Two days later, at noon, Xiao Ye led twenty sergeants to practice crossbow/arrow shooting on the gentle slope in the west.

Another group of small flags guarded the road up the mountain in two bunkers on both sides of the path down the mountain according to the regulations.

There are clinics and private schools on the mountain, and there is also plenty of food and salt in the warehouse, so that the people trapped here on the mountain have more hope in their hearts; Of course, the increasing number of crossbows is also strengthening the guards on the mountain day by day.

The inventory of two consecutive crossbows every day gave Xiao Ye great confidence in standing firmly in Shishantun, and what he had to do now was to train his sergeants as soon as possible; As for the formation and battle, he has no confidence at all, there are too few people, and the loss of one of them makes his heart ache, so let's talk about it later.

A mile further west, a team of craftsmen and military households at the Shanbao Office smashed the ground with a pry and a belt to knock the earthy yellow stones that were staggered all over the ground under their feet into bowl-sized pieces, loaded them with wheelbarrows and ox carts, and drove them through the path leading to Shiguantun.

There was no road before, as long as someone stepped on it, there was a road.

Shiguantun, which has no arable land, needs a way to survive for a long time.

"Report," in the dark fort on the top of the mountain in the distance, a panting sergeant ran over, and rushed straight to Xiao Ye, "Report to a hundred households, Wang Meng's small flag under the mountain sent a signal, in the canyon north of Shiguan, there is a large group of people and horses, the number is unknown,"

Shiguan Tunli, at this time faintly sounded a sharp whistle, mixed with a loud suona sound, Wang Hu's team hurriedly appeared outside the dark fort at the entrance of the tunkou, the sergeant with a crossbow went straight to the dark fort under the mountain, and the sergeant with a knife and a gun drilled into the dark fort on both sides.

Xiao Ye solemnly looked at the stone pass in the distance, turned around and waved at Wang Dali's side, "The third small flag and the fourth small flag gather, follow me down the mountain," gathered the team, Xiao Ye led the team and quickly ran down the mountain.

Before running down the mountain, on the flat mountain road, the sound of horses' hooves bursts, Wang Meng, who was riding a high-headed horse, ran over with a roar, and saw a hundred households coming down the mountain, and hurriedly pulled the reins and rolled off the horse, "Hundred households, five miles in front of Shiguan, there is a large caravan of camels and horses, and it will arrive at Shiguan after half an hour,"

"Where's the flag?" Xiao Ye carried the crossbow and asked loudly, he didn't want to be looked at by Wang Meng, being careful in everything was the right way.

"Huang," Wang Meng replied without hesitation; In these days on the mountain, their team and Wang Hu's team, two people and a war horse, are addicted to playing, although they were bruised and swollen, but after a few days, riding and running on horses is no longer a problem.

The children of military families in the northwest have a natural preference for war horses, and they used to sneak up on opportunities to play, but now they are training seriously.

Han Baocai of the Han Family Grain Store in Gravel Castle, although he claims that the Han family is one of the eight major families in Shanxi on weekdays, but those who know the inside story secretly pout, and the Han family, which is attached to the wings of the Tian family, is just a small periphery, compared to the real eight families, regardless of power and financial resources, it is a drop in the bucket.

Fan, Wang, Jin, Tian, Zhai, Huang, the real six major merchant families in Shanxi, the upper and lower courts, and the business is all over the northwest, Mongolia to the northeast, and the two families of Zhangjiakou Wang and Liang have monopolized the road, and the intricate network of relationships is condensed even by high-ranking officials and ministers.

And the Huang family, one of the eight major families who are engaged in selling/selling business inside and out, is on the ground in Suzhou, it is not an exaggeration to stomp on the ground to earthquake, and no guard has dared to look for ballast wantonly.

Xiao Ye didn't know about this, and no one ever told him.

"Let's go, go down the mountain and have a look," he muttered for a moment, and before he had time to inform Yang Tianshou, Xiao Ye led the team, far away from the vine grass spreading at the foot of the mountain, and stood on the pile of rocks outside the ruins of Shiguan.

"Bang Bang, Bang Bang" rested for a while, a long team of horses, along the mountain road appeared between the two flat mountains, in front of the unhurried team, a pennant with an orange background was erected on the back of the mule and horse, and a big black block on the flag was written: Yellow.

With Xiao Ye's gesture, the two squads formed a formation, guarding both sides with swords and guns, and two rows of crossbowmen were lined up in the middle, and two rows of eight consecutive crossbows were lifted high.

According to Xiao Ye's training, during the battle, a team of small flags had at least five crossbows, and after fifty short arrows were fired in an instant, under the escort of the swordsmen and gunners, the team must quickly retreat to the mountain and fight against the enemy with the hidden fortress. The sergeants in the bunker can only kill the enemy flexibly by relying on the terrain.

For this reason, Xiao Ye could only continue to take out military crossbows from the stone mill and put them in the warehouse, and the short arrows were distributed to each squad for later use.

