The devil is coming

Chapter 665: Jianghu flavor
A military fort adjacent to the Tianduan Mountains,
A Ming rides a horse,
A black dress,
From time to time, he would pull out a handkerchief and gently wipe the impossible sweat on his forehead.
Behind him, there was a group of peasants pushing several small carts along with them. The carts were filled with all kinds of flowers.
These flowers are all picked from the Tianduan Mountains;
Outside the military fort, a man like an iron tower stood there, with a girl sitting on his shoulders.
The man wears a white coat, long black trousers, and a pair of extra-large thickened cloth shoes, which fully embodies the rustic look.
The girl was wearing a purple dress and holding a sword in her hand.
A Ming saw the pair of big and small ones superimposed in front of him.
He couldn't help but shake his head, waved his hand to signal the civilians behind him to march into the fort, and then he rode out and came to them.
"Waiting for me?" A Ming asked.
Fan Li nodded.
The sword maid said: "We were looking for bandits nearby, and the military fort sent a message. We learned that you had just entered the mountains from here a few days ago, and thought you should be back soon, so we planned to wait for you for two days, but we have only waited for one day. You’ll be back.”
A Ming looked at the sword maid,
Road:
"so rude."
The swordswoman turned sideways, and her whole body was almost level with Fan Li's shoulders. It was a difficult move;
He reached out and took out a water bag from the big basket behind Fan Li.
sit up straight,
He threw the water bag towards A Ming.
A Ming took it and pulled out the stopper. There was a refreshing aroma of fruit wine wafting inside.
He loved blood and wine;
On weekdays, I don’t eat.
The sword maid said: "Fruit wine brewed by a group of monkeys in the forest."
This is baby.
A Ming took a sip and nodded. To use a more vulgar word to describe it, it smelled like the fragrance of nature.
But, it does taste good.
Road:
"Forgive your disrespect."
immediately,
A Ming put the water bag away and asked;
"what's up?"
The expansion project of Fengxin City and the new construction of the Hou Mansion have been completed. Fan Li, the leader of the construction team, is finally free, and the sword maid has finally reached the age to practice swordsmanship, so he simply took the sword maid to practice.
The so-called experience,
It is to open the front;
The dancing girl in the red tent can be a pleasure to watch with her sword, but the real edge of the sword requires human blood.
in short,
Fan Li went to kill people with his sword maid.
Hunting targets are also easy to find.
Due to the needs of land reclamation and various sieges, many industries under the Hou Mansion are in urgent need of manpower. Previously, the population was deliberately suppressed because they had to look at the potato reserves;
Now, with the autumn harvest approaching, the most difficult hurdle has passed. Therefore, the problem of labor shortage has emerged again, and has seriously restricted the development of Shanxi Province.
What is frustrating is that,
After Xu Wenzu set his goals early, he began to focus on governing the place, allowing the people to return to their homeland, live and work in peace and contentment, and heal the wounds squeezed out by war and taxes.
This makes it impossible for the Hou Mansion to continue to use the previous method of absorbing refugees from the east of Wangjiang River.
First, after all, it is difficult for ordinary people to leave their homeland. Unless there is really no other way, they will not choose to move their families;
The second is to use the relationship between the Hou Mansion and Xu Wenzu to forcefully poach someone else's territory. If the relationship between the two is destroyed, the gain will outweigh the loss.
But fortunately, there is a poor neighbor here in Jindong, and that is Xueyuan.
Under the operation of the two old silver coins, the blind man and the barbarian king,
The evil black slave trade that appeared in another time and space came in a similar pattern in eastern Shanxi.
What the Hou Mansion wants to do is to provoke disputes between some tribes in the snowy plains. In short, to make them fight.
In this regard, with the Savage King here, it can be said to be simple;
Then, prisoners of war were purchased with silk, tea, jewelry and various goods other than ironware.
It has to be said that since the failure of the "ZTE" of the Savage King's generation, what the Snowfield Savages have lost is the essence of an entire generation or even two generations;
The remaining chief nobles are either as timid as mice or short-sighted.
Anyway,
Group after group of savage slaves began to be sold into the Snow Customs to enrich various industries under the Marquis Mansion.
