When it was Gastens' turn to go down the well, most of the miners had already arrived. As a young follower of Johor Bahru Mine technician Gabriel Zinman, although Gastens also wanted to go down the well, the supervisors would always give him some convenience, intentionally or unintentionally.

Most of the pyroxene veins are located underground, with depths ranging from dozens of meters to hundreds of meters. The Johor Bahru Pyroxene Mine is not a rich mine, and it has been mined for a long time before it was transferred to the Brown family. The main veins of this mine are at a depth of 300-500 meters, and the air under the mine is turbid. Even if the ventilation machine is turned on two hours in advance every morning, the first few miners who entered are at risk of suffocation. Judging from the slow running rhythm of the old steam engine equipped in the mine, once they suffocate, they will be given their lives before the machine pulls up the man. Therefore, letting Gastens go down the mine later is also an invisible protection for him.

The mine in front of Gastens is called the No. 7 mine cave, which mainly produces lower-grade pyroxene of Class D and E. The price is not high, but the yield is large. The first depth of the mine is more than 100 meters. You have to ride a lift platform controlled by a steam engine. The lift platform has no walls, like a cage. You can see the cramped sky when you look up, and you can see a row of pyroxene marks extending to the bottom of the cave, emitting yellow light. The most in the pyroxene mine is pyroxene, so even in the ground, miners never lack light. Just use the C-shaped simple lamp clip they carry with you to clamp the pyroxene, so that the burning gold at the tip of the lamp clip is in contact with the pyroxene.

On the exposed surface of the stone, pyroxene will begin to release light and heat. Low-level pyroxene will release light and heat at the same time, which leads to extremely high temperatures in mines that use pyroxene lighting. Pyroxene that only emits light but does not release heat is called Lengthene. It is a lighting tool mainly used by princes and nobles to ordinary people. The No. 7 mine does not produce Lengthene, and the Brown family will not transport Lengthene from the No. 11 mine 3 kilometers away for the sake of coolness of the miners. Therefore, more than 200 workers, including Gastens, must endure high temperatures of more than 35 degrees all year round.

Gastens took off his cotton vest and linen pants while descending, but despite this, when the lift he was riding on reached the working surface, he was still sweating profusely. He and the same group of workers who went down the well walked towards the wooden shelf next to the lift, threw his coat in a woven basket with his name written on it, confirmed that he was carrying a kettle and black bread, holding his slide pole, and waiting in front of a mine.

"Little Gas, this is the third day, are you still adapting?"

"It's okay, Brother Adam, it's just a little hot."

Miner Adam Nelson reached out and patted Gastens on the shoulder, grinned, wiped the sweat from his palms on his pants, and helped Gastens hang the slider on the track on the top of the hole. He was the guide of Gastens specially arranged for Gastens, and one of the experienced miners in the mine. You must know that Gastens can save a lot of effort in cheap labor. Although according to the requirements of the mine, it would be a pity if he accidentally died. So, Gablin's mine manager Bawei Shi Brown said that, and found such an amulet for Gastens.

Gastens had no objection to Gabriel's arrangement. If he wanted to make a revolution in his own world, he would have to be down-to-earth and seek truth from facts. If he did not conduct investigations and understanding, he would directly use the revolutionary experience learned from the earth to rashly revolution in this world where magicians exist. Not to mention whether it can succeed or not, it is not certain whether there are followers.

In his first life in this world, Gastens worked as a serf and a soldier for most of his life. He knew what the serfs wanted, got rid of the identity and land of slaves, and he also knew what the soldiers wanted, a trusted commander, and a reason to fight. But he didn't know what the workers in this world wanted, whether they wanted fewer jobs, more holidays, or higher wages, or better off the fate of workers?

To understand these, one must investigate, but as a serf, he did not have the freedom to act. Although he had been pestering Gabriel to learn basic words for two months in the Johor Bahru Mine, and his progress was so fast that he was even called a prodigy, he still needed the opportunity to go to the workers to become a worker and understand the ideas of the working class. At this moment, the mine manager, Bawei Shi Brown, was very unhappy with him, a slave who had nothing to do except repair machines all day, and called him to go down the well. This request was exactly what he wanted, and he could not resist, so he followed the flow and became a miner.

