Fifteen is a shock, although the outside is still cold and windy, but the guards of the Shi family shop have been running back and forth in Shiguantun and Lao Yangkou, a car of tightly wrapped goods, was sent into the backyard of the Shi shop, waiting for the merchants to come to deliver.

Laoyangkou Stone Fort is obviously a civilian fort, and all kinds of people who come and go in and out of the south gate are not checked, only the sergeants standing on the fort wall, and the servants patrolling the streets, will make people notice that this is still a border fort.

If you want to say how many eyeliner spies there are here, Xiao Ye is not worried, as long as there are people, it is impossible to put an end to the eyes of others, so it is better to let it go, when people come and go, Wang Ziliang can also get some news from the outside.

The vacant land to the west outside the stone fort was also bought by the three major merchants at the cost of some grain, and in the future, a warehouse will be built here to facilitate trading with the Shijia shops.

Of course, the road from Lao Yangkou to Shiguantun is not so quiet, not to mention that there are scouts watching at any time, it is the sand table guarded by Wang Meng, which can make the spies who are vigorous and agile not get close to Shishan at all.

In order to send back the sand table information in time, Xiao Ye agreed to Wang Ziliang's proposal and prepared to build four checkpoints on the horse road.

These sergeants still have to be drawn from Madao Stone Fort, and the fire/spearmen of the whole four flag teams can quickly support Madao Stone Fort once there is an emergency. By the way, this horse road is strictly guarded by sergeants to guard against spies in the interior and grasslands.

A sergeant stationed in a flag team of 11 people at a checkpoint has a herald in it, and he can use the relay method to transmit the sand table information back to Shiguantun at any time, and Shiguantun will send a fast horse to report to the 100 households of Lao Yangkou.

Although it was a little troublesome, it was obvious that the news from the Madao Stone Fort had to travel more than four hours and twists and turns, and with the long-distance communication of the letter post, Xiao Ye, who was sitting in the hundred households of Lao Yangkou, could get instant news in less than half an hour.

For now, the sergeants at those checkpoints can only take refuge in the barracks tents.

Lao Yangkou Tunbao, when Xiao Ye stood on the castle wall and watched Zuo Shi take a team of sergeants to the north of the Madao Stone Fort to practice earth-shaking thunder and thunder, in the backyard of the hundred households, in Mei'er's room, there were several thick account books on a large desk, and the two abacus crackled.

Mei'er was in charge of all the accounts of Xiao Ye, Tian Xiuxiu was in charge of the entry and exit of the warehouse, and Lina, who had grown into a plump little woman, also took over the food expenses of the sergeants and craftsmen; The three of them have to check their accounts and funds every morning, and in the afternoon is their leisure time, they can take the car to the private school to listen to classes, or read books and chat.

Tian Xiuxiu, who stayed at home, although she could get some news from Xiao Ye about the Tian family, the worries between her eyebrows were still undiminished. She didn't know what she would do if she met someone from the Tian family.

"Smack." Tian Xiuxiu, who stopped the abacus, closed the account book, picked up the teacup and drank a sip of hot tea, the fire in the room was very strong, she was wearing a brocade dress, but she didn't feel much cold, but there were some beads of sweat on the tip of her nose.

Back in the days of Shiguantun, until she went to Lao Yangkou Baihu, she found that not only Xiao Ye was a very good talker at home, but even Meier and Lena could easily face each other, and soon the three of them became good sisters.

Although she didn't pay a salute to her husband, she knew the current situation, and she really didn't want to leak her body, so she secretly endured it; The maid Xiaoju can't take care of it now, not only does she have to study in the private school, but she usually runs around with Hanjuan in her spare time, without the restraints of the big family.

came into contact with Xiao Ye's material accounts in Bailong Lake, and now manages three warehouses, she has changed greatly psychologically from the initial surprise to the current indifference; If it weren't for Xiao Ye's huge monthly expenses, it might not take a few years for the Ximen family to become a wealthy family.

Xiao Ye sometimes told her about the situation of the Tian family's two mills in the back mountains and hills, in order to relieve her boredom, but what shocked Xiuxiu the most was that Xiao Ye went to the land temple during the New Year's festival to worship those brothers who died in battle.

