More than 50 miles to the west of Zhengjiawa, there is a continuous mountain range called Betelgeuse, the main peak is Betelgeuse, although it is not very high, but the steepness is the place that ranks first near Qingzhou. According to reliable sources, this is actually the base camp of a tributary in Qingzhou. Chen Ji has specially read all kinds of written records about Betelgeuse, and in the past few decades, it was a good place for literati to ascend to write poems, and few poems have been passed out in recent years. And from those recorded texts, there are many things that can be read from Chen Ji. For example, there are countless caves in the mountains, which are used to hide food.

Because of the rumors of the Liukou blocking the road, the official road that originally passed at the foot of Betelgeuse Mountain has been deserted, and most of the merchants who come and go will not choose this road unless it is not the first time to do business. If there is really a gang of gangsters who are evil here, I am afraid that life will not be easy in this kind of "market" bad year.

After noon, Feng Xuexiao had probably guessed the destination of the trip, and her face was naturally worried. He had also heard the rumors of the Betelgeuse Mountain, and if he did, he was not confident that the five hundred people under his command would really be able to escape in one piece.

Zhu Chenghu also slowly came back to his senses, took advantage of the rest, and asked Chen Ji in a low voice: "Chen Shao, will this trip really be dangerous?" ”

Chen Ji took a bite of the flatbread, swallowed it with water, and his face was solemn: "Of course there will be no danger, and I don't call you to fight and kill." ”

Zhu Chenghu was still worried, and couldn't help asking: "Don't hide it from me, if you don't have any money to buy food, even if the disaster in the neighboring county is not serious, the price of grain will not be low." ”

Chen Ji stared at Zhu Chenghu for a while, and said approvingly: "Your brain will think about things?" ”

"My father said that since you want to do things, you have to think more and watch more and do more."

Chen Ji sighed, and said in a suppressed voice: "Then I won't hide it from you, I got the grapevine earlier that there is a caravan in Pingshan Town tonight, and they are carrying a large amount of grain. ”

Looking left and right, Chen Ji's voice was much lowered, and he said: "I got another gossip that there will be a stream of rogues near Pingshan Town in the future. We are serving as soldiers to protect the people and do things for the people. ”

Zhu Chenghu sighed, quickly covered his mouth and sat back, frightened: "This ...... This! ”

Chen Ji unhurriedly nibbled on the flatbread, with green onions, and he couldn't accept it for the time being, so he could only swallow it with cold water, although the taste was good, but there was also some bloating.

got up and patted his buttocks, and said leisurely: "Let's act when we see the opportunity, we may have to make a cameo appearance in the caravan, or we may be a religious." ”

Zhu Chenghu followed and got up, and his voice almost came out of his throat: "Let the boss know, something big will happen." ”

"Hey, don't worry, it's all with me. I'll give you another piece of grapevine, almost tonight, there will be a team from the imperial court in Pingshan Town, and I guessed that it should be Xu Guogong's pathfinder. If we can't mess up, we are only here for food. ”

Zhu Chenghu couldn't speak for a long time, and sighed: "Where did you get all this gossip, reliable or unreliable." ”

"If it's reliable, it's not gossip."

Zhu Chenghu had a bitter face: "You are really sincere." ”

"Of course, we are all grasshoppers in the same boat, and we must be honest."

“……”

Back in the team, Chen Ji saw that everyone had already eaten, and beckoned Zhu Chenghu to take the map out, and after reading it with Feng Xuexiao and a few others, he put a little on the map. At the moment, he said: "We must rush to Niujia Village before dinner." ”

Feng Xuexiao's mind was still on that map, secretly thinking, Niujia Village was a good place for ambushes.

The procession set off again, the wheels crushing the potholes, accompanied by the sound of the trumpet of the carts, a poor caravan. After walking forward for more than an hour, there was a fork in the road in front of him, Chen Ji deliberately stopped, stared at the ground for a while, and then summoned Zhu Chenghu and Feng Xuexiao, pointed to those deep and shallow rut marks, and seemed to be relieved, "It seems that it is not all gossip." ”

Zhu Chenghu sighed, a little flustered in his heart.

Chen Ji patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's speed up." All the carts were abandoned, and only the dry rations were taken with them, and the march was hurried. ”

"Without a car, how can we transport grain?"

"Someone else has."

Turning around, Feng Xuexiao conveyed what she had just said, among the five hundred people who accompanied her, only a few were temporarily brought in to make up the number, and they could barely do the order and prohibition.

Less than half an hour after the run, a light rain fell from the sky. The road beneath his feet became more and more muddy and difficult, and the pace of the march slowed down. It was getting late, and the vision ahead finally saw a convoy, probably hearing the movement behind, and actually stopped on the official road.

Two waves of people passed by.

Not far ahead is Niujia Village, and the west end of the village is the ambush resort "A Line of Sky".

……

The rain is falling incessantly, and it tends to get heavier and heavier. The cat was gnawing on the flatbread behind the stones, and the rain soaked him saved him the step of swallowing with water. So he took a green onion from Zhu Chenghu's hand, closed his eyes and chewed it.

Zhu Chenghu saw him open his eyes, and asked leisurely, "It's not bad." ”

Chen Ji nodded.

Zhu Chenghu changed his comfortable position, rested his head on the stone, and said worriedly: "Will they turn their heads back?" Or did you stop at Niujia Village? ”

Chen Ji said: "No, as long as one of my gossip is confirmed, they will appear." ”

"I hope so. However, where did you come from so much gossip? ”

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, "I bribed the post man of Qingzhou Post Station." ”

Zhu Chenghu obviously didn't believe it, but he couldn't find anything to refute, so he closed his eyes and stopped talking.

After a long silence, the watchmen below spoke. Chen Ji sat up and beckoned people to be ready to attack at any time.

The cliffs on both sides of the sky, as long as you come in, it basically means that you have been wrapped dumplings. In the rain, a burst of firecrackers sounded in the rear, and Chen Ji rushed down with people, blocking the exit, not forgetting to cover his face with a black cloth.

When they passed by earlier, they probably already knew that the caravan should be about fifty people in charge of guarding, but with the charioteers who carried the grain, the number was not much less than them.

After blocking the road before and after, Chen Ji also let people come forward to shout, nothing more than "I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree".

The first wave of negotiations followed.

Chen Ji shrank behind the crowd, estimated the time, and also told Zhu Chenghu, who was in charge of shouting, not to have too much "red tape".

Someone in the opposite convoy came out, clenched his fists and cried: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are planning to enter Beijing to do business, and we have no silver ...... on us."

Zhu Chenghu said in a thick voice: "Lao Tzu took his brothers out for a trip, but he couldn't go back empty-handed, leave all the carriages behind you, and take your people out." ”