The group that returned the way they had come was much slower, and the slaves with strips of hay cloth wrapped around their feet, though they were also young and strong laborers, could not endure the long journey due to hunger and cold.

So, Xiao Ye ordered the small flags to give the sergeants to ride their horses, and then ordered the slaves to get on snowmobiles, and the sergeants followed the carts and rode forward. The scouts who came out immediately scattered out the front and back, left and right.

A few sergeants who had been rescued from the grassland, under Xiao Ye's instructions, distributed some of the dried meat and cheese of the tartars to these Han people, and the medicine priests also began to busily check the injuries of these people.

A seemingly not very fierce battle, two people were killed, although the scene looked scary, but the sergeants were already full of confidence; Only Xiao Ye and Wang Meng were still scared when they talked about it.

"We're lucky, once all the Tartars are on the horse, we won't be able to go back today," think of the thousands of Tartars who were charging for their lives, the big horses' hooves shook the earth in the snow, and Xiao Ye was covered in cold sweat.

Looking at the two subordinates wrapped in white cloth on the ox cart behind him, he was not even interested in eating jerky.

"Baihu, these people are back in Shiguantun, I'm afraid they won't be able to live there, and it's time for the priest Wang to build a house again," Seeing Xiao Ye's unhappy face, Wang Meng smiled and diverted the topic, anyway, this time the difficulty is over, and I will talk about it next time.

"Well, they won't go back to Shiguantun this time," Xiao Ye shook his head and lowered his voice, "Replenish some sergeants, and the rest will form a miscellaneous team, well, set up a hundred-person team like Tartars and go to Bailong Lake," his words, although Wang Meng was stunned for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes happily.

Xiao Ye likes to squint when he thinks about things, and these little flag officials have also learned one by one, and they also found that this will not let others discover their hearts, so they secretly spread it.

The establishment of the 100-member team shows that a flag officer like Wang Meng has an upward step.

"The miscellaneous servants are divided into two teams to rotate, stationed on the shore of Zibailong Lake, mainly mining saltpeter, as well as sulfur, and the black stones on the other side of the lake will also be collected, and I will regularly send carts and horses to pull them," After saying these words, Xiao Ye looked up at the skewed sun, "Garrison, by the way, clean up the tail behind,"

"Yes, Baihu," Wang Meng replied loudly, waving his hand to call Qin Dazui, and after a few words, this guy excitedly took away the four shotgunners, turned the horse's head, and ran towards the end of the team with binoculars.

After marching two miles, the team found a higher terrain, and with the help of the slaves who had been relieved, the cowhide tents were quickly erected, and the individual tents were also set up on the periphery.

Faintly, in the northeast direction, there was a muffled sound of fire, but under the supervision of the sergeants, the three hundred slaves who were temporarily divided into ten squads, each stayed in the tent, holding the dried meat, cheese, and a piece of skin to put on their bodies for warmth, which was quite satisfying.

These slaves with chilblains of varying severity, the medicine man put an ointment made of Coptis leaves and the skin of the pit of the vine grass on their hands and feet, and then tied the medicine belt, at least it was not so numb.

These slaves, who knew that they had been rescued, were shocked to see the sergeants kill a large number of Tartar cavalry and scatter the Tartars of the brigade at Tashuang Lake, and in the end, it was the Tartar leaders who took out supplies and war horses in exchange for the retreat of the Ming army.

When did the army of the Ming Dynasty become so powerful.

Especially on the road, after hearing that some of the sergeants had been rescued not long ago, there was a slight spark in the eyes of some slaves.

An hour later, just when the sky was about to darken, Qin Dazui took four shotgunners, rode more than a dozen saddled war horses, hung a large number of weapons, leather robes and leather armor, and hurried back.

"Report to a hundred households, five Tartar probe horses, one person and three horses, all annihilated, and the second squad Qin Shi handed over the order," Qin's big mouth spread far in the camp, but the other sergeants were not abnormal, and those Han slaves were noisy.

"Got it, tell Wang Meng to strengthen your vigilance tonight, the Tartars are not so good at giving up," On the snowmobile, Xiao Ye sat outside the tent, holding frozen cheese and gnawing hard.

The cold wind was howling on the grassland, and in the camp, in the individual tents and cowhide tents, both the sergeants and the rescued Han people slept peacefully, and only a few sergeants guarding the lookout were staring at the boss, tormenting their two duty hours.

Xiao Ye, who was wrapped in a silk coat and half leaned in the tent, couldn't sleep at all, constantly thinking about the various difficulties encountered by the team since the departure, which were all lessons from the march and battle on the grassland in the future.

The terrain is unfamiliar and the Tartars are not well informed, which almost made him and his sergeants lose their lives on the grassland, and the lesson is profound.

Especially when he saw the hateful eyes of those Tartars, young and old, he was completely insomnia. With the hundred sergeants under his command, at the beginning of spring next year, the peaceful days will dissipate.

