Just when Xiao Ye's team passed through the fork in the gravel fort, on the wall of the gravel fort, Wang Chongli was holding a telescope and quietly watching the distant convoy; After a long time, he shook his head and put down the telescope in his hand.

Beside him, there were deputy Qianhu and several hundred household officers, inside, especially Baihu Luo Yufei was very anxious, standing there with no energy.

He owns nearly half of the thousands of fields near Yonghetun, and he pays Jiang Jie forty percent of the grain every year, and he still has a lot after removing the grain tax.

The remaining fields were given to 300 hectares of new 1,000 households according to the rules, and more than 200 hectares of other 100 households had already been held in their hands. Fifteen acres of one hectare of land, that's ten thousand and a half acres of grain field, that Ximen Xiao Ye gave up so easily, it was a fool's brain.

Whoever occupies nearly 10,000 acres of land, even if it is not his own, must find a way to find benefits from it, instead of waving it away indifferently; can't figure it out, Wang Chongli can't figure it out, Luo Yufei can't figure it out, and others can't figure it out.

Even Tian Guanglin, who rarely expressed his opinions in the Thousand Households, couldn't figure it out this time.

Luo Yufei even had a belly case, and planned to sell part of the grain field in his hand to Xiao Ye, so he waited for Xiao Ye to come to negotiate with him, after all, he still owed those military households a year's salary. The military households gave them to work in the fields every year, and they could not survive without food.

Unexpectedly, this young hundred households who did not play cards according to the routine were attacked and killed by horse thieves, and they were about to abandon the good Yonghetun.

"Lord Qianhu, Ximen Xiaoye is here, this is simply bold, he dared to take the military households to leave Yonghetun without permission, and he asked for an order to lead the troops to arrest them back and punish them severely," relying on his filial piety to Qianhu from time to time, he was able to speak in front of Wang Chongli, Luo Yufei didn't care about anything else, and pointed to the figures in the distance outside the fort wall, repeating his voice.

"Catch? Why," Wang Chongli, who was about to walk down the road, turned around angrily and glanced at Luo Yufei, although he gave himself filial piety, but it was not enough to listen to what he said, what did it become.

"Ximen Baihu just went to build a tun near the old sheep's mouth fire pier, and did not leave his jurisdiction, why should he be arrested, what are the rules?" Coldly abandoning this sentence, Wang Chongli twisted himself down from the fortress wall, and several guards followed and ran down.

Xu Hai and several other hundred household officers looked at Luo Yufei in disappointment, and they also got off the fort wall one by one; They also have a headache about Yonghetun, but now it's almost early autumn, and the wheat seeds in the field have been planted, and it's next year to be anxious.

"This, this," Standing behind the female wall in a daze, Luo Yufei watched at a loss as these people descended the fort wall one after another; Didn't you say a long time ago that you would never let Ximen Xiaoye give up Yonghetun.

Where did the angry Luo Yufei know that Wang Chongli, a thousand households who had just arrived, was naturally reluctant to give him the land that the rules of officialdom gave him, but not long after his letter back to Xiao Ye was sent, Wang Yangwu, who opened a shop in Yonghetun, came.

The combat power of the twenty sergeants of the two flag teams was able to beat Lu Yidao, who was crisscrossing the grassland, and he could only burn and rob and leave, and so many horse thieves died, that was a big horse thief who could play with the Mongolian Tartars.

Wang Chongli, who refused to believe it, immediately sent a fast horse scout to find out the truth of the attack on Yonghetun, and rushed back with the scout overnight, as well as a pigeon letter sent by the family in Gansu Town.

It was this secret letter that allowed Wang Chongli to dispel the lawsuit to pursue Xiao Ye's troubles, although there are precedents of withdrawing or even merging tuntuns in the northwest border tuns, but his face is not so arbitrarily smeared.

However, in the Fuguilou, which is becoming more and more popular in Gansu Town, the Wang family can only press it to see the team that needs to escort the goods. Wang Chongli still has to listen to the suggestions in the family.

Hundreds of households who dare to make enemies with Mongolian Tatars and grassland horse thieves, Wang Chongli watched the Northwest Frontier Army, and at present, there is only that bold Ximen Xiao Night, and no one dares to eat the bloody meal with a knife.

