Chapter 754: It Is Just Copper Ore

For a major matter like finding suspected new ore, it naturally cannot be told to those workers first; among them are not only the regular workers here, but also a portion of tenant farmers. Due to confidentiality requirements and the importance of this matter, one can only find the blacksmiths who are no longer responsible for specialized smelting.

The process of waiting for it to cool was still very long, and Baifeng immediately began to look around this place he had created with his own hands, a place where he had once worked himself. He had not been here for a long time; besides his own requirements and construction, many things had appeared here that the artisans had crafted based on their own experience, and the layout was also entirely according to their habits. Baifeng was quite satisfied with this.

His only requirement and exhortation was to pay attention to safety; after all, it is the main place for crafting Weaponry, and dealing with metal and fire all day makes accidents very easy to happen. Although the construction period is tight and the workload is heavy, every one of these artisans is a treasure more important than Iron.

Baifeng's words made the artisans feel warm inside, and a few sentences made them grateful to Baifeng. This is the charisma of a superior, and Baifeng is also the master and patriarch of these blacksmiths; whether in his capacity as King or as a teacher, they must show sufficient respect.

During the idle chat, the fire had already gone out, the charcoal had no sparks, and the temperature in the furnace had dropped quite a bit. Zhu immediately picked up a hammer, smashed the temporarily made furnace in one go, and then used tongs to rummage through the ashes.

But even though it was extinguished, there was still some temperature. Baifeng felt this heat, and he could not get close to look, so he poured water over it directly to make the temperature of the ashes drop immediately.

However, with just this splash, some small pieces flashing with golden light were immediately washed out. Baifeng was very happy: "Quick, quick! Pick them out."

The artisans were also very excited; this color meant that they had truly succeeded in smelting copper, and just by picking and choosing now, they had turned up a considerable number of copper lumps, which shows how high the copper content of those green copper ores is.

The artisan put the picked-out copper pieces into a water basin to clean them. The glittering copper pieces made everyone's mood soar, but they still had to mind their manners and did not cheer out loud.

After cleaning the copper and gathering it together, Baifeng picked up a piece to test the feel; it was very solid. Based on the overall yield, the copper content of those green stones was at least fifty percent. This is an incredibly high number, and Baifeng felt even more that their technical level was too low; otherwise, they should have been able to have a higher yield.

However, having this already proves that those green stones are copper ore, and its importance even exceeds the Saltpeter of Xiao Town, though Xiao Town cannot be renamed Copper Town.

But a problem now is that the copper ore in places like Xiao Town is distributed very sparsely and very chaotically. It is possible that a lot was found in one place before, but after those visible to the naked eye were dug up, no traces could be found in the land.

Baifeng does not know how much copper reserve Xiao Town has, nor does he know the principle behind the production of this malachite-like substance, so he cannot infer how much mineral there is or where it should be looked for. Now, if they want to find it, they can only rely on luck.

The Division Commander also told Baifeng that Che had already issued rewards under the Construction Team of Xiao Town; as long as they can find these green stones, he will give extra food rewards, so the speed of searching is still relatively fast now. If everyone were not searching specifically, perhaps this kind of stone would never have been discovered by anyone.

Baifeng still approves of Che's approach, and he issued this requirement in his personal name, not in the name of Huaxia, so Baifeng decided to write an order to confirm this policy: as long as they can find it, no matter if they are people of Huaxia or not, they can receive food rewards.

Considering the current situation of those people from the Xuanyuan Tribe, he even indicated that the rewarded food could be issued to those who found the stones now, not counted as their rations, nor as their wages; it would be given to the Laborers themselves and would not be given to the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Those Laborers still do not know that the Xuanyuan Tribe has already sold them for a good price. They only know that working for Huaxia allows them to eat their fill, and after returning, the Xuanyuan Tribe might distribute more food to them, but in reality, what they earn themselves will be more than what the Xuanyuan Tribe gives them.

Subsequently, the blacksmiths put the copper lumps into a crucible, melted them again, and then poured them into molds to make copper ingots, which is convenient for storage and later use. Huaxia's Iron is also preserved in this way, but with Huaxia's current demand, even if the blast furnace smelts Iron day and night, the warehouse of the Blacksmith Division cannot keep too many Iron Ingots. This is still under the condition that the Blacksmith Division has relatively few hands; if the Blacksmith Division had enough people, those stocks would definitely be consumed.

Regarding this secret of copper, Baifeng requested that they keep it conservative for the time being and not tell anyone; when the time comes, this good news will be fully announced.

In this regard, Baifeng is also thinking that the strategic significance of Xiao Town has increased by a few points. In the future, Xiao Town needs to be paid more attention to; the city wall can be higher than planned, the Arrow Towers can be a few more, and if they want Cement, they can also be given more according to their needs.

And at that location of Xiao Town, building a copper smelting plant is also completely feasible; after all, when people migrate to Xiao Town in the future, there must be enough jobs.

Several thousand or ten thousand people—in the future, it might exceed ten thousand there. Although the main work task is on Saltpeter, it is impossible for everyone to go dig Saltpeter and refine Saltpeter. How much labor can one Saltpeter plant accommodate? Relying solely on Huaxia to support them will not work.

However, the land there is arid and barren, and the probability of being able to grow food is not high. Even if the location for Princess Meng to plant is well chosen, the yield will not be high. Therefore, how the people of Xiao Town will survive in the future is actually a matter that troubles Baifeng.

For the time being, the food is definitely enough, and Huaxia can afford to supply it, but what about a few years later, or decades later? With more and more people, it is impossible for everyone to wait to be distributed food.

Baifeng originally planned for Xiao Town to be a transit station to earn wealth from the service industry, but the appearance of the copper mine gave Baifeng more choices.