My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 106 Bandit Stories
bandit?

Zhou Jingming found it strange that Peng Yuanchao would ask such a question: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"No, when you went to buy guns, Zhang, Wu and several others came to our mine and talked about the robbery last night, saying there were a lot of bandits around here."

The foreman Zhang and foreman Li, along with two other foremen above them, came to express their gratitude. They said they heard Jin Wang's cries, came out to investigate, and although they didn't see the robbers, they knew they had escaped a terrible ordeal, so they brought some supplies over.

"We really should thank Jinwang. If it weren't for him last night, not only them, but we would probably have been in trouble too. Brother Peng, now you know the benefits of having a dog, right?"

Zhou Jingming said with a smile, "We should get some meat tonight to treat Jinwang properly."

Undoubtedly, when it comes to guarding the property and keeping watch, no animal is better than a dog. Keeping a dog at a mining site can help anticipate many potential dangers and avoid a lot of trouble.

Zhou Jingming was telling the truth. If it weren't for Jin Wang, there could have been serious trouble. After all, five guns were coming, and the danger level was incomparable to things like pickaxes and shovels.

Those five robbers were incredibly audacious. Despite clearly hearing the dogs barking, they still dared to get so close, clearly intending to rob Little Peninsula.

On the other hand, Zhou Jingming's mining site in this side gully was undoubtedly a tempting target, and the five robbers were certainly interested, so they tried to get closer to see if there was an opportunity.

"Of course, I'll treat it to a big piece of meat tonight. It just so happens that they sent some lamb, and it's fresh!"

Peng Yuanchao nodded repeatedly. Jin Wang's role was even more powerful than he had imagined, and he also admired Zhou Jingming's foresight in wanting to buy a dog at the beginning.

He continued, "The foreman Wu and foreman Zhao down there are now filled with regret. They regret not being closer to us. Foreman Wu's mine didn't lose much gold, but foreman Zhao and another person lost almost all the gold they had panned for over a month..."

They were considering getting a dog, just so that even a sound would be enough to alert them in case of any trouble.

Zhou Jingming said with a smile, "It would be great to have one! If everyone had one, this ditch would be safer. That's how dogs are; even from a distance, if one dog barks, the others will hear it and bark too."

Peng Yuanchao nodded. As a countryman, he knew this characteristic of dogs, which seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

"They also speculated that these people might be local bandits. They were so bold as to rob one place after another in a river valley. They were simply too arrogant."

"First, you need to understand what a bandit is. Bandit gangs have a large number of members and are large-scale local armed groups that occupy a place for many years... The five who came last night are at most robbers and bandits, and can't be compared to bandits."

Moreover, I can assure you that there are no bandits left in the Northwest.

In the early days after liberation, there was a vigorous campaign to suppress bandits. If anyone dares to occupy a mountain and gather a crowd to become a bandit now, they are simply courting death.

Have you heard of Usman? He was the most notorious bandit here, commanding forty to fifty thousand men at his peak. He burned, killed, and looted everywhere, but in the end, he was routed and fled in disarray…

Hearing Zhou Jingming mention bandits, Wu Yang became interested: "I've heard there are quite a few bandits in the Northeast!"

"I've actually heard quite a few of these things!"

Zhou Jingming began to speak with great interest: "The Northeast was once regarded by the Qing Dynasty as the place where the dragon rose. Such a large area was forbidden to people from inside the Great Wall, and only a very small number of people lived there."

It's important to understand that back then, Northeast China encompassed a vast area including Lake Baikal and the Outer Khingan Mountains.

But it was precisely because of this that the Russians found an opportunity. They didn't send many people, but they quietly occupied a large area and kept moving closer to Heilongjiang.

It was only at this point that the Qing emperor realized the seriousness of the problem and launched a counterattack.

But the fundamental problem is that there are too few people in Northeast China.

Therefore, the Northeast was reopened and Han people were allowed to enter. Many people in the interior who were starving and cold wanted to live a better life. They heard that the Northeast had plenty of food and drink and was rich in resources, so many people went there, which is known as the "Crossing the Guandong".

However, when these people arrived at that place, they were not used to it at first. They couldn't figure out the local climate and tried to cultivate the land according to the old ways and the seasons. As a result, due to the weather, there was hardly any harvest, and most people spent their time in a state of hunger.

When people are hungry and have nothing to eat, or cold and have nothing to wear, they have no choice but to rob. Therefore, for a long time, there were quite a few bandit gangs of all sizes in Northeast China.

Wu Yang nodded, then sighed, "I wonder how those bandits were wiped out back then. I really wish I had been born in that era."

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "Actually, most bandits are not very powerful. They guard one road and rob anyone who comes. After they have eaten and wiped out everyone, they find that no one dares to go to the place where they are based. If no one goes there, they can't rob anything. They can't sustain themselves, so most of them disband on their own."

Only a few understood the principle of "draining the pond to catch all the fish," and guarded their territory. They didn't rob anyone they saw, but left people a way to survive, maintaining this for many years until they were wiped out during the bandit suppression after liberation.

Wu Yang, don't think about living in that era. Things are good now, and they will get better in the future. Why not think about living a good life?
Then again, if you were really born in that era, you would certainly have had a place to use your talents; at the very least, you could have been a bandit.

In Zhou Jingming's perception, ever since Wu Yang came to the Gold Rush Valley, his inherent fighting spirit seemed to have awakened, and he felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Peng Yuanchao then asked, "Brother, if these people aren't bandits, then what's their background?"

