Chapter 246 Coal and Iron Resources! (Update! Thanks to my friend Ye Xiaomei for the reward!)
"Manager Dong, I know you are anxious. Actually, I am anxious too!"

"But there is no way. My cavalry will need at least two months to form a complete combat capability!"

"In two months, the weather will begin to warm up. By then, you can safely travel to Xiangshuiyuan under the escort of my cavalry..."

Patting Dong Jiangchuan on the shoulder, Ye Mingsheng said soothingly:

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng had said this, Dong Jiangchuan also showed hesitation. He had to start thinking about Ye Mingsheng's proposal. After carefully considering the pros and cons, he raised his head and confirmed with Ye Mingsheng:

"Sir, do we really only need to wait for two more months?"

"Don't worry, I, Ye, keep my word!" Seeing that Dong Jiangchuan's attitude had softened, Ye Mingsheng smiled and gave him a reassurance.

After getting Ye Mingsheng's affirmative answer again, Dong Jiangchuan finally felt relieved and agreed:
"Since Lord Ye said so, I will do as you say. Let's start with a small batch of goods from Qumaling!"

After agreeing on the general direction with Dong Jiangchuan, Ye Mingsheng asked Yuan Song and Dong Jiangchuan to continue contacting each other and let the two of them work out more details. Ye Mingsheng has decided that for a long time to come, Yuan Song and his battalion of 2,000 men will be responsible for the protection of the caravan.

Although Ye Mingsheng wanted to expand other sources of fiscal revenue, ensure the diversity of his fiscal revenue channels, and reduce his dependence on An Zhirong.

But Rome was not built in a day, and economic development cannot be achieved overnight. The accumulation of capital requires a certain amount of time, and what Ye Mingsheng lacks most now is time!

Therefore, it can be predicted that, at least for the next period of time, An Zhirong's caravan will still be his most important source of financial income...

Ye Mingsheng needed An Zhirong to bring him tens of thousands of taels of silver every year so that his power could grow and expand rapidly.

Therefore, the protection of this caravan must not be allowed to fail!
This is also the most important reason why Ye Mingsheng chose Yuan Song!
After such a long period of careful observation, Ye Mingsheng believed that among all the generals under his command, the most capable general besides He Jingyun was Yuan Song.

Although Yuan Song is a man of few words, like a taciturn person, and does not like to be in the limelight like others, and does not talk about all kinds of impassioned speeches, he is still very reliable in what he says and does...

So Ye Mingsheng felt more at ease letting Yuan Song do this job!

After dealing with the problem of the caravan, Ye Mingsheng took his personal guards and headed eastward to Shiquan County under the jurisdiction of Fengzhou.

Ye Mingsheng ignored the warm reception of the Shiquan County magistrate and others, and instead, under the leadership of Ye Kui, headed straight to Shuangdong Township in Shiquan County.

Ye Mingsheng was lucky when he arrived at the mine, as he just happened to see a pair of miners walking out of the mine.

"Master, this is the coal from Shuangdong Township!"

Ye Kui picked up a piece of black coal from the basket of the miners who had just walked out of the mine and handed it to Ye Mingsheng with both hands. Ye Mingsheng took a close look at the coal and gradually a gleam of light appeared in his eyes. Judging from the color, hardness, and gloss, the quality of this piece of coal is excellent and very suitable for production use.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng immediately opened his mouth and ordered:

"Spread out and get me some coal from the other miners!"

"Yes!"

Under Ye Mingsheng's order, a small pile of coal in different phases soon appeared in front of him.

After carefully inspecting the coal, Ye Mingsheng was finally able to confirm that the quality of the piece of coal just now was not an isolated case, but that the quality of this batch of coal was very good.

The reason why Ye Mingsheng chose to come to Fengzhou, a dangerous place adjacent to the Khitans and Shiwei people who were ready to make a move, was entirely because he had no choice but to do so under the coercion of An Zhirong.

However, as the saying goes, make the best of it. After finding out that he could not escape this fate, Ye Mingsheng was forced to accept it.

Since returning to Fengshan County to recruit soldiers and horses, Ye Mingsheng began to investigate the situation in Fengzhou and make preparations in advance for the next development!

As Ye Mingsheng's understanding of Fengzhou gradually deepened, he also had a new understanding of this place where he would be stationed next!

Although due to weather reasons, Fengzhou's grain production can only achieve one harvest a year, which is not as good as the two harvests a year in places like Jiangnan, but because of the fertile soil and abundant water resources, Fengzhou's grain output is not small, and can reach about 300 kilograms per mu!
Not only that, more than half of Fengzhou's land is plains, so the arable land is very vast.

The large area of ​​arable land and fertile soil made this a naturally abundant land in feudal society!
The name Fengzhou also comes from this, meaning a place with plenty of food and clothing...

In addition to agriculture, Shiquan County and Linmao County under Fengzhou also have rich mineral resources, such as coal mines, iron mines, etc., and have great development potential!
Although Fengzhou is a place with unique geographical conditions and rich resources, it can be said that it was born with food from heaven, but unfortunately, heaven may have forgotten to give them a good neighbor...
Being adjacent to ambitious ethnic minorities such as the Khitans and the Shiweis, Fengzhou, which had unique natural conditions, has never been able to develop. All the successive governors of Liaoyang have thought about developing Fengzhou and making it the granary of the entire Liaoyang.

But these aliens are so hateful!
Whether it is the Khitans, the Shiwei people, or other ethnic minorities, they all have one characteristic, that is, they are not good at production, but they have a tough folk character, all the people are soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is very strong.

The government troops in Liaoyang had no way to deal with them. Even if they tried their best and temporarily hurt them, they could not completely eliminate them.

After all, nomadic people don’t have a fixed habitat, so if they can’t win, they can just roll up their tents and start running away. Even if you want to chase them in the vast grassland, you will be powerless...
Therefore, whenever Fengzhou began to develop, the plunder of foreign races would come as expected, sweeping away the fruits of the labor of the people of Fengzhou!
As a result, Fengzhou fell into a vicious cycle, causing many Fengzhou people to be unable to bear it and had to leave their homes and go to other places. The increasingly serious population loss also made Fengzhou become more decadent, and it became a famous remote and desolate place in Liaoyang Province.

After fully understanding the situation in Fengzhou, Ye Mingsheng realized the key to the matter!

That is, as long as the problem of foreign races is solved, Fengzhou's geographical conditions and resources will definitely be a very good base for hegemony!
But how to solve the problem of foreign races?
(End of this chapter)