Chapter 194: Through Riverbend Village

Several major projects in Yaogang are progressing well. Large marine steam engines have begun to be delivered to Lingshui Wharf; The earthwork of the shipbuilding dock and the foundation of the barrage dam and dock of Lingshui Wharf have been dug up; The telegraph pole was halfway erected; , the large clock of the passenger terminal has been completed and is being commissioned; The mortar firing table is almost complete; The transportation company's Jinnan section of passenger transportation has begun; The various branch numbers in Jinnan have been arranged in place; The large blast furnace of the smelter has been finally inspected, and the furnace is about to be ignited; Two new kilns of lime kilns have been ignited for production; Lead ore and copper ore smelting furnaces, including zinc extraction processes, are under construction and will soon be ignited for production; Li Yunhe's blast furnace gas is also ready for testing.

All this makes several giants of the kiln feel very gratified, because they know that the time left for their stable development will not be too long, as long as the development at this speed, the kiln will soon lay a good foundation.

However, the news that Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang, who had sent Li Mao back to Yaogang, made the giants of Yaogang feel a little heavy. This time they brought back a corpse and a dozen wounded.

Li Mao: The journey from Yaogang to Qinyuan was quite smooth. After arriving in Qinyuan, they rested all day and prepared to take the next step to move south along the Qinhe Ancient Road.

Qinyuan got its name because it is the source of the Qin River, and this ancient county town was shaken by more than 10,000 horses from outside the city. The trade routes have been cut off for a long time, and such a large caravan came all of a sudden, which could not but attract the attention of the fathers and elders of Qinyuan.

Here are friends that Li Mao had made friends with when he was doing business before. Li Mao went to visit, and it was inevitable that he would be served another meal of wine and meat. During the banquet, Li Mao's friends expressed their worries, because if they went down, almost all of them were divided by the big families along the river. There are dozens of castles along the way, although everyone knows that your kiln is now famous, but a good tiger can't stand up a pack of wolves, and if you have a conflict with a family, many families will come out to beat you together, not to mention that you only have a thousand people, even if you come to ten thousand people, don't want to break through.

Li Mao said: "We have the bronze medal given by the emperor, if we stop us for no reason, it will be a rebellion, and the officials and soldiers will not dare to stop us casually." ”

Li Mao's friend sighed and said, "The last time Brother Li passed once, it was considered good luck. Our caravans on the edge of Qinshui can barely get through after a walk, but it's just a lot of trouble, because any castle on the edge of Qinshui can use other people, so they can still give face. It's hard for anyone else to get through. It's been a long time since we've seen an alien caravan. However, Brother Li may be able to break through with the reputation of the kiln and the bronze medal given by the emperor, after all, the big families in Qinshui are all scholarly families, and they will not be unreasonable at all. I'm afraid that many castles have incorporated a lot of bandits to guard their homes and courtyards, and these people don't care what the royal bronze medal is. Especially after the Qinshui period, there are often accidents, I hope Brother Li doesn't meet them. ”

Li Mao's heart was a little heavy when he heard his friend's words, but Li Mao still said: "Since we are here, we have to break through whether it is Longtan or Tiger's Den." We'll be careful on the road, though. ”

Li Mao and the others set off after a day's rest in Qinyuan, stayed overnight along the way, and successfully arrived in Yueyang County (now Anze County) after four days. This Yueyang County is also an ancient county town like other counties on both sides of the Qinshui River, and Xunzi, the "post-sage" of the great achievement of a hundred schools of thought, was born here. The birthplace of the Sanjin civilization is on both sides of the Qinshui River, and these ancient towns and villages are scattered on both sides of the Qinhe River.

Leaving Li Mao in Yueyang County, it took them another four days to arrive at Duanshi Town in Qinshui County. Everything is surprisingly smooth here, every time there is a roadblock, as long as you say that it is a kiln, it is very face-saving, Li Mao feels that it is much easier than the last time he walked. really encountered a difficult one, Li Mao glared, took out the imperial bronze medal, and the people hurriedly let him go.

But further south, Li Mao felt that something was wrong. encountered some road cards, in order not to cause trouble, Li Mao paid a little silver before passing.

