My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 123 Yingjisha's Knife
Zhou Jingming actually knew that with the current way gold was distributed, he wouldn't be able to make a fortune.

In his view, to make a fortune by panning for gold these days, one must meet several conditions: find good gold deposits, be able to guard the mine, be able to pan for gold in the most efficient way, and be able to weigh the distribution of gold.

Finding good seedlings is something Zhou Jingming can handle himself; it's not a big problem for him.

The most efficient way to pan for gold, besides manual labor, is undoubtedly the use of machinery. Unfortunately, these days, the cheapest option is still labor. Even if machinery could be used, there are many restrictions on buying oil. It's too early to consider it now. It would be good enough if we could use water pumps to wash the ore and winches to transport it.

Even years later, when those big bosses who have successfully affiliated themselves with state-owned enterprises move their excavators, crushers, and other machinery into the mountains, they still prefer to use manual labor because the cost of using manpower is much lower than that of using machinery.

As for defending the mining site, what's needed is a reliable team. This is why he always emphasizes the importance of having a good reputation. If you are a good person and do things right, everyone can make money, and you will naturally gain support. A well-supported foreman or boss can often have a large number of people fighting for him with just a call to action.

Putting aside everything else, you'll be much safer yourself.

The most important point is the distribution of gold.

To put it simply, distributing gold is the same as paying wages.

Nowadays, when gold panning teams go into the mountains, some of them share the initial investment, and the gold they find is split equally.

In some cases, someone takes the lead, meaning the gold boss contributes the initial capital. When it's time to distribute the gold, the gold boss gets a larger share, while the rest of the gold is divided equally.

Just like the team Peng Yuanchao assembled, this is the current gold-dividing model.

There are also some bosses who invest their own money, support a group of people, and pay them money regularly without sharing any gold.

In Zhou Jingming's view, distributing money without sharing gold is the most reasonable approach and is actually the future trend.

In particular, Zhou Jingming was clear about the future trend of gold prices and knew that hoarding gold was the easiest way to accumulate wealth these days. No matter how much it rose or fell, it was the most reliable way, as it fluctuated with prices, unlike money, which would become less and less valuable.

However, this requires a larger initial investment. The more people you employ, the more working capital you need each month. In addition, there are various expenses to cover.

What he lacks is money, and he is temporarily unable to operate, so he can only choose to join Peng Yuanchao's team first.

Initially, the distribution of gold was written into the agreement. When Li Guozhu joined the team, he made minor adjustments to the gold distribution, which was quite good as it didn't encounter any opposition from the others.

Zhou Jingming had considered paying with cash, but he knew better than anyone that those who came to pan for gold weren't stupid and would never agree to it.

This is just a transition period for him. When he forms his team, everything will start over, and he will do it his way.

Anyway, the gold rush is getting stronger and stronger, and there is no shortage of manpower. Zhou Jingming only needs to ensure reasonable wages and provide the gold miners with the greatest possible stability.

Before he could do this, he had to accumulate as much gold as possible, convert it into money, and use it as capital to try and gain even greater wealth.

If he wanted to accumulate more gold, he would inevitably have to resort to "crooked methods".

On the other hand, once you get to the Gold Rush Valley, if you don't fight and compete, when will you ever get ahead?

When Zhou Jingming rested against the birch tree, these were the things that occupied his mind most of the time.

He was proceeding step by step according to his plan.

So far, things seem to be going well; at least, we're accumulating more and more gold.

Even he himself felt that it was shameless of him to want to be a prostitute while also trying to maintain a virtuous image.

However, once you have enough power, then shamelessness is also acceptable.

For the next ten days or so, the Chagou River Valley was unusually quiet. No one was seen scouting or spying along the riverbank, and no fighting was heard of any groups.

Everyone is busy with their own things. Up and down the river, what you see every day is the busy activity at various mining sites.

At the small peninsula mining site, a routine has gradually formed: every ten days or so, everyone is given a day off.

High-intensity work offers no relief; it only leads to increasing fatigue and decreased efficiency.

Although they were a group of rough men, their clothes still needed to be washed, and their buttocks, which were exposed when their pants were worn through, always needed to be mended and covered up.

Most importantly, the daily meals of rice, steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and salted tea are usually not enough and need to be improved to change things up.

Previously, Peng Yuanchao had always been responsible for the food expenses, but now that everyone has found more gold, they had already discussed and decided to share the cost.

It's unreasonable to always let Peng Yuanchao shoulder the burden alone; he can't handle it all by himself.

The team now is not the same as before; it has twenty-eight members.

