Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem called "The Charcoal Selling Man", which reads:

The charcoal seller, cut firewood and burn charcoal in the south of the mountains.

His face was covered in dust and fireworks, his temples were gray and his fingers were black.

What is the money you earn when selling charcoal? What is the food in your body, clothes and mouth.

Poor, my clothes are so simple, I worry about the charcoal and wish the weather is cold.

It's snowing outside the city at night, and driving a charcoal cart to the ice rut at dawn.

The cattle trapped people and hunger were getting higher and they were resting in the mud outside the south gate of the city.

Who are the two riders coming? The yellow messenger is white.

He held the document and called the imperial edict in his hand, and turned to the car and shouted the ox to lead it to the north.

A cart of charcoal, more than a thousand kilograms, the palace envoy was reluctant to drive him.

Half a piece of red gauze and one foot of silk tied to the cow's head and filled with charcoal.

The whole poem describes the hard life of charcoal burners in the Tang Dynasty, which makes people feel sympathetic. Times have changed, and by the Ming Dynasty, coal has been widely used in the residents of northern cities to keep warm, and few people have logged wood and burned charcoal again. However, coal miners are still at the bottom of society, like charcoal burners, and are under oppression and exploitation.

As the saying goes, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, although workers rank third, businessmen can make money and live better than workers, especially those hard-earned miners. Only landless refugees who are desperate will become miners, get the lowest wages, do the hardest and most tiring jobs, and have to risk their lives. Once a mine crash occurs, it is difficult to find even the bones.

It is precisely because of this that most of the miners are destined to be low-quality. They usually steal, rob and cheat, and the residents near the mining area are deeply harmed and regarded as bandits.

The six people rushing into the ruined temple at this moment were the nearby coal mine workers. The leader was named Wang Tang, a native of Yanshen Town, Shandong, and there was no word "大".

Compared with other miners' thieves, Wang Tang's "buying and dealing" was obviously bigger. He joined forces with several fellow villagers and often went out to do shameful activities. This dilapidated temple was one of their "make extra money".

Speaking of which, at the beginning, Wang Tang only dared to steal, but later his courage became more and more powerful, and he even started to make a living by blocking the road and robbing. Every time he worked, he would kill people to silence him, which was very cruel. Moreover, Wang Tang always chose to act when the weather was bad, because it was convenient to act and was more conducive to avoiding the pursuit of the government.

It happened to be snowing heavily today, so Wang Tang invited a few accomplices to come out to try their luck. When Wang Tang and others saw two luxurious carriages parked outside the dilapidated temple, they couldn't help but feel happy. They all thought they had caught a big fish today, so they excitedly rushed to the door and rushed in.

However, when Wang Tang and others rushed into the ruined temple, they found that there were some situations that were a little stubborn, because there were a lot of "fish" in the temple at this moment, and four of them were holding weapons in their hands, staring at them with sharp eyes, which was obviously not a fuel-saving lamp.

Wang Tang's thoughts were so loud that he immediately pretended to come in to hide from the wind and snow, shook the snow chips on his body and complained: "Oh, this ghost weather can make me feel cold."

"Isn't that true? My chicken is going to be cold!" Other miners cooperated to lift the fallen temple gate up.

Wang Tang approached the four people by the bonfire tentatively, and smiled and said, "Brothers, can you use a fire to warm up?"

The thin man pulled out half of his waist and said coldly: "If you don't want to cause trouble, get away."

A trace of fear flashed in Wang Tang's eyes, and he slowly retreated, and his eyes turned to Xu Jin and others in the corner of the ruined temple. When he saw the pile of luggage and items piled up next to him, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Xu Jin frowned slightly, and the beautiful maid Yue'er leaned against him with a little fear. Wang Tang quietly turned his eyes, and the five miners beside him immediately surrounded him and sat leisurely around the iron pot.

With Wang Tang's "working" for many years, he naturally saw at a glance that Xu Jin was a rich man, and there were "dry goods" in his luggage, probably a lot of them, and it seemed that he was not in the same group as the four people on the bonfire on the other side.

