This strange team is walking on the road leading to Lipandu. Eight Li people are carrying salt as a trade commodity, and the crossing team is fully armed - they may encounter Ming troops or bandits on the road, and these two are facing each other.
They are almost the same in terms of wealth and intention.
There were already pedestrians coming and going on the road. When they saw such a strange team coming, they all stayed away from the road. The farmers in the fields were not disturbed and were still busy with the final work before harvesting. The water in the rice fields had already
Let it dry. The rice is about to mature. The personnel from the agricultural department accompanying the team are estimating how much rice can be harvested.
After walking for less than an hour, the county seat has appeared in everyone's sight. In the two months since they came ashore, the Chuanchuang people have fought a fierce battle with the Ming Dynasty local government in this city, but in addition to monitoring the county seat's military team and communications
Except for a few members of the team, this was the first time for most people to see the ruling center of Lingao County in the Ming Dynasty. The original tense atmosphere had disappeared, there were far fewer people on the city, and the city gates were open.
, there were people coming and going on the road, and it was a bit lively. There were villagers setting up stalls at the gate of the city selling vegetables, chickens, ducks and firewood. It was a peaceful scene.
Seeing their arrival, there seemed to be a tense moment on the city gate. Lu Rong, who was leading the team, saw an armor-piercing man looking around on the city wall. In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, the entire team did not approach the city gate and kept a distance slowly.
After passing by, the farmers who were closing their stalls and preparing to run away breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they had passed far away without making any mistakes.
According to several prisoners, their cave is more than a hundred miles away from the county seat, so they cannot walk there in one day. They have to rest for a night on the way.
"I didn't expect it to be so deserted along the road!" Mu Min exclaimed. There were few fields along the road, and most of them were grasslands with large tracts of grass taller than people's heads.
"Is Lingao itself a remote small county?" Wen Desi was also in the team, but he participated in this operation purely out of curiosity and distraction. After the D-day, he was busy meeting to review documents and draft materials every day, making it more complicated than before.
I was even busier in the past, and I didn’t even have time to do my favorite outdoor sports. I just took this opportunity to recover.
As for safety issues, he doesn't think there is any danger. He always wears a stab-proof suit and has a lot of anti-wolf spray in his bag. He also likes to play with and carry around long folding knives and a 1.2-meter-long Western half-sword.
For people, whether they are Chinese and foreign pirates, Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, rural regiments, and bandits, they are all scum. Not to mention that the twenty or so people around here are all armed to the teeth, except for steel helmets-for the sake of lightness
For the sake of safety, I put on a one-color rattan helmet. This batch of products was finally produced by the industrial department after more than a month of research. The original plan was to make it in colonial style, but the products that came out were a bit different.
However, it feels good to wear after installing the leather suspension, and the suffix of the hat is also sewn with a sunshade cloth commonly known as a butt curtain.
"It's strange. Since there is so much wasteland, why is no one reclaiming it? Those prisoners, whether Li or Han, are either tenant farmers or long-term laborers. It's not like there is no water here, and the land doesn't look barren."
"Lack of water." Wen Desi had never done farm work, so he still understood the basic principles.
"Nonsense, such a big river is short of water?"
"The water is still in the river, so it is useful only if it is poured into the fields. Irrigation is a big problem. You need to lift water, have channels, and build sluices..."
"Why not open channels?"
"Irrigation projects are time-consuming," Wen Desi explained. "It is too difficult for each household to dig irrigation canals by themselves. Water conservancy projects in all dynasties have been organized by the government. It requires a lot of labor and money."
"That's right, it's really not easy to do anything." Mu Min sighed, "Then what are you doing here? Isn't it good to stay in the 21st century? Why do you want to take risks in this time and space?"
Wen Desi laughed enigmatically. He was embarrassed to say that he wanted to be a god in this world. However, Mu Min obviously understood that mysterious smile as obscenity and curled his lips:
"It's so disgusting, you men are the most disgusting!"
Minglang, who was following far behind, saw his wife talking and laughing with the bandit leader Wen, and he wanted to rush forward and give Wen a machete first. These days, he was really depressed, ever since he knew that this was Lingao in the Ming Dynasty.
After that, their family of four has been under semi-house arrest. The wonderful trip to Hainan as a family of four turned into a permanent trip to Lingao in the Ming Dynasty - these crazy bandits want to come to the Ming Dynasty, but their family has no such plans!
He also hates that his wife is too busy and has to go to some security group to help. She wears that ugly training uniform every day and goes to work excitedly. She doesn't come home late at night. After she comes back, she blabbers about everything she saw.
The family conveyed it to them, and so did my father: At first, he was silent all day long, and after listening to his wife talk too much, I don’t know what happened, but he actually took the initiative to go to them and ask for a job arrangement - it was said that he was planning to be a naval consultant?!
