Huang Changzu left, until he left Shiguantun, and he didn't mention where the Tartar heads he sold from Xiao Ye went, but Xiao Ye didn't remember it.

Half of his mind was on the stone mill.

He needed each of the twelve items produced in the stone mill, but the raw materials were limited, except for iron ore, there was a shortage of everything, and the supply of the Huang Jiatian family needed to cost money, so he had to calculate it every day.

The weather is getting colder and colder sooner or later, not to mention the daily consumption of charcoal by the soldiers, even the sergeants in the dark castle also have a small charcoal stove at their feet; The amount of charcoal has skyrocketed, and there are barely five truckloads of transportation a day, and only one cart can be poured out for the mill.

That is to say, he can only take out the items from the stone mill once more in two days, and the time for the next delivery of the white flute paper is 10,000 sheets, but it is said that it will be at the end of the month.

The rifling and wearing out of the rifling was also gradually increasing in the arsenal, and there were gains and losses, and the improvement of the shooting proficiency of the sergeants made Xiao Ye have to reduce the output of other items.

Maintaining seventy firearms and reserving ten for emergencies is the bottom line in his heart, and the protection of Shiguantun will inevitably weaken if there is no more.

Xiao Ye, who practiced knives, practiced soldiers, and read books every day, and went to the mill in the early hours of the morning, never imagined that the guards in Suzhou Mansion and the Thousand Households in the Gravel Fort, because of his transactions, the Tartar heads handed over, along with the performance of the victory, were rendered by the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies in the capital and sent to the emperor's desk.

Because the head of the Tartar was confirmed by the commander of the envoy and the governor of Suzhou, the superintendent of the imperial history also acquiesced in the merits of the Suzhou guard; After all, this time the Tartars entered and looted, and the results of other guards were not ideal.

Originally, this small private head transaction was unknown, but with Huang Changzu's return to Wuguan Town, the news that the Shiguantun Hundred Households were sharp and repelled the two sieges of the Tartars was learned by the commander of the envoys, and a piece of paper was immediately sent to the Gravel Fort.

At the beginning of November, the weather was gloomy and the wind was cold, and a supply convoy of several ox carts walked on the bumpy dirt road and hurried towards Shiguantun.

On the south bank of the Sailong River, you can still see a large field planted with winter wheat, but after crossing the river, you can see barren hills.

On the top of the stone mountain, which was already a bleak stone, Xiao Ye was wearing a black silk cotton coat and iron net cowhide boots, and Wang Dali was standing outside the mill.

Wang Dali and some sergeants who were born as craftsmen have figured out a way to condense stucco and stone in winter in the past few days, but they need a suitable temperature and a large amount of water, so Xiao Ye had to stop the project of building the outer wall of the mill as soon as possible.

All of this will have to wait until the beginning of spring next year.

"Baihu, look at this weather, it's about to snow," the wrinkled Wang priest kept coughing, looking at the dark and oppressive sky worriedly; According to his experience, this year's heavy snow is not as good as before, and I am afraid it will not be smaller.

"No way, we'll be idle when it's snowing, Uncle Wang, you can also take a good rest, the things in the tun have bothered you," Xiao Ye looked at Blacksmith Wang apologetically, this originally bold and enthusiastic middle-aged man, after half a year of hard work, unexpectedly, his hair has turned a lot gray, and his body bones are getting thinner.

In the daily affairs of Tunli, Xiao Ye is a hands-off shopkeeper, and he has never taken care of it seriously at all, but he just relies on Wang Dali to support the operation of Tunli.

"Hey, I'm a blacksmith who doesn't know a lot of words, I don't dare to relax my hands and feet at will, I'm afraid of delaying the big things of the hundred households," Wang Dali, who touched the slippery material on his body, and was also wearing a black silk cotton coat, smiled nonchalantly.

"As long as the hundred households will take care of my two unsuccessful boys in the future, Uncle Wang's one hundred and ten catties of body will be used by the hundred households," Wang Dali's dark face flashed a hint of flushing, but his waist was still straight; The military households all know that the hundred households do not like the posture of shrinking their heads and brains, and they are even more disgusted by groveling, and he can lag behind those sergeants.

"I know, Uncle Wang don't worry," before he finished speaking, there was a heavy sound of footsteps behind him, and a sergeant ran over quickly, "Report to 100 households, there is food and salary delivered to the gravel fort." ”

"Huh? Food? Xiao Ye and Wang Dali were stunned at the same time.

In the Ming Dynasty's guard system, military households did not take the state's salary, but distributed land to military households in the place where the soldiers were stationed, and some officers rented land to military households to collect rent; As for Shiguantun, there is no arable land to plant, and it is within the sphere of influence of the Mongolian Tatars, otherwise Xiao Ye would not have the possibility of going out to build a tun.

