Chapter 926: Chapter 925: Your Share
Not wanting to impose too much at Old Man Wang’s house, Ah Jiu and the others followed Yi Er to the location of the Silver Mine. As for Old Man Wang, who was in the know, he wisely didn’t tag along.
The entrance to the Silver Mine was located in an inconspicuous canyon. Naturally, since Ah Jiu and his group had taken over this Silver Mine, they had modified the entrance and added many mechanisms and traps, along with dedicated guards.
As they walked in, there were guards along the way. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was a guard every three posts.
Yi Er led the way while explaining to Ah Jiu.
“This Silver Mine of the Jin family is presumably their backup plan. Only the head of the family knows its exact location. As for why Elder Master Jin bypassed his son and gave this Silver Mine to Jin Yu, perhaps he wanted to provide him with something to rely on,” Yi Er said.
The situation in Jin Yu’s family is not uncommon, and there are quite a few people like Elder Master Jin who favored their grandchildren over their sons.
Fortunately, Jin Yu had this Silver Mine, which saved him twice, or else he might be drinking King Yama Tea with his grandfather by now.
“This is a fallback and won’t be easily exploited, so this Silver Mine has never been mined. Because there hasn’t been any activity here, and the terrain is so hidden, it hasn’t caught the attention of the Nanyue Court,” Yi Er said with a smile. “Once everyone arrives in the next couple of days, we can start mining freely.”
“Yes, everything is arranged. The place is only a hundred li away from the Nanyue Imperial City, so if the noise is too loud, it might attract stationed troops,” Ah Jiu said.
“Yes, my lord,” Yi Er responded respectfully, arriving at a certain mountain area and said, “My lord, here we are.”
The mountain area had been cleared, with many people working diligently. Upon seeing Ah Jiu, they all stopped what they were doing to stand aside and salute.
The mountain had a mine tunnel dug out, but since the work had just begun and there were not enough people, only a small hole had been excavated.
“My lord, I believe this is of very high purity silver,” Yi Er said, picking up a small ore from the basket beside him and handing it to Ah Jiu.
Ah Jiu took it, examined it in the light, and weighed it in his hand. This ore naturally hadn’t been refined into pure silver yet; it still needed to go through furnace refining.
But even though it hadn’t been refined, he could see the silver glittering in the sunlight.
“Let me see,” Wufu grabbed the stone from Ah Jiu’s hand and examined it closely. “So this is ore!”
It was indeed heavy, plated with silver, but didn’t seem that special.
“Once it’s smelted in a clay furnace, it becomes the silver pieces we see daily,” Ah Jiu said with a smile as if understanding her thoughts.
Wufu uttered an “Oh” and tossed the stone back into the basket, then squeezed into the mine tunnel.
Outside it didn’t seem much, but inside the mine tunnel, it felt silver flashing everywhere. There were silver ores all around, and some mineral crystals were notably beautiful.
She touched it briefly and then came out.
Yi Er led them on a tour, illustrating the size of the Silver Mine, and finally, with a face beaming with joy, said, “My lord, if this Silver Mine is fully mined, my conservative estimate is that it could yield nearly One Million Taels.” Such a large mountain, even if the ores at the edges aren’t that abundant, if the center is full, it really would be a massive fortune.
Wufu hissed, somewhat jealously glancing at Ah Jiu, “This business of yours is really huge.”
One Million Taels, Jin Yu was indeed generous, a grand gesture.
Ah Jiu didn’t expect it to be this much either. Seeing her look of envy, he smiled, “Don’t worry, you have a share here too, after all, you contributed that night, didn’t you?”
Wufu’s eyes instantly lit up, as if filled with silver light, sparkling brightly.