Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 319 The Shock of the Gold Nugget: The Great Gold Rush Era in China!

Indeed, with the news of the discovery of a huge gold mine in Australia, the era of the gold rush began.

In September 1243, Zhao Jin, the ninth prince of the Zhao Shuo Khanate, was enfeoffed as the Prince of Xintong and took up his fief in Australia.

Tong was a small state in the south during the Spring and Autumn Period of China. After Zhao Shuo, when he enfeoffed his sons, he basically followed the state titles of the Spring and Autumn Period, only adding the word "new" before them.

In the past, the Zhou Dynasty enfeoffed members of the royal family and ministers, expanding the Huaxia (Chinese civilization) to the land of nine provinces.

Now Zhao Shuo is enfeoffing his sons and meritorious officials, expanding China from its original land of nine provinces to every corner of the world.

In June of 1244, news of the discovery of a huge river gold mine in the Kingdom of Xintong reached China.

In July 1244, Zhao Shuo established the territory south of Xintong Kingdom, equivalent to one-tenth of Australia, under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court, naming it Jinshan Province. Song Zizhen was appointed as the Pacification Commissioner of Jinshan Province, in charge of Jinshan's civil administration. Shi Quan, son of Shi Tianni, was appointed with three Han military commanders of one thousand households to enter Jinshan Province and take charge of local military affairs.

Song Zizhen first served under Peng Yibin and then under Yan Shi. He later made meritorious contributions to governance and served as prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty, proving himself to be capable in both civil and military affairs.

In the history altered by Zhao Shuo, Peng Yibin grew up and was recruited by Zhao Shuo. Song Zizhen entered officialdom through the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) under Zhao Shuo at the age of twenty-five.

He is fifty-six years old this year. After more than thirty years of ups and downs in his official career, he finally became the governor of a province.

Back then, Shi Tianni's two sons, Shi Ji and Shi Quan, participated in Zhao He's eldest son's western expedition. Shi Ji made outstanding contributions and was appointed as the head of the Semu tribe stationed in Yemen.

Although Shi Quan's performance was not bad, it was not enough to be promoted to commander of ten thousand households, and he was transferred back to the Plain Yellow Banner of the Han Army.

Zhao Shuo transferred him here for this expansion into Australia.

As Australia develops, once he has ten thousand households under his command, he will be able to be appointed as a ten-thousand-household chief of the Semu people. But then again, that would be at least a decade or more later.

In any case, Shi Quan's main task now is to clear out the local indigenous people and protect the local mineral veins.

In August 1244, Zhao Shuo officially promulgated the Overseas Mining Law.

This law stipulates the rights and obligations of Chinese people to mine gold, silver, copper, iron, and other minerals in regions outside their homeland, such as Australia and Southeast Asia.

Of course, Japan is an exception, as it is directly under the jurisdiction of the state. In Japan, private contracting is only permitted after paying an astronomical deposit, and heavy taxes must be levied; ordinary people are not eligible.

Zhao Shuo enacted this law not only to establish a stable mining order, but also to fuel the burgeoning gold rush.

Even a fool would know that if the mineral resources weren't exceptionally abundant, and the country itself couldn't possibly mine them all, would it allow the people to mine freely? Would it even be worthwhile to enact special laws for this purpose?

Moreover, the king has named it the Province of Gold Mountain, so how much gold must be in this place?

Therefore, by the time the Suez Canal made its maiden voyage, the gold rush in the Zhao Shuo Khanate had already begun.

New Tong Port, Australia.

"Father, Mother, Third Brother, you wait! I will definitely earn enough money in Australia to help Third Brother get married and make you proud in the village!"

A man of medium build, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a faded, slightly frayed indigo turban wrapped around his head and wearing a matching coarse linen short coat, looked north and thought to himself.

His name is Zhou Si'an, and he is a villager from Lindun Village, Houguan County, Fuzhou, Fujian Province.

Fujian is known as having "eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland," meaning that farmland is scarce. Although Zhao Shuo distributed the land equally, the people who simply farmed the land could barely make ends meet.

Zhou Si'an was restless from a young age, unwilling to live a life of toiling in the soil, and unable to endure the hardships of working in the workshop.

