"We walked around the ditch today and saw that the people in the ditch didn't look at us favorably. We are digging for gold, but what can we say?"
In fact, when Lao Huang came over, Lu Lu didn't want to hear about his troublesome things. He mainly wanted to see if he could learn about the general situation in the mountains from Lao Huang's mouth.
He had a temptation in mind.
Lao Huang has been here for decades, and he should know the situation here quite well. There is no doubt about this.
While there are so many people panning for gold in Xinglonggou, there are also many people running all over the mountains and fields, also looking for gold. Although the mountains and fields are big, it is inevitable that they will meet each other.
Inquiring into the situation here and roughly understanding the forces that are obviously divided into gangs will also be of great benefit to the next walk in the mountains.
"That's for sure. They are all preventing the materials they have prepared from being stolen, and preventing the placer gold in their bags from being noticed. Of course, there are also many people who are worried about other materials and bags. What are you doing in this ditch?
For the sake of gold, it's okay if you just point out scattered golden beans, but if you get a golden bean the size of a broad bean, you should be worried. How many pairs of eyes are staring at it, overtly or covertly.
You were targeted even when you walked into Xinglonggou, do you believe it?"
Lao Huang looked at a few people with a smile.
Zhang Shaofeng and others couldn't help but look at Lu Lu. Lu Lu had said similar words to them before. Before, they thought Lu Lu's words were too serious and would not be more cruel than lifting a stick, but now it seems that there are
Nothing less than that.
"People are so diverse. They do all kinds of things, and they all do it to get rich. It makes sense."
Lu Lu nodded slightly and continued to guide the test: "I heard from the old man that the gold mining industry is just like those who carry sticks, fish, and cut trees. There are ginseng gangs, fishing gangs, and wood gangs. Does gold mining also involve gold?
Help?"
"There must be one, but it's not called the Gold Gang, it's called the Gold Rush Gang."
Old Huang smiled and said: "In the early years, they were also divided into various factions. Just like the Forest Gang and the Wood Gang, they also had golden leaders. The golden leaders were usually those who were tall, strong-boned and had poisonous eyes.
Moreover, this person must have rich experience in catching fish and know the rules of gold panning.”
"You mean, you have to be experienced and ruthless?"
Zhang Shaofeng obviously heard the meaning: "Strong body, hard bones, and poisonous eyes. This choice looks like choosing someone who dares to fight and kill."
"That's what you mean. If you don't have a strong person, you can't protect him, right?"
Lao Huang grinned, looked at the antimony pot that was steaming on the fire for a while, and swallowed his saliva.
Lu Lu didn't pay much attention to him. He noticed this small move. He immediately opened the lid of the pot and took out a piece of rabbit meat. He tried it first and found that the meat had become soft and soft.
It was so mushy that I quickly took the antimony pot off the shelf and asked a few people to use their chopsticks: "It's almost done, everyone, hurry up and eat!"
As he spoke, he poured wine for Lao Huang.
Lao Huang took out a piece of meat, blew it briefly twice, and threw it into his mouth. He breathed and chewed it quickly until the bones came out. After swallowing the meat, he still lifted the bones and sucked them.
Sizzling sound.
Putting down the bones and taking a sip of wine, Lao Huang continued: "The Gold Rush Gang, like the Shen Gang, also worships the Mountain God and the leader. The Mountain God is a tiger, and the leader is not Sun Liang, but Sun Jigao. It is said that Sun Jigao has been there since he was a child.
I went to the Guandong Mountains to pan for gold, and then my legs hurt and I died in the Laobai Mountains. After my death, I became a god!"
When Lao Huang said this, he was very casual, without so much so-called awe.
Lu Lu also knew these things.
He didn't think much about these things except that he was a little curious about why these old leaders who were enshrined were all named Sun.
He also knew that there were also sacrifices to the founder of a certain mine.
For example, the famous Jiapigou old mine held a memorial ceremony for their mining ancestor Ma Wenliang. Legend has it that Ma Wenliang died at the bottom of the mine and became a god.
