Chapter 7 My Silver Mine
At present, my foundation is still unstable and I haven’t even taken back Koh Samui. I’d better keep a low profile and not consider it for the time being.
Zhan Junru saw the large amount of rice and flour supplies in the other tent, but she didn't ask because she was sleeping.
Tang Wen knew that she was curious and not asking was abiding by the rules. This was also a test from Tang Wen for her.
The next morning, Tang Wen gave Li Quan 8,000 taels of silver and asked Zhang Kui to accompany him to the Yanling County Bank to exchange it for gold ingots.
Afterwards, the first task assigned to Zhan Dongwen was to build two toilets and several bathrooms, separated for men and women.
Fortunately, there were two carpenters, a bricklayer and a stonemason among the group.
There were many dry and fallen trees on the mountain. Tang Ling provided them with sharp axes, saws, etc. Zhan Dongwen arranged people to do the work like a responsible housekeeper.
Next, accompanied by Zhan Dongwen, the two of them inspected Lake Sumei.
"Dongwen, what do you think we should do next?" Tang Wen asked as they walked.
“Of course we should gather all the people on Koh Samui and show them the official land deeds.
Let them know that this island belongs to you, master, and it is not an ownerless land.
We can rent the land to them, but we have to collect rent.
This island is so big, if we can attract disaster victims to come here to farm, we can earn a lot of money every year." Zhan Dongwen said.
"They didn't want to rent it originally, but we want to rent it now. Look, until now, no one has come to us. Why is that?" Tang Wen said.
"That means you definitely don't want to pay the rent." Zhan Dongwen said.
“So, eat your meal one bite at a time.
Don't gather them all at once. If they do, they will be outnumbered and we will be in a passive position.
We have to swallow them up piece by piece, but our strength is still insufficient, so we have to find a way to recruit some people to strengthen ourselves.
Otherwise, the same thing will happen again, like the last time I went to collect rent and almost couldn’t come back.” Tang Wen said.
"Recruit more people. When the time comes, there will be more people. We haven't collected any rent yet. What will we eat and wear?" Zhan Dongwen said with a frown.
"I will take care of their food, clothing and shelter. Your task now is to secretly send some people to investigate their background.
I wonder, since no one has shown up until now, maybe there is someone organizing a fight against us here.
Also, the descendants of Jiang Guanjia who stayed behind haven't shown up yet, which is a big problem." Tang Wen said.
"Okay, I'll arrange a few people to infiltrate them and do some spying." Zhan Dongwen nodded.
“Our first step is to find a way to gather people and take back the land.
The second step is to repair the road, fill in all the potholes and widen the roadbed.
The third step is here." Tang Wen pointed forward.
"Isn't that a place destroyed and collapsed by pirates? What can we do?" Zhan Dongwen asked puzzledly.
This was because the dam built by the ancestors of the Tang family beside Wolong Lake collapsed due to something.
After the lake water leaked, only about a mile of lake water remained, and most of the lake bed was exposed.
Now it is overgrown with weeds and is almost turning into a forest.
“There used to be a simple dam here, which should have been built by people hired by my Tang family’s ancestors.
That’s why Wolong Lake appeared.
Our third step is to rebuild the dam to store the water flowing down from the mountain and form a lake again." Tang Wen said, pointing to the collapsed area.
"Building a dam requires a lot of manpower and a large amount of money.
Even though there is only about a mile of water left at the bottom of the lake, it is enough for us to use. It is useless to repair it, so why waste money on it?
It would be better to use the silver to build a house, at least to let us settle down first, but that would also require a lot of silver." Zhan Dongwen shook his head.
“Haha, you don’t understand, this lake has such a huge effect.
You see, the fields on Koh Samui are all around the bottom of this lake.
Not only do we need to build a dam, we also need to build it higher than before to make the lake larger.
At that time, we can dig ditches and canals to bring water to the rice fields for irrigation.
You see, the harvest from the land they farmed is so low because of the drought that they probably can’t even fill their stomachs.
Why are you still willing to pay rent?
Therefore, water is the most important.
By then, when the fields are fertile, there is water, and the harvest is good, they will naturally be willing to pay rent.
Otherwise, we will force them to pay the rent.
