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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Chance Encounter

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    His latest job is certainly satisfactory.  For three months, he has been exploring for mineral deposits in a foothill nearby. The mountain range is called "Baoshan" and is located near a tributary of the Irrawaddy. The local natives say that there are gold mines in the mountains. Around January, Chen Zaixing  After arriving here, he walked around the entire hill and asked the recruited native workers to dig holes one after another in the mountain to obtain a large number of mineral samples. Then he brought these mineral samples back to the place where he lived and collected them with his portable  He brought chemicals and a Bunsen burner to test the ores. In the end, he found that there was no gold mine on this hill as the local natives said. Instead, he found a rather large copper mine. From the analysis of the ore, there were  Chen Zaixing was very excited about this unexpected harvest of a considerable amount of associated gold deposits.  Today's mineral samples are his last part. After checking these, he can leave here, or raise funds for mining by himself, or sell the location and mineral sample materials to his business partners, and obtain a large amount of wealth or shares from it.  Suddenly, a light flashed in front of Chen Zaixing's eyes. He rubbed his eyes and turned over the ore in his hand to take a closer look. His movements froze. There was a translucent crystal embedded in the ore in his hand.  Under the illumination of the lamp, it emits blood-red light.  "Oh my god, it's a ruby!" Chen Zaixing opened his eyes wide. As a child of a noble family, he naturally knew how precious the crystal in his hand was. A ruby ??the size of an index finger would be worth no less than thousands of taels of silver in Hanking. Rao  Chen Zaixing had seen the world, and he couldn't help but hold his breath for a moment.  He carefully put the ore aside, and then carefully inspected the remaining ores to see if there were any other rubies.  After 30 minutes of inspection, Chen Zaixing found three more smaller rubies. Now he was almost certain that he had found a ruby ??vein. Chen Zaixing carefully wrote down the sample numbers and prepared to do so early tomorrow morning.  Just go to the prospecting point and write down the detailed location on the map for future development.  As soon as Chen Zaixing finished all this, he heard a dog barking outside, and then came the shouts of his native guide. He quickly stood up, picked up the loaded rifle beside him, and walked out of the tent quickly.  .  "We don't mean any harm, we just lost our way and want to ask where is this place?" Batu looked angrily at Maung Ok and loudly explained to the two naked natives in front of him, with a black dog next to him.  As he was barking at him, more natives were coming towards him from behind.  He instinctively held down the pistol at his waist.  It turned out that the group of them left Mandalay and headed northeast along the Irrawaddy River. However, just a few days after walking, floods came upstream, destroying the dams and roads, and forming a quite large swamp.  They had to turn west to bypass the swamp, but they didn't expect to get lost. Seeing that they were about to finish the food they carried, they happened to encounter these tents, so they came to ask for directions and replenish some food.  But the two natives ignored Maung Ook's explanation. Instead, they shouted loudly in a dialect they couldn't understand. One of them even raised the bamboo tube in his hand. Batu, who had been in Myanmar for more than a year,  I know this is a weapon used by the local natives.  He quickly pulled out his pistol, fired a shot into the air, and shouted loudly: "Kneel down and bring out food and guides, or I will kill you all!" Seeing that the leader had given the order, he accompanied the escort.  The guards also raised their spears from their horses and pointed them at the natives who came out of the tents later.  Obviously this threat transcended language barriers. The natives looked at these uninvited guests angrily, but they still put down their weapons one by one and raised their hands.  Batu inserted his pistol into his holster, and smiled proudly at Maung Ook: "Officer Maung, it's better for me to support you. I can't reason with these barbarians, so I have to use the barrel of my gun!" Maung Ook was dissatisfied.  He opened his mouth, obviously he was not happy with the escort's arrogance, but he still held it back.  At this moment, a gunshot suddenly sounded, and at the same time, the hat on Batu's head disappeared. Then a voice came from the grass opposite and shouted in Chinese: "Put down your guns, or I will  Just shoot this idiot!" Batu was startled at first, and then a ball of anger rose in his chest and rushed towards the door. He looked at his hesitant men and shouted: "You donkey, you can't put down your weapon.  