Han, Shanyang.

Among the hills and valleys, several sentry towers stood high.

The soldiers were holding crossbows and standing on the sentry tower, staring at the entrance in the distance.

At the entrance of the rugged mountain road, a long team was approaching. There were nearly a thousand of these people, carrying clothes on their feet, and walking slowly forward.

There were soldiers escorting him from both sides, and there were loud cries all the way.

It's the same scene as over there in Pseudo-Qi.

The newly appointed official Zhang Yan stood at the entrance, with many officials standing behind him.

The Han State followed the policy of the Qi State and established the Eastern Government Office and the Western Government Office in the country, which were responsible for many mines and ironworks in the east and west respectively. In the counties, they established Dayeling and Xiaoyeling, all of which belonged to the iron industry.

official.

There are currently fifty-eight iron officials in the country.

This represents the fifty-eight iron ore mines in the country. It is worth mentioning that in addition to Tieguan, there are also Tongguan, Yinguan, etc...:

The so-called iron official is just a general term for them. In fact, the official positions are different because of the different things they are responsible for.

The officer in charge of the escort quickly stepped forward and saluted Zhang Yan, "This is the last batch."

He took out the document in his hand and handed it to the other party.

Zhang Yan asked his subordinates to check whether the number and appearance of the other party were consistent with the documents.

While the clerks were busy comparing, the officer's face was full of exhaustion. He rubbed the area between his eyebrows.

This unfortunate errand is finally over.

Zhang Yan carefully checked various documents, and then looked at the officer.

"Thank you for your hard work. I went back and forth many times and finally it's completed."

"These are all things that are part of the responsibility."

"Those who deserve to be killed usually cut corners. Our weapons are either incomplete or defective. You don't know, when I fought against the Puppet Zhou in Yangqu, the knife in my hand broke at the touch of it...

..You don’t have to worry about it in the future.”

The officer was in a good mood.

The people he escorted were all criminals related to the original Tieguan case.

The Tieguan case is the largest case in the country since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no, since Liu Taozi came to power.

The case implicated sixteen factories and thirty-eight mines, and involved thousands of temple officials, smelting officials, government officials, local officials, military officers, etc., numbering in the thousands.

And the crimes of many of them have reached the point where the entire family is punished.

A shovel fell down and a family was formed, so the number of people involved exceeded 10,000.

Of course, the temple would not execute tens of thousands of people at once. That would be too cruel. The Han Dynasty was based on benevolence and virtue.

Therefore, they were sentenced to extra prison terms. The so-called prison terms are to restrict their freedom and imprison them. Of course, the government cannot keep them in vain. Therefore, these people still have to do something to make up for it, such as taking charge of mining in the mines they are most familiar with.

Work.

Ironmaking has technical requirements. Unless it is some chores, other things must be completed by professional craftsmen. But mining...:.\n.\nBecause most of the domestic mines are open-pit mines, there are very few talented people.

Need to dig deeper,

Therefore, the technical requirements are not that many, as long as you can grab the tools.

The entire Han Dynasty was extremely rich in mineral resources.

Iron, copper, coal...\n. Basically everything needed in this era is available.

It has been a long-standing rule to allow prisoners to mine, and the State of Qi would even send conscripts to conscript civilians for mining.

Zhang Yan stood aside, looking at the prisoners in front of him, thoughtfully.

Zhang Yan has just assumed the position of chief of the mine here, responsible for mining and overall management.

After arriving, he discovered many problems.

After the clerks checked and determined that there were no problems, Zhang Yan just signed his name to express his acceptance.

The army responsible for escorting them left, and the garrison at the mine took over and took them to the mine.

This is an iron mine. Around the mine, they have fenced off a small town with a place to hold prisoners and a place to live.

The prisoners wearing them are working hard, and the sergeant patrols back and forth from time to time.

Everyone is busy.

Zhang Yan stood on the high platform and looked at the scene in front of him, frowning and worried.

The Chief Administrative Officer stood beside him, his attitude was very low, almost flattering.

