Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Copper Mine of Gangshan

Near dusk, Wang Baoshan took He Dadou and his personal retinue Liu Qing to hide in the bushes and weeds next to a mountain road, depending on what was waiting for.

At this time, the three of them had changed into tattered clothes, and smeared some dust and dirt on their faces, looking like mine slaves.

"Let's go! It's getting dark, don't bother with Lao Tzu..."

"Smack..."

After a short while, in the distance on the mountain road, there was the sound of shouting and whipping.

A group of mine slaves pulling empty carts were whipped with leather whips by several vicious men and came to Wang Baoshan's side.

When He Dadou saw this scene, he couldn't help but recall his tragic memories, and almost wanted to rush out. Fortunately, he was stopped by Wang Baoshan and quietly persuaded him in his ear. Let him do everything according to the plan, and don't be reckless, or it will be a big deal.

When He Dadou heard this, he had to give up. But when he looked at the thugs of the Li family and whipped those miners, he was extremely angry in his heart, and his eyes were about to erupt with fire. It must have been the enemy who met and was very red-eyed, but for the sake of the overall situation, he had to endure it.

When the convoy came to the front, a large tree fell in the middle of the mountain road, just in time to stop them.

The thugs of the Li family couldn't help but shout and curse when they saw the big tree blocking the way. Just when they stepped forward to inspect the fallen tree, Wang Baoshan, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed out first, and came to the side of a big cart in an unnoticeable place, which mine slaves were mixed in.

Liu Qing and He Dadou also took advantage of the emptiness and mixed in.

The thugs shouted and cursed, and a few miners stepped forward, picked up the big tree, and threw it into the ditch beside the mountain road. He raised his whip again, drove the miners, and continued to walk.

Wang Baoshan was mixed in the mine slaves, and glanced at He Dadou from time to time, afraid that he would not be able to suppress his anger and do something that would affect the plan. But seeing that Liu Qing had been staying around He Dadou, he was relieved.

Speaking of this plan, he proposed it himself, and the three of them first lurked in the Li family's copper mine, waited for the opportunity, broke through the defense, and then notified Qiao Lanyi and the others who were waiting outside, so that they could cooperate with the outside and fight a beautiful battle.

Since it is latent, it is not suitable for many people, otherwise it will cause unnecessary trouble. Wang Baoshan and Liu Qing both have the slave marks of the Li family on their bodies, so it is easier to disguise themselves as mining slaves. And He Dadou stayed in the copper mine for a few months and was familiar with the environment inside, so he took him with him.

The soldier ghost said, Wang Baoshan could come up with this dangerous trick, which surprised Qiao Lanyi. But for a while, she couldn't find other suitable people, so she had to agree to the three of them.

And the more than 100 soldiers, as soon as they heard that Wang Baoshan was willing to risk their lives to do that fateful deed in order for them to avoid major casualties, they were very moved one by one, and they all admired him. made everyone high-spirited, and they all said that they must fight with the thugs of the Li family tonight to the end and kill all those who danced with wolves.

When it was almost evening, Wang Baoshan and the three of them mingled among the miners, and finally came to the Li family's copper mine.

This copper mine is twice as large as the iron sand ore field where Wang Baoshan stayed before. It is said that there were more than 4,000 mining slaves at one time.

Whether it is true or not, even He Dadou himself is not very clear, but judging from the scale of the entire copper mine and the thatched shed that cannot be seen at a glance, there may not be so many mining slaves.

This is the largest copper and stone mine in the entire territory of Guanping City, which is the industry of Li Wenhua, the richest man in Guanping City, but it is actually one of the huge industries jointly held by him and his cousin Li Tengfei.

After entering the copper mine, Wang Baoshan saw the situation inside clearly, and couldn't help but be a little amazed.

I saw that the tall and huge earthen wall, stretching for thousands of miles, closed around a big mountain. And this huge mountain, which is now more than half mined, only a small part of the ridge remains, which is bare and porous.

At this time, countless miners, like ant colonies, were working the mountain. Some of them dug rocks, some carried rocks on their backs, and some used bamboo baskets to transport copper ore in baskets.

In the midst of the noisy toil, they were busy and silent, and the face of each miner was covered with dust and dirt, and his face was miserable, although his clothes were ragged and filthy.

