The more things she had to do, the more Mo Qianshang felt she had too few people under her command.
When Master Wen brought fifty people with him, she spent money to arrange for them to stay in Dongshan Village. Accommodation for fifty people was secondary; food was a major issue.
Mo Qianshang went to find Chen Jin, who was surprised that there was already a new job after the house was just built.
"Workshops and sheds?"
"Yes, the shed just needs to be a place where people can live and shelter from the wind and rain. As for the workshop, I'll have to trouble you to come back with me. I have someone who can talk to you directly."
Chen Jin had no work to do, so he followed Mo Qianshang back to Qingping Mountain. The oxcarts from the county town took everyone to Dongshan Village, where they all found a place to rest, but they hadn't gone up the mountain yet.
Mo Qianshang took Chen Jin to Dongshan Village first. At this moment, Aunt Shen was arranging these people. The villagers didn't have any objections to these people living in their homes, after all, they had been paid.
However, Mo Qianshang was worried, fearing that there might be some shady dealings involved, which could cause trouble.
She called Aunt Shen to her side and lowered her voice: "Go and tell everyone that these are all outsiders, but we must not be too careless. If there is anything valuable in the house, be sure to keep it safe and don't leave it out in the open. Also, keep a close eye on the girls in the house."
Aunt Shen thought to herself that Mo Qianshang was very thoughtful. Although it might not be pleasant for outsiders to hear her words, it was better than something going wrong.
After everyone was settled, Mo Qianshang returned to Qingping Mountain with Third Master Wen and Chen Jin in an oxcart.
When Master Wen first saw Mo Qianshang's courtyard, he was stunned at the gate. Like everyone else who had been there, he wondered why such a nice courtyard would be built in such a place.
"Lady Mo's courtyard is magnificent."
Mo Qianshang led the way: "It's not about being grand or anything. We just have a lot of kids at home, so we want to live comfortably. I'm used to being pampered, so I'll make sure I'm comfortable."
What she said was both right and wrong. She was spoiled, and she did live a comfortable life in the modern world when she had nothing to do, but this training mission was a real hardship.
Mo Qianshang's description of being pampered was entirely based on her comparison of people in this era. No matter how much hardship she endured back then, it was not as hard as the hardships faced by families nowadays.
Master Wen looked around but had never seen a courtyard with this kind of structure before. Mo Qianshang went over and opened an empty room: "Master Wen, take a look. Is this room alright? I'll bring you the bedding in a bit. Just tell me if you need anything."
Master Wen said that if there really is a mine here, he will stay here for a long time, depending on the situation, and is ready to discuss business with Mo Qianshang at any time.
It's a bit shameless of me to say that, since even if Mo Qianshang digs out the jade raw stone, it's her own decision who she wants to cooperate with. But Third Master Wen would rather be shameless than give the opportunity to someone else.
Master Wen looked around and said, "It's fine, it's great. I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Mo Qianshang then introduced Xiao Yao to him: "If I'm not here, you can ask her for help if you need anything. It's just the two of us living here with the children."
These words startled Master Wen.
Mo Qianshang had previously told him to stay at her house, and he thought there would be other people there. He didn't expect there to be only two women and a child. Was it not appropriate for a grown man like him to stay there?
But Mo Qianshang didn't care at all, and was still instructing Xiao Yaoshi on how to cook.
Chen Jin was measuring the area outside. The workshop would definitely be noisy, so Mo Qianshang didn't want it built too close to the courtyard, plus it wasn't safe.
This workshop is much easier to build than a house. All you need is a yard, and you can set aside some rooms.
After giving the deposit to Chen Jin, he left. The day was busy, and Mo Qianshang didn't arrange anything more, especially since Third Master Wen was also very tired after his journey. He went to bed early after dinner.
Three days later, with all the basic preparations complete, preparations for mining began on the mountain. Master Wen personally accompanied Mo Qianshang to take a look and confirmed that the newly exposed fault was indeed a jade stone.
These fifty people mined in the mountains during the day, and some of them who worked late voluntarily slept in temporary accommodations at night, while the rest went to Dongshan Village.
Such a commotion was bound to alert the people nearby, and the unusual activity on the mountain was quickly discovered by the people of Fushou Village at the foot of the mountain.
They observed for a few days and found that the person kept coming and going without any intention of leaving. With so many people suddenly appearing on the mountain, they began to have an idea.
However, Master Wen's men were all his own people who had been mining for many years. They had been instructed not to say anything. Of course, they knew that mining was a big deal. They were essentially guarding a gold mine. If this got out and outsiders found out, and something happened, they would lose their jobs.
The people of Fushou Village couldn't get anything out of them, but that didn't stop them from observing and tracking them.
They could tell that these people were there to work, but the houses on the mountain had already been built, so what was the point of having so many people?
No matter how tightly people kept their mouths shut, they couldn't stop the people of Fushou Village from thinking about it so much that they followed them all over the mountains and fields.
Another half month passed, and although the people of Fushou Village were not certain, they believed, through tracking and speculation, that there was probably mining going on on the mountain.
I just don't know what kind of ore it is, whether it's iron or gold and silver.
These things had nothing to do with them, but when they thought about the treasure mountain nearby, the people of Fushou Village couldn't help but get interested and started going up the mountain in groups to find where the mine was.
At this time, Mo Qianshang's mine was already in full swing, and the ore that appeared to be jade was piled up in a fixed place.
With such a large-scale mining operation, it was only a matter of time before it was discovered. If there were no one nearby, it wouldn't have been a problem, but with so many people in Fushou Village keeping a close watch, it was impossible to keep it a secret.
As long as they knew there was treasure on the mountain, no matter what it was, these people planned to go up the mountain to try their luck.
But there are too many people on the mountain during the day, so they don't dare to go. There are dozens of young and strong men there, and they'd probably need the whole village to keep them in check.
So they chose to do it at night.
Mo Qianshang never expected that in the dead of night, when they were the only family on Qingping Mountain and there wasn't a single light, these people would actually come up the mountain with torches, trying to steal the raw stones they had already extracted.
Fushou Village regarded this matter as a major event for the entire village to get rich, and all the strong and able-bodied people in the village went up the mountain. However, what they did not expect was that Mo Qianshang arranged for people to take the night shift every day.
In the living quarters outside the workshop, there is a room with a window facing the place where the raw stones are stored, and people take turns to keep watch at night every day.
Late that night, the person on duty was starting a fire to heat up some food for himself when he heard the rustling sound of many footsteps.
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