Chapter 6 Lijia Iron Sand Mine

It was a blazing summer day, and the scorching heat wave had scorched the earth so soft that it was so hot that thousands of creatures seemed to have fallen into the furnace.

Everyone knows that when the weather is very hot, you should find a shady place to rest in the shade to avoid heat stroke. This is human nature, no one will go against the scorching sun overhead, let themselves be in the hot summer, as violent as the sun.

But often a large number of people don't think so, because if they don't work, they have nothing to eat, and life is not easy, so they have to fight against the sky, the earth, people, and even themselves.

Kind and loyal people will not hesitate to work hard, endure the harm that comes and goes, and continue to fight for their lives. On the contrary, more people are proud of their idealized life on the premise of hurting others and seeking self-interest, and the suffering of others has nothing to do with themselves, everyone's life is different, and they deserve to be unlucky.

Wang Baoshan is the former, he was brought here for no reason, and every day before dawn he was driven to work by people with whips like cattle. Together with hundreds of miners, they chiseled mountains and gravel and carried iron sand ore.

Now, under the scorching sun, a large bamboo basket more than half a person high, from the dim hole, filled with a basket of iron sand ore, and then carried to the designated place outside the cave and poured it out. The constant reciprocal movement almost exhausted him half to death, but he didn't dare to stop and rest. He knew that if he neglected a little, he would be whipped and beaten, and it would be miserable.

For him, every day is a kind of torture, physically and mentally, ruthlessly ravaged by this and that kind of ordeal. Even after a long time, people become numb, and they can't help but feel that life is a kind of pain!

"Smack... Smack..."

A few whips for no reason made his heart tremble, like being bitten by a poisonous snake.

In the rubble pile not far from him, a bloody figure was lying. The man's clothes were in tatters, he couldn't distinguish the colors, and his whole body was as filthy as if he had crawled out of the mud. Now he lay motionless in the rubble, like a broken sack, and let the merciless whip whipped his back until the skin was fleshy and bloody.

The man who kept beating him with a whip was one of the stewards of the mine, nicknamed Monkey Three, and he was a bald little man. Due to the scorching sun in the sky, the heat was unbearable, and at this moment he was shirtless, and his body was sweating. The whip was waved and waved, and gradually lost its strength, so he stopped, touched the sweat on his face, and spat thick phlegm on the body of the man on the ground, and cursed with his mouth still dry.

"Look at how dare you be lazy... I can't beat you to death......"

The people working around seemed to be accustomed to this, and they were doing their own work, and they did not dare to come out, for fear of being beaten.

Monkey San saw that the miners who were a little lazy just now were a little more honest at the moment, and their work was also quick, and he couldn't help but be proud in his heart. He walked to the pergola at the edge of the mine, poured a big mouthful of water, and then said to the steward next to him: "Steward Li, have you seen it, these lazy insects should be beaten with a whip before they can work honestly, otherwise they will be as lazy as the damn ......."

The manager Li next to him is different from him, he is dressed neatly and neatly, he is holding a fan in one hand to fan the wind and enjoy the coolness, and a small purple sand pot in the other, drinking herbal tea.

Monkey San knew that this Li steward was different from these stewards, he was a relational of the old man's family in the mine, and he had a high status in this mine, which was an existence that he could not despise. So just now, he intended to behave in front of this Steward Li.

"Monkey Three, I see that mine slave has been killed by you, how can this be good? Now that the weather is hot, the number of mine slaves working in this mine has decreased a little... If there is not enough manpower, resulting in the work not being completed, Master Li will blame it, who will dare to take responsibility..."Steward Li drank tea leisurely, and picked the monkey three with his eyes. Although the words seemed to be blaming, there was no displeasure on his face.

This monkey is also a shrewd person, he didn't know the meaning of these words, and hurriedly spoke: "Steward Li, I just brought a jar of good green leaf wine to the city yesterday, why don't you drink a glass in the evening, and then I'll go to the room to get a roast chicken, and order the snacks on the hour... I'll deal with it for the time being today, and when I have free time one day, I'll invite you to go to Xicheng Spring Pavilion to have a good drink, wouldn't it be happy..."

"You are also a person with a heart!" Steward Li had better be greedy for a cup, and when he heard that Monkey San was going to invite himself to drink, he couldn't stop smacking his tongue and nodding.

Seeing that he was happy, Monkey San was also overjoyed, and hurriedly called two minions, and while instructing them to carry the mine slave who was killed by him to the back mountain and throw away the matter, he accompanied Steward Li to brag about it.

Wang Baoshan, who was in the distance, watched the mine slave being dragged away and thrown to the back mountain like a dead dog, and felt sad for a while. How can a living person not be sad that he was beaten to death on the spot like this, not for hatred or money, but for the sake of the face of some people?

Looking back on the life of chopping wood in the past, although it was difficult and difficult, it was very different from the current situation. Fortunately, there was no one to call him to work with a whip, and he could rest when he was tired, and he could find something to eat when he was hungry.

But now it's like falling into hell, except for working is working, and you can't stop until it's dark. There are also rules in the mine that if you don't work hard during the day, you will be lazy and slippery, and you will not behave well, and you will not have anything to eat at night. Therefore, for the sake of the hard-won rations, the miners had to work hard, otherwise they would have no strength to work the next day and would be whipped.

