The Red Gold Mine was much larger than the Fire Crystal Rock Ore Mine.
Countless miners were hard at work digging for red gold in the open-pit ore vein.
The clanging of pickaxes rang without end.
As soon as Xu Qing's carriage arrived, he saw twelve figures already waiting at the entrance to Miner's Village.
"Word travels fast. You've got eyes posted all along the road."
Xu Qing lifted the curtain and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"We pay our respects to Senior Brother Xu!"
The man at the front stepped forward first and cupped his hands in a bow.
"And you are?"
Xu Qing asked coolly.
"I'm Fang Qingyang, a steward assigned here by the Mountain River Sect."
Fang Qingyang replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.
Yang Ling had also gotten out of the carriage by then, along with Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing.
He was wearing a Constable uniform, as Xu Qing had specifically requested.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyang and the other eleven stewards couldn't help showing a hint of surprise in their eyes.
"Oh."
Xu Qing nodded lightly. "You're all stewards here, right?"
"Indeed."
They answered.
"Good. Let me introduce you. This is the new supervisor I've appointed."
Xu Qing introduced Yang Ling.
"Supervisor Yang Ling is a constable from Qingshan City, with an official post. I heard the Red Gold Mine has quite a few mine bandits, leaving many miners up in arms.
"Since the previous supervisor couldn't solve these problems,
"Supervisor Yang Ling's position makes him a good fit. From now on, I expect you to cooperate with him."
The new supervisor was a constable?
Fang Qingyang and the others froze for a moment, their expressions a little odd.
They truly hadn't expected Xu Qing to pull a move like this—to bring in a constable as supervisor of the Red Gold Mine.
"We pay our respects to Supervisor Yang."
They greeted him politely, keeping their reactions to themselves.
"You're all too kind."
Yang Ling smiled and cupped his hands.
From a refugee to where he was now,
he could say he had acquired a little standing.
But neither being a constable nor a supervisor was his true trump card.
"You just got here, so you don't know the place well yet. Have Fang Qingyang show you around over the next few days."
Xu Qing smiled faintly. "I'll stay here for a few days too. After that, I'll return to the sect to deal with Wu Que's affairs."
Wu Que?
Fang Qingyang and the others' eyes shifted.
"Steward Fang, will that be a problem?"
Xu Qing asked with a faint smile.
"Not at all, not at all. Senior Brother Xu and Supervisor Yang, please come in."
Fang Qingyang nodded and smiled.
Yang Ling's residence was a detached courtyard.
While Xu Qing was there, the main bedroom naturally went to him.
Even so, Yang Ling and the other two each had a room of their own.
"At last, no more wooden huts with leaky roofs when it rains and drafts when the wind blows."
Yang Ling looked around, then quietly sensed the movements in the other rooms.
Then he began cultivating the Vajra Mingwang Technique.
This was a First-rate Cultivation Method.
After learning from Xu Qing how powerful First-rate Sects were and how scarce cultivation methods were, he was now certain that the Vajra Mingwang Technique would be the foundation he relied on in the future. He couldn't afford to neglect it!
After earning the full 13 Experience Points, Yang Ling began practicing the Thief-Catching Saber Technique.
The room was spacious enough for him to use it freely.
After practicing through the night, Yang Ling cultivated the Vajra Mingwang Technique again, and his energy was immediately restored.
Half an hour later, he set out to inspect the Red Gold Mine, accompanied by Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing and led by Fang Qingyang.
Yang Ling had only one goal: first, to count the Players in the Red Gold Mine.
He could see Players' Attribute Panels, and that advantage came into full effect now.
As his gaze swept over them, he memorized one name after another.
"Supervisor Yang, our Red Gold Mine has actually been in operation for many years."
"In the early days, production was steady at three thousand catties a month."
"But in recent years, the Mine Worms in the mine shafts have multiplied, and cave-ins happen often. Occasionally, mine bandits also kill people and rob their goods.
"That's made the miners unwilling to go underground, and production has kept falling."
As Fang Qingyang spoke, he furtively watched Yang Ling's expression from the corner of his eye.
"Steward Fang, how much do we produce per month now?"
Yang Ling asked casually.
"Alas, only two thousand catties."
Fang Qingyang sighed.
A drop of a third?
Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing's expressions darkened.
This was trouble.
They had to raise production from two thousand catties to three thousand five hundred within three months. Wasn't that a hell-level task?
It was practically impossible!
"How many miners do we have now?"
Yang Ling asked again.
"A little over ten thousand. You know how miners come and go, so the number is never fixed."
Fang Qingyang replied.
"That's far too slow. Production has to reach three thousand five hundred catties."
Yang Ling smiled. "Steward Fang, do you have any ideas?"
A trace of derision flickered in Fang Qingyang's eyes, but he put on a bitter smile.
"Three thousand five hundred catties? That's impossible. There's less and less red gold near the surface now. It's not that the miners aren't doing their part; there simply isn't enough ore.
"The only other option is to go down into the mine shafts, but they're far too dangerous. The miners aren't willing to go.
"There's nothing we can do about it.
"If more than ten thousand miners riot, they could swallow us and the Mine Guards whole, bones and all."
Yang Ling had a clear picture of the situation now.
The other man was being quite frank and hadn't tried to hide anything.
Production was falling because the mine shafts were too dangerous and the miners refused to enter them.
The problem was clear. Was there a way to solve it?
For now, there wasn't.
The other man was right, too. It would be a disaster if more than ten thousand miners rioted.
"He also thinks I don't have a solution."
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