Chapter 265: Mine Inspection, Mining in the Classical Era
"Haha, Necali, my warrior who is good at fighting!"
Shulot laughed. He took two steps forward, held up the warrior captain's arm, and motioned for him to stand up.
"You have been in charge of the main copper mine in Qingambat for four months. How is the situation at the mine?"
"Your Highness, the main copper mine is operating normally. There are five brigades of miners, more than a thousand people in total. There is one brigade of warriors, 200 people!"
Necali stood up and answered loudly, as if he were being inspected by a marshal in a legion. He continued to report respectfully and in detail.
"At the end of the Western Expedition, the Chinganbat copper mine fell into chaos. The Tarasco warriors who guarded the copper mine were transferred to the front line, and most of the old miners fled. The mining area began to recover after the victory of the Western Expedition. Under the leadership of the Holy Eagle Warrior, With the help of the company, new miners were constantly recruited from all over the country. July and August were the peak months of the rainy season. The rain was too heavy and the mine was suspended for more than two months. The mine was not officially smelted until mid-September. Small furnace, now a new batch of copper materials has been smelted and can be transported to the capital at any time."
Shulot took a step forward and strode towards the mine while listening to the samurai captain's report. The warrior commander whispered a few instructions, and the thousands of personal guards were divided into two teams. Half of them were stationed outside, occupying high altitudes for reconnaissance, focusing on the south. The other half held the weapon with a cold expression and followed the king's figure.
Amidst the solemn footsteps of the guards, the deep and majestic Black Wolf King flag was also erected on the high ground of the mining camp. The guarding warriors shouted harshly, and more than a thousand miners, like a large group of worker ants, knelt down in obedience. They bowed their heads deeply and clung to the cold and muddy ground. They did not dare to make any sound or peek at the king's face. They just waited silently for the king's instructions.
"Yes, his expression is numb, his eyes are fearful, and his obedience is very good."
After observing the performance of the miners, Shulot waved his hand.
"Let them continue working without delaying production."
Upon hearing this, the warrior captain immediately became murderous and roared.
"The Supreme King has come to the mine! Come to work with all your energy! Anyone who fails to meet today's target will be hung on the railing by me, one by one!"
The miners whispered in fear, like worker bees receiving orders. Soon, they lowered their heads again and started busy in silence.
Shulot looked around and saw the so-called railing. It was a higher hill with a row of wooden poles several meters long, and dozens of heads were hanging on the wooden poles. The autumn on the plateau is still hot, and the head has long been rotted beyond recognition. A large swarm of flies hovered around the head, and the faint smell drifted in the wind, spreading a silent intimidation.
"Your Highness, this is the miner leader who was the first to cause trouble and was unwilling to go to the mine when work resumed! There were also some miners who were drafted and wanted to escape at night. I arrested them all that day and showed them one by one in front of the miners. Behead!"
Necharion raised his head and commended himself to His Highness for his decisiveness.
"This group of miners was disobedient and just wanted to make a fuss, but I suppressed it easily! After grabbing the leader's skeleton and cutting them off one by one, the other followers became much more docile. We Mexica warriors are all corpses They were killed in the mountains and seas of blood, so there is no room for these humble miners to be arrogant! No matter how dangerous it is to mine in the mine, you have to be honest and die in the mine!"
Shulot looked at it for a moment and nodded expressionlessly.
Mining underground has always been considered a dangerous route. And in this age of mythological ignorance, this is even more true. People generally believe that the underground is the kingdom of the dead. Going deep underground lurks irresistible dangers and offends the majesty of the gods. Mining in mines is just like sailing. They are occupations that are only pursued when forced to do so, and they do not have a long-term and reliable future. The status of miners in the entire society is very low, and it is difficult for them to get married and start a family.
After the Western Expedition, the nobles from all over the country were wiped out, large tracts of farmland were abandoned without owners, and there were still many widowed young women in the countryside. As long as the miners lie about being refugees and fleeing to villages, they can work on public fields, happily marry wives and have children, and live a long and peaceful life. Without violent coercion and restraint, few miners would be willing to stay in the mines.
This group of skilled miners can be recruited only by relying on the strict military management in the lake area. Their origins were identified by the shrewd village elders and reported to the priest in charge. They were then escorted here by the militia captains.
The king pondered for a moment and then slowly spoke.
"Necali, forced restraint is indeed essential, but it cannot be done blindly. Jaguars hunting wild deer will also leave life for the deer herd. The treatment of the miners can be appropriately improved."
"As you command, Your Highness."
The warrior captain immediately bowed his head and accepted the order. Then, he smiled and said.
"Your Highness, the veterans of the legion all know that you have always been merciful, and we all regard you as a mountain to look up to! After executing the miner leader, I specially distributed samurai drinks to appease the miners. They also had enough food. , Your Highness, you can rest assured!”
