Zhuang Rui also became serious. He had never learned any survival skills in the wild. All he could rely on was his relatively strong body and the aura in his eyes. Zhuang Rui knew that there was no unified command in the wild.
It's easy to cause trouble.
The next day, at dawn, that is, at early five o'clock, Zhuang Rui was called up. After getting dressed, he walked out of the small building and found that the yard was already densely packed with people. Zhuang Rui took stock.
, there must be at least several hundred people, but no one is making any noise here, it is very quiet.
In the middle of the courtyard, there is a large square table with a sheep's head on it and a table full of fruit plates. These are offered to the mountain god to bless the jade collectors who go into the mountain to be safe.
The ancient man who presided over the ceremony was very simple. After saying a few words, he toasted to the heaven and the earth and sprinkled it on the ground. Then all the men who were preparing to enter the mountain took a bowl of wine and drank it in one gulp. Zhuang Rui also held it in his hand.
Someone stuffed me with a bowl of wine, but luckily it was wine, otherwise half of the people present would have fallen down if this bowl had gone down.
After the ceremony, the crowd dispersed in a hurry. Each team entering the mountain was looking for their own people, and some family members of the men who entered the mountain came to see them off. The scene became noisy.
"Brother Zhuang, come, let me introduce you..."
When Zhuang Rui stretched his head to look for Zhang Dazhi, Zhang Dazhi waved to him more than ten meters away. There were three people standing beside him.
"Brother Zhuang, this is Brother Tiezi. He is Wang Fei. This stupid guy is called Mengzi. Although he is big, he is one year younger than me. This time we will be a group of five. Let's all get to know each other. Zhuang
I am a distinguished guest of Prince Jade, and he was specially arranged to be in our group." Zhang Dazhi introduced several people to each other.
When Zhuang Rui shook hands with a few people, he looked around. Brother Tie was a little older, about thirty-four or five years old, and Wang Fei was a little younger, about the same age as Zhang Dazhi. Both of them were not tall.
He looks very capable.
But that fierce guy was all fleshy and over 1.9 meters tall. He was quite honest and honest. He didn't get angry when Zhang Dazhi called him "honest" and kept laughing.
Brother Tie and Wang Fei's attitude towards Zhuang Rui cannot be said to be indifferent, but they cannot be said to be enthusiastic. They are somewhat resistant to bringing in a newcomer like Zhuang Rui. After all, there is a newcomer in the team, which will affect the jade harvesting.
Progressive.
In addition, according to the rules of jade collectors, the jade collected by a team must be shared equally among everyone. Zhuang Rui, who has no experience in jade mining, will share their fair share. This is also ironclad.
The reason for brother and Wang Fei's dissatisfaction was that it was Prince Jade's order that Zhuang Rui join the team, so the two of them did not show their faces to Zhuang Rui.
"Xiaozhuang, and you guys, come here..."
Not far away, Mr. Gu and Adira were standing there, waving to Zhuang Rui and others, and they quickly walked over.
The old man pointed to a large backpack with a height of more than one meter beside him and said to Zhuang Rui: "This thing was specially prepared for you by your Uncle Tian. Well, this hiking pole is your Uncle Tian's beloved guy.
It’s for you to use.”
While talking, the old man handed a hiking pole he was holding to Zhuang Rui and said: "There is a small mechanism on the handle of this cane. Now, if you press it with your finger, this claw will appear underneath, which is like a fist.
It can pick up stones of all sizes, so you don’t have to bend down to pick them up. The claws are made of special alloy and are very strong. Thank you, Uncle Tian."
"Haha, you don't need to thank me. If you didn't know anything about jade, I wouldn't give you this object. But let's talk about it first. If you find something good this time, you have to sell it to me first."
Adila waved his hand and said to Zhang Dazhi and others: "Are you complaining that the old man arranged a new person for you?"
"No, no, Uncle Tian, you are joking."
