The county seat of Wudu County is not in Wudu County, but in Xiabian County.

Because Xiabian has the largest valley plain in Wudu, and the rivers flowing down from the remaining Qinling Mountains bring abundant water, it is known as the small granary of Longyou.

Therefore, it is the most important grain-producing area and population gathering area in Wudu.

How important is it?

Controlling this place is equivalent to controlling Wudu.

This is very similar to the entire Longyou.

The Longyou area may seem large, but in fact, the main grain-producing areas are concentrated in Tianshui County.

Controlling Tianshui County is equivalent to controlling more than half of Longyou.

Several counties around Tianshui serve as guards to protect the core of Tianshui County from intrusion.

Of course, due to the improvement of farming tools and farming level, the area from Pingxiang to Zuli in the north can also be used as a reclamation area.

This is also the reason why Feng Yong set the seat of the Qiang Protector's Office in Pingxiang.

In addition to being convenient to support the Longshan Pass to the east, threatening Liangzhou to the west, and being supported by the Longyou Dudufu to the south, it is also convenient for farming and alleviating the pressure on food transportation.

However, this land reclamation area can only be maintained for daily use by the Qiang Protector's Office.

During wartime, the need for food and grass increased sharply, and we still had to rely on the rear.

Although dry food has been widely promoted in the military, although Dongfeng Express has higher transportation efficiency than this era.

But no matter how much we change, it cannot change the limitations of the times.

If others can transport grain thousands of miles and get one point out of ten, Dongfeng Express only raises one point to three or four points.

Therefore, in the past two years, the pressure of transporting grain has always existed.

It is a very important task for Longyou to achieve self-sufficiency as soon as possible.

Wudu County connects Longyou and Hanzhong, and Xiabian County is a small granary, so it is naturally the target of vigorous reclamation.

However, the location of the debate is a bit special.

The West Han River does not pass through Xiabian, which means that Xiabian County is not on the main transportation route between Hanzhong and Longyou.

On the other hand, Wudu County, named after Wudu, is not the county seat of Wudu County, but it is located right on the waterfront of the Western Han Dynasty.

After passing Wudu County, the rest of the journey is along the mountain road formed by the Xihan River, which is the most difficult to walk.

Therefore, Wudu County can be regarded as the most important transfer station between Qishanbao and Hanzhong, so Dongfeng Express will naturally establish a warehouse here.

When Feng Yong and his party arrived in Wudu County, they did not stay in a post house, but in the Dongfeng Express stronghold.

This time it rained continuously, and there was no clear day at all. After the heavy rain fell, the sky was still gloomy, and the light rain continued sparsely.

When God had enough rest, the light rain turned into heavy rain again.

Xu Xun was afraid that Feng Yong would continue to move forward forcefully, so he found an opportunity and roped in Li Yi to persuade him together.

Feng Yong, who had changed into dry clothes, sat casually on the floor, looking at the rain outside the window with a leisurely expression. The ginger tea on the low table was steaming.

Seeing Xu Xun and Li Yi arriving hand in hand, Feng Yong was a little surprised:

"We are all tired after traveling such a long way in the rain. Why don't Wenxuan and Yuande take a rest? Sit down and drink some ginger tea to ward off the cold."

With that said, he personally poured a cup of tea for each of them.

It is now the end of summer, approaching autumn, and the temperature has begun to drop compared to midsummer.

In addition, it rained and I was still a little chilly after getting wet.

The two of them followed the instructions and knelt down opposite Feng Yong.

Xu Xun had a little worry on his face:

"Brother, I have walked this road no less than ten times in the past two years, and I know this road very well."

"According to my experience, in this kind of weather, if you continue to walk forward, the mountain road will be too muddy and difficult to navigate."

"Especially if it rains continuously now, there will be rockslides and landslides on the mountain, so I think it's better to wait until the rain stops and send someone to check first."

"If you make sure there's nothing going on ahead, brother, it's not too late to start again."

Hearing this, Feng Yong understood the intention of the two people and smiled slightly: "Yuan De is interested."

As for mudslides, Feng Yong naturally knew the dangers involved.

Seeing Feng Yong's expression calm, Xu Xun thought that Feng Yong didn't care about what he said, and was a little anxious at the moment:

"Brother, don't underestimate the mountain road landslide. This is more dangerous than a flood. Once a person encounters it, it is impossible to escape."