Of course, Wang Tang would not do anything rashly before he figured it out. He glanced at the bag that Xu Jin was holding and couldn't help but feel excited. Hey, I guess the little white face is holding gold, silver and soft, right?

Several other miners along with Wang Tang couldn't help swallowing. Such a heavy bag of gold and silver would make you rich if you could get it, so they all turned their attention to the boss Wang Tang and waited for him to make a decision.

Wang Tang sat down next to the iron pot quietly and said hypocritically: "Brother, let's sit here and warm up?"

Xu Jin could see at a glance that the guys in front of him had bad intentions, so he didn't make a sound. He just secretly reached into the bag and held the pistol. The pistol had ammunition installed, but the lead wire had not been inserted yet. It could be used immediately after inserting the upper lead wire.

Xu Jin's behavior of holding the bag tightly, in the eyes of outsiders, naturally he thought he was afraid. However, it is normal for a weak scholar to be afraid when facing six fierce and armed men, right?

A trace of contempt flashed in Wang Tang's eyes. A scholar like Xu Jin, who was powerless, asked himself that he could kill him with one hand. If he hadn't been afraid of another group of four people carrying weapons in the temple, he would have taken action.

Wang Tang reached out and took a piece of bread from the pot to eat. Seeing this, the other five miners reached out and the food in the pot was quickly taken away.

"You... how can you take it for yourself without asking? It's too much!" Yue'er was shocked and angry.

Wang Tang glanced at Yue'er who looked sweet and couldn't help swallowing her saliva, and said in his heart that if there were no other group of people in the temple, he would definitely have tasted this woman today.

Wang Tang glared with his eyes and said fiercely: "Little nymph, brothers, are you eating your food to give you face. Why, do you have any objections?"

Yue'er was so scared that her pretty face turned pale and subconsciously hid behind Xu Jin.

Wang Tang glanced at the other four people in the temple at the corner of his eyes. Seeing that they were indifferent, he couldn't help but feel relieved. It seemed that these two groups of people were indeed not the same. Hey, that's easy to deal with.

Wang Tang finished eating the bread in a few bites, then stood up with a pickaxe, and the old god said, "Young Master, do you have anything to eat? Take some out and share it, don't be so stingy!"

Several other miners also stood up, and Tie Zhao in their hands tapped the ground with a harsh smile on their faces.

Xu Jin said calmly: "No more!"

Wang Tang took two steps forward and sneered: "No? What is in that bag? Take it over and let me take it."

At this time, the mixed-race woman seemed to be unable to see her, and stood up with a sword. The young man in the lead winked, obviously indicating that the mixed-race woman should not meddle in other people's business. The mixed-race woman hesitated for a moment, and finally sat down again, staring at this side with a cold face.

Seeing this, Wang Tang breathed a sigh of relief and laughed: "Boy, don't toast or drink and punish you for your drink. Brothers are so thick that they don't have the best results."

Xu Jin raised his sword eyebrows and was about to light the musket when Xie Xiaowan, who was sleeping, coughed twice and struggled to stand up.

Xu Jin was shocked and hurriedly supported the shaking little girl. Yue'er hurriedly came up to help and said, "Madam, you are still sick, lie down quickly!"

Xie Xiaowan shook her head stubbornly, stepped forward to protect Xu Jin, and shouted weakly: "You are not allowed to hurt my husband!"

Xu Jin was both moved and distressed, so he quickly brought Xie Xiaowan back and said softly: "Silly girl, she is so ill that she is still showing off. Lie down and don't cause trouble, my husband can handle it."

Wang Tang was stunned and continued to smile contemptuously. The young scholar had no power to tie up his chickens. Facing his six big men, he even said shamelessly that he could handle it?

"Hey, this kid really won't cry until he sees the coffin!" One of the miners raised his head and headed towards Xu Jinxing.
Chapter completed!