Lu Lu had also seen such a sacrificial scene.
Every year when the geese fly north, the riverside freezes and the sand melts. The "Golden Guys" who have taken a break from winter come back one after another. Before the start of the work, Mr. Jin leads them to the mountain temple and the
When you kill a pig and offer it to the head temple, this is called drinking "open flow wine".
The leader leads everyone to kneel down in unison, and says something to the leader, and everyone follows suit, usually: Lord Mountain God, Golden Leader, we are here to sacrifice you, please bless us to get more bumps this year...
Like the stick-carrying ginseng gang, they are also taboo about talking about gold directly. Instead, they call gold lumps. Gold that can form lumps is naturally large, and they are all similar Taiping terms.
Whether you are hunting, carrying sticks, or logging, as long as you work in the mountains, there are almost tree stumps that serve as benches for the mountain gods. As the saying goes, you cannot sit on the dining table after entering the mountains.
Women are absolutely not allowed to follow during the memorial ceremony. It is said that the mountain gods are taboo about women being unclean. Therefore, gold mines, gold mining riversides and river beaches are often forbidden areas for women.
The old man opened his chat box and started talking, as if he couldn't talk enough.
Lu Lu was not curious about these things, but Zhang Shaofeng, Chen Xiuqing and others were curious and chatted with Lao Huang with great interest, but they led Lu Lu astray from what he wanted to inquire about.
When he heard Lao Huang talk about this taboo, Chen Xiuqing couldn't help but ask: "Since the gold mining place is a forbidden area for women, what happened to the women in the shack before, and how can they stay there again?"
"Society is different. Haven't you seen that there are female workers in the mines, gold panning and chutes? Everyone is no longer surprised. Besides, many people have needs and don't have to go far.
I'm still afraid of being caught when I get to the city." Lao Huang said.
The rules are changing!
"Back then, I also worked in the gold rush gang. From the head to the gang, I was waiting for the day of 'subcontracting' every day. The so-called subcontracting is the day of 'payment' throughout the year. Each person has one share.
Lao Jin is "Jin Mo'er". He has more heads than others, just like the man who carries the mallet gets "lalu water money", the gold head also needs to get an extra "cold leg money". At this time, the number of heads is more and the less, everyone
No complaints at all.”
Lao Huang continued to talk about his affairs.
This does sound interesting. The leader of the ginseng gang pulls out the money, and the leader of the gold team talks about the cold-legged money, both of which are quite vivid.
The people who joined the gang spent all day rummaging through the grass and trees in the mountains with ropes and sticks, and their trouser legs were often wet with dew. It was not just dew. The gold sand diggers stood in the cold water all day long, and the cold was on their legs!
"At that time, what we were most worried about was how to take Jinsha out..."
In those days, every place where gold was produced, as well as at various intersections and mountain passes outside, were guarded by "uncle", waiting for the gold workers to come out so that they could deal with the gold diggers.
The so-called "big men" are soldiers, beards, gangsters, scoundrels, etc. There are even gangs formed secretly by powerful people on the White Road to rob the Road.
Yes, that's right, in the eyes of black and white, gold diggers are just gold workers.
If you want to get out, you have to find the main intersection leading to the outside of the mountain as soon as possible. This is called "going down". Then you have to open the joints early. This move is called "going up the knot".
Often, Jin Boutou and his two apprentices would go to the "uncle's" village and deliver gifts, usually gold lumps and pure gold sand, and worship the master as his "dependant", that is, looking for a backer.
As long as the gifts were sufficient, they would often bribe metalworkers. Moreover, some "big men" would also allocate land for themselves.
In fact, this is the real gold mining gang, which is powerful and organized. It is not as simple as a leader leading a few gangsters.
Gold mining gangs often fight fiercely to grab these territories and resources.
Therefore, gold diggers must be careful when seeking refuge with the old man, otherwise they may end up working for nothing for a year and often even risk their lives.
