Mining expert

  With 1,500 yuan in hand, Luo Yi's confidence was boosted. The mountain was still continuously transporting ore down, and at the current production speed, an average of several hundred kilograms of ore could be mined every week. If the grade remained unchanged, it would be equivalent to an income of around 1,500 yuan per week.

  At that time, 3 yuan could be used to eat and live in an inn for a month. According to comprehensive price comparison calculations, one yuan is equivalent to 35 yuan today. If only food prices are calculated, the value would be even higher because food prices were much lower back then. With a weekly income of 1,500 yuan, it would be 6,000 yuan per month, equivalent to 210,000 yuan today, which is an astronomical figure. With such a sum of money, Luo Yi could plan the future of the assault camp at will.

  Luo Yi received the money brought back by Le Jia Lin and immediately arranged for someone to go to each miner's home, giving 10 taels of silver to each household. Many miners' families were already on the verge of starvation, and when they received the 10 taels of silver, both adults and children were overjoyed. The women quickly arranged to go shopping for rice and meat, cooking a delicious meal for their elderly and young family members, filling their bellies with long-awaited savory food. As for the men on the mountain, the women naturally wouldn't forget them either, entrusting the soldiers of the shock troops to bring them clean clothes and food. The soldiers of the shock troops accepted the clothes but left the food for these families, telling the miners' relatives that the food on the mountain was very good, with meat every meal, so they didn't need to worry about it anymore.

  Each household's income of 10 yuan quickly formed a demonstration effect, and Luo Yi timely released the wind, saying that he would recruit another batch of miners. As soon as the words were spread, the headquarters of the shock camp was crowded with young and strong men from surrounding villages.

  "Line up, line up, don't squeeze!" Yang Jingshui and Shen Wancai, soldiers of the assault battalion in charge of recruitment, shouted to maintain order. These two names sound quite auspicious, I wonder if it was Lin's deliberate choice.

  "Come here, report your name and where you live."

  "Korean Xiu Ping, from the South Mountain Korean family."

  "What have you done?"

  "Plowing the land and going up the mountain to pick stones."

  "How old is he? Is there anyone at home?"

  "I'm 18 years old, I have grandparents, parents, a younger brother and a younger sister at home."

  "Do you know how dangerous coal mining is?"

  "I know, I'll go."

  "Alright, put your fingerprint here, first take 5 yuan as a living allowance, and come back tomorrow with a change of clothes to report for duty. Tell your family that you can't go home for half a year. On the fifth day of each month, have your family come to the security team to collect last month's wages."

  A peasant named Han Xiuping happily pressed his handprint on the labor contract, took 50 yuan and ran away quickly under the envious eyes of everyone.

  At that time, there was no credit environment to speak of, and contracts were unreliable for farmers. Luo Yi came up with a solution: he invited the town's elders to sit in on the mining camp's headquarters, and all applicants had to be vouched for by village elders before being hired. The hiring contracts also had to be reviewed and verified by the elders to ensure there were no deceptive clauses. Since most local farmers were illiterate, signing a contract with just a fingerprint was still risky; now, with the elders helping to verify the contracts, people could feel more at ease.

  As for the terms of the contract, Luo Yi didn't make it too black, basically copying the labor contract from later generations. As for the three insurances and so on, they were exempted. The contract also included compensation clauses for work-related injuries, which were several times higher than the compensation standards of factories and coal mines at that time, making the villagers feel very secure. Lu Shuangyong and others looked at the terms of this contract, one two three four plus ABCD, and thoroughly believed that Luo Yi was an educated person.

  "It seems that Luo Zi is indeed a knowledgeable person." Lu Shuangyong sighed.

  Luo Jia Lin strangely asked: "How could he have passed by without being noticed at all? In the past, how would he have spoken idioms?"

  "Hear him say it himself, his brain must have been injured, probably kicked by a donkey."

  "How did it suddenly get better?"

  "It's just a hand grenade blast, what do you think, can a donkey's strength be greater than a hand grenade?"

  Luo Yi didn't hear the conversation between his two subordinates, which was just as well, or he would have gotten angry. He called out to Le Jia Lin and asked him to go with him on a trip to Gaoqiao Town in the back mountain, to visit an old man named Zhang Tianyou, who had been recommended by Feng Mugen. According to Feng Mugen, this Mr. Zhang had taught him the technique of blasting rocks, seemingly like a mining expert, but what his background was and why he was staying in Gaoqiao Town, no one knew.

  Luo Yi and others walked for half a day on the mountain road, arriving at Gaoqiao Town. Compared to Zhushan Town, Gaoqiao Town looked even more dilapidated and deserted. When soldiers from the shock troops brigade, wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying guns, walked through the streets, many residents hastily closed their doors to avoid them. Those who didn't have time to close their doors used awkward smiles to show their submission.

  "When we have money, let's take over Gaobridge Town too." Luo Yi said to Le Jialin.

  Lai Jialin said disdainfully: "What's the use of taking this? We're so poor."

  "Cut, the rarest resource in the world is land resources. Take advantage of the poverty here now and quickly buy up the land. Developing real estate in the future will be a huge profit." Luo Yi said nonsense.

  "Hmm, makes sense." Le Jialin nodded, but in fact he had no idea what Luo Yi was talking about.

  Under the guidance of the residents, Luo Yi and his party found Zhang Tianyou's home. It was a large house with four or five rooms and a courtyard, which looked very clean in front of and behind the house. On the door, there was a couplet: "Sitting idly on the green platform, watching flowers bloom and fall; Drunkenly lying in the deserted mansion, listening to the wind rising and falling." The horizontal inscription read: "Surviving in a humble way".

  "This old man has a bit of rebellious potential." Luo Yi muttered.

