Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

When Wang Dashan led his men out of the city, it was already completely dark.

Xiao Chen stood in front of the mansion gate, watching the figures of the twenty veterans disappear into the night, but a strange unease arose in his heart.

Scarface Liu wasn't stupid; he knew that such an important place as the granary must have been secretly guarded.

"Your Highness, it's cold at night, please go back inside," Uncle Fu advised.

Xiao Chen didn't move. He was thinking about something else.

He flipped through a few of the agricultural and industrial books in the cellar that afternoon.

One of the books, *The Records of Mineral Resources in the Northern Territory*, is a memoir written by a former mining official, documenting the distribution of mineral deposits throughout the northern border regions. Regarding the Cold Abyss, the book states:

"Fifteen li west of the city is Black Stone Mountain, where the stones are flammable, producing thick smoke and intense fire. South of the mountain is a hematite mine, which was once mined by the previous dynasty, but was abandoned due to the invasion of the Northern Yan."

Black stone is combustible; it's coal. Hematite is iron.

Coal and iron.

If this record is true...

Xiao Chen turned around and went back to the mansion, heading straight to the cellar.

He rummaged through the pile of books and quickly found the book "The Mineral Resources of the North".

The words on the yellowed pages were somewhat blurred, but still legible.

He took the book back to the courtroom and examined it closely under the oil lamp.

The book contained a simple map marking the location of Blackstone Mountain—it was located west of the city, upstream of the White Water River, about fifteen miles from Hanyuan City.

There was also a line of smaller text next to it: "The rock layer is shallow, and there are often exposed areas."

Exposed coal seam.

This means that there is no need to dig deep, and it may even be exposed on the surface, allowing for direct mining.

Xiao Chen's heart raced.

If there really is coal, then half of the problems of heating and smelting are solved.

If there's still iron...

"Your Highness," Zhao Tie's voice came from the doorway.

He shuffled in with difficulty, leaning on a wooden cane; his face looked pale in the lamplight.

"Why are you up?" Xiao Chen frowned.

"I can't lie down."

Zhao Tie sat down on the stool, took a breath, and asked, "Wang Dashan went?"

"Um."

"That's too risky."

Zhao Tie shook his head. "Scarface Liu has been in Hanyuan for three years, and his influence is deep-rooted. We've just arrived and are unfamiliar with the area. If we rashly go to investigate his granary, what if..."

"If we're discovered, we'll fight," Xiao Chen said. "We're short of food right now, we can't afford to wait."

Zhao Tie was silent for a moment, then looked at the book in Xiao Chen's hand: "What is Your Highness reading?"

"mineral."

Xiao Chen pushed the book over, "Look here."

Zhao Tie wasn't very literate, but he could understand pictures.

He stared at the map for a long time, then suddenly looked up: "Black Rock Mountain... I've been there."

Xiao Chen was taken aback: "When?"

"Ten years ago."

Zhao Tie's eyes darted around. "Back then, I was a border scout, chasing a group of bandits into those mountains. There were indeed black stones there, and I picked up a few that could be burned. But I was in a hurry to catch the bandits, so I didn't look closely."

Do you remember the exact location?

"I vaguely remember."

Zhao Tie thought for a moment, "Go out from the west of the city, follow the Baishui River upstream, pass through a birch forest, and there's a small path leading into the mountains. Follow the path, and it will probably..."

He suddenly stopped and looked at Xiao Chen: "Your Highness wishes to go?"

"Let's go now."

"Now?"

Zhao Tie was startled. "Going into the mountains at night is too dangerous, and besides, your safety..."

"It's precisely because it's nighttime that it's less likely to be discovered."

Xiao Chen stood up. "Scarface Liu's attention is all in the city right now. Let's take this opportunity to go and check it out."

"But what about your safety...?"

"You, Amu, take five more skilled men. That's enough." Xiao Chen said firmly, "It's settled then."

A quarter of an hour later, the seven people quietly left the city lord's mansion.

Xiao Chen, Zhao Tie, Amu, and four veterans handpicked by Wang Dashan—all of them were agile and had good eyesight.

Everyone was dressed in dark clothes and carried knives; Xiao Chen even carried the "Frost Abyss" knife on his back.

The night was dark, there was no moon, only a few cold stars.

The snow reflected the faint starlight, barely enough to make out the path beneath my feet.

The cold wind blew like a knife, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

After leaving the west side of the city, walk upstream along the Baishui River.

The river was completely frozen over, and the ice was so thick that a horse could run across it.

The riverbanks were lined with withered reeds, rustling in the wind.

After walking about five miles, Zhao Tie stopped.

"It's this grove of trees," he said, pointing ahead.

It was a birch forest, the tree trunks gleaming a pale white in the night, like bones.

The woods were very quiet; even the sound of the wind was blocked.

Be careful.

Zhao Tie lowered his voice, "There might be wolves in this kind of forest."

The seven people lined up in a row, with Xiao Chen in the middle, and Zhao Tie and Amu protecting him from the front and back.

Beneath our feet lay a thick layer of fallen leaves and snow, soft and yielding without making a sound.

After passing through the woods, we indeed saw a path.

The path was narrow and covered in snow, but traces of people walking on it could still be seen—perhaps hunters or herb gatherers.

We followed the path into the mountains.

The mountain is not high, but it is very steep.

The road became increasingly difficult to traverse, and in many places, one had to use both hands and feet to climb up.

Zhao Tie had an injury on his leg and was struggling to climb, so Amu stayed by his side to support him.

After walking another three miles, the path ended.

Ahead was a precipice, and below the precipice was a mountain hollow.

"This is it."

Zhao Tie, panting, said, "I chased them all the way here back then, and the bandits jumped off the cliff and ran away. When I looked down, I saw some dark things on the cliff face."

Xiao Chen walked to the edge of the cliff.

The cliff is not high, about three or four zhang (approximately 10-12 meters).

He had Amu tie the rope to the tree, and then he held onto the rope and carefully slid down.

When his feet touched solid ground, he lit the tinderbox.

The faint light from the disc player dispelled the darkness and illuminated the cliff face.

Then, Xiao Chen held his breath.

Large swathes of black rock are exposed on the cliff face.

That was no ordinary stone; it gleamed with an oily sheen in the firelight.

He looked closer and saw that the rock surface had obvious stratification and a dense texture. He could scrape off black powder with his fingernail.

It's coal.

Moreover, it is high-quality anthracite coal.

He picked up a piece, brought it to his nose and smelled it—it had a faint sulfur smell.

Then, using a tinderbox to light it, the coal quickly caught fire, the flame was steady, and there was almost no smoke.

"Your Highness!" Zhao Tie's voice came from the cliff.

"Get down!"

Xiao Chen shouted, "It's coal! Good coal!"

Zhao Tie and Amu also slid down.

Upon seeing the exposed coal seam, Zhao Tie's eyes widened: "So much... if we dig this out, it'll be enough to burn the entire Cold Abyss for ten years!"

Xiao Chen remained silent.

He carried the tinderbox and walked along the cliff face.

The thickness of the coal seam exceeded his expectations—the thickest part was more than ten feet, and the thinnest part was three feet.

Moreover, it wasn't just in one place; the entire cliff face, stretching for dozens of meters, was entirely composed of coal.

This isn't a mine, it's practically a black gold mine.

He was getting excited when he suddenly kicked something.

Looking down, it was a rusty iron pickaxe.

Further ahead, there were scattered scrap metal objects on the ground—rusted shovels, broken mine cart wheels, and several broken pottery jars.

"Was this place...mined before?" Zhao Tie picked up a tattered helmet with a blurry emblem on it—the military insignia of the previous dynasty.

Xiao Chen remembered.

The Records of Mineral Resources in the Northern Territory states that the previous dynasty had mined in Hanyuan, but it was later abandoned due to war.

He continued walking forward, holding the tinderbox in his hand.

After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up before me.

Deep in the mountain valley, there is a huge mine pit.

The pit was about two or three zhang deep and several tens of zhang in circumference.

The pit walls were dark red rock, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the firelight.

At the bottom of the pit were piles of waste rocks and several collapsed mine shafts.

Xiao Chen picked up a stone from the pit wall.

The stone is heavy, dark red, and has honeycomb-like pores on its surface.

He drew his knife and made a cut on the stone—leaving a clear white mark.

It is iron ore.

Moreover, its iron content is not low.

"Coal... Iron..."

Zhao Tie's voice trembled, "Your Highness, we...we've struck it rich!"

Xiao Chen, however, had thought further ahead than he had.

Coal and iron are the cornerstones of industry.

With coal, iron can be smelted.

With iron, we can forge weapons, farm tools, and everything else we need.

With these two things, the Cold Abyss is no longer a dead end, but a treasure trove.

But here's the problem—how do we mine?

He now has only three hundred old, weak, and disabled soldiers, many of whom are wounded.

Coal mining requires manpower, while iron smelting requires technology.

Moreover, once mining begins and the news gets out, what will Scarface Liu think? What will the grassland tribes think? What will the Northern Yan in the north think?

Every husband is not guilty, and he is guilty of his crime.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Amu asked, gesturing intently.

Xiao Chen pondered for a moment: "Let's build this place up first."