There is only one enemy. Everyone gathers around. If I am killed, the captain will be the substitute. If the captain is killed, the deputy captain will be the substitute! " "Oops, it should be Dashun's regular army! But why are they here? "  After Chen Zaixing saw the guards yelling at the leader, he ignored the threat he had just made and trotted towards him. These people were skilled in riding and had no one to direct them, so they spread out into sparse rows to expand the search area.  range, and is not afraid of cold gun attacks. He is obviously not a caravan guard, but a regular soldier.  Maung Ok stepped forward and grabbed Batu¡¯s arm and said urgently: "Bazhang Brigade, don't cause conflicts on other people's land. If you hurt His Highness, you will be in trouble! Let's just give you more money!" Batu looked around, it was full of dense woods and bushes  , as Maung Aok said, if there is a conflict with the shooter just now, at least a few lives will be lost here. If the prince is injured, his previous efforts will be in vain.  He snorted, whistled, recalled the searching soldiers, and shouted loudly: "We are also Dashun people, and we are a lost caravan. As long as you provide food and guide, we are willing to pay!" After that, he pulled out the gun.  They all made gestures to indicate to the men who were armed to monitor the natives in front of them to withdraw their rifles as a sign of goodwill.  In the bushes, Chen Zaixing observed this strange caravan carefully. He naturally did not believe what Batu said just now, not to mention that there would be no caravans this season, and this group of people vaguely protected the people in the middle.  A very ornately decorated white elephant with a tent on its back, obviously containing distinguished guests.  Chen Zaixing knew that this kind of white elephant was very rare and was a common means of transportation for the Burmese royal family. Moreover, if it was really a caravan as the visitor said, the goods they carried would be too little.  The cost of the escort cannot be earned back.  Not to mention that these guards are obviously Dashun's regular troops. Isn't this combination too strange?  Could it be that something happened in Mandalay, the capital of Myanmar, and these are the fleeing royal family members?  Thinking of this, Chen Zaixing suddenly shouted loudly: "Did something happen over there in Mandalay?" The string in Batu's mind had been stretched to the extreme when he was suddenly asked, and he instinctively replied: "Exactly!"  He immediately reacted and said angrily: "Tell me, who are you? How do you know that something happened in Mandalay?" Chen Zaixing thought for a moment, weighed the pros and cons, gritted his teeth, stood up, walked out of the bush, and  Throwing the rifle aside, he raised his hands to show that he had no ill intentions, and replied loudly: "I don't know what happened in Mandalay. I just tried to test it out and got confirmation from you. Don't you want a guide?  ? I can be your guide. As for the food, I¡¯m familiar with the natives here. Just tell me and I¡¯ll bring it to you right away!¡± Batu stared at the man walking towards him, his skin had been covered in subtropical  He was tanned by the sun, but judging from the outline of his face and eyebrows, he must be Chinese.  Hearing the other party's answer, Batu breathed a sigh of relief, and then remembered the other party's shooting at him to provoke him, and asked angrily: "Who are you and why are you here?" Chen Zaixing smiled slightly and pointed over there.  The tent said: "I am an engineer, prospecting here, these are the workers I hired. If you don't believe it, you can go to the tent and have a look." Batu snorted coldly, made a gesture, and a guard  He quickly jumped off his horse and ran towards the tent over there. After a while, he returned and whispered a few words in Batu's ear.  Batu's pupils shrank slightly and asked in a low voice: "Why did you test me just now and say something happened in Mandalay?" Chen Zaixing pointed to the white elephant not far away and replied: "It's very simple. In Myanmar  Only the royal family or extremely distinguished people can ride this kind of white elephant, and you are the regular army of Dashun. The regular army of Dashun escorted the Burmese royal family and got lost. Why don't you think that something happened in Mandalay?" "Why don't you think of it?  Did you see that we are Dashun's regular army?" Batu asked angrily.  "It's very simple. I just shot your hat off. If you were an ordinary guard, you would have retreated. Only the army would impose such prohibitions." Chen Zaixing replied calmly.  