In the northwest border town, the three major families are deeply rooted, and the Wang family's relationship in the officialdom is in full swing, but the Huang family and the Tian family are not so easy to despise, not to mention that there are other merchants who are also eyeing each other, and they can't tolerate a little peep.

Therefore, in dealing with Xiao Ye, who might cause an accident in Fuguilou, Wang Chongli still followed the interests of the family. Before finding the officer who replaced Xiao Ye and went to the grassland, he couldn't kill Xiao Ye.

Although he didn't have the heart to pursue Xiao Ye's troubles, Wang Chongli would not easily let go of the idea of teaching a lesson, if the other hundred households did the same, then how would they maintain military discipline in the future, and where would his face be majestic.

Therefore, Xiao Ye asked for the support materials of the hundred households in the official / document, Wang Chongli didn't take it to heart at all, and when he saw that Quan Dang ignored it, it was all a pen of silver, and it hurt to throw it out.

Yonghetun, which was burned to white ground, the fields there were managed by Tunzi fifty miles away, and as long as the military households there had enough ploughing cattle and farm tools, coupled with the supervision of Luo Yufei, they should not miss the spring irrigation.

Of course, it is necessary to ask for help from the command and envoy, and everyone in the thousands of households who have allocated silver and grain materials can also be left with a full pocket. If Xiao Ye didn't have this stubborn temper, maybe he could give some, but now it seems impossible.

Not to mention that Wang Chongli is making a small calculation here, on the bank of the Xilong River, Xiao Ye is lying in the barracks watching the sunset gradually slanting westward, and he is particularly confused about where he will go in the future.

"No matter, let's settle down first, and the rest will take one step at a time," turning over on the soft couch, Xiao Ye was about to squint and rest, when there was a heavy sound of horses' hooves in his ears, which came from the northwest.

There was no personal guard warning, and the sound of horses' hooves came that the scouts had returned, Xiao Ye opened his eyes and thought about it, and simply got up and got out of the barracks.

"Baihu, the thin monkey is back," Xiao Liuzi, who was waiting outside the barracks, saw Xiao Ye come out, hurriedly whispered, and then followed Xiao Ye to the outside of the camp. In the surrounding shadows, there were two clicks in several directions, and then silence returned.

This camp built on the high place of the river, a circle of barracks tents next to the carriages side by side, there are guards on the outside, it seems to be loose, but in fact it is loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and the example of the horse thieves sneaking up on Yonghetun Xiao Ye does not want to go through it again.

The two guards who came back on the war horse jumped off the war horse sweaty, and behind them were Zhang Zichang, the flag officer who was also sweating profusely.

"Lord Baihu," the scout saw Xiao Ye in person, bent over and arched his hands, armor and weapons on his body, according to the law, there is no need to kneel; "I've seen a hundred households under my job," Zhang Zichang, who hurriedly stepped forward two steps, hurriedly came up to salute.

"There's no need to be pretentious," Xiao Ye stood in front of the three of them, waving his hand casually, "What's the situation?" ”

"My lord, I have contacted the officials of Shiguantun Wang, everything is normal there, Hu Baihu and they have not come back yet, the Houshan workshop will start work overnight as usual, and tomorrow there will be a convoy to deliver yellow plaster to Gansu Town," Zhang Zichang said in a low voice.

"My lord, the old sheep's mouth fire mound is normal, there is no abnormality nearby, and the newly established Tunzi has found a flat place, which is big enough, and there is no water source," Zhang Zichang reported competently, hesitated for a moment, and then said.

"It's that the poisonous weed grows too fast, and the north side of the fire pier has been closed, if it weren't for the Wang Si Servant to send someone to send a sapling to plant, even the road out would be blocked," Speaking of this, Zhang Zichang was quite helpless, he had suffered from the stinger, and knew that that thing was not as harmless as looking emerald green.

"Ahem, well, I know, three hard work," Xiao Ye coughed twice in embarrassment, and asked Xiao Liuzi to take them down to eat some dry food to rest, and set off with the team.

