Chapter 25 Return to Camp
The third update! Oh, my God, I finally made up for what I owe. Brothers and sisters, friends who pass by, smash the tickets! Collect it by the way!
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"The young master is back, the young master is back!"
As soon as Li Mo walked hundreds of meters away from the camp, he heard the whole camp noisy, and countless figures came out of the house and the workshop.
Good boy, at a glance, there are at least a thousand people, not to mention those natives who have not come out. What's going on?" Li Mo greeted several familiar faces of the sentry with doubts. As he walked to the camp, he waited until Xiaoxiao came out of nowhere, and then took her little hand and asked urgently, "Xiaoxiao, why are there so many more people?"
"Huh? Young master, why did you forget? Didn't you ask Brother Long to go back to recruit people? As soon as the little girl saw the young master coming back, she was as excited as a chirping oriolin. She took Li Mo's arm and kept explaining: "This is only part of it. There is another camp in the gold mine. In addition, we found two more gold mines on the other side of the river. Although it is not as big as here, it has also built a camp. Now it is not a native. Eight thousand, if you count the natives, it's at least 15,000!"
"So many!" Hearing such a huge number, Li Mo took a breath of cold air. Even Li Fu came to his side and asked him not to notice. After small and dragging him, he quickly picked up the loyal old housekeeper.
"What about the national constitution?" Seeing that the human resources he had been worried about were solved in an instant, Li Mo almost smiled and hurriedly asked, hoping to meet this greatest contributor.
"Brother Long hasn't come back from the gold mine yet!" After seeing that the young master came back, he almost asked about the mine and other things. He didn't look at himself directly. He immediately pouted his little mouth, twisted Li Mo fiercely, and turned his head and ran away.
"Huh? What's wrong with this girl? Master Li, whose arm was in pain, was inexplicable. He could only ask Li Fu and others for help with his eyes, but the old housekeeper just touched his beard with an unpredictable smile. As for the other people, he turned his head with an expression that I didn't see.
"Bah, you! A bunch of bastards!" Li Mo stroked his middle finger and got into the room.
Since Thomas was going to buy land, Zhang Shun and Chen Ping were his assistants. Du Dazhuang needed to stay in Skaggui to watch the boat, so Li Mo and the few people who went out together returned to the camp.
Soon, Long Guozhang, Zhao Long and others who got the news came back, and immediately crowded the hut. The whole eight months of separation made everyone a little excited.
"Brother Long, where did you get so many people from? Haven't you been found?" As soon as he saw Long Guozhang, Li Mo quickly asked about the sudden surge in the population of the camp.
I haven't seen him for more than half a year. Long Guozhang looks much darker, but his spirit is particularly good. When he saw Li Mo asking, he couldn't help but feel a little proud. He touched his beard and smiled, "Young master, don't worry, I, Lao Long, can't do those things that abducting people. These people came here voluntarily, and I have handed over the contract to Fubo." After saying that, he told me how to go back and how to recruit people.
It turned out that as soon as Long Guozhang returned to Qingdao, he heard that there was a drought outside the gate in autumn, and many people died. Some people saw that there was no way to live and wanted to enter the customs to avoid disaster. However, the court was afraid that these exiles would make trouble, so it sent officers and soldiers to block them outside the gate. These people who had nowhere to go had to live temporarily in front of the pass. There are at least a hundred thousand people.
Hearing the news, Long Guozhang immediately rushed over. Only then did he find that the pass was indeed full of people, and because the officers and soldiers were not allowed to enter the customs, the weather began to cool again, so there were some troubles every day.
So he immediately began to recruit. At the beginning, not many people were willing to come. However, as the weather became colder and colder, there was no food. Some young people began to think about it. And when they heard that there was food and drink, they could get three taels of silver a month, so they were dead horses as living doctors and signed labor contracts one after another.
After recruiting 3,000 people, Long Guozhang immediately took advantage of the heavy snow to take advantage of the heavy snow to bring these people here and settle down under Zhao Long's response.
