Chapter 2384

According to the mineral resources information mastered by the Executive Committee, Shandong has the highest gold mine reserves in the country, and most of these veins are concentrated in the Jiaodong Peninsula. They are distributed in Zhaoyuan, Yexian, Pingdu, Rushan, Mouping, Qixia and other places. Among them, the mineral veins in Zhaoyuan and Pingdu are the most concentrated, and they are shallowly buried and convenient for open-pit mining.

According to historical records, as early as the fourth year of Jingde in the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, at the beginning of the eleventh century AD, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty sent minister Pan Mei to the Zhaoyuan area to supervise the mining of the Linglong Mountain gold mine. At that time, gold in Denglai and Denglai states was The annual output is nearly 10,000 taels, accounting for about 90% of the country's gold output. In the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court further increased the mining of Jiaodong gold mines, and the output was much higher than during the Huangyou period during the peak gold production period of the Song Dynasty. Out more than doubled.

In the Ming Dynasty, the gold mines in this area were naturally inherited. Ming Shenzong also sent a large number of eunuchs to local areas to supervise gold mining. However, these supervision measures did not play their due role. The gold mines in Denglai area Not only did the output fail to increase, it dropped to only about one-sixth of the highest output in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Tianqi period, Xizong also sent Wei Zhongxian to Dengzhou to supervise mining affairs, but it also failed to have any practical effect. This happened in 1631. The Denglai Rebellion destroyed almost all the mines in this area. Although work has slowly resumed in recent years, the serious loss of relevant technical personnel during the war has led to a decline in production efficiency. Today's production capacity It has dropped too much compared to before.

However, many miners who originally made a living from mining in this area have gradually gone to Fushan County in recent years and have become miners working for Haihan. There is no other reason, but because Haihan gave him The remuneration is better and the livelihood of the miners can be guaranteed.

Through these miners who switched jobs, Haihan gradually learned information about the status of gold mining in the Zhaoyuan area. After hundreds of years of mining in the old veins, the mineral deposits have gradually been depleted, and the gold production has gradually failed to make ends meet, making it difficult to maintain. The mines were operating normally. However, the government was unable to explore new veins, so the gold mining industry in Zhaoyuan gradually declined.

However, this information is obviously inconsistent with the situation grasped by Haihan's senior officials. Even after hundreds of years, the gold mines in the Zhaoyuan area are far from exhausted, except for Linglong Mountain, which was mined by government organizations in previous centuries. In addition to the gold mines, there are thousands of gold veins scattered in Fushan, Luoshan, Jinhuashan and other places in Zhaoyuan County, many of which are high-grade veins with large reserves, high grade, shallow burial, and easy mining. It is only now At this stage, the government's prospecting capabilities are almost non-existent, so the scale of mining is also shrinking year by year. This undoubtedly provides a stage for Haihan to display his methods.

Of course, considering that the geographical location of Zhaoyuan County is far away from Fushan County controlled by Haihan, and the large number of people involved in the mining, it is difficult to keep a secret. Once Haihan mines a new gold mine in the area, it will soon be If it arouses the attention of Ming Dynasty, then there will be a fight for the ownership of the mineral veins, or even an armed conflict will break out, it will also be a troublesome matter for Haihan.

Therefore, although this matter has been put on the agenda, Haihan's senior management did not make a hasty decision. They still had to make complete preparations before considering taking action.

From the geographical environment point of view, it is difficult for Haihan to completely copy the previous operation method in Fushan County to occupy Zhaoyuan County, which is located in an inland mountainous area. Moreover, the two places are more than a hundred miles apart, with almost all mountains and hills in between.

Transportation is not convenient, whether it is transporting supplies or deploying troops, it is a troublesome task.

If you want to achieve your goal through military occupation, then Haihan needs to invest too many resources in this area. It is unlikely that Ming Dynasty will just sit back and watch Haihan make such a big move in Shandong. Once a large-scale armed attack occurs,

The conflict will affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries. This is not a situation that Haihan wants to see.

Compared with the huge benefits that trade between the two countries has brought to Haihan in various fields, the value created by mining gold mines in Zhaoyuan is only limited to the economic aspect. Which is more important, Haihan's senior management naturally sees it very clearly. Even though

If the Zhaoyuan gold mine is to be mined, it must be carried out on the premise of maintaining existing diplomatic relations.

It is not technically difficult for Haihan to find unexploited mineral veins in the local area. The database contains various gold mining sites in this area in later generations. Send more professional personnel to the local area to search according to the map. To find a

Getting to the right goal is nothing more than a matter of time.

The real problem is how to maintain a good relationship with the local government while exploiting the mineral veins, without falling out over the ownership of the mineral deposits. To create such a situation, the only way is to bribe the local government in advance and form an alliance of interests.

Of course, such a highly involved matter cannot be left to ordinary people, so the Ministry of Security took over this task. Hao Wanqing had visited Zhaoyuan County many times as a wealthy businessman before, and had a back-and-forth with the local Magistrate of Gu County.

relationship, confirmed that this person could be bought with money, and then slowly worked out an operation plan together.

Haihan first finds a suitable mineral vein, and then the Guzhi County will come forward in the name of the government to include the mineral vein in the "official mine" list, but the specific mining affairs will be all handled by Haihan. Every year, it will go through the formal

The channel handed over a certain amount of gold to Daming to ensure the legality of relevant mining activities.

Of course, Guzhi County will also receive considerable dividends from the gold produced every year according to a certain proportion. He will be responsible for taking care of various supervision measures formulated by the court to ensure that Haihan can work quietly in Zhaoyuan County.

mining activities.

Of course, even with the cover of the local government, the scale of Haihan's mining here cannot be as public as that of the Fushan Copper Mine. Otherwise, it will not be hidden from interested people at all, and conflicts with the Ming Dynasty will inevitably arise. Moreover, the Zhaoyuan County Government

It is still completely unknown to what extent the protection provided can be achieved. There are bound to be many unforeseen problems in this operation, and the risk is actually not small.

But just when Haihan was gradually advancing the matter, the Qing army invaded Shandong. The entire Shandong territory fell into chaos in a short period of time. The states and counties were too busy to take care of themselves, and no one cared about Haihan at this time.

The little actions you make.

Hao Wanqing hoped to seize this window of time and eliminate as many unrest factors as possible in Zhaoyuan, such as engineering technicians and supervisory officials sent by the imperial court. If these people discovered the secret of the new mine, they would report it to the Ming Dynasty.

Ministry of Industry, all previous efforts will be wasted. And the chaos happening in Shandong now can provide the best cover for Haihan's secret operations.

However, the impact of the war in Shandong was so great that Hao Wanqing had to suspend the task at hand and sent Gong Shiqi and others to Jinan Prefecture to collect intelligence on the war situation. It was not until Gong Shiqi returned to Zhaoyuan County that he took the time

Go to the predetermined location to retrieve the quarried ore samples, just in time to send these samples back to Zhifu Island within the time limit of the task, and let professionals complete the next step of inspection work.

Of course, it would be difficult for the Ministry of Security to handle such a big matter with just the manpower of the Ministry of Security. It was only a matter of time before the military intervened. During the conversation with Sun Zhen, Gong Shiqi mistakenly thought that the other party already knew about these arrangements.

In addition to guiding the refugees to Fushan County, he also followed up on matters related to the gold mine, so he was exposed.

Although Gong Shiqi later discovered that this was a misunderstanding, he also knew that there was little point in hiding this matter from Sun Zhen, and it would lead to misunderstanding by the other party, so he decisively explained the reason to Sun Zhen. He believed that Sun Zhen was a special warfare officer

The battalion commander of the regiment will definitely understand the importance of this matter after listening to it. He will consciously keep this secret without having to emphasize it any more.

When Sun Zhen heard Gong Shiqi briefly explain the reason, he was greatly shocked. He didn't expect that at this time when the world was in chaos, the Ministry of Security was secretly operating such a big plan.

However, he does not think there is anything wrong with this. The current situation in Shandong has proved that even though Ming Dynasty has the world's wealth, it is still unable to resist foreign enemies and save the people. Even if the gold buried underground is mined and paid into the Ming Dynasty treasury,

In the end, it was probably just a benefit to the Manchus, and if Haihan obtained the gold, then at least part of it could be used to attack the Manchus and save those Ming people in need, which is obviously of more practical significance.

Sun Zhen asked: "Since the matter in Zhaoyuan County has not been settled yet, will Brother Gong have to come back soon after returning to Fushan County?"

Gong Shiqi said: "Just let my men send these ore samples back to Fushan County. I will stay here to cooperate with Brother Sun. This will also make it easier to coordinate with the county government on refugee matters."

