Tieping Mountain is like a natural barrier that lies across the north of Linbin City, stretching for dozens of miles, connected to the main vein of Taohua Mountain opposite Banshan Lake. The crystal mine is on a peak not far from the iron ore.

Li Ming and his party abandoned the mountain and walked for nearly an hour before they arrived at the mine. The entrance to the mine was on a small platform on the cliff, and an artificial winch transported the mined crystals.

Li Ming drilled into the mine cave, then there were faint fires on both sides, carefully observing the situation in the mine.

The crystal minerals here are of the low-temperature hydrothermal quartz vein type. In addition to colorless and transparent crystal varieties, there are also amethyst, tea crystals and a small amount of yellow crystals. In the mine cave, crystals of different sizes and shapes are carried by mining personnel in a basket to outside the cave. Around the cave, large quartz mines were abandoned on both sides of the road. Li Ming felt distressed when he saw them, and turned to Marin beside him and asked: "How many people are there currently? How many are they mined every day?"

Malin hurriedly replied: "As far as I know in the past few days, there are currently more than 60 people in the mines. In the past, these people lived in mines, and they were not seen day and night. Some people had not seen their families for several years. They had no wages, so they could only ensure that they could eat three meals a day. But since the owner announced the welfare system, I divided the more than 30 people into two parts. Thirty people worked specifically during the day and the other thirty people worked exclusively at night, so that each person could have at least half of the time a day to rest. However, in this way, the mining of ores was a little less, probably 30% less than before. Now, about 200 kilograms of ore can be mined every day. After being selected at the foot of the mountain, more than ten kilograms of crystals of different sizes can be produced every day."

Li Ming nodded, pointed to the quartz stone underground and asked, "So where have the stones dug out fallen?"

Marin replied: "The white stones dug from mine tunnels and screening ore were poured into a nearby ravine. I went there a few days ago, and the ravine was almost full. In addition to these white stones, there were also some limestone, soil blocks, etc."

Li Ming asked again: "How are the miners' emotions at the moment? What do you think about the employee welfare system we implement?"

Ma Lin immediately became excited and said, "These people are very motivated now. Many people have been working for most of their lives, in order to have a meal in this mine so that they will not be hungry. But they have a certain amount of rest and free time every day and get a wage that these people have never dared to expect. So after I came that day, these people thought they wanted to let them go home and were very hostile to me, but when I told them roughly what the master said, these people didn't believe it at all! Haha, but they were so happy to see that I really did this! These people were really not used to resting

It was such a long time, I could have a day off on the New Year. But those people were not idle during the day. After sleeping for a while, most of them took the initiative to go to the mineral processing plant to help, haha. Also, these people have never asked about wages, and they may not be assured about wages. In addition, I drove several foremen in the mine home by me. These scumbags would be arrogant on these hard laborers this day, but no one could do it well when they were allowed to do their work. I drove them back in anger. Anyway, they were from the Kang Palace before, so let them go back to the palace for a meal."

Seeing Marin dancing, Li Ming couldn't help but feel funny and said to Marin: "Tell those people that it's just the beginning, and we'll do it for the time being. When the time is ripe, the mine will have to implement eight hours. Ah, it's a four-hour working system, which means that everyone only needs to do four hours of work a day. However, at present, there is insufficient staff, so we'll do it for the time being. Also, forget about it today, start tomorrow, change the current mining method, whether it's crystal ore or this kind of white stone, it's mined together, and separate the crystal and these white stones and limestones and other miscellaneous stones in the ore dressing plant.

In addition to the crystals being stored separately, these white stones are also placed separately, so don’t pour them down again. These white stones are all treasures, but you don’t know. As for what these white stones can do, you will know in the future. Haha, you can find out these days if you take time to get a group of people nearby. If you want strong people, you will probably have to have two or three hundred people. I will ask Wang Laodao to hit a batch of big hammers and make all the selected white stones into pieces for me, just smaller than broad beans, and you must do it as soon as possible. Wait a while and General Manager Wang to calculate how much money you want, let him transfer the money to you, and the specific matter will be handed over to you."

