Chapter 1851 , the anecdote of the Golden Continent
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin drank tea and ate side dishes, then looked at the busy city outside and listened to the bragging and chatting of the people around them.
"Did you hear that?"
"Someone discovered some descendants of the Yin Shang people who claimed to be Inuit in the far north. They lived in the Arctic Circle. In such a freezing place, it is incredible and miraculous that there are still people who can survive.
"
"seriously?"
"Can anyone survive in the Arctic Circle? There is no way to grow a banker at all, and even if you hunt in that place, there seems to be no prey to hunt, right?"
"Yes, a few years ago I kept walking north in search of gold. It's already extremely cold here at Sanhekou, let alone further north in the Arctic Circle. How can I survive there?"
"Would I still lie to you?"
"Some people really say that these Inuit people were found in the Arctic Circle. They make a living by hunting seals in the winter and salmon and whales in the summer."
"They eat everything raw and live in houses made of snow."
“Arctic seal hunting?”
"It is said that the Arctic Circle is frozen for thousands of miles in winter, and even the sea water is covered with thick ice. How can we hunt seals?"
"And wouldn't it be colder if this house made of snow could still be inhabited?"
When the people at the same table heard this, they all expressed disbelief. They simply did not believe that someone could survive in the Arctic Circle and still live in an igloo. Wouldn't it be freezing to death in an igloo?
"It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Anyway, my friend has really been to these places and got this kind of thing from the Inuit people."
The person who spoke took out a long object.
"What is this?"
"It seems like a bone or something, or a horn or something?"
Everyone watched carefully and made guesses.
"Hehe~ This thing is called a whale horn. It is a whale horn that the Inuit got from hunting a whale with a long horn on its head called a narwhal."
"You don't have this thing, right? I spent hundreds of taels of silver, so I sold one to me cheaply."
"A narwhal's horn?"
"Is there such a thing as a narwhal?"
"There should be some. I heard someone say that this kind of whale with horns on its head has been seen on the White Collar Strait."
"In this case, this thing is quite rare."
"That is, at least, it is of great collection value, and it is very good for decoration."
"So, are there really people living in the Arctic Circle?"
"It's hard to say. I have a friend who is exploring in the rainforest. There are still Yin and Shang tribes living in places like the rainforest."
"That's different. At least it's not cold in the rainforest. It's so cold in the Arctic Circle. I just couldn't stand the cold in Qianhe City, so I moved to Penglai City."
"Although the rainforest doesn't get cold, you may not know it. There are all kinds of dangers in the rainforest, and there are countless poisons. A bug may come out and poison you to death."
"Surviving in the rainforest is more difficult than anything else. It's even harder to find a dry place. Even though there are many trees, you can't find dry wood to make a fire."
"That's true. I'm in the redwood business. There are a lot of various types of wood in the rainforest, but cutting it down and transporting it out is more difficult than anything else. That place is not suitable for human survival at all. Tribes that can survive in it,
He really has a way of doing it.”
"..."
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin listened with great interest.
"Liu Jin, are there still people living in the Arctic Circle?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a moment and said to Liu Jin: "Our Ming Dynasty Northern Grassland Province, the area north of Liaodong, is very vast, but not many people survive. It is incredible that there are still people living in the Arctic Circle further north."
Emperor Hongzhi shook his head as he spoke.
The Ming Dynasty obtained the Steppe Province, developed Liaodong Province, and later obtained the Northwest Province. The Northwest Province was established on the basis of the original Siberian Khanate.
It can be said that Ming Dynasty still has a certain understanding of the Far North.
Like the Northern Grassland Province of the Ming Dynasty, after crossing the Beihai, there is basically no human habitation. Once the Liaodong Province crosses Heilongjiang and reaches the Waixing'an Mountains, there is basically no human habitation.
There were many expedition teams in the Ming Dynasty. The gold treasure hunting team went to these extreme northern places to explore. In this vast cold area, there are very few people. Even if there are people, they are only in the warmer areas further south. Further north
There is no one at all.
