After returning from Yaxing, Jin Feng's mood has not been high.
The next morning, he didn't go to Yahang. Instead, he sent Da Liu to take someone there, picked up the girl and the children, and met them at the door of the inn.
At seven or eight o'clock in the morning, Jin Feng and Lao Laobing, with hundreds of girls and children, set off from the inn and headed towards the city gate.
Along the way, countless people from the county and city gathered to watch.
"What are you doing? Why are there so many people?"
"I heard that Mr. Jin bought a domestic slave and took him back to Jinchuan."
"Oh my god, why did you buy so much at once? What is Mr. Jin going to do?"
"I heard that Mr. Jin originally only wanted to buy a few, but when he went to Yahang, he saw girls and children crowded in the hut like animals. Many people were starving to death. He couldn't bear it, so he bought the house slave of shopkeeper Tong's family.
All bought."
"How much does that cost?"
"There are several hundred taels of silver."
"Can Mr. King feed so many people?"
"We don't need to worry about this. Since Mr. Jin dares to buy it, he will definitely be able to support himself."
"Mr. Jin really has a heart of Buddha!"
…
The team arrived at the South City Gate amid the crowds of people.
This time there was no need for Qing Mulan to take action. When the city gate guard saw Jin Feng, he nodded and bowed and sent the team out of the city gate.
The girls and children were imprisoned for a long time and suffered from hunger every day. They all walked very slowly. After only a dozen miles after leaving the city gate, some children began to fall behind.
This child and his sister were escorted from other counties to the county town for sale. His sister knew very well that the only result of falling behind at this time was to starve to death in the mountains, so even though she could hardly walk, she still stubbornly gritted her teeth and carried her brother on her back.
Got up.
As a result, the siblings fell behind together.
Seeing this, Jin Feng had no choice but to ask the veteran to take the child to the carriage where Hammer was resting.
By noon, there were more and more children who could not keep up, and Iron Hammer's carriage was full. Jin Feng had no choice but to slow down the team again.
When we came here, it only took half a day from the tungsten mine in Heifeng Ridge to Guangyuan County. But when we went back, because the speed was too slow, we only walked half way until dark.
Jin Feng asked the monkey to find an abandoned ruined temple as a camp for resting at night.
Children from poor families have long been in charge of their own affairs. When they arrive at the dilapidated temple, they don't need to be arranged by the veterans. The children consciously run to the nearby mountains to collect firewood. The girls clean up the messy dilapidated temple or help the veterans light fires and set up pots.
Seeing the smiles gradually appearing on the faces of the girls and children, the gloom in Jin Feng's heart gradually dissipated.
"Sir, do you want to send someone to follow those children and prevent them from running away?" Da Liu reminded in a low voice.
"If they wanted to run away, they would have run away long ago and would not have waited until now." Jin Feng shook his head and said.
Men can still become bandits if they run away, but girls and children have almost no chance of survival if they run away.
So along the way, Jin Feng only asked the veterans to pay attention to no one falling behind, and never asked them to guard against anyone escaping.
"There may be venomous snakes and beasts in the mountains. Let's find some female soldiers to check them out. Don't hurt the children."
Jin Feng thought for a moment and said: "Assign a few more people to go around the mountains to see if they can catch some prey. Their physical fitness is too poor and they walk too slowly."
"good."
Da Liu nodded and went over to make arrangements.
Not long after, Jin Feng suddenly heard cheers coming from afar.
Looking up, I saw a few veterans carrying two wild boars back triumphantly.
The children cheered and shouted excitedly around them.
"Haha, sir, the monkeys are lucky. As soon as they entered the mountain, they encountered two wild boars fighting for territory."
Da Liu ran over with a smile and said: "These two wild boars add up to more than three hundred kilograms. Together with the wheat porridge, it is enough for everyone to have a meal."
"Then let's stew it."
Jin Feng was also infected and ran over to watch the veterans kill pigs for stew.
Soon, a strong aroma of meat came out of the big pot.
That night, many girls and children were so exhausted that they could no longer walk.
On the second day of the journey, everyone's speed was indeed faster, and we arrived at Heifeng Ridge in only half an afternoon.
When he came, Jin Feng wanted to take a look at the river between Heifeng Ridge and Xihewan to see if there was any possibility of building a bridge. However, he was ambushed by bandits and later encountered heavy rain, so he had to give up.
Taking advantage of the time now, Jin Feng arranged for the monkeys to find a place to camp, and then took Da Liu and a few guards to the Black Wind Ridge.
After walking a few hundred meters along the ridge, I saw a long and narrow river.
Although it is only less than twenty feet wide, it is very long, winding along the mountain to the end of the field of view.
It is fifty or sixty meters high from the river below to the top of the mountain, and the cliffs on both sides are steep and difficult to climb.
"Sir, look, the second highest mountain over there is Matou Mountain."
Da Liu stood by the river, pointed to the mountain peak a few miles away and said: "After passing Ma Tou Mountain, we will reach Xihewan two miles further."
"If there was a bridge here, wouldn't it be more than half the distance when we go to the county town?" Jin Feng asked.
"Of course. If you ride a horse, you can get there in half a day. If you run faster, you might be able to go back and forth in the same day."
Liu said regretfully: "It's a pity that there is no bridge here, so we have to go around in a big circle."
"There is no bridge, can we build one?"
Jin Feng said to himself.
"Build one?" Liu's eyes widened: "Sir, you mustn't be joking. Building a bridge will cost a lot of money?"
"If you want to be rich, build roads first."
Jin Feng said: "You shoot an arrow across the river and see if it can reach the other side?"
"It's less than twenty feet, it's definitely possible."
Liu took out his crossbow and pulled the trigger across the river.
Whoosh!
The arrow flashed past and hit a big tree opposite with a bang.
"Okay, let's go down the mountain."
Jin Feng nodded slightly, feeling confident.
It costs a lot of money to build a bridge, but there is still no problem in pulling a ropeway.
It’s just that wire ropes and pulleys are needed to pull the cableway, and the pulleys must use bearings. The bearings involve basic lathes and precision machining. Currently, Jinfeng cannot make them.
In fact, you can also temporarily use ropes instead of steel wire ropes, and then use pulleys without bearings. Leave a good gap on both sides of the ropeway, and you can also slide back and forth. However, the rope will be very worn and unsafe.
"What's enough?"
Da Liu scratched his head inexplicably, but seeing Jin Feng thinking, he ignored him at all, so he had to suppress his curiosity and follow Jin Feng down the mountain.
When passing the tungsten mine, Jin Feng took another look and found that no one had come since they left last time.
Jin Feng looked up at the sky and realized that there was still some time until dark. He turned around and said, "Da Liu, find someone to call Jin Peng and the others over. I have something to say to them."
"good."
Da Liu agreed and sent a veteran to bring the four Jin Peng over.
"Sir, are you looking for me?"
Jin Peng had already heard from Da Liu about Jin Feng's affairs in the Tielin Army. Now when he saw Jin Feng again, he no longer had the unruly spirit in him.