One is to provoke conflicts, and they will fight with us for their lives.
Secondly, if they cannot win, they will flee from Koh Samui.
What would we do with a deserted island with no one on it?" Tang Wen said with a smile.
"Master, you have thought very carefully. However, this is too difficult to do. How much silver will it cost?" Zhan Dongwen said with admiration.
“I told you not to worry about the money, I’ll find a way.
Also, starting from tomorrow, we will serve porridge.
At that time, we will attract those disaster victims who are hungry and starving to death.
In this way, as long as they are given food, they will definitely join my Tang family.
We will gradually disintegrate their forces, and by then, our numbers will increase and theirs will decrease.
When our troops surpass theirs, we can consider taking back all the land." Tang Wen said.
"That's a good idea. I'll arrange for them to do it." Zhan Dongwen nodded excitedly.
At this time, Sun Ping came running and said that when they went to the mountain to saw wood, they found a hole on the mountain behind the house.
It seemed like it was dug out by humans. Tang Wen and the other man hurried to the back.
They found that Sun Ping and his team had cleared away the thatch and trees, revealing a cave entrance.
“Originally, there were vines, weeds and trees growing on the top of this cave. Later, Li Si accidentally fell into it and discovered it.
When we looked, we found that it was blocked with stones.
So I pried it open out of curiosity and found that there was a hole inside. "Sun Ping said.
"Li Si, tell me what's going on?" Tang Ling asked.
“There’s still dirt on top of the hole, with weeds, trees and vines growing on it.
I was puzzled, as if the hole was being hidden.
However, we didn't find anything when we went in.
They are just some scattered stones. They may have been used to hide treasures in the past." Li Si said.
"Let's go in and take a look." Tang Wen nodded, and several people lit torches and entered the cave.
We discovered that the tunnel was not small and could accommodate three carriages side by side. It was about 15 feet high.
It was obviously dug by humans, and there was no passage after going about a mile deep.
However, at the end of the tunnel is a huge cave, which is more than twenty feet high and about three miles wide.
Tang Wen used a torch to illuminate the rocks, and picked up the scattered stones on the ground to observe them.
I immediately understood what was going on and picked up a few stones and returned to the tent.
Call Zhan Dongwen in, and then shine a strong flashlight on the stones.
"Huh? Why is it flashing?" Zhan Dongwen took a look and opened his mouth in surprise.
Tang Wen picked up an axe and split the stone in half, then took a look at the cross-section.
Zhan Dongwen opened his mouth wide, because it seemed like there were many little stars twinkling.
"Dong Wen, take a look, does it look like this?" Tang Wen took out a silver ingot and handed it to him, saying, "Compare it carefully, and then use this flashlight to shine on it."
"Almost, but it's not as bright as a silver ingot. Is there silver inside?" Zhan Dongwen asked.
"This is a silver mine. Someone was stealing my Tang family's silver mine. However, when they dug to the end, they probably found that the silver content was too little, or they gave up after mining." Tang Wen said.
"Who did it? If they were digging in the past, wouldn't the Tang family have a lot of servants? How could they dig secretly? If they were caught, they would be dead." Zhan Dongwen said.
“Yes, no matter how they dig, they will definitely be discovered by the Tang family. That’s why the Tang family’s houses were burned down and turned into ruins.” Tang Yilun’s face was a little grim.
"Man-made?" Zhan Dongwen opened his mouth in surprise.
"No wonder Butler Jiang hasn't sent anyone back ." Tang Wen snorted.
"Are you saying that it was Jiang Chang who did it, and his purpose was to embezzle the Tang family's silver mine?" Zhan Dongwen said.
"He is the most suspicious, and, you see, if there are pirates involved, it is him who colluded with the pirates.
The pirates came out to rob and kill people, and scared away the people on the island.
Once the people leave, they can openly dig for silver." Tang Wen said.
"Damn it! He's worse than a beast." Zhan Dongwen cursed.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Li Quan and Zhang Kui returned from Yanling City and handed the 800 taels of gold they had exchanged to Tang Wen.
In fact, for the people of Da Chu, gold is not convenient to use except for making jewelry.
Because it is too expensive, and you can't even afford it even if you want to have a meal or visit a brothel .
