It was September, and it was the clear and cool weather in autumn. Xu Ping handed over the affairs of Qinzhou to the magistrate Fan Xiang and Shi Yannian. He brought his members to Huizhou with his members and others to the Protectorate's Office and officially began preparing for the war after the autumn.

The war in the northwest usually takes place after October and lasts between February and March of the next year. The reason for this is still related to the weather conditions. Although the rain began to decrease in August and September, the land in the mountains was soft, and large troops could have accidents when they marched and fought. A landslide could severely damage the troops in the valley. There are too many unpredictable factors in the war. Only small-scale wars can be carried out outside this period of time, and wars cannot be fought.

Mountains and rivers seriously affect the process of war, not only because they will hinder traffic, but also because they will bring unpredictable geological disasters in combination with weather factors. Xu Ping's army is not enough to ignore this impact, and wars must follow seasonal and climate changes. The line of Tiandu Mountain and Maxian Mountain combined with the Yellow River in the north is a natural geographical barrier. This barrier not only comes from traffic difficulties, but also due to frequent disasters.

In Huizhou, Xu Ping took Tan Hu and Wang Kai out of the city with a light horse and headed to Triangle City where Gao Daquan is located. The land in Triangle City is flat and the water source is given, and it is also located at the Yellow River Ferry, which is more suitable for garrisoning the army than Huizhou.

At this time, all the households in this area had been moved away. On the contrary, the land under Wang Gongchen occupied some riverside beach areas, reclaimed desert land, and prepared for future development. The population in this area is not as good as Xu Ping's previous life. Since the establishment of the two counties of Sanyin and Zuli, the number of households in Huizhou has reached only more than 20,000. At this time, due to years of war, there were less than 10,000 people. All of these 10,000 people were moved away to avoid unpredictable events. It was not a huge burden.

Along the way, Xu Ping paid attention to the road under his feet. Seeing the solid foundation and covered with melon seeds and gravel, it was quite flat, and he felt satisfied. Elms and willows were planted on the roadside, and drainage ditches were opened. At this time, there was still rainwater remaining in the ditch. There was no problem with such a road, and it had strong load capacity and was easy to maintain. Wherever Xu Ping did it, he would build such a road. It was the best quality official road in this era and a political achievement.

At noon, we arrived at a newly established stronghold for the field affairs, and Xu Ping and his party got off the horse and had their meals here. The supervisors here hurriedly came out and handed Xu Ping and his party to the yard of the newly built row of houses.

After sitting down, Lindeng said in embarrassment: "Protector, this place is newly built, and the room is very messy, so it is not easy for nobles to sit there. If you just use some wine and meals here, it is better to hold a banquet in the yard, which is more exciting."

Xu Ping said: "Okay, the weather is right in the yard now. There is no need to drink. You arrange for people to cook a few liters of rice and a few pieces of meat. We will rush to go after eating."

The supervisor Yingnuo ran to make arrangements. After a while, he came back to report to Xu Ping.

Xu Ping looked at the horses tied under the tree not far away and asked the insured official: "How many official horses are there? Who is here?"

"Return to the Protector, he is the governor of this prefecture. He is taking people to check the sand gold in the river here and rest here."

Xu Ping nodded and realized that Bao Zheng was also here. All the households here have been moved away. The land management was under the control of Wang Gongchen's transport commander. He did not have any government affairs and checked the minerals everywhere every day. The water flow of the Yellow River from below Huizhou has become smooth, and the sand and gold are deposited. The surrounding river beaches can be hunted for gold. However, this place has always been sparsely populated, and it is mainly semi-cultivated and semi-pardoned, and has not been mined on a large scale. Gold and silver are the most valuable minerals, and there are many reserves in this area. Moreover, due to the existence of the Yellow River, it can be directly washed out of the water, which naturally attracts Bao Zheng's attention.

Originally, Xu Ping hoped that Bao Zheng would mine the copper mine as soon as possible and cast copper coins here, but he also proposed the smelting affairs, so it was impossible to ignore gold and silver. Moreover, because there were no households here, the magistrates were not allowed to persuade farmers, education, and courtesy of exhorting people, and there was no way to file lawsuits, so they could only focus on this.

After thinking about it, Xu Ping said to Tan Hu: "Send someone to let the people here lead the way and call the governor Bao to have a meal together."

Tan Hu Yingnuo sent a commander to the Yellow River to find Bao Zheng with the supervisor.

This stronghold is not far from the Yellow River. It took not long to take long, Bao Zheng brought a few people over and greeted Xu Ping.

After arranging a seat, Xu Ping asked Bao Zheng: "I have heard that there are many gold coins here. How do you see them after you have seen them?"

Bao Zheng bowed: "Return to the archer and follow the officials to check, the sand and gold in the river in this area are quite considerable. Moreover, from here, there is more and more sand and gold in the water. If people are summoned to come and hunt for gold, they can make a lot of profit every year."

"Okay, this is a way to make money, let's write it down first. The households in this area have moved away, and the land is barren and there are not much grain production. Now there are large troops stationed, and the supply of grain is difficult. Whether it is gold digging or mining, or when people are recruiting, they must take care of their food and drink. You have also seen that the output can only be self-sufficient. When starting a business, it is time to rush gold. If you want to rush the gold, you have to wait until the war is over and the army leaves to ensure the supply of grain. But now, it is better to pick copper first and cast copper coins."

After hearing Xu Ping's words, Bao Zheng said, "The officials can handle it. I saw the mine seedlings a few days ago, and there were great momentums in several places. The officials have arranged personnel to recruit people to Fengxiang Mansion. After waiting for people to come, they can collect copper. Moreover, many of the mine seedlings can produce stones and are very convenient for minting money."

Stone is brass. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, some people offered technology to the court to produce in large quantities. However, Emperor Zhenzong believed that this kind of thing was not good for the country and was easily confused with gold and was not promoted. Many parts in the industry promoted by Xu Ping had to use brass, and the technology was picked up again, and the ratio was more accurate. In addition to industrial use, it was also used to make coins. The face value was different from the usual small flat coins. One penny was equal to two pennies, and of course the weight was much heavier than the small flat coins. Brass was conducive to stamping manufacturing, and the labor cost was much lower than that of ordinary casting methods, and it was a kind of money that was popular among the people. In addition to gold, silver, and copper ores, lead and zinc ores were also rich, and there was no shortage of materials for casting various copper coins.

Xu Ping asked Bao Zheng in detail about the recent exploration of minerals. When he heard that he knew that he had underestimated the wealth of minerals in this area. Almost all the commonly used minerals here are complete, except for the small iron ore, most of the other ones are rich mines. Even the fuel coal used for smelting mining is very sufficient in the area of ​​Triangle City. He built Triangle City with a large amount of local coal resources, so he used bricks to build the city, and the city walls and major buildings in the city were all made of large bricks.

Unlike Xu Ping's previous imagination, most of the cities, villages and forts in the northwest of the Song Dynasty were made of bricks, and the earthen cities he thought almost did not exist. The worst was the rammed earth inside and bread bricks outside. The most common one was two bread bricks. Dangxiang's southern offensive almost never forcibly attacked the city. Even if it was a small village, it would be avoided if it could. If it was really avoided, it would try to lure the Song army inside to eliminate it. Such brick cities were indeed difficult for Dangxiang, who lacked siege equipment and means.
Chapter completed!