My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 93 Shan Yue Takes the Hook
Zhuge Jin's search for copper mines by looking for blue mountain streams and pools in nature was actually a bit risky.

Because most copper mines in nature are not rich enough to dye the nearby ponds blue. But Dexing Copper Mine is a super rich mine that accounts for 15% of the country's production and reserves, and the ore grade is high.

There are also some karst geological structures nearby, which allow mountain springs to directly soak into the exposed minerals. The natural infiltration over millions of years has made the rocks so obvious.

If others casually imitate Zhuge Jin's method of prospecting, they will most likely return empty-handed if they want to find small, poor-quality mines, or ores that are not buried shallowly enough and cannot be soaked by natural water sources.

Even now, Zhuge Jin made a lot of moves when he finally set up the plan.

For example, in the pond water soaked in copper ore found naturally, the concentration of copper sulfate is not high enough, and the replacement effect cannot be quickly demonstrated.

Zhuge Jin then ordered his men to secretly chop wood, boil the pond water extract until it boiled, evaporate a large amount of water, and finally take out the concentrated liquid for demonstration.

It is impossible to elaborate on all the details.

In short, he spent more than ten days in the mountains, not a single day idle. He dealt with problems every day, and finally achieved all these results. It was not easy.

It was not unfair at all that the Shanyue people were finally tricked and deceived; it was what Zhuge Jin deserved for his hard work.

……

This series of operations, although seemingly uneventful, actually took quite a while.

It took Pang Tong half a month to start dredging the main channels of Poshui River and Le'an River and to do various preparatory work.

It took another half a month to go into the mountains and continue to screen the tributaries one by one using the binary method, and finally find the copper-producing tributary.

Initial exploration and mining, various experiments, building furnaces and ore dressing sites, and finally producing copper… all took another half a month. And this was just the initial stage of experimental copper production. Large-scale mining and smelting would be impossible without a year or two of construction.

Pang Tong started working on the project in late February or early March, and the first batch of copper was produced in mid-April. Comparing the timeline in Guangling County, this was about the time when Zhuge Liang was about to complete the repair of the gates of the Han Canal.

It can only be said that the Zhuge brothers were equally efficient in doing things. In just a month and a half, they both laid the foundation for a century-long or thousand-year plan that would benefit the people of the county.

On April 12, shortly after copper was officially mined, a group of hired Shanyue guides and coolies returned to their respective tribes.

Afterwards, the local Shanyue tribe in Le'an Town, Yuhan County, launched a violent reaction.

As mentioned earlier, Poyang County and Yuhan County in the Eastern Han Dynasty were both very large, extending over 300 miles from east to west.

The town of Le'an was located near Dexing County in later generations and belonged to Yu Khan. However, the town covered a mountainous area of more than 100 miles and controlled the waterway of the Le'an River. It had thousands of fleeing Han and Shanyue people.

Li Sheng, the chieftain of the Le'an tribe, was a rough and uneducated man in his early forties. Strictly speaking, the newly discovered copper mine was within his sphere of influence.

Originally, no one wanted that barren mountain. Only the hunters from the Lisheng tribe would go there to hunt, so there was no actual occupation. At most, there were some hunter huts in the mountains.

Now that such a huge source of wealth has suddenly appeared, it is impossible not to be tempted.

However, Li Sheng still had some sense of propriety. In the past two months, he had heard many legends about the Zhuge family. In addition, his own strength was not very strong, so he did not dare to act rashly.

After much thought, he decided to use courtesy before force and discuss with the Zhuge family about opening a copper mine on his territory. He would like to give some benefits to the Le'an section. He would not ask for it for nothing. He could ask his clansmen to help the Zhuge family build roads and mine, and provide security for the mining area.

In order to show his importance, he also sent his eldest son Li An directly to Poyang County to negotiate with the government.

……

A few days later, Li An, the young master of the Le'an tribe, arrived in Poyang County.

As a local Shanyue noble, he often came to the county town in previous years. The production structure of the Shanyue people was too simple, and their main output was mountain products, wild animals, and furs, so they needed to trade grain, salt and iron with the Han people.

So this time when Li An entered the city, he organized a normal Shanyue caravan in a relatively low-key manner. He did not dare to evade taxes when entering the city, but paid the full amount. He dressed himself up as a law-abiding Shanyue citizen, and then took the opportunity to use his connections to pay for a meeting.

