Since Qin Shi was sent out to carry out an assassination mission, Xiao Ye, who had received Wan Ziliang as a confidant, had a good impression of this banner officer with outstanding marksmanship and bold and careful care; After all, according to his status in the Thousand Households, he can't see that he is a big person, and this kind of dirty thing in the secret will be inevitable in the future.

Qin Shishi, who had been entrusted by a hundred households, carried a bag of silver taels in his arms, and his sergeants dressed up as Tartars, and went out of the canyon day and night, with the glimmer mirror in his hand, he detoured to the southern edge of the Gobi, and four days later went west to the area of Qingfeng Valley.

It's not that he didn't want to go around the hills east of the Gravel Castle, where not only were there a few deep cracked ditches that were difficult to navigate, but now except for a road leading to the Gravel Castle, north of the Xilong River, there were actually large areas of vine grass that could not be seen in sight, vine grass with countless stingers.

The vine grass can pass its roots through the soil layer under the avenue from the cracks of the coptis trees on the side of the road, pass through more than 20 steps and let the coptis trees drill out of the ground, such a spreading momentum has already made Xiao Ye speechless.

What made Xiao Ye even more depressed was that the military households in Tunli, especially the two old military households, in order to sell their fried rattan grass leaf tea, actually told the three merchants early that this tea can effectively relieve the function of rattan grass stingers, although they had obtained a few copper coins, but this secret had been leaked out.

Anyway, this is not a military secret, people sell some subsidized households, Xiao Ye really can't say anything. Fortunately, the medicinal powder that Li Langzhong grinded with rattan grass was not clear to other military households, otherwise Xiao Ye would really scold the street.

This kind of crazy vine grass, after a heavy rain, has a momentum of scattering and blooming and settling, and the momentum of spreading is the same day by day, and it also tightly seals the three directions of Shiguantun, east and west, except for the canyon and the road to the gravel fort.

In the early morning, in an abandoned village on the edge of the mountain pass, Qin Shi left five sergeants, led by an old hunter Lao Shang, lurking here, and twenty war horses were also hidden in the low mountain forest. He himself took four clever sergeants and prepared to rest for a while and headed for the pass of Qingfeng Valley.

In the low green forest, the fine dew on the tips of the grass leaves on the ground under the sun quickly evaporated, there was no water source for more than ten miles here, and there was not even a well to be found in the abandoned village, and even if there were occasional caravans, no one cared whether there were people in the mountains and forests.

Lying on the grass under the tree, on the felt mat under Qin Shi's body, squinting and resting; The soft cushion made of silk cotton coats, and then sewn a soft blanket on the outside, lie on it for a nap, for the team to run all night, it is a rare leisure time.

The silk short coat is in the hundred households, Xiao Ye has given each sergeant two pieces, and some sergeants' mothers-in-law are skillful, and the coat is opened and changed into a small blanket, which is cold and moisture-proof, and the wool felt pad is sewn together in two layers, and the open-air march is definitely a good thing.

As for those sergeants who have not yet started a family, as long as they spend ten copper coins, their own military mother-in-law will come to the door and take away the coat and felt blanket for you, and give you the right modification. You must know that the fabric of the silk cotton coat is waterproof and not fireproof, so be careful to stay in the wild overnight quite comfortably.

The sergeant Lao Shang, who was lying next to Qin Shishi, carefully hung the cigarette pouch pot in his mouth, took two puffs beautifully, looked at the flag officer with slanted eyes, and lowered his voice, "I said big mouth,"

"Ahem, Lao Shang, damn you're the big mouth, call me Qin Shi, or call me the flag officer." Qin Shishi's eyes didn't open, and he snorted dissatisfiedly, "The mission is confidential, you know the military discipline,"

"Hehe, I'm not asking about the mission," although the old sergeant was born in Orion, he remembered clearly the military discipline that the guards in the Hundred Households had told him several times a day.

"This time, the hundred households gave you a lot of money for food, I saw it, a bag of broken silver," Lao Shang smacked his mouth, "When you come to the town, do you want to buy a roast chicken for these brothers to taste?"

His words were not loud, but the pro-stone could clearly feel that the movement around him that was still snoring immediately quieted down, and he was immediately happy.

