In the beginning of spring, in the fields outside the gravel fort, the soil is still frozen and hard, the temperature here warms up at least half a month later than the mainland, and there is not much snowfall in winter, and the wheat seedlings in the fields are yellow, and this year's harvest is probably not easy to estimate.

However, these are not things that the military households and craftsmen of the Gravel Fort can talk about now, and they are now the same as those tunzi on the east and west, and what they are most concerned about at the moment is how to keep their tenant land.

The big well next to the field is half a zhang wide, because it is not far from the Xilong River, as long as you dig below the depth of the zhang, you can see the water, the old cow pulls the waterwheel to squeak up the water, and streams of clear water overflow into the ground, watering the cracked land.

In a winter's time, the vine grass that spreads everywhere from the direction of the Xilong River, although not as rapid as in summer and autumn, can also expand from the wilderness for more than 20 miles, and some of the vine grass almost touches the edge of the field, if there is another spring rain, I am afraid that it can grow to a mile overnight.

As a result, the experience flowing out of Lao Yangkou Tunbao made these military households and artisan households have to squeeze out some copper coins, and ask around to buy the finger-thick Coptis saplings and plant them on their own land.

Of course, the results are the same as last year, with the fields protected by Coptis chinensis saplings, and the vine grass has spread far away to other places, and there is no tendency to invade the fields.

While everyone was glad to be able to protect their own tenant fields, they were stunned to find that the wild mice and hares that appeared in the fields from time to time in the past, as well as the wild wolves and wild boars that could be seen from time to time at that time, have basically disappeared since last year, and what they can occasionally see is the tattered and shriveled remains hanging between the branches of the vine and grass.

The increasingly poisonous vine grass stinger can no longer accommodate the animals shuttling through it.

Huang Fugui, who has returned to the gravel fort, naturally has a servant come to inquire, but he is the external shopkeeper of the Huang family, the Huang family is powerful, and the other is that there is a witness to prove that he is not in Gujia Village for the New Year.

After the officials and Jinyi guards came to the door many times, Huang Fugui, who was full of grievances, not only called Qu Lianlian in the gravel fort, but took advantage of this opportunity to naturally complain to the Huangjia Commercial Bank in Gansu Town, and even went to the town in person, gritted his teeth and stuffed a silver ticket for the second shopkeeper of the commercial bank, trying to make himself a deacon in the hilly workshop area.

It is human nature to be able to climb up, Huang Fugui, who has a little money, does not want to guard the small shops in the gravel fort, and struggles to stay up with his qualifications, and Xiao Ye, who is far away in the Madao stone fort, is also adding pressure to him from time to time.

When he got a thousand taels of silver tickets from the military man sent by Zhang Zichang for the third time, the deacon of the Huang family in the workshop area was drunk and broke his leg bone, and the root of his thigh was broken into three; Even if he can heal his injuries, the deacon who is a little older is not willing to endure hardships in the workshop area, even if he is transferred to a commercial house in Gansu Town as a partner.

Although it is not clear whether there is Xiao Ye's hand tail in this, Huang Fugui got his wish anyway, and took the initiative to apply to go to the workshop to endure hardships, and was transferred to the hilly workshop area by the firm, which can be regarded as a promotion, and is in charge of the plaster production in the Huang family mill.

Huang Fugui, who is old and spicy, after arriving at the mill, quickly accepted seven or eight obedient guys, and the other few guys who were not long-eyed were directly sent back to the trading house, whether they could return to Gansu Town alive, anyway, the news had already been passed to Zhang Zichang, and it had nothing to do with him Deacon Huang.

Zhang Zichang, who got the news of Huang Fugui early, sent people to the fire pier along the way overnight, but he didn't go down to Shiguantun at all.

Those few fire piers who secretly still hold Xiao Ye's food and salary, they will not do a wrong errand, guarding the official road to intercept and kill a few guys, if this thing is not done well, the black-clothed guards will come with military sticks.

In the hilly workshop area, the Huangjia mill is a compound of its own, the quarry is also its own mining, and the other three are also not interfering with each other, and even in order to preserve the production of plaster, several deacons supervise the craftsmen in the quarry and the mill, and the craftsmen of different mills do not dare to say a few words except for going home, even if they are acquaintances in the workshop area.

The spies sent by the government, the command envoy, and the Jinyi guard firmly watched the horse road outside Shiguantun, but what they didn't expect was that the Huang family mill was targeted by Xiao Ye and became an entrance in his hand.