Whether he went alone or took the flag officers to worship, Xiao Ye had firmly grasped the hearts of the sergeants with his sincere attitude; Tian Xiuxiu saw this very clearly.

Maybe it's a little weak, but to be able to integrate into the big military machine of Baihusuo together with the flag officers, sergeants, and craftsmen, I have to say that Xiao Ye has done a very successful job.

has had the experience of parting with his family, had the terrifying process of being bullied hungry, and even had a knife in his neck, Xiao Ye, who has read the book on war more than a dozen times, is no longer the panicked little hundred households the year before last.

"Perhaps, his goal will be even greater, and it is not impossible to build a family," Tian Xiuxiu, who looked at the problem from the perspective of a businessman, hesitated to come to a conclusion after thinking about it for a long time; She has seen a lot of collusion and battles between merchants, and the difficulties made by Qianhu to her husband are just an entanglement.

The most eye-catching sign of the family is that there must be people in the officialdom and their own people, this truth from ancient times to the present, Tian Xiuxiu thinks that it is natural, and the education she has received since childhood is instilled in this way.

This 100-household office, where military discipline is strict, and the military households and craftsmen are strict-lipped, enter and exit a large number of account books of valuable goods, and the discomfort that Tian Xiuxiu was "forced" to escape from marriage has long been thrown into Kunlun Mountain.

Although the third lady sounds uncomfortable, Tian Xiuxiu is still very sure of the two sisters who are several years younger than her, at least the rain and dew on the bed of her husband, she is fighting for what she deserves.

Shaking her head slightly, Tian Xiuxiu muttered secretly, her cheeks flushed and her eyes narrowed; Mei'er, who was sitting opposite, quietly stopped the abacus in her hand, and her slender eyes were lightly picked, "Sister Xiuxiu, are you okay, it looks hot,"

"Oh, it's okay, it's a little stuffy in the house, just rest," Tian Xiuxiuyu stroked her hair bun and touched the things in her arms, "By the way, I asked someone to bring something from Gansu Town, it was a gift for you and Sister Lina for the New Year, and I was so busy that I forgot it,"

"Yes, show me," Lina, who had been bored for a long time sitting on the side, jumped up and ran to Xiuxiu's side, her blue eyes flashed with joy, this blonde girl is now quite fluent in Mingyu, and she really thinks she is a Ming person just by listening to the voice.

Three delicate embroidered sachets, Mandarin Duck Playing in the Water, Double Phoenix Chaoyang, Plum Blossom Aoxue, and Gold Thread Embroidered Red, were placed on the table by Tian Xiuxiu, and a faint fragrance spread in the room.

"The sachet I gave you before, after a long time, the spice has long been ineffective, and I will change it for you on the New Year, it smells good," Tian Xiuxiu, who was smiling, said softly, looking like a kind eldest sister.

"Eh, mine is here," Lina, who has a smart temperament, took off the sachet on her waist, gave it to Tian Xiuxiu, grabbed the sachet of the mandarin duck playing in the water, looked left and right happily, and carefully hung it on the belt.

Although Mei'er was a little nostalgic, she couldn't stand Lina's urging, and she also took out the sachet that was almost tasteless, and took the plum blossom Aoxue, "Sister Xiuxiu is bothered,"

"It's okay, for the Chinese New Year, he is still busy training, our sisters take care of each other, and it is our duty to take care of his home," quietly put away the three old sachets, Tian Xiuxiu smiled and hung up the sachets with the pattern of the double phoenix and the rising sun.

In the room, there was soon a sound of chattering and laughter.

"Fengying," taking advantage of the lunch meal, Tian Xiuxiu called Luan Fengying and handed her the cloth bag wrapped in three old sachets, "Take it, throw it away,"

Perhaps, it was time for Simon's house to spread its branches.

But what Tian Xiuxiu didn't expect was that the method she was used to in the family would not work here at all, even if she asked Xiaoju to secretly throw away the sachet, someone would pick it up and check it.

The cloth bag in Luan Fengying's hand was quickly sent to Wang Ziliang's desk, and when the cloth bag was opened, three delicately embroidered cloth bags with body fragrance made Wang Ziliang a little puzzled.

"This sachet belongs to the lady?" Without touching the sachet, Wang Ziliang looked at the female guard in front of him lightly.