The clanging rod slipped for ten minutes before reaching the mining operation surface. The workers who arrived first had already started working with their drills and sledgehammers. Gastens put the kettle and cloth bags aside, held the drills, found the traces left yesterday, and inserted the drills, half a meter long and three fingers in it.

"Have it secure!"

Nelson roared, swung his hammer and smashed it to the thumb-sized section at the end of the spindle. His arms, shoulders and neck muscles stretched out, and under the yellow light of the illuminated pyroxene, it was filled with a rough and primitive force and beauty. Gastens looked at Nelson's muscles with a little envious, but the vibrations immediately followed, which made him take his attention back to work.

"Be careful, boy! Don't want your hands anymore?!"

Nelson's hammer almost stopped, and it was a strange rhythm, in line with his breathing sound. The hammer in his hand had a 10 kilograms of hammer head. If it was thrown down, he could directly smash Gastens's hands into a comminuted fracture. With the medical conditions of this world, 100% of them were amputated. Therefore, workers who can cooperate with this kind of cooperation on the work surface trust each other very much.

"knew!"

Gastens replied loudly, holding the drill in his hand tightly. The pyroxene veins are not pure and are often wrapped in pieces by rocks. To mine them, the rock walls must be cracked and broken to expose the pyroxene inside. Fortunately, perhaps because of the different properties, the pyroxene and the rocks that wrap it are clearly separated and easy to separate. If you are lucky, some pyroxene can be exposed almost when they are first screened and can be thrown directly onto the mine truck. In addition, workers need to knock it on the spot to remove the excess weight and then send it to the elevator centrally by the mine truck.

In this entire work process, except for the last mine cart being driven by a steam engine placed at the elevator, the rest of the process requires manpower. There is no gunpowder in this world, and naturally there is no detonator or explosion mining. There is no electricity in this world, and impact drills are naturally nowhere to be available. Gastens does not know if there are other countries in other countries, at least in Johor Bahru. If we look at the standards of coal mining on the earth, Johor Bahru's mine technology is very primitive and backward. The backwardness in technical conditions ultimately requires manpower to fill it. The mine is very tired. This mine works two shifts a day, and each shift works 8 hours, which is definitely not long, but it consumes a lot of physical strength. Gastens works until the third day, with his body that has been farmed all day long and has been deliberately exercising. For old miners like Nelson, this form of physical labor has long become the instinct of eating.

The conditions in the mine are harsh, and the mechanical watches used by the nobles cannot last long, and no one can take them. The supervisors at the mine will only whistle and call everyone back when they finish work. As for how to rest and when to eat in the middle of these eight hours, it depends entirely on the workers themselves to grasp. The supervisors only calculate the daily output of each working group. If the output is not enough, the salary will be deducted. If it is not enough, the salary will be deducted until it is fired or lynched. If the output is too much, some money will be added appropriately, so the workers are still motivated to work.

"Brother Adam, it's almost time to have a meal?"

The workers do not have clocks, but they also have their own ways to estimate the time. The output of a mature working group is stable every hour. In half a day, a working group of two people can dig a truck of ore. By that time, everyone will stop to eat and rest.

"I understand, dig a little more, you can heat up the rice first."

Nelson replied, and began to smash the rocks they had peeled with a peeling hammer. Gastens took out a small pot and the base from the corner, poured some water and rinsed it. He found a piece of peeled pyroxene in the peeled pyroxene, clamped it with a C-shaped clip, and threw it on the base of the small pot. While pouring some water into the pot, he watched the pyroxene he selected emit a faint light. Gastens put his hand next to him and felt it, and could feel the obvious heat.

"It's still bread porridge."

He shouted at Nelson, but Gastens didn't wait to reply. He took out his and Nelson's black bread, broke it apart, and when the water boiled, he soaked half of it in the water. He then turned out a small bag from the bag that was putting the bread, poured a few dried river shrimps and some salt into the pot, then leaned against the rock wall and stopped.

