After getting off the helicopter, Hu Rong looked at the pale faces of the men and knew they wouldn't be able to eat much that night. He used his car, which was waiting in the military camp, to take them to the most luxurious hotel in Myitkyina.
Looking out from the car, Zhuang Rui saw that Myitkyina was far inferior to Yangon and Mandalay. At least in those two cities, there were some modern buildings, but here, all he could see were low wooden houses, and reinforced concrete buildings were very rare.
The so-called luxury hotel was just a three-story building with no appliances except for a bulky 21-inch color TV. There wasn't even a water heater; the staff had to bring it to the room.
Zhuang Rui and the others were really exhausted. After taking a shower in their room, they all went to bed and fell asleep.
Although Hu Rong also has a house in Myitkyina, the Hu family's roots in Myanmar are in Hpakant, and he is staying at a hotel with Zhuang Rui and the others today.
The next morning, two imported SUVs were parked in front of the hotel.
This is Hu Rong's personal car. If he were to ride in a vehicle provided by the military, it would probably be an old Beijing Jeep 212 made in China. At one point, China provided Myanmar with a batch of such Jeeps.
Chapter 488 Dangerous Jungle
Both SUVs have very large tires, which makes their chassis appear very high; they look like they've been specially modified.
When Zhuang Rui arrived by helicopter yesterday, he had seen the roads in the vicinity. They were mostly mountain roads. If he had taken Hu Rong's old RV, it would have broken down after less than two miles.
Zhuang Rui, Peng Fei, and Hu Rong were in one car, along with a Burmese soldier who had come from Mandalay. Two other soldiers were in another car with Professors Feng and Chen.
Although the three Burmese soldiers hadn't spoken much and remained silent throughout the journey, Zhuang Rui could still sense that they were watching their every move, monitoring their actions. Moreover, they had openly displayed pistol holsters on their waists, and Zhuang Rui had no doubt that they carried real weapons.
This made Zhuang Rui a little uncomfortable, because his purpose in coming here was not to inspect the jade mine, but to find treasure in the forest. If he followed these soldiers, would he find treasure and present it to the Burmese government?
Zhuang Rui wasn't that noble. Even if he took what the Japanese stole and used it to build Hope Primary Schools back home, it would still be better than letting those Burmese warlords profit from it.
After getting in the car, Zhuang Rui's car drove ahead, slowly heading out of the city. Although Myitkyina is relatively poor, it has a large population. The narrow streets are full of naked children running around, so the car could not accelerate at all. It took nearly half an hour to travel just a few kilometers.
Thinking about the family planning policy that China started in the late 1970s, it was still very necessary. Otherwise, after these decades, the population would probably not be 1.6 billion now, and it is very likely to have doubled. Just thinking about that situation made Zhuang Rui shudder.
Zhuang Rui had thought that once they reached the outskirts of the city, they could speed up the car, but when he saw the road paved with small stones, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. This kind of road was impossible to drive fast on, otherwise the tires probably wouldn't have made it to Hpakant.
Myitkyina is still the capital of Kachin State, yet the road conditions are so poor. I suppose those warlords are too busy seizing territory to care about these things.
Kachin State is actually home to the Jingpo ethnic group in my country. However, the Jingpo people are much happier than us; at least they don't have to writhe in the mud when they go out in the rain.
After walking along a gravel road, Zhuang Rui realized that he had underestimated the journey to Hpakant. The road ahead was completely dirt, with many bumps and jolts. The people in the car were tossed and turned with the car's jolting. If it weren't for the steep terrain, Zhuang Rui would have preferred to take a helicopter again.
The bumps were bearable, but the thought of the plastic bombs and grenades in Peng Fei's bag made Zhuang Rui uneasy. He felt as if he were sitting on a bomb.
Zhuang Rui wasn't a military enthusiast and didn't know that plastic bombs wouldn't explode even when burned without special detonation, so his efforts were in vain.
"Brother Hu... I think we should send people from the Burmese government to... to the rural areas of China to take a look. The roads here are really terrible..."
Zhuang Rui's words were broken into several parts by the jolting of the car. He had seen children running around in the low wooden houses on both sides of the road, and couldn't help but think of a saying he often saw in rural China: "To get rich, have fewer children and build more roads."
