In a mountainous area more than 200 miles away from Yazhou City, Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin were riding horses while admiring the beautiful scenery of Huanghuangzhou with great interest.
This place is located on the west side of the Andes Mountains. The mountains and rivers are undulating, but not steep. This is still very different from the Hengduan Mountains. In the Hengduan Mountains, the mountains and rivers are undulating and steep at the same time. Abyss and canyons can be seen everywhere, and there are few people.
The Andes Mountains are different. They run north-south and traverse the entire Southern Golden Continent. The west side of the mountains has a relatively smaller slope. The east side is a huge rainforest. The east side is very steep, a bit like the southern side of the Tibetan Plateau.
, the altitude suddenly rose, forming a natural barrier, isolating the two places.
The name of the Andes Mountains was not given by the Ming Dynasty, but by the descendants of the local Yin Shang from the Inca Empire, and it has continued to be used.
This place is located in a tropical area and the weather is hot. Even though it is already winter according to the Ming Dynasty calendar, there is no chill here at all and it is extremely hot.
Liu Yuan took a sip of herbal tea and looked at everything in front of him. The blue sky, white clouds, and blue were very good, and the peaks standing in the distance were like pure goddesses.
However, this place is deserted, and not a single person can be seen for hundreds of miles.
Golden Continent is vast and sparsely populated, and the local tribes are few in number. The Ming people who immigrated are often concentrated in the immigrant strongholds. Therefore, it is often difficult to meet people in the vast Golden Continent.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Liu!"
"Let me tell you, my gold mine is quite remarkable. It can produce more than 300 kilograms of gold every year. It is the largest gold mine in the area around Yazhou City."
The two of them were followed by a tall, rugged-looking man. This man's name was Tian Erniu. He was the first person to come to the Golden Continent. He was also the first crew member to follow Du Mingen to the Golden Continent, and he has stayed there ever since.
Golden Island.
He naturally knew Liu Jin. When he saw Liu Jin in Yazhou City, he was a little unbelievable, and then he stepped forward and shouted excitedly.
Only then did we know that not only Liu Jin had come to Huanghuangzhou, but also Emperor Hongzhi, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which excited Tian Erniu so much that he quickly entertained him warmly.
He originally came to Yazhou to inspect his own gold and silver mines. Who knew that he would meet his old boss Liu Jin and the emperor? He was really lucky.
"It can produce more than 300 kilograms of gold a year, and it's just your gold mine."
"Okay, your boy has already made it now."
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately smiled and said.
"Haha~"
"Where, where~"
"All of this is a gift from the Emperor, and is also indebted to Liu Gong for your kindness back then."
Tianerniu people look very rough and rough, but they are actually very considerate.
Thinking about everything and the life he has now, and then thinking about the life he lived in the past, Tian Erniu was also filled with emotion.
He was born into a poor farmer's family in the Ming Dynasty. Both his parents were poor farmers and had only been farming all their lives. Tian Erniu also grew up working in the fields with his parents since he was a child.
Later, there was a snowstorm and famine, so he had to follow the villagers to the Beijing-Tianjin area to beg. Then he was recruited to work in Liu Jin's industry, where he learned knowledge and was able to read and write.
Then he entered the Ming Maritime Academy and followed Du Mingen on his trip to the Golden Continent. He was the first Ming Dynasty person to arrive at the Golden Continent. After that, his life took off.
I became very prosperous here in Huangjin Continent, and I wandered here with a group of old brothers. I was the earliest explorer and owned a lot of gold and silver mines. Now I am getting older and I no longer go out.
Looking for adventure.
Instead, he chose to do business in various parts of the Golden Continent, open gold and silver mines, and live a comfortable and leisurely life.
"Tian Erniu, are there many gold mines like yours?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, thought about it and asked.
"There are quite a lot of them. There are a lot of gold and silver mines here in Huangjinzhou. The number of large and small gold mines and silver mines is too numerous to count. There are also many large gold mines that can produce more than 100 kilograms of gold per year."
"This is nothing to me. The real big gold mines and big silver mines are all in the hands of the Aztec Kingdom and the Inca Empire. They use gold and silver bricks to build pyramids every year. There are not enough gold mines.
It definitely won’t work with silver mines.”
When Tian Erniu heard this, he quickly said respectfully.
Then he looked ahead and said, "My gold mine is coming soon."
When Hongzhi Emperor Liu Jin heard this, he immediately became energetic. He quickly looked ahead and saw a canyon flowing in the mountains in the distance. From the initial huge drop and ups and downs, it became gentler at the exit. At the foot of the mountain
A buffer zone is formed.
