In the afternoon, the team of eight elephants and more than 50 miners arrived at the Damukan mining area. The mine opened by Wu Qinmao is located on the edge of the Hangba mine, which is a piece of land 2.3 kilometers long, 1.7 kilometers wide, and covers an area of nearly 4 square kilometers.
To the north of Changkou is the winding main channel of the Wulu River, and there is also a tributary of the Wulu River in Changkou.
This area is relatively flat, and there are densely packed large pits on the ground. Countless miners are climbing up and down in the pits, moving out pieces of muddy and watery stones.
This was the first time that Yang Jing saw the jadeite raw stone excavation site. Although the scene was spectacular, Yang Jing couldn't bear to watch it any longer after watching for a while.
The main thing is that the miners are really too miserable. Their clothes are tattered and worse than those of beggars. Some miners even wear only a loincloth, and their bodies are covered with yellow mud...
In addition to these miners, there are also many naked children helping adults carry some smaller jadeite rough stones.
In the past, I had only heard about how hard the work of jade miners was, but I had never seen it with my own eyes. Now that I finally saw with my own eyes how these hard-working miners dug for jade raw stones, Yang Jing really couldn't bear it.
Wu Qinmao, who seemed to see that his boss was a little reluctant, said, "Boss, the workers here are all like this. They can be said to have relied on mining for generations. Although these workers don't earn much, compared to those who can't mine, they at least have a stable income."
Wu Qinmao pointed to the mines further away and said, "These mines are all connected. In the Damukan mining area, there are 40,000 to 50,000 miners working. The income of the miners is basically the same, and this is something that the mine owners of each mine know. As newcomers, we naturally cannot break this default rule casually, otherwise, the mine owners of those mines will be against us."
Yang Jing nodded silently, and then looked at it for a while before asking, "How are the workers eating?"
Wu Qinmao whispered, "That's no problem. Although the wages of miners in every mine are almost the same, the food in our mine is still quite good. At least it can make the workers full, which is better than many mines."
After a pause, Wu Qinmao continued, "Boss, you have walked the way here, and you have seen the situation here, so all the supplies here, whether it is food, clothing, or daily necessities, need to be brought in from outside. There are now more than 3,800 people mining in our mine. For this reason, I have specially formed a transportation team of more than 100 people and 50 elephants to transport food. They travel back and forth between the mine and Mogang every day, pulling food and some necessary supplies from Mogang to the mine."
Yang Jing asked: "So how much money is needed in total for the workers' wages and food and drink expenses over the past year?"
"It's not a lot of money. The workers here just need to have enough to eat. Counting their wages, food and other expenses, the total cost for this year is less than two million US dollars. Security costs account for nearly half of this."
Hearing this number, Yang Jing felt a little uncomfortable. Almost 4,000 people, including salary and food, only spent about one million US dollars a year. The living standard here is really too low.
You have to know that Wu Qinmao's annual salary alone is a full one million US dollars. The salary of this guy alone is equivalent to the hard work of nearly 4,000 people in a year.
But Yang Jing knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Just as Wu Qinmao had said, this was how it was here, and these miners had been doing this for generations. Especially in the old Phakant mining area, it was even more cruel than here.
People say that diamonds in Africa are blood diamonds, but in fact, jadeite from Myanmar is similar to those blood diamonds.
But Yang Jing was powerless to change the situation here. This circle had been formed for a long time, and it was not something that could be easily changed by one or two people. Moreover, if the rules here were changed rashly, it might backfire.
The workers here have become accustomed to this, or rather, they have completely adapted to this kind of exploitation.
It's very sad, but there's no way to change it.
Yang Jing could only feel sorry for these workers in his heart. But if you asked Yang Jing to give up the scene in front of him because of this kind of regret, he would definitely not do it. This is not China, and these workers are not Chinese. Yang Jing would not give up this scene because of his pity.
"Old Wu, send more men and elephants, and bring more food and meat here every day. I can't change the current situation here, but I can make my workers eat better!"
Wu Qinmao clasped his hands together and said, "Boss, you are so kind. I thank you on behalf of these workers."
Yang Jing waved his hand and said, "Where is our warehouse? I'll go take a look first."
Under the guidance of Wu Qinmao, Yang Jing came to a heavily guarded area. This area was filled with large houses built with heavy stones. Needless to say, this was the warehouse where the jadeite raw stones were stored...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