From Duanshi Town along the Qinhe River to the south, there are Pingshang Village, Douzhuang Village, Guobi Village, these beautiful villages are located on the west bank of the Qinhe River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, scattered. The suspension bridge on the ancient ferry port of the Qinhe River can lead directly to Douzhuang Castle. Douzhuang is the hometown of Queen Dou of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Jin Guobi, Silver Dou Zhuang" is to describe the wealth of these villages at that time, Guobi Castle is adjacent to Dou Zhuang along the west bank of the Qin River, it is an important ferry port of the Qin River since ancient times, has the advantage of water transportation, and is an important commercial town in the southeast of Shanxi. The main street of Guobi Castle is as long as five miles, almost connected with Douzhuang, and has left the reputation of "Wuli Golden Guobi" because of the daily progress of gold. However, the development of the economy has made the local people begin to attach importance to education, so the literary style is prosperous, and the ancient villages that occupy the advantages of time and place are naturally outstanding people and eunuchs. The influence of culture also retains the soul of the ancient village, so there is a tall fort in the fort like "Qingyili", and there are the names of the houses of the elegant books such as "Yingshuang", "Leshan" and "Yunsu". In "Jin Guo Bi, Yin Dou Zhuang", many courtyards secretly set up small doors, courtyards and courtyards are interconnected, if outsiders enter, although they can winding paths through the secluded, but always can not figure out the portal passage, such as entering the labyrinth.

Li Mao, who is familiar with poetry and books, will have another feeling every time he walks here, because the princess of Qinshui in the Eastern Han Dynasty once built the manor here, creating an unparalleled picture of prosperity, which is the famous "Qinyuan", and the word plate of "Qinyuan Spring" sung by future generations through the ages was left here. However, Li Mao was not so poetic at this time, looking at the tall castles, Li Mao knew that if they came out to block their caravans, it would be difficult for them to pass through with their location and scale. Fortunately, these big castles are very easy to talk to, and when they hear the reputation of the kiln, they usually let them go. The trouble is that those small and medium-sized castles are difficult to pass without handing over some silver. That's not all, a ** annoyance was met by Li Mao and them.

Li Mao and the others left Guobi Village for most of the day, and came across a castle at the place where the Qin River turned again. This castle belongs to Hewan Village, which is a large family dominated by the Jiang family. The owner of the village has a total of four sons, and he is also considered to be prosperous. They also suffered from the infestation of the bandits, so they also converted the village into a castle near the mountains and rivers, which happened to be held on the ancient road of the Qin River.

The Jiang family is also a big family for several generations, so these four sons have also read poetry and books for a long time, and they can be regarded as authentic literati. But literati are not necessarily good people.

This Hewan village knows that its population is not as large as those large villages, and its strength is still somewhat weak. So they spent money and hired many high-ranking people to help them defend the castle. To say that this castle is really easy to defend and difficult to attack.

When Li Mao and the others walked to the front of the castle, they were stopped by Zhuang Ding. Zhuang Ding said: "In order to prevent the rogues from invading both sides of the Qin River, all the castles on both sides of the Qin River have united and decided that no unknown persons will be allowed to enter. ”

Li Mao said: "We are from Yaogang, and we have been walking from Qinyuan to Qinshui for more than ten days. We came from Guobi Village in the morning. It shouldn't be an unknown person. ”

The Zhuang Ding may be relying on the tall castle behind them, with an extremely arrogant attitude, saying: "We don't care about others, I say who is unknown is unknown, if you are not convinced, hang you up and torture you to know if it is a spy." ”

Li Mao and Li Jing were both on fire, and Li Mao said: "This brother, can you inform your old Jiang Zhuang owner, just say that Xiurong Yaogang is coming to visit." ”

These tired Zhuang Ding said: "Our owner is not just someone who wants to see him. ”

Li Mao understood that these people just wanted silver, and said helplessly: "Okay, you see how much silver you need to let us go." ”

Originally, these little ghosts could be sent away with a little silver along the way, but a person came out of the watchtower, maybe this person felt that Li Mao's words were not humble enough, and couldn't help but come out to talk about it. As the man walked outside, he said, "Well, I have met the lord who has the silver, and since there is much silver, let us leave a tael of silver for each horse." We don't charge much either. ”

This is obviously extortion, and more than 10,000 horses will leave more than 10,000 taels of silver. This person also doesn't want to think about it, is it easy to mess with a person who can have more than 10,000 horses? Li Jing has been standing by the side without speaking, if she can not cause trouble, she will not cause trouble, because she still has more than 10,000 horses and goods. But the bullets have already been loaded, and Li Jing's special forces are now issued firing bullets, without ignition ropes.

