Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 893 - 737: One Battle Decides the Grassland

Chapter 893: Chapter 737: One Battle Decides the Grassland

Shang Hong returned to Erlianhaote two hours later.

The straight-line distance from the Aoyutuolegai Mine to Erlianhaote was less than 200 miles; given Shang Hong’s heavenly level cultivation, he could make the round trip in about a shichen.

The extra hour, Shang Hong spent searching for copper ore veins.

Returning to Li Xuan’s side, Shang Hong’s face was somber, and he held several colorful pieces of copper ore in his hand.

"I randomly searched seven locations, each more than ten miles apart from the others. Eventually, I dug up copper in four places. The shallowest one was less than twenty meters from the surface and could be mined openly."

The turbulence in Shang Hong’s eyes still could not be calmed.

Even from his preliminary inspection, it was clear that the scale of this copper mine was terrifying, deserving to be called the best in the universe!

And copper mines are usually accompanied by gold and silver, surrounded by various heavenly materials and earthly treasures, objects of rare beauty.

Li Xuan was sitting atop an Earth Dragon, nodding slightly with indifference, "According to the palace spellcasters, the closest point of this vein to the surface is only twelve feet, and it can be easily mined. They said we could use the Mountain Opening Technique—"

"Your Highness, County Prince!"

Shang Hong thought to himself that he did not intend to discuss the mining of copper with Li Xuan. Unable to contain himself, he interrupted Li Xuan, "My lord, Erlianhaote must not fall into Mongolian hands again at any cost! The scale of this military fortress seems somewhat insufficient."

Just an hour ago, Shang Hong still felt that Li Xuan was wasting national treasures by building fortresses here.

But now, Shang Hong felt Li Xuan’s sense of urgency here was still not enough.

Shang Hong didn’t feel that his words were a slap in his own face.

In the face of an annual income of thirty million silver yuan, what was face? Moreover, given the scale of this copper mine, thirty million silver yuan might be the most conservative estimate.

He thought that if the Mongols got hold of this wealth, the future threat to the Jin Dynasty would only increase.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle, "Then, Daxueshi Shang, to what extent do you think we should prioritize this?"

Shang Hong ignored Li Xuan’s teasing tone, and spoke unequivocally, "From here to Tong Mountain, there must be five military fortresses, each at least three miles in length and width, positioned strategically, with 150,000 Jin troops stationed here to ensure the mining of the ore. Also, to the south—"

Shang Hong pointed towards the south, "From Datong to Erlianhaote, we also need seven military fortresses of various sizes along the line to secure the supply routes."

Li Xuan shook his head; he knew the Ministry of War Servant still viewed the Mongols with an outdated perspective.

But with the advent of the "Rune Flintlock Rifled Gun," the nature of warfare had already changed.

The era of the Mongolian Iron Cavalry was coming to an end—

His construction of the fortress here was not solely for the copper mine, but also for the salt pans near Erlianhaote.

In the Mongolian language, ’haote’ in Erlianhaote means a place with many inhabitants, while Erlian comes from ’Eren’ in Erendabu Sannaoer.

Erendabu Sannaoer is one of the largest salt pans on the Steppe. Controlling this area means controlling most of the Mongols’ salt sources in MoNan.

If it were not for this, he would not have built a fortress here at any cost.

However, Li Xuan did not intend to debate with Shang Hong; he shook his head, "Goodness, building thirteen fortresses will require how much silver coin? How much manpower? Daxueshi Shang, as the ancients said, ’eat your food one bite at a time’; let’s take it slow.

Once this fortress is built, our Jin Dynasty will have a foothold in Erlianhaote. We can expand other fortresses later—"

Instantly, Shang Hong frowned, thinking that building thirteen fortresses at once was clearly unrealistic.

However, with today’s manpower in Datong, and mobilizing some tribes from the Steppe, building two large fortresses, each over four miles in size, and three smaller ones, each two miles in size, was still more than possible.

Although this move would strain the people, in the long run, it would ensure prolonged peace north of Datong.

Yet, Shang Hong did not plan to argue with Li Xuan; he prepared to write several letters to the Jianguo Princess and a few regent ministers. He would bypass County Prince Fenyang to directly implement this plan.

It was after this that Shang Hong finally shifted his attention to the scene in front of Li Xuan.

He noticed in a small valley to the left of the hill, teams of Jin Army were driving their captured herdsmen to this location, with the total number already reaching 120,000. Among them, 30,000 men and 90,000 women, children, and elderly.

On the right side of the hill was a group of people completely shaved, bowing towards the direction of the hill.

There were also many robust Mongols, as well as numerous Qianhu, Baihu, and even Wanhu Nayan, all detained at the foot of the hill, firmly tied to wooden posts.

Shang Hong was secretly surprised, unsure of what Li Xuan intended to do.

Li Xuan, who had inquired about the newly promoted deputy commander Zhang Yue, asked, "Have all the Han slaves been identified?"

"Over there!"

Zhang Yue pointed to the right side of the hill, "It was quite easy to identify them; the Mongols prevented their escape by tattooing their faces. However, there aren’t many Jin people left from those captured during the Tumu Crisis.

Originally, Datan’s left flank had 70,000 households with 40,000 young adults. Now only a little over 10,000 are left, the rest having either died from exhaustion, starvation, or beatings. There are also some that were robbed by them over these years, totaling just over 20,000."