"That's right, this time I came out, and the hundred households gave a hundred taels of silver, according to the head, each person is ten taels," Touching the heavy bag in his arms, Qin Shishi's faint voice made Lao Shang gasp slightly.

"Really, the hundred households are generous, it's better to follow the hundred households," Lao Shang's words of gratitude just came out, and Qin Shi next to him directly sneered, laughing so much that his yellow teeth showed out and let it go.

"Hehe, you old monk who has never seen the world, just a hundred taels of broken silver, you can't lie down," Qin Shi snatched the cigarette pouch pot, put it in his mouth and took two sips vigorously, slowly exhaling the smoke, "Brother Huang went to the Persians on the grassland, do you know how much gold and how much silver he got back?" ”

"Five thousand taels of gold, two thousand taels of white silver, I can't scare you to death when I say it," stretched out his rough palm, dangled it twice in front of Lao Shang's eyes, and Qin Shishi smacked two puffs of dry tobacco, "Our Shiguantun can only survive by relying on the operation of hundreds of households, and we have to buy what we eat and wear, as well as the tobacco you distribute every month." ”

"This time we went out on a mission, Baihu said, as long as we can do a good job, each person will be rewarded with thirty taels of silver, but the credit book is not recorded," With his words, the surrounding sergeants, except for the sentry in the distance, were all excited and couldn't sleep anymore.

Someone simply sat up, pulled out a revolver, and wiped it non-stop, or calibrated the steel strings of the crossbow and checked the arrow magazine again.

Thirty taels of silver, even living in Gansu Town, a family of five or six people can live comfortably for two years, and this is just a reward for a mission. They will not receive this amount of food and pay for the year.

After resting for an hour and simply eating dry food and dried meat, Qin Shi handed over the water umbrella to Lao Shang, and took the sergeant who had changed his clothes, pulled five mules, and walked on the desolate dirt road.

The mule was carrying a large bundle of leather goods, brought down from the mountain, Qin Shi in a gray shirt and leather boots, carrying a revolver with a short gun in his waist, and a sergeant dressed as four men, walking towards Qingfeng Valley.

Qingfeng Valley is a wide valley running north-south, with low and steep mountains on both sides, criss-crossing deep ravines that crisscross and crack, and the Qilian Mountains 600 miles away in the south and the Helan Mountains in the east, blocking the throat of the Tartars to the south; After thirty miles of Qingfeng Valley, it is the side wall of the east and west, a beacon pier every ten miles, and seventy miles away, it is the military town of Wuguan Town.

Gansu town is two hundred miles southeast of Qingfeng Valley, there are Chijin Mongolian guards in the west, and Liangzhou guards in the east.

However, looking at the collapsed villages on the side of the road and the scattered bones that can be seen everywhere, Qin Shi knew that out of Qingfeng Valley, the sparse grass under his feet, and the barren fields beside the road, this place was no longer the world of the Han people.

After hurrying for twenty miles, at noon, a small team of five merchants, mules and horses, came to Qingfeng Valley, and saw from a distance the pass between two mountains and one valley, which was already full of people.

Qingfeng Valley Pass, after the Tartars repeatedly disturbed the pass, there is no masonry level here, replaced by a dense row of thick wooden fences, across the narrow exit outside the valley, leaving a passage more than a dozen steps wide in the middle.

In view of the frequent threshing of the Tartars, the Yi City set up by the Ming Dynasty outside the town of Gansu was canceled by the imperial court more than ten years ago, and even if the upper echelons of the Tartars threatened it again, it was not reopened, so the Han caravan trade became a channel for communication between the two sides.

The Tartar caravans were not allowed to enter Qingfeng Valley at all, which the Ming government did quite well, and at the same time gave the mainland merchants excellent business opportunities.

At the pass, a caravan of wagons and horses passed through the sergeant's inspection, and after paying the merchant tax, the caravan with road tickets slowly passed through the wide trench and stepped on the sturdy drawbridge into the valley. The officer guarding the tax box pressed a few pieces of broken silver in his arms and shouted at the convoy behind, "The one behind, hurry up, and the time will be closed,"

A few scattered caravans of apparently loose merchants came forward next to each other to put a string of tax money into wooden boxes, and by the way said a few words to the officers, and after the sergeant had inspected the goods, the mules and horses entered the valley; Qin Shishi, who followed behind with his head stuffy, although he looked listless, his eyes were fixed on the officer with a shiny face.