In the past, because the Marquis Mansion was not established, coupled with the tense current situation and the acute local ethnic conflicts, the method of squeezing labor was adopted for savage prisoners of war in the early days. The fortifications on the front line of Xuehaiguan were repaired, and the accumulation under the city wall was the savage's. Pieces of bones.
Nowadays, the Marquis Mansion is organized into households. Among them, those who are young and strong and good at riding and shooting are selected as part of the income standard households to set an example for other savage slaves;
Most of the savage slaves who were trafficked found that although they were a little tired in Shandong, their lives seemed to be better than in their hometown in Xueyuan, so overall their emotions were very stable.
From time to time, they looked at the barbarian soldiers under the Hou Mansion who had joined early, and a lot of hope arose in their hearts.
But there are no absolutes. There are always some people who love their homeland too much, or some nobles of the savage tribe who were defeated and captured. They are not willing to live such a life of "ordinary people" and choose to escape.
It is impossible to walk to the Snow Pass, and you can't walk through it. You can only go into the Tianduan Mountains. Anyway, you can always go back to the snowfield if you go all the way north and climb over the mountains without starving to death or being bitten to death by wild beasts in the mountains.
This kind of people are called "bandits" by the Hou family and are the targets of hunting and attack.
And Fan Li,
He brought his sword maid to fight these bandits.
Facing A Ming's inquiry, the sword maid said:
"I originally planned to go back, but I happened to find traces of a group of bandits. There were quite a few of them, twenty or thirty of them, including two or three savage masters who had deliberately concealed their strength when they were captured.
So, while working in the workshop, the soldiers who killed two guards escaped and escaped. "
Generally speaking, among slaves, there will be some special talents, and they will eagerly report them during the initial review in order to get better treatment;
Although Gou Moli's town did not have many regular soldiers, with the tacit approval of Lord Zheng, he was allowed to first select among the barbarian slaves traded over.
And this group deliberately concealed their strength, which meant that they planned to wait for an opportunity to escape after being captured and traded.
It was certainly easier to escape while working than in a military camp.
"Just go and kill. What are you waiting for me to do?" A Ming asked.
The sword maid smiled and said:
"I don't think it's safe. Since you're around here, I'll wait for you to come with me."
"I'm busy."
A Ming pointed at the cart being pushed by the peasants in front of him.
"I have to go back and create new types of fragrances."
said,
A Ming looked at Fan Li again,
road;
"Just transfer some soldiers from nearby military forts to destroy them together."
Fan Li shook his head and said:
"This is experience."
If you lead troops, how do you gain experience?
A Ming almost laughed out loud when he heard this.
Road:
"Take a little girl and a sword to kill twenty bandits. Some of the bandits are pretty good, and there must be a leader.
what does this look like
Ali,
Are you bored and doing Novice Village tasks?
After killing the target,
Will he drop gold coins, or will he wait to return to Fengxin City to hand in the mission to the Juggernaut? "
The sword maid couldn't understand this part.
Fan Lize still spoke concisely and asked:
"going or not."
A Ming smiled,
"Only fools go."
“There’s still fruit wine.”
"Ah."
"One tank."
"I can't worry about you."
.........
There is a trade road along the Tianduan Mountains. Many business travelers come here to visit the Xueguan Customs Market, and then go to Zhennanguan. On their way back, they pass through Fengxin City.
Depending on the goods being transported, the route will naturally be different.
In comparison, this area is considered a blank area under the current rule of the Hou Mansion.
Because at this stage, the actual control and development area of ​​Hou Mansion is located in the triangular coverage position between Fengxin City, Zhennanguan and Xueguan.
There is no intention to develop or restore other places for the time being. We will just set up some military forts and send some sentry teams to sweep over from time to time to declare the sphere of influence.
Places beyond the jurisdiction of the government may appear to be free, but in reality they will become another kind of law of the jungle.
Some Jianghu forces are entrenched here. Some people's hands and feet are inevitably unclean, and they only commit petty thefts. They may even commit murder and swindle goods. However, because of the deterrent power of the Hou Mansion, nothing too extreme has ever happened. .
Most of the Jianghu people are employed here as bodyguards for the caravan.