"Very good! I will allocate enough drinks for you. Necali, ever since you adapted to the situation and captured the gate of the royal capital, I have valued your ability and have high hopes for you! Mining copper mines is a major event for the feudal country. , I’ll leave it to you, I’m relieved!”
Shulot smiled and nodded, patting the other party's shoulder affectionately.
Miners in this era were extremely tired and hard, and their lives were always in danger. They are highly organized and can escape surveillance and secretly communicate in underground mines. Moreover, they have bronze mining pickaxes in their hands, so they are prone to riots. They are the most dangerous category of civilians and require equally strong managers to manage them.
Necali was a senior scout, with excellent martial arts skills, able to survive brutal battles in battle, and proficient in the Prepecha language. He is flexible and ruthless in his methods. He can not only suppress the warriors he leads, but also suppress the rioting miners in time.
Shulot took a fancy to his past performance and appointed him as the person in charge of the mine. Now it seems that this candidate is very suitable!
Thinking of this, the king's smile became gentle.
"Necali, my warrior, are you used to staying in the mine? If you have any needs in daily life, you can tell me directly, or you can mention it to the logistics officer who transports grain and grass in the future!"
"Ah, Your Highness, a warrior must restrain his desires and polish his body. I don't have any requirements in life, I just have an idea in my heart."
The samurai captain's expression changed. He hesitated for a moment, and then carefully changed his name to a more affectionate one after seeing His Highness's encouraging smile.
"Marshal, I am a veteran who has followed you in the war for many years. I am a senior warrior who has been beheading and being promoted. I have never touched a copper pickaxe. I want to return to the legion, participate in the war of the feudal country, and continue to fight for you! This The boring job of guarding a mine is so boring that you get sores on your butt."
"Ha ha!"
Hearing Nekali's request, Shulot couldn't help but laugh. He thought for a while, straightened his expression, and ordered.
"Necali, the Western Expedition has just stopped, and the country needs to recuperate. There has been no major war recently. Even if troops are used on the border, they are just to capture prisoners and replenish the population of the country. The time is spent on marching and escorting prisoners. There’s nothing interesting about it.”
"My warrior, the copper mine is the foundation of the feudal country. This mining area is very important! I came here this time to conduct an on-site inspection and expand the scale of mining in the mine. Soon, the number of people and output in the mining area will far exceed that of Tower The heyday of the Kingdom of Lascaux! Necali, you have a heavy burden on you!”
The king softened his tone and said with a smile.
"Of course, I see all your achievements and I am ready to put them to great use. As long as you do well, I will hand over this mining area and more than a dozen mines to you and let you be the general person in charge! "
"As you command, Marshal!"
Hearing the word "Great Use", Nekali perked up and answered loudly. Then, he whispered to himself in frustration.
"The general person in charge of the mining area? That's not a mining person."
"Um?"
"I will never live up to your expectations, Marshal!"
Necali immediately shouted loudly, trying to cheer up.
The warrior commander next to him shook his head slightly. He knew the status of the copper mining area in His Highness' heart, and also knew how large the planned mining area could be. As the overall leader, Necali has actually been promised a future equivalent to that of a legion commander.
“What a lucky guy”
Thinking of this, Bertard smiled, but did not speak for His Highness.
The king just stretched out his hand, solemnly shook Necali's hair, and spoke seriously again.
"Necali, please introduce the specific situation in the mine and let me see how much you know about the things here!"
"As you command, Marshal!"
Necali bowed his head in salute, straightened his back and shouted back.
"The Chinganbat copper mining area is located 100 miles southwest of the royal capital, 60 miles south of the west of Patzcuaro City, and 40 miles southwest of Ivacchio City. This main mine is by a mountain river. Surrounding the entire mining area, The terrain within fifty miles is mountainous, the march is slow, and the food roads are difficult, and bulk transportation can only rely on narrow rivers."
Necali continued to describe based on the experience of scout investigation.
"The mining area mainly contains jaguar-spotted copper ore, both above ground and underground. The above ground ore at the main mine has been almost mined by the Prepecha people, and there are still some in several small mines nearby. According to According to the information mined these days, the quality of the ore underground is higher, and more copper can be smelted."
Hearing this, Xiuluo nodded and thought far away.
The Chinganbat mining area is a large-scale porphyry copper mine that was mined until later generations. The reserves of copper-bearing strips on the surface are in the tens of millions of tons, but the deep layers are difficult to estimate. Deeper, there are huge extended mineral deposits, accompanied by considerable amounts of gold and silver. It's just that in Central America, where there is no shortage of gold and silver mines, the gold and silver associated with copper have no mining value yet. Because in the territory of the alliance, there are many rich gold and silver ores that are easy to mine.
