There is actually nothing big going on in Xianxian County. Ma Zhong is not only capable of leading troops in combat, but also has excellent ability to govern the local area.
After all, he was the commander-in-chief who truly convinced both Han and barbarians in history.
But Ma Zhong is already a little anxious and confused about the current situation.
In various parts of Nanzhong, minerals are being developed or plantations are being built. Even in Yuexun County next door, there is a large iron ore area that can be used to accommodate displaced people for production.
But it was my own Xianggao County that didn't get any benefits at all.
Ma Zhong himself is not in a hurry. He only needs to do his job well, encourage farmers and mulberry trees, calm the people, and appease the barbarians. Then the governor of Zangda County is already very competent in what he does.
But the aristocratic families in Xianxian County don't want to do it.
At the same time, it is one of the six counties in Nanzhong. Look at how Li Taishou, Meng Taishou, Wang Taishou, and Lu Taishou brought the "common people" of Nanzhong to make a fortune. Look at your Ma Taishou, we can't be sorry for you. Dear fellow citizens of the county? !
Ma Zhong was puzzled when he heard this, when did you aristocratic families become able to represent the common people? !
But... there is no way. These days, if local officials want to govern the local area, they cannot do without the cooperation of these powerful families. Ma Zhong does not want to offend these powerful families too much.
The aristocratic families in Xianxian County did not get much advantage in the distribution of copper mine shares. They had no money and no one. If there were not some coal mines in the country, they could be used to refine copper mines. , and have some relatives with major aristocratic families, they may not be qualified to participate in the distribution of copper mines.
As for Zhang Xi's plantation in Nanzhong, because the place in Zangqi County is not suitable for growing sugar cane, these wealthy families in Zangqi County still did not get any benefits.
The most irritating thing is that in the six counties of Nanzhong and the other five counties, some mineral deposits have been discovered to some extent, but only in Zanggao County, except for coal, there is nothing of any value.
It's not that the aristocratic families in Zanggan County are dissatisfied with the mineral coal, but the use of this thing in this era is very narrow. It is basically used for smelting iron or copper. Moreover, due to the limitations of smelting technology in this era, things like coal are not available in this era. When smelting metal, it is not yet irreplaceable.
To put it simply, even if the Zangzhou County family vigorously develops coal, it is still restricted by others. In current terms, it can only be a downstream supplier, and there is no such thing as a copper mine.
This made the powerful families in Zangqi County feel dissatisfied.
But these days, if the powerful families are dissatisfied, local public security will be unstable, and if local public security is unstable, Ma Zhong will feel very uncomfortable.
The war in Xianxian County had just ended, and Ma Zhong didn't want to be busy suppressing rebellions all the time. The people couldn't stand it, so Ma Zhong had to summon these aristocratic families and ask, what on earth do you idiots want to do? !
The aristocratic families replied that we just want to get rich.
When Ma Zhong heard about this, he said there was nothing I could do about it. You local gangsters should know best what is going on in Zangqi County. How can you get rich if you have nothing? !
But the aristocratic families said that in the past, except for Jianning County, which part of Nanzhong was not a barren land. But what about now? !
In Nanzhong now, who doesn't know that the two people in the Governor's Mansion are the living gods of wealth.
If you really can't find a way to make a fortune, Grand Governor, go and ask our Governor of Nijiang. I heard that the Governor is a confidant of the Governor, and the Governor recommended the position of Governor of Zangda. Please ask the Governor to help you think of a way to give County Governor The common people also seek a way to make money.
Ma Zhong thought about it, this is not unreasonable.
It's not that Ma Zhong considers himself to be Zhang Xi's confidant, Ma Zhong still has this self-awareness.
In fact, everyone knows that Zhang Xi's true confidant is Zhang Yi.
Although it seems that Zhang Ni did not receive any rewards after the Battle of Nanzhong, everyone knows that as long as he follows Zhang Xi, Zhang Ni's future achievements will definitely be higher than others.
Ma Zhong may have been in the position of governor in this life, but it is not impossible for Zhang Yi to lead a party in the future, and even become a general or prime minister.
Ma Zhong did not take himself too seriously, but Ma Zhong also felt that he was valued by Zhang Xi and was promoted from a county magistrate to a prefect, so he had some friendship with Zhang Xi.
Moreover, asking for advice from Zhang Xi was not for himself, but for the sake of Zangqi County, the stability of Zangqi County and the lives of the people.
I don’t have enough talent to find a way out for the development of Xangqi County, but if it is Zhang Xi, maybe I can really find a path suitable for the development of Xangqi County? !
Therefore, when Zhang Xi inspected Zangqi County, after Ma Zhong reported his work, he solemnly requested Zhang Xi to find a development path for Zangqi County that suited the local conditions.
After hearing this, Zhang Xi also frowned. The geographical location of Zangqi County was the Guizhou area in later generations. This place, even more than a thousand years later, was not a prosperous place.
There are mineral resources. Guizhou does have a lot of mineral resources. Some of them will be the best in the country in later generations.
For example, Guizhou's reserves of mercury mines and barite mines rank first in the country.
