The elder of the second clan frowned. He did not doubt that Qiu Wu could let Li Qingque trick Ye Qing into the mining area. But he was worried that the few precious gems he had collected had been hacked by Qiu Wu.
Unlike the Benglong tribe, the Lisu tribe has a strong power structure. Instead, they form alliances in the form of villages and jointly elect highly respected people as clan elders.
While helping the clan leader to divide the mining area, the clan elder is also responsible for helping the Benglong Elders Association to collect taxes and sell prohibited goods. He has no actual control over the clan members.
And the reason why he was able to gather these village leaders was because these leaders were his distributors of prohibited goods, grasshoppers tied to a rope with him.
However, when gems worth hundreds of millions are given to Qiu Wu for safekeeping, who can guarantee that he will not take the gems and walk away.
He turned to look at Lacuo, the old mu from the three clans: "You take the gems and go with Qiu Wu."
Two days later, the sky became bright and drizzling.
Wang Xue drove towards the mining area in the direction pointed by the co-pilot Mu Ling.
Ye Qing squinted his eyes and sat lazily in the back seat, next to Princess Jinsha in a long dress.
Mu Ling looked back at him: "Are you not afraid at all?"
Ye Qing didn't even open his eyes: "Since I came to northern Myanmar, I have been dealing with death every day, just like you. Besides, I am also traveling with the Kachin Princess. Even if she loses a hair, old Sangji will let her go." The Lisu people paid a heavy price."
Mu Ling looked at Princess Jinsha: "Ye Qing used you as a shield, don't you hate him?"
"The main subjects of copper and gold mining are the Kachin and Benglong tribes, and Ye Qing is just a buyer." Princess Jinsha said calmly: "As one of the partners, I should also meet the Lisu tribe leader."
The car bumped along the rugged mountain road, and Princess Jinsha's soft body was nestled in Ye Qing's arms. But outside the window are mines dozens of meters deep one after another.
The bottom of the pit has been filled with water, and there is a small platform halfway up the pit wall. Several Lisu miners use a water pump to wash away the red mud pit wall.
"This is mining gems. Rinse the mud with water and the gems will be separated from the mud." Mu Ling introduced softly: "I heard from my father that in the past, you could dig out a few gems from any pit. But now a mine pit There are not many valuable gems produced in it. But the walls of the pit are in danger of collapsing at any time."
Wang Xue drove calmly and asked casually: "You know the danger, why are you still mining in the rain?"
Mu Ling said frankly: "In order to eat, if you dig out gems, you have to split it 50-50 with the mine owner. If you can't find gems, the mine owner still has to take care of the food. Although it's just white rice and salted radish, it's free. "
"The mine owner and the miner split the money 50-50, whether they give money or gems."
"Money or opium."
Wang Xue looked at her in astonishment: "I can't even eat enough, why should I switch to opium?"
Mu Ling said sadly: "Because only opium can cure the miners' fatigue and pain. Only opium can make them sleep peacefully."
Wang Xue was silent.
Ye Qing didn't say anything, but silently hugged Princess Jinsha's waist.
Princess Jinsha said softly: "Smoking opium in the mining area is not because of the pleasure it brings, but to relieve the pain of the body after overwork."
Ye Qing nodded: "I know that when people refined opium, they used it as medicine, but later generations took the wrong path."
Mu Ling glanced at him in surprise: "Nowadays, Lisu wizards still use opium as a good medicine to treat headaches, dizziness, deafness, cough, hemoptysis, leprosy, and even against poisons and mosquito bites."
Ye Qing smiled: "You have no choice but to use opium as a good medicine, because you have no medical conditions at all, and even the hospital in Mogok is not open to you.
It is precisely because of this that I went after Mu Jiaqi but let Zhu Longmei go, because I just didn't want to get things done. "
Mu Ling looked at him in surprise: "I didn't expect you to be a reasonable person."
Princess Jinsha burst into laughter.
Even Wang Xue, who looked serious, smiled.
Ye Qing was a little embarrassed and wiped his face: "I try to persuade others with virtue."
Mu Ling and Princess Jinsha have never heard of this joke.
Wang Xue couldn't hold back her laughter: "My method of convincing people with virtue is that if you can't reason with others, use your fists to reason with them."
Mu Ling and Princess Jinsha sweated, it turned out that such a person convinced others with virtue.
Mu Ling continued to ask: "Can you really treat us Lili people kindly?"
Ye Qing nodded affirmatively: "I will provide housing, medical care, and even the food will be much better than the food provided by the mine owner, at least there will be meat in every meal.
You can rest assured about this, because we are not only mining gold mines, but also copper mines when the time comes, which requires a large number of Lisu people as miners.
Of course, the remuneration we pay is the same as the owner of the gem mine. The gold collected is 50/50. However, we need to collect all the gold and give you money or materials, but we do not sell prohibited items... "
Mu Ling nodded, she also knew that Ye Qing came to northern Myanmar not to be a savior, but to make a fortune. Moreover, the conditions he offered were already very generous.
Wang Xue curled her lips. If it were not in northern Myanmar but in China, the conditions offered by the young master would not even be able to find a single worker.
It can only be said that the cruel living conditions have limited the imagination of the wood spirit.
After driving for more than two hours, the car stopped in front of a bamboo strip house.
Bamboo strip house, also called thousand-foot floor-to-ceiling house, is constructed by first erecting dozens of wooden piles on the slope, covering the wooden piles with wooden planks, and surrounding them with bamboo strip fences and covering with thatch or wooden planks.
The first room upon entering is the guest room. There is a large fire pit in the center of the room, with an iron triangle or three stones placed on it as a support when cooking. Guests always sit around the fire pit. The second and third rooms are the master's bedrooms, and underneath the bamboo strip room are usually used as livestock stables.
The vehicle was stable, and Mu Ling invited everyone to get out of the car.
Ye Qing and Princess Jinsha got out of the car, but Wang Xue sat still. When they came to a strange place, she had to ensure the safety of the vehicle first.
Princess Jinsha is not interested in the living environment of the Lisu people. In fact, the Kachin people, who are accustomed to mountain warfare, have similar living conditions to them, and the war period was even more difficult.
Ye Qing looked at the nearby mining area. There were many unique bamboo strip houses. In front of the room, there were children running and women and children working. Although there were guards patrolling with guns and knives, there was no tense situation. Otherwise, there would be no one nearby. Old people and children will appear.
His anxious heart finally calmed down.
Several Lisu guards on patrol saw the car stop and ran over quickly. When they saw Mu Ling, they showed expressions of surprise and joy.
Mu Ling said a few words in the language of the Lisu people. A guard pointed to the bamboo strip room. Then she turned back and said with a smile: "Abba has been waiting for a long time."
