The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 673 Southern Harmony
Emperor Wanli was preparing to exile the princes and members of the imperial family to the far south.

However, Fangzhang Island cannot be developed overnight.

There's practically nothing here, and it's far from the Ming Dynasty's mainland, so developing it would be incredibly difficult.

For example, basic necessities such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, pots and pans, grain, and cloth are not available here; they all have to be transported from the Ming Dynasty or Luzon Island.

That's not all. The key issue is that the amount of bricks they used to build the city and even the houses was so large that it was impossible to transport them from the Ming Dynasty or Luzon.

The border cavalry originally stationed here also made their own bricks in their own kilns.

However, all they need to do is build a city, and they have plenty of time, so there's no rush. It doesn't matter if they chop firewood or make bricks.

After the entire town of Datong was relocated, they could no longer rely on cutting firewood to make bricks.

Because they have more than 135,000 households and more than 1.8 million people, it's impossible to know how many bricks would be needed to build courtyards.

Moreover, this place is a place of exile, and it is isolated overseas, so it is not safe. Not to mention that all the hundred-household garrisons will be built with cities, all the thousand-household garrisons and guard posts will definitely be built with cities.

With so many cities to build, the amount of bricks needed would be enormous. If you were to use firewood to make bricks, you could kill someone just by chopping wood.

Emperor Wanli, however, had made preparations long ago.

He vaguely remembered that the mineral resources here were quite abundant.

Therefore, he not only ordered the Shenji Battalion to bring over all the thousand sets of drill bits they had used in the northern desert, but also specially ordered Yongnian Earl Wang Wei to make an additional thousand sets of drill bits to bring along.

On the 29th day of the sixth month, around 7 a.m., Yu Zigao led his massive fleet away from the port, and Wanli immediately ordered the Shenji Battalion soldiers to begin prospecting.

This time, there were no railway lines for them to explore, and the river here was not suitable for navigation. Therefore, he directly ordered the Shenji Battalion soldiers to spread out from both sides of the river mouth and explore east and west along the coastline.

The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion formed a grid-like formation and began to explore along the coastline on both sides of the river.

They don't even need to disembark; if they want to see it, they can simply sail the Weiyuan warship over.

On the flagship, Prince Zhu Changzhi of the Southern Kingdom held up a telescope and scanned the area with great interest. He then couldn't help but ask, "Father, why did you order the Shenji Battalion soldiers to explore along the coastline this time?"

"I heard from Third Brother that the Shenji Battalion soldiers scouted directly on the grasslands last time, right? This coastline isn't all grassland; when we came here, many areas along the coastline seemed to be barren."

Do you still think there are coal mines only on grasslands?
This coal mine has nothing to do with the grassland. The key point is that no railway has been built on this grassland.

Emperor Wanli patiently explained: "When we explore coal mines, the first thing we must consider is the issues of mining and transportation."

There is no railway here, and the river next to the port changes with the seasons, making it unsuitable for navigation.

Our only means of transportation now is sea freight, so naturally we need to explore along the coastline.

Oh, so it was for the convenience of mining and transportation.

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhu Changxun of the Southern Kingdom thought for a moment and then asked, "Father, are coal mines found everywhere?"

This little guy is quite concerned about his vassal state.

Upon hearing that the Shenji Battalion soldiers were about to begin exploring coal mines, he chatted with Xiao Zhu Changxun for quite a while.

Xiao Zhu and Chang Xun had experience in coal mine exploration.

Last time they got incredibly lucky, managing to find a coal mine on the grasslands, and even found a large open-pit coal mine right at the start of their exploration.

However, it's uncertain whether we'll be as lucky this time as we were last time.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "Coal mines are not found everywhere."

With current exploration methods, coal mine exploration is purely a matter of luck. Last time we were lucky and found something right away, but this time we might not be so lucky.

Unfortunately, his prediction came true this time as well.

Their luck wasn't as good as last time.

The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion started drilling on both sides simultaneously, and each day they drilled along the coastline to the east and west, covering an area of ​​about 100 miles in length and width. In other words, they could drill an area of ​​about 5,000 square kilometers every day.

As a result, nothing was detected on the first day, nothing was detected on the second day, and nothing was detected on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days.

Now not only was Prince Zhu Changzhi of Xiaonan getting a little anxious, but Qin Banghan, the general of Datong Town, was also getting a little anxious.

On the morning of the seventh day, around 7 a.m., Qin Banghan couldn't resist running to the flagship.

After the emperor and his minister exchanged greetings, he cautiously said, "Your Majesty, we have opened over a hundred brick kilns and prepared several hundred kilns of clay bricks. Why don't we chop some firewood and start firing them?"

Making bricks with firewood is such a hassle.