After, Long Guozhang continued to go south to Fuzhou and Nanyang, which are farther away, to recruit people, and brought their ships here. Several times, his ship was almost found by the patrol Mei [***] ship. Fortunately, he was flying the British flag, so he avoided the other party.
Due to the large number of people and the fear of being discovered by foreigners, Zhao Long and Long Guozhang scattered the people and took different paths every time, which led to the grandeur of today's camp.
As for the thousands of natives, they are all by-products of Zhao Long and Li Qiang's training, especially Li Qiang. There are less than ten of this boy's men now, but there are at least ten native tribes in his pot, and many gold diggers have also been attacked by his black hands, and Jinsha alone has captured dozens of catties!
Listening to everyone's report, Li Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the United States, he had been worried that the camp would be found out and that they would not survive this winter. Now it seems that he was really worried for nothing. With Li Fu, Long Guozhang, Zhao Long and Li Qiang, experienced and powerful people, the mine was completely turned over. But God.
Li Mo is not very worried about so many more people at once. As long as Thomas comes back and gets the official land ownership certificate, these people can live as laborers for a long time.
Compared with the soaring population, he is more worried about the safety of the camp. After all, there are so many people at once, and there are both good and bad, and it is difficult to guarantee nothing. So he hurriedly asked, "Zhao Long, how many people are there in your escort now?"
Seeing the young master's inquiry, Zhao Long, of course, knew what the young master was worried about, and immediately replied, "At present, there are a total of 500 people, and they have passed the test. There is no problem in loyalty." After saying that, he didn't forget to introduce Li Qiang's situation: "There are a total of seven people in Li Qiang's place now, but this boy is wandering around with them all day long. If the young master wants to see him, it seems that he will have to wait for a few more days!"
Hearing that the escort has 500 people at this moment, and Li Qiang has brought out six elites, Li Mo nodded and said, "It seems that we are going to buy a batch of weapons."
"Ha ha, young master, don't worry, I've bought it, but I haven't sent it yet. Zhao Long said he would give them guns when you came back!" Long Guozhang laughed.
"Oh? What are the models? As soon as Li Mo heard that he had bought it, he was afraid that Long Guozhang did not understand arms and it was inappropriate to buy them, so he immediately asked.
"They are all the same Mauser as now, a total of 2,000, plus 400 boxes of bullets and 100 barrels of explosives!" Long Guozhang lowered his voice.
"His..." Hearing such a large number, Master Li immediately took a breath of cold air. Two thousand Maos are 1888. Which merchant has such a big hand? While he was puzzled, his eyes had looked at Long Guozhang.
"When I was in Guangdong, I met a German businessman who sold it to me. He said that these guns were ordered by Lord Li Hongzhang and were said to be used to train new recruits. And I also heard that this time I not only need to buy guns, but also to buy a complete technology and production line, as well as a set of the latest 88mm rapid-fire gun. Good boy, it's a pity that the money Fubo gave me is spent on these guns, otherwise I will get a few. I think that foreign devil dares to provoke us!" After saying that, Long Guozhang snib his mouth. Obviously, he was unwilling to buy a cannon.
Li Mo did not doubt after listening to it, because the Qing Dynasty did introduce Mauser technology and production line. Although he did not know the specific time, the famous Hanyang Manufacturing was still very familiar.
Just with the news brought by this gun, it can be seen that it is not far from the First Sino-Japanese War!
Seeing Long Guozhang's unwilling appearance, Li Mo sucked his nose and said, "Money is not a problem. If Guozhang meets that German next time, he might as well explore and see if we can also get a set of technology and production lines. As for the cannon, if he can get it, I can also buy it!"
"That's great. I'll find him when I get back in a few days!" Obviously, in the eyes of Long Guozhang, there is nothing that excites him more than the cannon. Although the ironclad ship is still far away, it can be majestic to get a few cannons on the ship!
Seeing that it was getting dark, Li Mo immediately talked about his four big ships, thousands of tons of supplies, and more than 20 million US dollars. Suddenly, the room was full of inhaling voices, and everyone looked at each other one after another. Only then did he find that the feelings he had just showed off that he didn't even fart in front of the young master. Yes!
Li Mo didn't care about everyone's reaction. It was time to have a good sleep all the way, but without waiting for the small size to bring the water, he was mysteriously pulled by Li Fushen to the vault that had expanded a lot.
After passing through the heavily guarded passage, when Fubo lit the kerosene lamp in the warehouse, Li Mo was almost scared to death. He saw huge gold ingots neatly arranged together, shining dazzlingly under the oil lamp.
"Fu Bo, this..." Li Mo's hands trembled. You know, when he left, in addition to the dog head gold given to him by Da Zhuang, he had moved the vault clean. How many months has it been? It's actually several times more than leaving, or even dozens of times!
Li Fu was not surprised by Li Mo's surprise. He pointed to the huge gold nugget and said, "Young master, these are all mined after you left. In order to prevent theft, the old slave... Oh, I, I made someone cast 100 kilograms, so that even if someone comes to steal it, I can't take it!" Thinking that Li Yunfei didn't like him to call himself an old slave, Li Fu quickly changed his words and continued, "Now there is a total of 48 yuan here."
48 yuan, each piece weighs 100 kilograms, which is a full 4,800 kilograms. According to 8 months and 240 days, it is 20 kilograms per day. Most importantly, it is still mined in the case of heavy snow in winter. If it is placed in summer, won't it have to be doubled?
Li Mo is not surprised that so much gold can be mined, because according to estimates, the reserves of the five major gold mines he set have at least nearly 10,000 tons of reserves. What really surprised him was that in the cold winter of lack of machinery, equipment, and even food and clothing, it was good to survive. How could he dig out so much gold?
He seemed to see the young master's doubts. Li Fu, who had a little pain in his leg, sat on the big gold brick and hammered it a few times. Before he could explain, Li Mo hurried over after seeing it and asked with concern, "Fu Bo, what's wrong with your leg?"
Li Fu smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern. It's all caused by the heavy snow after the Spring Festival. It's okay. It's an old problem!" After saying that, he patted the large gold bricks on the side, and then laughed and said, "Thank you very much for this matter. When he went back a few years ago, he happened to hear that there was a secret case in the Ministry of Industry. It seemed that something had been obtained by the Japanese invaders. The old Buddha was very angry, so many heads of the Ministry of Industry were imprisoned, and many craftsmen were also involved. I heard that Even many people from the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau were arrested.
It turned out that these people were all going to be sentenced to exile. After the National Constitution heard about it, he took out the passbook I gave him, took out the money deposited in the Bank of England, bought the head of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, bought those who were sentenced to exile, and replaced them with some death row prisoners and vagrants to replace them. There were more than 200 people, plus There are more than 700 people in their families, and they are all skilled. Unfortunately, after coming here, it may be that the climate is not adapting, and a few people have died.
"Oh? What about them now? Listening to Li Fu's words, Li Mo's eyes suddenly lit up. There has always been a lack of real technicians around him. Unexpectedly, Long Guozhang went back once and brought 200 people, which was much more precious than gold.
"Don't worry, young master. I've made arrangements and didn't let them go to the gold mine." Li Fu pointed to the gold bricks and said, "After those people came, we found two small gold nests on the other side of the river. In addition, they used a way, saying that it was used by our ancestors, called the multi-layer mining method, which is to dig seven or eight eyes on a vein at the same time, and the speed is very fast."
Li Yunfei listened and nodded straightly. He is worthy of an expert. Chinese people's mining experience has a history of thousands of years. How can he not leave some practical methods? It's just that the century of turmoil has been lost.
Hearing that Li Fu had arranged these people very well, Li Mo was also relieved and said a few more words to take good care of these people, especially the one who said the multi-layer mining method, which should be rewarded.
Hearing the young master's instructions, Li Fu quickly nodded and said, "Don't worry, young master, the old slave must do a good job for you!"
"Fubo, you're wrong again!"
"Oh? Ha ha."
Master Li looked up at the treasury. The rain and flowers drifted down again. In a blink of an eye, the whole camp also fell silent. With people, gold and funds, what should we do next?