  Le Jialin looked at the couplet, but didn't know what it meant. He recognized a few characters, but his cultural level was limited, and looking at this couplet could only be guessing, let alone pondering its flavor.

  The farmhouse in the south was all open doors, Luo Yi walked directly to the door and shouted inside: "Excuse me, is Mr. Zhang Tianyou at home? Student Luo Yi seeks guidance."

  A middle-aged woman emerged, wearing a very ordinary rural outfit, but looking much cleaner than the average rural woman. There was a hint of elegance in her eyebrows and eyes that didn't match her clothes, suggesting she had once been a lady from a good family. Luo Yi secretly rejoiced, it seemed that the master of this house, Zhang Tianyou, should be quite capable.

  "Excuse me..." The middle-aged woman was startled by Luo Yi's uniform and rifle.

  "The student's name is Luo Yi, he is the captain of the Ma Tieling Security Team and has come to visit Mr. Zhang out of admiration. These few are all my subordinates, we have no malicious intentions, Madam need not worry."

  A middle-aged woman brightened up Luo Yi, was persuaded by the student temperament revealed on his body, nodded and said: "Don't be polite, please come in. Mr. Zhang's legs are not convenient, can't come out to greet you."

  Luo Yi ordered a few soldiers to find a shaded place outside the door, but not to show a sentry-like appearance, so as not to disturb the villagers. He himself led Le Jialin into Zhang's gate. A middle-aged woman took them to the main room, gave them seats, and then brought out from the inner room a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. The middle-aged man had already lost one leg, leaning on crutches, with a gloomy look on his face.

  "Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang Tianyou?" Luo Yi and Le Jialin hastily stood up and bowed.

  A middle-aged man tucked his crutch under his arm, clasped his fists and returned a courtesy: "I am Zhang Tianyou, may I ask how you two are called."

  Lu Yi felt a chill, this gentleman looked like he was in his 40s, and if placed in a modern university, would be considered a young scholar. He didn't dare to be presumptuous, and respectfully replied: "My name is Lu Yi, I'm a student who returned from overseas to start a business. Because I'm afraid of bandits, I asked the county magistrate for the title of captain of the Ma Ti Ling security team. This is my deputy officer, Yue Jia Lin."

  "Oh, it's Captain Luo and Deputy Officer Le. Sorry for the disrespect." The fake old man said with a smile.

  Both sides sat down as host and guest, a middle-aged woman brought tea over and placed it beside Luo Yi and Le Jialin. The house they lived in was not small, the owner looked quite dignified, unexpectedly there wasn't even a servant, and the lady of the house had to serve the tea herself.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries about the weather, Zhang Tianyou asked: "Two officials came to my humble abode today, I wonder what instructions do you have? I heard that the security team at Matieling is stationed in Zhushan Town, and it's quite far from here?"

  Luo Yi had never been good at beating around the bush, and when Zhang Tianyou asked him, he replied directly: "Mr. Zhang, I came this time because a friend introduced me and said you were an expert in mining. I'm planning to open a mine in the Mati Ridge area and would like to ask for your advice."

  Upon hearing the words "open mine", Zhang Tianyou's eyes flashed briefly, but he immediately covered it up: "Ma Tieling has never heard of any mines, I don't know what kind of mine Captain Luo wants to open."

  Luo Yi took out a piece of gold ore from his bag and handed it to Zhang Tianyou: "This is the ore found by students in Mati Ridge, please take a look, Mr. Zhang."

  Zhang Tianyou initially didn't pay much attention, but when he saw the ore handed over by Luo Yi, his eyes immediately widened. He could no longer pretend to be calm and composed, taking the ore with both hands, adjusting his glasses and examining it for a while. Luo Yi noticed that the old man's lips were trembling.

  "This... this piece of ore, was it really mined from Ma Ti Ling?"

  "That's right."

  "Is that all you've got?"

  "No, we found an outcrop of a mineral vein. After blasting it open with explosives, it's all this kind of ore." Luo Yi spoke the truth, he had already figured it out - Zhang Tianyou was definitely a mining expert, the type who would risk his life for a mine. Now as long as they told him the actual situation of the mine, there was no worry that he wouldn't come up with a plan, only fear that when the time came, he would be too enthusiastic to stop. In this world, there are those who gamble with their lives, those who love money more than life, and those who love their work more than life. This old intellectual should belong to the latter category, right? Why did I also want to say "old"? Luo Yi thought gloomily.

  "Captain Luo should know what kind of mine this is?" Zhang Tianyou asked.

  "Of course I know, this is a gold mine."

  Mrs. Zhang had already retreated to the side after finishing her tea. When she heard Luo Yi mention the word "gold mine", she hurriedly came over. Seeing the ore in Zhang Tianyou's hand, Mrs. Zhang was also shocked and subconsciously covered her mouth, but her eyes wouldn't lie. Luo Yi counted it in his heart: Good, it turns out that the whole family is playing this game.

  Zhang Tianyou played with the ore in his hand for a while, then suddenly asked: "Captain Luo, if it's like you said, how much is this gold mine worth? Do you know?"

  "This... " Luo Yi really hadn't calculated it carefully. Based on the information he vaguely remembered, the gold reserves of Ma Tieling Gold Mine were over 10 tons. If calculated at a price of 1 yuan per gram of gold, 10 tons of gold would be equivalent to around 100 million yuan. He hesitated for a moment and used a conservative tone: "I'm not familiar with mining, but according to my estimate, it's worth at least over 30 million."

  Zhang Tianyou returned the ore to Luo Yi, and his face regained its initial calmness. He asked with a detached attitude: "It seems that Captain Luo is already familiar with the situation of this mine, and the ore has also been mined out. What else do you want me to do?"

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