This statement is particularly apt when applied to Myanmar. Despite having gold, silver, copper mines and numerous gemstone mines, the people's standard of living is comparable to that of war-torn African countries. The root cause of this lies with the government.
"Brother, it's easy for you to say that, but who cares? Everyone here is minding their own business, not the other way around..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Hu Rong couldn't help but smile bitterly. He was speaking Chinese with Zhuang Rui and wasn't afraid of being overheard by the soldier. Even if he were, it wouldn't matter. The Hu Rong family had been able to stand strong in Myanmar for over a century, and that wasn't just due to money.
The Hu Rong family has been rooted in Myanmar for over a century, witnessing the country's ups and downs, making them arguably the best witnesses and observers.
In the early 20th century, Myanmar was a British colony. Later, the British Empire lost its power and was driven out of Myanmar by Japan. With China's help, Myanmar re-established its government and broke away from British rule.
However, due to its diverse ethnic groups, Myanmar has a large number of local armies in addition to the government army. Coupled with the Kuomintang remnants in the Golden Triangle, Myanmar has long been plagued by warlordism, constant conflict, and independent warlords ruling their own territories.
In the late 1980s, the value of jadeite mines gradually became apparent, and the Myitkyina region became the focus of contention between the government forces and local powers. This conflict has not been completely resolved to this day.
Although Zhuang Rui and his group currently see a peaceful and prosperous scene, with everyone seemingly happy under the government's control, the reality within the 150-kilometer-long jade mining area of Myitkyina is extremely complex, with small-scale conflicts frequently erupting. Of course, these matters are not suitable for public announcement.
Hu Rong and his family belong to the local power. The mine protection team trained by his family can transform into an army at any time and compete with the government army. The current peace is just the result of compromise between various forces.
Under such circumstances, no force, including Hu Rong's family, would be willing to invest in infrastructure, because the land is theirs today. Even if they build it up, someone else might take it away tomorrow. Who wants to do something so thankless?
Even if Hu Rong knew about the weapons Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei carried, he wouldn't care. Compared to his armory, those things were insignificant. The security guards patrolling around his house all carried Soviet-era AK-47 assault rifles.
In this area, people without connections or influence dare not venture deep into it. Otherwise, they might be kidnapped and taken hostage. If they're lucky, they might be able to pay a ransom; if they're unlucky, they'll become fertilizer for the plants and trees in the jungle.
The car was shaking so badly that Zhuang Rui lost the will to speak. He gripped the passenger handrail tightly and looked around the car aimlessly, which led him to notice some differences.
Zhuang Rui took a closer look and noticed that the doors of the car he was in were reinforced with steel plates, and the windows looked different from ordinary glass. They might be the legendary bulletproof glass. On the windshield in front of Zhuang Rui, there was a very conspicuous pass. According to Peng Fei's translation, it meant "State Guest". Although they didn't encounter many cars along the way, they would all voluntarily pull over to give way to their convoy.
On the road from Myitkyina to Hpakant, there is a checkpoint every 20 to 30 kilometers. Although it is just a vehicle-stopping device made of a few pieces of wood, it is very practical.
Each time, when they were far from the checkpoint, Hu Rong would stick his head out and greet them in Burmese. These soldiers, armed with real guns, seemed to recognize Hu Rong. They didn't even glance inside the vehicle before moving the wooden frame to let it pass.
After a bumpy three-hour journey, Zhuang Rui and his group arrived in Mogaung, a key town on the route from Myitkyina to Hpakant, and the site where the Chinese Expeditionary Force launched the Mogaung Valley Campaign.
Here, the Chinese army, commanded by Sun Liren, captured the strategically important Bujieban Mountain in just one day, annihilating and killing more than 12,000 Japanese soldiers. General Sun Liren's fame spread far and wide after this battle.
However, Zhuang Rui did not have time to pay his respects to the deceased anti-Japanese generals this time. After Hu Rong got out of the car to complete some formalities and rested for more than half an hour, the two cars continued to Hpakant.
After passing Menggong, the road became increasingly difficult to travel, with virtually no road surface to speak of. The off-road vehicle simply followed the roadbed created by the large trucks transporting raw stones, struggling to move forward.