"Yes, sir, the third lady ordered it to be thrown away, and you let your subordinates keep an eye on her every move, then this sachet will not dare to be easily disposed of," Luan Fengying, as the female shadow guard developed by Wang Ziliang, replied carefully.

"Well, take it apart and take a look," under Wang Ziliang's order, Luan Fengying pulled out the hunting knife on her waist, and with a few clicks, the sachet was cut into several pieces of cloth, and the dark yellow spices in it were also carefully crushed on the coarse cloth.

Hurriedly swept over, Wang Ziliang waved his hand, "Okay, take it and find a place to bury it, it's good," these ladies' personal belongings, he can't touch them at will, so as not to violate the taboo of a hundred households.

However, the faint aroma of the spice was inadvertently remembered by him.

In the evening, Xiao Ye, who returned to the Baihu Office, after dinner, rode to the Jiazi Mill with his personal guards, but was stopped by Wang Ziliang; Wang Ziliang, who was depressed, confessed to Baihu about the investigation of the sachet.

"You, pay attention to proportions in the future," Xiao Ye patted Wang Ziliang's shoulder with a smile, shook his head without blaming, but also did not encourage, and the right should be ignored; After all, Wang Ziliang's responsibility was assigned by himself.

In order to avoid being stabbed in the back, he can only let his subordinates look around him, as long as the privacy does not pass out of the stone castle.

"Luan Fengying rewarded five taels of silver," dropping this sentence, Xiao Ye went directly to the inner room, and after a personal guard let him enter the hundred households, he guarded the door.

In the outer room of the mill, Wang Ziliang wiped the fine sweat on his head, turned around with a wry smile, and returned to his stone house; In his stone house, there was a bright lantern on the outer wall, which would not be extinguished from morning till night, and three clever heralds, who rotated day and night, listened to the letter post down the hill at any time.

Every day, contact with the flag team and dark line at the foot of the mountain, record useful information, check the location of each letter post, and if there is any abnormality, Wang Ziliang will know it as soon as possible.

Xiao Ye's acquiescence to the sachet also gave Wang Ziliang a wake-up call, he would be more cautious in dealing with the review of insiders, and he would never come forward easily if he didn't find evidence.

Next to the stone mill of No. A, Xiao Ye stood in the dark and dreary room, looking at the patterns that appeared in front of him, found the military catalog, clicked on fifteen water umbrellas, and looked at the empty numbers in the patterns, feeling a little disappointed.

With the increase of the number of sergeants under his command, the barren ore material became more and more insufficient, and even the eight stone mills that the three merchants rotated every day were only enough to meet the current use of firearms; In training, the biggest consumption is ammunition.

Before leaving, Huang Hanxiang secretly told him that the first batch of umbrellas in Bailong Lake had cracks on the umbrella surface, and the speed of collecting clean water was also more than half; In other words, the lifespan of this umbrella is only more than two years.

Of course, this news is good news for Xiao Ye, and it is time for the umbrella to be sold in large quantities.

Ten water umbrellas will be sent to Bailong Lake, and the remaining five can be taken to the Shi family's shop, whether it is exchanged for supplies, or silver money from Baodes, there is no need to sneak around.

Of course, the water umbrellas in several stone forts and hundreds of households have also come to be replaced, and the replaced water umbrellas can be given to Lao Yangkou's own military households, so that they can enjoy different treatment from military households.

This kind of work of sending water umbrellas and collecting people's hearts is also done by him himself, and the people and people described in Sun Tzu's Art of War and the Theory of War are afraid that this is the case.

However, before Xiao Ye had time to go to Lao Yangkou, Hu Shibiao came to the door, he came to ask for a water umbrella from hundreds of households, and asked for a loan of silver taels.

Wang Dali's work efficiency was very high, and at the edge of the two courtyards that served as warehouses on the west side of the Jiazi Stone Fort, Hu Shibiao was given a vacant land, which was two acres in size, and let him plant Coptis saplings here for future sales.

Cleaning up the gravel and barren grass, Hu Shibiao is not afraid, but transporting soil from the bottom of the mountain to the mountain to tidy up the ground is not something that their family can complete. The carriage is staffed by hundreds of households, and if there is no money, Mei'er can't explain it.