Compared to Sun Zhen, who had just arrived, Gong Shiqi was obviously more familiar with the situation in Zhaoyuan County. With him staying here to help, Sun Zhen could save a lot of trouble.

Early the next morning, Gong Shiqi's men packed up and prepared to leave. Sun Zhen ordered a carriage to be delivered to them to carry the ore samples, which could effectively reduce the load on their mounts and return to Fushan County.

The trip can also be faster.

Gong Shiqi returned the favor and asked his men to bring only enough food and grass to return to Fushan County, leaving all the excess rations for Sun Zhen's troops. Although the quantity was not large, in the current supply environment where supplies were inconvenient, even just a few

Ten pounds of grain is also a very important resource.

After the men from the Ministry of Security set off, Gong Shiqi said to Sun Zhen: "I will go to the county town later to urge them to buy grain. I estimate that there should be at least five or six thousand kilograms of grain in the official warehouse in the city. Let's try it.

We cannot leave Guzhi County to us."

Sun Zhen said: "Then we still have to leave some food rations for the people in the city, right?"

Gong Shiqi smiled and said: "Those who can take refuge in the county at this time will not be in bad condition. They must have much more food than the official warehouse. It is estimated that they will be able to sustain it for two or three months. Since Guzhi County

If you promised to provide us with food, you must have already calculated it, so there is no need to worry."

Sun Zhen didn't say much after hearing this. Gong Shiqi took the horse and didn't let Sun Zhen send anyone to follow him, so he headed towards the county seat with one person and one horse. Although the county seat currently does not allow idlers to enter and exit, since Gong Shiqi and Nagu

I have a relationship with the county magistrate, so I can enter the city after I inform him of my identity.

In fact, those who took refuge in the county at this time were not necessarily gentry and landlords, but also many common people. However, Gong Shiqi saw that the county gate was closed and the government did not organize outings to raise food, so he expected that the food reserves in the city should be restored.

It was considered sufficient, so he took the initiative to go to the county town to beg for food.

Whether it is the task of guiding refugees or the gold mine task under the responsibility of the Ministry of Security, allowing Sun Zhen's troops to stay in Zhaoyuan County for a longer period of time will obviously be more conducive to the execution of these tasks. To achieve this,

As long as we can get enough food and grass.

From the standpoint of the local government, although the appearance of the Haihan Army here is tantamount to an invasion, if it can resolve the local refugee crisis, then the government will naturally be happy to turn a blind eye to its existence, even like the magistrate of Gu County.

It’s no surprise that stakeholders have taken the initiative to provide food.

Naturally, Sun Zhen was not idle either. While sending his rangers to the relatively flat southern part of Zhaoyuan County to check on the influx of refugees, he also stepped up the production of road signs and prepared to deploy them on important roads throughout the county. Even if one hundred refugees could

Having a literate person will also make it easier to guide them to the correct escape route.

Gong Shiqi returned safely to the Haihan Army's station in the afternoon of the same day. The news he brought back also boosted the morale of Sun Zhen's troops. The county government was willing to provide them with a total of 6,000 kilograms of grain in batches, and in order to cooperate with Haihan

The plan to guide refugees will gradually reduce the amount of rice soup provided to refugees outside the city from tomorrow. This will force those refugees who are hoping to survive in Zhaoyuan to leave voluntarily and go to Fushan County to find a life.

Of course, this will inevitably cause some refugees to die of starvation, but if the increasing number of refugees are not evacuated, Zhaoyuan County lacks the means to resettle refugees and may fall into civil strife among the refugees in a few days.

In fact, there are signs of such chaos, and there have been some incidents of snatching property and food in refugee settlements. Fortunately, these are still sporadic incidents. Once someone starts to form a gang and control other refugees in a gang-like manner,

Then large-scale riots are not far away.

For security reasons, Sun Zhen did not send anyone into the refugee settlement for continuous surveillance, but he has been paying attention to their movements. If he discovers some bad signs, he must send troops to eliminate the hidden dangers as soon as possible.

That night, based on the returns from various places, Sun Zhen made an estimate of the number of new refugees entering Zhaoyuan County. At the end of the day, at least four figures of refugees had poured into Zhaoyuan County. According to reports from some refugees,

The number of refugees gathered near Laizhou Fucheng, a hundred miles away to the southwest, is at least ten times that of Zhaoyuan County. The local area has no way to accommodate such a large number of refugees, so a large number of refugees are on their way eastward to Dengzhou at this time.
Chapter completed!