In a tunzi like this, which was built purely to defend against the Tartars, the people of the Thousand Households had to bear the food and salary, but that was only an explicit statement.

The reason why Xiao Ye went out to Shiguantun was because he had a grudge with Jiang Jie, but Jiang Jie still informed him that he had food and salary subsidies according to the official document of the Wei Institute, but he didn't say how much, and Xiao Ye didn't take it seriously.

And it's been half a year, not only have I never heard of the salary, but I have only seen it once, and it is nothing more than a notice of the extension of the salary, strict prevention of tartars, etc., and nothing else.

Hurriedly descending the mountain, Xiao Ye saw from afar that a thin old man in an official robe, riding on a mule horse, was shouting loudly; Next to the mules and horses, a group of sergeants wearing dirty mandarin duck jackets stood beside several ox carts and watched the bustle.

It was the little flag Wang Meng who was reprimanded by the official, he was unlucky today, he was in charge of guarding the mountain, and he happened to meet the convoy of the gravel fort, and he was led back from the fire pier all the way, and he was also reprimanded all the way.

Fortunately, Wang Meng is not like his younger brother Wang Hu, he has something to pretend to be in his heart, and he has a sincere and frightened look on his face, which finally caters to the temper of the people who came, but the military order that he should not go up the mountain without the consent of hundreds of households at the bottom of the mountain is another scolding for the people who came.

"Hehe, it turned out to be to appease Sun Dezhang Sun, I haven't seen you for many days, and Sun Daren is still in good spirits," his Xiaoqi was trained to be dumb, Xiao Ye was full of unhappiness, and laughed loudly from a low distance.

"Hey, Xiao Baihu, I can be regarded as seeing you personally, this Tartar is cruel, and I haven't seen any harm, this official is finally relieved," Seeing that the main lord was coming, the calming officer Sun Dezhang immediately stopped paying attention to Wang Meng, and made his legs stiffer, allowing the mule and horse to take two steps forward.

His official position is from the sixth grade, and Xiao Ye's official position is the sixth grade, and it stands to reason that Xiao Ye is half a level older than him, but Sun Dezhang, who has always been arrogant in the fort city, did not take Xiao Baihu in his eyes.

Sun Dezhang, who was in charge of the military discipline of Qianhu, had a cold and slender old face, and his bare chin was raised high, "Ximen Xiaoye, today I am under the order of Qianhu to escort Shiguantun to transport food and salary, and your sergeant is not allowed to go up the mountain, but what is the reason?" ”

"Sun Zhenfu contains, the mountain army is reckless, this official will discipline him strictly, I hope Sun Zhenfu will forgive me," Xiao Ye lightly arched his hand and said solemnly; I'll discipline my sergeant, you're an old fellow, don't be tired.

Sun Dezhang snorted coldly and did not pursue it further, after all, he still has important things to do, and the rest will be discussed later.

And a small official standing next to the ox cart looked coldly at the meeting between Xiao Ye and Sun Dezhang, his eyes wandered, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly; This Xiao Baihu is not very old, and his temper seems to be not small.

"This is the ambassador of the Wei Command Envoy Division, Ambassador Gu came to Shiguantun, but Xiao Baihu's blessing, haha," got off the mule and horse, Sun Dezhang stretched out his hand and smiled at Xiao Ye without yin or yang, the joy and misfortune mixed in the smile were self-evident.

"Xiao Baihu, Gu Zhenying is a small official who is not in the stream, and he should not be a good one," Seeing Xiao Ye bowing his hand, Gu Zhenying, the ambassador of the warehouse, hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully returned the salute; Not to mention the night of cruising around on a war horse in the distance, it was the two Shiguantun sergeants in front of him, who were also first-class border sergeants in his eyes.

At the very least, there is a fierce energy on that body, which is rare in the border army; Gu Zhenying, who has a keen eye, will not be as short-sighted as Sun Dezhang.

"Ambassador Gu, Sun Zhenfuguan, please," Xiao Ye didn't talk nonsense, stretched out his hand, and led the two of them towards the mountain; The sergeant of the gravel fort, who was in a hurry behind, also drove the ox cart and followed behind.

Wang Meng took his brothers and watched coldly with firearms on his back.

After entering Shiguantun, Sun Zhenfu first asked Xiao Baihu to gather all the military households, take out documents in front of the land temple, and preach the great joy of transporting grain and salary.

As a result, dozens of middle-aged craftsmen, old men and old women, and a group of children scurrying around came, looking at those ox carts, there was no imaginary joy at all; However, there were a few old military households, and after asking the escort sergeant on the side, their faces were full of disdain.

