On the open prairie, a convoy of dozens of carriages slowly moved forward.

Jiang Long rode on the snowfield, taking the lead and walking at the front of the team.

Yesterday I rested in the field for a night, but fortunately there were coals for heating, otherwise this cold sky might have frozen to death.

Early in the morning, although the sky did not change, the north wind was strong.

Not long after riding on horseback, the hands and feet of the frozen man became numb.

"Young master, you better sit in the carriage." At the back of the convoy, there was a carriage carrying people, although it was not luxuriously decorated, but it was covered with thick blankets, and a few thick quilts with cotton were prepared, and a stove was hung in a corner of the carriage.

The stove is small and delicately shaped, and it was brought from Jingfu, and there is burning coal in it, which exudes heat.

It was Qin Yu who spoke, the weather was so cold that even he couldn't stand the cold, so he persuaded Jiang Long to take the carriage.

Tudu, Gunty Buck also echoed the persuasion.

Jiang Long tightened his belt, took off his gloves, and put his frozen red hands in his mouth before he spoke: "What's the point of this hard work?" Compared to the sergeant guarding the front earthen fort barrier, this is just a pediatric, well, you don't need to persuade me anymore, I won't get into the carriage. ”

Qin Yu, Gunty Buck and the others were all helpless.

However, the sergeants who were sent by He Huan looked at Jiang Long at this time, but they all admired it.

They have long heard of Jiang Long's origin, originally only because he is the descendant of the human slaughter general Jing Xian, so he is respectful and commendable, and now they see Jiang Long's resolute personality, not afraid of hardship, and the soldiers, riding a horse in the cold wind, sharing weal and woe, is really good for Jiang Long.

Throughout the ages, the famous generals who have truly won the respect and admiration of the soldiers, and can completely dominate the army, have all eaten, clothed, and lived together with ordinary sergeants.

If it's just on top, then the soldier is in awe of you at best.

"How far is it from Wolf Smoke Castle?"

Hearing the inquiry, the centurion who was sent by He Huan to lead the way replied: "There are still four or five days to go." ”

Riding a horse is not the same as traveling in a convoy, and it takes five or six times as long to reach a place that can be reached in a day on a single horse.

Although the savannah has hills, it can be easily climbed on horseback, as long as you look for the right direction.

The convoy had to have roads, the trunks were loaded with coal, the goods were heavy, and if the ground was not hard enough, the wheels would be hidden in the mud and sand, and the horses would not be able to pull them, and many of the roads would not be straight, so they would have to take long detours.

Four or five days?

Jiang Long raised his head and looked at the sky, although the wind was stronger, but fortunately there was no sign of changing the sky.

If it snows in the middle of the convoy, it's a disaster.

It will snow very heavily in northern Xinjiang, and when a snow falls, the road will be immediately covered, and the convoy will be trapped in place at that time, and when the snow melts in a few days, it will soak the ground again, and the carriage will not be able to pull at all.

Therefore, it must not change the snow, otherwise you will have to stay in place for at least seven or eight days.

I really can't do it, so I have to leave the goods behind and ride back on horseback.

This is also one of the main reasons why the earthen forts and fortresses at the forefront often do not receive daily necessities on time in winter.

Five days later, in Wolf Smoke Castle, a dozen sergeants were in a group, staying in a house.

"Little third son, it's your turn to stand guard today." Captain Wang Bo said.

Hearing this, Zhang San stood up, wrapped his cotton clothes tightly, and tightened his belt again, "Boss, then I'll go." ”

"It's getting windy again, be careful not to get frozen into ice." Wang Bo admonished.

Without waiting for Zhang San to answer, a joking voice shouted: "If you are really frozen into ice, Lao Tzu will not carry you back." ”

"Just keep him standing guard on the wall."

"We don't have to go out to get cold."

Many people are giggling and interjecting.

"Get out!" Zhang San smiled and scolded angrily, "I'll clean you up when Lao Tzu comes back!" ”

Pushing open the door of the house, there was a cold wind blowing in front of him, Zhang San couldn't help but shiver, walked out of the house quickly, and closed the door with his hand, there were not many things that could keep warm in the earthen fort, so all of them squeezed into one room to sleep at night.

Even during the day, he wouldn't leave the room.

The food in the earthen fort is also insufficient, everyone sleeps together, reduces consumption, and can eat less at each meal for a few more days. Originally, military law stipulated that there could be no less than three people standing guard at a time, but in these earthen forts, only one person was sent out to stand guard in turn.

Not to mention the cold weather, I can't eat enough, and it is very likely that I will not be able to come back after a trip.

And those who come back, because they are cold, have to bake more fires, and they will also increase the amount of food when they eat.

When the three of them went out and came back, they asked all three of them to eat more food.

Naturally, it is no better than a person to go out and save.

However, there are also disadvantages to going out alone, that is, he freezes to death outside, and everyone doesn't know what to do.

Since the beginning of winter this year, there has been no snow yet, so no one has frozen to death yet.

However, in previous years, there were people who would be frozen alive into ice cubes.