There are even many minerals that rank second and third in the country, such as manganese ore, antimony ore, rare earth ore, bauxite, magnesium ore, and phosphate rock. These minerals are all very valuable minerals in modern times.
But...it's the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
No one wants these minerals and they have no use.
If Zhang Xi wants to make use of these minerals, then Zhang Xi must first carry out an industrial revolution, popularize scientific education, and vigorously develop science and technology. Otherwise, what use will these things have? !
Even if it is phosphate rock that can be used to make fertilizers, with current technology, Zhang Xi cannot make good use of it. He can't just crush the phosphate rock and bury it in the soil as fertilizer, right? !
After much deliberation, Zhang Xi still felt that in this era, the minerals that could be utilized in Zangqi County were still coal mines.
But it's not ordinary coal, but processed coke or anthracite, both of which happen to be available in Zangda County.
Coke is a good thing, and it is an important consumable for steelmaking.
Coke is actually not difficult to make. Those who can make charcoal can make coke. If it is not feasible, dig a hole in the ground, ignite the coal and bury it. You can still get some coke, but it is not as high as the industrial coking in later generations. The conversion rate is low, and it is easy for defective products to appear.
But the problem is, now that coke has been produced, Zhang Xi has thought of large-scale steel smelting, but Zhang Xi really doesn’t know what the structure of a blast furnace and a converter is, and he doesn’t know how to use coke to make steel. This is what restricts Zhang Xi’s large-scale steel smelting. The most important question about steel.
Well, coke is still a good thing and can be used.
As for anthracite, it is also a good thing, and a large part of the coal in Zanggan County is anthracite. The essence of anthracite coal is that it contains less sulfur. If used to refine wrought iron, it can reduce the brittleness of the wrought iron. In this era, this kind of wrought iron can already be called "steel".
The famous Liupanshui Coal Mine in later generations is a good coking coal site, while the Zhina Coal Mine is an anthracite coal production area.
Moreover, Guizhou's coal mines have another advantage, that is, they are shallowly buried and easy to develop.
Now that a large number of copper mines have been discovered in Nanzhong, and there is a large iron ore area in Yuexun County, the demand for coal mines will definitely increase. We organized the families of Zangxun County to work with the people to mine coal mines and sell them into coke and anthracite. Those Shuzhong aristocratic families smelting copper ore should be a good choice.
But if you do this, it will still be the same old problem - the initiative is no longer in the hands of the Cangzhou County family.
Forget about making steel, the role of coke is irreplaceable.
But for copper smelting, you can actually use charcoal. Although your coal is good, it doesn’t necessarily have to be used.
In the final analysis, the best way to make the coal in Zangzhou County valuable is to develop steel, especially coke steelmaking technology and large-scale steelmaking. This is the real way out for coal mines.
But...steel, Zhang Xi also wants it, but he really can't get it.
The only thing Zhang Xi can do now is to teach Ma Zhong the technology of refining coke, and then ask Ma Su's iron ore area to purchase as much coke as possible, study the use of coke, and see if he can use the wisdom of the working people to create a real of steel comes.
If we can really find the right steelmaking technology, it will not only benefit the Liu Bei Group, but also digest the coal mines in Zangqi County, which can be regarded as a way for Zangqi County to make a fortune.
Of course, this road to wealth is actually more targeted at aristocratic families. For the common people, Zhang Xi still advises Ma Zhong to focus on agricultural production.
What the people really care about is having a full stomach. Before they can really have enough to eat, they will not consider mining coal to get rich.
This point is very important, and we must not be led astray by the powerful families in Zangqi County.
Ma Zhong nodded in agreement.
To be honest, Ma Zhong is already very satisfied.
Coal is plentiful near Qielan, the county seat of Zangda County, and it is easy to mine. Even if Zhang Xi didn't say anything, those aristocratic families would not let it go.
But no matter what, with this coke technology, it can be regarded as an explanation to those aristocratic families.
In the past, the most important thing for the aristocratic families was to mine coal and sell it to the aristocratic families with a share of the copper mine in Nanzhong to refine the copper. Now Zhang Xi has provided a method for making coke, which is already very good.
Afterwards, Ma Zhong stopped caring about this and accompanied Zhang Xi to inspect agricultural infrastructure near the county seat.
After all, this is where the people's food and clothing are.
As for Zhang Xi, it was also his first time to see why Guizhou had coal mines in ancient times, but it was still considered a "poor mountain and bad water". The area for cultivation was too small, and there were mountains everywhere, and these mountains were full of rocks. Mainly, the soil layer is very shallow and cannot be used to develop fruit tree plantations.
Zhang Xi looked at the mountains full of stones, sighed, and told Ma Zhong, if you really want to increase people's income, then organize people to learn masonry skills and turn these stones into sculptures. The aristocratic families in Sichuan are willing to buy it.
This is a half-joking statement. Even Song Huizong, who liked strange mountains and strange waters, had no idea of creating a birthday plan in Guizhou.
But this half-joking suggestion still received a wry smile from Ma Zhong.
Ma Zhong didn't explain the reason first, but took out his sword, walked to a stone on the side of the mountain, and chopped it down with his sword.
Then Zhang Xi was surprised to find that the stone was split into two halves? !
No, what kind of sword is this? !
(End of chapter)