The momentum of the spread of rattan grass, he has seen it at a high place at dawn, and in the telescope, he can see the large area of verdant in the distance, according to his estimate, the vine grass will expand more than a dozen steps a day on the flat ground, and it is no problem for the poisonous weeds to spread to the river in summer and autumn.

Fortunately, the vine grass will also lose its leaves in winter, and the growth momentum has become almost stagnant, otherwise Xiao Ye's conscience will be uneasy. After the vine grass sprouts and grows leaves in the spring, it will cover the old branches with a new layer of young branches, and Xiao Ye is quite scary to see.

The vines and grass under the back mountain easily crossed the stream, this wide Xilong River, the river water was very shallow when the river was crossed yesterday, and the amount of water this year is not large, but it should not be crossed; Thinking about it luckily, Xiao Ye turned around in place a few times, and turned around and went to Mei'er and their barracks.

The experience of the old military households in Shiguantun in cleaning up the vine grass shows that these thorny vine grasses that originate from the mountains are also cleaned up in vain, as long as there is no restriction of Coptis chinensis and the rhizomes are shoveled, they will soon resurge, and Xiao Ye is also bitter and has no good solution.

The next day, after Xiao Ye's convoy had cleared the camp, he was about to continue his departure, when the sergeant sent by Qianhu arrived, and a sturdy rider was brought to Xiao Ye by his personal guards, bringing him the official official letter of Wang Qianhu.

Agreed to change the location of Yonghetun, however, the grain tax paid by the military households in Yonghetun in previous years was a total of 473 taels, and Xiao Ye had to bear it.

This is the time to ask for food tax, Xiao Ye carefully read the official / document, his eyes removed from the scarlet seal, and looked up at the rider expressionlessly, for a long time, grinning silently.

Such a bright smile startled the rider, and he was about to shout and ask, when he saw Ximen Baihu wave his hand and casually stuff the gong/wen in his sleeve pocket, "Little Liuzi, take two hundred and thirty-six taels for this brother, and five hundred copper coins, count carefully,"

This sentence, not only Xiao Liuzi was stunned, but even the military households who packed their luggage nearby were also stunned, early in the morning, 100 households wanted to give this sergeant so much money, why?

"Two hundred and thirty-six two hundred and five hundred yuan, you have to count the grain tax in Yonghetun this year," Xiao Ye smiled gloomily, patted the sergeant on the shoulder, and left on his own.

In the silent camp, it was suddenly lively, not only the more than 30 surviving Yonghetun military households, but also the flag officer Zhang Zichang, and even the guards also made a noise, shouting and scolding.

Xiao Ye took over Yonghetun for a few days, and everyone knew it, not to mention the devastating destruction that the horse thieves gave to Yonghetun, and the thousand households were still chasing the ass to ask for food taxes, where is this what people do.

Xiao Liuzi walked up to the sergeant, took out a few silver tickets of different denominations, counted two hundred and thirty-seven taels, and handed them to him, "The rest, count your tea money, the reason why our hundred households are angry, presumably you know it, brother,"

"Yes, yes, this is a trouble," the red-faced rider, holding a stack of silver tickets, looked at Xiao Liuzi gratefully, "The military order is here, brother, I have no choice, I hope brother, you will forgive me,"

"Hey, it's all the fault of those officials, our military and Han have personal friends, next time I invite you to drink, Fenjiu," the self-cooked little six sons, waved his hands in a hip-hop manner, and his posture was very similar to Ximen Baihu.

"My name is Chen Meng, I am the personal guard of Qianhu, and I have just been recruited by Wang Qianhu this year," Carefully putting the silver ticket into his arms, Chen Meng smiled and bowed his hand to Xiao Liuzi, "I must be bothered next time,"

Chen Meng turned over and left on his horse, and Xiao Liuzi saw him run away, so he ran to the carriage and followed Xiao Ye; Xiao Ye was busy moving Mei Erlina into the car, and he didn't care about the movement here.