Five days later, they successively killed three waves of Tartar tans behind the team, Qin Dazui and more than a dozen people did not collect at night, searched the grassland for more than ten miles behind, and after not finding tracking, the team turned to the northwest; The vague shadow of the Altai Mountains has appeared in the telescope lens.

After a hundred miles of progress, in a sheltered depression, Xiao Ye ordered the team to stop, and the personal guard team that had been sharpening in front of them also rushed back under the leadership of Zuo Shi.

A neat group of sergeants, each with small flags, stood in front of the team, and next to it, a messy group of Han slaves crowded into a pile and looked at the hundred households in front of them.

Except for the little six sons and ten people who were on guard on the periphery, everyone was already here; In the depression, the chaotic sound gradually disappeared, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Xiao Ye, who was standing.

"Brothers, fellow villagers," Xiao Ye thought for a while, coughed, and said loudly, "I am Xiao Ye, the West Gate of the Hundred Households of Suzhou Wei Gravel Fort, Shiguantun, and you are safe now," the calm voice made these former slaves choke with tears streaming down their faces.

"In order to save you, I lost two good brothers, and more than a dozen brothers were injured," Xiao Ye's eyes swept over the lonely ox cart, and his face showed a faint tiredness, "So, you have to join us in Shiguantun within three years, remember, it's three years,"

His words were not loud, but they made these Han people who had just escaped from the clutches of the Tartars have a panic on their faces; You must know that most of them were originally farmers and merchants, not military households, so how could they be willing to join military households.

"Whoa," the sergeants who were watching the periphery around were also monitoring these Han people who had escaped from the predicament, and when they saw the noise in the crowd, they all raised the firearms in their hands; The muzzle of the black hole made these people immediately lower their heads and close their mouths.

"You will not be a military household, I will send someone to sign a contract with you, and hire you as a miscellaneous servant, yes, a miscellaneous servant," Xiao Ye explained helplessly, "After three years, you will leave with your salary, and the contract will be clearly written,"

"My lord, can I join the army," a young man in the crowd, his cheeks sunken thinly, summoned up the courage to shout loudly, "I am the only one of my family of six who was killed by the Tartars, please fulfill it,"

As soon as the words landed, someone began to shout loudly, all of them were some young men with languishing faces, but the flames in their eyes could be seen by a sergeant.

"Hehe, if you want to join the military households of my hundred households, I will accept them all, but if you want to become my sergeant, you have to undergo training before you can do it, and my sergeant here is not just a casual way in," Xiao Ye's words made all the sergeants under him puff up their chests one by one, holding the fire gun tightly in their hands.

"We are not afraid, please be fulfilled," "Please be fulfilled," the gossipy young men, one by one, shouted loudly and knelt on the ground, the sharp weapons of the sergeants, warm and neat equipment, had already made their hearts moved.

What's more, the sergeant's monthly salary has also been leaked intentionally or unintentionally, how can it not make their eyes hot; Back to the side wall, I don't know how to live.

So, the two pharmacists, who knew a little bit of writing, took out two blank pieces of white flute paper, and wrote the names and places of origin of these people who were willing to join the military household one by one.

The formalities are like this, and Xiao Ye doesn't know if these people can survive next year before they go through such a complicated flow of official documents.

Others who did not wish to join the military also registered their names and places of origin, and put their fingerprints on them in order to return to their places of origin after three years. Counting over and over again, there are more than 80 people who want to join the military household, and more than 200 people who want to mix with miscellaneous labor for three years.

Under the loud shouts of the sergeant, these Han slaves, who decided their fate, were divided into three teams; One armed hundred, two miscellaneous teams, three groups of people were isolated.

Among the sergeants in the personal guards and the small banners, Xiao Ye gave priority to transferring the slaves who were rescued before, after all, the other sergeants still have their families in Shiguantun.

Ten sergeants were promoted to Dai Xiaoqi by Xiao Baihu on the spot, and ten people were selected each, and a new hundred-man team began to take shape; But the two general flags Xiao Ye can't be appointed arrogantly, but they just choose the team officers to carry out the general flags.

Naturally, the officers were in charge of fifty sergeants, and the salaries they received were also the class of the general banner, not to mention the small banner.

Xiao Ye called the two team officers to him, "Yu Shan, Du Ding, you are my personal guards, I have also seen how capable you are, now these new brothers are handed over to you two, you must bring them to me,"

"Yes, 100 households, the small ones must live up to the grace of 100 households," the two guards knelt down on one knee and answered loudly. Their families are also gone, if it weren't for Xiao Ye's last time at the foot of the Altai Mountains to rescue them, maybe the corpses would have been scattered by now.