Tiezi and others quickly shook their heads in denial. Even if they were dissatisfied in their hearts, they did not dare to express it in front of the Jade Prince. In the Xinjiang jade world, no one dared to offend the Jade Prince.
"Don't look at Xiaozhuang's young age. He is a director of the National Jade Association, and his level of jade appraisal is no lower than mine. Having him following you is a blessing for you guys..."
Adila's words surprised several people. They originally thought that Zhuang Rui was the nephew of the old man, and they were joining in the fun this time. Now they were shocked when they heard Zhuang Rui's identity. You must know that the Jade Prince himself also
He is just a director of the Jade Association.
"Ahem, Uncle Tian, you are joking. Brother Tiezi and the others are all old jade pickers. I need to learn more like them..."
Zhuang Rui was modest to a certain extent. Yesterday, Gu Gu told him about the material distribution of this team. However, with the special nature of Zhuang Rui's eyes, he was naturally full of confidence. There was really no need to be overly modest.
"Okay, you go to eat. The truck has been arranged and will leave in twenty minutes..."
After Uncle Tian finished speaking, Zhuang Rui stepped forward and picked up the big backpack. The weight was not light, weighing fifty or sixty kilograms. It wasn't that Zhuang Rui couldn't carry it, but carrying this thing up the mountain would probably be difficult.
Can't go far.
"Brother Zhuang, let me come..."
Mengzi stood up from behind Zhuang Rui, took the backpack with one hand, threw it back casually, and carried it on his shoulder, as if it was nothing. Zhuang Rui smacked his tongue when he saw it.
In the corner of the yard, there are several large pots with porridge in them. On the table next to the large pots, there are fried dough sticks and steamed buns waiting for breakfast. A few women are making porridge for everyone there. In addition, behind them, there are a bunch of people like
It was a backpack the size of a schoolbag. Zhuang Rui could see that there was a water bottle in each backpack.
Zhuang Rui discovered that when everyone got the porridge, they were given a small backpack. When it was his turn to get the porridge, he was also given one. Holding the porridge in one hand and biting a deep-fried dough stick in his mouth, Zhuang Rui opened it.
After looking at the backpack, there was a sedimented military green kettle inside, as well as dried meat and flatbread wrapped in oilcloth. These were their supplies after going up the mountain.
During the meal, Zhang Dazhi introduced everyone's strengths to Zhuang Rui. Tiezi is an old jade miner. He has followed adults up the mountain since he was fourteen or fifteen years old. He is quite familiar with the terrain of the Kunlun Mountains and the Yulong Kashgar River.
I am familiar with it and have rich experience in picking jade.
Wang Fei is a comrade of Zhang Dazhi. He has been to the mountains several times with him and his marksmanship is very good. He is in charge of the only shotgun in this team. Mengzi is physically strong and does all the physical work such as setting up camp and setting up strongholds.
As for Zhang Dazhi, he has a strong ability to survive in the wild. During a trip to the mountains to collect jade last year, he and his team got separated. Without food supplies, he stayed in the mountains alone for nearly twenty days and left safely.
come out.
On the whole, the jade mining team that Zhuang Rui is part of is well matched, taking into account all aspects such as safety. It must be that the Jade Prince did this intentionally to take care of Zhuang Rui, who was entering the mountains for the first time.
At six o'clock, a whistle sounded, and people squatting in various places to eat stood up. According to the past rules, people should get on the bus and leave immediately when the time is up, and they would not wait for latecomers.
"Hurry up, get in the car quickly..."
"You little monkey, where are you going? Get in the car quickly."
"Anivar, are you still reluctant to part with your water vat (meaning wife in Uyghur language)? Do you want to take it with you so that you can have some fun at night?"
Noisy sounds echoed in the yard as each team greeted their teammates. A young Uighur who had just been married was bidding farewell to his wife, which attracted a group of bachelors to boo.
This young man was going to change the people in the mine and it was probably about half a year before he left. His wife was a little reluctant and stood there sobbing in a low voice.