During this break, Li Guozhu led a few people out early in the morning.

I'm going to the place where locals sell supplies to get some food.

Although their prices are much higher than elsewhere, the journey to the nearest town or city takes three or four days, which is too much of a hassle, so I still choose to buy from them.

He went and returned the same day, and the food he brought back was ready to eat that same day. Zhou Jingming was determined to be a miser, continuing his stingy style.

Of course, he didn't contribute a single penny, and with his current prestige, no one would say anything.

After returning from training in the woods with Wu Yang in the morning, he went back to his tent for a nap while it was still cool.

When the sun was high in the sky, the tent became stuffy and uncomfortable. He found some scraps of cloth, borrowed a needle and thread from Xu Youliang, and mended his trousers.

Others were better off, but he and Wu Yang spent every day in the shallow water of the riverbank, sitting on pebbles and shaking their golden buckets. Their buttocks were the most prone to wear and tear.

Therefore, it was common to see the two people's red underwear swaying back and forth through the two holes in their buttocks.

Doing this kind of work, even jeans, let alone ordinary pants, wouldn't last long before they're worn out.

After mending the pants, it was time for lunch.

Wang Dong is a good cook, so now we ask him to cook almost every day around mealtimes.

If it were someone else, they would either dryly cook a big pot of rice or make a bunch of steamed buns, but Wang Dong can also make delicious ramen.

Even though it's just a simple soup, when paired with wild onions and garlic picked from the mountains, it always makes for a very satisfying meal.

For example, today, Zhou Jingming ate two big bowls of ramen and was extremely satisfied.

After resting for a while, he went to the river to soak in the water as usual, grabbed some mud and sand to wash his body, and then rinsed his clothes. Otherwise, he always felt sticky and uncomfortable, and there was that sour smell that even he himself found unpleasant.

Having been away from the mountains for quite some time, Zhou Jingming was a far cry from the man he once was when he walked out of the geological team's gate. His hair, pulled down to cover his mouth, was unkempt, and his clothes were tattered. He was even less clean and efficient than the other gold prospectors who took the opportunity to follow Peng Yuanchao out to buy diesel and find women.

He looked exactly like a wild man.

While soaking in the river, he looked at his reflection on the water and couldn't help but ask himself, "With this kind of appearance, I'm afraid even if I went to find a woman, she would look down on me."

So when Wu Yang also went to the river to take a bath, he took the opportunity to say, "Brother, how about you do me a favor?"

As Wu Yang took off his clothes, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I have a knife in my pocket, and I'd like you to help me fix my hair; it's getting in the way!"

"I don't know how to cut hair!"

"It's okay, just cut it shorter!"
"Don't blame me if you make a mess of it!"

"No wonder!"

Given the current circumstances, the only option is to cut it.

Since Zhou Jingming didn't mind, Wu Yang naturally had nothing to say.

When he took the small knife from the scabbard on Zhou Jingming's belt, he liked it: "Brother Zhou, where did you get this knife? It's so beautiful!"

This knife has an exquisite design, beautiful patterns, and a sharp blade.

"When I was in the geological team, I specially got a car leaf spring and asked a friend to take it back to his hometown and have it made for me. It was made by a master craftsman. You know, not all knife makers can be called master craftsmen. In this region, there are very few people who are qualified to be called master craftsmen. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a top-quality Yengisar knife."

"Yingjisha knife?"

"You don't know... That's right, since you've come to the Northern Frontier, you haven't had a chance to explore properly, so you don't know much about this place."

On this side of the border, there are four famous knives: the Yingjisha knife, the Yili Shamusak folding knife, the Yanqi Chenzheng set of knives, and the Shache Maimaiti folding knife.

In a sense, the Yingjisha knife is a work of art, so of course it's beautiful.

Since it was just casual conversation, and the topic of knives came up, Zhou Jingming casually told him about the local customs and culture of the region.

Historically, most ethnic minorities in northern Xinjiang were martial and fond of knives. They were mostly nomadic and their main food source was beef and mutton. Slaughtering cattle and sheep or cutting meat into pieces required appropriate knives, and the Yingjisha knife had just that function.

Because of its practical and decorative functions, the Yingjisha knife has always been associated with families who love their homes and those who are wealthy.

They used this small knife as a tool for daily life and production, carrying it with them at all times.

It can be used for everything: cutting melons, chopping meat, whittling wood, and peeling skin.

Especially among herders, almost everyone has one.

Of course, Zhou Jingming simply liked it, and since he knew a master knife-forging master among his friends, he specially sought out materials to make one.

(End of this chapter)