"The time I made up my mind and even stabbed myself in the arm to leave, it was because the wrong person was the one who trusted me with my head. Everyone came to my door to be robbed, and two people who were unwilling to hand over Jin Mo'er died.
, the other people who were robbed can only come back."
When Lao Huang said this, he gritted his teeth and said, "The stabbing I received was in vain. From that moment on, I never thought about leaving Huma."
"With such a large land, there will always be missing areas, so no one can break out?" Zhang Shaofeng couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, but there are really not many people who can break out. Who among the gold diggers is willing to give away the gold they have worked so hard to find to those "big men"? Every year, there are many people who break out of the 'Kazi' alone. There are many ways to do so.
It's something you can't even imagine.
Some hid the gold in pig intestines, swallowed it in their stomachs, and then pulled it out after getting through the trap; some hid the gold in small gourds and stuffed it into their buttholes. But even so, only a few succeeded in breaking through the trap.
Many people have found gold, but in the end they were "drugged to death" by the gold and their bodies were thrown into the deserted mountains.
People who came out of the gold farm were not able to live in peace after death, and their intestines were disemboweled and their stomachs were searched for gold.
Some people, in order to take the gold out, would rather die, let their brothers put the gold in their stomach, and then send their body back to their hometown, so as to take the gold out of this barren mountain and old forest."
When Lao Huang said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "I'm lucky enough to get through the trap, but I still have to dress myself up as the poorest beggar. Don't show your wealth, otherwise there will be no benefit!"
"These things you mentioned were all before liberation, what about now?" Seeing that he had almost finished what he said, Lu Lu took the opportunity to guide him: "No one dares to be so blatant now, right?"
"Who said that? In this mine, there are at least a dozen gangs, ranging from dozens to hundreds to eight or nine, especially those who dare to directly drive the machine to crush the slag for mineral processing, on the spot.
Don't mess with people who use earthen furnaces to smelt. They not only have knives but also guns at hand.
There are even people who are specifically looking for gold, and there are also people who follow the mining exploration team, and there are gold soldiers who are looking for gold. They are not afraid at all. Wherever they start to place landmarks, the machine will be carried to the place, set up the machine and start digging.
In the same way, people who have discovered gold are also being watched. They don’t dare to mess around in the open, but they are even more sinister in secret. Last year, a man named Wang found a piece of gold nugget as big as a finger in an old slag pile.
, was targeted, just went to the forest to use the toilet, and the person died in the forest.
There is a big net in the dark. If you eat bait here, you may be caught at any time.
This bowl of rice is not that delicious. If you want to leave, leave quickly. Once you leave, don’t look back... Don’t look back!”
When Lao Huang said these words, several people couldn't help but feel a little frightened. Only then did they realize that Lu Lu's worry was not an exaggeration at all, and Lu Lu's caution was also necessary.
"In which direction are these people looking for gold? We have to go around a little bit!" Lu Lu said tentatively.
"It could be anywhere! You can't say for sure. Anything you encounter in the mountains could be it! Of course, there are many wild animals in the mountains, and there are not many people who have the ability to go alone. Most of them are in groups. Anyway, be careful.
Bar."
Hearing this, Lu Lu lost his temper at all.
It seems that no matter where you go, you may encounter them. In this case, you can only rely on your own abilities!
After a meal, all the soup was clean and not a single grain of rice was left.
Lao Huangjiu was a little drunk, so he staggered back with a flashlight.
From a distance, I heard him shouting intermittently at the top of his lungs: "When I left Shanhaiguan, my eyes were full of tears. I left home today to go gold hunting, when will I get my home back? A handful of shiny gold sand, I have to pay for it with my life..."
"Are you scared?" Lu Lu asked with a smile.
"It's like saying whoever doesn't have a gun is afraid of who he is!" Zhang Shaofeng looked indifferent.
The other people also smiled lightly, without any fear.
Lu Lu did not laugh, however, and said in a deep voice: "Go well on the road ahead, be careful, and don't take it seriously!"