Eight years ago, he persuaded his parents to take out the money they had saved for his second and third brothers and for his own wedding and go into the business of maritime trade.

These days, even those who lack the necessary skills can become maritime merchants.

By paying a fee to the ship owner, one could rent a portion of the ship's space for maritime trade. This method already existed during the Southern Song Dynasty.

Once Zhao Shuo conquered all of China and the Age of Exploration began, this method became even more popular.

Sometimes the cargo in a single hold belongs to seven or eight different merchants.

Zhou An had just started his maritime trade business and made some money; his second brother had also gotten married. However, he wasn't very good at choosing goods, and he had some bad luck, so he lost money several times.

The dilapidated house was further aggravated by a night of rain, and on his last voyage, his ship encountered a storm in the South China Sea. Although Zhou Si'an miraculously survived, he lost everything.

From then on, the Zhou family never recovered. The marriage that the third brother had already arranged fell through, and their family became the laughing stock of the whole village. It was so much more peaceful to honestly toil in the fields. How could we farmers be good at maritime business? Look at that Zhou Si'an kid. He invested all the money his parents had saved up their whole lives and didn't even get a penny. The two brothers couldn't even get married.

Zhou An's parents were visibly embarrassed.

Zhou Si'an's third brother, Zhou San'an, sighed and prepared to immigrate. Fujian didn't have much land, but the empire had plenty overseas. Once they arrived, they would be given fields, houses, livestock, land, and even female slaves! Even if they weren't given female slaves, marrying a woman from another ethnic group would be very easy.

However, it's just preparation.

It's hard to leave one's homeland, and it's not like one can't survive in their hometown, so honest and simple Zhou San'an really couldn't make up his mind.

On Thursday, An's maritime trade business dragged down his whole family, leaving him extremely depressed.

Just then, he heard that gold had been discovered in Australia and that the government was encouraging private mining.

I'm going all in! I'm going to Australia to strike it rich!
On Thursday, An's heart began to stir again.

He took the ten silver dollars he had left at home, borrowed forty dollars from the bank, and made up fifty dollars before heading to Australia to pan for gold.

These silver dollars were the currency issued by the Zhao Shuo Khanate Bank; one silver dollar was equivalent to one tael of silver.

Originally, the banks of the Zhao Shuo Khanate only offered remittances, not loans. However, to encourage gold mining (actually, to encourage immigration), they opened loan services. But these loans are currently only available to those willing to go overseas to pan for gold but lacking sufficient capital.

Zhou Si'an spent fifteen silver dollars to buy a ship ticket from Quanzhou Port to Xintong Port in Australia, and finally arrived here today. The ticket included food and drink for more than three months on the ship, and Zhou Si'an knew the market price; this price was already very fair.

Of course, after disembarking, they couldn't immediately start panning for gold; they still had to undergo military training.

Zhao Jin only had three Han Chinese Eight Banners commanders, yet he had to manage an area equivalent to four Zhejiang provinces. Of course, it was impossible for him to be thorough in every aspect.

To mine in Australia, one must also guard against attacks from local indigenous people.

The training wasn't free. Half a month of training, food and lodging, a set of leather armor, a long spear, and a waist knife cost Zhou An a total of thirteen silver dollars.

Then, the group of forty-seven gold prospectors, led by a soldier from the Xintong Kingdom, headed towards the mining area.

After traveling for twenty-one days, they encountered a sudden attack by the natives. One unfortunate man was slashed in the neck by a boomerang and died, while two others sustained minor injuries.

They were not to be trifled with either; they chased the native into their tribe and wiped out the entire tribe of over a hundred people.

The natives didn't have much of value; they hunted animals like kangaroos for survival, supplementing their diet with wild plants, nuts, and berries. The only valuable thing they had was the thirty-two captured native slaves; they could be sold to the government for three silver dollars each.

The government wouldn't let these people pan for gold; instead, they would sell them to immigrants for five silver dollars each to do some menial work. After ten years, they would be given some land and their freedom restored. These natives, having been enslaved for ten years, should have learned how to farm.

The indigenous population of Australia is less than one million, and these people have no prior grudges against China. The Zhao Shuo Khanate will not go too far and will still provide them with a way out.

On Thursday, An and his group finally arrived at the mining area.

The mining area is not a mountain, but a river.