"Brother has a body worth thousands of dollars and is connected with countless connections, but he still puts safety first."

Feng Yong nodded: "I know what Yuan De said. But I haven't thought about moving on in the past few days."

Having said this, he looked in a certain direction, "Yuande knows, how is the road condition going from Wudu to Xiabian?"

Xu Xun was relieved when he heard that Feng Yong had no intention of forcing his way, but he was surprised when Feng Yong suddenly brought up the argument again.

"Brother, you want to go to Xiabian? But if you want to go to Hanzhong from Xiabian, not only do you have to take a long detour, the distance is much longer, and it's even more difficult."

Two years ago, Cao Cao's bandits entered Sanguan and took the old route to Hechi County. They were blocked by General Zhao at Lueyang and were not allowed to go any further east. This was precisely because the terrain when entering Hanzhong from Hechi County was extremely dangerous.

Cao's thieves finally had to turn west, hoping to capture Xiabian in an attempt to cut off the food route for the Northern Expedition's army. Unexpectedly, the prime minister had already set up an ambush in Xiabian and wiped out all 20,000 of Cao's thieves' elite troops.

If we were to transfer from Wudu to Bian, we would have to go through Hechi County, then from Hechi County to Lueyang, and finally from Lueyang to Hanzhong.

Compared with traveling directly from Wudu County along the West Han River to Lueyang, it takes more than half a month to go around.

On the other hand, Li Yi, who was on the side, was thinking faster and immediately interjected: "Brother, do you want to argue something?"

Feng Yong glanced at Li Yi appreciatively and said, "I do have something to discuss with Prefect Liao when I come here this time."

The governor of Wudu was none other than Liao Hua.

After hearing Feng Yong's words, Li Yi and Xu Xun looked at each other with doubts in their eyes.

I had never heard of any serious interaction between my brother and Liao Hua before. What's more, my brother was a prince at this time, with a distinguished status and real power. How could he take the initiative to discuss matters with Liao Hua?

Feng Yong did not deliberately conceal it, he just explained:

"Some time ago, when the Nanxiang engineering team was building the official road between Xiaben and Wudu, they discovered a treasure."

"As a captain protecting Qiang, I cannot easily go anywhere else except the area under my jurisdiction, let alone go privately to find the governor of another county."

"So I just took this opportunity to meet Prefect Liao and talk to him about this matter."

Hearing Feng Yong's words, both Li Yi and Xu Xun's hearts skipped a beat.

Anyone who can make his brother say the word "baby" must be a big baby!

"But I don't know what the treasure my brother is talking about is?"

"Lead Mine."

As soon as these words came out, Li Yi's eyes widened.

Xu Xun was even more exaggerated. He couldn't even close his mouth. He couldn't hold back his saliva. A trace of sparkle hung down from the corner of his mouth...

"Chiliu"!

Xu Xun sucked back his saliva, then his throat moved, and he came directly in front of Feng Yong and asked eagerly:

"Brother, the lead I'm talking about is the lead used to make copper coins? How much is it?"

Feng Yong smiled, "There seems to be only one kind of lead in the world, right? The amount of lead in Xia Bian is very large."

Minting currency itself is an extremely profitable business.

The so-called copper coins are not only made of copper, but also mixed with other metals.

For example, iron.

It's just that the density of iron is smaller than that of copper. The more iron is mixed in, the lower the quality of the copper coins and the lower the value of the copper coins.

Although this method allows the government to plunder a large amount of wealth in a short period of time, it does so at the expense of the country's economic potential and the government's credibility.

The so-called fraud is fun for a while, but will be cremated afterwards.

The loss of credibility of the government, the unwillingness of the people to use legal tender, and even the consequences of hyperinflation and people's livelihood will only backfire on the entire country.

If you want to maintain the quality of copper coins while maintaining huge profits, with the current level of casting, it is best to add lead.

Because lead is much denser than copper, and lead is soft and easy to process.

As long as you control the ratio well, you can get the maximum profit.

It can be said that in this regard, the value of lead is second only to copper.

"Brother, what are we waiting for? Hurry up and get someone to dig it!"

Li Yi was also breathing rapidly and blurted out.

Feng Yong saw the two men's gaffes and smiled helplessly.

When I told old demon Zhuge about the copper mine, the prime minister, who was as steady as an old dog, couldn't sit still.
To be continued...