Chapter 0130: What You Thought Were Loopholes Were Actually Fishing Bait
“They say this black gold grows in continuous patches! If there’s some beneath Qiantai Mountain, then the surrounding mountains must have black gold underneath too!”
Upon hearing this news, the bandits excitedly picked up their digging tools and started vigorously excavating their own mountains.
If their mountains also contained black gold, wouldn’t they become rich too?!
But after digging for some time, they realized that excavation was time-consuming and labor-intensive work. With their limited manpower, they had no idea how long it would take to find the black gold.
So they turned their attention to the common people.
They captured strong men from nearby villages, using forceful threats to force them to stay and dig the mountains. When the number of captured laborers began to exceed the bandits’ numbers and gradually became uncontrollable, they selected some clever and sturdy men, paying them with money or grain to serve as mining supervisors, then continued capturing more villagers to dig the mountains.
Eventually, someone actually dug up coal from underground. When they sold the coal in the county town, many people were willing to pay high prices for it. The silver they received was practically hot to the touch – this was much faster than robbery and didn’t require risking their lives!
Having tasted success, the bandits began setting their sights on other mountains.
Now, whoever discovered a coal mountain first essentially gained absolute development rights. Of course, you also needed the capability to defend the coal mountain, otherwise the principle of “wealth invites danger” would come knocking with a hammer to wake you up.
The clever bandits counted their silver and started planning – the captured laborers could no longer be sent to mine coal but should be recruited into their own mountain defense teams to protect these coal mines.
So who would mine the coal then?
The bandits turned their attention to women.
Liaozhou women were fierce and genuinely strong, making them quite suitable for coal mining. However, women here generally held higher status, and their husbands would certainly object to kidnapping them for free labor. If pushed too far and they resisted, the bandits would be the ones suffering losses.
Fortunately, labor costs in Liaozhou were very cheap. To earn more money, the bandits didn’t mind spending this small amount and began paying village women to mine coal.
It was winter, and everyone was in the agricultural off-season with nothing to do. Since coal mining could earn money, women were naturally willing to go out and work for wages to prepare for having better meals during the New Year and buying new clothes for their families.
Moreover, coal was a good thing. With spare money, they could buy some coal to burn for heating at home – this winter wouldn’t be so hard to endure!
Thus, more and more mountains began their great excavation projects. Some clever ones even discovered coal seams beneath their own homes, making others extremely envious.
Gradually, many mountains uncovered coal mines.
They all kept the news secret, unwilling to expose their discoveries. To avoid being targeted by other bandits, they even paid hush money specifically, while the hired workers kept tight-lipped to protect their jobs.
However, the news still leaked out. Whenever any mountain discovered a coal mine, all other mountains would know about it by the next day.
As for how the news spread?
Because every mountain had Qianjin Zhai brothers mixed in among them.
Disguised as commoners, they successfully joined the mountain guard force by leveraging their tall and advantageous physiques, monitoring the situation on each mountain ridge. The moment any coal seam was discovered, they would immediately relay the message to Qiantai Mountain.
In other words, Xie Chengze now controlled all the locations of coal mines.
With just a few words, he effortlessly made the bandits exhaust their ingenuity and efforts to form functional coal mining teams, mobilizing an increasing number of commoners to learn about coal and labor for it. This laid a solid foundation for the future rise and development of coal in Liaozhou!
Ah! What perfect labor force!
He could exploit them without a shred of guilt!
In high spirits, Xie Chengze idly toyed with a secret letter in his hand—the very one he had urgently sent to Emperor Jian, demanding the authority to act first and report later.
“Sigh…” He looked up at the sky and sighed emotionally. “With such a worry-free son like me, he ought to get up in the middle of the night, kowtow three times toward the north, and say: You are my father, you are my own father!”
By now, the money he had spent on buying coal at high prices was nearly exhausted. The hundred cavalrymen and three hundred household troops from Jingcheng had already arrived in Liaozhou, and all the local magistrates had been bribed and disciplined.
Everything was ready except for the east wind.
This stunningly handsome and noble Second Prince sat cross-legged high atop Qiantai Mountain, a slow, sinister, and cunning smile curling at the corners of his lips.
“Time to reel in the net, my adorable and charming slave darlings.”
A national law was abruptly issued:
【All land belongs to the court, and any discovered coal mines fall under the court’s jurisdiction. Anyone who privately mines coal shall be executed without pardon.
However, those willing to serve the court may temporarily manage the coal mining rights. The leader need only submit one hundred dan of coal to the local government to atone for their crimes. Additionally, they will be rewarded with military status, permitted to form a small Standing Army unit, receive the court’s monthly salary, and obey the court’s orders.】
As soon as this law was announced, the bandits cursed furiously.
“Is the court so shameless? Using our time and our money to mine coal, and then with just a few words, the damn Coal Mountain becomes the court’s?”
“This is utterly despicable! To find people to dig the mountain, I even went to the neighboring county to recruit workers and provided housing and shops. Just when we’re about to start making big money, the court swoops in and takes it all?”
“Boss! These officials are too cunning—they’re pushing us to the brink!”
The bandits who had mined the coal were so enraged their faces turned red, silently cursing the unscrupulous and shameless official who had played them for fools.
Some cooler heads began analyzing the contents of the law.
“It’s not necessarily a death sentence, right? We can become officials. If Da Dangjia can lead a Standing Army unit and we become garrison soldiers, wouldn’t that be more impressive than being bandits?”
“True enough! Better than getting beheaded!”
“I don’t think so. How much silver can garrison soldiers earn? It’s nowhere near as free and satisfying as being a bandit! And you all know how few Yamen Runners and garrison soldiers Black Tiger City has. Suppress us? They’re probably just trying to scare us!” one bandit scoffed.
The bandit who said this was soon proven wrong.
One group of bandits clearly thought the same way and directly challenged the government: “This mountain was opened by us, these trees were planted by us. If you want to take the coal, you’ll have to pay with your lives!”
That night, three hundred garrison soldiers crept up the mountain under cover of darkness and slaughtered the arrogant stronghold outright. A river of crimson blood flowed down the entire mountain, melting even the compacted snow layers—a testament to how brutal and spectacular that night had been.
They had struck at the mountain to warn the tiger, killed the chicken to scare the monkeys.
The once-boisterous bandits immediately fell in line.
As long as they kept their heads, there’d be no fear of lacking coal. The authorities had only demanded a hundred dan of coal mine without specifying a deadline, so they could afford to stall—mining while secretly selling on the side. Thinking this way, the coal mine still essentially belonged to them.
But would anyone actually buy it?
There would always be those willing to take the risk. The bandits knew all too well the character of those county magistrates—if enough money changed hands, they were certain the officials would turn a blind eye.
The bandits painted a rosy picture for themselves, completely unaware that this was precisely the bait laid by a cunning little schemer, waiting for them to take the hook and expose their loopholes!