"Baihu, that rider is good, a pair of big hands with thick calluses shiny, it should have practiced kung fu such as iron sand palms," didn't dare to intervene to help, Xiao Liuzi could only muttered in a low voice on the side, "It would be great if he was pulled in as a personal guard,"

"Well, you two are optimistic about Madame, come to me if you have something," Xiao Ye settled his wife and concubine, and explained to the rough girl, then turned around and looked at Xiao Liuzi with a smile, "What's wrong, now I'm uneasy?" ”

"No, no," Xiao Liuzi scratched his hair and looked around in embarrassment, "That's it, if we fall out with him, go to the grassland with one more master, and you will be a lot more thoughtful in the hundred households,"

It seems that the eyes of the guards are not mixed with sand, Xiao Ye nodded slightly, patted Xiao Liuzi's sturdy shoulder, there are some things that do not need to be said; "Ready to go,"

The team quickly packed up and was about to set off for the old sheep's mouth fire pier, when the guards who were on guard after the fall came to report, and three figures were found on the south bank, who looked like civilians and were crossing the river.

"Oh, there are still people who dare to come to Shiguantun in a scattered way, or they just want to go to that back mountain workshop," Xiao Ye strangely turned his horse's head and went up to the high ground, looking at the three people who tried to cross the river; At first glance, he was even more strange.

A black-faced man, in tattered clothes, with a woodcutter hanging from his waist, led two people who looked like weak scholars to cross the river carefully with his bare feet.

Two scholars held wooden sticks and walked beside the black-faced man, not close or far, and could easily support, and at the same time the two could help each other; And the man who walked in front kept dripping with a wooden stick to test the silt at the bottom of the river, and his mouth was talking about something.

"Cone formation?" Xiao Ye, who felt that he was a little suspicious, was very familiar with this formation, and the sergeants under his command had already practiced such a squad formation thoroughly, but now that he suddenly saw it, he was a little unaccustomed to it.

"Little Liuzi, go, bring them over," Xiao Ye was curious, turned his head and greeted Xiao Liuzi; The captain of the guard was assigning the brothers to guard the convoy, and when he saw Baihu calling him, he hurriedly answered, got on his horse and followed the guard to the bank of the river.

Xiao Ye made such a sudden move, and the team that was about to start stopped, but Zuo Shi, who was following his sister-in-law's carriage, saw his brother waving his hand, so he shouted loudly, "The team set off, go to the old sheep's mouth fire pier,"

Soon, the three people who crossed the Xilong River were brought to Xiao Ye, and the Ximen Baihu, who was standing in front of the war horse, knocked on his soft boots with the horsewhip in his hand, and looked at the three embarrassed outsiders with great interest.

The black and white coat had turned gray, and the wide black coarse cloth trousers, two large blue patches on the knees, and the cloth shoes on the feet showed black thumbs; Although he looked haggard, his alert eyes stared at Xiao Ye without fear.

Looking at the wooden stick in his hand, Xiao Ye pouted and smiled, and then looked at the other two people, most of them were obviously scholars, and there were also a few patches on their green robes, carrying a small burden.

"Who are you? Why? So what's going on? After a long while, Xiao Ye asked in a condensed voice, "Do you need the help of this official?" ”

His continuous questioning made the big black man stunned, and the short scholar also paused slightly, the eyes of the two of them lit up in unison, and their mouths moved, but they looked at the medium-sized scholar together; Obviously, this medium-sized young scholar is their backbone.

The scholar did not hesitate, and stepped forward to give a salute, "Student Li Xunwu, a native of Lijia Village, Gansu Town, has long heard of the reputation of Ximen Baihu, and when I see it today, it is really extraordinary,"

His words made Xiao Ye a little displeased, and he had heard the words of sycophants, but a stranger came up and touted it, and he didn't dare to agree.

"Oh? The reputation of this official has spread so far, it is really gratifying," Xiao Ye said, staring at the scholar who had changed the topic, "It's better to answer this official's words first and then talk about anything else,"

If it weren't for the fact that the three of them all looked sick, his horsewhip would have been whipped, and in these years, the people who dared to interrupt the questioning were all ranked, but they obviously didn't, that is, they were looking for a draw.