The local grassroots officials in Poyang County were all very familiar with him. After spending a few bear skins, one of them was willing to help him:
"Brother Li, your request to see Captain Zhuge is a little difficult. These bear skins are enough for you to meet the new Magistrate Pang. How do you think?"

Li An did not bother with the clerk and said that the county magistrate would do. Then he was taken to the county government office, and the clerk went to pass on the message.

When Pang Tong heard that it was the chief of the Shanyue tribe who had set his eyes on the copper mine, he did not neglect it. He immediately arranged for guards and came out to meet him.

He also felt a surge of admiration for Zhuge Jin in his heart: Brother Zhuge set up this plan so well, as soon as the news was released, someone took the bait!
Li An saw that Pang Tong had a ferocious and fierce appearance, unlike other Han civil officials who were gentle and elegant. He was in awe for a moment and immediately knelt down and said, "I am in charge of the people of my tribe and have been entrusted by my father. There are some matters that I need to report to the county lord."

Pang Tong: "You are from the Le'an tribe, right? Sit down and talk. Didn't we hire a lot of guides and coolies from your tribe a while ago? You have also worked hard to make the mine a success."

Li An heard Pang Tong's kind attitude and thought there was hope, so he quickly said:

"County Lord, if we want to open a mine, how can we rely on you Han people alone? In the future, we will need to hire a large number of people to dig, transport ore, and remove rocks. We, the men of Le'an, can cross mountains and ridges as if they were walking on flat ground. Leave these jobs to us. We will definitely do it faster than the Han people, as long as you are willing to pay us more."

When Pang Tong heard this, he felt a little disappointed and thought to himself, "Why are these guys so cowardly? Captain Zhuge is clearly trying to lure them into taking risks and taking the copper mine by force, so that Captain Guan and Captain Gan can counterattack and spread the war to Danyang County..."

You know, after Zhuge Jin confirmed that the copper mine was producing copper, he had already sent people to Nanchang County to mobilize troops, and the envoy should have arrived in Nanchang now.

After Guan Yu made some preparations, he would quietly transfer the newly trained troops over the past two months, ready to attack at any time. Considering that troops were needed to defend and maintain order in various places, Guan Yu could probably spare more than half of his troops, which would be at least 8,000 people.

In Chaisang County, Gan Ning reacted faster and brought a battalion of 2,000 men from his own army, ready to take action at any time.

Guan Yu and Gan Ning, with 10,000 reorganized and trained soldiers, including Danyang soldiers and Jinfan Battalion, were enough to compete with Zu Lang. Facing these small tribes, they simply pushed them forward.

But now, all the preparations for action have been made, but the crimes of the Shanyue people have not yet been provoked. This is very detrimental to morale - and it is detrimental in both positive and negative aspects.

The Han people of this era did not want to attack the Shanyue people out of nothing, they preferred to live in peace. If the Shanyue people attacked first, the Han people would get a bonus if they fought back to defend their homeland.

Similarly, if the Shanyue people burned, killed and looted first, it would be difficult for the Shanyue tribes to unite, because there were conflicts among the Shanyue tribes, and no one was willing to risk their lives for the troubles caused by others.

"These people are so weak and refuse to give Captain Zhuge an excuse. How should I deal with them..." Pang Tong hesitated for a moment when he saw the other party's humble attitude.

Fortunately, he was very quick to react. He quickly came up with a new idea after thinking about it for a while. So he agreed calmly and asked:
"You, the Le'an tribe, want a long-term stable life, which is not impossible. As long as you work hard, you can get a higher salary. We can even give you an extra profit share to buy you peace, as long as you make sure that no one else sneaks into the mine to cause trouble.

However, you have to answer me a question first - are there any hostile tribes in the surrounding counties that are difficult to get along with in your Le'an tribe? It would be best if they are in Danyang County."

Li An was just a barbarian, so of course he didn't know what Pang Tong was planning. He just answered honestly:
"Danyang County is adjacent to our Poyang County, namely Yi County and She County. The Shanyue people in Yi County are mainly Chenpu and Zushan.

Chen Pu had some grievances with us. He was the largest tribe in Yi County, with nearly 20,000 households. Although Zushan only had a few thousand households, he was the cousin of Zulang, the commander of Jing County, so other tribes did not dare to bully him.