Of course, if you increase the formation combat training in the future, plus shields and spears, you can form a formation to resist the enemy, then the casualties Xiao Ye will not be able to control it.

Wang Meng's team of ten people rode fast horses and pulled out a cordon far away on the periphery of Shiguan to prevent possible enemy situations behind them.

The horse gang that came from afar, before they got out of the canyon, did not expect to encounter a group of Ming soldiers and horses on this barren stone pass, and after a burst of people shouted and neighed, the team stopped a hundred steps away; More than 50 elite men of the guard horse team, each with a sharp blade out of its sheath, surrounded his team.

Hundred steps, that is, the edge of the range of the three-stone strong bow, Xiao Ye looked at these big men who were familiar with blades, and couldn't help frowning secretly.

Blocking the middle of the road and not moving, Xiao Ye crossed his hands on his hips, looked at the people and horses opposite, and shouted loudly, "I am Shiguantun Baihu, someone from the front, show your identity,"

The front curtain of a carriage in the horse team was raised, and a middle-aged man with a black melon skin hat and a long robe with thick dark lines walked up slowly; Beside him, two guards with big shoulders and round waists looked at the Ming army in front of him menacingly, with disdain in their eyes.

If it weren't for the sound of horses' hooves rumbling on both sides, perhaps this seemingly steward would not have easily gotten out of the car.

Walking ten steps away from Xiao Ye, the middle-aged man arched his hand and said loudly, "This hundred households, I, Huang Fugui, the steward of the Huang family in Shanxi, ask me how to call the hundred households?" ”

"The 100 households under the command of the 1,000 households of this official Gravel Castle are Xiao Ye, where did you come from and what happened?" Xiao Ye raised his head high and said loudly, what he didn't expect was that the two men around Huang Fugui were actually happy.

Under Xiao Ye's angry gaze, Huang Fugui smiled lightly, and reluctantly looked at Xiao Ye seriously, this Baihu who looked very young, I'm afraid it wasn't a child from a family who came to practice, "May I ask Xiao Baihu, where is the family?" ”

If you try to test the bottom in advance, if a big flood washes the Dragon King Temple, it will not look good.

"My father was originally a hundred households in the Gravel Castle, why do you ask this?" Xiao Ye waved his hand dissatisfiedly, "May I ask Steward Huang, do you have the customs clearance documents of your horse gang, why do you have to pass through Shiguan?" ”

Reselling ironware, grain, salt, tea, and even silk cloth, in exchange for considerable leather goods, saltpeter, heavy gold and silver, if Huang Fugui is blocked when he goes out of the customs, he will be angry, but this time he is back, and he will soon be in the realm of Daming, and he is too lazy to go to a small hundred households, "Of course there is, Lao Wu,"

The big man angrily took out his personal paperwork and stepped forward to hand it to a sergeant, but his eyes were lightly swiped over the crossbow.

Opening the paperwork, Xiao Ye looked at the list of materials on it, his eyes stopped on the saltpeter, and he couldn't help but ask, "The document is complete, Huang Guan, I also have saltpeter in Daming, why do you want to buy it outside the customs?" ”

"Haha, that's the purity, the Altai six hundred miles away from here, the purity of saltpeter there can't be compared to the Ming Dynasty, and the Jingshi Pharmacy and those imperial doctors are very picky," the triumphant Huang Fugui looked at Lao Wu and was about to turn around and leave.

On the way back to the customs, he had to do some work, but he could ignore this hundred households without any background/scene.

"I don't know, Steward Huang is willing to sell some saltpeter, and the official can exchange it for things," a light flashed in his mind, and Xiao Ye asked loudly without caring about anything else.

Huang Guan was slightly stunned, saltpeter is not a rare thing in Daming, he bought back this time with hundreds of 30,000 catties, and it is understandable to sell some easily, as long as there is money to be made, it is not a sale to anyone.

"Okay, it depends on Xiao Baihu's hands, what is good," the shrewd Huang steward, glanced at the yellowed faces of those sergeants, understood that Xiao Ye had no silver in his hand, nodded at him, and went back to the carriage to rest.

The mirror that Xiao Ye gave to Mei'er was very covetous, Xiao Ye couldn't, so he also took out one side for her, and left one side by the way, which can now be used.

Soon, the sergeant galloping on horseback turned back and got a tightly wrapped dressing mirror from Xiao Ye's housekeeper Uncle Kun and handed it over to Baihu.

Lao Wu, who was waiting impatiently, took the package handed over by Xiao Ye and returned to the carriage.

After a while, I saw Huang Fugui, who was nervous, carefully holding the mirror and running over quickly; Diorama, this is a diorama, the mirror from Guangzhou is not as good as this one, how can it not make Huang Fugui very excited.

Compared with the bronze mirror, the value of the diorama, Huang Fugui knows too well, whether it is to make friends with the powerful or resell at a high price, it is rare and tight. If it weren't for the rush and the shortcut, he really wouldn't have been so lucky to encounter this kind of mirror.

