A young cavalryman galloped from the west. The red back flag struggled violently, as if it was about to break free from the human body and fly into the free sky.

"Report!" The sound was caught in the rush of horses' hooves and came from afar.

Waiting for the cavalry to restrain his horse, Song Zhensi didn't wait for him to speak, and his heart ached first.

"Panic what! People are coming, aren't they? Senior instructor, it's not an emergency military situation, why are you running so fast? We are not better than the sky here, the war horse is expensive, what if you step on the stone (AI) on the road? ”

The young cavalryman wiped his sweat and smiled sheepishly. He was accustomed to being wild on the mountain roads of Tianquan, and when he got on horseback, he couldn't help but whip his horse quickly. The horseman's name was Ko Chi Satoshi, and he had a younger brother Ko Chi Ming who was a year younger. The two brothers were the pair of Tianquan Tusi Tanma who impressed the prince Zhu Pingjin in the Battle of Tsing Yi River.

Now the war horse at the base of Songlin Mountain is Song Zhensi's heart. For this batch of war horses, Song Zhensi reported to the prince three times, and tactfully reminded the prince of his promise to him in Tianquan, and the prince asked Gao Antai to temporarily purchase it. Gao Antai saw the face of the prince, and first picked a hundred war horses in Gao Rongxuan's cavalry team to save the emergency. Zhu Pingjin gave 10,000 taels according to the market price of Chengdu Mansion, and Gao Antai only received 5,000 taels according to the market price of Tianquan, and by the way, he also gave Zhu Pingjin two house slaves as an addition, these two house slaves are Gao Zhicong and Gao Zhiming brothers. Zhu Pingjin got the war horse, half of which was distributed to civil and military officials as official vehicles, and half was sent to Songlin Mountain to train Song Zhensi as an experimental reconnaissance cavalry platoon.

Just a cavalry platoon, and experimental. This is not because Zhu Pingjin is stingy.

During the Chongzhen period, because of the continuous wars in the vast area north of Sichuan and even the Yangtze River, the officials and troops in various places were in urgent need of horses, and the consumption of war horses and miscellaneous horses was very large. The destruction of the Ming Dynasty horse politics made the contradiction between supply and demand of horses more prominent.

The Sichuan Basin was not a major producer of horses, and the Sichuan horses were small in stature, not much larger than donkeys, so they could not be used as war horses for battlefield killing, but only as pack horses and pull horses (Note 1). The war horses originally used by the Sichuan army mainly came from the Tusi in the Songpan and Maozhou areas. However, the production of these places is limited, and they also need to use horses, coupled with the government's deliberate low price of horses, the enthusiasm of the toast trade is very low, which has caused a shortage of horses in Sichuan and a high price of horses. After Zhu Pingjin opened up the ancient tea horse road, he set up a field in Tianquan to buy and sell fairly, and the toasts from all over Wusi Tibet, including Songpan, got the news and transferred the horses originally imported into Sichuan to Tianquan for trading. As a result, this made Sichuan, which was already in short supply of horses, even worse.

The 500 war horses and 1,000 miscellaneous horses that Luo Yuhong exchanged in March and April were all sent to the Chengdu market for sale according to Zhu Pingjin's opinion. War horses were sold for an average of more than 100 taels, and miscellaneous horses were sold for 60 taels. Excluding the disease and death of horses on the transfer route, the net profit is still doubled. The big dark horse with the highest transaction price was sold for 300 taels. Luo Yuhong won the first battle and increased her confidence. She immediately came up with a bigger plan. Through the control of marketing channels, she not only controlled the horse market in Sichuan, but also sold the war horses to Huguang, Jiangxi and Nanzhili, which were more expensive, through the land and water wharf of Chongqing Prefecture.

Autumn is when this plan will be implemented. At that time, the autumn tea of Mengding Mountain was on the market, and the autumn high horse fertilizer of the western Sichuan Plateau was in full swing when mutual trade was in full swing.

……

The base of Songlin Mountain is at the western foot of Longquan Mountain Range, one or twenty miles away from Niujiaozhai. A branch of the Longquan Mountain Range stretches out from the main vein, embracing this shallow hill valley of three or four thousand acres in its arms, leaving only a slightly shorter narrow ridge to the west for people to climb and exit. The shallow hills and valleys are covered with straight and straight pines and cypresses, because they have not been cut down for many years, and the fallen branches of the pines and cypresses have covered the mountains with a layer of soft carpet more than a foot thick.

On such terrain, no matter how good the war horse is, it can't run. Liu Hongting felt the softness of the horses under her, breathed the quiet and sweet air in the mountains and forests, and quietly glanced back at Shu Guoping, who had lost half of the horse's body, and her pretty face couldn't help but be slightly hot.

The prince personally leads the matchmaker to be a matchmaker, can Shu Guoping still not know Liu Hongting's affection for him? The two are a good match, with similar family backgrounds, similar educational backgrounds, similar work natures, and similar life experiences. Of course, what attracts Shu Guoping the most about Liu Hongting is not those external things, but her cheerful and lively, smart and clever, and her love and pursuit of a better life. He knew he was dull and boring. When Peng Shan first started to team up with Liu Hongting, he heard that she was a man's personality, and her head was full of tricks, and he was worried about the difficulties between the two. Later, when I saw Liu Hongting going along with her, I felt embarrassed. In order to work, he sometimes takes the initiative to come to the door. The more they talk to one another, the more they become acquainted. Only then did he realize that Liu Hongting always took advantage of his inattention and looked at him stupidly.

I haven't seen each other for two or three months, and when I see each other at first glance, how can I forget what I want to say? Shu Guoping complained to himself in his heart. The bright red squirrel shook in front of his eyes, stirring his mind uneasy. You have to find a word to break the silence, otherwise when will the two of them be embarrassed?

"Why did Nong become dumb today?" But it was Liu Hongting who spoke first, smiling with a hint of complaint, "Did the prince break it, but Nong became shy?" ”

"yes, oh, no, I always feel ......"

"Nong goose look! It's hard to imagine that Nong can talk and laugh in front of hundreds of soldiers! As she spoke, Liu Hongting flipped her cheek and stretched out her hand: "I have traveled hundreds of miles to see you, and I have to comfort others." ”

The beautiful white hand made him shy and uneasy; Those amorous bright eyes made his face even redder. He hasn't pulled a young woman yet!

"Isn't that okay? Someone in the back is watching, and it's not good. ”

"They were so far away, and they were meant to make us close!" Liu Hongting laughed loudly, "Nong, look, the prince is younger than us, isn't he leading Miss Luo around?" Oh, it's not, it's like Miss Luo is leading the world around! Nong didn't blush at all, just like to an old husband and wife! ”

Shu Guoping also smiled. During the attack on Niujiaozhai, the prince dragged the horse's tail and led Miss Luo up the mountain, and the whole army saw it. The two of them were calm, as if they were born to be like this.

The sun was scorching, piercing the dense pine forest, and a thousand diagonal arrays of light were laid in front of the two of them.

Liu Hongting turned her head to look at the sun, where it was like countless dazzling stars, constantly twinkling in the sky.

With the personal demonstration of Zhu Pingjin and Luo Yuhong, the two hands that have experienced hardship are finally held together. The animals seem to be in touch with each other, and the horses and horses they sit on (Note 2) also gently bite with their mouths.

Of course, the people in the back have to keep their distance from the couple who pull and pull to show their affection.

"Shibei should be impressed in three days!" Song Zhensi deliberately didn't look at the pair in front of him, and turned his head to Chen Youfu, "This time, General Chen went to our Songlin Mountain to select troops, I don't know what kind of troops to choose?" Now I will give my brothers a word or two, so that I can explain it to the brothers. ”

Chen Youfu smiled innocently at Song Zhensi: "General Song, don't make fun of the last general!" I, Chen Youfu, is the son of the world who bought it from the market and called Huazi, where is it worthy of being called a general? If only you were a tent soldier!

This time, I only received Mr. He's preliminary order, and the official will of the prince has not yet come down. So how many soldiers to bring, which soldiers to bring, when to go to the battle, etc., the last general does not know. However, the last general guessed that the team going out might use the two teams together. The general knew that the last general of the fifth company had practiced the longest and most ruthlessly, just to kill back to northern Sichuan one day. Who knew that Mr. He ordered that the Fifth Company was only allowed to bring one platoon, and the rest were all Zhuang guards. The platoon leader of the township platoon in Mingshan County I didn't know before. They set off ahead of schedule and only joined us at Woody Field yesterday......"

The brigades, squadrons, and squads of the Guardian Brigade are actually exactly the same as the battalions, companies, and platoons of the Guardian Caravan, and the officers often move back and forth between the two, so the officers are accustomed to using the names of battalions, companies, and platoons. Sometimes, in order to distinguish between the caravan as the main force and the village guard as a local force, the officers directly added the word "township soldiers" in front of the establishment of the village guards, which were called township barracks, township soldier companies, or township platoons. Due to the locality of the village protection team, sometimes the officers will directly call a certain village protection team XX Battalion, or XX Battalion X Company.

Chen Youfu told the truth. As the commander of the Songlin Mountain base, Song Zhensi was also ignorant of the tasks and composition of the task force.

"The general does not know the soldiers, the soldiers do not know the generals, that is the way to defeat." Song Zhensi muttered: "The platoon commander of the Mingshan Battalion is named Lin Yan, who was originally the guard of the palace and has no position. He followed Shizi to Tianquan, and after the Yazhou rebellion was quelled, he followed me and the Fourth Company to Bifeng Gorge for training. After the training, they were assigned to the famous mountain camp. This person doesn't talk much, but he is quite serious. Blessed, you are the main general, if your subordinates are negligent, you can punish how you want, and you don't have to worry about it. The son of the world often says, and mercy is not in charge of soldiers. We must be strict in governing the army, and we must be even stricter in governing the army! The son of the world said again, he loves soldiers like sons. This strictness and love must be distinguished from the occasion. ”

"Thank you General Song for your advice!" Chen Youfu rode on the horse and bowed his hand to Song Zhensi, "Platoon Commander Lin is not at fault, he just doesn't like to talk." ”

Song Zhensi turned his head to look ahead. The sun dappled the earth, hiding the couple in front of them.

"Climb over the mountain beam in front of you, and you will arrive at Pine Forest Mountain." Song Zhensi said.

Li Chongwen, Sun Hong, Hong Qihui, Luo Jingyun, Cao Side, Wang Daniu, Liu Lianpeng and others fell last. In front of them was a huge team composed of Chen Youfu's three platoons, Liu Hongting's first company, and 500 chicken buses. Cao Side went to Songlin Mountain with Hong Qihui, Chen Youfu, and Luo Jingyun this time, not only to unload Zhu Pingjian's order for 1,000 chicken buses, but also to transport the military supplies produced in Yazhou to Songlin Mountain. Half of the chicken cart had been handed over to Cao Santai in Yazhou two months earlier for the tea and horse trade between Yazhou and Tianquan. The 500 trucks that came back transported military supplies were mainly leather goods, including leather armor, leather helmets, leather shoes, leather bags, belts, and so on.

These leather goods are all produced by the Yazhou Leather Bureau.

After the reopening of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, Tianquan and Tibet had a backlog of skins for several years, and cowhides, horse skins, sheepskins, wolf skins, rabbit skins, etc. poured into the field. Luo Yuhong thought that Zhu Pingjin had said that leather is a good thing, and it can be used for military and civilian use, so he took the opportunity of low prices to buy and hoard on a large scale. The warehouse was built near the Tianquan Field. Yazhou is a rainy city, with heavy water vapor, which is not suitable for long-term storage.

Raw materials are piling up, and post-processing has to keep up. In order to deal with these skins, Luo Yuhong reintegrated the original Fan family's leather workshop with three leather shops, a shoe store and a tailor shop that were later invested, and established the Yazhou Leather Bureau of Wangfu, referred to as Yapi Bureau. This Yazhou Leather Bureau can be regarded as the largest in Sichuan, the most complete leather processing and sales firm, can not only produce military leather armor, leather helmets, belts, but also can produce civilian leather robes, leather shoes, leather bags, just cowhide, horse skin, a year to consume more than 10,000 pieces. Since April, the Yazhou Leather Bureau has gone all out to produce leather armor, helmets and shoes for the military in accordance with Luo Yuhong's requirements. This time, Cao Side came over and transported away all the output of the Yazhou Leather Bureau for more than two months.

"Xiao Cao's father-in-law brought so many people over, aren't you afraid that there will be less autumn tea, and the prince will be punished?" Li Chongwen had never seen Cao Side before, so he couldn't help but be polite and make a few innocuous jokes.

"No, Mr. Li!" Cao Side replied respectfully.

Li Chongwen is the first advanced model of Wangzhuang's construction. The experience he gained in Renshou County was sent by the prince to all Wang Zhuang to learn from him many times, so Cao Side had a lot of respect for Li Chongwen, a scholar who valued his master.

"The spring tea is finished, the autumn tea is still early, and now is the time of the farm. This year, when the rain is in time, the tea trees do not need much to take care of them. In March, Miss Luo taught our family the method of brushing lime water on the tea tree to prevent insects, and our family went back to try it, which is really good! No, there is less life, and some people are ready to make trouble again! Let's just take them out to earn a few coppers to spend. 500 chicken carts for only 1,000 people. Some family members have a lot of people, and they even fought to get out! ”

"Oh?" Li Chongwen is very sensitive to the people's troubles.

Cao Side didn't want Mr. Li to misunderstand, so he hurriedly explained that the farmers tasted the sweetness when making carts and chicken carts. It's a pity that the car is finished, and this financial road is broken. Some farmers then coaxed and asked for another batch, but he really didn't dare to agree without permission.

"This is a good way to relieve the people's reputation!" Li Chongwen stroked his freshly grown beard and thought thoughtfully.

"They can't make a fuss here! The Son of the World will be here tomorrow! ”

Sun Hong, who had been listening to people's small talk, suddenly interjected.

Note 1: The pack horse is the back, the pull horse is the pull, and the horse riding is the ride. Some breeds of horses can be carried, pulled, and ridden, and can be called all-rounders among horses, such as the Hequ horse, one of China's three most famous horses.

Note 2: The MU horse is a stallion; PIN horses are mares.