Chapter 130: The Red Pill Case And The Palace Removal Case!

“What beautiful scenery with clear waters and green hills!”

Yang Xin stood in the quiet mountain forest, gazing at the endless green all around. As he spoke, he took a deep breath of the air rich with oxygen and the scent of pine resin.

The Battle of Kaiyuan was over.

Besides him kicking Hurhan to death, the allied forces had decapitated twelve hundred enemies. However, their own side suffered nearly three thousand casualties, with over eleven hundred dead. Looking at the numbers alone, they indeed suffered fewer losses than the Jiannu. But if one didn’t count the nearly two hundred Yang Xin himself killed, and also the Jiannu severely wounded who couldn’t escape and were casually beheaded, the allied forces’ death toll actually far exceeded the Jiannu’s. This battle could be considered one where both sides lost, a pyrrhic victory at best. The allies paid a heavy price.

At this time, the Jiannu’s combat strength was truly no joke.

Of course, no one cared about the casualties. Yang Xin certainly didn’t; the Ming Army lost less than three hundred men. As for the Mongol and Yehe deaths, who gave a damn? However, whether it was those Noyan or the leaders of the Yehe Tribe, they didn’t seem to care much about their own losses either, because right after, Yang Xin gave them a grand gift.

A gift grand enough to send them into raptures…

“Is there really silver here?”

Jin Taiji said, looking at the familiar mountain forest scenery around him.

A silver mine?

Beneath this land where his people had lived for a hundred years lay a mountain of silver?

This forest where he had hunted since childhood, only a dozen or so miles from Yehe City, actually had a silver mine?

If this were true, would the Yehe people still need to, like in the past, search for prey to survive every winter in knee-deep snow and beast-infested forests? Would they still need to toil on barren farmland? Would they still need to desperately chip through feet-thick ice in the bitter cold to catch fish under the ice layer just to live?

They wouldn’t need to at all.

As long as they had silver to take to Kaiyuan, or to the grassland herders, they could buy all the grain, cattle, and sheep they wanted. The Yehe people would never worry about food and clothing again.

Right now, it wasn’t just him. Boo Yanggu, Dergele, even all the leaders of the prominent families of the entire Yehe Tribe were gathered there, watching Chen Yujie with tense eyes as he used a small hammer to constantly tap at the scattered stones in a ravine carved out by floodwaters.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Then he picked up a fist-sized stone from the river water that had just been washed out not long ago.

“Is this silver ore?”

Dergele asked excitedly.

“No.”

Chen Yujie said with a slight smile.

The Yehe people let out a collective groan.

“But this is gold ore!”

Then Chen Yujie said with a beaming smile.

“And this is silver ore!”

At the same moment, Yang Xin said, stamping on a large rock beneath his foot.

As he spoke, he picked up another hard piece of granite from the ground and smashed it hard against the moss-covered rock. As both rocks shattered simultaneously, a silvery-gray metallic luster shimmered on the fractured surface of that rock. Chen Yujie, who had come over with the associated gold ore, immediately tapped it with his small hammer. A small piece of ore fell off. He then picked it up and raised it into the air, admiring it against the sunlight as if it were a gem. Under the sun’s rays, the entire stone reflected a metallic sheen.

It truly looked like an enticing piece of silver.

Actually, it was more enticing than silver.

This kind of high-silver-content argentite ore, when broken open, had countless reflective surfaces inside, and there was no surface oxidation. Under the sunlight, it truly looked dazzling.

“One qian of silver!”

Chen Yujie said, weighing it in his hand.

“This rock is worth one qian of silver?”

A Yehe clan leader exclaimed.

“For ore of this grade, one jin yields at least half a qian. This piece is over two jin, so getting one qian of silver from it is easy. However, this piece should be considered top-grade. Others probably won’t reach this quality. If they were all like this, your Yehe Tribe would be richer than the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. But as long as it’s worth refining, getting around ten liang per thousand jin isn’t rare. Some can yield dozens of liang of silver per thousand jin. And here, an entire mountain is waiting for you to dig. To think, for over a hundred years, you’ve been begging for food while sitting on a silver mountain.”

Chen Yujie said with a laugh.

The Yehe people gasped in amazement.

Everyone’s gaze turned to this mountain forest they had known since childhood.

“Dig it up! Go gather all the able-bodied men. Cut down the trees, dig up the earth. If this place is really as Brother Yang says, then our descendants’ good life depends entirely on this mountain!”

Jin Taiji said, waving his hand.

The Yehe people mounted their horses excitedly and galloped back to Yehe City to summon laborers.

Actually, they didn’t need to go all the way back to Yehe City. In the nearby valleys, there were small patches of land they had cultivated. The Jurchens also farmed crops, though in such places, they could only grow one season. One season of wheat didn’t yield much, but they still farmed. Additionally, they herded livestock, mainly pigs. This place was only about ten miles in a straight line from Yehe City. Moreover, it was nearing the spring wheat harvest season, so naturally, some of their people were around. Soon, equally excited Yehe tribesmen arrived with tools and began cutting down trees and digging up the surface soil in the area Yang Xin had designated.

