The other party had just come down from the hill and did not expect to meet the Chinese exploration team here. After a brief hesitation, these American colleagues wearing hiking boots, overalls, T-shirts and sunhats greeted them warmly: "Hi
!”
"Hello", the Chinese exploration team also greeted them with a smile and watched the American colleagues leave. There were six of them, and their skin was all red from the sun. It seemed that they often worked outdoors, and one of them was wearing light-colored clothing.
Guys in suits and straw hats followed, and four local policemen carrying guns walked with them. They were obviously bodyguards sent by the government...
The two groups passed each other, and the guy in a suit looked at them suspiciously and said nothing. But a few minutes later, the four policemen came back again, and the leading police officer yelled at them arrogantly. The translator said
, he asked us to show our exploration license.
When the exploration team came to Western Saddamoa, it was the country's most chaotic period. The government agencies were ineffective and no one could apply for a license for them. Everyone looked at each other and were speechless. Liu Ziguang coughed dryly and reached into his arms. The police
They immediately picked up their rifles, pulled the bolts and aimed at him.
The weapons of the Western Saddamoa police force were relatively backward, only some single-shot British Enfield No. 4 rifles. But facing the black muzzle, Liu Ziguang could only slowly take his hand out of his pocket and hold it between his fingers.
A West African CFA franc with a face value of 10,000 yuan.
But this time the trick of opening the way with money failed. Not only did the leading police officer not open his eyes to the money, he even shouted louder and louder. The translator whispered: "He said you violated the foreign currency control regulations and asked you why you have so much foreign currency."
Liu Ziguang smiled bitterly and said: "These guys obviously did it on purpose. Tell them that I picked up the money and was about to hand it over to the police."
The translator scratched his head, feeling that this answer was too unbelievable, but he still said it. The policeman took the banknotes and stuffed them into his pockets, still holding his rifle levelly, and yelling something relentlessly.
"It's over, he said he would arrest us because we were exploring in their country's territory without an exploration license, which violated the law and General Kuba's dignity," the translator said with a sad face.
Hu Qingsong and Professor Yu were both a little panicked. They did not encounter the legendary mob and wild people, but they encountered the more difficult police. This time they were in serious trouble. However, Lang Yulin and Wang Zhijun were obviously not so nervous. Instead, they crossed their arms and watched.
It got lively.
Li Jianguo's hand quietly reached behind his waist. He hid a loaded Stechkin automatic pistol under his hunting jacket. It was easy to knock down the four policemen. They were in the wild mountains and they were not afraid of disturbing anyone with the sound of gunfire.
people.
But Liu Ziguang stopped his actions with his eyes. Li Jianguo nodded and slowly retracted his hand.
Suddenly, countless tribal warriors emerged from the dense woods. They had strong bodies and ornaments made of animal bones. They appeared almost naked in front of everyone, lined up in a fan shape, and the bows and arrows in their hands were drawn like a full moon.
The arrow was pointed directly at the four policemen.
A young man wearing a feather ornament on his head beat his chest and roared several times. They were speaking in tribal language and the translator could not understand them. The four policemen obediently put away their rifles without saying a word.
If he dared to say another word, he would leave in despair.
The tribal warriors put down their weapons and gathered around Lang Yulin. The man who looked like a leader raised his arms and shouted, and then everyone cheered. Lang Yulin smiled and introduced to everyone: "This is the son of the local tribal chief.
His name is Lang Biao, and he is also the leader of the warriors."
Then Lang patted his chest to everyone, with an extremely brave attitude. Liu Ziguang smiled and said: "Manager Lang, why does he have your last name? Is he the new godson?"
Lang Yulin said: "You are really right. Semi-barbaric tribesmen like them do not have surnames, only first names. His original name was Biao, because I saved his wife and son with acupuncture. In order to thank me, he named Biao in front of his name."
Added my last name.”
Everyone laughed, but Li Jianguo looked serious. He came over and whispered to Liu Ziguang: "They are from the Wendu tribe."
"So what? In my opinion, there is no difference between them." Liu Ziguang replied nonchalantly.
Everyone was invited to visit Lang Biao's tribe. As expected, this Wendu village was no different from the Kaye tribe next to Carlos Lake, with the same houses made of tree branches and mud, the same colorful and cheap Chinese textiles and clothes, the same
Bows, arrows and spears, but because this place is relatively close to a big city, there are not so many monkeys, so the dishes for entertaining guests do not include such scary delicacies as grilled monkeys.
The chief held a banquet to entertain the guests of the miracle doctor. Everyone sat around and tasted the wine and fruits brewed by the tribe. The tribesmen were singing and dancing. From time to time, patients with headaches and brain fever came over and begged Lang Yulin to give them acupuncture. The small silver needle in Lang Yulin's hand was covered with
They regard it as a divine gift from God and want to prick it twice even if they are not sick.
