"Two roads, one is a living road, and the other is a dead road, no matter which road, Gonggong Ding, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of the surroundings of Laiwu City in the future!"

Although Guo Dong and Sun Hedou have seen the scene, they still feel a little awkward about this sudden naked threat, and they all sit down with a cough, and the smile on the shopkeeper's face remains the same, staring at the mine supervisor Ding Xu for a long time, waiting for his reaction.

This is not to save any face at all, the mine supervisor Ding Xu's face became ugly, but after stiffening for a long time, he still spoke slowly:

"Those two roads, please tell me about the shopkeeper, and listen to them in the next place."

Now there is no way out for Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, and now give him two roads, this is already considered a blessing, a drowning person, even if you give him a snake, you have to catch it.

"It's easy to die, if Gonggong Ding is still so stubborn, he will die of a violent illness tomorrow, and the praise of the court will be indispensable at that time. As for the way to live, my master thinks that you still have some ability to run this iron mine, and people are also a little decisive, so let you run this iron mine well. ”

Mine supervisor Ding Xu nodded muran, did not make a sound, and did not know whether he chose to live or die, Guo Dong, who was sitting on the side, did not feel that there was anything wrong, but Sun Hedou had a few clicks in the corner of his eyes, and his expression was also a little ugly.

These eunuchs are all domestic slaves of the Son of Heaven, serving the local generals, what is going on, but Sun Hedou's expression changed for a moment, and he was relieved after thinking about it, and now he thinks about what is the use of these things, anyway, he has been tied to the boat of the Jiaozhou battalion. I can't come down.

The shopkeeper saw that Ding Xu did not have any objection, and continued leisurely:

"In the future, you can get forty percent of the land obtained from the sale of iron ore, and you can give a few percent to the eunuch of Jingshi Wang, and keep a few percent for yourself. The Jiaozhou camp doesn't care here, but there is a saying in the front, if you don't do your best to do it, Eunuch Ding, or if you are transferred because you send less money, my master said that in front, ten miles away from this Laiwu City, Grandpa Ding will definitely die of a violent illness! ”

The conditions can be said to be extremely harsh, but Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, does not dare to have a temper. I just sat there dizzy, and only hesitated for a long time before I spoke:

"What your master means, our family understands, let's ...... Xiaodi does his best to do it! ”

The shopkeeper nodded, stood up, and said with a smile:

"Gong Ding knows the general situation, and my master will definitely be satisfied with this attitude."

After making this conclusive remark, the shopkeeper turned around and glanced at Guo Dong and Sun Hedou, and continued:

"Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute is based on the investigation of the craftsmen and masters of my Lingshan Commercial Bank, if all the construction starts. The output can at least double or triple the current one, and my family is already very generous. ”

Whether it is generosity or not is uncertain, but one path is death, and the other path remains the same in the current position. There are still some silver coins to be used, and everyone knows what to choose.

However, it is also very fast to get familiar with things with Eunuch Ding, almost in mid-March, all the iron mines and smelting shops that have been privately started have been under the re-management, and when they took over again, the mine supervisor Ding Xu also understood, even if he didn't agree at that time, I am afraid that the other party could completely control the entire iron mine.

During the shutdown, many of the outer iron mines and small blacksmith shops were already privately opened, according to this location. I'm afraid that by March, sixty percent of the iron ore will be controlled by the Lingshan Commercial Bank.

Mine supervisors Ding Xu, Guo Dong, Sun Hedou regularly discussed and resolved the raw materials, production and technology at the meeting, and the shopkeeper of Lingshan Commercial Bank also participated from time to time, because of Jining's coal, Laiwu's iron, and Lingshan Commercial's network because of salt sales.

The iron tools produced by this armory factory are not only used at home. It can also be sold elsewhere. The prosperity of coal and iron also absorbed a lot of labor.

The land of Huaibei is known as the fierce folk customs. Haizhou and the area of Yunyan River, because of the rich salt industry, relatively speaking, is better, the rest of the places are different, the two Huai salt merchants have a special headache for the horse bandits in Shuyang and Xuzhou, many times asked the officers and soldiers to exterminate, but there is no effect.

The reason is that many of these horse bandits collude with the local big households, or simply the local strong private arm, which has always been brave and aggressive, and the government cannot control it.

