My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 188 Fellow villagers are fellow villagers, but business is business.
The two men who arrived at the mine site were quite old; one was probably around fifty years old, while the other was young, around twenty years old. They looked somewhat similar in appearance and were likely father and son.

Zhou Jingming went up to them and asked directly, "I heard you came here to inquire about the mining site?"

"That's right. We came here last year to take a look, and we knew then that it was just your group panning for gold here."

This year I was thinking of coming earlier and also to identify a mining site in this river valley where few people come.

When we reached the hilltop diagonally opposite, we saw that people were already working below. We decided to look upstream, but when we saw any good mining sites, they were already marked with signs. So we went to ask the people below.

They said the signs were put up by your team, and that all the good mining sites in this valley have already been marked with signs. They also said they bought their mining sites from you, so I came up to ask how the mining sites are sold.

The middle-aged man said calmly, "If possible, we'd like to buy one too."

“Buying mining sites? That’s easy. I’ve already inspected the sand, estimated the grade, and predicted the gold that can be produced from all those sites with signs. It took quite a bit of effort.”

Zhou Jingming has always been very confident: "These are all good mining sites. No one has ever mined them before. There is no doubt about the gold yield. In any case, I am a fairly professional exploration technician."

“We’ve already heard about this from the group down there, and I trust your judgment on that point.”

"Since you're going to buy mining sites, I have to ask how many people you plan to hire. I don't mean anything by it, but these mining sites are different sizes, and my prices are different too. If you hire too few people, you won't be able to mine all the sites by the end of the year, and you'll have spent a high price, which isn't worth it."

If there are too many people, even if you buy small mining sites, it won't be enough to mine them all, so it won't work either.

So, let's ask about your basic information and match you with someone.

Zhou Jingming acted like he was running a business, providing excellent service.

Of course, this is under the condition that the two people did not resort to other means, but instead chose to come to their door to inquire and discuss.

If they continue to act shamelessly or bully others like those downstream people, there are naturally ways to deal with them in a shameless and domineering manner.

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "I have twenty-five people here."

"Twenty-five? Are you funding it or...?"

"I funded it myself!"

Zhou Jingming sized up the two men, somewhat surprised. The middle-aged man was more capable than he had imagined, able to gather a team of twenty-five people.

The reason for this question is that the different ways of laying down capital lead to different situations for gold mining teams.

Typically, if the person who initiated the investment is the leader, then during the distribution process, those closest to the leader will usually receive a larger share, while others will receive a smaller share.

Consequently, such teams tend to have slightly weaker cohesion.

If a group of people come together to contribute their initial investment and split the gold they find equally, such a team will be very united. If they encounter a situation where someone else seizes their mining site, the group will be willing to fight and struggle.

Such teams are often quite difficult to deal with.

For Zhou Jingming, the potential threat would be even greater.

Since these people weren't jointly investing, things became much easier. Zhou Jingming thought for a moment and said, "Upstream, there's a decent mining site... Look, it's getting late. To borrow a phrase, 'Guests from afar are honored,' so let's not rush to see it now. How about we stay at our mining site for the night, and I'll take you there first thing tomorrow morning? Once we see the details, we can discuss the money later."

The middle-aged man looked up at the sky and nodded in agreement.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.

While drinking with Li Hong, Zhou Jingming made a point of chatting with him and learned that they were indeed father and son. The father's name was Li Hong and the son's name was Li Aiming. They had been gold miners for three or four years.

However, instead of panning for gold in Altay, they stayed in Pangong Tso in northern Tibet, a place where the Nujiang River meets the sea, which has been an important gold-producing area since ancient times.

What really surprised Zhou Jingming was that the two men were from Qingchuan in Sichuan, making them fellow townsmen.

Zhou Jingming had been to Qingchuan in his previous life, and he wasn't surprised at all that gold prospectors had appeared there.

Because there were already gold prospectors in the Bailong River basin within Qingchuan County before the 1980s.