There were a total of six vehicles parked outside the yard, of which there was only one minibus. The rest were all large trucks with hoods. Zhuang Rui and others naturally got into the minibus. After sitting down, Zhang Dazhi happily said to Zhuang
Rui said: "Brother Zhuang, I still benefit from you this time. I took a truck up the mountain last year..."
With what Lord Jade said just now, Tie Zi and Wang Fei became much more enthusiastic about Zhuang Rui. This is not because they are philistines, but they only have one chance to go up the mountain once a year, and they also count on this opportunity for their income this year.
, naturally he is not willing to bring in new people, but Zhuang Rui has the expertise of appreciating jade, so that is different.
There are many jade stones on the mountain that are extremely difficult to identify, and the weight that each person can carry is limited. With Zhuang Rui following them, they can choose valuable jade stones to carry. A master who can identify jade will be of great help to them.
"Brother Zhuang, you can't look back. This is the rule."
After another short whistle sounded, the motorcade slowly started moving. The minibus Zhuang Rui and the others were riding in was at the back. Hearing shouts from the crowd behind him, Zhuang Rui was about to turn around to look, but was stopped by Zhang Rui.
Dazhi was held back.
The jade pickers standing on the big truck in front were all facing forward, and the atmosphere was quite tragic, like "the wind is blowing and the water is cold, and a strong man will never return once he is gone."
Hotan originally belongs to the foothills of Kunlun Mountain. After driving for more than an hour, the terrain gradually became higher.
Everyone should have heard of the Kunlun Mountains from various myths and stories. Starting from the Pamir Plateau in the west, the mountain range is 2,500 kilometers long, with an average altitude of 5,500 to 6,000 meters. The highest peak is at the junction of Xinjiang and Qinghai, with an altitude of 6,860 meters.
.
It is said that the immortal master of Kunlun Mountain is the Queen Mother of the West, and the "Yaochi" recorded in many ancient books is the Black Sea at the source of the Kunlun River. It is 4,300 meters above sea level, with clear lake water, flocks of birds, wild animals, and various weather conditions. In Kunlun,
The bison valley that passes through the river has precious bison valley rock paintings.
Not far from the Black Sea is the legendary place where Jiang Taigong practiced the Five Elements Avenue for forty years: Yuxu Peak and Yuzhu Peak, covered with snow for many years, and the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist. Kunlun Spring, located on the north bank of the Kunlun River, is the symbol of Kunlun.
The largest ice-free spring in the mountains.
The non-freezing spring forms the Kunlun June Snow Wonder. The water volume is large and stable. It is said that the spring water is used by the Queen Mother of the West to brew jade liquid. It is a high-quality mineral water. Originating from the middle reaches of the Golmud River in the Kunlun Mountains, it has eroded the thousands slabs for a long time, forming
The cliffs of the canyon face each other, and it is a natural wonder that is tens of meters deep.
Since Zhuang Rui and the others wanted to go deep into the Kunlun Mountains, they still brought thick cotton clothes even in June. You must know that there are many peaks covered with snow all year round in the Kunlun Mountains.
As the car headed towards the mountains, Zhuang Rui discovered that the trees he saw along the way were all short bushes, and there were no tall broad-leaved trees like those in the south. Just now, he saw a herd of wild donkeys on a mountainside.
As soon as Zhuang Rui picked up the camera, the roar of the car caused the wild donkeys to disperse.
The car drove for more than three hours on the road around the mountain. On the cloud-like peaks in the distance, one could clearly see the white snow.
According to Zhang Dazhi, the altitude here is already above 3,000 meters, and most people will suffer from altitude sickness to some extent. However, Zhuang Rui, who has experienced the trip to Tibet, does not feel any discomfort, but he feels a little regretful that the White Lion could not
Come along, otherwise you can feel the charm of the Snowy Mountains.
"Brother Zhuang, we are almost there. Have you seen the mountain pass in front of us? That is the transfer station for entering the mountain."
