Tongji is more than 100 miles away from Helin. It is a typical mountainous area. There are rich minerals hidden in the mountains and ridges. After the founding of the Han Dynasty, it began to be vigorously opened. The rich minerals in Liaodong were excavated one by one. Tongji Iron Mine, the second-ranked iron ore in the entire Liaodong, is also the main supplier of Jishi County's ordnance.

After the ore was dug out, it was transported to the iron smelting plant at the foot of the mountain. After initially smelting out iron, it was transported to Jishi County for deep processing. Tongji County also became the prosperous place second only to the county town and forest because of the existence of this iron ore. Tens of thousands of workers and their families formed a distinctive group in this county.

However, in the past few days, Tongji County has been filled with a tense atmosphere. Tongji Iron Mine miners are rioting. They are only ten miles away from Tongji City, and they are so close. In Tongji County, there is nothing except the more than a hundred policemen who maintain public order.

When the news came, Jin Xiu, the magistrate of Tongji County, was desperate, and could only call on men from all over the county to pick up weapons and walk up the city wall. Most of the people living in this county were Han people, and many of them were from other places. They had military experience. Under Jin Xiu's call, they finally organized a team of more than 2,000 people. But Jin Xiu understood that these people were not troops. If the miners on the mountain fought, they could not resist it at all. Not to mention that the number of people on the other side was several times that of their own, they all needed strong and powerful laborers. What's more, they had the gunpowder needed to start a mine. Jin Xiu believed that these gunpowder must have fallen into the hands of these rioters now.

Jin Xiu spent three days nervously, but the rioters did not go down the mountain except for detaining the managers of Tongji Mine, supervisors from where the counties and counties were dispatched, and the business staff from Jishicheng Arsenal. He was both surprised and worried, and he didn't know whether the other party was going to make a fuss like that.

Despite this, Jin Xiu would never dare to neglect it. In the past few days, he had been lying on the city wall with his clothes. Tongji was not far from the forest, and the messenger had already arrived. Reinforcements would appear at any time. Every more than an hour, Jin Xiu's heart would be relieved.

A sound of thunderous horse hooves sounded in the distance. As a big banner appeared in the sight of everyone on the city, bursts of cheers suddenly burst out from the city, which was a flying yellow dragon flag.

"Reinforcements are coming!" Cheers rippled from the city. Tongji County, which had been nervous for several days, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Jin Xiu also let out a heavy sigh. Fortunately, it came very quickly. He leaned on the top of the city and looked at the yellow dragon flag. His originally rosy face turned pale in a flash, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

What made the golden embroidery lose its normal state is naturally the unique Yellow Dragon Flag, because this flag has nine golden silk borders.

"The King is here in person!" Jin Xiu said.

The city gate was wide open, and Jin Xiu led the officials of the Hefu to welcome him out of the city gate. For Jin Xiu, he never expected that one day, he would face the supreme ruler of this huge country in person.

Above the city, there were crowds of people, and the guards who volunteered to step onto the city were cheering and thunderous, waving their weapons in their hands, shouting loudly, and looking at the intact city wall, Gao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you Jinxiu?" Gao Yuan turned over and got off the horse, looking at the middle-aged man in front of him with two dark circles, and a nervous and excited expression in his fatigue.

"The humble official is Jin Xiu, the magistrate of Tongji County." Jin Xiu said with a trembling voice.

"You have such a bad incident. Are you aware of your crime?" Gao Yuan threw the horse whip to He Weiyuan aside and asked faintly.

Jin Xiu trembled all over and knelt down, "I deserve to die for all my crimes. The mob in Tongji Iron Mine riots, and the humble official knew nothing. He was at a loss and asked the king to punish him."

Gao Yuan snorted, "You are guilty, but you deserve to die if you are not guilty. But the procuratorate should investigate and then the court will make a judgment. It is not my decision. But in view of Tongji City's integrity, you are not without credit."

"Thank you, your husband, but Tongji City is intact because the mob did not go down the mountain to attack, otherwise..." Jin Xiu fell to the ground, gritted his teeth, but still told the truth.

Gao Yuan was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but look at the county magistrate, and thought to himself that it was not undesirable.

"Go into the city first! Tianci, you can arrange for someone to go to Tongji Iron Mine immediately. Since the miners have rioted, they will not go down the mountain or into the city. It should be because there is no reason." Gao Yuan said.

"Yes, I will arrange for someone to go up the mountain immediately." Cao Tianci bowed.

"Dasha, take over the city defense immediately and make arrangements."

"Yes, the king."

The three thousand young guards entered, and more importantly, the legendary king of the Han Kingdom actually appeared in Tongji in person, which immediately gave everyone in Tongji County a reassurance. The previous panic was pressed down and everyone squeezed on the street, hoping to see the king's style, but since the king entered the city, he went directly to the county government and never showed up again.