After a while, Nelson walked over. In the surrounding environment, he had already taken off only a pair of shorts. Gastens had already divided their homemade seafood and bread porridge, and the two of them ate one by one.

"Brother Adam, are you planning to be a miner all the time? What are you going to do if you can't do it in the future or get older?"

Adam Nelson stopped and glanced at Gastens.

"What else can I do? Save money, buy a piece of land when I get old, plant or rent it out by myself, and be a small landlord. Things in the mine are still too dangerous after all."

"Oh, is he a person like Mr. Bass?"

"You said that master? I'm not that powerful, and I can't buy so many serfs. It's great if I can buy a serf or ask a tenant farmer to help."

Become a landlord and then enslave other serfs?

Gastens frowned slightly and changed the subject. The pyroxene thrown at the bottom of the pot was still shining, illuminating the faces of the two of them in a dim color.

———————

When he climbed out of the mine, Gastens was a little uncomfortable with the bright white sunlight and breeze outside. After staying in the high-temperature mine for a long time, he sometimes forgot that it was still spring. Nelson, who was following him, patted his shoulder with his hand and walked towards the dormitory. Gastens hesitated for a moment and followed.

He took a shower with cold water and went to the workers' cafeteria to get the black bread for supper. After eating it in half a minute, Gastens changed into a clean yellow-white linen top and turned to leave the dormitory. During the day when there was no steam machine to repair, he mined, and at night, he was studying with Gabriel.

It was said that it was study time, but in fact, Gabriel didn't care about him after teaching him for half a month at the beginning and ensuring that he could independently complete the primary maintenance of the Johor Bahru mine machine. However, after Gastens' repeated requests, he put some books he brought from Rosville University in a small cabinet in the duty room and gave him the key. When Gastens wanted to read a book, he would go directly to the duty room, where there were pyroxene, seats and books.

"Little Gas, this is the paper and pen you want, a total of 3 crowns and 45 tinies. You gave me 4 crowns. This is the remaining 55 tinies. I'll give it to you and put it down."

Patterson Farahani, who was on duty in the duty room, was an old worker in the mine and lost a hand in a magic rush. Brown felt sorry for him and gave him a job on duty. Gastens asked him to buy paper, pen and envelopes for him a few days ago, and finally bought it today.

"Thank you, Uncle Patterson, I'll give you this 5 Tiny. I'll buy a glass of wine to drink, which is my thanks!"

Gabriel spent 100 Browns to buy Gastens, so naturally he would not pay him any more. Gastens's money was saved by his parents before leaving, and some were wages for work. Since he came to this world, he saved a total of 4 crowns and 30 dingi. This time he bought letter paper and envelopes, and used up the vast majority.

But for Gastens, it was worth it. He had now learned the text of the Ankenry Empire and had a reasonable source to explain his steam knowledge, which prevented him from continuing the revolution, leaving only the problem of news closure. To leave the mine, enter a well-informed big city, and learn more about and contact the world, he had to get rid of his identity as a serf. Gabriel spent a lot of money for him and would definitely not let him be free. Although the workers in the mine were friendly, many of them were serfs bought by local owners, so naturally they could not help. Gastens could only hope for the outside world. He wanted to write a letter and send it to Roswell, the capital of the Ankenry Empire, to attract more attention, get more knowledge, and find the opportunity to get rid of his identity as a serf.

Gastens' greatest wealth now is the steam knowledge, but if he tells Gabriel this knowledge, he will definitely not be able to gain any benefits. Therefore, he must find someone who understands the value of this knowledge better and find someone who can help him. The addresses seen from the nameplate of those steam engines should be interested in the technology in his hands.

With cautious expectations, Gastens laid out the letter paper, carefully moistened the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote down the title of the letter. He wanted to use a small component that was very important in the history of steam engine development to knock on the door of the Pengpai Machinery Power Company. He believed that as long as someone who knows a little about steam engines would know how much the little thing he could play.

The sunlight outside the window gradually faded, and Gastens unfolded the letter he bought and wrote the letter he had been brewing for a long time on his head.
Chapter completed!