Because firewood has to be chopped, and the burning time of firewood is nowhere near that of coal. The amount of firewood needed to fire a single brick kiln is six or seven times more than that of coal. A single brick kiln requires an unknown amount of firewood, let alone hundreds of them.

Wanli thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "Let's wait and see. Burning bricks with firewood is not a long-term solution."

We need a lot of bricks, and this area is mostly grassland with hardly any forests. Even if we cut down all the trees in the nearby groves, it wouldn't be enough to make enough bricks.

The problem is, it's been several days and we still haven't found a coal mine.

How much longer will it take before the bricks can be fired?
Upon hearing this, Qin Banghan could only bow and take his leave.

Before noon that day, the military commander of the Shenji Battalion, who was in charge of the western exploration, rushed back in a hurry. Wanli thought they had discovered a coal mine in the west.

After the emperor and his minister exchanged greetings, he couldn't wait to ask, "How is it? Have you found a coal mine?"

Unexpectedly, this guy said with a strange look on his face, "Your Majesty, an iron mine has been discovered near the coastline more than 600 miles to the west."

Iron ore is still plentiful over there, but no matter where we drill, we can't get it in.

what?
iron ore!

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wanli was both amused and exasperated.

There are iron mines here, and lots of them. The iron content of the ore seems to be quite high. He vaguely remembered all of this.

The problem is, what they urgently need right now isn't iron ore!

He thought about it carefully, then waved his hand and said, "Don't drill where you can't drill. Mark that area of ​​iron ore and then continue drilling westward."

Upon hearing this, the adjutant of the Divine Machine Battalion immediately bowed and took his leave.

This time, their luck seems to be really bad. Ten days have passed and they still haven't found anything. Fifteen days have passed and there's still no news about the coal mine from either side.

Emperor Wanli was getting a little anxious. Surely Fangzhang Island has coal mines?
Or, to put it another way, there are no coal mines near the coastline.

How to do it?

On the morning of the sixteenth day, around 9 a.m., he was sitting there deep in thought when the Shenji Battalion Commander, who was in charge of the eastern exploration, arrived again in a flying shuttle boat.

After the emperor and his minister exchanged greetings, the man said with a strange expression, "Your Majesty, yesterday we discovered a gold mine near that bay more than 1,500 li to the east. The gold mine seems to be quite large."

what?
Gold mine!

When Emperor Wanli heard this, he was truly at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He remembered that the Jinshan in the Xidusi area of ​​North America was not called Jinshan in later generations, but San Francisco. As for why, it was because a new Jinshan was discovered here.

The location of Xin Jinshan seems to be near the large bay in the southeast corner of Fangzhang Island.

That place is a natural harbor.

However, they did not choose to build a port or wharf there.

Because their first priority was to solve the food problem, they had to cultivate the land along both banks of the river.

There are no large rivers over there, and not much flat land either. It seems that the coastline is mostly mountainous, about a hundred miles north.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for them to build a port and dock there first.

Unexpectedly, a gold mine was discovered there.

This is truly both laughable and frustrating.

He thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Forget about the gold mine for now. What we need now is the coal mine. Mark the location of the gold mine and continue exploring eastward."

At this point, he was really getting anxious.

What if there are really no coal mines near the coastline?
A few days later, the military commander of the Shenji Battalion in charge of the east came over again.

After exchanging greetings with the emperor and his ministers, he said with a beaming smile, "Your Majesty, we have discovered a coal mine."

Thankfully, we finally found it.

Emperor Wanli, rather impatiently, took out the map, spread it out on the table, and asked hastily, "Where is it?"

The military commander of the Shenji Battalion carefully examined the map, then pointed and said, "It's roughly around this location. I remember it's about a hundred li north of here."

That's good, it's not very far.

Wanli then asked, "Approximately how big is that coal mine?"

I'm not sure about that.

The military commander of the Shenji Battalion cautiously said, "Your Majesty, we have been exploring along the coastline for dozens or even hundreds of miles to the north, but we still haven't reached the end of this coal mine."

That's a pretty big coal mine.

Emperor Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Approximately how deep is the coal mine buried?"

Without hesitation, the adjutant of the Shenji Battalion replied, "Your Majesty, what we've explored is less than three zhang deep."

Very good, it's an open-pit coal mine that's particularly easy to mine.

With the coal mine in place, the development of Datong Town became much easier. Coal could not only be used to make bricks, but also to smelt iron and gold.

The mineral resources here are exceptionally abundant. As the two teams of Shenji Battalion continued to explore in the northwest, they discovered more and more coal and iron mines, so many that they were inexhaustible!
Zhu Changzhi, the Prince of Xiaonan, was overjoyed. His fiefdom was a veritable treasure trove, with iron and coal mines everywhere, and even gold mines.

(End of this chapter)