Actually, they didn’t even need to dig.

Because the rock Yang Xin smashed earlier was actually on an exposed rocky outcrop. That is to say, this rocky outcrop itself had a high probability of being a silver vein.

And now that the silver mine was confirmed, the only thing left was how to divide this treasure.

“You mine, we smelt!”

Yang Xin said.

Jin Taiji nodded without hesitation.

They simply didn’t know how to smelt. Who else could they turn to if not Yang Xin?

“We’ll split the final silver yield fifty-fifty. You need manpower for mining and transportation. We also need manpower for smelting. Not to mention other things, just making charcoal requires a lot of labor. Also, during smelting, various additives must be mixed in. The whole smelting process is complex and cannot be completed in one go.”

Yang Xin continued.

Jin Taiji nodded again. A fifty-fifty split was a fair arrangement.

“Also, we mustn’t forget the Mongols. My suggestion is that each of us contributes one-tenth of our share. But not giving it to them directly. Instead, I’ll buy tea, sugar, and such from within the passes and give them to those Noyan. Also, for the temple on Diaobi Mountain in the future. In short, we are an alliance. Whether it’s Kaiyuan or Yehe City, we must rely on reinforcements from the various Mongol tribes. Similarly, the Mongol tribes also protect you from harassment by the Khorchin and others. As friends, we must share with them. After all, you have a silver mountain. Not to mention too much, we can produce several hundred thousand liang of silver per year. Spending a few thousand liang on gifts for them isn’t too much.”

Yang Xin said.

Jin Taiji kept nodding.

With his mind, he certainly understood that once this silver mountain was mined, the Yehe Tribe would also become a target that Wild Boar Skin was determined to seize.

Of course, it originally was such a target anyway.

It’s just that before the silver mountain, there was room for peace. After having the silver mountain, there was none.

He also understood Yang Xin’s purpose in revealing the silver mountain now. But for him, it didn’t matter because he was never going to submit to Wild Boar Skin anyway. This silver mountain was to help him stabilize things internally. Within the Yehe Tribe, there were plenty of people wavering. But this silver mountain solidified their stance completely.

It also solidified his rule.

But the Yehe Tribe couldn’t protect this silver mountain alone.

He had to rely on the support of the various Mongol tribes. Therefore, they couldn’t monopolize this silver mine; they had to give the Mongols a share. But sharing with the Mongols was better than sharing with Wild Boar Skin. In fact, Wild Boar Skin wouldn’t share either; he would swallow all the benefits himself. The Yehe Tribe and the Mongols just wanted their current way of life. For them, the silver mine was about maintaining everything they had. But Wild Boar Skin was ambitious. If he got the silver mine, he wouldn’t use it to ensure his subjects’ food and clothing. He would only use it to support his external wars and expansion. This point was clear not just to Jin Taiji, but also to his clan members. So even those who were internally wavering changed their stance now. Surrendering to Wild Boar Skin meant losing the silver mountain.

“But I need firearms!”

Jin Taiji said.

He would certainly face a large-scale attack from Wild Boar Skin next.

“Matchlock guns aren’t very useful for you. A strong bow isn’t worse than a matchlock. What you need is cannons. But the court is really strict about cannons. Still, I’ll find a way. In short, I’ll help you get cannons; you can rest assured about that. If all else fails, I’ll go to His Majesty the Emperor. If I can persuade him to agree to provide you with Frankish Cannons, that would solve it. After all, Wild Boar Skin also has those Joseon bondsmen. They will definitely bring cannons in their next attack. His Majesty is quite pleased with you. His Majesty…”

Yang Xin suddenly stopped.

Then he looked at the red leaves in the mountain forest. He suddenly realized he might have been having too much fun and forgotten something very important.

“What’s the date today?”

He anxiously turned and asked Chen Yujie.

“The fourteenth!”

Chen Yujie said.

“The fourteenth of which month?”

Yang Xin asked.

“The fourteenth of August.”

Chen Yujie said.

“What was the latest news from the Capital City you received?”

Yang Xin asked.

“A month ago? Actually, since coming to Kaiyuan, I haven’t received any Capital Gazette. Our place is isolated out here, and Jiannu scouts roam in between. Probably no one is delivering here. The latest Capital Gazette I saw was in Niuzhuang. After that, we kept traveling north along the Liao River, and none were delivered.”

Chen Yujie said.

This wasn’t strange. They were practically thrown into the most remote corner of the war zone.

“I leave this to you! I must return immediately!”

Yang Xin said.

Having said that, he turned without hesitation, mounted his horse directly, cupped his fist towards Jin Taiji, then spurred his horse west at a frantic gallop, leaving behind Jin Taiji and Chen Yujie staring at each other in surprise.

August fourteenth.

If nothing unexpected happened, Zhu Changluo should have already ascended the throne.

Also, as expected, this newly formally enthroned Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would fully embody the wise and holy ruler model in the eyes of the Donglin Faction Scholars. Then, before their cheers could even fade, on the first day of the next month, he would pass away. And the Great Ming Dynasty would welcome its third emperor that year.

The Red Pill Case and the Palace Removal Case!

Almost messed up a big thing!