Gold-rich quartz veins are weathered and broken down on the surface over millions of years, and then washed into nearby rivers by rain and floods.

Because of its extremely high density, gold tends to settle where water flow slows down, such as in cracks in the riverbed, on the inside of bends, behind boulders, or on bedrock.

Many gold nuggets are not washed far away; they tend to accumulate in river sections close to the primary ore veins, forming "gold nugget belts."

Gold prospectors dream of finding areas like this. Australia has so many gold mines that mining starts with these easiest-to-mine "gold nugget belts."

In the blink of an eye, another half month has passed.

"Damn it, gold panning isn't easy!"

On Thursday, An finished a day of gold panning and was so tired that he lay on his "bed" of hay, not wanting to move at all, sighing to himself.

He once worked in a workshop for more than a month, but this place was much more tiring than the workshop!
Yes, gold mining can be profitable, but it also costs a lot!
First, there were the gold panning tools, which cost seven silver dollars.

You also needed to obtain a "miner's license," which cost ten silver dollars per license. Renewal was then required for five silver dollars per month. In other words, you had to pay five silver dollars each month before you could mine for gold in the areas designated by the government.

In addition, the grain, vegetables, and meat here are too expensive, ten times more expensive than in his hometown!
Even if all this grain were transported from mainland China, it wouldn't cost nearly this much, right? And those vegetables, they're all grown locally in Australia, so why are they so expensive?

They can get rich just by farming!

I heard sheep are very cheap in Australia, how dare they sell them for such high prices? It's absolutely outrageous!

On Thursday, An and his coworkers discussed whether they should quit being miners and just apply for immigration.

These immigrants don't have to pay taxes for five years, yet they sell food, vegetables, and meat at such high prices. They're practically sucking the blood out of the miners!

You should know that most of these immigrants were thieves, swindlers and robbers in China before. How could they make so much money?

Of course, that's just talk.

Ultimately, it's the gold miners who make the money!
Zhou An has been panning for gold for half a month and has already panned for about one ounce. He estimates that once he gets more skilled, he can pan for two ounces in half a month and four ounces in a month!

All gold had to be sold to the government in exchange for silver dollars, and a 30% tax would be levied on it.

That's quite a lot!
My monthly income is 28 silver dollars!
After deducting the fixed five-dollar "Miner's License" and four-dollar daily expenses, he would have nineteen silver dollars left each month!

You can save two hundred taels of silver in a year!

Two hundred taels of silver! What can you do in China to earn that much?!
Of course, it was truly hard work. After a long day's work, Zhou Si'an felt like his back was about to break. If he worked like this for a few more years, he probably wouldn't be able to get married!
"I'll work for two to three years at most, then I'll go home! I'll give my third brother one hundred taels, enough for him to start a family. I'll keep five hundred taels for myself, to open a small workshop, or buy two shops to collect rent!"

After lying down for a while and regaining some strength, Zhou Si'an regained his fighting spirit and thought to himself.

The next day, Zhou An went to a shop in the mining area and ate four flatbreads with a bowl of hot mutton soup before continuing to work in his section of the mine.

The icy river water flowed over his knees, but Zhou An was already used to it.

He stood on a shallow beach, repeating the same action he had done thousands of times: bending over, shoveling sand, standing up, and slowly shaking and rinsing the muddy water mixed with sand and gravel in a wooden tray.

Before long, beads of sweat rolled down the scar on his forehead and dripped into the murky wooden tray.

After a while, he struggled to insert his shovel into a crack in the bedrock of the riverbed, trying to pry open a few stubborn river pebbles. This was something an old miner had taught him: gold is "sinking" and likes to hide at the bottom.

One pry, and it wouldn't budge. Another push, and the shovel made a teeth-grinding scraping sound, as if it had hit something that was neither stone nor iron.

He bent down and began to clear away the surrounding pebbles and silt with his bare hands. In the murky water, a strange, somber yellow color stood out starkly against the black bedrock, piercing his eyes.

It wasn't a twinkling, scattered light, but a solidified, thick, dark gold that seemed to devour all light!

"Could it be..."

Zhou An's heart clenched suddenly, and his breath caught in his throat.

