — we'll build the dock first. Say, did you ask? Can those construction guys arrive tomorrow?"

Wei Yuan nodded. "Contacted Jinshan Town. They'll arrive tomorrow along with the rifles."

"Then what about tonight? These wretched mountains and foul waters are crawling with bandits — just looking at them gives me the creeps. The soldiers can't stand guard with three-eye blunderbusses, can they?" This was Ding Liqiu's first time staying outside a 17th-century city wall since crossing over; he felt unsafe no matter what.

"Relax. Automatic rifles, night vision devices — tonight I'll personally keep watch from the watchtower. Guarantee you a peaceful sleep."

As he spoke, Wei Yuan reached into a cloth wrap on the wall, pulled out an AK, and tossed it to his grinning orderly, Yang Er; then he drew out a personally customized tycoon-gold edition G17. Master and disciple donned their night vision devices and swaggered out the door with an air of utter arrogance.