Marin agreed with a blank look, but was very surprised in his heart. Are these white stones more valuable than crystals? How can his master be so optimistic?

It was too late when I got off the mine. In the dark night sky, the guards hurriedly rushed towards the dock with torches. The lights under the iron mountain in the distance were dim and dark, and from time to time, the sound of miners working were vaguely shouting.

Seeing Li Ming safely boarding the big ship, a big rock in Chen Hao's heart fell halfway. He was walking in the dark forest just now and he was really sweating. It was a blessing not to encounter a sneak attacker. If Li Ming had something to do, his life would not be enough to be compensated!

The big ship sailed steadily from Linbin Port, and the two small boats guarded it were sandwiched in the middle one by one. Before leaving, Chen Hao specially selected twenty guards with good water quality to drive two small boats to follow the big boat to protect it. He must pass the last incident to give everyone a great alertness. Without any proper defense, he would be stupid.

There was no fingers on the dark lake surface, and only the stars in the sky were still blinking. Li Ming, who was standing at the bow of the boat, was really worried. How could he find Biquan Island smoothly on this endless lake on this dark night?

Hearing Li Ming's question, the boat owner laughed. The boat owner is a relative of Wang Sheng, and has been sailing on this Mid-Shan Lake for most of his life. The old man is named Wang Tao. He knows that Li Ming has no airs, so he explained in detail: "It is not like some big rivers and rivers. The Mid-Shan Lake has a vast surface and no turbulent waves. But because of such a large lake, it is easy to get lost. Usually, we must take a Sinan with us when we go out to the lake, which is even more necessary at night. Generally, we use Linbin Wharf as the basis point. Every large and small island in the lake has a relative position in our minds. As long as we start from Linbin Wharf, even on the dark night, we can easily reach most of the islands in the lake with Sinan."

Li Ming suddenly realized and smiled and said, "So that's how it is. I really ignored Si Nan's thing. I thought it was only necessary to sail on the sea?"

Wang Tao nodded and said, "The old man has also heard that the sea is very large, larger than the half-mountain lake. This old man doesn't believe that there is still a water surface larger than the half-mountain lake in the world? It's mostly nonsense, haha."

Li Ming was so happy that he almost fell off the boat. He held back his smile and said, "The old man has been working on the lake for most of his life. He must be very familiar with this half-mountain lake. Are there robbers in the lake? And are there military ships in the lake?"

Wang Tao said: "There are many water thieves in the Banshan Lake, but most of them gather on the islands near Huzhou. Banshan Lake is a major transportation route for north-south water transportation, so those water thieves are very powerful and many. I have never heard of water thieves on Linbin. Because Linbin is the prefecture of Jiangzhou and the Kang Palace is here, the officers and soldiers have strict control over this section of water. There is a flat-storied island in the lake more than 50 miles from Linbin Wharf. There is a large flat island, but it is much smaller than our Biquan Island. There are thousands of officers and soldiers stationed there, with more than 50 warships of all sizes, patrolling the lake all day long. So although the water thieves are rampant, they dare not come to make trouble here. Master should rest assured."

Li Ming smiled and said, "The old man is quite familiar with the situation of the navy. Have you been there?"

Wang Tao stroked his beard and smiled smugly: "Haha, I'll tell you, the old man was a soldier there twenty years ago. At that time, the old man was the commander of a fleet and fought several wars with several thieves on this Mid-mountain lake. Later, when he was old, he couldn't do anything, so he bought a ship and started doing business on this Mid-mountain lake. Alas! Decades have passed in a flash, and life is so fast!"

Li Ming was surprised and asked hurriedly: "So my father-in-law has led his troops to fight? Haha, that's great. Have you forgotten the ability to lead troops to fight? Can you still command a fleet of ships?"

