Chapter 1281 Who are you and for whom?

After resting for a night on the island and enjoying a nice hot spring bath, Master Zhao appeared in front of everyone the next day, looking energetic.

The entourage of several hundred people had already prepared to go. In the middle of the team were several identical black carriages.

Young Master Zhao and Secretary Ma got on a carriage at random, and the team surrounded the carriage and slowly headed south along the road that ran through the plain.

The place we are going to today is Sado Gold Mine.

He took great pains to acquire Sado Island. In addition to farming, the main purpose was because there was Japan's No. 1 gold and silver mine here, which was said to have supported the Edo Shogunate for 300 years. In another time and space, although the most advanced machinery and equipment were used for large-scale mining after the Meiji Restoration, the gold and silver resources here were not gradually exhausted until 1989.

The only drawback is that, unlike Iwami Ginzan, which has been mined for decades, Sado Gold Mine has not been discovered yet, so we have to find it among the vast mountains first.

Otherwise, it would have to wait several decades until the 29th year of the Wanli reign, which was the year after the Battle of Sekigahara and two years before the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, before it was discovered. As a result, the greedy Echigo Dragon did not get a piece of Sado gold, but it was given to the old turtle Ieyasu for nothing.

Thinking about it this way, this is a great thing. If it had been discovered now, Sister Uesugi would have already sent a large number of troops to garrison Sado Island. How could I have gotten any advantage?

Fortunately, there are still some clues.

First, during this era, two gold and silver mines, Nishimikawa Gold Mine and Tsuruko Silver Mine, were discovered on Sado Island. The former was located in the area of ​​Ogi Bay and was originally owned by the Hamo family. The latter was located in the deep mountains of Sawane and belonged to the Wadahara family.

The Honma family, on the other hand, had nothing at all... This was the fundamental reason why the three originally harmonious families became mortal enemies.

As for why Kenshin Uesugi was not jealous, it was because the two mines were too small to catch the eye of his elder sister. The Minghai Gold Mine in Echigo was a famous rich mine at that time, and gold mining was a labor-intensive industry, so of course he had to choose the richest mine.

If Kenshin Uesugi knew about the existence of Sado Gold Mine, do you think he would be jealous?

Secondly, Sado Gold Mine was discovered by the "mountain master" who was looking for gold in Tsuruko Silver Mine in Aikawa, not far from Tsuruko Silver Mine, so it is also called Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine. The name Aikawa already existed at this time, and it was an area near the sea at the southwest end of the Daizhuangyuan Mountain Range.

Finally, the ore dressing plant of Sado Gold Mine is called Kitazawa Floatation Ore Dressing Plant. The reason why Mr. Zhao remembers it so clearly is because it is the prototype of Laputa, the castle in the sky.

Of course, those factories from the Industrial Revolution era have not yet appeared. But the name Bei Ze alone is enough to further narrow the area.

At present, the Wadahara family has been naturalized, and the mountain masters and miners of Tsuruko Silver Mine have been recruited by Jiangnan Group with favorable conditions. After the probation period, the miners can obtain the position of overseas employees of the group. The mountain masters will directly become formal employees and can be naturalized in Ming Dynasty!

Unexpectedly, they became Chinese in this life. The mountain teachers were naturally grateful and wanted to give their hearts to Mr. Zhao. Who would still think of themselves as Japanese?

They told Zhao Ping, the general manager of an overseas mining company in charge of mineral exploration, that Kitazawa mentioned by the young master should be the "Kitazawa Town" in the Aikawa area.

Machi is the smallest divisional unit in Japanese, equivalent to the village in the Ming Dynasty.

The ore dressing plant needs a lot of water, so it must be located by the sea. Kitazawa Town happens to be located by the sea and is surrounded by mountains, which meets the requirements.

Therefore, the location of the ore dressing plant can be determined.

Although it is impossible for a gold mine to be located by the sea by chance, it is possible to infer the location of the ore dressing plant from the location of the gold mine. After the gold mine is discovered, the ore dressing plant will definitely be set up in the most convenient location nearby. So the area that is most convenient for Kitazawa Town is where the gold mine is located.

~~

Young Master Zhao thought that since he had given such a precise range, finding the Sado Gold Mine would be easy, right?

Who would have thought that six Japanese mine masters, plus ten prospectors hired from China, with more than one hundred apprentices and miners, would search for nearly half a year before they discovered a gold and silver vein in the mountains 1.2 kilometers away from the ore processing plant!

Of course Zhao Hao had to take a look at this super large silver mine which was second only to the Potosi Silver Mine in South America at this era - yes, although the Sado Gold Mine was called the Gold Mine, it mainly produced silver, and the output of gold was only a fraction of that of silver.

In fact, the second one is very untrue, because the annual silver output of Sado Gold Mine is less than one-fifth of that of Potosi Silver Mine.

But fortunately, Young Master Zhao still has the Iwami Silver Mine. If they work hard at mining it, the output can reach 60% to 70% of the Posito Silver Mine, right?

This matter is extremely important because ever since the Europeans established global maritime trade, the fate of the Ming Dynasty as a country has been intertwined with that of other countries.

In the 46th year of the Wanli reign, the Thirty Years' War broke out in Europe. The trade between Ming and Europe shrank suddenly, and the import of silver into the Ming Dynasty stopped, which caused vicious deflation, resulting in high silver prices and low rice prices, turning the One Whip Law, which was originally intended to benefit the people, into an evil law.

As a result, the Northwest farmers who relied on farming and selling grain to pay taxes went bankrupt. The Wang Er Uprising in Guanzhong, Shaanxi opened the curtain of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. Then Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang and others responded to the rebellion. Unhappy with the streamlining of post stations in order to save money to suppress the rebellion, a small civil servant named Li Zicheng was laid off. The following events are all familiar to us...

