Taiheiki

Chapter 161 Cangwu
"As far as I know, this Cangwu is not that Cangwu. The Cangwu Commandery of our Han Dynasty was named after the Cangwu Commandery of Qin, and the Cangwu of Qin was named after the Cangwu of Chu!"

"Where is Cangwu of Chu?" Wei Cong, also intrigued by Kong Gui's conversation, asked casually.

"It should be in the vicinity of Chen County in Guiyang Prefecture!" Kong Gui replied. "Not only was Emperor Shun buried in Cangwu, but Emperor Yao's son Danzhu was also buried in Cangwu, only one was buried on the south side of the mountain and the other on the south side!"

"Chen County?"

“That’s right, it’s Chen County!” Kong Gui pointed northwest: “It’s in that direction, only six or seven days’ journey from here, but the Five Ridges separate us, making the journey treacherous!”

"So that's where Emperor Shun spent his old age!" Wei Cong exclaimed. Of course, he knew that Chen County was today's Chenzhou City in Hunan Province. It was only an hour's drive from Chenzhou to Shaoguan in Guangdong, and the train ticket cost twenty or thirty yuan.

According to historical records, after Emperor Shun abdicated the throne to Yu the Great, he toured south to Cangwu. According to Wei Cong's understanding, Chenxian in ancient China was likely a place specifically for exiling those who lost in high-level political struggles. After Shun defeated Yao's eldest son, Danzhu, and seized power, he arrived there. Later, in his old age, Shun lost a political struggle to Yu the Great and was forced to leave the political center, semi-escaping and semi-exiled to the then-peripheral Chenzhou area. Although Shaoguan is separated from Chenzhou by the Five Ridges, it should still be within Emperor Shun's activity radius, which was centered on Chenzhou. Therefore, it's not surprising that the elderly Emperor Shun would travel there to express his desires.

Kong Gui saw Wei Cong gazing at the dark red cliffs in the distance and smiled, "Lord Wei, why are you sighing?"

“It’s nothing. I suppose in the eyes of the ancients, Chen County wasn’t a good place,” Wei Cong said.

"Why do you say that?" Kong Gui was taken aback. "Cang means green, and Wu means parasol tree. The parasol tree is an ancient and beautiful tree, where the phoenix perches. With such a good name, it can't be said that it's not a good place, can it?"

"So it turns out that the name Kong Gong came from his name!" Wei Cong smiled. "If I remember correctly, Danzhu also had an imperial title, called Emperor Danzhu!"

"Indeed, that is indeed the case! After Emperor Yao's death, Danzhu went to mourn him. Shun abdicated in favor of Danzhu for three years, but the people of the world all paid homage to Shun instead of Danzhu. This was the will of the people and the will of Heaven. Therefore, Shun only ascended the throne three years later. However, during those three years, Danzhu was indeed emperor!" Kong Gui looked at Wei Cong in surprise. Although he knew that Wei Cong was quite talented in military strategy and governance, he had never seen him spend time on classical studies. He did not expect that the other party would suddenly talk to him about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and the point he mentioned was quite obscure. It was quite unexpected.

"Look, whether it's Danzhu or Shun, both of them were once emperors, but were overthrown and eventually died in this wilderness of Cangwu. This is clearly a great prison for those who have lost their thrones!"

Kong Gui was speechless for a moment. After all, he came from a family with a strong scholarly tradition, and he immediately retorted, "You can't say that, can you? The abdication of ancient emperors was based on virtue and talent. How can it be compared to those of modern times who win by deceit and force?"

"Hehe! Does Master Kong mean that in ancient times, the throne was obtained through abdication between Yao, Shun, and Yu? But didn't Wang Mang also abdicate his throne from a child? Does that mean that abdication between Yao, Shun, and Yu in ancient times was virtuous, while abdication in recent times is just a pretense shrouded in deceit and power?"

This time, Kong Gui was stumped. If there was one question that Han Confucian scholars couldn't avoid, it was Wang Mang. This reformer, who almost cosplayed the ancient sages in the Confucian classics, eventually became the biggest villain in the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, bringing great disaster to everyone in the empire. As a result, Wang Mang's head, along with the shoes of Marquis Liu and the Red Emperor's sword, became the three treasures in the Eastern Han Dynasty's treasury.

It's not difficult to refute Wei Cong's question; all you need to do is thoroughly criticize Wang Mang. But the problem is, that still doesn't answer Wei Cong's question—how do you know that Shun and Yu the Great weren't two successful Wang Mangs? Was Danzhu the child who was dethroned?
"If I remember correctly, the capitals of Yao, Shun, and Yu were not in the same place, were they? If it was truly a succession based on merit, then why didn't Danzhu and Shun stay in the former capitals of Yao and Shun after losing their thrones? Why did they travel thousands of miles to such a remote and desolate place as Cangwu? Even today, Chen County is not a good place, let alone more than a thousand years ago. To put it bluntly, after Shun and Yu seized the throne, they were afraid that the sons or predecessors of their predecessors would remain in the Central Plains and become a threat to them, so they exiled them to the distant Cangwu!"