Zhang Dazhi and the others had been here several times and were already used to it. They were afraid that Zhuang Rui would feel bored, so they started chatting with him about the legends of this place.
As the car passed the Karakoram Pass, across a gurgling ditch, Zhuang Rui clearly saw a mountain peak appearing in front of him.
This is the famous "Old Man Watching the Mountain". It is said that in ancient times, an old man's son went to Kunlun Mountain to pick jade but did not come back, so the old man sat at the pass of Kunlun Mountain and watched. Day after day, year after year,
Generation after generation of jade pickers followed him into the mountain, following the footprints left by their predecessors, and then dragged their tired bodies down the mountain. The old man carefully examined everyone passing by, but he never saw his son's face.
Traces. Thousands of years have passed, and he just sat there motionless, waiting and watching...
In addition to the Queen Mother Yaochi, there are also more beautiful stories spread in Kunlun Mountain.
But after getting off the bus, Zhuang Rui felt that Kunlun Mountain was not so beautiful anymore.
The place where you get off the bus is a transfer station. Whether you are going to the mountains to collect jade or workers going to the mining sites in the mountains, you have to stop here. In this open space of thousands of square meters, plastics are thrown everywhere.
Bags and other dirty garbage.
It was said to be a transfer station. It was a small two-story building. There was a shed next to the building. There were actually four or five camels inside, which made Zhuang Rui take a few more glances.
Zhuang Rui and his group were not the only convoy entering the mountain. Three trucks had been parked in front of the small building at the transfer station. The noisy crowd was swarming towards the small building. Zhuang Rui didn't know what was going on and was stunned.
After a while, he found that out of the more than a hundred people standing around him, he was the only one left, and even Zhang Dazhi didn't know where he had gone.
Looking at the dark crowd, Zhuang Rui had no interest in pushing in. After about four or five minutes, the crowd dispersed a little, and then Zhuang Rui saw Zhang Dazhi walking over with two enamel jars in his hands.
.
"Brother Zhuang, let's eat. This is the last hot meal in the mountains. There are many restrictions on making fires in the mountains. Most of the time, you can only eat the food we brought."
Zhang Dazhi handed an enamel jar to Zhuang Rui. There were two steamed buns in it and some mutton soup below. Five or six hours had passed since the morning. Zhuang Rui was also very hungry, so he took it and ate it.
stand up.
After eating, the various jade mining teams grouped together and headed into the mountains. Some teams only had two people. Zhuang Rui knew that they were all people with extremely rich experience in jade mining. They were not willing to team up with those novices for fear of
The best thing is to share the jade they collected equally. This combination is usually made up of long-term friends or relatives.
"Brother Zhuang, the prince asked me to take you to the jade mine first, and then we can go into the mountains to mine jade. What do you think?"
"Dazhi, you can make the arrangements, I can just follow you." Zhuang Rui did not forget the old man's instructions before he came.
"Then let's go..." Dazhi greeted Tiezi and others, followed the workers entering the mine, and walked towards the mountain.
The transfer station is still more than ten kilometers away from the mining area. Usually when there are few people, you can ride a camel up there, but obviously not today. There are many people and few camels. Moreover, the camels have to transport production and living supplies, so the miners have to walk on two legs.
Zhuang Rui took a look and found that most of these workers were Uighurs.
On flat ground, a journey of more than ten kilometers is nothing to anyone, but on a mountain with an altitude of three to four thousand meters, it is different. Severe hypoxia can cause chest tightness and shortness of breath, especially for newcomers who have just climbed the mountain and have no experience.
The worker had a headache as if he was wearing a tight band, his heartbeat was pounding every step he took, he was panting, and his legs were shaking.
At the front were several camels carrying supplies, followed closely by the workers. Although they were not used to it, they were gritting their teeth and persevering.