Seeing Xiao Ye's impatient appearance, the scholar knew that the hundred households in front of him were impatient with him, so he didn't talk nonsense, "Last month, Shiguantun sergeant Zhang Anlin and his son came to our village, and the two long-lost Li family children in the village died in battle under the Tartar knife, and they brought the pension silver,"

These words made Xiao Ye's face soften a lot, and he knew what Li Xunwu said, "So, why are you here?" ”

Seeing Li Xunwu's hesitant appearance, the big black man couldn't help but say loudly, "Lord Baihu, I am here to take refuge in you, even if I am a military household, as long as I can eat enough," he was babbling, Li Xunwu frowned, but Xiao Ye smiled faintly.

"Take refuge? I'm a tiger here, the scimitar of the Tartar can be seen at any time, and the price of a full meal is not something you can imagine," Xiao Ye shook his head lightly, "Little Liuzi, take some broken silver and let them go,"

After saying that, Xiao Ye turned around and pulled the war horse and turned over on the horse; Xiao Liuzi, who was eyeing him next to him, stepped forward to block their view, casually pulled the backpack behind him, and opened the zipper, revealing the thick silver ticket inside, as well as a small pile of broken silver.

It is not taboo to reveal a lot of money, maybe only people like Xiao Liuzi are willing to show off, the poor didn't even have a few copper coins before, but now he has a wealth of thousands of taels on his body at any time, and Xiao Liuzi is full of confidence.

Of course, if compared with the silver ticket in the box in the carriage of the lady of the hundred households, his money is not much, and Xiao Ye's net worth at the moment is 10,000 taels of silver.

The big black man and the short scholar, their eyes involuntarily looked at Xiao Liuzi's backpack, and what attracted them was not the metal zipper that they had never seen before, but the thick silver ticket inside.

Only Li Xunwu turned a blind eye to the silver ticket, his eyes kept following Xiao Ye's back, and when he saw Xiao Ye sending them away, he immediately became anxious, if it weren't for the guards beside him staring, he would definitely rush forward; "Ximen 100 households, this summer, there has been no rain for a long time near Gansu Town, and we are already in a desperate situation,"

Seeing Xiao Ye on the horse, he turned his gaze and looked at himself, Li Xunwu said sadly, "The land is not collectible, and the taxes are increased, I, Li Xunwu, want to find a way to live for the villagers in Lijia Village," according to his temperament, he starved to death and did not want to ask for help, but the lives of hundreds of people in the village were pinched in his own hands, and he could not tolerate the slightest carelessness.

What's more, the cousin who was imprisoned in the official prison in Gansu Town really couldn't stand it for a few days, and Li Xunwu, who had no way out, pinned all his hopes on this young hundred households.

"This, Li Xunwu, is this true?" Xiao Ye's face moved slightly, and he glanced coldly at this sad scholar, "I can't rub sand in my Ximen Shidao's eyes," his suspicion made Li Xunwu's face slightly red, and his finger Xiao Ye's eyes widened.

"Yes, what Brother Li said is true," Seeing that Li Xunwu's stinky temper was about to explode again, the big black man and the short scholar hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Li Xunwu, and rushed to confirm it.

Xiao Ye sat on the horse and thought about it, "Okay, let's talk about what you are capable of first, I don't want to save useless people in Ximen Shidao,"

"Ximen Baihu is wrong, there are no unusable people in the people, only useless officials," Li Xunwu coldly replied to Xiao Ye, threw down the branches in his hand, and looked up to the sky, "I didn't expect that the Gansu town government is incompetent, and there are no people who pity the people in this wilderness,"

Bang, the horse whip in Xiao Ye's hand pulled a whip flower, and he was about to whip this die-hard guy, but the big black man and the short scholar dropped the wooden stick in their hands and blocked in front of Li Xunwu, and closed his eyes at Xiao Ye, ready to take this whip for Li Xunwu.

"Heh, be bold enough," Xiao Ye saw this, put down the horsewhip stupidly, and crossed the horse's head, "Mercy and mercy, it has nothing to do with me, as long as no one starves to death under the rule of this official, the other officials can't control it, give you half a pillar of incense time, say it or not,"

"Hundred households, the small one is called Li Shan, he has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and he has practiced one-handed boxing skills," the big black Li Shan, who seemed to be reckless, but in fact he was thick and fine, shouted repeatedly.