The exploration team's camp was located near this tribe. Three tents, a hand-operated generator, two laptops, and some exploration equipment were all their belongings. After having a good meal and wine, Professor Yu and Lang Yulin
The debate started again, and the focus was still on the reserves of the mineral deposits.
Professor Yu pointed to a pile of mineral samples in the tent and said: "Look, these ores are mainly massive, followed by disseminated, with metasomatic and granular structures. They are typical signs of contact metasomatic mineral deposits. If I guessed correctly,
If so, you have also discovered associated minerals such as brass, galena, sphalerite, molybdenum, etc., which all indicate that the reserves of the deposit are not too large. If it is in a peaceful and developed area, it is still valuable for mining, but the situation here is unstable.
, far away from the coast, there are neither roads or railways, nor decent workers, not to mention the mineral deposit is under the sacred mountain of the local people, how do you say to mine it? "
Lang Yulin was speechless. The other party was a well-known academic authority and doctoral supervisor in the country, but he was just an exploration engineer who graduated from a college. He had been working in a small place and had never discovered any decent large-scale mineral deposits. In this regard, there was indeed no
say.
"But..." Lang Yulin stopped talking.
"There is nothing wrong. Science and technology can make bold assumptions and careful reasoning, but it must also be based on a reliable and credible basis. I am not saying that it is not worth mining here, but the time has not yet come." After Professor Yu finished speaking, he rushed to Hu Qingsong.
He nodded. He was an expert invited by Hu Qingsong, so he was naturally responsible for the safety of his funds.
Hu Qingsong's expression was as calm as water, and he said: "Let's take a look again. We came all the way, so it's not good to go back empty-handed."
"Okay, let's explore a few more points, east along the axis of the Holy Mountain, set up exploration points here, here, and here, dig down, and analyze after obtaining mineral samples." Professor Yu pointed at the map and said.
.
…
Early the next morning, the exploration team set out again to explore at the point designated by Professor Yu. This place is located deep in a dense forest, and construction machinery has basically advanced, so they can only rely on manpower to excavate downwards. They dug a large hole two meters deep.
After the pit, Professor Yu jumped down, grabbed a handful of soil and said, "Look, this is typical African humus soil. It is not iron soil at all. There will definitely be no mineral veins below."
The pit was abandoned and he continued to explore at the next point. The conclusion was still the same, there would be no mineral veins. At this time, Lang Yulin couldn't hold back his anger. He retorted: "I have a different view. The place where we are is
The location was a tributary of the Congo River two hundred years ago. Now the river has changed its course, and it is actually an alluvial plain, so the veins may be buried very deep."
Professor Yu smiled kindly: "Young man, I can understand your mood, but it is impossible to alluvialize such a large plain in two hundred years. Forget it, let's go back."
Everyone carried their equipment and headed back home. Only Lang Yulin stood there silently, took out a Luoyang shovel from his backpack, slammed it into the pit, and then left without looking back.
Five minutes later, a few sneaky monkeys appeared. They grinned and imitated Lang Yulin, and pulled the Luoyang shovel out of the ground. On the head of the shovel was a lump of black soil, which was similar to the rotten soil that Professor Yu had seen earlier.
Colonies are completely different.
The monkeys dragged the Luoyang shovel and ran away squeaking, leaving only silence on the scene.
On the ruins of Wood Manor, Hu Qingsong and Liu Ziguang shook hands and said goodbye: "Do you want to go back with us?"
"No, my ship will be arriving soon." Liu Ziguang declined politely. Although the other party did not say it clearly, the investment matter has undoubtedly become a failure.
Professor Yu's words make sense. The reserves here are only tens of millions of tons, which is not enough for a large steel plant to consume in a year. Coupled with the unstable political situation and too much initial investment, it is really worthless and tasteless.
, it would be a pity to give up. For the shrewd Hu Qingsong, giving up is the better choice.
Professor Yu kept looking at his watch. It seemed that he didn't want to stay for a minute. He was bitten badly by a mosquito last night. This kind of large African mosquito bites very hard and leaves a big bag in its mouth. Most people really can't stand it.
Hu Qingsong and Professor Yu got on the off-road vehicle, but Liu Ziguang stayed. He said to Li Jianguo: "Jianguo, please send them off, San Juan is not peaceful."
Li Jianguo nodded and jumped into the car. The two cars gradually drove away. Lang Yulin walked over, took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Liu, I..."
Liu Ziguang raised a hand: "Don't say anything, I believe you, I will continue to think of ways to fund it."
Lang Yulin burst into tears and could not say anything.
On the off-road vehicle, Professor Yu said to Hu Qingsong: "Xiao Hu, can you make it to the capital the day after tomorrow? I have a book signing held at Yonghe Temple. Mr. Fei and the others are participating, so you must come too."
"
"That's it, I will definitely go." After Hu Qingsong said that, he looked at the sky outside. The dark clouds were like thousands of horses galloping, and the rainy season in Africa had arrived early.