A similar market situation actually happened in Hutou City back then, and Fan Li once applied for a job in a caravan and went into the desert.
In order to further stimulate merchant trade, the Marquis Mansion does not prohibit caravans from Xueyuan and Chu State, nor does it prohibit caravans from entering the former two from its own territory. Of course, taxes must be collected;
At the same time, if you find it too troublesome, you can also transfer the goods directly to the Hou Mansion at a lower price. The Hou Mansion itself also has the largest trading house responsible for the trade between these two places.
In addition, the monster business and the production of some special products in the Tianduan Mountains have also resumed due to the end of the war.
in short,
This area is close to the Tianduan Mountains, far away from Fengxin City, and quite close to Wangjiang. For the time being, it is a no-nonsense area.
These Jianghu people take jobs here, which is quite a "mercenary" model.
Of course, they would not be stupid enough to build a town or fort here, as that would be too conspicuous, and no matter how high-minded Jiang Hu Cao Mang was, they would not be stupid enough to slap sand on the territory of the famous Marquis Pingxi. .
Therefore, although there are inns and buildings here, they are all far apart.
The town does not look like a town, but rather like scattered inns.
at this time,
A Ming, Fan Li and the sword maid were standing in front of a "Leopard Gate Inn".
"It's a good thing it's not called Longmen Inn." A Ming said with a smile, "Otherwise, we will definitely have to write a letter and mobilize troops to quell it in a few days."
Because if we call it Longmen Inn, it will infringe the patent of the demon kings and the Lord. In the past, when chatting, everyone would easily lift the table and find a place where no one knows to open a new Longmen Inn.
"Hey, sir, would you like to stay in a hotel or eat?"
The waiter in the shop is a hunchback. He greets me when he comes out with a flattering smile on his face.
Fan Li reached out, took out his ax from the basket behind his back, and chopped it down directly at the waiter!
The waiter immediately turned sideways and dodged.
"Buzz!"
The ax struck a hole.
"Brother, what do you mean?"
The waiter at the hunchback shop had a fierce look in his eyes.
Fan Lize looked at the sword maid sitting on his shoulder, then turned sideways and looked at A Ming.
Road:
"I just guessed that he knew kung fu."
In this environment,
A relatively remote inn,
The waiter, with a hunchback and a flattering smile;
A classic routine.
Therefore, Fan Li wanted to prove his conjecture, and then he chopped it with an axe.
Sure enough, the waiter was good at kung fu and dodged.
Of course,
If the waiter didn't know Kung Fu and Fan Li guessed wrong, then the waiter's head would have been divided by now.
but,
Who cares?
A Ming rolled his eyes at Fan Li. This guy usually looks the most honest and honest, but no one dares to really regard him as an honest person. Even honest people can't do the kind of thing where he took out the body of Zhu Guo of Renmin Dazhu in front of others. Chu people's face-twisting Yangko thing.
"Stay at the hotel."
A Ming took out a silver ingot from his arms and threw it to the waiter.
The waiter weighed the money in his hand and immediately smiled again, as if what happened before had never happened at all. He immediately bent his already hunched back a little more.
road;
"You three gentlemen, please come in."
The inn is very big, but at the same time, it is also very simple.
There are no carved beams or painted pillars, nor are there any details.
The first floor is the lobby. There is a swordsman sitting there eating wine alone with a big knife beside him.
The swordsman's clothes were very torn and he had leggings. The knife was wrapped in cloth, with only the handle showing.
He sat there, inconspicuous.
Fan Li silently reached out to touch the basket behind him again.
A Ming stretched out his foot and kicked Fan Li's calf.
Fan Li frowned slightly and retracted his hand, but still seemed to feel uncomfortable because he could not test it.
Behind the counter, there was a woman sitting, about thirty years old, with a mole on her face. She was not exactly charming, but she was still the type who would not worry about repeat customers in a red tent.
It's hot,
A lot of white was exposed on her chest,
When I saw A Ming walking in,
He didn't say hello, but he stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth;
can,
This action,
A Ming often does it too.
"Masters, please come up."
The hunchbacked waiter took A Ming and the three of them upstairs.
"Boy, how many rooms do you want?"
