The post road in this mountain is not quiet, no one comes and goes, only the calls of some birds that come out to feed can be clearly heard. Although there has been no snow this winter, it has been raining for two days, and the mud on the ground is already carrying some Xiaoice slag, which dyes the atmosphere of Fangyuan very gloomy, and only the intertwined ruts show its prosperity.

This mountain is neither too high nor too big, but it is a messy hill that winds for many miles. According to the old generation of the left, in the early days, there were many people in the local area who got lost after going into the depths, or they were trapped for a day or two, suffering from some cold, warmth, and hunger, or their body and skin were injured and their skin and flesh were painted, in short, they made people suffer some losses. So I don't know who called it first, but since then, this mountain has a "blind mountain" name. Blind Sanbara isn't famous, but the discovery made it a big deal four years ago.

In October of that year, a middle-aged tenant named Lao Yu went into the mountains to hunt game, went deep, and accidentally found a cave. This honest tenant originally just wanted to go in to escape the heat, take a bath, drink mountain spring water, who thought that the water flowing out of this cave looked clear and clear, but the entrance was extremely salty, really undrinkable, very weird.

Lao Yu was originally a tenant at the foot of the blind mountain, and he farmed for a rich man in the village. On weekdays, he takes care of the owner's fields, planting and harvesting rice in spring and summer every year, and planting some buds and millet on the harvested fields when the rain is insufficient in autumn and winter. In addition to farming, the old man often goes to the blind mountain to hunt some game, pick some berries, dig some wild vegetables, and feed a pair of children and his wife of four.

The year was good, the rain was favorable, the owner had more grain, and the labor and wages for the tenant farmers were more abundant, and the life of a family of four was finally passable.

One year, the proprietor threshed 1,200 quintals of grain, which was a rare bumper year. That year, the proprietor gave 200 catties of aged millet and 100 catties of crushed corn to each of the more than 30 tenant farmers, and at the end of the year, each family also distributed 10 catties of japonica rice and 10 catties of fatty pork. It was the richest year in my life, the porridge cooked by my mother-in-law every day was thicker than in previous years, the rice jar had never bottomed out, and the children had never been hungry.

It's just such a good time, and I only remember this time in more than 30 years. Four years ago, it was a normal year, and the proprietor had threshed 960 loads of grain, and each tenant farmer received only 170 catties of millet and 50 catties of broken corn. Fortunately, the old man grew up at the foot of the blind mountain since he was a child, and he always had inexhaustible strength, as in previous years, he carried an axe up the mountain after the farm was over, to find some stored grain in the winter.

The ancestor of the old man also originally had land, but it was given to others in the hands of his grandfather, so that the old man's father had to become a tenant farmer. His father died early, and the old man had no choice, so at the age of thirteen, he took over his father's pickaxe and became a small tenant of the rich man. The old man thought that he would be like his father in this life, and one day he would confess his life in the busy farming.

Back in October four years ago, the old man took an axe into the mountains, ran to the depths, set a lot of traps, and after three days, he hit a roe deer, two hares, and a pheasant, and the coke broke the old man, "Now the mother-in-law and the babies can eat more days full."

On the way back, when the old man was looking for water to quench his thirst, he passed through an elm forest, and saw a karst cave on the edge of the elm forest, and a trickle flowed out of the hole, accumulating into a small pool more than ten zhang away below. The old man had been carrying the gutted fifty or sixty pounds of game for a long time, but he was sweating, and it was the heat and thirst that was unbearable, so he took off his clothes and took a bath in the pool. After taking a bath, I ran upstream and took a sip of water to drink, obediently, but it was amazing, although the water flow was clean and bottom-out, I didn't want to enter it but it was extremely salty, so that the old man was not depressed.

After a good journey, I finally got home, and the whole family ate a full meal after stewing rabbit meat in the evening. At night, the old man told his mother-in-law about all the accidents in the mountains, and when he got up early, his mother-in-law told his neighbors again. There were no condiments or deeds in this village, and the story of the old man seeing a cave in the mountains and drinking salt water spread within a few days.

At breakfast more than ten days later, the old man's family was drinking millet porridge in the house, and an unfamiliar rough voice shouted outside, "Is the eldest brother's family living here?"

The old man listened to it, carefully paced to the door, pushed open the porch, and saw three middle-aged men standing on the edge of the fence, all wearing standard clothes, and ephedra bags pinned to their waists. The old man had heard that the people in the standard uniforms were all officials, and now the old man was both shocked and frightened, and he looked at the three of them stupidly for a while and didn't know how to answer. After two breaths, a big black middle-aged man was near him, and he couldn't help but ask again, "Is the old man living here?"

