The spring rain fell for a whole day, and the indoor course at the Bifengxia training base was taught for a whole day. After Sun Hong's literacy course was completed, Zhu Pingjin temporarily added courses for Song Zhenzong and Song Zhensi. Song Zhenzong talked about the military training plan for the near future, and Song Zhensi talked about the short spear tactic. Finally, in the evening, Zhu Pingjin also came on the field in person and told a story to the soldiers. The synopsis of the story is that on a cold and windy Chinese New Year's Eve night, the homeless Yang Bailao begged for a red head rope for his daughter Xi'er, and the thief Zhang Xianzhong sneaked into the county seat, saw Xi'er's beauty, killed Xi'er and her father, and robbed her as a concubine. Xi'er was unwilling to be humiliated, and fled to the yamen of the state capital to beat the drums in the wind and snow, but the state officials were afraid of the thieves and had already fled without a trace. The official deceived Xi'er and abducted her to Liu Fatzi, a big family in the state. Xi'er was humiliated, and when Liu Fatzi was drunk, she fled into the mountains overnight and fed on mountain fruits and wild vegetables.

"Lord Shizi, where is the Xi'er girl now?" Chen Youfu couldn't help but raise his hand to ask a question.

"Still hiding in the mountains of northeast Sichuan, waiting for the warriors of the caravan to rescue!" Zhu Pingjin replied seriously.

"Will the thief return to our Sichuan?" Another soldier asked.

"Of course will be back! The thieves and the offering thieves are thieves, and they take wherever there is treasure and a woman. The thief Agate Mountain was defeated and lost all the more than a dozen women he had robbed, so he ran to our Sichuan to rob him. A few days ago, Ben Shizi heard a rumor that he robbed nine women in our Sichuan! His generals Wang Shangli, Dou Mingwang, Wang Fuchen, Wang Ziyu, Zhang Junyong, Ma Yuanli, Feng Shuangli, as well as his four adopted sons Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi and others, each robbed seven! The thief chief is like this, and his minions will not go home empty-handed, and each of them robs a few women. Remember, the thieves and thieves did not all leave Sichuan! Wherever they go, they leave behind thieves to continue to plague the place! Those thieves who stayed, we in Sichuan are called local tyrants! ”

"My sister was also robbed by a thug...... They also killed my mother......" One of the soldiers below immediately began to cry bitterly.

"The thugs stoned my father and second brother to death, and also killed my daughter-in-law. The thug ripped her belly open and tore out my unborn child and roasted it over the fire...... Liu Sangen and I hid in the grass and saw it with our own eyes. I'm going to fight desperately with the local thugs......" Speaking of this, the grief-stricken Chen Youfu fell down and couldn't cry.

Zhu Pingjin walked into the middle of the soldiers, patted Chen Youfu on the shoulder, and asked, "Do you want to avenge your father?" Revenge for your brother? Avenge your daughter-in-law, your unborn child? ”

Chen Youfu stood up suddenly, his hands turned white: "Why don't you want to?" I'd never dreamed of killing those dog thieves! ”

Zhu Pingjin raised his head and said loudly to all the soldiers: "This son of the world is to lead you to kill all the thieves and corrupt officials!" Return our Ming Dynasty to a bright future! Give our people a stable and prosperous life! Are you willing to follow this son? ”

Without waiting for He Youyi to take the lead again, all the soldiers had already raised their fists and shouted: "Follow the son!" Kill all the thieves and kill all the corrupt officials! ”

Zhu Pingjin looked at his other cadres and said, "Let the soldiers come to the stage and pour bitter water!" Mr. Shu, your Shu family is full of loyalty, and you will take the lead in this grievance movement! ”

On the second day, the sky finally cleared. However, the mountain road was still muddy, and the troops had no choice but to change the mountain road to running laps in the drying field.

Song Zhensi led the team, Shu Guoping was adjourned, and Song Zhenzong took a bamboo stick to monitor the middle of the team. Zhu Pingjin was dressed in a gray cotton robe, and shouted passwords while running in the inner circle of the drying field.

"Left! Left! Left and right! Zhu Pingjin shouted in the inner circle, and finally stood in the center of the circle and circled in place.