According to Hu Rong, decades ago, those jade miners, lacking machinery, relied entirely on carrying jade from the deep mountains on their shoulders and arms, just like the jade miners in Xinjiang. The only difference was that their tools were changed from donkeys in Xinjiang to elephants from Myanmar.
On both sides of this overgrown road are tall trees whose treetops are invisible. These trees are distributed on the mountain, making them look somewhat gloomy. In addition, Hu Rong said that various dangerous creatures are hidden here, and miasma is generated every evening and morning. Few people who stray into the forest survive.
Hu Rong's words sent chills down Zhuang Rui's spine. He reflected on his treasure hunt, realizing it wasn't as simple as he had thought. The forest, where even the light from the sky couldn't penetrate, seemed like the gaping maw of a monster, darkly devouring everything that entered, whether human or creature.
"Brother Hu, I've heard there are quite a few black bears in Myanmar. We'd like to go hunting; we don't get the chance to do that back home..."
Peng Fei, who had been sitting in the back row without saying a word, suddenly interjected with a curious look on his face. Zhuang Rui couldn't help but turn around and glance at Peng Fei, who had just been having second thoughts.
"We do have black bears, their bile is known as liquid gold, but it's quite rare now. Okay, I'll see if there's a chance in the next few days, I'll take you two to have some fun..."
Hu Rong wasn't an animal rights activist, but after hearing Peng Fei's words, he agreed without much hesitation.
Moreover, hunting is a perfectly normal activity in Myanmar. He would often go into the mountains to fire a few shots and hunt some pheasants to improve his meals.
Chapter 489 City within a city
Hpakant is the earliest place in Myanmar where jade is mined. Records of jade mining date back to the 13th and 14th centuries.
It is said that around the 13th century, a pack animal driver from Yunnan, China, was returning to Tengchong from Myanmar. In order to balance the weight of the load on both sides of the horse, he picked up a stone from the roadside and placed it on the horse in what is now the Hpakant-Monggong area of Myanmar.
When the porter got home, he took a closer look and found that the stone he had picked up along the way seemed to be green and could be used as jade. After polishing, it was indeed a lovely green color, even better than nephrite.
Later, people went to the Hpakant Mong Kung area to mine this gemstone. Since then, Myanmar has been a major producer of high-quality jadeite in the world. At least until now, no other place in the world has been found to produce jadeite.
By the 1780s, Emperor Qianlong had expanded the territory to the Hpakant region in northern Myanmar, where rich jadeite mines were discovered. From then on, jadeite was used extensively as a type of jade artifact, and its glory and prestige quickly surpassed that of nephrite.
There are approximately 160,000 people living here now. Of these, 60,000 are native Burmese, while the other 100,000 are jade miners working for various companies in Myanmar.
There are many Burmese Chinese living in Hpakant, some of whom have lived there for over a hundred years. The Hu family is the most prominent. Hu Rong once ran a Chinese school a few years ago, and now there are six or seven hundred Chinese students studying there.
After a long journey of nearly eight hours, the two vehicles finally entered the Hpakant region, the birthplace of Myanmar jade.
After entering the Hpakant region, the roads became increasingly difficult to navigate. The roads would inexplicably be blasted open, all done by various jade mining companies, forcing off-road vehicles to frequently take detours.
Excavators, which Hu Rong calls "monsters," are everywhere. They don't recognize the passes with the word "VIP" written on them on off-road vehicles, and often block the roadside for more than half an hour.
Two more hours passed before the car finally entered Hpakant town. Zhuang Rui checked his watch; they had set off at around 8 a.m. and it was now almost 6 p.m., meaning they had been on the road for nearly 10 hours.
Zhuang Rui used his spiritual energy to soothe his numb body from time to time along the way. He was in relatively good condition, but he was a little mentally exhausted.
The two professors, however, were in a much worse state. Yesterday their faces were pale, and today they were ashen-sallow. They vomited several times during the journey and had to be helped off the bus by the two soldiers. The soldiers themselves didn't look too well either.