Despite this, one by one, they have no distractions and only care about their work.

Because if they don't work honestly, the overseers next to them will whip them and give them nothing to eat.

The people who work are worthy of admiration, no matter how humble they live, how unbearable, how humiliating they are, but they can still create incomparably powerful power.

Just like the huge copper mountain, in front of this group of mine slaves, it is not so tall and majestic.

Wang Baoshan looked around, saw the labor scene that shook the mountains and rivers, and marveled at its magnificence and momentum. For a moment, he stopped.

At this moment, in addition to shock, he was still shocked in his heart.

As Qiao Lanyi said, the copper mine has strengthened its defenses and sent many thugs.

According to Wang Baoshan's visual inspection, there are about 300 of them. Fortunately, he proposed this strategy of combining the inside and the outside, if it was a strong attack and a surprise attack, under the enemy's favorable defensive position, I am afraid that there would be heavy casualties, which would be extremely unfavorable to the rescue operation.

At this time, the thugs, all wearing thick and warm leather jackets and cotton clothes, took small steps one by one, and inspected the work of the miners back and forth. It was in stark contrast to the ragged, thin-skinned miners.

"Phew... Wow..."

In the distance, the sound of a gong echoed in the middle of the copper mine, among several high lookouts. As far as the eye can see, on the observation deck in the middle, an obese mine overseer is lazily beating a gong.

Wang Baoshan knew that this was the sound of the gong at the end of work, it was dark early in the cold day, and the weather was bitterly cold. It seems that this overseer is not overflowing with compassion and compassion, but wants to call it a day early and go back to drinking.

The thugs, who were scattered all over the copper mountain, heard the sound of the gong and waved their whips, and began to drive the miners to the thatched huts.

The miners were like cattle, driven away with whips, dragging their tired bodies one by one, with their insensitive eyes slightly open, and with a hard-working face, and walked forward blankly.

They were pressed in a large area, walking on the gravel and rotten soil, and stepping on the gravel "crackled" for a while.

The scene was huge and dusty......

Wang Baoshan looked at the dense and filthy miners, walking in front of him, this familiar scene made his heart feel uncomfortable for a while.

At this time, Liu Qing took He Dadou and took advantage of the chaos to get to Wang Baoshan's side.

He lowered his voice and said, "General Wang, what's next?"

When Wang Baoshan was asked by him, he was also at a loss.

According to the plan, after they come in, they should find a way to break through the earthen wall. But when I saw the scene inside, I was a little embarrassed.

It's getting dark now. Brothers outside, we are still waiting! If you don't think about it, I'm afraid that the opportunity will be delayed.

Time could not be delayed, so Wang Baoshan asked He Dadou and said, "Brother He, do you know where there is a place here where the terrain is hidden and the earth wall is low?"

He Dadou was sad and indignant here, and when Wang Baoshan asked, he said: "Yes, there is, but there are some evil sects in that place..."

When Wang Baoshan heard him say yes, he was overjoyed. He remembered how he and Du Xiaosan and Wang Qiang were able to get out of the way through the guidance of an old mine slave and taking advantage of the night to dig through the earthen wall. I want to do the same, dig through the earthen wall, and then make a gopher drilling.

Liu Qing on the side, seeing that He Dadou was a little insincere, asked him: "Brother He, what is the matter with the evil sect?"

He Dadou explained to them that the place was in the innermost part of the thatched hut area, and that no thugs and supervisors had ever been there, and that the miners were forbidden to go out of the hut at night, and they had to work during the day, and they had no time to go.

It is said that the evil gate is because every night when the moon is sparse, the miners in the thatched huts in that area will hear a faint cry.

It is said that the miserable and sad cry, sad and resentful, seems to be a woman crying.

So some people said that it was a female ghost crying at night, so as to lure men forward and absorb the essence of people.

And the man who said this claimed that he had seen it with his own eyes. He said that on a full moon night, he could not stand the toil of the mine and the torture of the overseers, so he planned to flee by night.

At that time, this daring mining slave, and while everyone was asleep, he touched out alone. Along the way, he hid in Tibet, and finally he was like a ghost, and touched the innermost area of the thatched hut community.