At the end of the first month, when the Ximen Fengwei landed on the ground with a roar, when the knife carried a small box of medicine, took advantage of the night to touch into the hilly workshop area, Huang Fugui had been waiting for a long time, and the two hundred craftsmen in the mill were also gathered in the room to rest, and there were men outside with big dogs patrolling the courtyard and outside the courtyard.

Eight men, two old craftsmen who took the lead, entered Huang Fugui's room separately, and the knife sitting on the kang opened the small iron box on the kang table, revealing the eleven primary powerful potions inside, and the red five-star pills shone with an attractive luster under the oil lamp.

Without the supply of food, cloth, medicinal materials and other materials from the mainland, Xiao Ye could not gain a foothold in Madao Stone Fort, and he did not want to completely cut off the transaction with the merchants, so he could only use the idea of stone grinding.

At dawn, after watching the eleven potions being consumed, the knife ignored the cracked corpse in the next room, patted Huang Fugui, who was full of surprise, and got up to leave; A mere primary potion can be given to a person who wants to die, and with that brittle willpower, the knife is not even interested in looking at it.

The knife was gone, and after suffering for half a night, Huang Fugui, who survived, suddenly noticed that there was a steady stream of power swimming around his body, and he couldn't help but laugh dumbly, perhaps, the grass on his wall, the high branch he climbed will not be weaker than the Huang family in the future.

Huang Fugui, who has the strength of a second-order sergeant, with these first-order sergeant-level guys, it is easy to control this mill, once he finds that there are craftsmen who do not listen to good words, there are many shriveled bones in the depths of the vine grass, and no one will be surprised.

In these years, the world has become more and more unsmooth, rattan grass is everywhere, and it is too common for a few craftsmen to disappear.

The big family has the network of the big family, and the little people have the prestige of the small people's connections, after telling the two leaders of the craftsman's household, Huang Fugui took two men and hurried to the gravel castle in an ox cart; The grain and salt consumed in the mill every month were not taken care of by the trading house, and he could barely take care of the materials that the craftsmen needed to buy with money.

Besides, the knife hid in the wilderness and woods, and waited until the evening to avoid the eyes of the visitors on the avenue, and hurried to Shiguantun, walked more than three miles west along the stone mountain, and stopped in front of the large vine grass; There are coptis trees on both sides of this path, which was originally a way down the mountain for martial arts, but now it is abandoned.

"Shhhh

looked at Sun Xiaoming in the assault car with hot eyes, opened the back door with the knife and jumped into the car, pressing the body to sway; Grabbed a kettle from the back seat, unscrewed the lid and poured a few sips of clean water, then he took a breath, "It's done, let's go,"

Sun Xiaoming, who was hiding in the depths of the vine grass, shrank in the car with his companions for a day and a night, and even Izugong was cautious, for fear of being pierced by a stinger, so he naturally wanted to go home for a long time.

Sun Xiaoming, who was staring at the battery pointer on the dashboard, didn't say much, under the guidance of the guards next to him, he drove the assault car into the depths of the vine grass, from here he had to bypass several mountain gaps, climb up and down, and there were a large pile of bottomless vine grass in it, which made him muttered in his heart, for fear that the battery would run out halfway.

If the slope is large, the battery will be much older, but Sun Xiaoming has to be careful.

An assault vehicle with a wooden plank on the window quickly disappeared around the corner of the mountain, and it was only at this time that Zhang Zichang, who was hiding in Shishan Shanding, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his sour eyes, got up and strode towards the stone fort; He was to report the safe return of the knife to the big boss immediately.

Although there are only three people planted in the car, and there are 100 black batteries, but the job of replacing the batteries is not a joke, the assault vehicle suspended about a foot above the rattan grass, if there is no power, can only find a nearby slope to park, the ubiquitous vine branches under the feet, wearing two layers of protective clothing may not be able to replace the battery.

At the Madao checkpoint, since the arrival of those officials and Jinyi guards, the big leader passed the military order, and a team of armed sergeants with guns forced away several spies on the Madao, starting from the entrance of Shiguantun, uprooted those Coptis trees along the road, and directly withdrew to the stone fort.

These Coptis trees that have grown to the thickness of their wrists are in short supply in Gujiabao.

In a few days, this trampled horse road will be covered by vines and grass.

