At this, Cheng Zongyang grew excited.

"You really found Copper Ore and Iron Ore?"

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t excited. Aside from digging tunnels, this was the entire point of bringing out the Mole Beast.

With Copper Ore and Iron Ore, a great many things could be accomplished.

If they could determine the composition of Da Liang Copper Coins, perhaps his Cheng Family could start producing large quantities of copper coins themselves.

The private mining of gold, silver, copper, and iron was forbidden in Da Liang. After all, the interests and implications involved were far too great.

As for currency, the territories under the Thirteen Royal Families used three different types.

The currencies of the Jin Kingdom, Da Liang, and Xiliang. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

This was because the Thirteen Royal Families were situated between these three nations, forming a triangular region.

Therefore, to allow their own commerce to flourish, they used the currencies of all three nations, ensuring the smooth circulation of goods.

Currently, their territory was in Da Liang, so they naturally used Da Liang’s currency.

If they traveled to other nations in the future, their copper coins—aside from gold and silver, of course—could be converted into the local copper currency, so they would still be usable.

Now that they had found Copper and Iron Ore, if they could analyze the composition of the coins and then mass-produce them, it would go a long way toward alleviating some of their issues.

He asked Zhou Zhendong, "Are the two deposits underground or are they surface mines?"

Zhou Zhendong thought for a moment, then said, "Some of the Iron Ore is on the surface, but the Copper Ore is underground, though not too deep.

"My uncle-in-law said the Mole Beast found it after just a bit of digging. The problem is, if we want to start mining, it’ll be back-breaking work without the Mole Beast’s help. It’s no easy task. Plus, we’re short on manpower.

"My uncle-in-law asked me to talk to you and see if we can find more people, or maybe get a few more Mole Beasts.

"Otherwise, the Mole Beast has to dig the tunnel and also mine ore; it can’t handle both."

Cheng Zongyang gave a wry smile. "The County Town has stabilized, so very few people will want to leave. Besides, we can’t just bring ordinary people in. It will take time to carefully screen for suitable candidates.

"As for more Mole Beasts, there’s nothing I can do. The person who sold it to us has vanished, so we can’t buy any more."

Zhou Zhendong said regretfully, "That makes sense. It’s a shame we only have one; it would be great if we had more. It’s incredibly fast at digging. That Earthly Dao of ours? It’s already two li long.

"Digging a tunnel with those claws is as easy for it as it is for us to scoop mud with our hands. The crew clearing the excavated earth can’t even keep up.

"What’s more, the walls of the tunnel it leaves behind are incredibly solid, just like fired bricks. It’s astonishing.

"I estimate it can reach Golden Bridge Village within half a month. And that’s accounting for time wasted on checking our position and clearing the earth."

Cheng Zongyang nodded, and after a moment of thought, he said,

"It’s not so easy to find more people to bring in right now, unless we recruit from among the orphans.

"Since we’ve located both the Copper and Iron Ore, there’s no hurry. Just mark the locations for now. We can deal with it after the Earthly Dao is finished.

"My father knows that the Earthly Dao is the top priority. It’s vital for our future logistics. He’ll make sure that’s finished before putting the Mole Beast on mining duty. Don’t worry."

Zhou Zhendong nodded. "Alright, then I’ll take my men to handle the matters with the shops."

Cheng Zongyang said, "Alright. Get a good night’s rest. You can get back to it tomorrow."

"No problem. I’m going to take Zongying to have a look at the apothecary. We’ll be back later."

Zhou Zhendong chuckled and departed, saber in hand.

"Big Brother, I’m off!" Cheng Zongying waved.

"Alright," Cheng Zongyang said with a smile. "If you need anything, just tell your Brother Zhendong."

"Mhm-hm."

After the two left, Cheng Zongyang stared at the empty doorway, feeling a strange sense of unease.

After a moment’s thought, seeing there was nothing else to attend to, he hung a "Cultivation in Progress, Do Not Disturb" sign on his door, locked it, and entered the Wilderness World.

Appearing in the marketplace cabin, Cheng Zongyang closed the various notification windows that popped up one by one. Finally, he found two that he was particularly interested in.

First, his buy order for the Red Jade Ganoderma had been successfully filled.

Second, the Hunting Team had slain an Exotic Beast known as the Iron-Backed Wild Boar King.

His Points had increased by ten. If he wasn’t mistaken, that amount of Points meant it was a One-Star Level beast.

He ignored the remaining notifications.

These weren’t his main concerns, however. Zhang Jinquan would handle the Red Jade Ganoderma and the Exotic Beast; he didn’t need to give any orders.

He summoned Luo Dingran, who was currently planning the layout of the new territory.

There was something he needed Luo Dingran’s opinion on. After all, when it came to administrative experience, the man was leagues ahead of him.

The two of them sat on a pair of chairs at the entrance to the marketplace cabin.

After hearing Cheng Zongyang’s explanation about Li Mingxin’s delegation of authority and his own subsequent ideas, Luo Dingran fell into deep thought.

’I never expected this new leader to care so little for power, to just give it away so casually.’

’And his only goal was to free himself up to focus on his Cultivation.’

’For the local factions, this was an absolute windfall.’

’Of course, it also served to highlight the might of the Li Family—they clearly weren’t worried that any of these families would dare to stir up trouble after being handed this authority.’

After a long moment, Luo Dingran finally spoke.

"I understand your thinking, my lord. However, I would not recommend acting on your idea of taking over the entire County Town right now. There are three reasons."

Cheng Zongyang didn’t argue or seem impatient; he just listened quietly. After all, it had only been a passing idea.

"First, you do not yet have a true grasp of the six families’ situations. Your knowledge is limited to basic information about their internal affairs. The intelligence we gathered from interrogating those Martial Artists is only surface-level.

"Not to mention, if they have connections in the Commandery City, making a move against them now would only entangle you in even greater trouble."