"May I ask Xiao Baihu, where did this mirror come from, I am willing to buy the news with a hundred taels of silver," the Huang family, who has always sold/sold intelligence news, can naturally see the value of the mirror from where it comes from.

"This, we killed eight passing Tartars a while ago, and among the seized materials, there is this mirror, as for where it came from, the official doesn't know," Xiao Ye, who looked honest, had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and spread his hands and replied helplessly, "Before the injured Tartars were slaughtered, they said that they were Persian goods, and if the Yellow Steward needed it, I would try my best to find out the news,"

According to Xiao Ye's statement, that is to say, this mirror may have been brought by the Tartars who robbed other tribes, or it may have been obtained by robbing the rich families of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the matter of the Tartar in Xiao Ye's words, Huang Fugui passed through the Gravel Fort and could inquire about it.

"Oh, okay," Huang Fugui carefully put away the mirror in disappointment, and looked at Xiao Ye hopefully, "If Xiao Baihu has news, you can go to the Huang family's shops and inns in Suzhou, and find any shopkeeper, I will be very grateful,"

Xiao Ye was unacceptable, but he was secretly vigilant in his heart.

There is no such fine mirror on the market, in exchange for a thousand catties of saltpeter, but Xiao Ye is very happy, if he knows, the saltpeter on the grassland is five pennies a pound, I don't know what to think.

Fifty taels of silver in exchange for a mirror, Huang Fugui, who was happy in his heart, could make a profit of 100 taels or even more when he changed hands, that was Taiyuan, if he got the capital again, it would be priceless several times.

Huang Fugui, who told Xiao Yeqian, gave Xiao Ye two wolf skins made of nitrate, and led the team straight to the gravel castle. Under the puff of smoke, the sergeants looked at the caravan carriage with no end in sight, and they were amazed except by surprise.

Only Xiao Ye, stepping on a heavy bag of saltpeter under his feet, his face changed uncertainly.

When Wang Meng, who was carrying a telescope and monitoring behind, informed the Huang family that the horse team had passed the fire pier, Xiao Ye led the team back to the mountain and lifted the guard on the mountain.

In the evening, Xiao Ye, who let Wang Dali rest for a night, personally worked with Uncle Kun to stuff a thousand catties of saltpeter into the grinding eye, and the stone mill rotated silently, and the pattern at the grinding disc lit up, and the sixth picture appeared.

However, Xiao Ye, who was wide-eyed, couldn't help but see that there was nothing on the pattern, and a small black block with a question mark appeared in his sight.

"Cowhide? Lead nuggets? Wood? Brimstone? ", four question marks and eight words, so that Xiao Ye didn't know what to say, there is still cowhide, and the scalper killed last time is left with skin; The wood is good to say, and the good ones on the back of the mountain are not fine, and you can take them casually.

As for the lead and sulfur, Xiao Ye couldn't help it, there were no such things in the Thousand Households, and he couldn't change them in his hands.

There was no way, he could only take out two crossbows from the stone mill again and give them to Uncle Kun; As one of the chief flag officers, one of Uncle Kun's current responsibilities is to keep the surplus crossbows and other things taken out of the stone mill for the hundred households.

For this reason, Xiao Ye had to recruit Wang Dali and send him to tear down the fence of his small courtyard, and build three side houses on the side near the land temple, and the wall was also built with stones and yellow plaster.

The yard has more than doubled in size, and the stone mill is no longer conspicuous.

"Priest Wang," after a few days of entanglement, Xiao Ye still called Wang Dali to his house and handed him a bead the size of a pigeon's egg, "Today you take someone to the county seat,"

Xiao Ye originally wanted to hand over this Dongzhu to Jiang Jie Qianhu, but as soon as he walked into Qianhu, he saw Jiang Jie's gloomy little eyes and Jiang Qinggui's troubles, so he forgot the bead in his arms for a while and brought it back to Shiguantun intact.

"You go to Han Baocai, he has always wanted this bead and exchange it for some food," Xiao Ye didn't wait for Wang Si to speak, and instructed in a low voice, "Just a little grain, you let Han buy some lead and sulfur for you, the more the better,"

Lead and sulfur are materials controlled by the government in the northwest border pass, and Xiao Ye did not dare to openly purchase a large number of them, otherwise he would not even be able to get out of the gate of the fort.

"I understand the hundred households," Wang Dali nodded lightly, "It just so happens that I also want to go to the county seat to see my nephews, all of whom can eat, and I don't know if my brothers' families have broken off,"

"Well, as long as they are willing to come to join the army, you tell them that I can't earn money here, and the food is enough, of course idlers don't want it," Xiao Ye patted the officer's shoulder, and only then did he find that Uncle Wang's body was much thinner than before.

"Uncle Wang, things have to come step by step, don't work day and night, I can't do without you here," wondering if to let Li Langzhong give Wang Dali a look, Xiao Ye heard Mei'er next door, so he didn't go to his heart.