In short, like a domino effect, the war that broke out in Europe had an impact on Asia and eventually became one of the important reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

That's why Mr. Zhao was so eager to seize Iwami Silver Mine and Sado Gold Mine, just to prepare silver reserves in advance. Once the silver supply in Europe is cut off, Jiangnan Group can replenish it.

Of course, the best way is to organize an expedition fleet to South America and seize the silver mines in Mexico and Peru.

But it was just a thought, not to mention whether half of the soldiers could reach Mexico alive. South America was Spain's territory.

If he dared to touch the testicles of the arrogant Philip II, the one who would be troubled by the Invincible Armada would not be the crying Queen Elizabeth, but himself.

So it’s better to just dig honestly first and bully the red-haired devils at home.

"Wait until I get out of the ironclad ship, then go to South America to touch your balls!" Young Master Zhao was in a state of anxiety, when suddenly his body tilted and he almost hit the wall of the car. Fortunately, there was an airbag... Sister Ma stopped him.

"We're entering the mountains. The road is difficult to walk on. Please be careful of your steps." A loud reminder came from outside.

According to the protection regulations, when absolute safety cannot be guaranteed, multiple carriages should be used for travel, and the protected objects will be randomly selected. Any behavior that exposes the main carriage is strictly prohibited during the journey.

"We're going up the mountain." Young Master Zhao leaned on Sister Ma and swayed. Even though the carriage had a suspension, the shaking in the car was still very intense.

He didn't know how long it shook for, but just when his intestines were about to fall out, the carriage finally slowly stopped.

After a while, Gao Wu opened the thick iron-clad door with his own hands.

This means it is absolutely safe.

"Oh my god, I'm dying from the bump." Zhao Hao got out of the car with the help of Brother Gao, and felt like his waist was about to break. I wasn't this tired last night...

"Please forgive me, Second Young Master." Zhao Ping, who came to greet him, apologized slightly, "We only discovered this place last month, and we haven't had time to level the mountain road yet."

"It's okay, I've practiced pulling out broken tendons." Young Master Zhao stretched his tendons while sizing up the plain-looking young man. He thought, knowing that the leader was coming to inspect, shouldn't he have dared to do anything and repaired the road in front of the door first?

Although this guy seems to be stupid, he is one of the elite servants trained by the old man. Zhao Liben plans to let them manage the Zhao family's business and support a bunch of unfilial descendants after he dies.

Unexpectedly, his children and grandchildren no longer had to support themselves. The old man no longer had to keep these loyal and capable servants under his control, and left them to Zhao Hao.

Mr. Zhao left Zhao Ping to Hua Bozhen, who made him the director of the Xishan Island quarry, and ignored him for three years. Later, he said it was a test of his determination, but in fact, he just forgot that there was such a person.

Zhao Ping worked honestly in the quarry, hammering stones for three years and never showed any impatience.

In the reports given by the Inspection and Supervision Commission and that person, he was highly evaluated. The former identified him as "strictly abiding by the rules, honest and self-disciplined, able to endure loneliness and neglect." The latter evaluated him as "finally found a similar person, I want to make friends with him, but unfortunately... even he didn't find me..."

If that person had not felt a sense of sympathy and recommended this person to Zhao Hao, Zhao Ping would probably still be knocking on the stone in Xishan now.

Unfortunately, he didn't even know who recommended him...

So Mr. Zhao promoted Zhao Ping to the position of general manager of the newly established overseas mining company in line with the principle of making the best use of talents. Overseas mining, like the garrison area, is directly under the group and is the core industry of Jiangnan Group.

~~

After Master Zhao had straightened his muscles and bones, Zhao Ping took him to the mines ahead. They had just started excavation, so it was open-pit mining, with only a reed shed built on the top of the pit to keep out the rain.

"How is it? Are you used to it?" Young Master Zhao asked habitually as he walked.

"It's a habit. I used to knock on stones, and I still knock on stones now." Zhao Ping said expressionlessly.

"That's different. Originally it was real stone, but now it is gold and silver ore!" Young Master Zhao said with a smile.

"Oh." Zhao Ping nodded, then he raised his knife and killed Liaoliao.

Young Master Zhao thought to himself, is it because I left him in the quarry for too long that he has become speechless?

In short, he couldn't bear to blame Zhao Ping, so he quietly followed him to the mine.

Fortunately, Zhao Ping just doesn't talk nonsense, but he is very fluent in speaking business. He told Zhao Hao that the Chinese and Japanese prospectors had first found silver ore seedlings... some small brown stones. Because the silver mine is buried very deep, and has a trunk and branches like a tree branch, it is necessary to follow the ore seedlings and dig in several directions to find the ore veins.

When mineral sand is discovered, it means that a mineral vein has been found.

According to experience, the mineral veins are hidden very deep, possibly more than ten or twenty feet underground. But I didn't expect that here, the ore sand was dug out very quickly. And it was discovered in a large area, which shows that this is indeed a large silver mine!

At this point, he finally showed an expression of admiration on his face and said, "To be honest, when the young master sent me here to look for mines, I thought it was pure nonsense. How can you infer the location of an unknown silver mine just by looking at the location of silver mines elsewhere? What's the point of doing business then? Just look for mines every day!"

Zhao Hao's face turned red and he felt offended.

Unfortunately, Zhao Ping was unaware of it. He said excitedly, "I didn't expect to find it so soon. Moreover, the Japanese mountain master said that this must be a silver mine larger than Iwami Silver Mine, and it also contains a lot of gold! Your science is really great. I really didn't recognize the real thing!"

ps. It was not easy, I finally updated the chapter for Sunday, I am so tired...

(End of this chapter)