He frantically dug with his bare hands, stirring up the river water into a murky mess. The yellow hue grew larger and larger, gradually revealing the outline of an infant's head, tightly, almost growing, embedded in the cracks of the riverbed rocks.

On Thursday, An Qiang suppressed his wildly beating heartbeat, took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, carefully wedged the blade of the shovel into the seam where the gold met the rock, and pressed down hard with all his might!
"Crack!"

With a muffled thud, Zhou Si'an felt his hand loosen as an extremely heavy object slipped out of the crevice and plunged into the silt at the bottom of the river, splashing up a cloud of mud.

He threw down the shovel, his hands trembling as he reached into the water, groped, and finally caught the object. In that instant, a heavy, icy yet seemingly scalding sensation shot from his fingertips straight to the top of his head! He strained his waist, let out a muffled groan, and finally pulled the object out of the water.

He held the object in his arms and examined it closely.

"Heavens above! This is a gold nugget! It really is a gold nugget!"

On Thursday, An knelt on the ground, first tightly closing his eyes, as if afraid it was all a dream. Then he opened his eyes, staring intently, and then let out a heartfelt shout, as if the blood in his body was boiling.

"Dog-head gold" is the Chinese name for large natural gold nuggets, named for their size, resembling a dog's head.

The gold nugget in Zhou Si'an's hand was heavy and had a rich, dark yellow color. Interspersed with black iron and white quartz veins, it resembled naturally sculpted patterns. It was rough and untamed, yet it exuded a most primal and magnificent beauty!
……

……

More than four months later, in Lindun Village.

"...That gold nugget weighed a full thirty-six pounds! Guess how many silver dollars I sold it for? A full six thousand six hundred! Although the gold nugget wasn't of high purity, it was just too rare. Rarity drives up value, and the government not only bought my gold nugget at a premium but also didn't levy taxes! So I gave up gold panning and returned to China. I've decided to give my eldest and second brothers one hundred silver dollars each, and my third brother five hundred silver dollars, so they can live well in our hometown and support our parents for me."

"I'll take this money with me to do business in Australia and make even more money. Australia is not only wealthy, but it also has great development potential. If I settle down here soon, I'm sure I'll make a fortune! I beg you all, folks, if anyone has a suitable young lady, please tell me she'll be my wife!"

On Thursday, An was talking animatedly in the courtyard, recounting his experience of panning for gold in Australia.

Originally, he planned to save up some capital to start a small business back in China. But now that he had so much capital, why would he go back to start a small business?
Australia is booming, with countless business opportunities. With his substantial capital now invested in Australia, he might one day become one of China's most prominent business tycoons!
"Great! The fourth son of the Zhou family has really struck it rich this time!"

"I've known since I was a kid that Si'an was no ordinary person, and now it's proven true, isn't it?"

"Si'an's parents have raised a good son! Now they can finally enjoy their retirement!"

"How dare you say that? Who was it that said Si'an would be a bachelor for life?"

"I never said that, you must have misheard me!"

"My Cuilian is quite nice, let her go to Australia with you!"

"Zhang Laosan, stop dreaming! With your Cuilian's looks, is she a good match for Si'an? Even if you don't ask for a dowry, she still won't accept you! Si'an, let me tell you, I have a niece who's only sixteen this year, and she's as beautiful as Chang'e in the moon palace!"

……

The villagers looked at Zhou Si'an with envious and fawning eyes, and there was a lot of discussion.

Some even asked, "I also want to go to Australia to pan for gold, Brother Si'an, can you take me with you?"

Someone else said, "I heard that gold panning is very tiring and not very stable. Brother Si'an, if you go to Australia to do business, could you take me with you?"

……

"Anything is fine! Anything is fine!"

Thursday An said, "Australia has tons of opportunities. You can get rich just by immigrating and farming. Come with me to Australia and we'll have someone to look after you. I can't guarantee anything, but it'll be much better than toiling in the fields in the village!"

It has to be said that this is a rather "bad" era. You honestly farm for a living, but you may very well see familiar friends, neighbors, and relatives suddenly become rich and successful, leaving you feeling extremely depressed.

But this is also the best of times.

One failure is nothing, two failures are nothing; this era has enough tolerance for mistakes.

The gap between the rich and poor is constantly changing. As long as you dare to fight and never give up, countless opportunities await you!
(End of this chapter)