However, in previous years the economic environment did not allow for such opportunities, and many people were engaged in piecemeal work. It was not until the reform and opening up that more and more people began to seek their fortune.

It really took off around 1995 when a major energy project was being built – a hydroelectric power station. Qingchuan was to conduct a two-year intensive mining operation on the gold resources in the reservoir's inundation area, which sparked a gold mining frenzy in the area.

In that river valley, as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people panned for gold. Some people described the scene at that time as "a hundred-mile stretch of river that never sleeps, with thousands of carts and tens of thousands of people panning for gold."

Similar to the later management methods in Altay, Jiameng County, under the jurisdiction of Qingchuan, established a Gold Administration Bureau and set up a Gold Management Command Center for unified management.

Apart from the main Baishui Gold Mine, which is a state-owned enterprise, the scattered gold resources in the surrounding areas can be mined by individuals or partnerships, but a mining license is required.

During the two-year period of intensive excavation, several hundred permits were issued.

The most popular place was in the area around Dawancun Village in Shazhou, which was known as Jinheba at the time. Every day, there were at least several thousand, and sometimes tens of thousands, of people. All the famous "red dens" (communist strongholds) were protected by various kinds of guns and ammunition, even in the years when guns were banned. As soon as the authorities confiscated a batch, another batch would be discovered within a few days.

The so-called "red nest" refers to a mine with a relatively high gold yield.

Wherever there are people panning for gold, there is a more dangerous world for them.

Zhou Jingming had considered going there to get a share of the pie because it was close to his hometown, but after a thorough investigation, he found that it was not as good as Altay, so he gave up on that place.

Later, it was said that a bloody incident occurred, which the locals called the "Bloody Battle of Jinheba".

This shows just how crazy people can be for gold. Zhou Jingming casually mentioned the Baishui gold mine, but the two of them said they were from Dawan Village. However, the area there was strictly controlled. Later, they heard that there was gold in northern Tibet and no one cared, so they went there with a few others. They have worked hard for the past few years, endured a lot of hardship and danger, but they have managed to save up some money.

Last year, he heard people talking about Altay, which was gradually becoming popular. When gold panning in northern Tibet was impossible due to the weather, he came here specifically to take a look. He stumbled into Haxiong Valley by chance and discovered that there was gold. Apart from Zhou Jingming and his group, almost no one was panning for gold there. So this year, he immediately brought a group of people from his hometown, wanting to do something bigger.

The reason they came here and saw that the mining site was fenced off, and after doing some research, they went straight to find Zhou Jingming was because when they were panning for gold in Pangong Tso, they were paying other gold bosses to buy land to pan for gold. They were already familiar with this operation and didn't find it strange at all.

They never expected that the people who had set up mining sites here were also from Sichuan.

Seeing that they were a group of readily available "fellow villagers," Zhou Jingming had the idea of ​​recruiting them to work at the mine.

However, when Zhou Jingming hinted at this idea, Li Hong changed the subject and started talking about other things, as if he hadn't heard him.

Zhou Jingming knew that Li Hong had bigger ambitions; that meager salary wouldn't satisfy him, and he still wanted to lead his own people to work independently.

This is the method that experienced gold prospectors would choose, and Zhou Jingming did not force him.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, he asked Bai Zhishun to arrange for Li Hong and his son to stay in the dugout.

As dusk approached and Old Man Liu still hadn't returned, Zhou Jingming grew worried and frequently went outside the dugout to check on him.

Fortunately, as it was getting dark, we finally heard Jinwang's bark.

When Zhou Jingming went outside, he saw Old Liu carrying a yellow-haired wild boar weighing forty or fifty pounds back. He quickly went to meet him and took the boar from him, saying, "Grandpa, if you hadn't come back, I would have had to call some people to look for you."

"This time when we went into the mountains, we saw traces of wild boars in the ravines, and we followed them a bit too far."