Therefore, even if the Ming Dynasty exiled criminals, at most they would be exiled to Winter City, Beihai, or Waixing'anling. There would be no one further north, which was already the limit.
Who knows, there are actually Inuit people living and thriving in the extremely cold Arctic Circle, where they have settled and survived.
"I don't know either, but human creativity is endless. It's hard to say whether it's really possible for humans to thrive in such a place."
Liu Jin thought for a while and shook his head.
To be honest, it's really incredible. It's really a miracle that the Inuit can survive and continue in that kind of environment.
"Um."
Emperor Hongzhi also nodded.
The world is very big, and all kinds of strange tribes are common. The Golden Continent is not that big of a deal, but the real weird ones are the African continent.
Nowadays, African vassal states and colonies are constantly expanding into the interior of Africa, and their understanding of Africa is getting deeper and deeper.
Africa, this ancient land, not only has all kinds of strange diseases, but the indigenous people here are also diverse and strange.
Some tribal people are very short, only about 1.34 meters tall, and their average life span is also very short. They can get married and have children at the age of 9, and their average life span is less than 20 years old.
From time to time, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post will report on some strange things from around the world. There are endless reports on various strange tribes, and everyone is used to it.
"Did everyone hear about it?"
"Someone discovered oil in his own field on the Great Plains and sold it directly to Daming Petroleum Company. He sold it for 10,000 taels of silver. This is a real fortune overnight."
"seriously?"
"This oil is very hard to find. Can you find oil in your own fields?"
"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, you can go find out. That person's name is Su Laosan."
"I think I've heard about this too. That Su Laosan is really lucky. Oil can be found in his own fields."
"Oil is now gold, and silver is as valuable. Many people are now looking for oil instead of gold. If they find an oil field, they can sell it for tens of thousands of taels of silver. This business is quite good."
"Yes, that's right, but finding oil is not an easy task. However, because it is buried deep underground, you need to use geography to find the oil."
"I heard that the price of oil has increased again. We in Ming Dynasty rarely have oil, but there are many places to use oil. Kerosene lamps need oil, and cars also need gasoline. They still need oil."
"I heard that this oil can also be used to make chemical products. It has a wide range of uses. Now the demand is getting bigger and bigger. However, there is very little oil here in Daming, so it is difficult to find it."
"On the other hand, this Golden Continent has a lot of oil. I heard that someone discovered several oil fields on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, and they made a lot of money all of a sudden."
"Yes, the price of oil has reached 350 cents per barrel now. Because so many people are using kerosene, the price has also gone up."
“Then wouldn’t it be very profitable to exploit oil?”
"Of course. I have a friend who works at Daming Petroleum Company. He said that extracting oil is just like extracting water. The oil flows out like water continuously. You just need to put it in a barrel. One barrel costs several hundred yuan.
, how much money can you make this day?"
"This is incredible. A barrel of oil costs several cents. It's just like releasing water. You can easily release tens of thousands of barrels a day, right?"
"This is thousands of taels of silver per day. A good oil well may be able to earn tens of thousands of taels of silver per day."
"Then you can consider doing this business in the future. Gold is getting harder and harder to find."
"Yes, gold and silver are getting harder and harder to find, and it is troublesome to mine them. It requires a lot of slaves to mine them slowly. I heard that mining oil is very simple."
"After the Chinese New Year, I will try this oil water. I am tired of exploring. Running outside all year round, eating and sleeping in the open, I am too tired."
"I'm also going to try this oil. I heard that the Daming Petroleum Company is planning to build a refinery in Penglai City. The extracted oil can be sold directly to the Daming Petroleum Company."
"..."
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin were drinking tea, listening to everyone in the teahouse talking about one thing. This place is far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike people in Beijing and Tianjin who care about national affairs, people here are more concerned about getting rich.
Things, gold, silver, adventure, and oil are the themes here. (To be continued)