Wealth in the mountains

  After settling the base, Luo Yi entrusted Le Jia Lin and Lu Shuangyong to guard the house. He himself, along with Su Xiaofeng, Wang Dacheng, Tu Jiu, and others, set out into the mountains with 20 soldiers and more than 20 villagers hired from surrounding villages. No one knew what they were going to do, but there was one clue that allowed people to make some guesses: Luo Yi had hired villagers who had experience digging coal, and they carried pickaxes, shovels, and other tools made of good steel that could split open hard rocks, which Luo Yi had custom-made from an ironworker in Tongzhou County.

  Tongzhou is not far from Pingxiang, and many villagers around Zhushan Town have experience in mining coal at the Anyuan Coal Mine. This time, Luo Yi specially found these miners to help with some work for a period of time, offering them a monthly salary of 2 silver dollars. He didn't specify what they would be doing. A salary of 2 silver dollars is very low in the city, but in this remote mountainous area, it's enough to cover a family's expenses for a month. At this time, farm work isn't busy either, so Luo Yi quickly recruited over 20 experienced miners.

  Watching Luo Yi lead more than 20 miners and 20 soldiers into the mountain, many people firmly believed that Luo Yi was going to dig coal. But no one had ever heard of Tongzhou having coal, and Luo Yi made such a big fuss about taking people to dig it up - could he really dig out coal?

  " Luo Zi, are we really going to dig coal? I've never heard that Ma Tieling has coal before?" Wang Da Cheng asked Luo Yi anxiously while walking, "We hired over 20 people and spent almost 50 big silver dollars. Fei Lele is worried sick on the other side. If we can't dig out any coal, we'll have to stop eating."

  "Fēi Lè Lè" is a nickname for Lin, the musician, but generally only officers of the assault battalion would call him that, ordinary soldiers didn't dare to openly call him that.

  Luo Yi smiled and said, "As the ancients said: 'In this world originally there was no coal, but clever hands have obtained it.' If we dig with all our heart and sincerity, who knows, maybe we can really dig out some coal."

  Wang Dacheng realized that Luo Yi was joking, but he couldn't figure out the underlying mystery. He continued to say: "Luo Zi, even if we can dig up coal, there are no roads in the mountains, and relying on people to carry it out, the money earned will probably not even cover the labor costs."

  Luo Yi said with interest: "Dasheng, you're quite knowledgeable, aren't you an economics major?"

  Wang Dacheng said: "What are you kidding me? I've never read any books. My old man used to dig coal in Anyuan, and I just heard some things from him."

  Luo Yi said with surprise: "Why didn't you say so earlier? I was worried that there wouldn't be anyone who understands the trade. Alright, the coal mining business will be handed over to you. Once we arrive at the location, I'll tell you what's going on, and as for how to dig, just follow your own arrangements."

  Luo Yi had a vague impression of the mountains in this area, as he had once come here to play with Skinny Monkey on his father's business trip. Skinny Monkey's father was here for work inspection, while Luo Yi and others took the opportunity to play wild battles in the big mountains. Compared to more than 70 years later, the current mountain is greener and more primitive. The highway, telephone poles, wireless communication base stations and other landmarks that Luo Yi remembered do not exist now. However, when they played wild battles back then, Luo Yi had carefully observed the surrounding terrain, imitating the deployment of troops, so now looking at the shape of the peaks and valleys, Luo Yi was confident that he could find his target.

  "From now on, don't ask where we're going or what we're doing." Luo Yi said to the people beside him.

  "Pass it on, don't ask where we're going, don't ask what we're doing." The instructions of the battalion commander were being passed on one by one.

  The villagers who were hired were separated one by one by the soldiers and not allowed to talk to each other, so they could only follow the soldiers silently. The soldiers brought out by Luo Yi this time were all vetted by Lu Shuangyong and others, confirming that they had a certain degree of loyalty to the assault camp as a collective. Now the assault camp is Luo Yi's starting capital, suspecting people is not used, using people without suspicion, he can only rely on these people now.

  Finally arrived at the place Luo Yi wanted to find, when Luo Yi came here in his previous life, this was a busy mining area. Now, it has not yet revealed its true face, still covered under a lush vegetation. Luo Yi clearly remembered that Skinny Monkey's father had pointed out a steep cliff and introduced them to the distribution of ore veins here.

  "We're here," Luo Yi said.

  Wang Dacheng looked around at the terrain, furrowed his brow and said: "Luo Zi, you can't be mistaken. This place, I reckon no outsider has ever come here before, how did you know there was coal here?"

  Luo Yi smiled but did not answer, and ordered the miners to gather together. The soldiers stood guard with their guns at the ready. At first, the miners didn't pay much attention, but when they realized they were surrounded by armed soldiers, they began to feel uneasy.