"What you said does make some sense!" Kong Gui said, "However, these are all just your guesses, and there is no evidence to support them!"

"Because the Bamboo Annals haven't been unearthed yet!" Wei Cong thought to himself, but said aloud, "That's right, it's just my guess, but in my opinion, it's not hard to find evidence!"

"Oh? What do you say?"

"It's very simple. How did you find the Minister?"

Kong Gui sighed. Wei Cong's meaning was clear: the ancient books recording these truths were likely burned after Qin unified China, but many copies should still exist in the burial tombs. If the Minister of Rites could piece together the truth in this way, these ancient books could naturally be found as well. However, this kind of discovery of the truth was something he didn't want to see.

Wei Cong, standing nearby, could naturally discern Kong Gui's feelings. Like many religions, Confucianism during the Han Dynasty was built upon a mythical ideal of the Three Dynasties. What Wei Cong had just said was like tearing a corner of this beautiful picture pasted on the wall, revealing the bloody underbelly beneath. In fact, these things were not secrets during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, but rather common knowledge circulating among intellectuals. For example, the Han Feizi states: "Shun forced Yao, Yu forced Shun, Tang exiled Jie, and King Wu attacked Zhou. These four were cases of ministers murdering their rulers."

If Han Feizi only briefly mentioned it, the Bamboo Annals, which the people of Ji County refused to excavate from the tomb of King Xiang of Wei in the fifth year of Xianning of the Western Jin Dynasty (279 AD), recorded a large number of facts about the cruel infighting of the ruling class in the legendary ancient period with a cold and gloomy style:
For example, "Shun exiled Yao to Pingyang," "Shun imprisoned Yao, and also blocked Danzhu, preventing him from seeing his father." "Xia Qi killed Boyi (Xia Qi was the son of Yu the Great, and Boyi was said to be Yu the Great's assistant and the person Yu the Great intended to abdicate to)." "Taijia killed Yiyin (Taijia was the eldest grandson of Tang of Shang, and Yiyin was a meritorious minister who helped Tang of Shang destroy the Xia Dynasty. Legend has it that after Tang of Shang died, Yiyin assisted the next king. After Taijia took power, he acted recklessly, so Yiyin exiled him to Tonggong next to Tang of Shang's tomb to make him reflect. Yiyin then acted as regent for three years until Taijia repented and returned the country to Taijia)." "Wending (the 28th ruler of the Shang Dynasty and the grandfather of King Zhou) killed Jili (the father of King Wen of Zhou)." "Gongbo He usurped the throne (the ruler of the Gong State and the acting king)." These historical facts are completely different from those recorded in traditional classics such as the Book of Documents and the Records of the Grand Historian. So much so that the discovery of this book was like a bolt from the blue. Many Confucian scholars from the Western Jin Dynasty and later periods angrily called the book chaotic and absurd. However, after verification by later historians, it was found that many historical facts recorded in the Bamboo Annals could be consistent with archaeological findings. Clearly, the book's historical value for the ancient period is higher than that of many later orthodox historical works, and the facts recorded in it that do not conform to Confucian values ​​are more credible than parts of the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Documents.

Wei Cong even has a bolder conjecture: during the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, countless ancient tombs were unearthed by tomb raiders, and there may very well have been ancient books containing similar content inside. However, these historical materials that did not conform to the values ​​of Han Confucianism were destroyed or marginalized. It was not until the Western Jin Dynasty, when metaphysics began to flourish within the ruling class, that the dominant position of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty was shaken. Only then did the Bamboo Annals escape the fate of its predecessors and survive, becoming a channel for us to glimpse the politics of ancient China.

"My lord, the exploration team has found something!" Liu Jiu's voice interrupted Wei Cong's thoughts.

"Bring it here!" Wei Cong nodded, and a moment later, a man with a dusty face came to Wei Cong. He knelt on one knee, took out a stone from the leather pouch at his waist, and presented it with both hands: "Captain, this is what I found!"

"Bring it here!" Wei Cong took the stone from the guard and examined it closely. It was a brown stone with many yellowish-brown streaks on its surface and a semi-metallic luster. After examining it carefully for a while, Wei Cong asked, "Where was this stone sample found?"

"It's over there!" The man pointed westward: "Found it near that grove of trees!"

"Get on your horse and lead the way to take a look!" Wei Cong shouted.