Zhang Jiang came to the vicinity of Haizhou City at the end of the first month, and stayed in the military camp on the side of Gaoqiao Town, just as his uncle* said, the salt merchants really flocked to it, and if it was to send silver or something, they were all lost, and Gaoqiao Town did not know when a beautiful mansion had been built, saying that it was for Zhang Shoubei's mansion.

Look at this mansion, Zhang Jiang walked around, really swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, it is so beautiful, the mansion is very large, the rockery ponds are complete, the pavilions and pavilions are built in accordance with the most popular style nowadays, the key problem is that even the small maids who serve people are ready.

Moreover, the two Huai salt merchants also prepared a few girls bought with a lot of money in Yangzhou, all of whom were girls with excellent colors and arts, and they were all given to Zhangjiang together.

However, Zhang Jiang swallowed his saliva and returned to saliva, and after he was over, he immediately ordered the soldiers to dismiss the personnel in the mansion, and put seals on the doors and windows of the mansion, and sent people to guard the door.

After five days of garrisoning, the residents of Gaoqiao Town were relieved from the initial panic, this army from Shandong did not have the bastard habits of ordinary guest troops, and the military discipline requirements were extremely strict, and they never entered the people's houses, even if they occasionally accidentally saw female relatives on the street, they all avoided it as soon as possible and did not harass.

Moreover, the Huaibei Army, which was stationed in various places, did not have any idle time to wander the streets, and every day, as in Shandong, drilled and exercised, and the proportion of recruits in the Huaibei Army was relatively large. The training tasks are also very heavy, and some of the bone-setting men in Gaoqiao Town and Haizhou have a good business and are always called in to see a doctor.

There was a group of merchants near Haizhou, and these merchants existed because of the large number of laborers used in the salt works. The purchasing power of these salt workers and the boatmen on the salt river was very large, although the purchasing power was very large, and these merchants and traders provided for their food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

These merchants were surprised to find that the Huaibei Army stationed here in Shandong was actually purchasing from them, and the price was fair, and the money and goods were both paid and received.

After just a few transactions, the reputation of the Huaibei Army was established among the traders. Although the soldiers of the Huaibei Army have cold faces, they never hesitate to pay, they are simply neat, and if they can do this, the businessmen will not ask for anything else, and see that all this is going in a very smooth direction.

Of course, it is inevitable that the officers and soldiers of the imperial court do not bully the weak among the people, do not bully men and women, and do not buy things or give money, which inevitably makes people feel very strange. Some people wonder if this army is too weak.

The Huaibei Army was transferred from Shandong to the vicinity of Haizhou, and in addition to relying on shipping, it also used a large number of mules and horses, and these mules and horses naturally became the means of transportation for the Huaibei Army. If the military of this era is too disciplined, it is often seen as weak and can be bullied.

In the middle of March, the Huaibei army has now lost more than a dozen pack horses, and the stable's groom has also been knocked unconscious, there are a large number of ordinary people watching the excitement outside the barracks, many people are gossiping in a weird way, the guest army is stationed in the field, the local villagers have a natural resistance in their hearts, although the Huaibei army behaved very well, did not disturb the people. But as soon as those scoundrels instigated, the local common people still coaxed.

No one knows whether there was any involvement of the salt merchants in this matter, but after the trouble, there were really the treasurers of the salt merchants stationed here who were "indignant" and "extremely enthusiastic" and said that they used their connections to find these mules and horses.

Who would have thought that the Jiaozhou battalion's handling of this matter was very simple, and it didn't even need to be reported to the level of Zhangjiang, but just sent a small force to search the place.

Stealing mules and horses that are not their own. It's not that you can run too far. Moreover, horse thieves also want to hide their horses in the vicinity to avoid the limelight before selling.

I thought that the other party's army had just moved in. Even if they were willing to track down, they were not familiar with the terrain and would not find it at all, and whoever thought of stealing horses at night would be caught just after noon the next day. There are seven people in total, all of whom are famous ruffians in Gaoqiao Town, and they usually belong to the type of rabbits who don't eat the grass on the edge of the nest, and in the eyes of the locals, they have a good reputation.

Seeing that the Huaibei Army had arrested people to be disposed of, the entire Gaoqiao Town was suddenly a little chaotic, and the people gathered at the gate of the barracks shouted loudly and demanded that they be released.