"Hundred households, student Li Xin'an, township test children, carpenter work is not a problem," the short man Li Xin'an said, and the last sentence made his face flush. Fortunately, the other guards did not ridicule him because of this, which made Li Xinan breathe a sigh of relief.

Xiao Ye looked at Li Xunwu condescendingly, this arrogant scholar, he was angry enough when he first met, and he couldn't see anyone who pities the people in the wilderness, he was really stupid to read.

"Xiucai Li Xunwu, he has no power to tie the chicken, and he has an empty stomach and the middle half of the Analects," glanced at Xiao Ye with disdain, and Li Xunwu said lazily, "The work of the craftsman can't be done by the scholar, the military household, you can watch the hundred households,"

Ordinary methods don't work, and they can only stimulate you, Li Xunwu sighed in his heart, the old and young of Lijia Village, his cousin, but he can't survive this winter.

Xiao Ye once heard his father-in-law say when chatting, half of the treatise on the rule of the world, he laughed at the time, but he didn't expect that now he heard this sentence again, so he leaned down, looked Li Xunwu up and down again, and didn't see how big the abnormality was.

After staring at Li Xunwu for a long time, Xiao Ye said in a deep voice, "Half of the Analects for the lives of the people of a village, I have a good plan," the meaning of the words made Li Xunwu's half-closed eyes suddenly widen. It turned out that people didn't see what he meant, but they just didn't want to be nosy.

"Okay, I don't care about Shiguantun now, but Lao Yangkou can still give you a full meal, as long as you are not a wasted person," Xiao Ye showed a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, you two words bite very hard, and after dropping this sentence, he whipped his horse and left.

"Hey, Lord Baihu, give me something to eat first, we've been hungry for a day," Li Shan saw that Xiao Ye left directly, and jumped up directly in a hurry, provoking Li Xin'an next to him to hide far away, and turned his face helplessly.

"Ahem," Xiao Liuzi raised his chin, and the guard next to him held back a smile, took out a cloth bag, and stepped forward to give it to Li Shan, "Pad your stomach first,"

"Oh, thank you, brother," Li Shan came to his senses with the heavy cloth bag in his hand, and it turned out that the Ximen Baihu promised them to stay, and thanked them repeatedly. Xiao Liuzi saw that this reckless man didn't open the cloth bag first, but thanked the guard, and his heart moved quietly.

"Brother Li, we have something to eat," holding the cloth bag, Li Shan happily ran to Li Xunwu, and carefully opened the cloth bag full of oil stains, revealing a large piece of boiled and fragrant horse meat.

Five catties of horse meat, the three of them ate it very fast, even if Li Xunwu wanted to eat it slowly, he couldn't stop the little hand that stretched out from his throat, and after chewing a few times with his mouth, a piece of meat with tendons fell into his stomach.

If it weren't for the kindness of the guards who handed over the water hyacinth, the three gobbling guys were almost choked to death by horse meat on the spot, but the ale wine contained in the water hyacinth directly made Li Xin'an burst into tears; It's been a year, and the wine and meat have not been touched, but these sergeants have a good life, and they eat better than the rich man Li in the village.

After eating and drinking, riding on the guard's prepared horses, the three of them staggered and sandwiched in the horse team, and rumbled towards the old sheep's mouth, and in the northwest borderland, almost everyone could ride a horse, but the skills were different.

Along the avenue planted with Coptis trees, catching up with the large group of people and horses, and driving for more than three hours, everyone finally saw the fire pier standing on the high slope of the hill.

Overlooking from the sky, with the stone mountain where Shiguantun is located as the center, the vine grass has spread to the farthest fifty miles away, and the two fire piers closest to Shiguantun have been overflowed by the vine grass.

If it weren't for the fact that the Huodun Banner Officer was close to the workshop area and asked for the branches of Coptis chinensis to be planted on the side of the road, the sergeants in the two Huodun would have become a problem when they went out.

The old sheep's mouth fire mound was surrounded by a large area of verdant greenery, only the high mountains and deep ravines in the north, and the vine grass expanded slowly, but it also approached the vicinity of Wang Meng's Madao Stone Fort.