Chapter 701 Coal Eats People (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Moyuhe Coal Mine is one of several large coal mines in the southeast of Beihai Governor's District. Unlike other open-pit mines, this is an underground coal mine mined through tunnels.
Under the dim light, dark figures were working desperately in the mine tunnel. The pneumatic cannons were chiseling away the black coal wall with a "bang bang" sound. Yacha struggled to hold the pneumatic rock drill, and the impact drill bit hit the rock layer, continuously drilling deeper and deeper.
Although the weather was very cold, he was only wearing a worn-out thin cotton jacket, his face was covered in sweat, and around his neck hung a piece of cloth that had long turned black. The light from the electric lamp behind him cast his elongated shadow on the coal seam.
Finally, after drilling a blasthole, Yacha finally breathed a sigh of relief. The air in the mine was foul and full of rock powder. Despite the harsh environment, he had to work long hours every day, sixteen or seventeen hours, and even ate in the mine.
How long have you been here?
Yacha had long forgotten how many days had passed, and of course, he didn't know how to calculate them. He only knew that this was already the third winter. In addition, of the more than 600 laborers from various tribes who came with him, only a few dozen people remained.
Three years ago, like many men in the tribe, he signed a contract with the company and became a "contract laborer." According to the company, after becoming a contract laborer, they no longer need to perform tribal labor, and "contract laborers" can receive a salary. After they pressed their fingerprints on the contract, they paddled a canoe to the city of the Daming people, and from there took a train. The train took them to the seaside, where they boarded a ship larger than a hundred canoes.
There were many other people on the boat together, from various tribes in the rainforest. Most of them, like him, had signed contracts to come here. They had no other choice but to either sign the contract and become laborers, or do forced labor year after year, cutting down trees and digging up tree roots in the rainforest, building roads and railways, and constructing cities. There was always endless work to do there.
After boarding the ship, Yacha knew he was going to a far place, but no one knew where they were going to be sent. The days in the ship were very hard to endure. After an unknown number of days, one day, they got off the ship.
After they set foot on this land, they were shivering in the cold wind when some golden-skinned Ming people took them over. Yacha didn't understand what they said, but he roughly knew that this place was called "North Sea".
The laborers who came off the ship were placed in a detention center. After they were given clothes, they finally didn't have to endure the cold anymore, and they had something to eat every day. After living in the detention center for more than ten days, they were driven down to the mines.
The supervisor told them that as long as they could complete the work, there would be extra rewards - food such as wine and meat. But if they did not complete the factory enough, of course there would be no rewards.
It sounds good, but digging black stones in the mine is a very hard job and also an extremely dangerous job. According to the people of the Ming Dynasty, the job of coal mining is "rock wrapped around flesh" - there are frequent landslides and people will always be crushed to death.
Yacha stayed with the tribe members all the time, and they took care of each other, and finally they all survived. But the number of people in the tribe became smaller and smaller, and in the end, he was the only one left. He gradually understood some of the words of the Ming people and could talk to the supervisors.
It was for this reason that he came to this new mine and became the squad leader of the blasters. Compared with ordinary laborers, he could receive 2 taels of liquor every day.
This was a superior treatment. He was of course grateful for it, grateful for the generosity of his masters. Of course, he was even more grateful for the trust they placed in him.
You know, only those who are trusted by the master can become a squad leader like him, so he works very hard.
No matter what kind of work his master assigns him, no matter how dangerous it is, he will try his best to complete it. After all, only in this way can his master know how loyal he is.
"Okay, load the explosives, load the explosives..."
Under Yacha's command, they loaded tubes of explosives into the gun holes, and then they hid far away. After a while, he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from deep in the tunnel.
Just as he was about to stand up and shout to the people behind him to load coal, he felt something falling on his shoulder.
"What's this……"
Looking up through the dust, Yacha saw stones and sand falling down.
"It's going to collapse..."
People in the dust were shouting loudly and running towards the tunnel exit in panic.
Yacha was also running desperately, and then he heard a loud noise of rocks collapsing. He looked up and saw a rock falling directly, and then Yacha was smashed underneath along with many others.
…
The sudden coal mine collapse has no impact on the coal mine.
Although he has only been here for two weeks, Zhao Qihang seems to have accepted everything. When he first arrived at the coal mine, he witnessed a mining accident. He was surprised at that time, but what about now?
All he needed was a little note in his notebook.
"On February 4, 1875, a tunnel collapse occurred at the working face of the Moyuhe Coal Mine, killing nine people and injuring 21 people."
A landslide accident resulted in only a few words being recorded in a notebook.
What else needs to be done besides this?
Of course it was solved, and then he picked up another form, which was a labor demand form, and wrote down the labor demand.
Thirty people.
Why are there thirty people? Because... Zhao Qihang also found out after coming here, so he will understand.
If nothing unexpected happens, the new contract laborers will arrive at the mine within half a month and will definitely not affect the coal mine's output.
Compared to the ice and snow outside, the heating in the office is sufficient, even a little too hot. The mercury column of the indoor thermometer always stays at 28 degrees. It is because of the heating that "southerners" like Zhao Qihang can adapt to the severe cold in the north.
"It's almost too hot..."
Zhao Qihang, feeling a little stuffy, muttered to himself.
As he spoke, he cast his eyes on the desk calendar, where he had been counting the days since the first day he came here.
What kind of day is this?
Three weeks, of course.
Three weeks, a total of 21 days. After completing 21 days of work, he can return to the North Sea to rest for 14 days.
"sister……"
Looking at the photo of the two of them on the table, it was a photo they took in a photo studio. After coming here to work, he put the photo frame on his desk so that he could see her every day.
"She's your sister! How can you let your imagination run wild?"
When that thought popped up in his mind, Zhao Qihang quickly pushed the photo frame down, but after a moment, he picked it up again. Looking at his sister who was smiling sweetly, he felt more irritated and the room seemed to be hotter.
Damn, it really is a coal mine, coal is free, right? The heating is so strong!
Complaining in his heart, Zhao Qihang got up and walked out of the office.
Pushing open the thick wooden door, although the wind outside was biting cold, Zhao Qihang did not feel much cold.
(End of this chapter)
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