Li Mao knew that these people were all subordinates who couldn't be the master, and they could bluff a little silver, but if they could force one or two pieces of silver from each horse, it would be too much, and they were looking for trouble. Li Mao deliberately raised his voice to argue with them, so that their people in charge could know the situation here. Li Mao's plan also succeeded, hearing the quarrel outside, the two sons walked out of the Zhuangzi, and when they came to the place of Gangka, several Zhuang Ding who guarded here hurriedly bowed their heads and shouted: "The third son, the fourth son!" ”

Li Mao understood, it was the third and fourth elders of the Jiang family who came out.

The two sons ignored those Zhuang Ding, glanced at Li Mao and the others, and asked, "What are you shouting here?" ”

Li Mao felt that since the son in the Zhuangzi came out, he would definitely be reasonable, and he would not follow the slave, so he hurriedly said: "The two sons are good." We are a caravan from Yaogang, and we are passing by here. However, the Zhuang Ding of your village did not let him go, so he said that he would let us pay one or two taels of silver for each horse before he was released. I wanted to meet with the owner to ask for an explanation, but they didn't agree, so there was a bit of a quarrel. I ask for your forgiveness. ”

Li Mao felt that the two sons would not be like these Zhuang Ding, and they would not embarrass them in the face of the kiln. Unexpectedly, the third prince sneered and said, "Yaogang, it's so famous." But now it's in our territory, you say that you think one or two pieces of silver are too much, how much do you say is appropriate? ”

Li Maoqiang suppressed the anger in his heart and said: "When I came from Yaogang, our owner asked me to visit the owner, you can help me introduce it!" ”

At this time, the fourth child spoke: "My father is not in good health, and he is generally not seen by everyone, if you have something, just say it here." However, it is said that you have a lot of silver in the kiln, and if you don't want to pay it, don't think about going through here. Don't think twice about it. ”

Li Mao knew that he was in trouble today, so Li Jing asked, "May I ask the two sons what kind of silver are you receiving?" We have a bronze medal from the Imperial Palace, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty can be passed unimpeded. If it is forcibly blocked, it is considered rebellion. ”

Li Jing's words angered these two sons, usually they are also arrogant here, how can they suffer this. The third prince sneered and said: "We don't care about the heavens and the earth here, and the court never cares when there is something." We're in charge of the business here. Let me tell you, the silver we collect is the silver that passes by, and as for the bronze medal, we also have copper blacksmiths in Zhuangzi, and we will build it ourselves. Don't bluff people with that. Let me tell you, don't think about going over if you don't pay the money today. ”

Li Mao, who had always been calm and calm, had a red face, and he just wanted to speak. The fourth prince may have been a little disgusted by Li Jing's words, he pointed at Li Jing and said, "You see this person, doesn't he look like the thief spy who escaped a few days ago?" ”

Of course, those Zhuang Ding understood the intention of the fourth prince, and they all followed: "Yes, yes, it's him, the one who ran a few days ago." ”

Li Mao knew that it was not okay to think about things well, so he gave Li Jing a look. At this time, the guy who led the people to collect one or two silver per horse took the lead and leaned over, apparently trying to catch Li Jing. It is estimated that this person will do some work, otherwise he would not be a small boss here.

Li Jing waited for them to get close to him, raised the muzzle of the gun and almost pointed at the person's head and pulled the trigger, and the musket "touched", knocking the upper part of the person's head away, and the red and white splashed on the two sons who were standing not far away.

These two sons are usually used to bullying people by relying on the power of Zhuangzi, but they didn't expect that someone would dare to kill in front of them, not to mention that Li Jing's shot knocked off half of a person's head, which scared these two sons and brothers. I secretly bought a few firecrackers in my Zhuangzi, but I didn't have such a loud voice and power. After Zhuang Ding in the back reacted, he was about to step forward with a knife, but the brothers behind Li Jing opened fire unceremoniously, hitting four or five at once. At this time, the two sons turned around to run, but it was too late. Li Jing's men went up and put their guns on their heads, telling them that if they moved again, they would break their heads. These people still dare to move. Li Mao found that the two sons, who didn't know how to get better, had already peed their pants. On this cold day, the crotches of both of them are damp, and it is estimated that they will soon freeze into ice.