The king listened to the report, but looked at the busy miners not far away. He saw hundreds of people setting fires, burning the copper-covered rock walls. There were hundreds of people about to enter the mine, all of them looking gloomy and fearful, as if they were heading into the terrifying abyss.
"what are they doing?"
Schlott asked, pointing to the miners making fire.
"Marshal, they are using the inherited method to break the rock wall. First, they use fire to burn the rock wall red, and then pour cold water from the small pool in the mountain spring. This triggers the conflict between the God of Fire and the God of Water, and it breaks into pieces in the battle of divine power. Hard rock formations, and then take out the copper-containing stones!”
"Fire and water pouring. Well, this uses thermal expansion and contraction to crack the stone layer."
Shulot thought for a moment, then pointed to the mine not far away.
"How deep is the underground excavation? How long is it?"
"The deepest part of the mine is about twenty meters, but the main area is about ten meters. It is difficult to calculate the length. I estimate it is more than a mile? According to myths and legends, the depths of the earth are very dangerous, and there are monsters and monsters hidden there. These evil things When it hits, the torches and oil lamps will be extinguished for no reason, leaving everything in darkness. The miners will also be sucked out of life in the darkness, their faces will turn red, and they will fall to the ground and die inexplicably, without a single wound on their bodies. Even if he is lucky enough to be rescued, he will become crazy and stupid because of the loss of life. "
"And if you dig any further, you will easily offend the Mother Goddess of the Earth and cause shaking and landslides. Therefore, miners never dare to dig too deep for fear of disturbing the demons suppressing the underground or offending the majesty of the Mother Goddess."
Having said this, Necali's face showed deep awe. This veteran warrior who is not afraid of life and death on the battlefield and kills people like mowing grass must also tremble and retreat when facing the unknown mythical power.
Shulot remained calm and shook his head slightly. He considered the details of the samurai captain's story.
"The flames went out for no reason, his face turned cherry red, and he fell to the ground and died. This was due to lack of oxygen and carbon monoxide poisoning. Ventilation problems needed to be solved. Vibrations and collapses caused the passage to be so deep that wooden supports were needed to fix it."
While Shulot was thinking, he saw another group of miners coming out of the ground. Their expressions were numb and they said nothing. They carried the clay pot behind them and walked quietly to the small pool before pouring water from the clay pot with a "crash" sound.
"Huh? The clay pot is full of water?"
"Yes, Marshal. This is mine drainage. There is too much water in the rainy season. Drainage is done every day and requires the most manpower. Sometimes, drainage is even the only job in the rainy season. You see, the mountain spring's There is a shallow channel in the small pond, and the overflowing water is led from the shallow channel to the small river, and finally flows into the lowest-lying Lake Qilahoon."
Hearing this, Shulot was a little surprised.
"It is indeed dangerous for water to enter the mine. But does dewatering require so many manpower?"
"Yes, Marshal. Today, 30% of the people are draining water, and even more when it rains. Drainage is the most important thing in mining. Only when the water is almost completely drained can the miners dig!"
Shulot thought for a while and asked patiently.
"How do the miners arrange it? What is the daily copper output?"
The samurai captain thought for a moment and counted his fingers.
"There are two hundred warriors in one team, and five teams of one thousand miners. Among the five teams, one team has 200 people and is responsible for logistics, including logging, burning charcoal, making fires, cooking and other chores."
"Team 1 of 200 people is responsible for screening and smelting copper ore. They must first be busy in the river, washing the ore with wooden chutes, and screening out qualified ore nuggets. Then they crush the ore nuggets, usually the more broken the better. . Finally, put the clay into a small furnace, leave a hole, put in charcoal and let it burn. Finally, turn off the fire and pass the charcoal ash with water to get the ocher yellow copper material. This is also the finished copper material that is sent to the capital. Forged directly into copper."
"Not bad! You are very attentive!"
Shulot affirmed with a smile, expressing satisfaction with Necali. The samurai captain racked his brains and continued to think about it.
"Then a team of 300 and a half people, carrying clay pots on their backs, kept going in and out of the mine to drain water. When they were almost busy, there was the last team of 300 and a half people. They had to enter the mine carrying bamboo baskets and use bronze pickaxes to dig out the hard rock. The greenish-yellow copper ore is excavated from the stone wall. This work is very hard and dangerous, and the miners take turns."
The king nodded and listened patiently to the end. Nekali clenched his fists, beat his chest vigorously, and declared with great pride.
"Marshal, on average, if 300 people dig, each person is required to mine 20 kilograms per day, and 12 kilograms of copper can be obtained after smelting. 1,000 miners in the mining area can produce 3,600 kilograms of copper per day!"