"I can't say for sure what its origin is; there are several possibilities!"

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment: "We've met two of these people before; they were the two who were fighting guerrilla warfare along the other side of the river a while ago."

It's possible they were just a group of robbers trying to steal gold, who thought they could do whatever they wanted because they had five hunting rifles.

It's also possible that they were sent by some boss Jin's men to steal gold. You should know that this is a pretty quick way to get gold.

It's also possible that it was the idea of ​​gold dealers who wanted to make a profit without any initial investment.

It cannot be ruled out that they are other desperate criminals.

In short, anything is possible.

What's the point of all this talk? It's all banditry, completely meaningless. The most important thing is to guard our mine and work hard to pan for gold. It's getting late, let's get to work."

After Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang returned, the work arrangements on the small peninsula were restored to their original state and proceeded in an orderly manner once again.

Because of what happened last night, everyone was somewhat distracted, and so far, the amount of fine sand taken out of the sluice box felt is much less than usual.

Sure enough, when the gold was divided before dinner in the evening, the amount of gold received was the least since the water pump was installed.

Zhou Jingming only received three grams.

But he was secretly pleased with the big win he made with Wu Yang and Peng Yuanchao.

They also knew that such windfall gains were not something that happened every day, and deep down they didn't want anyone to come and harass them at the mine, since coming would mean risking their lives.

Sustained production at a mining site has always been the foundation of stable income.

Since someone brought food and drinks, dinner was naturally going to be a meal with wine and meat.

After eating and drinking his fill, Peng Yuanchao actually cut off a piece of fresh mutton, and even chopped it into small pieces before sending it to Jin Wang.

He seemed to have forgotten Zhou Jingming's warning: do not feed Jinwang, he might get bitten.

As soon as he threw a piece of mutton with the bone in it at Jinwang, Jinwang immediately turned his head to look at him, bared his teeth, and growled fiercely. Suddenly, he turned around, barked wildly at him, and approached him.

Startled, he quickly turned around and left, handing the meat to Zhou Jingming: "Jin Wang is really something, we're acquaintances, why is he being so formal?"

"It's better to be polite, so we don't end up like a pot of stewed meat!"

Zhou Jingming took the mutton and called Jin Wang aside, taking the opportunity to train him on the commands.

After resting for a while, he and Wu Yang began their daily training.

Life on the small peninsula returned to normal the following day.

The other mining sites didn't keep dogs as they claimed.

For most gold mining teams, keeping a dog is a rather troublesome matter, and they are unwilling to spend too much money on it.

After all, one can only survive in the Gold Rush Valley for about half a year. Bringing all sorts of supplies into the mountains is quite costly, and you need someone to take care of them. Plus, no one can say for sure whether they will come back to pan for gold next year.

Most of them just talk the talk.

Seven days later, the weather in the mountains suddenly changed, and a strong mountain wind arose.

The tents rattled in the wind, waking everyone from their deep sleep.

Most of the gold prospectors didn't pay much attention. In their eyes, they were just there to work and pan for gold. They simply turned over, felt a little cold, pulled their blankets over themselves, and continued to sleep.

But Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao were different. For them, the small peninsula was the culmination of their hard work. Sensing that the weather was not right, they quickly put on their clothes, got out of bed, and went outside to look around with flashlights.

When I first went to sleep, the sky was full of stars, but now it's pitch black. It's not hard to tell from my intuition that the sky must be covered with dark, heavy clouds.

A rumbling sound came from afar, and lightning flashed in the clouds.

Looking at the trees behind the camp, which were swaying violently in the wind, Zhou Jingming realized something: "Brother Peng, judging from this, it's likely to rain heavily tonight, maybe even a downpour."

"Well, very likely!"

Peng Yuanchao seemed somewhat worried; he probably shared the same thought as Zhou Jingming.

"The heavier the rain, the more these mountains cannot absorb and retain so much water at once, and it is easy for it to accumulate into mountain torrents that rush into the valleys... I don't know how long it will last. If the rain is short, it's fine, but if it lasts a long time, even a moderate rain, let alone a torrential rain, will cause flooding."

Zhou Jingming looked at the small peninsula: "We can't be careless. We need to quickly move the water pump, chute, cart, and those tools that we were lazy about and didn't bring back, so they don't end up being washed into the river."

Especially water pumps; those things are not easy to get.

Peng Yuanchao turned around and went to the tent next to him: "Get up, everyone. It might rain heavily tonight. Come with me to move those things back so they don't get washed away by the water."

Some people were reluctant to get up: "Why bother in the middle of the night? How much rain can it possibly bring? Those diesel engines and water pumps are so heavy, they won't be able to wash it away."

"Damn it, it's not your stuff, of course you don't care... Get the hell up..."

Just then, a thunderclap boomed overhead, and a bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating the entire valley as bright as day.

After several more terrifying claps of thunder, a pattering sound came from the tent—the sound of raindrops, the sound of very large raindrops hitting the ground.

Seeing this, Peng Yuanchao became even more anxious: "Damn it, get up, all of you, do you hear me? Get up and move your things right now. It's going to rain heavily, and the small peninsula might be flooded."

The small peninsula also has many pebbles, which is enough to show that water once washed onto it.

He is now worried not only about the diesel engine, but also about whether the small peninsula, which has been dug into a large crater, will be washed away.

(End of this chapter)