Zhuang Rui felt fine, but the small backpack he was wearing was obviously much heavier than before. Looking at the fierce man in front of him who was immersed in walking, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.
The gurgling mountain stream and the tinkling singing echoed in the empty canyon.
There are red willows, wild wolfberries, camel thorns, reeds, and a few poplar trees like soybean sprouts growing in the valley. They stand alone at the foot of the mountain. Traces of jade can be found in the cobblestones in the ditch, some of which have been used by passing jade workers.
Pick it up and put it on the stone beside the "road" so that the jade transporter can take it away.
The history of jade mining in China can be traced back to more than 7,000 years ago. According to Zhang Dazhi, the smooth pebbles in the ditch are not all the result of being washed away by water flow, but are largely caused by the friction of the feet of the jade collectors.
The long camel bells have been swaying in the valley for more than 20 million years, and people have become accustomed to this difficult journey.
"Don't you pick up the jade here?"
Zhuang Rui pointed to a fist-sized piece of jade on the side of the road and asked Zhang Dazhi. Although the exposed jade flesh showed that it was just a piece of average quality material, it was still jade.
Zhang Dazhi shook his head and said: "All the good jade has been picked up, and the ones placed on the roadside are ready to be taken away by car."
Zhuang Rui and the others would never have thought that due to the sharp rise in jade prices, more than 200,000 people would swarm in in just the past two years. Not to mention the jade on the roadside, even the bottom of the valley would be dug out.
Three feet of ground.
While he was talking, a tractor drove down the mountain. Although the mountain road was not very steep, it was not very flat. The tractor was like a roller coaster. The front of the tractor was raised high, and the next moment it fell heavily into the pit. Zhuang
Rui was shocked when he saw it, but there were two people sitting on the back of the car.
"Boys, go up and do a good job, haha..."
When they passed by Zhuang Rui and the others, the man driving the tractor shouted, but his appearance was somewhat funny. The bumpy road meant that his butt could not touch the seat at all, and he was jumping like a convulsion.
Swing dance, everyone watching burst out laughing.
After the tractor drove past, Zhuang Rui saw that there was a person following behind the tractor. He kept throwing the jade stones on the side of the road into the truck bed. The tractor on this mountain road could not be much faster than a person walking. The person behind him
I can keep up.
More than two hours later, when we finally arrived at the mining area, several wolf dogs rushed up to us, barking "woof, woof", but were scolded away by the people who followed to greet them.
"Brother Zhuang, let's go to the mine and take a look. We will leave after watching."
Although it was the Jade Prince's order, Zhang Dazhi and others were not willing to waste time here. After all, more and more people have entered the mountain in recent years. If you are late, the good jade may be picked up by others.
Zhang Dazhi had already made an agreement with the people at this mine. When he heard that Lord Jade had arranged for people to come and see the mine, the middle-aged man named Lao Yu did not dare to neglect and took Zhuang Rui and others through a mountain road.
Arriving at the top of the mine.
What appeared in front of Zhuang Rui was a huge mountain wall tens of meters high, but the entire mountain had been dug by quarry workers. The white section faced the afternoon sun, like a reflective mirror, which stung.
Zhuang Rui couldn't open his eyes.
As the saying goes: Jade is buried in stone and is difficult for people to recognize, but the warm jade atmosphere will rise in the air under the warm sunshine. The magical white color creates a confusing illusion that the beautiful jade is emitting smoke, which makes Zhuang Rui feel trance for a moment.
If you lose it, it seems as if you have also been transformed into it.
"Book of Songs Xiaoya" says: Stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade. Mining mountain stone materials was called jade mining in ancient times, which also refers to mining mountain jade, that is, mining raw jade mines. Zhuang Rui, under the leadership of Lao Yu, drilled into that
It is said that there are eighty-three meters in the mine.
The height and width of this mine were only a little over 1 meter. Zhuang Rui could only follow Lao Yu and crawl into the hole inch by inch. Before entering the hole, Zhuang Rui imagined that the jade mines must be connected together.
