Zhao Weiwang in the Warring States Period

Liao Xian waved his hand, and immediately two palace guards came in carrying a basket.

Zhao Dan stood up from his seat, walked to the front of the basket, and found that the basket was full of black coal stones.

Coal is a wonderful thing.

According to the textual research of Lu Shen, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, there is a Dongfu Mountain in Pingding, Yangquan, Shanxi. This Dongfu Mountain looks like a stove from a distance. Wa was used to burn the raw materials of colorful stones. This statement was agreed by Gu Yanwu, who was also a scholar of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, the Bei Shan Jing, one of the wonderful books of Shan Hai Jing, once said: "The mountain of Mengmen is full of beryl and gold, and there are many topaz below it. There are many beryls on the top, and there are many yellow chalks and Donnie stones on the bottom."

Nieshi is an ancient name for coal. The "Mountain of Mengmen" roughly refers to the southern part of Taihang Mountain, while the "Mountain of Cardia" refers to the northern part of Taihang Mountain.

From the perspective of application, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, coal was not actually popularized. The dynasty that really started to use coal was actually the Han Dynasty, and the large-scale promotion will be a matter of later.

Coal is also very important to Zhao Dan and Zhao Guo today. As long as this resource can be used well, it can provide great convenience for Zhao Dan on the way to unify the world.

Although he had been mentally prepared for a long time, when the basket of coal really appeared in front of Zhao Dan, Zhao Dan was inevitably a little excited.

With these coals, and using these coals to produce coking coal, Zhao Dana's idea of ​​blast furnace steelmaking can start to enter the planning stage.

Zhao Dan thought for a while, and then asked Miao Xian: "Miao Qing, have you found the iron ore that the widow told you to look for?"

In the late Warring States period, the land of China has actually entered the Iron Age, and the same is true for Zhao.

Moreover, Zhao State itself is actually convenient. Handan, the capital of Zhao State, is the origin of iron ore, and there are several official iron ore smelting plants of Zhao State in Handan City.

For example, the reason why Qin State has been developing bronze weapons is because of the lack of iron ore in Qin State. This situation lasted until the late Warring States period when Qin State won the iron ore producing areas and smelting bases Wancheng, Dengcheng, and Yiyang from South Korea and Chu State. It got better.

Compared with Qin State in this aspect, Zhao State is much stronger. Apart from Handan, there are actually several large and small iron mines in Zhao State's territory today. The one that Zhao Dan gave to Miao Xian last time The various signs recorded in this map are exactly where Zhao Dan's iron mines are in his memory.

As before, Miao Xian, who has always been very reliable in his work, also gave Zhao Dan a satisfactory answer this time.

"Among the places where the king spoke, iron ore has been discovered in two places. The rest of the places have not yet been discovered, and the minister is still organizing people to continue the exploration."

To be honest, Miao Xian was really shocked by the discovery of these coal mines and iron mines.

You must know that Miao Xian had served Zhao Dan's father Zhao Huiwang before Zhao Dan was born. It can be said that he watched Zhao Dan grow up.

In Miao Xian's memory, Zhao Dan seems to have never been to the places marked on the map.

So how did Zhao Dan know that there are iron and coal mines in those places?

As a smart courtier, Miao Xian didn't intend to ask, but just buried this doubt in his heart.

Zhao Dan didn't know what Miao Xian was thinking, but the news Miao Xian brought made Zhao Dan completely relieved.

As long as there are enough iron mines, coupled with the endless coal mines in Zhao's territory, Zhao Dan has the confidence to build Zhao's army into an "iron" army with the best armor and equipment in the world in the future.

Not only has an iron will, but also has extremely sharp iron weapons!

So Zhao Dan immediately ordered: "Miao Qing, you immediately go to Yu Qing and ask him to dispatch a group of craftsmen and slaves to build mines and smelting plants in these places. This matter must be kept secret and cannot be disclosed to anyone else. do you understand?"

If something like a blast furnace was produced in Handan City, it would be too conspicuous, and it would be noticed by the spies and secret agents of the other six countries within minutes.

But if it is done in those wilderness mountains, where there are no villages for tens of miles nearby, then the concealment will be stronger by thousands of times. As long as the interior is controlled, it is almost impossible to be detected Discover.