Minglang thought he had a fever when he heard this: My father, an old Communist Party member and an old People's Navy, is now colluding with these people? As for his mother, she was originally a social activist. She arrived at Bairen Camp just a few days ago.
I have become familiar with the women here. I am away from home every day. A few days ago, I was talking about setting up a women's welfare society and doing business.
From the looks of it, I am the only one who is doing the worst. I probably think he is useless. He has not been assigned any formal job until now. He is just a miserable "basic labor force" and works with the local coolies day after day.
This time, his wife said she wanted to go to Li District to start work, and he quickly signed up. Xiao Zishan originally wanted to refuse, but then he thought about it, they were a legal couple, and it seemed unreasonable not to allow men to go.
In this way, he can be regarded as following, but his wife is the "ethnic consultant" of the team. She is obviously a core member and has a much higher level than him, who is a backer. Since the departure, she has been with a few people who led the team.
, studying work for a while and chatting and laughing for a while - he was very angry, and the consequences were serious!
During the lunch break, the communication team used the field radio to call the headquarters in Bairencheng once to report that it was safe. It was agreed before departure that the two sides would contact each other every three hours, and the expedition team would report its current arrival position so that the headquarters could keep track of its movements.
.Everyone began to taste several field foods just developed by the agricultural department: "Jinhua Crispy Cake" which was made by Wu Nanhai himself but had a very strange taste, so-called "Japanese Rice Balls" with rice vinegar and dried plums added, and
There are walnut-sized things made of unknown materials. The bamboo tube of the packaging has three Chinese characters for "Bing Liang Wan" written on it. It is said that one pill can be worth a meal...
"What the hell is this!" Lu Rong ate a rice ball that was so sour that his teeth were about to fall off. Although this food was not delicious, it succeeded in dispelling his strong appetite after walking for a long time.
The effect was achieved.
"Everyone, take a rest and set off immediately." Just as he said that, he suddenly saw Mu Min slowly walking out from behind a stone and clapped his hands.
"I seem to have lost weight, and I feel less energetic when I fight -"
The journey was uneventful. As we got closer and closer to Li District, the ground became more and more rugged, changing from gentle slopes to rolling hills and mountains. There were also fewer pedestrians on the road. Occasionally, we encountered Han Chinese hawkers carrying burdens.
, went to Li District with goods, and there were also people from Li who brought goods to trade. When they saw them, they all hid far away. Lu Rong tried to find a few people to ask about the situation in front, but he couldn't.
The march of the team slowed down, and the survey team members would stop to correct the map from time to time. Some would even run out to pick up a few stones and pick some plants. At this time, everyone would take the opportunity to take a rest and relax their muscles.
The results of the exploration made them very excited: there are coal mine belts here. Although the quality is very poor, it is lignite with very low calorific value, and the reserves are not high, the coal belt should extend very far south. The modern Nanbao Coal Mine is
Roughly at this location. Lignite is not very suitable for fuel, but it can be processed into very good fertilizers. The most exciting news is that many traces of limonite veins have been discovered, and they are buried relatively shallowly, allowing for small-scale open-pit mining.
"We have to open this trade channel as soon as possible." Wen Desi was very excited.
"The Ming army on the road is a problem." Lu Rong frowned.
Along the way, they encountered two Ming army checkpoints and a camp, but when they saw them passing by in full force, the soldiers guarding them ignored them. Wen Desi took the opportunity to observe the appearance of their future military opponents: the soldiers were all sallow and thin.
, not to mention armor, not even a complete piece of clothing could be found on his body. I couldn't help but wonder: With an army like this, a few hundred people can actually guard the border of Li District. Either they are very powerful in combat, or the Li people
The combat effectiveness is very poor.
"Well," Wen Desi nodded, "First negotiate the terms with the Li people. We will send technicians and they will be responsible for the mining. In exchange for the products, we will save the need to open another branch base."
After breakfast, according to what the prisoners said, this is already the edge of Li District, but Han merchants still come and go from time to time. Going further, you will reach Juti Village, where there is a Ming army camp called Nanlue Camp, which is used for guarding and surveillance.
The main pass to enter the Li District is Fanbao Mountain, but the camp is full of Li soldiers. Although there is some interrogation and extortion, it is not a serious problem.
Wen Desi knew from the "Li Situation Briefing" given to him by the intelligence data group: Fanbao Mountain has a dangerous terrain, with only a mountain path wide enough for one person to pass through. This place is the main pass dividing the Han and Li sides. If there is no security guarantee,
It is best not to cross this place. However, the Li Dongs of these captives are all on the north side of the pass. According to him, after passing Fanbao Mountain, there are more Li Dongs. Raw and cooked Li Dongs have their own dialects, and their living habits are also different.
They rarely interact with each other - they only unite when they rebel.