There must be jade on all four walls, and the light can detect people, but even when he climbed to the bottom of the cave, he didn't see any trace of jade.
After Zhuang Rui climbed out of the mine after eating a mouthful of ashes, he asked Lao Yu: "Master Yu, is this a jade mine? Even if there is jade in such a narrow area, it cannot be mined."
"Brother, we are looking for mineral veins. We can only dig if the mineral veins are identified first. We cannot mine massively in the early stage. Otherwise, if we destroy the mineral veins, we won't even have time to cry..."
After listening to Lao Yu's explanation, Zhuang Rui finally understood that mining jade is different from mining jade, and it is still a technical job.
Before coming to the jade mine, Zhuang Rui always thought that mining jade might be like mining marble, mining a large area at a time. Only then did he realize how ignorant and ridiculous the imagination was.
First of all, jade mines are not contiguous like other minerals, but are hidden intermittently in stone cores. The veins are really like smoke and mist, erratic, as the ancient poem says. The occasionally exposed veins are wrapped in thick layers of rock.
Every time a piece of jade is taken, a large amount of hard rock surrounding the jade must be removed.
This determines that jade pickers not only have to work very hard, but also have a pair of discerning eyes to recognize the difference between jade and stone. The rock connected to the jade is called a jade root, which looks like jade but is actually a stone.
If it is difficult to distinguish, if it is not obtained well, both the jade and the jade will be broken, and all the previous efforts will be wasted. The idiom that the jade and the jade will be destroyed together is an allusion to jade mining.
"Brother Zhuang, let's go. It's getting dark soon. If we don't leave, we won't be able to get to Death Valley at night."
Seeing Zhuang Rui climb out of the mine in disgrace, Zhang Dazhi on the side urged, it was already a detour from here to their destination.
"Death Valley?" The word "Death Valley?" made Zhuang Rui a little frightened.
"You'll know when you get to the place." Zhang Dazhi didn't explain much, but judging from his face, it was definitely not a good place.
After bidding farewell to Lao Yu, the five-man team continued walking into the mountains. Without the miners, the mountains were much quieter. The mountains here were basically made of stone. Along the way, there were crisscrossed river valleys and undulating mountains. After walking for four or five hours,
, several people were all wet, they were all wet when crossing the stream.
However, Zhuang Rui's performance was pretty good. At least during the past four or five hours, he was able to keep up with the team and did not lag behind. This made Tiezi and others look at him with admiration.
Walking to the side of a stream, Zhang Dazhi stopped, looked at the sky, and said, "Let's eat something first, Brother Tiezi, will you be able to cross Death Valley at night?"
"Yes, but we have to hurry up." When he mentioned Death Valley, Tiezi showed a nervous look on his face.
"Then boil the water quickly."
Zhang Dazhi gave an order, Mengzi put down the big backpack, and actually took out a small steel pot from it. Wang Fei quickly built a stove with stones, while Tiezi went to pick up some dry branches. Only Zhuang
Rui was a little at a loss on the side.
In fact, Zhuang Rui didn't need to do anything, but within three to five minutes, the fire was already burning. Dazhi took out the dried meat pieces from his bag and threw them in. Several people sat down around the stone stove.
"Dazhi, why did you choose to mine jade instead of looking for ore veins?"
When Zhuang Rui was chatting with Lao Yu earlier, he knew that the mineral veins on this mountain were ownerless. As long as who could find it, the jade mined would belong to that person. Logically speaking, finding a mineral vein would be the same as
Getting rich overnight is much better than going to the mountains to pick jade.
"Brother Zhuang, not to mention that this jade vein has been almost completely mined. Even if we find the vein, we don't have the money to mine it. The initial investment will be at least tens of millions."
The expressions on the faces of Zhang Dazhi and others were a little helpless. Even if the teams searching for ore veins could find the ore veins, they could only hold a small share, and the majority would still be taken by those who funded the mining.