The road tickets issued by the yamen of Gansu Town cost money to buy, and they are not ordinary merchants, so they can't be seen at all.

Sure enough, after the mules and horses carrying leather goods were roughly looked at by the sergeant, Qin Shi paid the tax of 500 Wen, and gave the officer two taels of tolls, and a few people who spoke the Suzhou dialect entered the valley smoothly.

Fortunately, those leather goods that made Qin Shishi's throat itch, and the sergeants guarding the checkpoint, were afraid of hitting a few times, so they didn't see anything abnormal.

Into the valley, more than ten miles wide of mountainous land, a horse road in the middle, scattered houses on both sides, and then a small river in the west.

The avenue with two rutted lines of road, seven or eight miles forward, at the foot of the bare mountains on both sides, a few simple inns and restaurants, as well as a warehouse for buying grassland leather goods, gradually increased; Qin Shi took his subordinates, pulled his mules and horses, went straight to a remote inn, threw more than a dozen big boys, and lived in Datongpu.

In the afternoon, Qin Shi asked the sergeant to find a store, sold the leather goods carried by mules and horses, and several people hid in the inn with big bread and mutton soup, and after eating and drinking, they slept until night.

It was dark, Qin Shishi took the sergeant and checked out the inn; Before leaving, the shopkeeper accepted ten taels of silver from Qin Shi and handed him a road slip, which was a printed road slip.

In the inn and cargo inn near the Qingfeng Valley checkpoint, few people live by the residents, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and the water, relying on the grassland to eat the road, and dare to go to the grassland to do business, not only there are large caravans, but also farmers and hawkers who want to fight together.

The inns here can't be opened without a point, they all rely on the relationship of Wuguan Town, selling road strips and even road tickets to earn some silver, and opening a store is just a pretense; You know, once the Tartars cross the border to threshk grass, eight out of ten of their shops will have to be built again, and people will have to go to Wuguan Town to hide for a month or two.

Raising the torch and carrying the road in his arms, Qin Shi stepped on the mule and horse, and walked slowly on the avenue in the direction of Wuguan Town, on the back of the horse covered with cotton blankets, and a cloth bag hung on the side, which contained a crossbow and rope. The sergeant, who followed behind, also rode on the back of a mule and horse.

Mules and horses are different from war horses, although the speed can't get up, but the endurance is still good, after a day and a night of long-distance Qin Shi, after passing through Wuguan Town, before dark, hid in an elm forest.

Taking out the binoculars and looking at the hazy city in the distance, Qin Shi turned his head to the sergeants behind him, and smiled, "Brothers, we are about to go to the ground,"

Gansu Town, where the Yamen of the Suzhou Wei Command Envoy is located, compared to the Wuguan Town where Qin Shi they passed, it is much taller and majestic from the city wall, the city wall is three feet high and three feet high in the fifteenth mile of the week, and the outer circle is a deep and wide moat ditch, even the Tartars have never broken through this city.

As an important military town in the northwest, the business of Gansu Town is also quite prosperous, fireworks are everywhere, and the willow lotus pond in the southwest corner of the city is a well-known place for flowers.

The two intersecting stone roads in the city cross the four city gates, the south is the important place of the guard barracks, the east is the gathering place of the rich merchants of the official office, the southeast is the merchant market, and the north is a large number of dwellings; Outside the city, a small river flows through the city to the south along the foot of the eastern hills.

With the road slip in his hand and two pieces of broken silver, before the city gate was closed, Qin Shi and his group of four finally arrived in the city; Ten miles outside the city, in the barren meadows, two sergeants with two shotguns waited by the side of the avenue, ready to receive them out of the city.

Approaching the city, they found a small inn, Qin Shishi and they settled in the market square in the southeast of the city, and asked the men to feed the mules and horses, and then ordered a few large plates of beef and mutton, a jar of ale wine, and they naturally won the enthusiasm of the guys.