Miao Xian quickly took the order to retreat.

But to Zhao Dan's surprise, after less than half an hour, Miao Xian appeared in front of Zhao Dan again.

The expression on Miao Xian's face this time is obviously much more dignified than last time.

"Your Majesty, the State of Chu has just sent an urgent report that General Wang Ling of Qin led fifty thousand Qin troops to go southward. He conquered Yiling three days ago, and is now besieging Yingdu!"

Zhao Dan showed a surprised expression on his face: "There is such a thing?"

Although it is said that when the war started, all the kings and ministers of Zhao State believed that Chu State was definitely not the opponent of Qin and Qi, but Zhao Dan did not expect that Qin State could make a breakthrough in such a short period of time after the start of the war. .

Zhao Dan stood up and walked to the map hanging on the wall.

Looking at it, Zhao Dan's brows gradually wrinkled.

It can be seen from the map that once Yiling and Ying are breached, Nanjun, which had already been recovered by the Chu State, would once again fall into the hands of the Qin State.

Not only that, but after the complete fall of Nanjun, the surprise army led by Wang Ling can continue to go north, directly outflank the 20 Chu army that is currently organizing a defense line in Wancheng to confront Wang Lu, and threaten the Chu army from behind. The main force of Chu State led by Shangzhu Guojingyang.

Under such circumstances, the main force of the Chu State, which is under the enemy's back and forth, is likely to be defeated by the Qin State people!

"Damn it!" Zhao Dan cursed fiercely, turned his head with a sinking face, and said to Miao Xian, "Miao Qing, quickly call all the ministers to discuss countermeasures!"

Chapter 251 Do you want to send troops to attack Qin immediately? (first update)

He seemed to be used to Zhao Dan's sudden summons, and many ministers of Zhao State arrived quite quickly this time.

When Miao Xian introduced the current situation to these ministers, the faces of the ministers also became a little unsightly.

For Zhao Guo's strategy of "surrounding Qin and saving Chu", the most important thing is that Qin and Chu will lose both in this battle.

However, because the Qin State suddenly dispatched this extraordinary army led by Wang Ling, which no one had expected beforehand, the current situation on the battlefield is likely to be changed.

If the whole battle turned into a big victory of Qin State against Chu State, then this would definitely be unacceptable to Zhao State.

Zhao Dan looked at the ministers of Zhao State in front of him with a serious face, and asked in a deep voice: "What is the plan of Zhu Qing?"

Several ministers of Zhao State looked at each other, and then Xiangbang Zhao Sheng stood up first, and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is better to send troops to attack Qin immediately!"

It must be said that anyone who is in the position of the current leadership of Zhao State is very likely to make the decision to attack Qin in the first place.

The reason is also very simple. If Chu State is about to be defeated soon, then Zhao State must send troops immediately to contain Qin State's troops, so that Qin State will not occupy too much territory of Chu State after defeating Chu State .

After hearing Zhao Sheng's words, Zhao Dan felt a little moved in his heart, but he didn't speak immediately.

After all, in Zhao Dan's opinion, if he attacked in such a hasty way, he would always feel a little passive.

To be honest, Zhao Dan didn't like the feeling of being led by the nose by the people of Qin, so Zhao Dan decided to wait and see if other ministers had better ideas.

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Bao, who was the second to speak, expressed different opinions on Zhao Sheng's statement.

"The Qin army is strong now, but the Chu army is not completely powerless. In my opinion, although Qin has the advantage, Chu is not completely invincible, so the king does not need to send troops immediately."

As soon as Zhao Sheng heard Zhao Bao's rebuttal, he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and immediately retorted: "At present, the Qin army is about to outflank the Chu army's rear, and the battle situation is already very critical. After the defeat of Chu State, that is a good opportunity lost."

The two couldn't argue for a while.

Zhao Dan shook his head, looked at Lian Po who was on the side, and said to Lian Po: "General, in your opinion, should we send troops to attack the east of Qin State immediately?"

Compared with Zhao Sheng or Zhao Bao, Zhao Dan is more willing to listen to Lian Po's opinion on this matter.

Lian Po thought for a while, and then said: "In my opinion, this is the time to send troops."