This is where Tian Erniu's gold mine is located. Here you can see a large number of houses and many people busy. It is like a big village. There are smoke from cooking stoves, birds, and the sound of people. You can also see a lot of people.
Children play and play here.
When these children saw the team of Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jin, Tian Erniu and others, they immediately screamed happily and ran over excitedly.
"None of these kids go to school?"
Liu Jin looked at these children and asked quickly.
"Liu Gong, these children are all the children of slaves, and they are considered slaves, so they do not go to school."
Tian Erniu replied quickly.
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly picked up the telescope and took a closer look. Only then did he realize that each of these children had blond hair and blue eyes, with high noses and deep eyes. There was no trace of Ming Dynasty people at all.
"Are you using slaves here to dig for gold?"
Liu Jin nodded, thought for a while and asked again.
"Yes, almost all gold and silver mines use slaves to dig gold and silver, because there are too few local people in Golden Continent, and even if you have money, you can't hire people to dig gold for you."
"So everyone basically buys some slaves to mine gold and silver. Some people who are close to the Yin Shang tribe will hire people from the Yin Shang tribe to do these things."
"Very few of us Ming people do these things."
Tian Erniu nodded and said: "There are several advantages to buying slaves to dig for gold. One is that the cost of slaves is low. You can buy one for dozens of taels of silver. If you buy more, you can also give some small slaves as gifts, and the price is also good.
cheaper."
"The other thing is that we are not afraid of slaves stealing gold and silver. They are slaves. They can't escape here at all. Even if they bring gold and silver, it will be of no use."
"The cost of raising slaves is also very low. Seeing that there are no fields around, I ask the slaves to plant them by themselves. Just plant some corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, wheat and the like, which is enough for them to eat.
Raise some cattle, sheep, pigs, etc., and basically all the food can be provided locally, and the slaves will eat better and fuller than when they were in their European homeland."
"Buy some female slaves back to them, and reward slaves who work hard and behave actively. This gold mine can be managed in an orderly manner. Basically, no investment is needed. Just come here regularly to collect gold."
Tian Erniu introduced the operation mode of gold and silver mines in Huangjinzhou to Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin. Originally, in the opinion of Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin, this place for gold and silver mining should be strictly guarded.
, closely guarded and so on.
Who knew it was such a pattern.
Using slaves to mine gold and silver, and letting these slaves farm their own land and feed themselves is completely different from what you imagined.
"Aren't you afraid that someone will come to steal the gold?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said.
"There are people who are trying to steal gold, but the grass on their graves is already three feet high."
"We are very disgusted with robbers and thieves who rob. All gold mine owners and silver mine owners have formed an alliance. Everyone pays to hire people to clean up these robbers."
"In addition, the government also has troops stationed in various places to patrol and hunt down these robbers. Once discovered, they will definitely not escape death."
"Now there are fewer and fewer people robbing gold and silver mines. You can rest assured. In addition, we have people guarding the mines. Each family has manpower."
"Like my gold mine, my thirteenth son and a few people guard it here. When there are robbers, the slaves can also use weapons to help."
"The people from the Ming Dynasty who came to Huangjinzhou lived a good life, but not many people are willing to do these things."
Tian Erniu replied respectfully.
While a few people were chatting, everyone was getting closer to the gold mine, and the children of the slaves had already ran over. When they saw Tian Er Newton, they all shouted excitedly.
"Hello, Mr. Tian, hello, Mr. Tian!"
"Haha, okay, okay~"
Tian Erniu smiled and opened a cloth bag, which was filled with candies and various snacks. He grabbed handfuls of candies and sprinkled them on the children. Suddenly, these children all started to grab the candies and snacks excitedly.
.
"This kid has been living in the mine for a long time and has never been outside. Although he has plenty of food, there is not much else to eat. Every time I come here, I will bring them some snacks, candies, dried meat, dried fish, etc.
.”
After Tian Erniu finished spreading the candies and snacks, he also smiled and explained to Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin.
Generally speaking, Tian Erniu is a good slave owner. He treats his slaves well and has a good conscience. The children born to these slaves grew up in this mine and did not have to work when they were young.
, you can play carefree, and you can continue to work for Tian Erniu when you grow up.
At this time, a tall, tall man and horse, who looked somewhat similar to Tian Erniu, but had blond hair and a hooked nose, rode over on horseback and said respectfully to Tian Erniu: