The caravan are all men from Duanjia Village and its nearby villages, and when the New Year is approaching, the children like to wait on the hill at the intersection when they have nothing to do.

Duan Jingzhu asked people to take out candy and snacks to distribute to the children, and the children got what to eat, and happily led the way.

Yang Lin was more depressed, because he was about to enter the village, his leopard had to be aggrieved and put into a black cage.

The caravan settled outside the village of Duanjia Village, where a long fence was built, just imagine, a thousand mules and horses, and all kinds of goods, if you were in the village, you would not be able to move at all.

Yang Lin and Shi Yong were not familiar with the horse gang things, but they just followed the observation and learning, and the old leaders tied the mule team one by one, unloaded the goods, and then loaded them into the warehouse. The people of the village also came to help, and it was not long before the goods were settled, and dozens of old people from the village came to feed the mules and horses with grass and water, and the men of the horse gang stayed behind to guard fifty people, and the others went back to their own homes.

Yang Lin sighed: "The scale of our horse gang is really large, and the team is three miles away." ”

Duan Jingzhu said: "It still has to be developed, the scale is still too small." A mule can transport more than 200 catties of goods, do you know how much cargo a big ship in the canal can transport? ”

Yang Lin said: "I'm not familiar with boats. ”

"A boat is hundreds of thousands of catties, millions of catties, or even more. Horses and mules have a limited load capacity, so there must be more of them. Coming back to the expansion, the two of us will go with me to pay attention to the families of my fallen brothers. Duan Jing said.

This time, he was attacked on the way to escort the bloody BMW and killed more than 20 brothers. Chao Gai proposed that the brothers who died in battle be buried in the cemetery of the Jeju Tuanlian, which is a cemetery for soldiers who died in battle, and the burial there can be regarded as an encouragement to the Mabang brothers.

Duan Jingzhu didn't care about going home first, and took Yang Lin, Shi Yong, and Mr. Bookkeeper and more than a dozen other entourages, and walked into the village with the relics left by the brothers before their deaths.

It's all local to the hometown, and everyone knows it. The group walked into Duan Datou's house at the head of the village, Duan Datou's daughter-in-law was chopping wood in the yard, and the women of Taihang Mountain were the same as the women of Shandong, generally not binding their feet, and they were good at work.

"Sister-in-law, chopping wood." Duan Jingzhu said.

The big-headed daughter-in-law said, "What about splitting wood, are the old men of my family back?" ”

Duan Jingzhu was silent, how can he say this kind of thing. The big-headed daughter-in-law saw the wooden box held by Duan Jing's entourage behind her, and she had an ominous premonition.

"Sister-in-law, on the way to Jeju, I met a horse thief, and the big head fought bravely to kill the enemy and died." After Duan Jingzhu finished speaking, he lowered his head and didn't look at the eldest daughter-in-law, although he has seen too much of this kind of life and death thing, and even he Duan Jingzhu will have such a day, but after all, people can't be hard-hearted.

"Wow." The big-headed daughter-in-law sat on the ground and cried, and the big-headed two sons and a daughter also came out, the eldest was thirteen and knew how to cry, and the two little ones didn't know how to cry, just watched blankly.

After crying for a long time, the eldest daughter-in-law stopped crying.

Duan Jingzhu took out a money bag and said, "Sister-in-law, let's mourn." The big head is buried in Jeju, thousands of miles away, and the family can get a mound for what they want to do. Here is forty-five yuan, which is the compensation that the big head deserves, as well as some clothes for the big head during his lifetime. ”

The eldest daughter-in-law cried again, and said, "Why do you have so much money, didn't you say it was okay when you went to the horse gang, birth, old age, sickness and death have their own destiny." ”

"Take it, you can use these dozens of times well, it's enough to raise the children." Duan Jingzhu said.

After a few words of comfort, Duan Jingzhu turned around and went back, and the big-headed daughter-in-law came over and knelt down.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing here, hurry up, it's easy to say anything." Duan Jingzhu Road.

The eldest daughter-in-law said: "I am a woman, and I don't understand any big truths. The righteousness of the big shopkeeper, originally the people in the village couldn't survive, and it was you who took the lead in organizing the horse gang, so that everyone had something to eat. In these years, there is no place to settle down, my hometown is big, Duan Shi is also thirteen or fourteen years old, and it is not a way to be so wild at home, so you can take him to the horse gang, and it is okay to feed the grass and fetch water. ”

The horse gang was very bitter, Duan Jingzhu had the heart to refuse, but after thinking about it, he forgot it and promised to take him.

Out of Duan Datou's house, Shi Yong asked: "The big shopkeeper, why is the pension of our horse gang so high, forty-five of the family members who died in the war are equivalent to six or seven good cultivated cattle, although the horse gang makes money, but the expenses are also large, why do you get so much money." ”

Duan Jingzhu said: "The two brothers are their own family, and they can't hide it, my horse gang is supported by the silver money given by the Jeju regiment, mainly to transport horses to Jeju, transport tea to the north, and sometimes perform some tasks." The horse gang stipulates that the death pension is 20 guan, which is also high among the peers, the other 20 guan is the bereavement pension paid by the Jeju regimental training, and the other 5 guan is the salary of the majority during this period. ”

Duan Jingzhu explained one by one, and Yang Lin and Shi Yong understood after listening to it, no wonder the Big Horse Gang developed so fast, and there were people who supported it.

After the distribution of the bereavement pension, it was dark, and the horse gang was in the main hall, with a stove and a hot pot in the house, and everyone sat around to eat hot pot. Duan Jingzhu, Yang Lin, Shi Yong, and the twenty backbone elements in the horse gang.

Duan Jingzhu asked the two of them to be on duty at the door to prevent someone from eavesdropping, and Zhengse said: "Everyone knows about the affairs of our horse gang, and it is supported by the military in the south. This time, the above said that it is necessary to open up such a huge trade route from Leting County by the sea, to Zhangjiakou, to Xixia, to Yumen Pass, and even to Hami and Dunhuang, so as to prepare for the sale of a large number of products in Jeju. I won't talk about the profits, everyone knows how much they can get every year, we are not just making money, but contributing to the country and the nation, so even if it is difficult, we must complete this task. ”

As he spoke, Duan Jingzhu took out his treasured map, which was given by Chao Gai, and the map drawn by Zhang Zheduan marked many places in the Liao Kingdom, from Leting County by the sea, to Shangjing, to Zhangjiakou, and the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia are famous in detail.

Yang Lin said: "The big shopkeeper will talk about how many mules and horses are needed." ”

Duan Jingzhu stretched out his hand and said, "Let's develop a team of five thousand mules and horses within a year from now, so that we can be regarded as having a small capacity." ”

Everyone gasped, even if Yang Lin and Shi Yong traveled south and north, they had never seen so many mule and horse teams.

Duan Jingzhu said: "It's easy to say that mules and horses, our batch of goods can be exchanged for two thousand iron horses, and one thousand horses will be handed back to get the goods, leaving one thousand horses to support things, so that there will be two thousand." It's just that the scale of the caravan is too large, and we need to divide into small teams. ”

Those who came to attend the meeting, in addition to Yang Lin and Shi Yong, there were also twenty backbone horse gangs. There is a saying: "Although the scale of our horse gang is large, but the name has not been played, I feel that we should play the banner, like a dart game, to make a name, which is more conducive to expansion." ”

It's all big and coarse, you look at me, I look at yours, it's not easy to get things like names, and someone said: "Just call Duan Jiama to help." ”

Duan Jingzhu shook his head: "The horse gang is not my Duan Jingzhu's personal property, so it's not appropriate." How about the caravan pays attention to accessibility, how about we call it Tongda Mabang? ”

"Okay, okay." The crowd applauded in unison.

"In this way, in the future, Yang Lin and Shi Yong, the three brothers and I will be in charge of the general team of the Dada Ma Gang, and the twenty of you will be lined up in order, one team, two teams, and three teams. The corps is responsible for the transportation of valuables, and the detachments are responsible for the transportation of ordinary and conventional cargo. Each detachment had twenty mules and five men in each team. Then on this basis, the expansion is carried out, and those who are willing to come to the horse gang can come as long as they are physically qualified and have a clean net worth, and the mules and horses with mules and horses will also share dividends according to the agreed proportion. Duan Jing said.

Yang Lin said: "It's okay to say in the east, but once you arrive in Gansu, it's the Gobi Desert, and you can't do it without a strong camel team." ”

Duan Jingzhu said: "The camel team is easy to manage, let's cooperate with the camel customers, this trade route is opened, from the sea through Liao, Western Xia, Turkic and other countries, with tea, silk, porcelain, iron as the main trade products of the goods profit is very rich." ”

The expansion of the Tongda Ma Gang has gradually become more influential in the Taihang Mountain area, and many strong men come to invest, and the risk of the Ma Gang is not small, but in the same way, it can be mixed with ten or twenty times a year, which is a very good industry compared to other industries. Some are alone to take refuge, some are their own horses or mules also pulled, the horses and mules in the Taihang Mountain area are very strong, the ability to carry is strong, it is a good choice for the horse gang. The iron hoof horse is fast, but the weight is slightly worse, and it is suitable for carrying small goods such as tea and silk, and if you want to transport salt bricks and iron tools, you have to be mules. As for the grain and the like, it is transported by horse-drawn carts, and the caravan generally does not transport that.

On the official road leading to Datong Mansion, Duan Jingzhu, Yang Lin, Shi Yong, and more than a dozen horse gang masters rode fast horses, carrying hunting bows and Yanling knives, and rushed all the way to Datong Mansion.

There is a small shop on the side of the road, Duan Jingzhu saw a swallow painted on the wall, this is the mark of the horse gang, which means that this shop is okay, not a lackey of the Liao Kingdom, a trustworthy shop.

"The shop, the old rule, make two jars of good wine, and then give us rice and noodles, and we cook by ourselves." Said the guy of the caravan.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw that these people were carrying bows and arrows, he knew that they were from the horse gang, and he didn't dare to offend easily, so he naturally entertained them.

In the simple guest room, Duan Jing said: "Two brothers, it is almost the New Year, and they can't go back to rest, it's hard enough." ”

Shi Yong patted his shoulder and said, "The four seas are used to being at home, so I am not used to staying at home." It's just that I haven't been to Datong, can there be camel riders in Datong? ”

Duan Jingzhu nodded: "That's right, Datong Mansion is the Xijing of the Liao Kingdom, and its location is at the junction of the Great Song Dynasty, the Western Xia, and the Liao Kingdom. The Western Xia and the Great Song Dynasty fought for many years, and the Liao State and the Great Song Dynasty were relatively better, and they had not fought for decades, so the traders in the western part of the Song Kingdom all passed through Datong. ”

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