Chapter Eighteen: The Caverns of Dissolution

  After listening to Old Ding, Yang Meng also felt at ease. This place was not bad, located in a mountain valley with dozens of miles of flat land, and there were coal, iron, and copper mines. The water transportation was convenient, and there were roads opened by previous generations that made it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, it was behind the Yang family's martial arts school, so as long as they sealed off the valley entrance, it would be a self-contained world.

  "Let's go! We'll take a look first. Bring some food and tents, we might have to spend the night in the mountains tonight."

  Surveying a valley usually takes one or two days, living in the wilderness, Yang Meng was also familiar with it before. In order to build his own business as soon as possible, he has been busy lately.

  "Third Master, it's better to return to Wu Manor at night! Your injury hasn't fully recovered yet, and sleeping in the mountains might cause a relapse."

  If it were in the past, it would be fine. Now that Yang Meng has an injury on his body, Ding Baojun cannot let him sleep outdoors in the mountains. What if his injury suddenly worsens and he needs medical attention? It's not easy to get treatment in the mountains.

  "It's nothing! The wound started itching last night and will heal in a couple of days. Living in the mountains won't be a problem!"

  As for his own injuries, Yang Meng was more concerned than anyone else. The wound on the back of his head had started to close after only three days, and this body was absolutely a top-notch one.

  Ding Baojun knew that San Ye was stubborn, so he didn't say much, but only instructed the knife hands to start preparing for the expenses of the next few days. The doctor from the Wu Zhuang also brought two people with him, so if something happened, they wouldn't be caught off guard.

  This preparation took only one morning, and Yang Meng also changed into a short outfit, wearing a horse jacket to venture into the mountains. Only an idiot would play like that!

  During this time, there was an episode where Ma Qinghu's younger sister, Qinglian, kept shouting that she wanted to follow her brother together. Ma Qinghu doted on his sister and had never beaten or scolded her, so he could only let her be unruly.

  Yang Meng tried to go up and say a word, unexpectedly this little Qinglian was obedient, immediately not making any noise, the old men went out, it's inconvenient to bring women along, Tang Mei Yi was also left in Wu Zhuang, just right to accompany Ma Qinglian.

  Ding Baojun was well-prepared, and the group set off on their journey. Jiang Shu had said that this place was not bad, as the valley entrance was located on the main road leading to Xishan. The road into the valley was not only flat but also wide, with enough space for several horse-drawn carriages to pass through comfortably.

  The mountainous terrain entering the valley is steep, just as Jiang Shu said, and a few iron cannons on the bridge can block the entire valley.

  "Uncle Ting, does our family have a cannon?"

  Yang Meng's question scared Ding Baojun, asking what the iron cannon was for out of nowhere. This thing is a forbidden device of the imperial court! In the Yang family martial arts school, there are several privately cast small iron cannons, which are only known to a few people!

  Isn't this place a shoe factory? With iron cannons, it would become a bandit's lair.

  Seeing Ding Baojun not making a sound, Yang Meng also had a bottom line in his heart. This thing is really available in the Yang family. Entering the valley mouth, it's a vast and flat land. The soil at the bottom of the valley is somewhat barren, and the grass and trees are not growing luxuriantly. Except for a few places with smoke in the mountains, this is absolutely a territory that meets Yang Meng's mind.

  "Lao Jiang, are there only two paths into this valley, one in front and one behind?"

  Looking at the continuous mountain range, Yang Meng didn't want to bother checking and directly asked Jiang Shu instead.

  "Third Master, apart from the front and back valleys, both sides are steep cliffs. It's not impossible to enter the valley from there, but there are no ropes above, so it's absolutely impossible to climb up those cliffs."

  Having a general understanding of the terrain of the valley, Yang Meng led his men to start building factories everywhere. Some were eye-catching, and it was best to have a place with many trees and dense forests to block the view of the factories.

  "Lao Jiang, is there a mountain valley with lush trees and a good place to hide? It would be best if it could block the view of houses!"

  This will be a challenge for Jiang Shu Xian, the land here is barren and even grass can't grow, let alone trees. However, he had heard rumors that there are bottomless caves in these mountains, wonder if it would satisfy Yang San Ye.

  "Third Master, there's no place with lush trees, I wonder if a mountain cave would do?"

  This sentence suddenly made Yang Meng's eyes burst out with extraordinary colors, what a great place! What a great place! There are caves, which is even better, in the valley, training personnel, and also protecting one's own factory, this is truly a good territory.

  "Where is it? Take me there quickly."

  Yang Meng grabbed Jiang Shu Xian's hand and was about to go forward, but Old Jiang had a disheartened look on his face. He had only heard rumors of the mountain cave, and this valley, except for the few mines in front, was barren and rarely visited by people. How could he tell others where the cave was?

  "Third Master, I've only heard of it before, and I haven't seen this cave either."

  "That's okay too, at least you've given us a lead. Uncle Ting, have someone search the mountain and mark down any caves they find. We'll go in and take a look."

  Under Ding Baojun's orders, more than 20 knife-wielding men on horseback entered the depths of the mountain valley. Looking at the more than 30 people beside him, Yang Meng urged Old Ding to add more manpower. If they could find a suitable cave, it would be perfect.

  To ensure Yang Meng's safety, Ding Baojun left behind ten knife-wielding men, and the rest were sent to search for caves. These knife-wielding men were mostly Yi people from the mountains, extremely familiar with the terrain. In just one or two days, as long as there are caves here, they will definitely find them.

  "Third Master, how's the terrain here? If we want it, I'll go check if this valley has an owner. If not, we can get the authorities to issue a land deed. The Mountain Cave Knife Hands will investigate on their own, let's head back to Wu Manor first! This valley is quite large, and it'll take at least a day or two to fully explore it. We can also go back and prepare torches and whatnot."

  Yang Meng also thought so, he was going back anyway, and had the cobbler make a pair of military boots, and also had two sets of clothes made. This short attire was still somewhat unsatisfactory.

  Yang Meng was very satisfied with the location of this valley, and after returning, he gave Jiang Shu Xian 200 eagles as a reward. This old Jiang is also fifty years old, without his wife, and with these eagles at home, he has nothing to worry about. He simply moved to Wu Zhuang, and if there are any more good things like this, it will be more convenient.

  Another advantage is that the food in the Wu Zhuang is good, and you have to spend your own money to eat at home. In the Wu Zhuang, not only do you not spend money, but also get fed well. The living environment is also a hundred times better than the thatched hut at home.

  Yang Meng's team, so there was another half-old man.

  The Golden Triangle is also a place for planting opium, and it is close to Yunnan. Yang Meng planned to ask, but as soon as he asked Jiang Shu, Yang Meng got angry.

  The Golden Triangle was occupied by the British, and most of the opium there flowed into the Qing Dynasty. In order to fully control the Golden Triangle, the British also ceded Kokang and Hsenwi states in the Treaty of Nanjing, and present-day Myanmar was also a province of India.

  As for geography, Jiang Shu was very familiar with it. He was also familiar with the situation around Yunnan. In those years when the Qing dynasty ceded four counties of Kokang, it was during the time of Wu Zhiyuan, the old governor-general. Many people in various places could not bear it, and local officials and militiamen spontaneously formed the Blue Flag Army to resist the foreigners. These Blue Flag Armies were familiar with the terrain, which made the foreign devils helpless. So they shifted their target to the imperial court. The imperial court was also despicable, afraid to deal with the foreigners, but instead ordered Yunnan and Guizhou to suppress the Blue Flag Army. Jiang Shu had also been there to suppress the Blue Flag Army.

  Just after Wu Zongdao left, Lao Jiang's life went from bad to worse, and he was eventually squeezed out of the book official team, living a difficult life. Now Lao Jiang also understood that what is important is not the imperial court, but his own well-being, as long as Yang Meng gave him money, there was nothing he couldn't sell here.

  Yang Meng also learned from Old Jiang's mouth that this old bookkeeper knew every mining vein of the Qing Dynasty in Yunnan, which would be needed in the future. Yang Meng promised to give him a thousand silver eagles as long as Old Jiang wrote down these records.

  But now Lao Jiang's main task is to develop the Xishan valley with himself, as long as his own drug factory is built and things have a sales route, at that time he can gradually encroach on Yunnan.

  The British and French on the Golden Triangle side also had to be on guard. Although it's not very clear about this period of Qing history, but the Eight-Nation Alliance severely defeated the Qing, Yang Meng still knew that.

  If the drug trade goes smoothly, I'll take a look at the equipment of the Eight-Nation Alliance and see what kind of firearms they're using now. Although I'm familiar with firearms, manufacturing them is something I can only do as an amateur.

  These things are still far away from us, now the most important thing is to explore the valley, set up a poison factory, as for opium, it can't be planted yet, if not, just go out and rob, as for spending money to buy, Yang Meng doesn't have this intention, he also plans to rob those who sell opium, relying on his own means, guaranteeing that he will sell even his ancestors eight generations.

  Made military boots, made clothes, spent three days, Yang Meng's team, now all equipped with Yang Meng personally designed headgear. The design is simple, suitable for the Golden Triangle region, no more than an additional half-body jacket.

  Looking at himself, Yang Meng was still relatively satisfied. The black cotton military uniform, the slightly ugly military boots, and the wide leather belt around his waist were all good, only the gun was a bit poor.

  For self-defense, Yang Meng found some short swords, but they were not handy. Taking the opportunity, Yang Meng drew a few patterns and asked Ding Baojun to find a blacksmith to make several military knives over a foot long. Because of the wrought iron, these knives were made very thick and heavy. Yang Meng's physique was strong and powerful, and he used them with ease. Other knife wielders found these short knives too heavy.

  Good news also came from the west mountain side. After searching the entire valley, eight or nine caves were found, some of which were ancient mine shafts. There were only three large caves.

  Three big caves, absolutely great news, Yang Meng got this message, led the crowd, and rushed back to Xishan.

  Three of them were dissolution caves, two of which met Yang Meng's requirements. Due to their age, they had long since become dry caves. One still had a stream flowing inside, but it was too deep and the knife hands couldn't reach the bottom.

  The water cave can't be used, so the two dry caves are left. One of them has a very large entrance, and although the space inside is not small, it's too uneven to be a good place. The one with a slightly smaller entrance suits Yang Meng's taste perfectly. This limestone cave is located on the mountain waist, divided into three sections, each section covering thousands of square meters. The places that separate each section of the cave are only ten or so meters high and low, making it just right to install a wooden gate.

  The ground in the mountain cave is rugged and uneven, but Yang Meng has a solution. In the mountain cave, use logs to build a platform, where the flat rocks are just right for making fires. At the bottom of the innermost karst cave, there is also a small hole that can be used to vent the smoke produced during drug production to the ground, so the entire drug factory is perfectly hidden in the depths of the mountain.

  With this place, I can use local methods to make poison myself. Although the yield is lower and the quality of the product is not as good, the harm caused by this thing is not small at all. Moreover, I didn't plan to spend money buying opium, and looting is the best way to deal with those drug dealers. With enough raw materials, these are no longer a problem.

  With a place to work, the next step was to develop formulas and train personnel. Yang Meng, who had many things on his mind, was getting a headache, but he encountered trouble when it came to making tools.