"One room." The sword maid said.
finished,
The sword maid specifically glanced at A Ming beside her and Fan Li below her.
Road:
"Children of the world don't need to worry about these trivial details when traveling in the world."
A Ming said "heh".
This girl was taken by Yuan Zhenxing in her early years. After Yuan Zhenxing was shot into a hedgehog by his master's order by the Bian River, he has been living with him and others.
She knows nothing about the world.
into the house,
The hunchbacked waiter was about to ask if he wanted to prepare food, but was stunned when A Ming waved away a gold ingot.
Also surprised was the sword maid.
A Ming asked directly:
"There is a group of savages, are they also living in your store?"
The hunchbacked waiter picked up the gold ingot, bit it, nodded and said:
"Yes, yes, but they live in the stable at the back, and our store provides food. They should be waiting for someone to pick them up. Maybe they are waiting for the savage caravan coming in from the Snow Customs."
A Ming threw another gold ingot and asked:
"how many people?"
"NO.18 of them all have knives."
A Ming threw another gold ingot and asked:
"Is there any service?"
The hunchbacked waiter blinked.
A Ming put his hand into his arms again.
The hunchbacked waiter hurriedly said:
"Master, master, please stop paying. The more you pay, the happier you will be. Either it proves that you are indeed rich and you don't look down on this stupid thing, or it means that you are absolutely sure that I will let my little one in the future." If you spit out what you have eaten today, it will only be kept by the little one for a few days anyway, so don’t feel bad about it.”
A Ming smiled.
The hunchbacked waiter put two of the three gold ingots he had taken back on the table, pointed to the remaining one, and said:
"Master, this piece is enough. I will add medicine to their dinner tonight and pour it all out. When the time comes, it will be up to you."
"..." Sword Maid.
A Ming pushed another gold ingot out of the two on the table and put it in front of the waiter.
Road:
"In this case, you call some more people. After the drug is knocked over, they will be tied up to save us from further trouble."
"Master, do you want to live?"
A Ming shook his head and said: "Tie him up so he can be killed."
"..." Sword Maid.
"Sir, you're welcome. OK, I'll keep it with you. In fact, I've also disliked those savages for a long time.
Just wait, I will arrange some food for the three of you first, and wait until evening to report the news after the small matter is completed.
correct,
What do you three want to eat? "
Fan Li said:
"Naan."
"okay."
The hunchbacked waiter went down.
The sword maid said angrily:
"What the hell do you mean by wandering around the world? All the fruit wine I finally found was wasted!"
A Ming glanced at the sword maid,
Road:
"This is what Jianghu is really like."
"That's not true, that's not true. When I was walking around the world with my master..."
"Your master is a poor man."
"..." Sword Maid.
A Ming stretched his waist.
Road:
"There are many rules in the world of martial arts, but ninety-nine percent of the rules are due to poverty."
The sword maid clenched her silver teeth,
Pointing to the remaining gold ingot on the table, he said:
"You don't understand the principle of making money in the world without revealing it? Do you believe that the waiter in the shop tonight will not attack that group of savages but us?"
A Ming smiled,
Road:
"Turn over the gold ingot and take a look."
The sword maid reached out and turned over the gold ingot. There were four words printed on it: Pingxi Houfu.
A Ming yawned,
Road:
"This is a batch of gold ingots newly produced by the Hou Mansion. What I am showing off is not wealth, but power.
Look at the shopkeeper and waiter in this store, do they dare to take advantage of us? "
The sword maid mumbled,
I'm so angry!
She looked at A Ming very resentfully,
complained:
"You rely on both wealth and power. You have made my world tasteless. You give me back my world. Do you know how long I have been waiting for this opportunity? How long have I been waiting!"
Fan Li stretched out his hand,
Touched the sword maid's head,
Road:
"He's right."
"No, you are talking nonsense, big man, you are talking nonsense, this is not true. The real world is like my sword master, who is free and easy and not afraid of the powerful..."
Fan Li asked:
"Where does your master live?"
"..." Sword Maid.
Master lives,
Next door to the Hou Mansion.
Fan Li said again:
"Jianghu, this is what it tastes like."
(End of this chapter)