What "the horses have been returned, the young man's hands are slippery, whip a few whips and let people go" and something like that, the image of the Jiaozhou battalion abiding by the rules makes these civilians in Gaoqiao Town not very afraid, and there are many soldiers and recruits of the Huaibei Army in the Jiaozhou battalion, but they are a little panicked when they see this scene.

Don't hurt the common people, this is also a kind of military discipline, so many people are clamoring for it, and the soldiers guarding the door are holding their spears sideways to stop people, and they don't do anything.

Originally, there was still some anxiety and panic in their hearts, and the people who were ready to disperse at any time saw this reaction of the Huaibei soldiers, and their courage was inevitably a little bigger, and the soldiers at the front were all hit a few times.

This camp Qian always felt that the matter was too big to control, and it was no longer something that he could control at his level, so he rode a fast horse to the nearby Huaibei Army garrison Zhangjiang to ask for instructions.

The answer that this Qian Zong received from Zhang Jiang was very simple, Zhang Jiang slapped the face twice in the face of this battalion Qian Zong, and said:

"Steal and cut, make trouble, get back!"

The Qian general hurriedly rode back to his barracks, the scene was already a little uncontrollable, the family members of the scoundrels rushed to the front, followed by the residents of Gaoqiao Town, and the soldiers of the Huaibei Army had already retreated to the camp and closed the camp gate.

It was not enough for the people outside the barracks to shout and curse, and some people wanted to climb in from the outside, but the soldiers knew that it was important, and anyone who wanted to enter was pulled back with the shaft of a spear.

The scoundrels who were caught, seeing the noise outside, were bold, and they were already tied to the stakes in the camp near the camp gate, and they were very bold. is also there to shout loudly, what do you know whose relatives I am, why don't you let my grandfather out, and give some silver taels to be shocked. Don't even think about camping here, you barbarians from the north.

In fact, this camp is very close to Zhangjiang's camp, and it doesn't take a stick of incense to go back and forth, and when he came in through the back door, the slap marks on his face have not been eliminated, and Zhang Jiang's hand strength is not small. This Qian always had anger in his heart, and when he saw this situation, his face turned purple.

The officers in the battalion were all veterans, and their faces turned red with anger. However, some people have greeted them in advance, saying that Shandong soldiers and horses are stationed in other provinces, and they should be cautious and careful when they go to other places, so as not to provoke civil uprisings and the like, which is actually some of Li Meng's meanings, and when they are in the army in modern times, these are all military disciplines.

But Li Meng also understands the difference between ancient and modern, he is just making a suggestion, and looking at the current situation, it is obvious that his suggestion is not appropriate.

There was a large group of troublesome civilians in Gaoqiao Town outside. And there are more and more gathering places, and if you look closely, you can see that some people are carefully observing the roofs and walls of some people's houses, and most of these people are gloating. People kept running out of Gaoqiao Town, and then more people poured in, and there were also some salt establishments near Gaoqiao Town, and there was no shortage of coolie salt households.

Of course, on the side of the small shops opened by the Lingshan Commercial Bank, there are also people who observe the lively people on the walls and roofs.

Outside, these Gaoqiao townspeople have begun to discuss how to open the door of this camp, and the soldiers in this barracks look cold-faced, every day is a drill, who would have thought that it would be such a soft egg.

"Folks, folks. Don't make trouble, don't make trouble, these thieves stole the mules and horses in the barracks, according to military law, they should be dealt with heavily, and if you make trouble again, you will also violate military law! ”

I didn't shout this, but after shouting that it was a little quiet outside. The noise was louder. This is clearly cowardice. However, this time the reaction in the camp was too fast, and someone in the camp immediately shouted:

"Don't make a fuss. Don't make a fuss, I'll change people for you right away! ”

At this time, the atmosphere outside the barracks was like madness, and everyone was there to clamoring loudly, but no one in the camp could hear this voice clearly.

Not long after, something was thrown out of the barracks, and the people who were close to the camp's wooden fence flashed subconsciously, and the thing fell heavily into the clearing.

When everyone looked at it, there was a headless corpse lying on the ground, but the family recognized that the corpse was wearing the clothes that were one of the horse thieves.

When they saw the headless corpses, even the families of the horse thieves who had just made a fuss were silent, and only then did they hear the voices of those people inside crying and begging for mercy, the outside was unusually quiet, and the soldiers inside did not move much.

Faintly, you can hear the sound of "poof", and whenever this sound sounds, the sound of crying and begging for mercy will be weakened, and it will be completely quiet.