Wang Tao said with emotion: "How can you forget it? The old man started working in the navy since he was fifteen, and he worked until he was almost forty years. How many years have you been! I will never forget it, I will never forget it forever! Haha, if you really give me a fleet, I can still fight water thieves now!"

Li Ming said happily: "That's great. I'm worried about that. Biquan Island's business is getting bigger and bigger, and in the end, I will inevitably have to transport it by water. If there are too many thieves, it's not too safe. Now, after our merchant fleet is built, I will allocate you an escort fleet for you to command. How about it?"

Wang Tao was overjoyed and knelt down to Li Ming on the deck, saying, "The master valued Xiao Lao so much, Xiao Lao would definitely not disappoint the master. Please rest assured."

Li Ming hurriedly helped Wang Tao up, feeling relieved, and laughed: "It seems that God really favored me and sent me a talent! My father-in-law, remember it. From today on, you will be the captain of our escort team of Biquan Island Industrial Company! The salary will be calculated according to Chen Hao and Wang Sheng's level. Brother, please let me tell you about it next time."

The Holy Hand Wang smiled and said, "I understand, congratulations, Captain Wang."

Wang Tao hurriedly said, "Thank you, Mr. Wang, thank you. I'll ask Mr. Wang in the future. By the way, General Manager Wang will give me more advice."

The big ship cut through the night sky with Li Minghuan's laughter, sailed towards Biquan Island, and rushed towards the wind and waves.

In the bamboo forest pavilion, a cheerful laughter came out, and Li Ming and the leadership team of Biquan Island Industrial were laughing happily inside.

In the morning, Chen Hao hurried back and heard news: Ma Quan went to the mine with 600 kilograms of high-quality coal to apologize and lowered the coal price to the original level. After Chen Hao sent Ma Quan away, he hurried back to Biquan Island to report.

Li Ming stopped laughing and shook his head and sighed: "It seems that sometimes I can't be too soft-hearted. These profiteers are bullying the weak and afraid of the strong. In the future, they will have to be tougher when dealing with these people."

The Saint-Hand Wang smiled and said, "That's natural. Haha, Ma Quan also grew up eating grains and grains. Can't he get sick? It seems that we must make good use of this advantage in the future and try our best to get our industry back on track as soon as possible."

Chen Hao said, "You didn't see Ma Quan's face, haha, how arrogant he was when the master went there in person that day, but today he was like a slave, haha, nodding and bowing, hahahaha."

Li Ming smiled and said, "This is the case with such a person, and you don't have to take him seriously in the future. By the way, my brother, have the land survey on the island been completed?"

The King of Saint Hands stopped his smile and said, "The island has basically been surveyed. I sent twenty people to survey the island for six or seven days. The basic situation has come out. The land that can be cultivated on the island can be about 150,000 mu, and the land is very fertile. In addition, there are many small rivers on the island and sufficient water sources. It is really going to be fully developed. Hehe, it's really released."

"Biquan Island is long-waisted, with Biquan Peak stretching for 20 to 30 miles, occupying about 40% of the land on the island, and about 10% of the land is swampy land, which is not suitable for cultivation. In addition to the places developed by the original palace, most of the land on Biquan Peak have not been found, which will be the focus of the exploration targets in the next few days. However, as we already know, tea trees, bamboo forests, and pine trees are produced on Biquan Peak, and several thousand-year-old ginkgo trees have been found. Haha, now Fatty Huang doesn't need to ask King Kang for his medicine."

Li Ming pondered: "When exploring, I didn't find anything special? For example, there was no black and sticky thing flowing out in the swamp?"

The Saint Hand King shook his head and said, "No, the swamps on the island are not too dense, and there are scattered and low-lying places."

Marin interrupted, "The black and sticky thing the master said does not have a very bad smell?"

Li Ming was shocked and asked hurriedly: "Have you seen it?! Yes, it smells very bad."