"You're running the wrong way! Take a left foot pad! Song Zhenzong pointed a bamboo stick at a soldier who was not walking in the right step and yelled.

The soldier did not come out with his right foot after passing his left foot, but padded it with the sole of his left foot according to Song Zhenzong's order, and sure enough, he found that he was walking in the same step as his comrades in front and behind, and couldn't help laughing: "General Song, the villain is right!" ”

"No casual talk in the queue!" Song Zhenzong continued to point and yell with a bamboo stick.

Dozens of laps were run, and everyone in the team was sweating. Today's subjects are queue training and short spear training. Song Zhensiping's commonly used weapon was a spear, and Zhu Pingjin decided to make him a short spear instructor. Song Zhenzong is the military commander, and training is his business, so he naturally stays to lead the team; Although Shu Guoping was a scholar, he also stood in the queue with a bamboo gun in his hand, leaving to train with ordinary soldiers.

Zhu Pingjin didn't actually run a few steps, and returned to his small courtyard refreshed. Sun Hong, He Youyi, and Cao Santai were waiting in the hospital. The three of them met the ceremony, and Zhu Pingjin returned to his main seat, gave him a seat, and invited tea before he spoke:

"It's the end of the first month, and it's just over a month away from the Qingming Festival, and the tea leaves on this tea mountain are about to be picked. Manager Cao, this son knows that you have a lot of things to do in the village. You go back today and arrange the spring tea picking first. This prince has already reported to his mother that this year's tea leaves from Mengding Mountain will be transported to Tibet through the tea horse road in exchange for horses except for entering the palace. Now my Ming official army is short of horses, and the fierce town has chased the thieves for a month or two, and the lack of horses is a reason. In the future, our army suppressed thieves, and there were many places to use horses. Tea farmers must pay enough wages, and they must not make any trouble! Remember, the matter of tea and horses will fall on you, Mr. Cao! ”

Yazhou is the starting point of the tea horse road, and Mengding Mountain is the production area of tea. Tea and horses are reciprocal, and naturally Cao Santai must be. Cao Santai had a plan in his heart, and after listening to the orders of the prince, he simply responded, and then said: "Look at the rain on this day, this year's tea harvest should be good." In recent years, the market of Tibetan bud tea has been very good, and this year the slave maid is ready to produce more bud tea, less tea bricks, and the sifted tea powder is also crushed into tea pieces and taken out for sale. Since the slave and maid were promoted to the army by the prince, the slave and maid often think about this thing in the army. Lord Shizi, can you come back with some cowhide this time? I might as well make some leather armor for the soldiers. ”

That's a good idea! Zhu Pingjin took a few sips of the teacup and said: "Cowhide is a good thing, in addition to leather armor, it can also be made into leather shoes and leather clothing." ”

He Youyi interjected: "The beef is salted and dried, and I am hungry after eating." In wartime, it was given to soldiers to make dry food and carry it by themselves, which would save a lot of baggage! ”

Zhu Pingjin nodded and said, "What Mr. He said is extremely true. But Tianquan doesn't produce salt, and it all depends on our side to transport it. Salt and tea are all controlled and monopolized by the imperial court, and the Salt Division, the Tea Bureau, and the Tax Division are all keeping an eye on it, and how to get out of the customs needs to be carefully considered. ”

Cao Santai said disappreciatively: "Lord Shizi, who dares to check the goods of our palace." He's not afraid of losing his head? ”

Sun Hong also said: "If the prince is not at ease, it is better to send a small team of people to pass the test first." It's just the banner of my Shu Palace, don't play it for the time being! ”

He Youyi followed Sun Hong's words and said: "If General Guan is sensible, we might as well give some benefits." ”

Zhu Pingjin thought about it and felt that now there was only the biggest problem of transportation, so he said: "The salt is not stocked, so I have to replenish it later." How about the caravan preparations. ”

Contacting the horse gang is Cao Santai's business. He said: "The slave maid has contacted several horse gangs in Qiongzhou and Yazhou, and they are all willing to transport our goods. The slaves and maids themselves have prepared dozens of pack horses, but the leaders of the gang have not yet been found. ”