Listening to Hu Shibiao's complaints, Xiao Ye smiled and waved his hand, "No problem, you need to work hard to solve it, you don't need to spend money,"

Wang Dali's careful thinking, Xiao Ye could only laugh, he didn't look down on the sales of Coptis chinensis now, but Wang Dali saw it as a small deal, and he was tight.

"Thank you to the hundred households," Hu Shibiao, who was overjoyed, bowed down and said, "Lord Baihu, my mother-in-law's mother's family was originally a vegetable farmer in Taiyuan Mansion, and she has the skill of maintaining a warm cellar, I don't know if I can build a warm cellar in Tunli and plant some vegetables,"

"What? Warm cellar, hey, Hu Baihu, are you serious? Xiao Ye, who was about to leave, suddenly widened his eyes and turned around to look at Hu Shibiao eagerly.

Warm cellar, in Shanxi, Jingshi area will be maintained, the vegetables planted in it, but there is no in the current season, if Shiguantun can build a warm cellar, the black-hearted merchants, will not sell the green vegetables and radishes at the price of grain.

Even, in winter, green vegetables are more expensive than mutton, you can not buy them, and you can drool over the green vegetables in the shops.

"Yes, Xiaguan has become like this now, and if he wants to leave some belongings for his children, he has to do so," Hu Shibiao, who was wearing an eye patch, said decadently.

"My mother-in-law went to a private school, and when she saw that Mr. Yang's window glass was well lit and the room could be kept warm, I thought about whether I could build a warm cellar, but the price was really expensive."

"Hu Baihu, you choose the location of the warm cellar, plaster, wood, glass, and manpower provided by the official, if the warm cellar is built in the future, you will be a great achievement," Xiao Ye, who was smiling, stepped forward to support Hu Shibiao's arm, he was fed up with the suffering of not being able to eat vegetables.

In the military house, beef and mutton, canned food, in winter, the radish pickled vegetables are the mainstay, but the sergeants like to eat that little green vegetables, from Gansu Town, Gravel Fort, the price of the old sheep's mouth has doubled several times, so Xiao Ye is also scratching his head, can only increase the purchase of tea bricks, and distribute them to the sergeants on time.

After the beginning of spring, it is still necessary to encourage military households to find a place to grow vegetables nearby, and they can plant a little bit of it.

"Uncle Hu, although you can't go to the battlefield, you can grow vegetables and plant trees, and you are also a useful person, and a hundred households will not abandon a wounded soldier," Looking at Xiao Ye's sincere eyes, Hu Shibiao trembled and was about to kneel on one knee, "Xie Baihu,"

"Don't, don't, don't talk about your own family," grabbed Hu Shibiao hard, Xiao Ye called a personal guard, and asked him to lead Hu Shibiao to Wang Dali, and he could first owe as much money as he wanted.

With Xiao Ye's support, Wang Dali was not ambiguous, summoned more than a dozen craftsmen and eight carriages, and not only quickly filled in the soil to sort out three acres of land, but also brought in wood and yellow plaster, and the glass in the warehouse was also open for supply.

In less than ten days, on the flat two-acre nursery, waiting to plant the branches and seedlings of Coptis chinensis, on the one-acre land, the two-foot-high stucco fence, set up a wooden frame inclined board shed, a piece of square glass was installed, facing the southeast side, under the sun, it looked bright and dazzling from a distance.

The five tandoor stoves placed in the wall were added with black fruit cores, and the fire was lit, as for controlling the temperature, it was a family secret of the Hu family.

Nearly 2,000 taels of warm cellars were put into use in less than half a month.

Vegetables have been a human food since ancient times. The 132 kinds of plants mentioned in the Book of Songs, of which there are more than 20 kinds as vegetables, with the changes of the times, some of them have withdrawn from the field of vegetables and become wild plants, such as wattles, roots, buds and the like.

During the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, there were 5 main vegetables eaten by the Chinese people. Kwai is called "the lord of a hundred vegetables", now some places call winter cold sunflower or winter cold vegetables because of poor taste and nutrition, after the Tang Dynasty, the planting is gradually less, the Ming Dynasty has rarely planted it, and no longer as a vegetable.

Herb is also the main vegetable in the pre-Qin period, it is the young leaf of soybean seedlings, and it is rarely eaten as a vegetable nowadays.