The man responded, mounted the horse of the guard beside him, and headed in the direction the guard had pointed. After about half an hour, the group arrived at a grove of mulberry trees. Perhaps due to rain erosion, the soil on the slope beside the grove had collapsed, revealing a large area of ​​dark brown rocks with many yellowish-brown marks, resembling a hat. Wei Cong dismounted, took a small iron hammer from the guard, and chipped off a few stones from the yellowish-brown rocks. After examining them carefully for a moment, he suddenly laughed.

"My lord, have you found it?" Liu Jiu asked cautiously.

"Hmm, we've found an iron cap, but we don't know how much ore is down there, or what kind of ore it is!" Wei Cong waved his hand: "Someone, dig up the soil around here and see what veins are underneath!" He called over the man: "Well done, someone, give him ten gold coins!"

"Lord Wei, Lord Wei!" Due to his mediocre horsemanship, Kong Gui only caught up at this moment. He looked curiously at the dark brown rocks in front of him and asked, "What are these?"

“Iron caps, or rather, mineral veins protruding from the surface!” Wei Cong laughed.

"You mean there's a mine here?" Kong Gui asked, both surprised and delighted.

"Yes, it should be, but we don't know what kind of ore it is, what its grade is, or whether it's worth mining!" Wei Cong patted the dirt off his hands and gestured for them to proceed. At this moment, his attendants had already set up a folding chair and a table on a high place to the side and began to open the umbrellas to provide shade. Wei Cong sat down comfortably in the main seat: "We were able to find a mineral vein this time thanks to Master Kong's good fortune!"

"No, no!" Kong Gui looked at Wei Cong with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to take Wei Cong's flattery seriously. The other party had suddenly invited him to this desolate place for an excursion, saying he wanted to see the scenery of the place where Emperor Shun composed Shao music, and then after only two days there, he claimed to have found a mineral vein. How stupid would anyone have to be to believe such nonsense!

"Boil water, brew tea!" Wei Cong patted Kong Gui's thigh: "The scenery here is nice. Let's brew tea and enjoy the view here for a while, and then see what the mineral veins below are and how much there is!"

As the accompanying soldiers worked, more and more ore samples were brought up. Wei Cong began to carefully examine the samples, comparing them one by one with his memories. He hadn't brought Kong Gui to Shaoguan just to see the scenery. The areas in Guangdong Province with the most concentrated mineral resources are Shaoguan, Heyuan, Meizhou, Zhaoqing, and Maoming. Wei Cong's current requirements for the minerals were mainly iron, copper, gold, and silver (in descending order of importance), as well as low development difficulty, high grade, and convenient transportation.

After comparing these locations, Wei Cong ultimately chose Shaoguan: First, Shaoguan is connected to Panyu by the Beijiang River, and the waterway is only about 340 kilometers long. At a rate of 12 hours a day and about 7 kilometers per hour (downstream), the journey would take about four days. Moreover, starting from the Panyu section, the Beijiang River is wide and the current is gentle. Even during the dry season, it is sufficient for large ships of that time to navigate. If it is improved in the future, it could even allow modern sailing ships of several hundred tons to pass through, resulting in extremely low logistics costs.

Secondly, Shaoguan has iron, copper, coal, and lead mines. The Censhui copper mine in Qujiang was the largest copper producer in the Song Dynasty. During the Xining and Yuanfeng periods of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the Censhui mine produced millions of catties of copper annually. Also in Qujiang, there is the Wengyuan iron mine. Although the grade of the local limonite is not very high and cannot be compared with the magnetite mines in neighboring Jiangxi, the limonite smelting in Shaoguan can produce sulfides as a byproduct, which can produce sulfur. In addition, there are abundant lead-zinc and phosphate mines. Wei Cong has almost obtained all the main raw materials he needs to climb the black powder technology tree in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Wei Cong's attitude towards raw material sources has always been that lower quality is acceptable, and he could find ways to improve the process, but the quantity must be sufficient. The location shouldn't be too far from the economic and political center, and development and transportation costs must be low. Ideally, a branch base should be established to stock up on all the main raw materials. Therefore, even though he knew that the Shilu Iron Mine, Asia's richest iron ore mine, was located on Hainan Island, he ultimately chose Shaoguan, where development and logistics costs were lower, as his mining base. As for gold and silver, firstly, the copper mines in Shaoguan contained a certain amount of associated silver; secondly, he could trade salt with the barbarian chieftains of Cangwu, Yulin, and even further west and into the more distant mountains for gold; and thirdly, the tin mines in Wuzhou contained a large amount of associated silver. Having mastered the technology of refining silver from tin slag, he was probably the world's largest silver producer at the time, which was the source of Wei Cong's confidence in minting silver coins.

(End of this chapter)