Zhu Pingjin shook his head and said: "The leader of a horse gang is not important, if you can't find it, you can dig people, or we can cultivate it ourselves." The key lies in the trade road from Yazhou to Tianquan and Lushan, and we must fully control it. We controlled the trade routes, and the goods on this road, whether it was tea, salt, iron, cotton, silk, and porcelain, we naturally controlled them. Whoever doesn't obey, we'll clean him up halfway! Isn't this what we put the army to train here on Mengding Mountain? Manager Cao, how far is the journey from Bifeng Gorge to Feixian Pass? ”

Cao Santai estimated in his heart and replied: "Seventy to eighty miles, there are mountain roads at both ends, and a flat road outside Yazhou City in the middle. ”

Zhu Pingjin smiled and said, "That's it!" The infantry marched in a hurry, and could arrive in one day, and the cavalry only needed two hours. Mr. Cao, I heard you say that the road from Yazhou to Tianquan is to trace the left bank of the Tsing Yi River (also known as the Ya River). Yazhou is on the right bank of the Tsing Yi River, so how many bridges are there between Yazhou and this trade route? ”

Cao Santai didn't know the purpose of Shizi's questioning, but he still replied truthfully as far as he knew: "Yazhou City is separated from the avenue by a river. Coming out of the north gate of Yazhou, there is a large stone bridge. Going up the Tsing Yi River for about two miles, there is also a wooden bridge outside the small north gate. No matter which bridge you cross, you can go up to the pipes after crossing the bridge. In addition, there are several fishing boat wharves on the riverbank on the north side of Yazhou. Lord Shizi, the fish in Yazhou are very famous! The flesh is beautiful and there are few thorns, and there is a fish bone in the head of the fish like a sword. Therefore, one of the most famous dishes in Yazhou is casserole tofu fish! Lord Shizi, you might as well go to Yazhou to try it before you go home, this is also a little filial piety for the slaves and maids......"

Follow the gourmet, life is too good, but unfortunately Zhu Pingjin is not here. He smiled and said to Cao Santai: "Mr. Cao has a heart." Since you want to do Tianquan's tea and horse business, you must prepare in advance. You send someone to Yazhou to have a look, and if someone is willing to sell recently, you might as well buy a Zhuangzi between the two bridges on the other side of Yazhou. The yard must be big! This Wangzhuang can be used as a transit station for our goods! ”

He Youyi felt that Zhu Pingjin's words were not as easy as he said, and he was about to ask clearly, but found that Sun Hong's eyes were glancing at him, so he stopped talking in time. Cao Santai was asking Zhu Pingjin how big this Wang Zhuang would be, and Zhu Pingjin replied simply: "It's enough for one or two thousand people to eat and sleep!" ”

Several people also discussed several key issues such as the price of tea and horse pairs this year. At the end, Zhu Pingjin said to Sun Hong: "Wait for Mr. Gao to come, this prince is going to go to Tianquan in person to meet with General Gao and General Yang of the Six Recruitment Divisions." In the past few days of military training, in the opinion of this son, these homeless people are some good soldiers, and Mr. Sun chose well in the city this time! ”

Sun Hong hurriedly humbled him.

Zhu Pingjin said: "Last year's catastrophe, this year there will be no shortage of displaced people in Sichuan. When the son of this world arrives in the sky, Mr. Sun should not follow him. You have to return to Chengdu as soon as possible and buy another batch of displaced people. This son always felt that these more than 300 people were too few! It's really something, and it's not very useful! The tooth boy Bao Zhong that Mr. met last time, this Shizi thinks he has some way. Sir, let him move. In addition to Chengdu, other state capitals can also buy some homeless people to come back! ”

Sun Hong hurriedly asked how much to buy this time. Zhu Pingjin replied: "A battalion of soldiers is at least 800 people. Except for Wang Daniu, there are only three hundred and five people now, and Mr. Sun can buy them according to the replenishment of a battalion of soldiers. It doesn't hurt to buy more, even if you make merit. As the saying goes: Saving a life is better than building a seventh-level floating slaughter! ”

Several people hurriedly complimented, and Zhu Pingjin sighed: "It's a pity, there are too few people in the world who are so compassionate as this son, otherwise I wouldn't be in such a big mess tomorrow!" ”