Leeks, shallots, and garlic are unique among ancient vegetables. Hanshu. In the "Biography of Zhao Xinchen", it is recorded that Taigong Garden produces onions and leeks in greenhouses, and the leeks cultivated in this way are called "leeks". In addition, there are root vegetables such as radish and cranberry, and many excellent varieties of radish have been cultivated in the Qin and Han dynasties. Manjing was as early as in "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period. There is a reputation of "the beauty of vegetables" in this flavor chapter, and in ancient times, cranberry could also be used for food.

Nowadays, common vegetables such as eggplant, cucumber, spinach, lentils, and sword beans were successively introduced from abroad during the Wei, Jin, Tang and Song dynasties.

Eggplant, native to India and Thailand.

Cucumber is native to India, introduced to our country later than eggplant, the original name of courgette, now some places still retain this name.

Spinach was introduced from the country of Nepal (present-day Nepal) during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, and was originally called Polengcai, and later referred to as spinach.

Lentils are native to Java and were introduced to our country during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Sword beans are native to India and were introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty.

Since the Song Dynasty, the cultivation and consumption of vegetables in China have become more extensive. In addition to the introduction from abroad, China's ancient working people also cultivated some extremely important vegetable varieties, such as water chestnut and cabbage, etc., the technology of planting vegetables has also progressed, Su Dongpo has a poem: "gradually feel that the east wind is cold, Artemisia annua yellow leek try the spring plate." It can be seen that at that time, the people could also eat fresh vegetables in the spring.

Carrots are native to Northern Europe and were introduced by Persia in the Yuan Dynasty. Peppers and tomatoes were introduced even later, in the late Ming Dynasty. Although tomatoes were introduced to China from Europe, their ancestral home is Peru in South America. The original name of the tomato was wolf peach, and when the indigenous people of Peru first discovered it, they thought it was poisonous and did not dare to eat it.

After soaking the greens, carrots, and leek seeds bought from the Shijia shop from Lao Yangkou, Hu Shibiao's mother-in-law soaked them for two days, and then began to plant them in a glass warm cellar, mixed with manure, mixed with soil, and manure. Three water umbrellas with some cracks on the surface of the umbrella are built in front of the warm cellar.

At this time, Xiao Ye had already arrived at Madao Stone Fort and supervised Wang Qing's transportation team, not only continued to dig the foundation pit in Eagle Claw Fort, but also built blocks of stones with mortar on the valley road of Madao Stone Fort and threw them on both sides of the road at will.

The stucco stones, one foot thick and two feet high, were solidified on the spot, and after drying, they were thrown irregularly on the side of the valley road, and there were hundreds of pieces in total.

The function of these stones, without hindering the passage of a carriage, was to prevent a large number of horses from breaking into the valley quickly, or at least to contain the number of Tartar horses; The tactic of adding fuel is the best for the defensive Madao Stone Fort.

Of course, the stucco stones used to build stone houses at those four checkpoints need to be made after the temperature warms up, and the stones used to build the houses cannot be shoddy, and there is no need to be in a hurry.

Truckloads of crude iron bars bought from Lao Yangkou, truckloads of yellow plaster pulled out of Madao Shibao and Shiguantun, and belts of coarse green salt were transported to the edge of the Gobi Desert; The underground stone passages with three long and one short staggered stretches out are taking shape rapidly, and even the fort walls on the ground are also prefabricated stones in an orderly manner.

With yellow plaster, water umbrellas, and the use of booms, the efficiency of the craftsmen in building stone forts and secret passages has not been accelerated by a little, and the double salary is also stimulating their labor potential.

If all goes well, by early summer, Fort Talon will be able to stand on the prairie.

In the vicinity of Eagle Claw Fort, in addition to the fifty armed sergeants on the alert, there were also a hundred sergeants with fire/guns on their backs, rolled up their sleeves, and were busy with the craftsmen; If nothing else, if they didn't see that hundreds of adults were helping to transport the stones, they couldn't even watch and not move.

Maybe it was the astonishing snow that was so thick, and under the mild sun, on the ground near Eagle Claw, whether it was a dry and hard sandy ground or a grass with sparse dry grass, the green vine and grass branches and seedlings had already revealed their buds, and the tiny branches attached to the ground were spreading gradually day by day.