In She County, there are two chieftains, Jinqi and Maogan, with a total of 20,000 to 30,000 households. However, She County and Poyang County are separated by the Linli Mountain, and the mountain roads are steep, so there is less traffic and fewer festivals. "

The "Linli Mountain" mentioned by Li An is a part of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province in later generations. It has a dangerous terrain and is the geographical boundary and watershed between Zhejiang and Jiangxi. The Po River originates from the western foot of Linli Mountain and eventually flows into Poyang Lake. The Zhejiang River originates from the eastern foot of Linli Mountain and finally flows into the East China Sea from Hangzhou Bay.

However, the entire Linlishan area now belongs to Danyang County, including the source of Zhejiang Province on the eastern slope, and not to Kuaiji County.

This is different from the geographical demarcation of Anhui and Zhejiang in later generations.

After Pang Tong listened to Li An's description of the main Shanyue tribal factions in Yi and She counties, as well as their grievances and conflicts, he thought about it for a moment and a substitute strategy emerged in his mind.

Although the strategy Zhuge Jin gave at the beginning was not feasible, it was still feasible after some minor repairs and adjustments.

Pang Tong then said, “In this case, I want you to do one more thing: You must spread the word that you used force to intimidate and seize the Le’an copper mine, and that after a slight conflict with the government, the government was weak and did not use force, so they wanted to settle the matter peacefully and therefore agreed with your tribe to split the profits 50-50.

In addition, I must emphasize one point, that is, after your tribe obtains huge profits from the copper mine, you will ask the government to spend a lot of money to buy iron weapons and guns, and update weapons in preparation for competing with other neighboring tribes that have enmity with you. If you do this, I can ask Captain Zhuge to subcontract the mining of the Le'an copper mine to your tribe members. "

Li An was a straightforward person and said that he would convey Pang Tong's intention when he returned.

As for Pang Tong, he also needs to consult Zhuge Jin.

In the following four or five days, the two sides held intensive consultations and finally reached an agreement.

……

On April 19, after Pang Tong sorted out the final plan, he formally reported to Zhuge Jin:
"Captain, our army's initial plan to lure the local Shanyue tribe into taking a risk seems to have gone a little wrong.

The local tribes were too in awe of you to dare to resist, as many of them had witnessed your magic of turning iron into gold. They just wanted to work for you, dig mines and build roads, and earn some hard-earned money.

So I temporarily adjusted the strategy and instructed the Le'an tribe to deliberately spread false news that we were weak and easily coerced, and asked them to do this and that..."

Zhuge Jin had been busy with other things these days. He was in charge of all affairs in the northern part of Yuzhang County and was very busy. He did not ask about the details of the process of using the plan.

After listening to this improved version of the report, he felt quite relieved. It seemed that Pang Tong's ability to adapt to changing circumstances was indeed good. When encountering small problems, he knew how to adapt and create conditions.

Zhuge Jin finally made the decision: "Let's do it this way. Warn them not to have any disloyalty and work hard for me. I will naturally treat the Shanyue people who are willing to submit to the king equally."

Pang Tong said confidently: "Don't worry about this. I have already made in-depth investigations and found that the Shanyue people of Le'an tribe have been saying that you have magical powers recently. No one dares to have any other ideas. They are all proud to work for you."

Zhuge Jin touched his nose helplessly: The ancients still lacked cultural common sense, and regarded a little chemical reaction as a miracle or magic. It seems that I have to restrain my acting skills in the future.

But it's not bad now. No matter whether they are conquered by force or by other abilities, as long as they can be made to submit to the king, it's good.

Even if it still requires some military deployment, it will definitely be easier to win over the people after the deployment.

So he ordered Pang Tong to carry out the order immediately and there was no need to report any further details.

……

Two or three days later, there was indeed greater unrest in Yi County, just north of Poyang County, and She County to the northeast.

A super large copper mine was discovered in the territory of Le'an tribe in Poyang County, as well as magical water that could turn iron into gold. All these strange news finally spread to the local area, along with rumors that "Le'an tribe will soon increase in strength and will soon seek revenge on the tribes with which they had a feud."

Chen Pu, the strongest tribe in Yi County with more than 20,000 households, was the first to get restless. He found Zushan, the leader of another tribe in the same county, and began to plan a preventive plan to extinguish the Le'an tribe.

Zu Shan was a little hesitant at first and bargained with Chen Pu: "Although the Le'an Li family is not as strong as us, I heard that the copper mine was found by the Zhuge school lieutenant who has recently gained a lot of fame in Yuzhang. If we attack the territory of the Le'an tribe and provoke a counterattack from the Yuzhang government troops, what will happen?"

