Crossing the main street, entering the mountain forest lined with dead trees, we finally came to the river leading to Lin'an and Sanzhou.
A large area of sand bed was exposed, something Li Huang had never seen before.
"Why is there so much less water in the river?"
She muttered something softly, but a young man next to her heard her.
The young man snorted and whispered: "Are you from other places? You may not know that in order to cut off the river, they built a dike upstream. A small opening will be opened under the dike to ensure that there is water flow.
Come down, and the dam will not be destroyed and the city will be destroyed."
Li Huang was startled and asked shamelessly: "May I ask why they did this?"
Since you don't dare to cut off the water source below, if you block it like this, doesn't it just increase the risk to the city?
If the dike is washed away, not only the people in this city will die.
No place within a radius of dozens of miles would be spared.
She believed that people in the government could not be unaware of this.
However, what she heard next simply shattered her outlook on life.
The young man looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then asked in a low voice: "Do you still not know what you are doing here?"
Li Huang shook his head.
The young man pointed to the sand bed and said, "Did you see something sparkling in the sand?"
After being reminded like this, Li Huang discovered that under the sunlight, some parts of the sand bed really sparkled.
She was stunned for a moment, then realized: "Are those really gold mines?"
She just said it casually, but she didn't expect there to be a gold mine here!
The young man approached her and said mysteriously: "There are not only gold mines here, but also silver mines and other mines. As long as you can successfully take away one, you will not have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life."
Li Huang looked at him curiously: "You seem to have known about it a long time ago. Where did you get the news?"
The young man looked around again and then said: "How can there be an airtight wall in this world? Look at those poor men, they guard so many mines all day long, can they really not be tempted?"
As long as you are human, your heart will be moved.
When your heart beats, you will take action, and this action will inevitably be seen by others.
Everyone's interests are tied up. After a long time, can they hide it from their own families?
The young man looked at her with a "you know" expression: "Who doesn't have a relative?"
Therefore, he also came here to make a fortune.
Even if he could hide a gold mine the size of a fingernail, that would be enough for him.
However, he only knew that there were gold mines everywhere here, but he didn't know if he would be able to get out after he arrived.
As long as those who come here are either beaten to death or exhausted, no one can get out alive.
At this time, the foreman in charge of supervising the work spoke: "Okay, let's work early while it's still early. If we don't catch anything, we will have to go hungry tonight."
By the time they finished speaking, someone had already started sending them tools.
It was a dustpan that was finer than an ordinary sieve. After the foreman demonstrated it to them personally, he urged them to get started quickly.
"Once you enter here, it's my decision. Don't even think about escaping."
"The entire Lishui City is full of officers and soldiers. It's hard for you to fly even if you have wings. Once you are caught, not only will you have no food to eat, but you will have to work twice as hard!"
"If the matter goes to the top, it's not impossible to get whipped or boarded. Moreover, you have to do it after the punishment. If you have the guts, just run away!"
As he spoke, he struck a thigh-thick tree pole next to him with his whip. The tree broke and fell straight down.
The captured people were so frightened that their faces turned pale.
At this time, the young man who had just explained to Li Huang had the courage to ask: "Then do we have wages?"
The supervisor glared, slapped his feet with a whip, and said fiercely: "If you still want wages, it would be great if I can give you food to eat. Work quickly, otherwise, you won't be able to sleep tonight!"
The young man was so frightened that his face turned pale. There was no wages and he had to be whipped. Even if he did find a gold mine, he would still have to spend it with his life.
Li Huang took a dustpan and squatted by the river. He followed the example of the foreman just now and picked up a handful of sand, then put it into the water and shook it carefully to shake the sand into the water to see if there were any mines underneath.
Someone was lucky enough to get a gold mine as big as a fingernail as soon as they got started. They were so happy that they almost jumped up and made everyone around them jealous.
But some people didn't find anything until dark, and they immediately began to wonder if there really was a mine on the sand bed.
"Your Highness, I'm just unlucky. I didn't find anything."
Lingyuan leaned towards this side and whispered.
Li Huang had never squatted for such a long time, and he had already sat down on the gravel.
She was really hungry now.
I just ate some steamed buns at noon, and I finished them in three or two mouthfuls, which didn't do anything for me at all.
Seeing that it was almost getting dark, the supervisor called the people who had found the goods to come over and receive the steamed buns, while the rest of the people could only watch.
At this time, I don’t know who complained in a low voice: "Isn’t this too dark? How can we work if we don’t even let us fill our stomachs?"
They originally thought that even if they were captured as young men, they would still be paid.
The current situation is worse than those who were sentenced to be exiled and rehabilitated as miners!
At least, they can take care of the food.
Those who were deceived, the more they thought about it, the more they regretted it, especially the young man who just talked to Li Huang.
"It's only the first day, but there's still more to come! Brothers, hurry up and search. If you find a piece the size of a grain of rice, you can exchange it for half a steamed bun."
Everyone was silent for a while.
But at this moment, the supervisors came over with delicious food, shouting while eating.
"Hurry up, hurry up, don't be lazy, you don't want to sleep at night, I still want to sleep!"
Everyone dared to be angry but dared not speak out.
Even if they don’t give them food, they still need to use food to seduce them!
Excessive!
However, the more extreme thing is yet to come!
In the middle of the night, someone found a small piece of gold and planned to escape secretly while he was out of town.
However, this mining area had long been surrounded. When the soldiers responsible for guarding found out, they shot an arrow at the man.
Regardless of whether the man was dead or alive, after being shot, he was dragged directly back to the river.
"Since someone escaped, all of you who worked with him will be punished!"
"Tomorrow, you will all have nothing to eat!"
"He stole a piece, and you have to pay ten pieces to him! If you can't hand it over, be careful with the whip!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the whip struck hard on the leg of a man who was just about to sit down and rest for a while.
The man groaned in pain, then covered the bleeding wound, feeling so aggrieved that he could only continue what he was doing.