However, when the figure of the Tartar cavalry appeared far away on the grassland, Xiao Ye still decisively withdrew the sergeants and craftsmen to the Madao Stone Fort; There, the stones on the mountainside continue to be mined, and the yellow plaster is stockpiled.

The mountain stone near Madao Stone Fort, Shang Shetian's prospecting team, found a small vein of low miscellaneous iron ore, less than half a mile north of the stone fort, the stones in other places are useless at all, and the B stone mill is not put into any stone can be turned.

On the "Peng, Peng" grassland, more than 30 war horses ran out of the Gobi Desert, and the sergeants on horseback turned back one after another, and the fire/guns fired were put into the valley without stopping a few Tartar rangers who followed closely.

Huang Hanxiang, who had handled military affairs with Yu Shan and Du Ding, did not stop at Bailong Lake, and quickly rushed back to Madao Stone Fort with his personal guards.

The Tartar ranger, who had tracked it out of the valley, seemed to remember what had happened in the valley last year, and did not chase it in, but just watched from a distance for a while, collected the corpse of his companion, turned his horse's head and retreated back to the depths of the grassland.

Last autumn, the cavalry of the Waspur tribe crossed Ubu Sunorhu and occupied a large area of the rich pastures of the Tartar tribe, and this spring, Dayan Khan had begun to mobilize his forces to fight back against the greed of the Waspur in early summer, and even Tawolfwa was requisitioned to the Hetao.

The route of the Tartar brigade was to assemble in the Helin area and go north, and it was impossible to fight with the Gansu Weiba pole, so Shiguantun, the horse road stone fort that came out of the valley before, had to wait to turn around and clean up.

Of course, no matter what the loss takes, as long as the Tartar is in the conflict with the tile spur this year, he will definitely find a way to make up for the loss in the Ming people, the so-called threshing grass, isn't it a matter of pinching the soft persimmon.

Huang Hanxiang came to Madao Stone Fort, Xiao Ye handed over a fifty-person flag team to him, and in the future, Huang Hanxiang summoned fifty more Tartar cavalry, and after the flag team was straightened out and run-in, this team would be stationed in Eagle Claw Fort for a long time.

After waiting nervously in the stone castle for two days, and no Tartars broke into the valley, Xiao Ye immediately sent scouts, and after exploring the valley, after discussing with Huang Hanxiang, he pulled out the team again.

This time, the night owl banner team guarding Wang Qing's transport team loaded the only heavy machine gun on the carriage and rushed into the grassland Gobi Desert with the carriage of the transport team.

On a slope near Eagle Claw Fort, a squadron barracks tent was erected, and a circle of squad barracks pointed tents was set up on the periphery, this kind of improvised defensive position, unless it encountered more than 500 Tartar cavalry, Huang Hanxiang did not think that it would suffer a loss.

If they encountered Tartar cavalry, the craftsmen would pull the mules and horses and hide in the tents in the middle, and the sergeants would hold out in the tents on the periphery and hold out through the lookouts. Of course, the machine guns of the Night Owl Banner Team, he had never seen the formation of sweeping cavalry.

On the construction site where the foundation pit has been completed, the craftsmen make stucco stones on the spot, and when they are dry, they immediately use a boom to hang the fort wall, and the old mason pulls out a piece of twine, and the plaster is plastered on the stone, and a square stone is pressed, and the fort wall is constantly raised.

With the sergeant escort Wang Qing, as well as the majestic machine gun, he boldly commanded the craftsmen, and was busy on the stone fort construction site, this kind of stacked stone fort was much easier in their eyes than building an ordinary house.

"Bah, Bah, Peng, Peng," the scouts guarding the Eagle Claw Fort five miles east and west, rifles, fire/guns beckoned the Tartar rangers who came to attack, the other party was small in number, and directly surrounded and killed, the number was too large, and the flag team of Huang Hanxiang retreated, under the cover of the machine guns of the Night Owl Flag Team, scattered the Tartars in one go.

After a few times, even Xiao Ye felt that this spring's Tartar cavalry was not quite right with the usual, but he couldn't take care of it so much, taking this opportunity, the construction of this Eagle Claw Fort could not be stopped.

On the route to the northwest of Eagle Claw Fort through the Gobi Desert to Bailong Lake, at least two stone forts need to be built to guard this passage for transporting minerals, and the burden on his shoulders is not heavy.