Chen Pu said nonchalantly: "I have already inquired about it. The Zhuge family is busy hunting down the remnants of the other Zuo Rong and clearing the area. Those Han people are best at fighting civil wars among themselves first, and then they will think of fighting with us Shanyue.

We really can’t miss this opportunity. I heard that the Zhuge family has even succumbed to the threat of the Le’an tribe. If we go there, they will be even more afraid to act recklessly. They might even thank us for ‘driving the tiger to devour the wolf’ - you don’t understand, right? This is a Han Chinese idiom that I just learned. It means to let a stronger enemy destroy a weaker enemy.”

Under Chen Pu's deception, Zu Shan also felt that the opportunity was rare and the benefits were huge.

But he was also afraid that his two families would not be able to eat this piece of fat meat and would be stabbed in the back by others in the future, so he insisted that Chen Pu should recruit some more allies, such as the two major tribes in the neighboring She County.

Chen Pu had no intention of recruiting people at first, but Zu Shan reminded him: "If this copper mine is really so profitable, can you take it? If you fight with the Le'an tribe and the Han government, both sides will suffer losses, and you finally take it, and then the people in She County have the same idea as you and will be jealous in the future, how will you deal with it?"

After hearing this, Chen Pu felt that there was some truth to it. In this kind of situation, other neighbors could not just sit on the sidelines and watch the fight, otherwise there would definitely be disputes in the future due to uneven distribution of the spoils.

It would be better to make it clear from the beginning that the more effort you put in, the more benefits you will get. If those tribes are unwilling to put in a lot of effort, then we can give them each a 10% share of the future copper mine profits.

After some tug-of-war, the two major tribes in She County were also drawn into this situation. However, they felt that there was a Linli Mountain between them and the Le'an tribe, and it was difficult for their forces to penetrate. In the future, Chen Pu would definitely reap the biggest benefits.

They only agreed to send one or two thousand soldiers each to follow Chen Pu to strengthen their momentum. After the success, they only needed to take 10% of the profit from the copper mine. If Chen Pu's attack was not successful, they would naturally send more soldiers to help.

After the four major Shanyue tribes in Yi and She counties reached an agreement, they quickly launched an offensive against the Le'an tribe in Poyang County. During the entire process, they did not consult Zulang, the leader of the Danyang Shanyue. The tribes in these two counties acted entirely on their own initiative.

Chen Pu led the main force of his troops and defeated Li Sheng and Li An, father and son, in just two days.

The Le'an tribe was weak in combat and could not defend the copper mine at all. The large copper mine, which had just been mined for less than a month, fell into the hands of Chen Pu.

Chen Pu was overjoyed when he saw the thousands and tens of thousands of kilograms of red copper in the mine, the hundreds of thousands of kilograms of ore that had been excavated, and the brass ore that seemed to cover the entire mountain and wall of the cave.

"I never thought that there is such a large copper mine hidden in the deep valley of the Le'an River! We are really in a treasure mountain, but our ancestors didn't know about it for hundreds of years! If we had known there was such a large mine, would we have suffered poverty all these years? If we had minted copper coins ourselves, we would have been rich enough to rival a country!"

However, before he could enjoy the joy of capturing the copper mine for a whole day, Chen Pu received an urgent report from his subordinates early the next morning.

"My lord, it's bad! The Han government has sent troops to hunt us down! The day before yesterday morning, the Han army set out from Poyang County, going upstream along the Poyang River. This morning, they turned into the Le'an River. They will reach here in two days by going upstream!"

Chen Pu heard this and immediately smelled a conspiracy: "Impossible! How could they attack from Poyang County the day before yesterday? I hadn't attacked Le'an the day before yesterday, and they hadn't even robbed their copper mine yet, so how could they fight back?"

The Shanyue scout couldn't answer this question at all, so he could only tell the truth: "I don't know either, but they really set out the day before yesterday. I traveled through mountains and rivers to get back ahead of them to report. The government troops must have set out before we did!"

If Chen Pu still doesn't understand after having said this, then he is a complete fool.

Chen Pu gnashed his teeth and said, "Despicable Han people! They must have been looking for an excuse to attack our Yixian tribes! What is the banner of the Han general leading the troops?"

Shanyue scout: "Zhechou Captain Guan Yu!"

Chen Pu: “…”

Hey!
　Welcome everyone to post fan art (like Zhuge Liang or other characters' portraits) in the character section of this book to increase the interaction index. Thank you. (It seems there is some kind of out-of-circle index, I don't quite understand it, anyway, thank you, don't bother if you don't understand)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)