At this time, Li Mao was faced with a choice, one was to hold the two sons with a gun, and then let the horse team behind pass; The second is to go back one after another, and then pass it after the matter is resolved. However, Li Mao was also worried that because the road on this section of the river bank was very narrow, the horse team behind him would be pulled out for at least one or two miles. In this case, it will take a long time to pass through here, and the horse teams in front and behind will have to be divided and taken care of, and if Zhuangzi rushes out desperately, it will be very troublesome to separate the horse teams. So the inside ordered all the troops to retreat.

When the gunshots were heard, there was a great chaos in the castle, and after a while, the gongs of the bells inside rang out.

From the castle rushed out a group of men. Li Mao ordered Liu Chenghuang to retreat with the team, and he and Li Jing took two hundred musketeers to wait for the rushing team. When the people who rushed over saw that the two sons were constantly trembling with muskets, the leader of the team stopped the group. It turned out that the second child of the Jiang family came over. He saw the corpses on the ground and knew that his people had suffered a great loss. But when he saw his two younger brothers being pointed at their heads with muskets, they didn't dare to move, although he had never seen the power of muskets, but judging from the usual behavior of not being afraid of the two younger brothers and sifting chaff in fright, pointing at the guys on the heads of the younger brothers must be terrible.

The second child shouted at Li Mao and them: "A few heroes, please slow down, you have something to say." ”

Li Mao didn't want to make things too bad, so he told the second child what had just happened.

The second child hurriedly said: "We have heard the name of Yaogang for a long time, today's incident is purely a misunderstanding, don't be angry." My two brothers must have made a big joke and I'll go back and tell my father to punish them. Please let go of my two brothers in the presence of all our fathers. ”

Li Mao also borrowed the slope and said: "We have also heard of the prestige of Guizhuang for a long time, and we wanted to come to visit, but your evil slaves are really ridiculous. Today we will look at the face of the old owner and let them go. We don't want to be an enemy of anyone, but we won't let them go if they go against us again. ”

After speaking, while Li Mao led people to retreat, he released the two sons. Unexpectedly, the two sons, their pants were frozen, they were unable to move, and they were scared, so they fell to the ground all of a sudden after being let go.

Li Mao and his team evacuated for three miles, and when they saw a mountain depression that was very sheltered from the wind, they set up camp there. At night, Liu Chenghuang sent out guard posts far away all around.

Li Jing and his special forces put on skis and set off in white capes in the night. They scouted around the castle and found no obvious loopholes. It seems that their castle was carefully designed.

Back in the camp, Li Jing reconnoitred the situation of the castle, drew a sketch with a pen, and carefully studied the current situation with Li Mao and Liu Chenghuang.

The castle of this river bay village was built on the inner bay at a bend in Qinshui, and the Qinhe River went around the castle for almost half a circle, and the Qinshui Ancient Road bypassed under their castle, even if the river was frozen and walked on the ice, a little farther away from the castle, it was also within the range of the bow and crossbow on the castle. There will be some casualties if you rush through.

Li Mao said: "Let's not worry, let's see the situation tomorrow." Because we let go of their two sons today, we also gave them Zhuangzi face. Their owners must have known what had happened today. If nothing else, tomorrow they will give us an explanation. ”

"If they don't come, we'll be ready to take the castle." Liu Chenghuang said.

Li Mao said: "This is the next policy. Even if we pay a little price and rush into the castle, the castle has been built over the years, and every house is connected. It will not be possible to fully occupy it for a while. Besides, if other Zhuangzi come to the aid again, we will be passive. After all, we still have more than 10,000 horses carrying goods, and we have difficulty moving. ”

That night, the three of them barely closed their eyes and waited until dawn.

Before dawn and before the fire was cooking, Li Jing's people escorted back three people.

