Zhongtiao Mountain is located in the south of Yongxing Junjiezhou, east and south of the Yellow River, between the Yellow River and the Shushui River, and close to Jiangzhou, Hedong Road. Between Taihang Mountain and Huashan Mountain, the mountain is long and narrow, so it is called Zhongtiao.

Zhongtiao Mountain shields the land of Luoyang, Tongguan and the Central Plains in the west of the Great Song Dynasty, and guards Jingzhaofu and the northwest, so its strategic position is very important.

The strange peaks of Zhongtiao Mountain are lifted, the solitary peak is marked, the surface of the group of springs is covered, the green cypress shade peak, the clear spring is empowered, it is a rare scenery holy place.

Immediately to the south of Zhongtiao Mountain, is the salt-producing area of the Great Song Dynasty - Jiezhou Salt Pond. The salt income of Jiezhou accounted for more than 20 percent of the financial income of the Song Dynasty, and the annual output of salt in Jiezhou Pond was more than 90 million catties, accounting for 30 percent of the salt output of the entire Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, the salt pond and salt administration were an important part of the financial and economic work of the Northern Song Dynasty. Not to mention anything else, Shaanxi has used troops in the Western Xia for nearly a hundred years, and all the supply and demand are out of the salt relief income.

In addition to Hedong Road, the marketing area is as far as Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Hubei, Ningxia, Gansu, Shandong, Sichuan and other eight provinces.

In the winter of the first year of Jingkang, the Jurchens went south, and the official army of the Great Song Dynasty was defeated, and the entire east of the Yellow River, north of Zhongtiao Mountain, including the entire Hedong Road, had become the world of the Jurchens.

There were originally more than 60,000 people in the salt pond of Jiezhou, but as the Jin soldiers moved south and occupied this place, most of them fled, and there were less than 10,000 left. However, due to the extremely limited scope of Jurchen control, only Hedong and northern Hebei are currently available, and the salt sellers of the Song people did not dare to come to sell salt, so the salt production can barely catch up.

"If I knew that these things were so vulnerable, our brothers wouldn't have come! It's good now, trapped in this broken mountain, eating and waiting to die all day long, when will this day be the end?"

In a cave halfway up Mt. Nakajo, sacks of grain are stacked on top of each other. A few men dressed as Song people were gathering together, and around the men, hundreds of Song men were lying or sitting, talking boredly in the cave.

"Brother Fang, don't worry!"

Hearing his brother complaining, the square-faced man with big eyes sat up straight and said in a deep voice: "Fanzi has already withdrawn from Bianliang City, and the official army will definitely restore Hedong, and it won't be long before our brothers can go back!"

"Li Yuanwai, your family has a big business, and only you can calm down, but our brothers are not!"

Fang Wu was angry, but he looked helpless: "If the officials and soldiers don't come, the brothers will only be consumed here." The brothers, both old and young, are counting on the exchange of grain for salt and the return for money! ”

A man next to him came up and interjected, "Yes, outsider." In the past, when grain was transported, you could find the officials of the Salt Division, receive the money, and then go to the salt pond to exchange for salt. Now that the Jurchens control the salt pond, what can we do, do we want to use grain to exchange salt for the Jurchens? ”

The Song Dynasty attached great importance to salt relief. The imperial court set up a special "Preparation and Salt Relief Division" and "Preparation and Salt Relief Envoy". The salt farm also has salt officials and officials who do specific things, and leaders such as section level and field officials, so it can be said that the system is very complete.

The banknote and salt system of the Song Dynasty was to change the official management and official transportation to the merchant to pay money and receive banknotes, and use the banknotes to sell salt in Jiechi and sell them by themselves. Another method is that the merchants are responsible for transporting grain and grass to the frontier, and after the transportation, the salt solution department distributes salt stickers, and the merchants use the salt stickers (banknotes) to transport the salt to various places for sale.

In this way, merchants can also share profits from the sale of salt, and the imperial court can also reduce the pressure on the transportation of grain and grass, and can also control the sale of salt to obtain profits. The annual savings of the imperial court alone in transportation costs amounted to millions of yuan.

Just like Li Yuanwai, these traders transported grain to various military areas in Hedong, obtained government certificates, and then took money from the Salt Relief Division, and transported it back to Sichuan to sell it in Yanchi.

Who knew that the road was difficult, and by the time these people arrived, the official army had been crushed for thousands of miles, and although the Jurchens withdrew from Bianliang City, they controlled almost the entire Shaanxi Hejie salt production area. These people came from Sichuan, and the roads were cut off, so they had to find a place to hide and choose the opportunity to move.

If you bring this grain back again, not to mention the difficult journey, how will you face your family when you go back like this?

"Stop complaining, everyone!"

Fang Wu looked at Li Yuan's hesitation outside, and hurriedly said loudly: "We are lucky, some merchants were killed by the Jurchens halfway through, who can reason with this!" Now we are hiding in the mountains, our lives are worry-free, the food is still there, so everyone should stop complaining!"

"Why don't we try it!"

Someone said loudly: "I heard that there are many salt merchants from the north who come to sell salt, so we might as well disguise ourselves and pretend to be them, and maybe we can exchange grain for salt."

When he said this, the people below echoed him.

"Don't die, just try!"

Fang Wu snorted coldly: "The salt dealers who came from the north have the salt and banknotes of the Jurchen government in their hands, what do you have, do you want to take the banknotes of the Great Song Dynasty government to exchange for the salt in the hands of the Jurchens, you can go if you have a long life!"