One hundred and five stone grain, one thousand taels of silver, converted to the sky, but only the food and salary of Tunli in March, this wrinkled Sun Zhenfu official, actually said that it was the food for half a year, it was really ah, shame is not ashamed; However, Xiao Baihu, who was standing in front of everyone, looked serious, and everyone still didn't dare to make a mocking voice.

"Xie Qianhu Master Jiang," waiting for Sun Dezhang to finish reading the document dryly, and shouted, Xiao Ye solemnly took the official document with both hands, carefully put it into his arms, and smiled and invited the two officials of the health center into the hundred households.

As for the grain and wages that were put into the warehouse, they had their own royal officials to count and sign for them; However, as soon as the two guards turned around, before they had gone far, Gu Zhenying heard the military households behind him talking.

The dinner was rough, the ale wine was muddy, and it was a very dull meal, although Gu Zhenying didn't say much, Sun Zhenfuguan almost crooked his nose in anger; Fortunately, the guards and military households brought in had tents, stoves in the military houses for cooking, and the training ground was large.

Huang Deshan diligently relieved Xiao Ye and invited the two officials into the guest rooms in the shop, which made Xiao Ye happy.

The next day, Xiao Ye gathered a hundred sergeants in the training ground, that is, the martial arts school field, and all the small flags were rarely concentrated; Why, Sun Zhenfuguan, who was holding back his anger, thought about it all night and decided to pay all the military households in person, to completely deal a blow to Xiao Ye's arrogance, and by the way, to win people's hearts to the Gravel Fort.

On the training ground, the boxy teams lined up in rows according to their respective small flags, the guards on guard in the distance, and the old people and children watching from the outside of the field, held their breath one by one, and no one dared to lose face in front of Xiao Baihu.

Such a solemn and strong sergeant, fully armed and murderous, although Wang Dali's small flags and sergeants swayed left and right, the other half of the more than fifty fierce sergeants were enough to make Gu Zhenying's face move slightly.

At the front of the line, Sun Zhenfuguan, who was standing between Xiao Ye and Gu Zhenying, was also startled by the silent sergeants standing all over the field, and all that could be heard here was the noisy voices of his own guards and those soldiers of the gravel fort.

"Hmph, I want to make this official ugly, see which one has the last laugh," holding the roster in his hand, Sun Zhenfuguan cleared his throat and prepared to pay everyone.

The two general flags were not there, and Sun Zhenfu just pouted and ignored it.

Several guards of the pacification officer, with the sergeant, carried the two wooden boxes to the side, opened the boxes, and the yellow copper coins, the ugly broken silver, appeared in front of everyone.

When the people arrived, they drew a charge to receive the salary, and each sergeant had the same money, or one stone of grain, or one stone and three buckets of grain, and every sergeant who stepped forward to receive the food and salary shouted loudly to thank the Zhenfu officer, but his eyes were fixed on the face of the hundred households.

Xiao Baihu, who was expressionless, made these sergeants dare not come out one by one, took the silver slipperily, returned to the queue and stood upright, with his waist straight.

Not to mention that the amount of copper coins distributed by the 100 households is sufficient, the silver is full of color, and the grain also includes the elderly and children in the family, not to mention that the seized regulations are really not something that can be stirred up by the actions of the officials and the people.

Most of the sergeants don't want food and ask for silver, and Sun Zhenfuguan and Ambassador Gu also know in their hearts that the two shops in Huangtian are on the mountain, so there should be no shortage of food.

The guards had no salary, and the degree of application was borne by the Ximen Baihu themselves, and after Sun Zhenfuguan proudly preached some military discipline and military regulations, he opened his mouth to disband the team.

What embarrassed him was that the hundred sergeants, as well as the family members who were watching the excitement on the sidelines, waited until Xiao Baihu, who had been speechless, bowed his head slightly, and then evacuated the training ground in an orderly manner.

Baihu nodded, the small flags shouted and shouted, and the sergeants lined up, according to the regulations of Baihu, the patrol should go down the mountain, the drill should prepare wooden shields and wooden knives, and the work should be done, everything is orderly, and there is no need for Xiao Ye to order; Under the guarantee of sufficient food, the military households who had learned the lesson of hunger remembered the military regulations issued by the hundred households quite clearly.

The first three times he violated military regulations, he could resist in the coal pit, and the fourth time he violated military regulations, he was expelled with his family, and he was going to die, who would dare to touch the mold; You must know that the third time you break the military rules, the time to dig charcoal is as long as three months, and you can exhaust people to death after completing the daily ration.

Under the combination of Enwei and Sun Zhenfu, who only came to pay a month's salary for half a year, it is obvious that Shiguantun is firmly in the hands of Xiao Ye.

Everything on the training ground, Gu Zhenying silently looked at it in his eyes, and his eyes flickered even more, this warehouse management official who likes the strategy of the military formation has discovered the abnormality of these hundred households.