  "Officer, brothers, what's the meaning of this?" A bold miner pointed at the fierce-looking assault troops on both sides and asked Luo Yi.

  Luo Yi walked up to the miners and asked with a serious face: "Do you know who I am?"

  "Old Master Luo."

  "Master Luo."

  "Security team leader."

  "Boss Luo."

  Everyone shouted loudly, seeing Luo Yi's expression on his face, everyone desperately found good words to call him.

  "Wrong!" Luo Yi said, "I am the master of Jiuling Mountain's Union Help Society. Do you know what a union help society is? It's bandits! Bandits are people who kill without blinking, and scrape bones without using knives. The place where everyone is standing now is a den of bandits. Now that you're here, do you want to live or be silenced?"

  These words came out, not only did the miners feel unexpected, but also the soldiers of the shock camp didn't think of it. They were all staring at Luo Yi in surprise, wondering what he meant. Didn't he just tell everyone about the three major disciplines and eight points to note, saying that they should treat the people like spring warmth? How could he suddenly turn cold? However, years of experience made them subconsciously level their guns, pointing at the miners surrounded in the middle. When the family head speaks fiercely, maybe the next moment will be the order to take action?

  The miners had never seen such a formation before, and when they suddenly saw a row of black gun muzzles appear around them, they were so scared that they almost wet their pants.

  "Sir... great master... spare our lives, we didn't offend Master Luo!" Many people knelt down and desperately kowtowed to Luo Yi.

  "Get up, get up." Luo Yi's face changed faster than flipping a book. Just now he was still fierce and cruel, but suddenly he revealed a smiling face and said, "Everyone, hurry up and get up. I didn't say I wanted to kill anyone, do I look like someone who would kill people? Hehe, I'm just seeking your opinions. If you want to die, I'll let my brothers fulfill your wishes and make sure you die in a very... creative way. If you want to live, we can discuss how to live, and I guarantee everyone will live happily."

  "We want to live!" everyone shouted in a terrified voice, not a single person was amused by Luo Yi's humor, which made him feel extremely failed. Also, this kind of joke that played with others' lives and safety only made the speaker happy, but not the listeners.

  "It's easy to want to live, isn't it?" Luo Yi said with a sly smile, "Everyone wants to live, I fully support that. As long as everyone wants to live, I guarantee not only will you all live well, but each month you'll also get 10 big yuan to take back home and raise your wives and children to be plump and white. Since everyone wants to live, I'll tell you how to do it. First, keep the secret, no matter what you see here, don't say a word outside. If one sentence is leaked, I will kill not only your head but also the heads of your whole family."

  All the miners nodded their heads like chickens pecking at grain: "Old Master Luo, we guarantee that not a single word will be spoken."

  "Second, everyone must do things according to requirements, no haggling, no slacking off. In a moment, Wang Lianchang will instruct everyone on what to do. As long as everyone follows the instructions, I guarantee everyone's safety and take care of everyone's livelihood. Guarantee that everyone eats meat every day, and work hours do not exceed... 10 hours." Luo Yi originally wanted to say it was an eight-hour workday, but thinking twice about this era, how could workers be treated so well? Adding two hours would probably not cause any objections either. Besides, could the Labor Bureau reach here?

  The miners felt dizzy, just now this man was shouting murder and killing with a ferocious face, how could he suddenly have a kind face? Anyway, Old Luo said it right, this is a bandit den, even the entire Ma Tieling is a bandit den, the bandits are already living in the Zhu Shan town government, this is a place without king's law, everyone should be more honest.

  "Let's take a break first, I'll discuss something with Wang Lianchang. We'll start work again after lunch." Luo Yi announced.

  They said it was a rest, but in fact everyone didn't have time to idle around. Under the command of Su Xiao Feng and Tu Jiu, the soldiers and miners worked together to cut down trees and build grass houses, preparing a place for camping. A few soldiers also cleared out an open space, set up a stove, and cooked meals for everyone. The rice, meat food, vegetables, etc. were all carried in by everyone, enough to eat for over ten days, and then they would send people down the mountain to transport more when it was finished. Luo Yi's planned time was to see the expected results within a month, as long as the first batch of mining came out, everything else would be easy to handle afterwards.

  "Come here, Dasheng, I'll tell you a secret," Luo Yi said to Wang Dasheng.

  Wang Dacheng followed Luo Yi to the edge of the cliff, Luo Yi patted the stone wall and asked Wang Dacheng: "Dacheng, do you know what's hidden inside here?"

  Wang Dacheng shook his head. In recent days, Luo Yi had brought everyone too many surprises, and Wang Dacheng really couldn't guess what this time would be.

  Luo Yi softly said two words to Wang Da Cheng, Wang Da Cheng's mouth opened wide, and after a long time, he managed to squeeze out one sentence:

  "Luózi, if this is true, we're rich!"