You must know that ordinary people in the mainland can't eat a meal of meat all year round, even the small rich family is just adding some minced meat to the table during the solar term, and the cattle and sheep in the northwest are cheap, but the situation is similar.

So, from the guy's broken mouth, Qin Shishi learned that in the courtyard of the Tian family in the east of the city, the wedding of the wedding girl on the first day of the next lunar month, there has been a news that there will be a big banquet along the street, as long as someone congratulates, you can eat a meat dish on the street, and maybe drink some ale.

Stuffing a handful of copper plates to the guy with a smile on his face, Qin Shishi waved his hand and let him go, beckoning the brothers to eat, and the corner of his eyes couldn't help but be cold, "Flowing water seat?" Eat it for your mother's next life,"

Qin Shi took his brothers to eat and drink in the city, and Xiao Ye, who was far away in Shiguantun, looked at Wang Dali in front of him with an iron face in the hundred households, with a trace of anger in his eyes, "What's the matter, they really don't have enough charcoal to transport?" ”

"Baihu, I guess it's not as simple as they say, his Huang family should have pulled the charcoal down the mountain for his own use, and the workshops there are rotating day and night," Wang Dali, who had dust in his hair on his face, also replied with annoyance.

Wang Dali, who had just returned from the quarry mill, brought bad news, the charcoal supplied by the Huang family to Shishan will be reduced to less than 10,000 catties per month from tomorrow, which is only enough for two B-shaped stone mills.

The charcoal used by the military households in Shiguan Tunli is often out of stock in the Tianjia shops.

As for the Wang and Tian families, in the previous transactions with Shiguantun, there was not much charcoal, probably the charcoal in the area of Gansu Town, which was monopolized by the Huang family, and if the profit was not much, they were unwilling to take over.

The consequences of the relocation of the Bades shop from Shiguantun have now been revealed.

"That's not all, their Tianjia shop, the grain sent to the mountain this time has also risen in price by 10%, damn merchants, can't they see us have enough to eat?" Wang Dali, who was out of breath, blew his beard and stared, looking like he was going to Tian's house desperately.

At this time, when the price of grain is rising, it is reasonable, but in connection with the reduction of the supply of coal, Xiao Ye also feels the pressure on his shoulders. Shiguantun's attraction to businesses is slowly disappearing, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Fortunately, the goods sold regularly twice a month in the Baodes shop are basically two or three times to a hundred times the amount of water, and the amount is neither more nor less, otherwise Xiao Ye really can't afford to support his own sergeants, let alone those military households.

"There are still more than 30,000 catties of charcoal stored in our tun, and we will immediately send someone to seal half of it, and the charcoal received in the quarry mill in the future will not be added to the stone mill, all of which will be sent here at night, and a storage point will be added next to the stable behind the stone fort, and it will accumulate until the end of the year, which is enough for us to survive the winter."

Due to the shortage of charcoal in Bailonghu last year, there was a large area of frostbite in the miscellaneous labor, but fortunately, there was frostbite cream configured by Li Langzhong, so that no one would be disabled; This year, Xiao Ye was concerned early, but the plan was disrupted by the Huang family.

Xiao Ye thought for a while, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and said slowly with a deep groan, "As for the formula of the plaster, Uncle Wang, you don't have to worry about it, without the yellow plaster of the charcoal, even the three merchants can't detect it, that is, it's not very strong after solidification." ”

"The matter of rising grain prices can only be like this, who let us have no grain fields, where the handle is, we still can't be stingy when it comes to spending money. Uncle Wang, you and Mei'er have a discussion, summon Baodes to buy grain in the autumn harvest, and speed up the handling of grain reserves, and the repaired granaries cannot always be empty. Xiao Ye commanded helplessly, Wang Dali could only nod solemnly and retreat.

At present, the blacksmith shop in Tunli, which has stopped work from time to time, can't make much iron at all, and now it can only be maintained; The tools such as sledgehammers and iron drills needed for quarrying and Bailong Lake to mine stone were also purchased in cash from Tianjia shops.

The quarry mill is already quite important, Wang Dali doesn't stare at it a few times a day, and his heart is empty.