Of course, those who perform well and work more will be rewarded with more food. Under the temptation of food, Wang Baoshan had no choice but to mechanically carry the iron sand ore, let the sweat soak those wounds that had not yet healed, endure the hot pain around him, and gritted his teeth to persevere.

I finally stayed up until it was dark, and the day's hard work was over. Hundreds of miners were driven by the stewards' minions into a earthen castle enclosed by earthen walls, with shacks made of thatch and wood. When passing through the vacant square in the middle, someone will give them food, and each person will receive his own black-faced nest head more or less according to his performance during the day.

Wang Baoshan performed well today, and the manager was very satisfied with him, so he gave him an extra fist-sized black nest head, so he had a total of three black nest heads to fill his stomach, which made him sad and a little relieved.

Holding his hard-won three nests, he returned to the thatched hut where he had spent the night. There was a lot of chaos inside, and there were already a lot of people crowded at this time, some of them ate the black noodles that were exchanged for blood and sweat, and some could only stare dryly, or go to the water tank in front of the shack to pour some water, so that the stomach that has been empty for a day can also feel the fullness of being filled.

Although the miners were short of food, they could manage enough water, and in front of each thatched hut, there was a large water tank that they could drink enough for themselves.

Wang Baoshan also went to drink some water, and his throat, which had been dry for a day, was also moisturized, otherwise he would choke to death if he ate the nest. When he gnawed on the somewhat hard black face nest and wondered if he would leave a pad for his stomach when he woke up tomorrow, he found that two pairs of straight eyes were looking at him.

That's exactly what happened to him, Sanpi and Du Xiaosan, who came here on the same day. I saw that the two of them had obviously lost weight, it was not an exaggeration to say that they were withered, their clothes were even more tattered, and the new injuries on their bodies were added to the old ones, so they were not miserable. At this moment, he is looking at Wang Baoshan, his stomach may have been filled with a lot of water, and there is a bit of a rattling sound when he moves.

"You didn't get a nest today?"

Sanpi and Du Xiaosan nodded hurriedly when they heard this, and the two of them were also happy in their hearts, thinking that today's food could be regarded as a success, but they were a little embarrassed on their faces.

"You work honestly, and you will have something to eat..."Wang Baoshan looked at their miserable appearance, and he couldn't help it. Picked up the fist-sized nest head, split it in half, and handed it over.

"It's not that I don't work hard, it's true that I don't have the strength..."Du Xiaosan said while gnawing on his nest head.

"Yes, Brother Baoshan, I can't eat enough every day, how can I have the strength to work, I can't do my work well, and I don't have anything to eat, if I go on like this, I can still stand it..."

"It's because if you don't work well, you won't have anything to eat, so you have to work hard... Otherwise, it will definitely not work like this, and you can't always rely on me for help,"

"Brother Baoshan is right, but it's not a matter if it goes on like this, we can't throw our lives here!" Sanpi looked miserable, and his eyes showed an unwilling light.

At this time, an old mine slave next to him listened to Sanpi's words, and said sarcastically: "Why, you still want to escape? Let me tell you, this place is surrounded by an earthen wall, and there are thugs in charge everywhere, and it is even more difficult to escape than to ascend to the sky..."

"Then we just accept our fate?" Sanpi was not a person who accepted his fate, his life was bumpy, and he never refused to bow to fate. Although life was difficult in the past, it was never as tormented and sad as it is now, and of course I wanted to break free.

"Don't accept your fate, boy, even if you escape, you can go there. To tell you the truth, I was the one who escaped, and I managed to escape in the middle of the night, but I was caught back......

"You won't run away and hide, why did they catch it again" Sanpi was also a little surprised, since this mine slave escaped, how could he be caught again.

"How long can you hide, and where can you hide...... I thought that when I escaped, I was afraid of being caught, and I had the slave marks of the Li family on my body, so I didn't dare to go to the city, for fear of being encountered by the guards patrolling the streets of the city, so I had to flee to the countryside and find my distant relative's house to avoid trouble. Later, in desperation, I had to flee to other states and counties to make a living. But when I arrived at Huangjiang City with great difficulty, I was stopped by the guards guarding the city gate, escorted back to Guanping City, and was severely beaten and sent back here... The officials of the dog day protect each other, and don't treat us as human beings...... "The mine slave looks not young, and when it comes to emotion, he can't help but cry, and his words are full of grief and indignation.

When Wang Baoshan and the others listened to the words of the mine slave, they were also sad and indignant and lamented.

"According to what you say, even if we escape, it's useless, we will all be caught, and the official family is also an accomplice?" Du Xiaosan has always been silent, seeing that this mine slave has been in this mine for a long time, his words must be true, and he can't help but be frightened.

The old mine slave touched his tears, softened his emotions a little, and then said: "Actually, there are also those who escaped and were not caught, they either died, or raised money to find a relationship to buy themselves." Otherwise, it is to enter a cottage, fall into the grass, and ask for a place to live. Anyone who becomes a robber is also a great crime of killing his head, and he is scolded by others, and the official law is not tolerated... That's why it's hard to find a way to live!"

"That's not forced to be helpless, who doesn't want to live in peace......" Sanpi's heart was also moved when he heard it, he was a person with a lively mind. I thought that if I could escape, it would be good to go up the mountain and enter Zizhai to be a bandit, it would be better than working hard here.

He knew everything, there was nothing else, and he was not afraid of being ridiculed and scolded by others, as long as he could escape with his life, he couldn't care so much, and immediately began to think about how to escape.