Only then did the old man come back with a relieved expression, and hurriedly replied, "I'll be called the old man, but the three officials are looking for me?" The old man's mother-in-law and children also followed after hearing the voice, and a pair of children grabbed the corners of his clothes on both sides, and they were about to cry if they wept.

Seeing this, the short man in the middle stepped forward and waved his hand and smiled, "Don't panic, brother, the three of us have something to ask my brother to help." Here is a grain of broken silver, and you should take it as a reward. As he spoke, he took out a broken piece of silver the size of a broad bean from his belt and stretched it out towards the old man.

The old family was relieved, but the old man looked at the broken silver but didn't dare to pick it up. Rubbing his rough palms, he smiled and said, "If you have something to do, the official will do it, I will do it, where do I dare to ask for the official's silver!"

The old man has only seen such a big silver in the owner's house, although it is not official silver, with that size, at least there are three coins, which can be exchanged for more than 400 copper plates, and buy thirty or forty catties of millet rice, which is the ration of a family of four for two months.

The short man, strening his body, said to the old man, "This is good: the three of us came from the state capital and traveled for a day and a night. There is rice food at my brother's house, let's eat two bites to warm up, and then talk to you?"

"Oh, yes, yes! Come in quickly!" said the old man in annoyance, and while instructing his mother-in-law to cut a few catties of roe deer meat into the pot to cook, he invited three big men to sit down at the wooden table.

After a quarter and a half of hours, the old lady brought an iron dish and placed it on the log table, and the soup and meat in it were already fragrant and ripe. The three big men in draped clothes had their throats rattled, their eyes staring at the soup meat, and their spirits were greatly boosted. The old lady brought a wooden bowl and bamboo chopsticks again, put them down, "The three officials, please eat some, there is nothing to entertain at home, only cut a few catties of roe meat, put some ginger, garlic, green onion and pepper, but it is not ...... But there is no salt and oil," the old lady said embarrassedly.

The one who hadn't spoken before was a scar-faced man, and then he replied. "Sister-in-law is polite, I am grateful to have this cooked meat hot soup, how can there be any suspicion!"

In just a quarter of an hour, a bowl of broth without oil and salt was eaten by the three of them. The scar-faced man stood up, waved to the old man and his wife, and made a "please" gesture to the old man, and said, "Brother, can you sit down here and talk?" The old man glanced at his mother-in-law, moved a two-foot-high wooden stake and sat down at the log table.

The scar-faced man seemed to be the head of the three, and then he spoke: "The three of us brothers are the walking of the Fuzhou Salt Transportation Administration, and they are ordered to explore the mineral salt reserves in Fuzhou. Recently, when I went to this Fuyang Town, I happened to hear from the restaurant on the road that my brother saw a cave in the Blind Mountain half a month ago, and drank salt water there?

At that time, salt was scarce and the price was high, and the unified purchase law promulgated by the imperial court stipulated: 500 wen a catty of sand salt, 1,500 wen a catty of powder salt, and the average millet was only 11 wen a catty. Many ordinary people are unable to eat salt normally, so they are weak and die of illness. In order to increase the supply of salt, the Dahua Dynasty set up a salt transportation department, which was in charge of salt exploration, mining, refining, and distribution. And this "walking" belongs to the official staff of the Salt Transport Administration, although it is not included in the ranks, but can receive salaries, and can be registered as officials, and travel without hindrance, which is the dream of ordinary people.

The old man has never dealt with officials in his life, but he knows that the officials are all dressed in standard uniforms. A few years ago, an old birthday star in the village was over 100 years old, and the county official sent two officials to come over and send a birthday plaque.

After hearing this, the old man immediately replied, "Yes, there is, and there is, and they are on the north col of the blind mountain!" After speaking, he raised his hand and pointed to the north.

The three of them came out of the state capital, collected information about the mineral salt all the way, and encountered several rumors, which were verified several times. The day before yesterday, I heard diners talk about the interesting story of the old man in this Fuyang Town, and even if I inquired all the way to the past, I was really happy when I inquired about it today. The three of them glanced at each other, and the scar-faced man stood up and said happily, "Brother still remembers the way, can you lead us there?" The two of them also looked at the old man fiercely at the same time.

The old man did not disappoint him, and grinned, "I don't remember, I remember, I will arrive in one day." This blind mountain is our parents, who give dozens of catties of grain every year!"

The scar-faced man slammed the table, put down a broken silver the size of a broad bean before, his eyes lit up, and he said happily, "Brother, let's go!"