Seeing the two professors' appearance, Hu Rong felt a little embarrassed. After settling them in the only hotel in Hpakant, "Yudu Hotel," he ran around arranging for the hotel kitchen to cook porridge for them, and didn't have time to greet Zhuang Rui for a while.
"Oh, my dear brothers, I'm so sorry to both of you. Let's go home..."
Nearly an hour later, after Professors Feng and Chen had fallen asleep, Hu Rong finally had time to greet Zhuang Rui. Zhuang Rui and the other soldiers were sitting at the front desk of the guesthouse-like hotel.
Before Zhuang Rui could answer, a Burmese soldier suddenly stood up and said a few words to Hu Rong in Burmese.
Upon hearing this, Hu Rong's face immediately showed displeasure. He pointed upwards and spoke with a stern tone. The soldiers didn't dare to look Hu Rong in the eye and nodded repeatedly.
"Peng Fei, what did they say?"
Zhuang Rui nudged Peng Fei, who was sitting next to him.
"Brother Zhuang, that soldier just said that we're two foreigners and they'll be accompanying us the whole time, which means they'll be monitoring us..."
Peng Fei gestured with his chin toward Hu Rong, whose face was stern, and then said, "Brother Hu is scolding them, saying that we are his relatives and their task is to accompany and protect the two professors, not to accompany the two of us. Brother Hu is asking if they don't want to work anymore?"
Zhuang Rui laughed at Peng Fei's words. No matter which country it is, they will use their power to intimidate others. Hu Rong obviously knows the two men's superior and is now trying to scare them.
In fact, Zhuang Rui did not know that the three Burmese soldiers who were being reprimanded and were sweating profusely were not afraid of their superiors, but were genuinely afraid of Hu Rong in front of them.
If the Burmese government still had some control over Mandela, its influence became almost zero in Hpakant. The forces there were complex and intertwined, and even if Hu Rong sent people to eliminate them, the government would be powerless to do anything about it.
After the soldiers explained repeatedly, Hu Rong's expression gradually improved. He said a few more words, and the soldiers nodded their heads like shrimps, no longer daring to say anything about accompanying him.
"Let's go. You look pretty energetic, bro. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, let's have a good drink together..."
Hu Rong called out to Zhuang Rui, and the three of them left the hotel and got into an SUV. The soldiers followed closely behind and saw them off. As the car started, they gave a standard salute, clearly having been frightened by Hu Rong earlier.
Hu Rong's home is located in the northern part of Hpakant. After driving for more than half an hour, Zhuang Rui saw a cluster of buildings in the distance.
It is described as a complex of buildings because the buildings Zhuang Rui saw were surrounded by high walls, resembling a city within a city. The gate was built like a watchtower, with people standing guard with guns on both the top and the bottom. In the middle of the watchtower, there seemed to be a firing point.
Upon seeing Hu Rong, the guards at the gate immediately saluted, their posture and movements even more formal than those of the soldiers from before.
This city within a city covers a considerable area, with a main street running through the center, all paved with cement. It's even better than the asphalt roads in Hpakant.
The houses in the town were neatly arranged, all of them single-story. Children were playing in front of each house. All Zhuang Rui heard was Mandarin, which made him feel as if he had come to a small town in China.
“This place wasn’t very big before. Construction started in the 1970s. Now, nearly 20,000 Chinese people live here, mostly family members of our company’s employees…”
Hu Rong introduced his home to Zhuang Rui, his face full of pride.
This city within a city was started by Hu Rong's grandfather and continued for three generations. Now, the Chinese community is the largest power in Hpakant. Not to mention, the miners alone could easily arm an army of several thousand men with weapons.
It took almost five minutes to drive from the gate to Hu Rong's residence. There were already five or six people waiting in front of a large house.
"Grandma, why are you out here...?"
As soon as Hu Rong got out of the car, he went straight to an old woman.
“Ah Rong, my nephew’s son-in-law is coming, of course I have to go see him…”
The old lady was not tall, and her hair was completely white, but it was neatly combed. She had deep wrinkles on her face and looked to be over seventy years old. As she spoke, she kept looking behind Hu Rong, but her eyes seemed very cloudy.
"Grandma, your eyesight isn't good, can you see..."
Hu Rong helped the old lady up, but didn't say another word.