A small sapphire can be sold for 200 taels of silver in Beijing, 50 or 60 silver dollars in Naha, and around 150 taels in Jiangnan, but only two in Sri Lanka. The deal can be done with silver coins. Tianlai novels www. ⒉
This problem troubled everyone present. There was a huge profit gap, bigger than the arms trade. Xiao Letian was very interested and decided to take a look at this industry in person.
The British opened the road, and natives from many villages along the way were recruited to help build the road. Finally, a team of elephants was even brought in. Xiao Letian and the others rode on them and had a wide view.
Perhaps the British deliberately spread the news along the way. From time to time, local chiefs would bring out some high-quality gems for guests to buy.
Only then did Xiao Letian realize that the title of Gem Island was indeed well-deserved. Before he even arrived at the mining area, Xiao Letian spent a thousand silver dollars to buy a pair of pink sapphires as big as pigeon eggs.
You heard it right, it’s a pink sapphire. Xiao Letian had heard of the existence of this kind of gem before but never had the opportunity to see it. Even if he did, he couldn’t afford it.
The so-called sapphire is a general term for corundum gemstones. Most of them are blue, but that does not mean that there are no other colors. This pink one is a very rare one. It is not easy to successfully match such a large one.
Xiao Letian decided to go to Europe to ask top craftsmen to design one for each of his two daughters-in-law.
Riding on an elephant is very leisurely. There are many streams where elephants flow directly. Even crocodiles in the distance do not dare to provoke these behemoths.
Soon a large open land appeared at the far intersection. A small river ran through the open land. Outside the simple village were countless rice fields, and in the middle of the rice fields there were many square shafts supported by logs. Black children were shaking the windlass beside them. , a big bucket goes up and down.
"This is a gem mine. It's full of water and mud below. It's too dirty. Let's watch it from the back of an elephant..." The guide roared in native language, and all the workers next to the shafts knelt and kowtowed in the muddy water.
Zai Chun was shocked when he saw it, "Is this a gem mine? Why is it in the rice fields? Isn't it all mud? Shouldn't it be in a cave?" Maybe Zai Chun thought that all mineral deposits that need to be excavated must be in caves. Digging.
Jason said, "Dear Your Majesty, this is how the gems are mined here. The gems are hidden in the thick layer of clay. The locals dig a vertical shaft on the ground, which is more than five meters deep, support it with wood, and then dig it horizontally. Those clays, those clays brought up by the windlass have to be sent to the river to be washed..."
"The clay will spread out when it encounters water, while the stones will be retained by the bamboo basket, and the gems will be sifted out from those stones!"
Xiao Letian had watched a documentary about Sri Lanka's scenery before. He nodded, "Yes, the entire island of Sri Lanka is a huge mountain protruding from the bottom of the sea, and gems are all caused by volcanoes and geological movements. When After the rock was broken, the gems were scattered on the ground..."
"After tens of millions of years, the humus buried the gems, forming a thick layer of clay gems..."
Xiao Letian almost threw out the theory of continental drift and quickly shut up. But just like that, Jason and others were stunned. "Oh God, Yuan, you also study geology? This is really a strange thing." I don’t know where the research comes from?”
How could Xiao Letian dare to continue this conversation? He quickly changed the subject, "Look...why is this mine full of water?"
The locals were puzzled and said, "Of course there is water. It is rainy here, and the clay layer has rich water content. There must be water if you dig..."
In the eyes of everyone, three workers soaked in waist-deep dirty water in a five-meter-deep shaft were looking at the big man above their heads with horrified eyes.
You are five meters above, sitting on the back of a sacred elephant, and I am five meters below, soaking in dirty muddy water. Two people who didn't belong to the same world suddenly met at this moment.
"Don't they get sick if they stay in the water for such a long time?" Xiao Letian asked.
The local guide shrugged, "Sick? It seems that few of these people can live beyond the age of 35... But this is their life, isn't that what untouchables are like?"
As he spoke, the guide shouted loudly in native language down the shaft, and the people inside shrank and didn't know what to answer. Then the guide smiled flatteringly at Xiao Letian and said, "Dear Prime Minister, I have asked, one of them is eighteen years old, one is twenty-one years old, and the oldest one is twenty-five years old..."
ah? Xiao Letian and others were in an uproar, "Are you so young? Why do they all look like they are in their forties..."
Xiao Letian couldn't bear to watch anymore. At this time, he even felt that the pink diamond in his pocket was bleeding. These gems were all exchanged for human lives.
"Zaichun, Shangtai... now you understand why the gems here are so cheap? They were originally treasures gifted by nature, but they were dug out by these slave-like untouchables with their lives. In fact, there is no cost at all. I'm right, right?" …”
Xiao Letian looked at Jason, but Jason couldn't understand the compassion in Xiao Letian's words. "Isn't this their life? It has been like this for thousands of years. Who can change it?"
Xiao Letian smiled bitterly and shook his head. "General Jason, if I want to invest in a jewelry production and sales company here, can the governor of the colony provide me with a license?"
"This..." Jason suddenly became embarrassed. There was no answer to this question. "Haha, hahaha... Dear Yuan, you are so good at joking. Your status is so noble that you belong to the world's top politicians. You should not Are you short of money?"
"As for things like opening a company, I am a soldier and I don't understand. Hahaha, let's go back to the city. There will be a dinner in Galle Castle. It is absolutely Indian style..."
Xiao Letian stopped asking questions. He had already got the answer he wanted. This was the face of European colonists. They were completely predatory. They would not invest a little bit in the colonies. They would not make any money from their investment. Won't come out.
There are more than thirty shafts like this in this mining area, and a lot of gems are produced every year, but these greedy guys can't even build a road.
Let alone road construction, look at these short-lived workers. They may become ill with diseases as soon as they reach the age of twenty. After being soaked in dirty water and digging clay all year round, every one of them will definitely suffer from severe rheumatism.
Although these people have mined endless wealth, the sales channels for gemstones are firmly in the hands of Europeans. Maybe tourists and businessmen buy a dozen gemstones to play with themselves, but no one cares.
But as long as you dare to participate in the gem trade on a large scale and form a company for trading, you will immediately be attacked by the colonists, and you will not even be able to get a license.
A gem with two silver coins can be converted into fifty or sixty silver coins in Naha through monopoly trade, and can fetch a high price of two hundred taels in Jiangnan and the capital.
The root cause of all this is that the Europeans have blocked the source of upstream shipments.
Xiao Letian sighed, "Come here! Give each of these miners three silver coins as a reward from me... Tell them later to plant more peppers, it will be good for their health!"
There was only so much he could help, and Xiao Letian didn't even dare to reward him with more money, because he knew that if he gave more money, it wouldn't reach the hands of the miners.
"Let's go back to Galle!"