There are also many people who fled from Jiezhou on Zhongtiao Mountain, and everyone knows a little about the situation under the mountain. Some of the locals left, and some had to stay. If you leave behind, you may have something to eat, and if you escape, you may only starve to death and die of illness.

"The key is that this Jurchen person is very strict, and we don't dare to wander around."

Another old man said: "In fact, there are many illegal salt elements who go to sell salt. Let's try it too, maybe we can pretend to be the past. ”

"I repeat, whoever wants to go by himself, don't bother others!"

Fang Wu glared at a pair of bull's eyes, and scolded sharply: "Don't look at your accent, a mouthful of Sichuan dialect, who can you hide!" The one who guards Jiezhou is the thief Geng Shouzhong, who kills my Han people like hemp, and those who are not afraid of death can go!"

Li Yuanwai sighed and said: "Geng Shouzhong, the dog thief, was originally the leader of my Great Song Yisheng Army, the gold thief invaded the Song Dynasty, this person abandoned the pass and surrendered, willing to be an eagle dog, running up and down, I don't know how to kill my Han people." Now that I know Xie Zhou, I see that the people still have calves, and they are also responsible for Hanfu and beheading them. Countless innocent beings have been killed. When encountering such a thief, the big guy should not take this risk!"

The crowd was silent. The Jurchens are tyrannical, cruel and murderous, and once they go out and leave no corpse left, the gains outweigh the losses.

Another old man also said: "When the person who inquired about the news comes back, he will know the situation outside." Maybe the officials and troops of the imperial court have fought back! Wang Song and his loyal army are not vegetarians!"

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Song was mentioned and the Loyal and Righteous Army was mentioned, the crowd in the cave immediately became active.

Fang Wu said enviously: "I heard that this General Wang Song, known as the "Saiba King", has strong martial arts and amazing divine power! There were several battles in Bianliang City, and the Jurchen fans who killed him lost their armor and urinated, and I heard that he killed hundreds of Jurchen generals alone, which is really enviable when I think about it!"

Li Yuanwai was also fascinated: "I heard that this Wang Song was only a middle-sized household before, and he still had some problems with his brain, and he became someone else's son-in-law, and he was divorced." Who knew that the soul was suddenly returned, people saw murder, and the Buddha blocked and killed the Buddha, as if Wuqu Xing descended to earth, it was really unexpected!"

A middle-aged man said loudly: "The Jurchen Fanzi went south, and the court officials and soldiers with the silver were about to collapse at the first touch, but it was these nameless and nameless loyal soldiers who killed the Jurchen Fanzi and suffered heavy casualties, what a big joke!"

"Those rich old soldiers, don't mention it anymore!"

Li Yuanwai shook his head and said: "These guys, the cavalry can't ride horses, the foot soldiers can't hold guns, except for drinking flowers and wine, visiting the Washe, they don't have any fart skills, and they are not even as good as the village soldiers." What kind of court there is, what kind of army there is!"

"That's what Li Yuanwai said!"

Someone said loudly: "2,000 people let 17 people kill the falling flowers and flowing water, and I don't know how they are bad!" It was 2,000 pigs, running blindly and bumping around, and also knocked over the Jurchen cavalry. These useless fools are really shameless and embarrassing!"

While everyone was talking enthusiastically, the entrance to the cave was opened, and two men bent in.

"Brother Shi, you're back! What's going on out there? Tell everyone about it. ”

Li Yuanwai stood up and asked in a deep voice.

Shi Dagong said respectfully: "Outside the staff, there is no problem south of the Yellow River, it doesn't hurt for us to go south, the north is still the world of Jurchen fans." However, according to the refugees, the Loyal Army is fighting back!"

Everyone was surprised, Li Yuanwai laughed, and Fang Wu hurriedly asked, "The loyal and righteous army has returned, is the news reliable?"

"Fifth brother, don't worry, it's all true!"

Shi Er nodded and said: "We investigated carefully all the way, and met some smuggler salt dealers, as well as refugees from Zezhou, saying that Zezhou was occupied by the Loyal and Righteous Army half a year ago, but there are still thousands of Jurchen troops in Jiezhou. If the loyal and righteous army can't come to Jiezhou, they won't know!"

Everyone couldn't help but be angry, and they all sat back in their places listlessly.

Li Yuanwai shook his head and said: "The Jurchen Fanzi only knows about plunder, but he doesn't know how big the salt profit is, and it is related to the foundation of the country, so only a few thousand people are left to garrison!" The Loyal Righteous would not be so uninformed. You two take a break, recuperate your spirits, and go back to investigate, there will definitely be news of the Loyal Army!"

How did they know that the Loyal and Righteous Army had conquered Zezhou and Longde Mansion, and on the ground east of the river, there were thousands of troops and horses, and they were making a big move. If it weren't for the hot weather, I'm afraid I would have already met the Jurchens.

After half a year of training, the loyal army is already strong and strong, and it is about to move north to compete with the iron cavalry of the Jurchen Fanzi.

"That's what the staff said! It's a long way to go, and we can't bring the grain back!"

Fang Wu nodded, and said loudly to the people next to him: "Brothers, when the loyal army arrives here, let's change the salt, so we can go back early." Outside, do you think we should contact the Loyal Righteous Army and let them come here and drive out the Jurchens here?"

Li Yuanwai nodded and said, "This is a good idea, and the left and right are also idle here!" Fang Wu, you have good skills, take some brothers, and go to Zezhou, maybe you will run into the soldiers of the loyal army. ”

Fang Wu hugged his fists and said: "What the staff said is that the villain will arrange it."

Up to now, there is no other way but to take one step at a time, and we can't transport this grain back to Sichuan after thousands of miles.