By the time everyone found out, the man was as hard as a rock, and the sergeants were naturally joking that if a companion froze to death, they could not really stand there and stand guard, but store the corpse.

Take it back to the family of the deceased.

Originally, it was better to bury it directly, but it was to check the cause of death of the deceased.

Otherwise, if someone assassinates someone, the murderer must not be allowed to go unpunished.

Zhang San walked out of the house, came to another house in front of him against the cold wind, unbuttoned his trouser belt to pee, it was too cold outside, and he couldn't urinate in the wild, otherwise the little brother might be frozen, so he could only be convenient in the house, because he held it for a long time, so he was busy for a while.

Then he carried the toilet and dumped it outside.

Putting down the toilet, Zhang San returned to his room and took out a cloth bag from behind the door, which was the first time he slowly walked towards the high wall of the earthen fort.

I climbed up the wooden ladder.

As soon as he went up to the wall, a strong north wind blew, almost blowing Zhang San down.

This is just a small earthen fort, the structure is simple, there are only a few arrows on the wall, Zhang San walked out more than a dozen steps away, and then quickly hid in it, shrunk his neck, and looked around to see if there was anything abnormal around.

As the time passed, it gradually came to noon.

Zhang Wang was also a little anxious.

Why haven't people come yet?

Make an appointment in advance.

It wasn't until the sun rose to the center that a black dot emerged from the ground line.

Zhang San's face was happy when he saw it.

The black dot was an alien who rode a black mount and spent nearly half a year before he came to the front of the earthen fort.

"Did you bring the money?"

Zhang San was not polite to the other party, standing in the arrow stack, just shouting loudly to ask.

The alien was tall, wrapped in a thick white leather coat, like a snowball, and asked rhetorically in a somewhat translucent Daqi language, "What about the goods?" ”

"Here!" Zhang San patted the package he was carrying.

The alien glanced at the package, quickly took out a money bag from his bosom, and threw it at the city wall.

Zhang San didn't catch it, bent down to pick it up in his hand, opened it, counted the quantity, nodded at the alien with satisfaction, and then threw the package in his hand down.

The alien jumped off his horse, picked up the package, and first weighed it with his hand before opening it.

Inside were a few pieces of broken copper and iron.

But the aliens looked carefully and saw that there was not much rust, but they were very satisfied.

There is no iron ore in the steppe, or even if there is iron ore, the aliens do not know how to mine and smelt, and do not know the skills in it.

So the aliens on the steppes are extremely deficient in iron.

But in life, iron is inseparable.

Iron pots are used for cooking, scimitars and arrows are used for war, which one does not need iron?

Without iron, arrows can't be made, and then the alien army's good shooting will become a joke.

Zhang San's family is very poor, the population is large, the whole family can't eat, and there is no way, otherwise they would not be sent here, the last time they went home to rest, when they came, they specially brought some broken iron and copper, and planned to sell them to foreigners.

The price at which the aliens bought iron was very high.

Just a little bit of broken copper and iron, I actually gave two taels of silver!

It is precisely because of the very large profits that many border armies trade iron weapons privately with foreigners.

Even if this is strictly forbidden by the imperial court, if it is found out, the head will be cut off.

But Zhang San's whole family can't eat enough, and the grass stalks for heating in winter are not enough to burn, so they need to buy it, and there is no money at home, so they can't wait to die, right?

And the situation of most of the sergeants' families is similar to that of Zhang San's family.

The transaction was completed, and Zhang San was satisfied with the money bag in his arms.

"If it's still in stock, remember to sell it to me!" The alien shouted, "Money is not a problem. ”

Zhang San waved his hand lightly at the alien, although he could make money from the other party, but he also knew very well how the silver in the hands of the alien came from, so although he was trading now, if he encountered it in the battlefield in the future, he would not be soft.

Seeing the alien sergeant walk away, Zhang San walked down the wall happily.

When I opened the wooden door of the hut, a damp and stuffy air came to my face, although the smell was terrible, but it was much stronger than staying outside and blowing the cold wind.

"Sanzi, I'm back."

Wang Bo opened his mouth and greeted, "The meal has already been prepared, come and eat." ”

A few sergeants glanced at Zhang San's waist.

Everyone sells ironware to outsiders, so they guess how much silver Zhang San sold this time.

But after all, this is a big crime to kill the head, so everyone tacitly acts in secret, but they don't say it in the open.

Zhang San ate and went out again.

In the afternoon, the weather was much warmer, so the people on duty had to ride out on horseback and survey the surrounding area.

The number of horses in the earthen fort is the same, and in this place, it is impossible to do without mounts, otherwise if they find that the alien army is coming, how can they run away with only their own legs?

And when you escape, you have to run separately, and you can't be surrounded and annihilated by aliens.

It must be ensured that at least one person escapes to deliver the message back.

There are a lot of horses, and so do the amount of forage they consume every day.

Because the imperial court is extremely strict with the control of war horses, the sergeants in the earthen fort generally dare not use their swords to kill the war horses to eat even if they are hungry.