Ma Dao Stone Castle, the big leader's courtyard house, in the backyard bedroom, Xiao Ye was lying on the hot kang, watching Xiuxiu breastfeeding the child, and then looking at the jujube in the basket on the kang table, he couldn't help but shake his head secretly; Hu Shibiao's family, who are far away in Shiguantun, should also be brought back, they don't have vegetables to eat here in winter, let alone those people under them.

After Gujiabao is built, there is vacant land in the stone fort, and the warm cellar must be built, and the craftsmanship of Hu Shibiao's mother-in-law cannot be abandoned in Shiguantun.

Picking up the news reported by Wang Ziliang, Xiao Ye looked at the situation of Eagle Claw Fort above in the past few days, and the corners of his eyebrows were solemn, what did this Lanelt tribe want to do.

Almost ten years later, a team of Lanelt tribes came to run more diligently than Bailong Lake, and they had surpassed the somewhat lazy West Wedge He tribe, not only changed a large number of silk short coats, lighters, matches, pocket watches and other goods, but also hundreds of fires/guns were replaced, if he didn't know that the projectile could not be imitated, Xiao Ye would almost have sent someone to follow and watch.

Naturally, the thousands of cattle and sheep that came from the trade also became canned food in the warehouse of Madao Stone Fort, and at this point, Xiao Ye would not break the barter with the Tartars.

But fortunately, with that large amount of ore, Xiao Ye also got fifty box cannons and 3,000 bullets, and the weapons of the guards were upgraded to a higher level.

At this time, a female guard came in, "Big boss, the knife is back,"

"Well, I know, let them wait outside," Xiao Ye put down a stack of white flute paper in his hand, and teased Xiao Weifeng, laughing in Xiuxiu's disgusted voice.

After lunch, Mer and Lena were coming, and the house was already lively, so he had better hurry away.

Out of the house, Xiao Ye summoned a guard, and after whispering a few words, he brought the three of them with the knives that came back to pay the order, and came to the front yard, in the hall, Xin Rulin was waiting for him with a frown.

The change of the house of the chief of the Galen tribe, as before, the rapid entry and exit of the sergeants, the faint sound of fire/gunfire on the top of the hill to the west, the busy work of the craftsmen, and the sharp increase in the number of private schools, all of which required the support of a large amount of food every day.

There are also Bailong Lake, Eagle Claw Fort on the grassland, and the two tribes that have returned to Shun, with a combined population of more than 5,000 people, each person consumes two catties of grain per day, and he has to leave the warehouse for 10,000 catties.

Even if there is a large amount of canned beef and mutton, the Han people do not have the habit of eating meat all day long, let alone spending money to buy it, no matter how cheap it is, it will cost money.

When he saw Xin Rulin, as soon as he saw his expression, Xiao Ye knew that he was here to discuss the matter of food with him, and he had no choice but to wait and see if he wanted to recruit him.

"Brother Sanxing, it's cold, you don't stay in the shop, you always go to the official, uh, the leader of the boss here, I can't help it," Xiao Ye, who was scratching his head, stepped forward and pushed the wheelchair with a smile, "Let's go, stay in the stone castle all day, I am in a panic, let's go out to breathe,"

Walking outside the gate, the assault car that had changed the battery, Xiao Ye personally opened the door, hugged Xin Rulin and stuffed it in, making this Xiucai look red all over his face, but his strength was not as great as Xiao Ye's, so he could only be forced to press on the seat.

"Let's go, find a place with a lot of vines and fruits, let's go pick some too," Xiao Ye took the food box handed by the guard and sat in the back seat.

Sun Xiaoming squeezed his eyes at the knife, and got into the driver's seat with a smile, and the smart-eyed guards on the side also quickly opened the car door and gave Sun Xiaoming his companion.

This one-of-a-kind assault vehicle steadily rushed out of the stone fort, slid down the steps, and levitated diagonally along the mountainside towards the mountain; On the wall of the stone fort, a group of patrolling sergeants all looked at the assault vehicle with envy, and whispered about when they would be able to sit on it.

On the mountain north of the stone fort, a large area of vine grass on the west side of a big ditch, because of the rugged terrain here, no family members and children dare to go deep into this place to pick vine grass fruits, on the branches of different thicknesses, green leaves have not yet grown, and the clusters of earthy brown skin fruits can be seen everywhere, and you can pick a handful of them with your handful.

Under the watchful eyes of more than a dozen old craftsmen and medicine farmers, Sun Xiaoming let go of the pedal under his feet, did not unscrew the car key, and let the assault car levitate above the rattan grass, he and the guards next to him leaned down and carefully grabbed a handful of rattan grass fruits with his right hand with leather gloves.