Batu glared at Chen Zaixing, suddenly pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his head, threatening: "You are very smart, but I can kill you with one shot now!" Chen Zaixing smiled slightly and replied: "Yes, but if you  Kill me, and these natives will flee immediately, and you don¡¯t understand the language with them, so you will have neither a guide nor food!¡± At this point, Chen Zaixing pointed at Maung Ok behind Batu and said with a smile.  "I don't think this noble man will like it!" Maung Oke tugged on Batu's sleeves and whispered: "Ba Zhang Brigade, he is right, don't forget Master Zhao's instructions before leaving!  "Batu stared at Chen Zaixing fiercely, as if he wanted to swallow it in one gulp. After a while, he suddenly turned around and shouted: "Okay, prepare the food quickly, we will be on our way after eating!" Chen Zaixing smiled slightly,  He turned around and said a few words to the natives behind him. Their attitudes immediately softened a lot and they all retreated. After a while, they brought a lot of fruits, cassava, rice, and some chicken and fish.  Batu and his party were hungry for a long time, but after all, the hierarchy in the army was strict. After Maung Ok was presented to the two princes on the white elephant, Batu signaled his men to start eating.  When Chen Zaixing saw that everyone had finished eating, he asked the natives to bring more rice and salt, and went back to the tent to pack up. He moved very quickly.?Except for a few necessary medicines and tools in the jungle, he only took the three rough rubies with him, and distributed all the other property and tools to the natives. It took only half a cup of tea to pack them up, and Batu watched Chen Zaixing clean them up coldly.  After finishing, he suddenly asked: "How far is it from here to the nearest Dashun post?" Chen Zaixing smiled and said: "If it is the dry season, it will take 12 days to walk, but now it is the rainy season, then it depends on luck!" Batu Wrinkle  He frowned, and the other party's answer confirmed his ominous premonition. As time went by, the rebels' control over the whole of Myanmar became stronger, and it was easier for the British and foreigners to win support from various countries to maintain the status quo, while Dashun  Military intervention will become more and more difficult, and may even become impossible.  Now every minute and every second is very precious. Thinking of this, Batu suppressed the disgust in his heart and said to Chen Zaixing in a deep voice: "You will send us to Wanding (an important town in northern Myanmar, which was Shun at that time) within ten days."  (an important military border defense town), I will report to the government and give you a large reward, five thousand taels of silver." At this point, Batu took out his waistband from his arms and waved it in front of Chen Zaixing.  Chen Zaixing's eyesight was very sharp, and he could clearly see his waist badge in a flash, and said with a smile: "Yihui Xiaowei, a martial official from the seventh rank, you are considered to have reached the age early, but no matter how much money you have,  If you have more luck, you have to be lucky enough to get there. With the weather like this, it will take twenty days to get to Wanding. " "No, it will take up to fifteen days. If you can bring me there, the reward will be doubled!"  Du's voice was decisive, and Maung Oke on the side said: "It's empty talk. If this strong man brings us to Wanding within fifteen days, this will be yours!" At this point, Maung Oke raised his wrist.  He took off a pair of bracelets and threw them into Chen Zaixing's arms.  When Chen Zaixing took a look, he saw that the pair of bracelets were made of gold, studded with various gemstones, and had various Buddha statues on them. They were very exquisitely made and valuable.  Chen Zaixing couldn't help being secretly surprised: This person seemed to be just a guard leader, and he had such a precious bracelet, so he probably underestimated the identity of the person on the white elephant.  Thinking of this, Chen Zaixing put the bracelet in his arms and replied: "There is a shortcut. If you are lucky if you take that road, you can reach Wanding within fifteen days, but -" Batu stopped talking when he saw Chen Zaixing.  He said, and hurriedly urged: "It's just what, tell me quickly!" "It's just that this shortcut has to pass through a Savage Valley more than forty miles long. The miasma is very heavy there, and it's the rainy season now. If you take that road, you'll just have to go through it."  I'm afraid that 70% of the people here will die there!" Batu couldn't help but trembled when he heard this. He saw Maung Oke nodded slightly, then turned to Chen Zaixing and said, "Just go to Savage Valley!"
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