From what Zhang Heng saw, there was no doubt that the Binota Mine was in trouble.
The gate of the mine was locked, and there were no carts transporting ore in or out of the mine. Even the guards who patrolled around the mine to prevent the nearby farmers from stealing the ore were gone.
Decius looked at Zhang Heng with an expression that said, "I told you, Cobb has no reason to deceive us. It's not good for him to do so."
"Which side are you on, my friend?" Zhang Heng looked back at Decius and asked.
"Huh?"
"Because if you still want to finish your work on time and hand over the bronze statues on time, you'd better pray that Cobb lied to you about this matter."
"But … what if he really didn't lie?" Decius asked weakly.
"Then, congratulations on messing up the first job that His Majesty the Emperor assigned to you," Zhang Heng said.
Decius's expression suddenly tensed up when he heard Zhang Heng's words. He knew that the easterner in front of him was trying to intimidate him, but he had to admit that Zhang Heng's words were indeed irrefutable.
"If you figure out your situation, then let's get to work," Zhang Heng said.
After he said this, he climbed over the fence on the side of the mine. Decius hesitated for a while before quickly following him.
The two walked through a muddy path, then climbed over a slope, and finally saw the mine at the back.
A group of slave miners were going in and out of the mine, carrying baskets of stones and sand and dumping them outside the mine. A man who looked like a supervisor saw Zhang Heng and Decius, and he took the initiative to walk up to them. He seemed to know Decius, and he was a little surprised. "Why are you here?" he asked.
Decius introduced the two to each other, and Zhang Heng knew that the young man in front of him was Cobb's eldest son, Krasai.
Krasai reached out and shook hands with Zhang Heng, "I went to see your performance before. It was very exciting. You are the most powerful man I have ever seen."
Although his tone was polite, there was a hint of wariness in his behavior and movements.
"Oh, Zhang Heng is now the emperor's advisor, and he is responsible for matters related to the construction of the bronze statues," Decius added.
"Is that so? Then why did you come to my mine instead of making bronze statues?" As Krasai spoke, another batch of slaves came out of the mine. After dumping the sand and stones, they did not immediately return to the mine. Instead, they stood on the spot. There were about a dozen of them, all of them strong and sturdy, holding iron pickaxes used for quarrying.
"Uh, because we don't have enough ore supply, we have stopped mining for a while. So, we are here to see the situation on your side. How long will it take for us to resume mining?" Decius tried to smooth things over.
"As you can see, the mine tunnel has collapsed. We are still cleaning it up." Carat Race Track. "I'm not sure how long it will take for the mining to resume, but I remember telling you that I'll let you know as soon as it resumes."
"Of course, of course. It's not that we don't trust you. We just want to see if there's anything we can do to help and breathe in the fresh air of the countryside." Decius nodded repeatedly, and then looked at Zhang Heng on the side. The look in his eyes seemed to be saying, "Okay, you should be satisfied now. Let's stop here."
"There's no fresh air in this damn place, only a group of stinky slaves and a pile of broken stones." Krasai snorted, "No one wants to stay here. When things are over here, I'm going to the city to find a brothel and give myself a good long vacation."
"Yes, we can have a drink together or something, but I guess I won't have a job by then." Decius sighed and looked at Zhang Heng again.
The latter raised his eyebrows, indicating that he had nothing else to ask. Decius breathed a sigh of relief.
Krasai and the dozen slaves watched Zhang Heng and Decius leave the mine.
After walking for a distance, Decius finally couldn't help but say, "I don't want to say this, but you should believe that the mine is really in trouble now. Cobb didn't mean to delay the construction period."
"It's hard to say if the mine will be in trouble, but you are in trouble, my friend," Zhang Heng said.
Decius became worried when he heard that. "I know, but this is an unexpected disaster. I hope you can report the situation here to His Majesty truthfully."
"This isn't an unexpected disaster." Zhang Heng shook his head.
"How is that possible? We saw it with our own eyes …" Decius's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe that Zhang Heng would lie to him. Was it because he didn't give Zhang Heng any money when they met?
"What you saw was the slaves picking the sand out of the mine, and Krasai blocking the entrance of the mine to prevent us from entering. In addition, I heard that the miners in the Binota Mine aren't just slaves. There are also some poor people nearby who come here to seek work. But this time, we only saw slaves, not those poor people."
"Well, what does this mean?"
"Slaves are the owner's property, and it's difficult for them to betray their master. But those poor people are not. So if you want to do something, you can't let those poor people stay," Zhang Heng said. "And …"
"And what?"
"Did you notice that the slaves who cleaned the mine didn't sweat much? This means that they just started working not long ago. Also, do you remember the muddy road we passed before going uphill?"
"Uh-huh."
"I don't know if you noticed that Krasai's shoes and trouser legs have dried mud on them. This means that he just walked on the road that we walked on. This guy came here not long before us, and he wanted to put on a show for us. Other than that, when I went to look for you, I found a few sneaky guys outside your door. If I'm not mistaken, they should be the people sent by Cobb to keep an eye on you. They saw me going to look for you, and I guess someone came back to inform the people in the mine in advance. After that, they prepared everything."
After Zhang Heng finished speaking, he looked back at Decius and found that the latter's mouth was wide open, looking incredulous.
"Oh my god, who are you? Why can you see so many details that others won't notice at all?!"
"You know me. I used to be a gladiator. It's just that I happen to have good observation skills." Zhang Heng had no intention to explain further. As one of the tenants of 221B Baker Street, he didn't know how to make a fuss about such a level of reasoning.
"Okay, so what should we do next?" Decius asked. "I mean, even if we know that the Binota Mine is lying and deliberately stopping work, strictly speaking, they did not violate the contract. They are still paying us the liquidated damages. Besides, I still don't know why Cobb did this. It won't do him any good."
"Of course, Cobb doesn't have the guts to do this. So, next, we need to find the person who made him do this," Zhang Heng said lightly.
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