Zhu Pingjin stayed overnight in Tianguan Garden in Qiongzhou that night, and said goodbye to Yang Shen the next day and went straight to Mengding Mountain. Of course, Yang Shen would not be stupid enough to really collect Zhu Pingjian's rent, otherwise he would not be worthy of being a heavenly official. However, Zhu Pingjin still insisted on leaving an IOU covered with the prince's golden treasure, and asked Sun Hong to wait for him to leave and send it to the Tianguan Mansion. After Wang Daniu went home to arrange his mother, he not only brought his three brothers, but also more than 20 young men from his own village and Lincun. Because there were no extra horses, Zhu Pingjin left Sun Hong and a few guards, followed them behind, and walked to Mengding Mountain to meet.

Out of Qiongzhou, the road is still flat; After the Baizhang Pass, the avenue gradually winds and rugged. Zhu Pingjin's original itinerary planning was not reasonable, he simply divided the time according to the approximate mileage according to his past driving experience. He did not fully take into account the bad road conditions of this era.

When the ancient Chinese drew maps, most of them were based on the distance traveled per unit of time of foot, car or boat, rather than the scale used in modern maps. For example, the ancient Chinese geography and humanities book "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", the mountain road is long, the flat road is short, and it looks very freehand, but in this era of extremely underdeveloped transportation, it is indeed very valuable in terms of practicality.

Zhu Pingjin was dizzy by the bumpy car, so he had to abandon the car and get on the horse. The group threw off the convoy, quickly whipped up, and arrived at Mengyang Town at the foot of Mengding Mountain at noon. Cao Santai, the head of the tea house in Mengding Mountain, and Wang Sizhong, who had arrived here in advance, had already led a group of people to wait on the side of the official road.

The south of the mountain and the north of the water are called the yang. As soon as you hear the name of the town, you will know that Mengyang Town is at the southern foot of Mengding Mountain.

Mengyang Town is not far from the famous mountain county, the town is not big, there is only one main road from the entrance of the town to the end of the town, and the road surface is paved with stone slabs. Maybe it's been raining recently and the road is full of standing water. Everywhere the horse's hooves passed, the water splashed. The houses along the road are very dilapidated, and the townspeople look very poor. Most of the people in these towns are tea households in Wangzhuang, and when they saw the chief manager Cao Santai leading a large group of people to pour in, the mothers-in-law hurriedly beckoned their children back to the house and closed the door. Only those people who couldn't avoid barely squeezed out some smiles and bowed to Cao Santai in front of them. is about to leave the town, and a large mansion is revealed next to the road, which is the headquarters of the Shu Wangfu in the tea houses of Mengding Mountain, and it is also the place where Zhu Pingjin temporarily stopped to eat at noon.

Cao Santai is a white and chubby middle-aged eunuch. He and Cao Sanbao, the great eunuch in Zhu Pingjin's mansion, were both under Cao Yicheng's name, and later changed his surname with Cao Yicheng. So he called Cao Sanbao his godbrother.

The three of them are not related by blood, they don't look like each other at all, and they don't even look like personalities. Cao Sanbao is cautious in his words and deeds, this Cao Santai is a nonsense basket. While letting Zhu Pingjin into the courtyard, he chattered: "It's been seven or eight years since the slave and maid came out of the house, and I didn't expect the prince to grow so big." The slave maid just met her, and she couldn't recognize each other. When I heard that the prince was coming to my mountain, the slave didn't know how long she was happy. After the first day, the slave and maid received the letter from the elder brother, and the slave and maid sent someone out to wait a few days ago, but who knew that yesterday did not wait for the car. I learned this morning that the prince lived in Qiongzhou yesterday, and today he went directly to the slave maid. The slave and maid hurried out with the princess, and they didn't miss the prince's drive! “

Zhu Pingjin didn't talk, just habitually listened and smiled and nodded. Crossing a threshold, Cao Santai continued to ramble: "The slave maid also hugged the prince when she was a child, and the prince still remembers." The slave maid once took the prince to play, and the slave accidentally dropped the sugar man that the prince liked on the ground, and the prince cried all of a sudden, and the princess hurriedly came over. At that time, the slave and maid scared their souls away, and the princess didn't know how to punish the slave and maid, most of them would beat their butts this time or drive them out of the palace. ”

"What was the result?" Zhu Pingjin listened interested, and the group of people behind him were also very curious, stretching out their ears, only Cao Sanbao still had the same expression.

"As a result, the princess let the prince watch and dispose of it herself! The slave watched the prince cry a lot, and said in her heart that this time it was over! Cao Santai stroked his chest with his fat hand before saying, "As a result, the prince stopped crying, and just asked the slave to eat the sugar man on the ground." Look at people and look small, the prince has been benevolent and righteous since he was a child! Slaves and maids have today, and it all depends on the grace of the prince! ”

Zhu Pingjin laughed happily, and the people behind him also laughed. This Cao Santai has not seen him for many years, and his ability to make people happy has become more and more proficient.

Zhu Pingjin rushed to Mengyang Town, not to eat mixed rice. After the hasty lunch, Zhu Pingjin immediately left Cao Santai and asked him about the arrangements he had made for the grass labels.

Cao Santai replied: "The godbrother said in the letter that the place should be big. Hundreds of people want to live and move. The place should also be hidden, so as not to let the idlers go. The slave and maid received the letter, and went through the ravines and ravines within a radius of hundreds of miles in their hearts. The place that the slave maid chooses now is called Bifeng Gorge by our locals. From here, head northwest, cross Mengding Mountain, and cross two more rivers to arrive. It's about thirty miles from here, but it's not easy to walk on the road. The cart could not get in, and the chicken bus (the Sichuan name for the wheelbarrow) could only go one by one, and the horses and mules could barely pass. The place was surrounded on all sides by mountains, and could only be accessed along the river through two gorges, the northeast and the southwest. After entering, you have to turn a corner and enter the mountain pass. The inside of the pass is flat, with only a few small hills and a dam in between. There is a large house on the dam, which was originally a workshop used by Zhuangzi to hold tea, dry tea, and press tea, and also served as a warehouse for nearby tea and local products. In the past two years, the times have not been smooth, the tea production has decreased, and there is the end of the tea estate, so it is not cost-effective to keep people, so the slave maid moved all the tea households inside to the outside of the gorge according to the instructions in the godbrother's letter, and vacated the house for General Song and Mr. Shu to use. This house was originally a tea storehouse, and the advantage is that it is big enough. General Song's three or four hundred people lived in it, and it was empty. The slave estimated that there would be no problem with another four or five hundred people. There is a drying field not far from the house, and it is enough for hundreds of people to move. It's just that there is a lack of food in it. There are too many people living in it, and the food from the outside has to be sent in, and the slaves and maids find it a little difficult. Now there are no beds and no tables in the house. The slave and maid had to carry some straw in a hurry and make do with sleep; There are not enough benches and tables, and they have to squat to eat. The kitchen and pit in the house are not big enough...... There was a small house on the hillside above the house, which had been cleaned up by slaves and maids. If the prince doesn't dislike it, he can barely live for a few days......"

Zhu Pingjin listened carefully to Cao Santai's trembling, said very well, and asked Cao Santai: "How does Manager Cao prevent the news from leaking?" ”

Cao Santai said: "There were not many people in Bifeng Gorge, and the slaves and maids let them all move to Zhuangzi outside, so they didn't know anything. From Mengyang Town to Bifeng Gorge here, there are more than 30 miles of road into the mountain, there is only one mountain road, and outsiders must pass through the town and the four Wangzhuang inside to enter the mountain. The slave maid kept an eye in the town and in the king's village, and when someone from outside came in, the slave and maid soon knew. In addition, from the Bifeng Gorge Pass, you can go up to Zhongli Town and Shangli Town along the river from the Northeast Gorge Pass, and you can go directly down to Yazhou from the southwest gorge mouth along the river. In fact, it is closer to detour from Yazhou to Nabifeng Gorge. Listening to General Song and Mr. Shu, they set up a clear post in the mountain pass, and no outsiders were allowed to enter. ”

Zhu Pingjin asked again: "People outside can't get in, that's good!" There are so many people in your Zhuangzi, it is inevitable that some people will have nothing to do and talk nonsense everywhere. How did you arrange that? ”

"When those displaced people enter the mountains, they go to Mengyang Town. Along the way, many farmers saw it, and they said that a group of people called Hanako had come in. The slave maid told them that this was a newly purchased homeless person from the palace, and that he would try to grow new tea in the mountains. The slaves and maidservants also warned them, especially the women, not to go around talking. Otherwise, if you ruin the business in the house, you will be punished according to the rules! ”

Zhu Pingjin smiled and said, "Yes, we can't let them ruin our business!" Mr. Cao, you're doing a great job!. ”

At that moment, Zhu Pingjin asked Cao Santai about the transportation of materials. This time, Zhu Pingjin brought 200 stone of grain and meat from Chengdu Prefecture, enough for the displaced people to eat for a month, as well as warm clothes, quilts, and underwear for hundreds of people. The logistical supply is abundant, and the difficulty lies in the transportation.

Cao Santai said: "Transporting so much food and clothing from here is all carried up and down the mountain by manpower, and there are not so many people here for slaves and maids." The slave suggested that the food, clothing and quilts should not get off the car, and detour directly from here to Yazhou, and then turn from the north of Yazhou to Bifeng Gorge. The road slave and maid walked by, and the car could pass in front, but after turning in Yazhou, the car would be difficult to travel. The slave and maid had prepared fifty chicken carts there. As soon as the cart arrived, the things were transferred to the chicken bus, and then pulled directly to the mountain pass checkpoint in Bifeng Gorge. The people of the chicken bus, the slaves and maids have been carefully selected, please rest assured! ”

Cao Santai was familiar with the terrain and roads in this area, and also made meticulous preparations for the secret mission of Bifeng Gorge. It seems that Cao Sanbao recommended Mengding Mountain as Zhu Pingjin's secret training base, and the steep mountains and difficult information are not the main factors, but the main factor is that his godbrother Cao Santai is here.

The slave maid also suggested that the prince should stay here today, rest well, and set off tomorrow morning. Although the road is farther, it is easy to walk, safe, you can ride a horse, and you don't need to pass through Yazhou City. Lord Shizi, you have been running around for several days in a row, if you are tired and sick, how can it be good! ”

Zhu Pingjin pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, just follow the path that Mr. Cao pointed out!" Please ask Mr. Cao to transport the things as soon as possible, but this son must rush over as soon as possible! ”

Cao Santai still wanted to persuade, but seeing Zhu Pingjin's resolute attitude, he had to explain that he rushed over now, and it was estimated that he would not be able to arrive before dark. Outside the mouth of the gorge, Mengding Tea House manages a small village of more than a dozen households. If you can't get there tonight, the prince might as well rest there for the night.

"The slave will show you the way! The slave doesn't dare to let the prince rush to the mountain road at night! Cao Santai said resolutely.

Riding the canyon trails at night is as exciting as bungee jumping. Zhu Pingjin compromised when he thought about it. He instructed Cao Sanbao to let Song Zhensi send two capable people to Tianquan Gao's house to find Gao Antai. As for the other guards, they escorted the vehicles to the checkpoint, and after handing them over, they returned to camp in Mengyang Town. ”