Malin said: "In the past, when I was escorting jewelry from Master Huang, I often went to Huzhou. Most of Huzhou is low-lying flat land and there are many swamps. I have seen it near Mocheng in Huzhou. Many local residents take this thing back for ink. Mocheng is rich in incense ink. Originally, authentic incense ink is made of exquisite pine smoke with pine branches, but this ink is expensive and most people cannot afford it. Some local people use this thing to burn ink from the swamp. This thing is particularly large when burned, so the ink produced is also very cheap. Some people who cannot afford to buy firewood and do not have strong labor at home take this thing home for firewood. However, most people do not use it to cook. The smoke is too big and the smell is bad. Locals call it ink oil."

Li Ming felt that he was so excited that he was a little trembling. Steel and oil are an important pillar of developing the modern economy. With oil and steel, he can directly bring this backward society dominated by handicrafts and agriculture into industrialization. What a temptation and challenge!

Thinking of this, he hurriedly said, "Since there is such a thing, you will go with me tomorrow. I want to go and take a look. On the crystal mine, you pick someone out from under your hands to take care of it, and you will get out to do this. This kind of thing is called oil, which is a very important thing. It seems that I will go to the Kang Prince's Mansion, hey! What should I send him this time? It's really worrying. Chen Hao, the picture I gave you yesterday is to make those kilns built by masons hurry up and build them at any cost within three days."

Chen Hao hurriedly said, "Please rest assured, I will be there in the past two days and will be completed on schedule."

Li Ming nodded and said, "That's good. You don't have to go with me tomorrow. Send someone to transport the dumped white stones in the valley next to the crystal mine to me and transport them to the kiln to be built. There is another thing. Tomorrow, you can recruit hundreds of people nearby and see if they are willing to move, move them to the island. It will be useful in the future. Then go to the city to buy the Winter Sauce and Zuijiufang, and move all the things to the island. The wine chefs try to hire them as much as possible. Oh, the master has urged me for several days."

Chen Hao agreed one by one, Li Ming explained something again, stood up and hurriedly walked up the mountain.

In the open space of Yongyue Villa, Zhang Yao was dismantling sword moves with Lin Long, who had just recovered from internal injuries. When they saw Li Ming coming up, the two stopped and met them together.

Li Ming felt a warm feeling. To be honest, although Li Ming decided to do something, his nature was difficult to change for a while. During this period of time, he practiced martial arts during the morning and then ran around and was busy all the time. It was too different from his previous life rules. On the surface, he could not see anything, but in his heart he was already exhausted. Especially in his modern corporate concepts, science and technology, everything had to start from scratch, and the energy spent was very huge. Only when he saw Zhang Yao and Lin Long could he feel the warmth of home. Listening to Zhang Yao's continuous whispers, looking at Lin Long's cool and heroic posture, and feeling the care of these two people on him, can Li Ming feel the warmth of home.

Looking at Zhang Yao's red and sweaty face, Li Ming couldn't help but stretch out his hand to wipe her sweat, and turned to Lin Long and said, "You're just right injuring, why did you come out to practice swords with Yao'er? Why don't you take a good rest? Yao'er, you are not sensible, how can you let your sister Long practice swords with you?"

Zhang Yao said aggrievedly: "How dare Yao'er? Sister Long asked me to practice with her." After that, she lowered her head.

Lin Long hurriedly said, "Brother, don't blame Sister Yao for being too bored, so I asked her to accompany me to move my muscles and bones."

Li Ming hurriedly picked up Zhang Yao's little face and said, "Is it really wrong for me to blame my Yaoer? Are you angry with me?"

Zhang Yao bit her lips and shook her head, buried her head in Li Ming's arms, and whispered: "How can Yao'er be angry with her husband? You have to blame yourself for being useless and not sharing your worries for her, and letting her work hard outside all day. Can you sit down and let Yao'er beat your legs for you?"

Li Ming couldn't help laughing. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard Lin Lingfeng's deafening shout.
Chapter completed!