"I will try my best to supply the equipment and materials, and there is no need to worry about the food, I must train them as soon as possible," Xiao Ye pulled up the two of them, raised his chin and pointed at those miscellaneous servants, "Take good care of them in Bailong Lake, and not a single one is allowed to go down the mountain, if there are those who try to escape, kill,"

The cold order made the two guards, who were still excited, suddenly feel cold, and Ling Ran responded, and his eyes calmed down.

The sky was slightly bright, Huang Hanxiang and Lei Xiaoqing's two teams of small flags, returned to Shiguantun with gold and silver, and their two teams rode war horses, and also took away the horses with the corpses of their comrades; Xiao Ye and his entourage, driving the cart, headed in the direction of Bailong Lake.

In the eastern foothills of the Altai Mountains, through the hills and mountains, and through long valleys, the team followed the trail to the top of the mountain, where they saw the lake that was still white and steaming.

The snowmobiles were left at the bottom of the mountain, the horses were pulled up the mountain by the sergeants to take care of them, and the supplies were carried up the mountain by the miscellaneous servants. In a team of 200 miscellaneous servants, the two officers discussed for a moment and appointed a few small leaders to be responsible for commanding these miscellaneous servants.

In the future, the main task of these miscellaneous laborers, in addition to a simple training every five days, the excavation of saltpeter, sulfur and black stone was a top priority. And the new sergeants of the 10th squad have already started training.

The weapons are insufficient, and the captured Tartar equipment is used first, even if you cut some sticks, you can train.

On the shore of Bailong Lake, the tent was set up, the gang went to the bottom of the mountain to find a clean water source, Wang Meng took a few sergeants, found the tools for burial, and handed them over to the miscellaneous servants to clean up the site of hoarding saltpeter and black stone.

The mountains around Bailong Lake are steep, and there is only one way down the mountain, Xiao Ye has seen the terrain earlier, and he has long been worried about this mining place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Leaving all the supplies and individual tents, Xiao Ye once again replenished these small flags and team officers with fire guns and projectiles and earth-shaking thunder, and after resting on the mountain for two days, he led the team back to Shiguantun.

Horses were used to transport stones back and forth down the mountain, and more than a dozen times down, and the snowmobile that returned this time pulled some black stones, about 5,000 catties.

According to the consumption of these people in Bailong Lake, it is also urgent to transport food after half a month, and Xiao Ye, who is riding a horse on the snow, is finally a little relieved about the source of saltpeter in the future.

Before leaving, Xiao Ye, who had not forgotten the lesson, hesitated again and again, and only took away twenty firearms, plus twenty small flags of Huang Hanxiang and Lei Xiaoqing, and Shiguantun kept the number of seventy, he would not increase in front of people, rather than hiding in the warehouse, it was better to let Bailonghu use it for military training; Even the sergeant's crossbow was left in Bailong Lake.

It was another night's journey, and it wasn't until the next night that Xiao Ye hurried back to Shiguantun; At this time, it was already the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month.

With Huang Hanxiang and Lei Xiaoqing's two teams of small flags returning first, Shiguantun was also lifted from guard, and the sergeants had leisure time to get along with their families in addition to their normal duties.

Xiao Ye returned to Tunli, and the discerning people knew at a glance that they had not brought back much gain, and two sergeants had died in the Baihu Institute, and more than a dozen sergeants were nowhere to be seen, which made the soldiers a little worried.

However, the battle of Tashuanghu still spread secretly, and after Wang Meng deliberately visited his house and sent the rewards due to the sergeants, the soldiers were busy with their own work the next day.

Huang Deshan and Tian Fangjun, who didn't know the inside story, reported the loss of Xiao Ye's trip to their respective families, and at the same time found the hundred households in Ximen, and when they asked for warmth, they asked if Xiao Ye had gained anything from this outing.

"Yes, although I found the whereabouts of those Persians, I still had a fierce battle with the Tartars who stayed behind, and I lost some brothers," those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to ink are black, Xiao Ye and these ghostly guys fight wits and wits, not to mention the losses and take advantage of them, obviously their faces are a lot thicker, at least they don't change their faces when they lie.

"Oh, Xiao Baihu is too tired, let's rest first, and the villain will come to disturb tomorrow," Huang Deshan looked at Xiao Ye's tired face, and left the pastries and ale very interestingly, and gave up.

Huang Sanshao sent a pigeon letter, the fire gun was not sold well, and the crossbow had become unsalable because of the cost of arrows, only the dressing mirror was a good thing with no price, but unfortunately Xiao Ye had no inventory; What is surprising is that the yellow plaster is in short supply, which makes the Huang family receive a large contract.

What was not mentioned in the letter was the revolver and projectile, which the old craftsmen of the Huang family had already copied, and the destruction effect of thirty steps was excellent, so the expensive crossbow was naturally eliminated.

Although the projectile is not easy to make, it can be made slowly, and Huang Changzu has steadily become a talker in the family with his revolver and yellow plaster, and naturally began to take over part of the business.