Time passed, and two months had gone by since the Land of Iron was fully pacified. The land once ravaged by war was now beginning to show signs of stability.
Three hundred Hanlin officials and nine hundred clerks from various ministries, dispatched from the Great Yan royal capital, had gradually arrived in the five provinces of the Land of Iron and taken over local administration. County magistrates posted notices, soothed the populace, checked household registrations, and collected taxes. A Great Yan administrative system was slowly beginning to operate across this newly conquered land.
Within the Daimyo Mansion of the Land of Iron, the residence of Yasuke, the temporary military governor-general, was brightly lit. He was bent over his desk, writing furiously. Spread before him was a detailed "Land of Iron Resource Inventory," its ink not yet dry.
Since taking over the Land of Iron, besides maintaining local order, his most important task had been to count the mines, workshops, and craftsmen within its borders. Now, he finally had the results. "Someone, send this inventory to the royal capital by fast horse at once and present it to His Majesty."
Yasuke set down his wolf-hair brush and gave the order to the guard beside him. The guard accepted the inventory, carefully placed it in a specially made wooden box, and departed under orders. Three days later, the thick inventory was placed on Dongfang Mao's royal desk.
Dongfang Mao opened the inventory, his gaze sharp as a torch as line after line of figures entered his eyes.
"Within the Land of Iron, twenty-seven large iron mines have been confirmed, along with fifty-one medium iron mines and over a hundred small iron mines; twelve copper mines, seven tin mines, and nine lead mines—" "There are three hundred and twenty-six workshops of all kinds,