Back at the Baihu Office, the buttocks had just sat on the stone bench, Sun Zhenfu couldn't wait to take out the military order of the Thousand Households, Yang Tian was entrusted with illness, which made him quite angry, especially when he saw the beautiful figure of Yang Meier standing out from the crowd in those family members, which made him even more jealous.

"Ximen Hundred Households, Jiang Qianhu Military Order, Gravel Fort against the Tartars is a matter of urgency, with your hundred households taking out fifty firearms and twenty war horses, transfer to the Gravel Fort, and report the reward to the guard post and announce," Holding the military order document stamped with the seal of a thousand households, Sun Zhenfu read it in a deep voice.

"What, firebolt? I also want fifty branches, Sun Zhen Fuguan, I didn't read the typo, right," Xiao Ye, who was taken aback, was on fire, "The fire gun was traded by me with a Persian merchant, and it cost a huge amount of money, and I was already bankrupt," As for the war horse, he didn't care, there were more than a dozen of them in the fence on the mountain, and he could make it up upside down.

If there is no fire, the Mongolian Tartars will pass Shiguan for the first time, and the people in Shiguantun will be afraid that they have been plundered and killed, and Xiao Yeyan will not be angry.

You must know that this Shiguantun is within the sphere of influence of the Tartars, and there is no room for sand in the eyes of people, and it will definitely come if spring does not come at the beginning of spring next year and the beginning of summer.

"Hehe, Ximen Baihu, this military order cannot be violated, and the compensation is also given to you, didn't you pay the military households just now, you still have a balance of fifty stone of grain, enough for your personal guards to eat for a month," Sun Zhenfuguan, who was not smiling, put the military order documents on the stone table, bullet the dust that did not exist on the official uniform, and his eyes were gloomy.

If Xiao Ye categorically refused, then he, the magistrate in charge of military discipline, would not be able to immediately take Xiao Ye into custody and wait for the punishment of Qianhu.

"What's more, don't the Ximen Baihu still have military crossbows, plus iron swords and wooden shields, the rolling stones are flawless, and the defense of Shiguantun is more than enough," Sun Dezhang said solemnly, "Privately trading with Persian merchants, Ximen Baihu has already violated military regulations, Jiang Qianhu sees that your Shiguantun situation is not easy, so he can't press it, I hope you can do it yourself,"

Each family has its own way of making money, which is the unspoken rule of officialdom, but when it comes out to talk about things, it just doesn't give face, which one is clean when you pull it out? If you clean your buttocks, I'm afraid you won't even be able to feed the housekeepers.

Perhaps, Jiang Jie didn't think about giving Xiao Ye face at all, wishing that he would expel Sun Dezhang from Shishan, or use more radical means.

The coercion of one set made Xiao Ye stand on the spot with a flushed face, panting heavily, and his eyes began to turn red; Sun Dezhang, who was dizzy, didn't see it at all, Xiao Ye's fists gradually clenched.

It was the shrewd Ambassador Gu, seeing that the situation was wrong, and hurriedly came out to play a round; The sporadic villagers/chaos in northern Shaanxi, Xiao Ye didn't hear it, but he heard about it a little, it was very chaotic.

In case Ximen Baihu is anxious, agrees, and gives them a half-way interception, then today is the last meal.

Seeing the looks of those military households today, Gu Zhenying couldn't grasp whether this really young hundred households would be angry and do something stupid. The border army mutinied, and it came down again and again, and it was almost a joke in the northwest, and no time it was possible to comfort and exempt from responsibility, and the unlucky ones were all petty officials who ran errands.

"Hehe, in fact, there is no need to worry about the hundred households in the West Gate, I see that there are only fifty or sixty firecrackers here, and it is not easy for the hundred households in the West Gate, why don't Sun Zhenfu officials report to Jiang Qianhu, consider the difficulties of the hundred households, and thirty are also possible," As he spoke, Gu Zhenying squeezed his eyes at Sun Dezhang and shook his head gently.

His actions made Sun Dezhang stunned, glanced at Xiao Ye's expression, and then reacted, solemnly silent; In the underwear behind the official uniform, Sun Dezhang's cold sweat had already flowed down.

Xiao Ye didn't see the small movements of the two, and when he heard Gu Zhenying's soothing words, he hurriedly raised his head and arched his hand, "Sun Zhenfuguan, Ambassador Gu, I Shiguantun has met the Tartars twice, and there have been many casualties, in order to keep Shiguan, it is also a last resort to go out to trade on the grassland, and I also fought with the Tartars on the grassland, and nearly half of the people were killed and injured.

In his heart, he didn't have the idea of killing officials and rebelling at all, but he didn't know if he had secretly acted with the persuasion of his subordinates.