Although he was only separated from the outside world by a thick earthen wall at that time, if he wanted to get out, he could only dig through the earthen wall. Fortunately, there is a cliff behind this wall, so when the wall was first built, only one side was built, and no pedestrians could walk on the wall. The thugs couldn't patrol it, which made him feel that this place was very suitable.

He said just do it, and immediately began to dig the wall, but as he dug and dug, he suddenly heard a woman calling out to him. What exactly he shouted to him, but people couldn't hear it clearly, and he didn't dare to listen, for fear of being tempted by the female ghost, being sucked by the essence of the person, and running away in fright.

Whether what he said was true or false, others couldn't study it, and they didn't dare to study it, so the legend about this female ghost has been widely spread among the mine slaves.

There are also other versions, saying that the cry is not a female ghost crying. But the copper spirit in the copper mountain is crying, and it is the spirit that is haunting in the night.

According to the older generation of mining slaves, a bronze figure was dug up in the copper mountain, and it was a female bronze man.

When digging at that time, there was a landslide, and many miners died. All of a sudden, it made people's hearts panic, and they couldn't live all day, saying that it was the incarnation of the mountain god. Because of the mining of copper ore, it disturbed the cultivation of her old man's home, so she showed a miracle and descended the disaster of a landslide.

At that time, the overseers and thugs in the mine were also frightened and did not dare to approach the female bronze figure. But Li Wenhua, as the owner of the mine, didn't believe in that evil, so he wanted people to drag the female bronze man to the coal kiln, ready to throw it into the smelting furnace, and refine it into copper water for her.

But just when everyone stepped forward to carry the female bronze man and was about to carry it to the coal kiln, the female bronze man suddenly came to life.

I saw that she suddenly got up, ran up like a gust of wind, and ran straight into the depths of the thatched shed, and disappeared in the intricate thatched huts.

In this blue sky and daylight, monsters suddenly appeared, and many people were scared on the spot. At that time, Li Wenhua was also frightened, he knelt on the ground, looked at the direction where the female bronze figure disappeared, and kowtowed vigorously...

"This..."

After Wang Baoshan listened to He Dadou's strange theory, he couldn't help but be speechless, with an expression that he didn't know what to say.

He Dadou looked at him like that, and said, "I also listened to the older generation of mining slaves... Whether it's true or not, there's no way to know. However, no one can leave the earthen wall inside, and the thugs in the mine do not dare to patrol near the wall, so I said that it is the most hidden. ”

As he spoke, the three of them had already followed the many miners to the vicinity of the area He Dadou mentioned.

In order to facilitate their movements, they hid in thatched huts and discussed countermeasures in inconspicuous corners.

"Anyway, we'll touch it and see what happens..."

For Wang Baoshan, he has seen a lot of strange things, and he doesn't believe what He Dadou said.

"What General Wang said is that there really are any female ghosts and bronze people, and after so many years, I haven't seen a few people killed... Besides, I, He Dadou, am also a person who escaped death, and now I have no worries, and I am afraid of him..."

He Dadou clenched a fist as big as a sandbag, always watching the movement outside the thatched shed.

Liu Qing looked worried, and he said to Wang Baoshan: "Now I don't have an inch of iron in my hands, if there is really a situation, it will not be easy to deal with!"

When He Dadou heard this, he said, "It's okay, I'll find you two iron weapons to defend yourself later..."

When Liu Qing heard this, his eyes lit up, and he asked him, "What kind of iron...... Knife or gun?"

"You'll know then... Huh..."

He Dadou was amused by Liu Qing's expression, and actually sold Guan Zi at this time.

After a while, Wang Baoshan looked outside the thatched hut, and there were several overseers' subordinates, carrying a basket of black-faced nests, and in front of each thatched shed, according to the registered merit wooden cards, the miners were assigned nests. He said, "Okay, let's go quickly... When they come, it's not good to be discovered..."

At this time, the sky was completely dark, and there were no stars or moons in the sky.

The thatched huts where the miners lived were innumerable, intricate, and conducive to lurking.

Wang Baoshan and the three of them quietly walked between the various thatched huts, and in order to avoid the thugs patrolling on the high platform, they tried to hide themselves in the shadows. Cautiously all the way, he slowly leaned towards the depths behind the thatched hut.