"Cover it up?"

"right."

Xiao Chen pointed to the mine pit, "Use snow and tree branches to cover up the mine pit and coal seam. We can't let anyone find out, at least not now."

Zhao Tie asked, puzzled, "Why? With these, we can..."

"It is precisely because of these things that we need to be even more careful."

Xiao Chen interrupted him, "Think about it, if Scarface Liu knew there was coal and iron here, what would he do?"

Zhao Tie was taken aback, then understood: "He'll steal it."

"Yes. Not only will Scarface Liu rob us, but Black Wind Stronghold will rob us, the grassland tribes will rob us, and even Northern Yan might come to rob us." Xiao Chen's voice was low. "We can't hold onto such wealth now."

He paused, then looked at Zhao Tie: "So, what we need to do now is not to rush into mining, but to keep it a secret. Once we have a firm foothold and enough manpower and troops, we can proceed slowly."

Zhao Tie nodded: "Your Highness is wise."

Seven people began to work.

They used branches and snow to cover the exposed coal seams and mine pits.

Fortunately, it was winter and the snow was heavy, so it wasn't difficult to cover it up.

After working for half an hour, they finally covered up all the traces.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary mountain valley, with nothing unusual about it.

"Remember this place."

Xiao Chen said, "No one else can know about this except the seven of us. This is our trump card, our capital for Han Yuan to turn things around."

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

On the way back, Xiao Chen kept thinking.

The discovery of coal and iron was both a turning point and a crisis.

If used properly, Han Yuan can rise to prominence.

If used improperly, it could lead to utter disaster.

The key is how to use it.

It was already past midnight when they returned to the city lord's mansion.

Wang Dashan has returned and is waiting in the courtroom.

Upon seeing Xiao Chen return, he immediately went to greet him: "Your Highness, the investigation is complete."

"explain."

"There is indeed grain in the brick kiln, but not much, about twenty or thirty shi (a unit of dry measure). There are seven or eight guards, all of whom are Scarface Liu's men," Wang Dashan said in a low voice. "But I've noticed something strange."

"What?"

"The grain wasn't being moved out of the kiln, it was being moved in."

Wang Dashan said, "I saw with my own eyes three large trucks carrying grain into the kiln, unloading the goods, and then coming out empty."

Xiao Chen's eyes sharpened: "Move in? Not move out?"

"right."

Wang Dashan nodded, "And judging from the wheel tracks, the grain was very heavy, like...like new grain."

New grain?

It's January now, a time when food is scarce and infrequent.

In Hanyuan, last autumn's grain was long gone, so where would new grain come from?

unless……

Xiao Chen suddenly thought of a possibility: "Which direction did those grain transport wagons come from?"

"North."

Wang Dashan said, "Towards Black Wind Village."

Black Wind Village.

He knew that Scarface Liu was colluding with the bandits of Black Wind Stronghold.

But where would the bandits get new food? Unless…

"Grassland." Xiao Chen slowly uttered the two words.

Zhao Tie's expression changed: "Your Highness, are you saying that Scarface Liu is making deals with the grassland tribes?"

"And it's a grain trade."

Xiao Chen sneered, "The grassland tribes are short of food, and Scarface Liu is short of ironware, salt, and cloth. He uses these to exchange for grassland grain, and then sells it to the people of Hanyuan at a high price. He makes money twice by trading in and out."

Wang Dashan gasped, "This...this is aiding the enemy! According to the law, he should be executed!"

"law?"

Xiao Chen shook his head. "In Hanyuan, Scarface Liu is the law."

He walked to the map, looked at the location of Black Wind Village, and then looked in the direction of the grassland.

A line became clear in his mind.

Scarface Liu controls Hanyuan City, Black Wind Stronghold controls the area outside the city, and the grassland tribes provide food and horses.

The three parties colluded to drain Han Yuan of his blood.

What he has to face is not just Scarface Liu, but the entire chain of interests.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Wang Dashan asked.

Xiao Chen remained silent.

He walked to the window and pushed it open a crack.

Outside, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

A new day has begun.

And he finally saw clearly what kind of situation he was facing.

"Wait," he said.

"wait?"

"Let Scarface Liu make the first move."

Xiao Chen turned around, a cold glint in his eyes. "He thinks we're easy targets and will definitely come looking for trouble. When he does, we'll show him—"

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Some persimmons look soft, but inside they are stones."

Outside the window, the first rays of dawn pierced the darkness and shone on the snow.

The light also shone on Xiao Chen's face.

That face, still bearing the innocence of a boy, was now filled with a coldness and determination beyond its years.

The first battle of the Cold Abyss is about to begin.

And he was ready.