Cao Tianci decided to take people to Tongji Iron Mine in person. During this riot, there was a strange atmosphere everywhere, which made Cao Tianci want to see what happened in person.

Tongji Iron Mine is located in Mingfeng Mountain, only more than ten miles away from Tongji County. A cement avenue that can accommodate several carriages in parallel leads from Tongji County to the mining area. If the mob wants to attack the county, it can be reached in half an hour along this avenue. With the almost unprepared state of Tongji County, it should have stopped here.

Why didn't they come?

At the end of the road, Mingfeng Mountain appeared in Cao Tianci's vision. The first thing that caught my eye was the gray brick walls and tall chimneys. It was a smelting factory located at the foot of the mountain. Looking up, the straw sheds appeared in pieces on the hillside.

"Where is that place? Cao Tianci raised his horse whip and pointed to the place and asked. Beside him was a local intelligence official from the National Security Bureau.

"Minister Cao, that place is the settlement of miners, and the miners and their families live there." The intelligence official said. "Minister Cao, are we just passing by like this?"

Cao Tianci nodded, "How can I go about it if I don't go like this?"

"Minister Cao, I'd better go to the tent first. Your status is valuable. What if the other party makes a mistake?" said the intelligence official.

"No need, these people must have other intentions. They probably suddenly rioted because the king arrived in Helin. Otherwise, they would not have been hiding in the mining area. With the power of tens of thousands of people, do you think there is any problem with them taking over Tongji County?" Cao Tianci stared at the mine area that should have been smoky and said. "We all know the information you have collected in the past two years."

"Minister, since everyone above knows it, why hasn't been dealt with? It's been delayed until today, and this is what happened?"

Cao Tianci smiled bitterly, "Of course there are difficulties above. I originally thought that as the Han Dynasty's laws became more and more perfect, the lower part would be restrained, but now it seems that the king still thinks about some people too kindly and ignores anything in order to make money. This time you look at it, I don't know how many people are going to lose their heads."

The intelligence officer also smiled bitterly and shook his head, but he still rushed forward by Cao Tianci.

"Who, stop." A row of dark-skinned heads appeared on the wall, holding swords and guns in their hands, and looked vigilantly at the people approaching on horseback.

"Mr. Cao Tianci, Minister of the Han Police Department, came in person. Who are you in charge? Let him speak out?" the intelligence officer shouted.

The men on the wall looked at each other hesitantly, and one of the older people stood up, "What kind of official is the Minister of Police? Is there a county magistrate?"

Cao Tianci and this intelligence official were both amused and crying. Not to mention that Mao Dewang was just a county magistrate in the border area of ​​the Han Dynasty, even the county magistrate of Tianhe County. In front of Cao Tianci, he had to give in to Cao Tianci, but how could he explain to such a remote man who knew nothing about anything?

"I am a person around the king. I can see the king every day, but can't the county magistrate see him every day? Do you think I am the eldest or the county magistrate?" Cao Tianci rushed forward and said loudly.

The people on the wall looked at Cao Tianci, and the look of suspicion on their faces was even stronger. For nothing else, it was because Cao Tianci looked too young. Today, Cao Tianci was only twenty-six years old and only made paper with Princess Zhao a few years ago. Such a young man said that his official position was bigger than the county magistrate, and the man on the wall would not believe it no matter what.

"You don't want to lie to us. Our elder brother said that unless the king comes in person, we will not see each other." The man shouted loudly.

Cao Tianci's heart skipped a beat. Their motive was indeed to meet the king.

"If you want to see the king, you must put down your weapons first and open the door to surrender. Otherwise, how will the king meet you?" Cao Tianci said: "Now the king will be in Tongji County and ask the people in charge to come out, otherwise the army will arrive in an instant."

The man on the wall laughed and said, "I have a big scar on my head. I'm afraid of it. Tell you that even if we die, we can blow this Tongji iron ore into ruins. The damn men don't let us live, and we won't let them live. Get out of here, otherwise you will be over now."

When the man bent down and straightened up, he actually took a crossbow in his hand. Cao Tianci was shocked and pulled his horse back a few steps back. There were hundreds of kilograms of red bombs stored in the Tongji Iron Mine. This is not a fun thing. The man said that he wanted to blow the Tongji Iron Mine into ruins was not just a threat, they were indeed able to do it.

"You have your family and your wives and children here. Can you do it?" Cao Tianci asked back.

"Anyway, I can't survive anymore. I have nothing to do. I'll leave together and I'm not lonely on the road to the underworld. We know that we can't defeat the army and will not fight with the army. We just want to see the king and seek justice. Didn't the king say that we should treat the people of the world equally? Why can't we be treated as human beings?" The man on the wall shouted.

Cao Tianci took a deep breath: "Okay, what do you say if the king arrives?"

"If the king comes to us, we will open the door and surrender immediately." A loud voice came, and a burly man appeared beside the man, and he said loudly. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!