In the back seat, Xiao Ye put down the teacup in his hand, took the fruit handed by Sun Xiaoming, and used his fingernails to buckle the outer skin, revealing the earthy yellow metallic core inside, and swept it with his eyes, "No, this thing is not worth much, and it is not enough for the cost of our battery,"

This kind of fruit core that is obviously fine iron, as long as those old and young spend a little bit, they can buy a large number of them in the shop, and use assault vehicles to pick them, it is better to let Shang Shetian pick them cost-effective.

Along the way, Xiao Ye pointed to Sun Xiaoming's movements, and after telling Xin Rulin twice, this Xiucai also relieved himself, and after asking carefully, he felt that this assault car was not so difficult to drive.

Especially after hearing that the battery needed to drive the assault vehicle turned out to be made of the black kernel, Xin Rulin's eyes were wrong, and then he looked at the vines and grasses outside the window, and the faint disgust in his eyes disappeared.

The assault vehicle circled around the mountains, turning from west to east, although it did not find the core that Xiao Ye expected, but Xin Rulin, who had been looking around, seemed to understand some questions, and slowly drank the hot tea with a teacup.

On a hill more than four miles to the south, two men with unknown layers of sheepskin coats wrapped around their bodies, their heads wrapped in coarse cloth, a pair of eyes slightly exposed among the shrubs and vines, and their hands holding binoculars were sore to death.

In the telescope, the assault vehicle that could move steadily on the rattan grass was clearly visible, although they didn't know what it was, but Sun Xiaoming and his personal guards, who showed their bodies from time to time on the car, could easily pick fruits from the vine grass, which made the two of them shocked.

The two spies sent by the Gansu town government have been staring at Madao Stone Fort for more than a day or two, and today they finally saw something strange, and they were almost frozen to death in the barren mountains and mountains.

After watching for a long time, the two spies who slowly retreated, carrying basically empty bags, carefully retreated to the back of the mountain, even if this news was sold to those merchants, they could get a lot of money.

Like the two of them, there were also spies from Jinyiwei and the trading house on the left and right hills, and they also found the strange assault vehicle at the same time, and for a while, faint figures flashed from time to time in the vines and grasses in the mountains.

I believe that in less than two days, those big merchants in Gansu Town will receive this very tempting news.

After the assault car ran for half an hour, Xin Rulin, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, felt less dizzy, and the teacup in his hand was put back into the food box, "Brother Shi Dao, do you want to sell this assault car?" ”

"As long as there is an offer, why not sell it?" Xiao Ye glanced at the two ear-studded subordinates in front of him, and said with a chuckle, "This thing, the leader can still take out a few of them,"

His words not only made Xin Rulin stunned, but Sun Xiaoming and the guards in front of him, the two of them were also happy on their faces, and the driving ones were more focused on looking at the road.

"Madao Stone Fort is sealed, those merchants are pervasive, and the official stores and imperial stores set up in Gansu Town, do you think they can stop? No, unless they have a better trade route," Xiao Ye said lightly, stretching his hand out of the window, feeling the cold air, but his heart was even colder.

"Those people in the official mansion, as well as merchant families, which one is not the master who sees money, in their opinion, the cheekiness is very good, what they said today, they will forget it when they turn their faces," patting Xin Rulin's shoulder, Xiao Ye didn't care about his somewhat embarrassed face, knowing that this Xiucai couldn't accept it for a while.

"Speaking of painting and arresting suspects, I'm afraid that in Jinyiwei's place, the statue of Brother Sansheng is also among them," Xiao Ye, who laughed, leaned on the soft seat and squinted his eyes, "You know, in Lao Yangkou, you and I have been on the construction site for several days,"

Xiao Ye's ridicule made Xin Rulin speechless for a while, even if he still favored the government in his heart, but the official family did not appreciate it, and he was able to do things that were affectionate.

When the front of the car turned around and drove towards Madao Stone Fort, Xin Rulin could think that this vine grass, which had been criticized by those merchants for many days, might become fragrant and sweet in a blink of an eye; If nothing else, just rush to power the assault trucks, and those merchants will go crazy and hire people to plant everywhere.

Even if there is no black core, other colors of the core, Madao Stone Fort is open for purchase here, and for merchants, it is only a profitable business that does not lose money, and they do not do anyone.