"Don't go so far next time. When you feel it's about time, come back quickly. You're all alone out there without anyone to keep you company. If something happens, it will be hard to find you. Just treat hunting as something you do occasionally. Stay at the mine and help me guard it. Just wander around every day. As long as I have something to eat, you'll definitely get your share."

"It's okay, I know what I'm doing, I'm used to it..."

Old Liu smiled at Zhou Jingming: "What did you have for dinner tonight?"

"It's the same as always. I'll have Xiulan cook some meat especially for you, so you can have a good drink!"

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment, then worried that Old Man Liu, who had been out all day, might be too hungry to wait, so he specifically asked, "Can you wait?"

"You see, I seem like the kind of person who would let himself go hungry after going into the mountains. Hunters don't need to bring anything into the mountains, just a pinch of salt, and they're guaranteed not to go hungry. I've roasted a grouse in the mountains before... Take your time, no rush!"

Zhou Jingming nodded and hurriedly called out Su Xiulan, who had already returned to her dugout, crawled under the covers, and was flipping through magazines under the oil lamp, asking her to stir-fry some venison and make some soup for Old Man Liu.

As for alcohol, Zhou Jingming never restricted Old Liu after he came to Zhou Jingming's place, because he found that Old Liu seemed restless and even unable to sleep soundly without alcohol.

Zhou Jingming thought about his experiences and knew he must be carrying a heavy burden. He knew that he was probably using alcohol to numb himself, but this kind of thing couldn't be solved with just a few words of comfort.

He could only let things take their course, offering more care on a regular basis, but there didn't seem to be much else he could do.

The next morning, after Li Hong and his son had noodles with the others, Zhou Jingming led them to a mining site upstream, which was also a river bend.

Just because it's located upstream, the placer gold deposits in this river bend are of slightly better quality than those downstream, reaching around five percent.

It's a section of about forty or fifty meters.

Zhou Jingming introduced the specific situation and the mineralization area.

Li Hong immediately instructed his son to dig a pit to test the sand. After peeling back the top layer of grass, which was more than a foot deep, they could see the gold-bearing gravel layer underneath. The gold that came out after panning proved that this was a good mining site.

The father and son seemed very happy.

"This is the place we need. With over twenty people here, and the sand layer being this thick, it should be enough to work for a season."

Li Hong rubbed his hands together and handed Zhou Jingming a cigarette: "Brother, how much do you want?"

"I don't want money, I want gold!"

As far as I can remember, the market price of gold will continue to rise by the end of this year. It's more worthwhile to have gold than money: "I don't need much from you. Just give me two kilograms of gold from this mine."

Two kilograms?

Li Hong's eyes widened suddenly: "Isn't that too much? The mine down there only needs one kilogram."

"This rich mine is unmatched by any other mine down there. With your group of over twenty people, it would take you less than a month to get these two kilograms of gold, given the gold yield here."

If you think you're ordering too much, I can go downstairs and pick out a cheaper one for you.

"We're from the same hometown, can't you give me a discount?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm only asking for two kilograms of gold because we're from the same hometown. I could easily keep such a good mine and mine slowly next year... Besides, being from the same hometown is one thing, but business is another. The people in my team come from different places. If someone comes to buy the mine in the future and tries to curry favor with me, what am I supposed to do?"
There's another reason I'm giving you a discount: you came directly to discuss it with me, instead of resorting to underhanded tactics... So, do you want it or not?

Li Hong pondered for a moment and said, "Fine... I'll give you two kilograms of gold, just like you said. But we'll have to wait until we pan them out."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "Let me make this clear: send the gold as soon as you have enough within a month. I can take it back at any time before the gold is settled. Once the gold is settled, the mine will belong to you and will have nothing to do with me anymore. I will not try to take over the mine again, but I can't control what happens in the future. Since we are from the same hometown, let's be more sincere and not resort to any dirty tricks!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hong paused for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)