Li Mao took a look, these three people had the second son of the Jiang family who he saw yesterday, and he didn't need to ask the other two people who must be brought by the second son. Li Mao hurriedly asked people to let go of a few people. The second son, who was let go, let out a sigh of relief and said, "I didn't expect the people in the kiln gang to be so powerful that they hid in the snowdrifts." I, a man who often went up to the mountains to hunt, was also ambushed. ”

Li Jing's people all have down sleeping bags, and hiding in the snow is not a problem at all, so I can't tell them about it.

Li Mao arched his hand and said: "We are sleeping outside and have to guard against it." Please don't be embarrassed by the second son! ”

The second prince also returned the salute and said: "Where is it, I envy that there is such a talent in the kiln, who can ambush in the snow." Like those so-called masters invited by our Zhuangzi, in addition to oppressing the good and causing trouble, they have never seen any real skills. ”

It seems that the second son is not an ordinary person, and he quickly detoured the topic to the main thing, and said it very clearly, it was the people they invited who caused trouble.

After giving up a seat for the three of them, the second son drank a little hot water and said, "I offended a lot yesterday, and thanks to a lot of you, you let go of my two ignorant younger brothers." My father asked me to come early in the morning to thank you from the kiln, and please don't mind what happened yesterday. ”

Li Mao also said: "Where, where." We also ask for the forgiveness of the second son and the old Zhuang subject, what we did yesterday was also a last resort. Think about it, if we are caught as a spy in broad daylight and don't resist at all, isn't it a big joke? ”

The second son said: "My father understands your approach very well, not only understands, but also praises and says that yesterday the people of Yaogang were benevolent and righteous, and told us that we did not know how to lift." Reprimanded the two younger brothers severely. If they had not been frightened, they would have been reprimanded by their father. ”

Li Mao said: "When we came out, the owner repeatedly warned us that we must make friends when we come out this time, and we must not take up grudges with heroes from all walks of life because of trivial matters. So we will endure as long as the situation is about the same. ”

The second son said: "I already admire you very much when you come here from Qinyuan, and you can't go here without virtue." When I came, my father said that if you are not in a hurry, I would like to invite you to Zhuangzi to talk about it. My father also said, "As a sign of sincerity, you will leave me with you when you enter the castle, so that everyone will be relieved." ”

The words of the second son moved several people in the kiln, and it seems that the old owner is very sincere.

Li Mao pondered for a moment and said, "That's it, you can also see that our caravan is too big. Yesterday was already delayed for half a day, so it's not good to delay any longer. Now that we've talked about it, I still have a long way to go. This time, I won't bother with the village. Wait for the next time we pass by and visit now. ”

Li Mao didn't want to waste time here at all, so he sent the second son away, and Li Mao ordered the meal to be served immediately. Set off immediately after dinner. Before leaving, the careful Li Mao prepared a gift, including a small mirror and other items from the kiln, and wrapped a bag with him. Because Li Mao knew that the old owner Jiang would definitely come to see him off.

In order to pass faster, this time the horse team went down to the river, because the river is spacious, and a dozen horses can be side-by-side in a horizontal team. When Li Mao and the others led the horse team to the bottom of the castle in Hewan Village, there was indeed a team of people waiting on the riverbank.

Li Mao ordered Liu Chenghuang to take the horse team not to stop and continue to advance, he took Li Jing, rode his horse to the riverbank, came to the front of everyone, and flew off the horse.

An old man with a white beard in this group of people on the riverbank was extraordinary, and when Li Mao saw it, he knew that it must be the old owner. The second son next to the old man hurriedly introduced: "Father, this is Li Gongzi from Yaogang." He introduced to Li Mao again: "This is my father." ”

Both of them gestured. Li Mao said: "Li Mao visited the old owner. ”

The old owner also said politely: "Li Gongzi doesn't have to be polite. It is the honor of the old man to meet the heroes of the kiln. I offended a lot yesterday, please forgive me. ”

Li Mao said: "We were also reckless yesterday, and we ask the old owner for forgiveness." We are busy, bring a little gift to the old owner, and ask the old owner to smile. ”

Lao Zhuang said: "Where, where." Li Gongzi is so decent, my sons who are not successful should study hard. ”

Although the old farmer's face was full of sincerity, Li Mao saw that the third and fourth sons of the old farmer were not good-looking, and they were obviously forced out by the old owner. This made Li Mao's heart sink in.

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