"Your Majesty, we have obtained another group of prisoners this time. There are more than 13,000 masonry workers in the mine. In addition, we have eliminated those traitors. There are no more powerful people who dare to openly compete with us for profit. I am afraid that next year's mining will

It can reach an unprecedented level!!"

The iron official was very excited, but Zhang Yan remained silent.

"This kind of mining that is mainly based on slaves will not improve much."

"We still need to increase the number of legitimate masons...

The official was stunned and asked tangledly: "Servant? But His Majesty doesn't seem to agree very much...\n"

"I'm not talking about labor, I'm talking about normal masonry.

The officials understood.

Mining workers have many names, such as gray face, slave, masonry, mine slave... There are not many good names.

The reason for this is mainly because there are relatively few workers who specialize in mining, and most of them are criminals, slaves, and prisoners of war...:. In the Han Dynasty, merchants, sons-in-law, and stepfathers were also recruited.

mining.

There are still relatively few people who actually make this a career.

The official had no choice but to say: "I understand what you are saying, but it is mainly related to expenditure. If you recruit masons to do work, you have to give them money... These people are different. As long as they are not allowed to starve to death, they can always

Use it to the point of death. Sometimes, you can let them do risky things without fear of death or injury....\n."

Zhang Yan said seriously: "You have also seen how inefficient these people are. Moreover, if we talk about expenditures, what about the sergeants who supervise them? How are their expenditures calculated?"

"There will definitely be fewer and fewer prisoners in the future. Do we need to follow the example of Qi in issuing conscripts?"

"You can still capture prisoners of war...\n. That's how it used to be..\n..\n"

"Wouldn't it cost more?"

Zhang Yan said in a low voice: "It's not that we can't let prisoners work. It's just that we still need to recruit more legitimate masonry workers. There are many dead people fleeing from the south. It will also take time to confer farmland. We are not conferring farmland today."

,

We will have enough to eat and drink tomorrow, and if the iron officials can recruit stoneworkers and ironworkers on their own, firstly, it will help those who do not have farmland to survive, and secondly, it will improve the efficiency of mining and smelting."

"I want to write a letter to the temple about this incident."

Tieguan no longer refutes. It's not that he can't refute, but he doesn't dare to refute.

This Zhang Yan is not an ordinary person. He is from Cheng'an. He comes from the same village as Your Majesty. He grew up in front of Your Majesty. Your Majesty affectionately calls him Erlang in the edicts given to him.

He can't afford to offend him, so he can write whatever he wants.

Anyway, I can't control it.

There are many opportunities to make contributions here. Since the Tieguan case, many vacancies have appeared in various places.

There is a lot of waste waiting to be done. As long as you are not a fool and do a little bit of work, you can make outstanding political achievements. Then you can move up... What a great opportunity.

Zhang Yan did not hesitate, returned to his residence, and began to immerse himself in writing in preparation for the memorial to the temple.

Pingcheng.

Liu Taozi was wearing ordinary military uniform and was squeezing forward in the bustling East Market.

The city was extremely lively. There were merchants and merchants all along the road. People were coming and going. Cars and horses couldn't get in at all. Everyone was next to each other and pushing hard to move forward.

The stench came from everywhere, and there were many discarded debris on the ground, food leftovers, and some chicken and duck feces, etc.

Gao Yanzong was walking among the crowd, and the choking smell made him feel dizzy.

Gao Yanzong is not a clean person, but this is too unclean!

Liu Taozi didn't feel any strange at all. He walked on the road happily, looking at the vendors on the left and right from time to time.

There were many people coming to the market, some of whom came from the countryside, and there was a lot of noise everywhere.

Everyone just pushed forward.

Gao Yanzong finally couldn't help it and grabbed Zu Ban beside him.

"There are too many people here and it's dangerous. We'd better take His Majesty back."

Zu Ban wore more ordinary clothes, with a slight smile on his face, "Don't disturb the lord's elegance. If you bear with it, you will get used to it."
To be continued...