Several corpses were thrown out, it is said that seeing their relatives die, the people outside should be even more troublesome, but seeing these headless corpses being thrown out, everyone fell silent, originally beating the camp fence and preparing to climb.

After several corpses were thrown out, everyone was pushed out dozens of steps away in a panic, and they didn't know what to do for a while, but at this time, the closed camp gate was wide open, and the Huaibei soldiers rushed out like wolves and tigers, and they didn't know who shouted.

The civilians of Gaoqiao Town surrounded by these outside scattered in a hurry, but they gathered closely, and they were close to the camp fence, and they were crowded, and it was so easy to run in a hurry, and it was very easy for the soldiers of the Huaibei Army to arrest people, and it was directly to catch those who were close, so it was simple to think about it, and the one who was close must have just been in the inner circle, and the one who made the most trouble was caught that there must be no good people outside.

Seeing the soldiers come out to arrest people, these Takahashi townspeople who were still making trouble just now remembered that these people in front of them were soldiers, tigers and wolves with knives and guns in their hands.

There are those who run fast and can't catch them, they are directly poked over by a shot of the Jiaozhou battalion, and there is a big chaos outside the camp fence of the Jiaozhou battalion, crying, scolding, and begging for mercy are all mixed together, and some people tripped and fell to the ground, trampled on people, and shouted loudly for help.

The people in front of the barracks ran away, and the town of Gaoqiao, which had been chaotic for a day, finally returned to quiet, and the Huaibei army captured more than 120 people in total.

There were many people caught this time, but the townspeople of Gaoqiao never dared to make trouble again, and when they wanted to run, they realized that the intersections around the town were completely blocked, and they couldn't get out, so they could only go back to their homes obediently according to the shouts of the Huaibei Army.

In the evening, the matter was not over, and the soldiers of the Jiaozhou battalion searched from house to house, and anyone who hid someone of unknown origin was immediately arrested.

At various intersections and crossings outside the town, as well as small roads and ditches, there are soldiers of the Huaibei Army guarding there, and none of them have slipped through the net.

The next morning, among those who had been arrested yesterday, the women had been released, and they had not been violated or abused.

When they got up early in the morning, the soldiers of the Huaibei Army of the Jiaozhou Battalion built a wooden platform in the open space in Gaoqiao Town, which was very simple, but it was higher than the flat ground.

The thing was very simple, no one came to read out the confession, but two Huaibei Army soldiers carried a person who was struggling or not struggling to the platform, pressed down on the wooden platform, and then a soldier pulled out his waist knife to slash, Gaoqiao Town was unusually quiet, although the sound of crying and scolding on the wooden platform in the open space in the town was endless, and there were also their own relatives and friends, but no one dared to make any moves yesterday The people of Gaoqiao Town, who were still bold and arrogant, just listened tremblingly in the house.

They have understood a lot of things in their hearts now, these soldiers from Shandong, even if they slaughter this town, it will be an easy matter.

The reason why he was so forbearant and friendly before yesterday was because this army was reasonable, not because this army was afraid of anything, and yesterday's move of putting his nose on his nose and face in front of the camp finally provoked the Huaibei Army, these Shandong people.

Just over the clearing in the middle of the town, the ground around the wooden platform was already gradually purple, and the color of the blood seeped into the soil, and soldiers were constantly sprinkling lime on the beheaded corpses.

Zhang Jiang stood to the side with his hands behind his back, his face was pale, not because the murderous scene in front of him was too bloody, but because he didn't expect that this kind of thing would happen just a few days after entering Huaibei, and according to the report of the guys from the branch of the nearby Lingshan Commercial Bank, when those people made trouble yesterday, there were always people agitating, and some salt workers and coolies nearby were also called in.

Things are snowballing and getting bigger and bigger, and I can't handle this little thing well, if it reaches the ears of my own commander-in-chief, what kind of impression is this.

Sure enough, as his uncle said, these salt merchants were polite on the surface, but they didn't have a good heart at all in private, and when they were gritting their teeth, they heard someone shouting on the other side of the wooden platform:

"Spare your life! The small one is the account room of a certain salt merchant, and I came to this Gaoqiao Town yesterday to check the accounts...... "The soldier on the wooden platform stopped, and the herald standing in front of * also stopped, and looked at * together, waiting for his instructions, and * said coldly:

"Write down the name of this salt merchant, this tent, cut it!"