Yuan Jiangtao boarded the helicopter. Although his official rank was higher than Lin Songqi's, he felt just as apprehensive as him.
Sitting in the passenger cabin, he trembled, not daring to sit all the way down, fearing any action might displease Fang Er.
Under his guidance, the helicopter flew towards a mountainous forest outside the city.
As they approached, Fang Er saw the laborers working outside through the window.
They were digging something out of the small mountain.
The helicopter hovered above, stirring up dust from the mining area below.
"Find a place to land first," Fang Er said to Zhang Tian, seeing the situation.
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Zhang Tian scanned the area, found a suitable spot, and steered the helicopter down.
In the sky, the loud whirring sound startled the laborers and officials working below.
"It's His Excellency!"
In a corner of the mining area, where pickup trucks and three-wheeled vehicles were parked, Wu Yong emerged from a thatched shed and shouted excitedly, looking at the helicopter in the sky.
After he had returned to Chang'an to report, he had come to Qingzhou with people from the Ministry of Works.
This was also why Fang Er hadn't seen them when he returned to Chang'an.
Wu Yong, along with soldiers, ran towards where the helicopter was landing.
The supervisor from the Ministry of Works, seeing this, followed suit.
"The fact that these arrogant Heavenly Fire Army soldiers are so excited must mean Fang Anzhi has arrived."
As the engine sputtered to a halt and Fang Er stepped out of the helicopter, he saw a crowd had already gathered outside.
"Whoosh!"
"Wu Yong, Division Commander of the Fourth Division of the Heavenly Fire Army, reporting to Your Excellency!"
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Wu Yong and the soldiers of the Fourth Division, their previous casual demeanor gone, stood at attention and saluted, their movements precise and fluid.
Lin Songqi and Yuan Jiangtao, who had disembarked with the helicopter, were startled.
"Damn it, these short-haired grunts have such a terrifying aura!"
The supervisor from the Ministry of Works also quickly bowed.
"Hua Xing, supervisor from the Ministry of Works, greets Your Excellency!"
Fang Er first returned the salute to Wu Yong and his men, then walked to Hua Xing's side. "How is the mining progress?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, everything is proceeding smoothly. We have already extracted over seventy thousand catties of ore, which are piled up to the south."
"Let's go take a look."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Hua Xing led the way, with Fang Er, Wu Yong, and others following behind.
Lin Songqi and Yuan Jiangtao looked at each other, feeling incredibly awkward.
They felt like invisible people and, after a moment's thought, could only follow along.
After walking south for two to three hundred meters, Hua Xing pointed to a mound of earth ahead. "Your Excellency, all the ore extracted these days is piled here."
Fang Er stepped forward and picked up a handful, examining it carefully.
"Rest assured, Your Excellency, your subordinate has found the best blacksmiths in Qingzhou City. This ore has all been screened and is of good quality," Hua Xing said with his back bowed, a sense of pride in his eyes.
Fang Er threw the aluminum ore back, patted the dirt off his hands, and took a small piece of gold from his pocket, tossing it over.
"Good work. Take this for drinks. Although this is a task assigned by the Ministry of Works, it is ultimately what I requested. Work diligently, and I will put in a good word for you with the Emperor later."
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Excellency!"
Hua Xing happily accepted the gold and bowed to Fang Er again.
"Are there any large rivers nearby?" Fang Er asked Hua Xing.
The manufacturing of helicopters requires aluminum alloy, not pure aluminum. Furthermore, refining aluminum requires fluorite produced by the Heavenly Courage Department. Therefore, it seemed most appropriate to transport the bauxite back to Shenyang for processing.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this subordinate truly does not know." Hua Xing shook his head.
Fang Er's gaze fell upon Yuan Jiangtao, who had followed them.
"Does Your Excellency Yuan know?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, ten li to the southwest of this place, there is a river called Xiaoqing River, which is also the largest river in Qingzhou."
The name Xiaoqing River sounded like anything but a major river. As expected, before Fang Er could ask further, Yuan Jiangtao continued, "Your Excellency, this river is no more than five zhang wide at its narrowest point and about a zhang deep at its deepest."
"As expected, the name is unreliable!"
"How far is this place from the Yellow River, and how far from the sea?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the closest point to the Yellow River is a little over a hundred li, and it is two hundred li to the Bohai Sea," Yuan Jiangtao replied honestly, unsure why Fang Er was asking.
"It's still over a hundred li to the Yellow River."
After further inquiries, he learned that there wasn't even a proper road connecting this place to the nearest section of the Yellow River.
This meant that roads would have to be built, otherwise, the extracted ore could not be transported out.
"Do you know the method for firing cement?" Fang Er asked the supervisor from the Ministry of Works.
Fang Er had already provided the cement formula to Li Shimin for free a year ago, even risking six lives to deliver it.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, your subordinate has heard of it, but is not entirely clear about the specifics."
"Stop the mining operations here for now. First, cast cement and repair the roads."
As Fang Er spoke, he took out paper and a brush from his pocket, wrote down the cement formula, and handed it to Hua Xing.
Hua Xing took the paper and looked at the clumsy handwriting, unable to believe it was the work of a Duke of the current dynasty.
After squinting and reading for a long time, he finally understood the content, which was identical to the cement formula he had occasionally heard about in the Ministry of Works.
"Thank you for sharing, Your Excellency. Your subordinate will arrange it immediately!" Hua Xing carefully tucked the paper into his embrace, bowed to Fang Er, and went to arrange for the craftsmen to begin their work.
That day, the bauxite mining was halted, and hundreds of craftsmen were dispersed by Hua Xing to search for limestone and clay needed for firing cement.
Fang Er had Zhang Tian use the helicopter to send Yuan Jiangtao and Lin Songqi back. Of course, he wouldn't let them travel in vain. Before they left, he gave each of them two jars of "Mendoulu."
The craftsmen who went out to find materials found results the next day.
The next step was to build kilns and fire cement.
To speed up the road construction, more than ten cement kilns were built at once.
The craftsmen brought by Hua Xing fired them diligently, and Fang Er also recruited able-bodied men from various prefectures under Qingzhou Prefecture to work.
It was the off-season for farming, and upon hearing that there was pay for work, idle young men scrambled to come here.
They had initially thought recruiting five thousand would be enough, but in the end, they had to recruit eight thousand to finish.
With so many people, a segmented system was directly implemented.
The hundred-li road from here to the Yellow River was divided into many small sections.
Each section had its own division of labor: clearing the road, leveling, mixing materials, and transporting, all carried out in an orderly manner.
The leveled road surface was compacted with a stone roller pulled by three-wheeled vehicles, and then the mixed cement mortar was poured onto it, with wooden planks used to shield the sides of the road.
The road surface, a full thirty centimeters thick, after curing, would be sufficient for three-wheeled vehicles loaded with bauxite to pass.
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Author's notes: