Chapter Ninety-Three: I Can Get a Good Sleep!

When Tang Cheng first came out, he was afraid of alarming Zhang County, because the footsteps were extremely light, and the night wind in the mountains was strong, so Yu Qi, who was upset, didn't notice it. But at this time, when he walked around and the sound of pushing the door, he frightened Yu Qi and his wife under the melon rack, and when Yu Qi's sister-in-law, who was a little frightened, patted her chest and looked at the man, she saw a white face.

"It's bad, what I just said was listened to by the people in the house, and now it's ...... who is asleep in the house", Yu Qi's sister-in-law's hand beating her chest suddenly froze, and her face turned white in an instant......

Now Tang Cheng still had the heart to pay attention to this, and after turning around and entering the house, he went straight to Zhang Xianling's house.

Although the lights were turned off and his shirt was taken off, Zhang Xianling obviously didn't fall asleep, "What's wrong?" ”。

"I thought of a way, maybe you can solve Erlongzhai without a strong attack", as soon as Tang Cheng finished speaking, Zhang Xianling had already sat up from the couch, "Say it quickly."

After Tang Cheng lit the lamp, Zhang Xianling got up from the couch without wearing a shirt, and saw that Tang Cheng was going to get him clothes, so he waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about the clothes, you say it quickly."

"Since we can't attack it, we won't attack, or use the method of encirclement", seeing that Zhang County's expression darkened after hearing this, Tang Cheng continued: "Although Erlong Peak has both water and grain, it can't produce salt."

"Salted salt?" After hearing this, he was slightly stunned, Zhang Xianling suddenly slapped the log table and stood up, "Salty salt, yes, why didn't I think of this?" ”。

Outside the door of Zhang County's house, Yu Qi and his family just tiptoed into the room, and suddenly heard Zhang County's order talking about salt, and the two of them, who were already nervous, suddenly felt that their legs were weak. Now......

After standing up, Zhang Xianling couldn't sit still anymore, and with his two hands behind his back, he circled around the room, thinking about the salty salt from the beginning while circling his mind.

Although Zhang Xianling didn't speak, Tang Cheng knew what he was thinking, if it was said that the imperial court had the strictest control over those materials, salt salt would be indispensable in it, and it would definitely be ranked in the top three. Salty salt is not only related to the national economy and people's livelihood. It is one of the most important sources of tax revenue for the imperial court.

Unlike the extremely cheap price of salt in later generations, the price of salt in the current world is not low at all. Although the cost price of salt taken by the imperial court is only about ten wen per bucket, but when it is sold in the field, the price increase of a bucket of salt is as high as 100 wen, Shannan Dongdao does not produce salt, and all salty salt needs to be transported in from other places, and it is difficult to walk in this mountain, so the transportation cost is extremely high. Originally, after the salty salt sold at a price of about 110 wen in the east and west of the Yangtze River was transported to Yunxi County, Jinzhou, each bucket almost had to be increased by more than 20 yuan, so for the Zhuang families under the jurisdiction of Yunxi County, a very large part of the daily expenses was salty salt money, and Tang Cheng, who had lived in the village for more than half a year, had a deep understanding of this.

Nowadays, the people of Yunxi do not buy more salt like later generations, and they will deliberately buy more for storage. The reason for this is that due to the high price of salty salt, the people of the village have few ways to get money, and they can't afford to buy too much at one time; Another important reason is that Yunxi is a typical mountain city, with many mountains and rivers, so the "tide" is big. After buying too much salty salt at one time, it is easy to rust, which not only affects the taste, but also costs more often.

I can't eat poorly, I can't drink poorly, I can't calculate that I am poor for a lifetime, and it just costs a little more to watch a meal, but after accumulating over time, it will be terrible.

Because of these reasons, the people of Yunxi County have never had the habit of buying more salty salt. The mountain bandits on the two dragon villages must be no exception.

Of course, the Pingtou Peak can be cultivated and produced by itself, but there is no salt in the south of the mountain, and it is impossible for salt to grow in the flat land on the Erlong Village, right? It may be okay for people not to eat oil, but if there is a lack of salt, it is not only a problem that the food has no taste, but also the direct consequence of the lack of sodium in the body is that it will lead to loss of appetite, weakness of limbs, dizziness and other phenomena; In severe cases, nausea and vomiting and rapid heart rate may occur. Symptoms such as weak pulse, muscle spasms, and blurred vision. Half of the more than 100 people in Erlongzhai are "women" and children, and the men are okay to say. How long can women, children, and children last if they run out of salt?

The more I thought about it, the more excited I became, Zhang Xianling's face was piled up for days and suddenly disappeared without a trace, although he was still haggard, but his eyebrows were clearly stretched a lot, "Go, go to County Lieutenant Zhao."

After all, it was Tang Cheng who came up with the idea, and Zhang Xianling was also happy to show him like this, but if he wanted to run to Erlongzhai in the middle of the night like this, Tang Cheng had to stop him no matter what, so he finally persuaded Zhang Xianling.

I slept late at night, and as soon as it was dawn the next day, Zhang Xianling got up, and in this case, Tang Cheng could only get up, hastily groomed and didn't eat, yawned and climbed on horseback and went straight to Erlong Village.

I got up so early that I didn't even eat...... Seeing the smoke and dust brought up by the two county lords riding their horses, Yu Qi's sister-in-law, who had been frightened all night, could no longer hold back the fear in her heart, her legs were weak, and her whole person shrank on the threshold, crying without tears......

With Zhao Laohu's order, more than 10 tolerances were divided into four shifts, with Erlongzhai as the center to disperse in all directions, to find out whether the nearby small shops have sold large quantities of salty salt in recent months, and even the abnormal frequency of buying and selling in and out is also within the scope of exploration.

It's been more than May, the days are getting hotter and hotter day by day, and the weather in the past two days is really stuffy, Zhao Laohu lives in the dirt enclosure is really uncomfortable, in fact, as early as when he first came to the place where he was not injured, Li Zheng was going to arrange for him to rest in the village near the left, but Zhao Laohu had a "hair" disease, but whenever he went out of the county to run an errand, he must live with his subordinates, this habit has been insisted on for more than 20 years, so although he is persuaded by Li, he still lives in this simple earthen enclosure. Although he injured his leg, he couldn't stay in the dirt enclosure in this weather, and everyone went outside to talk in the "dew" world.

Although the name is a meeting, Tang Cheng understands that the word "meeting" is just a rhetoric, what else is there to discuss now? Zhang Xianling, Zhao Laohu and Zhang Zishan are actually just a joke, in fact, they are all waiting, waiting for the tolerance to report the results of the investigation, speaking of which the tolerance has been gone for more than a day. It's on a horse again, and it's about the same time and footage.

Zhang Zishan "snapped" on the neck, and after killing a mosquito the size of a mountain ant, he twisted the mosquito with his hand and said hatefully: "I can't prevent it from lighting wormwood, this mosquito is really ruthless", these days, plus the pressure has been very high in the past few days, Zhang Zishan now speaks without the crepe appearance that Zhang Xianling made when he first came. He has restored his rough nature.

"Even with the smoky smell on the body, I can't prevent burning the biggest wormwood", when Zhao Laohu, who was still lying on the couch, said this with a smile, he deliberately raised his hand and sniffed his sleeve and sighed: "Second child, we haven't suffered this crime for many years."

"Not really! I haven't suffered such a crime since the round-up of Liang Crooked Neck, it's been twelve years, damn it, Erlongzhai". Zhang Zishan turned his head to look at Erlong Peak as he spoke, and after spitting out a mouthful of thick phlegm, he said in a dumb voice: "After dragging these turtle bastards out of their shells, if I don't wait for them well, I'm sorry for the hardships we have suffered these days."

Zhang Zishan's rude words and the thick phlegm spit out with hatred made Zhang Xianling frown slightly, but he didn't say anything about what he said about being ruthless and these mountain bandits in Erlongzhai. As a person who has read poetry and books since he was a child, if it weren't for the extreme annoyance of the mountain bandits in Erlongzhai in his heart, he would never have been like this.

Zhang Xianling's performance is clearly acquiescence, Zhang Zishan smiled. The mood was obviously a lot higher, while slapping the mosquitoes, and excitedly talking about what to do with these people after catching them, as he talked more and more, the anger between his eyebrows became deeper and deeper.

Knowing that this second brother has been holding back a lot these days, it is a good thing to have such a word now, and Zhao Laohu didn't stop him, but after Zhang Zishan mentioned something that should not be known to outsiders under Zhang Zishan's excitement. He coughed heavily a few times to remind him.

Tang Chengcheng sat behind Zhao Laohu and Zhang Xianling, holding a long branch in his hand to drive away mosquitoes, listening to Zhang Zishan talking excitedly, although he didn't have an interface, but he was really a little happy in his heart.

The bandits in Erlongzhai are really too tossing people, not to mention Zhang Zishan and Zhao Laohu, who came first, and now even Tang Cheng feels that he is slimy, which makes him very uncomfortable. I won't talk about that. For the sake of Erlongzhai, how much schoolwork has he delayed these days?

These *** mountain bandits should be rectified. The worse the whole thing is, the better!

Just when Tang Cheng shook the branches in his hand, and followed Zhang Zishan's words in his heart, the mountain bandits were in pain under various torture instruments such as chili pepper water and clamping sticks, and he heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from far away in the west.

As soon as the sound of horses' hooves came, Zhang Xianling immediately stood up, and Zhang Zishan, who was talking to himself, was not slow at all, and after standing up, he stepped on the small pestle he had just sat on and looked west, and even Zhao Laohu, who was lying on the couch, stood up half of his body.

Tang Cheng put the bamboo mat that Zhao Laohu was leaning on under his waist, and then stood up with a branch, he was really nervous at this time, this nervousness not only had the same reason as Zhang Xianling and Zhao Laohu and others, but more importantly, this time he was the first to directly raise the place on the grounds of salty salt.

In a hurry on a hot and sultry day, the immediate tolerance was also full of sweat, with a layer of dry white skin on his mouth, and he was still running away from here, Zhang Zishan had already ripped his throat and asked, "Lao Huang, what's like a ball?" ”。

"Nope!" After hearing Lao Huang's loud promise on the horse, Zhang Zishan's tight right hand smashed into his left palm, "Okay!" At the same time, Zhang Xianling also sighed with relief.

Zhao Laohu's face was still calm, but after hearing the news, the body he had just raised and lay down violently, "Tang Cheng, bring me a bowl of water, this day is too scorpion, and the heart of a stuffy person is like a fire."

Hearing that there was no abnormality in the West Road, Tang Cheng was also suddenly happy in his heart, but just after the joy of his heart, he became more and more eager to know the news of the other three roads, but behind this urgency there was an inexplicable worry, in case Erlongzhai had already prepared a large amount of salty salt......

Tian'er was originally stuffy and hot, coupled with this momentum, urgency and worry, Tang Cheng's current state is really exactly the same as what Zhao Laohu said, and his heart is as if he is on fire.

To Zhao Laohu, Zhang Xianling and Zhang Zishan all brought water. They were also like Tang Cheng in the house just now, drinking a big bowl of water in one go, even Zhang Xianling, who had always behaved elegantly, was no exception.

After waiting for nearly an hour, the tolerance of the south road also returned, and the answer was still "no".

This was followed by the east, and the result of the return was "No! ”。

At this time, it was already sunset, and according to the usual practice, it was time to leave back to the house where he was staying, Tang Que looked at Zhang Xianling, who was sitting on the pestle without moving. Didn't say anything.

Not only did Zhang Xianling sit and wait here with a dignified face, but even Zhang Zishan and Zhao Laohu had no interest in speaking at all, but they just turned their heads to the mountain road to the north from time to time in silence, and outside their small circle, there were more than a dozen people with dark and haggard faces who also gathered together, and no one spoke, but everyone's eyes were fixed on the north.

The scene at the moment is silently strange, silently solemn. It's just this way, don't have any problems along the way, Tang Cheng, who was also silent, shook the branch in his hand mechanically, and it was this sentence that went back and forth in his heart.

When the sun completely set from the distant horizon in the dusk and dreary, the faint sound of horses' hooves was finally heard on the mountain road in the north. As soon as the sound of horses' hooves came, Zhang Xianling's cheeks suddenly rose red, and because he gritted his teeth too hard, the two edges of flesh on his cheeks rolled like water waves for a while.

No one greeted either. Zhang Zishan and the people outside the small circle all stood up involuntarily, and under the last little afterglow of the sunset, their bodies stiffened and stared at the mountain road in the north.

As soon as the sound of the horse's hooves sounded just now, Tang Chengcheng felt a "bang" in his heart, and then he felt that his heartbeat was completely integrated with the sound of the horse's hooves on the "trampling" ground, and as the horse ran faster and faster, the sound of the horse's hooves became louder and louder, and his heartbeat became more and more urgent.

"Old Luo. Bite...... How's it going? When Zhang Zishan, who was standing on the pestle, shouted, there was an obvious trilling in his voice!

"Nope!" , Although mixed with the sound of horses' hooves, the voice from Lao Luo was still very clear, and then, Tang Chengcheng heard a loud panting sound, and Zhang Zishan was stunned on the pestle and did not move. Zhang Xianling slowly closed his eyes that were wide open just now. It's just that the two reds on his face are more intense.

Almost subconsciously moved, with Lao Luodi's reply, Tang Cheng's hand suddenly tightened. Then I felt that my whole body suddenly loosened, as if someone had drained my strength, especially the high heart that had just been hoisted, and now it was vaguely unable to be implemented.

"It worked, my method worked!" , there was only this one thought in Tang Cheng's mind.

"Looking at your long Wenxiu, the strength of your hands is not small", the words that sounded next to him made Tang Cheng return to normal, and when he turned his head to look, he found that his hand was tightly grasping Zhao Laohu's arm, hey! It's all because I was so nervous just now.

It was Zhao Laohu's words that enlivened the somewhat depressed atmosphere in the small circle due to excessive silence, "Big brother, it's done!" Zhang Zishan, who was excited, said this in a particularly loud voice, and after he finished speaking, he ran towards the group of errands.

As Zhao Laohu spoke, Zhang Xianling slowly opened his eyes, and let out a long breath from his mouth, but when he was about to stand up, he suddenly stumbled under his feet, and was supported by Tang Cheng, who was also angry.

"It's also dark, there are many mosquitoes outside, carry Zhao County Lieutenant back", Zhang Xianling's bland words revealed a weakness after recovering from a serious illness, but his eyes never left Erlong Peak, bathed in the vast night.

"I can finally sleep soundly", in the earthen fence where the fuel lamp was lit, Zhao Laohu sighed comfortably, and patted Tang Cheng, who was helping him to lie down, "If you can successfully pacify Erlongzhai this time, you will be the first to succeed!" ”。

Seeing that Tang Cheng was stunned when he heard this, Zhao Laohu smiled on his face, lay down and stretched, "Old man, really old man!" Not only is the body and bones bad, but even the brain is not good! Salted salt, hey, salty salt......".

Because Zhang County's order was waiting outside, Tang Cheng didn't stay in the dirt enclosure for long, and walked out after helping Zhao Laohu to lie down.

On the way to the accommodation with Zhang Xianling, Tang Cheng's mind kept flashing Zhao Laohu's words just now, behind the self-suppressed excitement was a faint expectation, after the success of the bandits, the benefits that Zhang Xianling and Zhao Laohu, and even Zhang Zishan could get were obvious, so what about him?

With the first merit of advice, what will he get? Promotion? With his short experience in the county government, this is unlikely, bounty? Maybe...... Or after Erlongzhai is completely pacified this time, he will be able to fulfill his biggest wish for more than a year, and he can build a house for Tang and Zhang's family in the countryside!

Thinking of this, Tang Cheng, who was riding a horse against the night wind, not only did not feel cold, but a warm joy surged in his body, and there was a little ...... Unspeakable pride and sense of accomplishment!

Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or later generations, when every teenager who comes out of a poor family runs to the distance, he always has the same longing in his heart, right? When they finally earned enough money to buy a new house for a poor family after hard work, did they all have the same pride and strong sense of accomplishment as Tang Cheng at this time?

When Tang Cheng followed Zhang Xianling to the accommodation, Yu Qi's sister-in-law and his wife were still waiting for them to come back for dinner, the hot combing water was served, and a bowl of hot tea was drunk.

Looking at the seven or eight vegetable bowls full of a large table, Zhang Xianling, who put down the tea cup, asked with a smile, "Huh?" Why are there so many dishes today? ”。

Zhang County's question only made Yu Qi's sister-in-law, who rubbed her fingers with her waist, aggrieved and happy, the grievance was that there were so many dishes last night, how much effort did she put into buying these dishes? How many people have you borrowed? I was happy to finally see the county lord smile, this was the first time the county lord lived in her house, which showed that the county lord was happy now, and he also realized her sincerity.

No, this is an opportunity not to be missed! Otherwise, the head of the house will have to ......

Thinking of this, Sister-in-law Yu didn't dare to hesitate anymore, and rubbed her hand around her waist and suddenly made a move, "Master Zhang, you have a lot of adults, please cover the nonsense of our mountain and wild people, I will kowtow to you."

Zhang Xianling didn't understand what Yu Qi's sister-in-law was talking about at all, and he was confused, so he grabbed Yu Qi's sister-in-law, who was about to bow down, "Where did you start talking about this?" ”。

Although Zhang Xianling didn't understand, Tang Cheng remembered the words of the two of them the night before, just because he had been paying attention to the investigation of the tolerance in the past two days, but he forgot about this stubble, but he didn't expect it to become Yu Qi's sister-in-law's heart disease. At that moment, he explained the cause and effect of the matter, and finally smiled slightly: "It's also God's will, if it weren't for the two of them talking about salty salt, I wouldn't have remembered this stubble!" ”。

"Providence, sure enough, providence!" , After listening to Tang Cheng, the smile on Zhang Xianling's face became even stronger, "Tang Cheng, you have written it down, tomorrow I will see Wang Li Zheng's order, in the past few days, the envoy fee for taking over the official at home will be made up according to three hundred wen per day, and it will be made up tomorrow, not a penny less!" ”。

Tang Cheng agreed with a smile here, and the seventh sister-in-law Yu over there was also full of surprise, what does a county lord in this era mean in the eyes of the Zhuang family is far from being imagined by future generations, who knows how the Yu family and the two have come over in the past two days? Now that there is such an ending, Yu Qi's sister-in-law couldn't say anything about her excited thanks, and finally pulled the man out to thank her, and then she went with red circles.

This night, Zhang Xianling's meal was obviously more than double that of the previous few days, and he took the initiative to drink four glasses of home-brewed muddy wine during the meal, and soon after returning to the room to rest, a low and steady snoring sounded.