Chapter 129 Old Man Li

When everyone arrived at the workshop, Old Man Li led twenty or thirty salt workers to come forward and said with a smile: "The old man heard that the chief supervisor and all the nobles were coming, so he prepared a pair of streaky pig belly early. Please take a look around.

When you’re done, be sure to save some face for the old man.”

The well supervisor got off his horse and said, "Old Li, please don't be poor. No matter how much you sell, you can't escape this well lesson."

Old Man Li said humbly: "Yes, I don't know how many courses are available this year?"

The well supervisor said: "These are noble people from Meishan. They have taken care of this year's classes. Thirty thousand guanjing notes have been distributed, and they are all in the hands of Jiang Qing. I am here today to see you."

How to arrange it.”

Old Man Li was shocked and turned pale. He knelt down in the mud with an ordinary voice and said in a trembling voice: "My dear, please spare my life... This is an increase of 30% from last year. I can't finish it no matter what I do..."

Cheng Wenying saw that these people were dressed in rags, and then heard that the number of well classes increased by 30% compared to last year, and his brows furrowed even deeper: "How could this happen?"

Su You gently pulled his sleeve, and Cheng Wenying finally reacted: "Oh, brother, please wake up. Are these all from the Jingjing side?"

Old Man Li burst into tears and kowtowed repeatedly: "My lord, please be merciful. The little old man was originally a householder in Qiaojing. Later, the well gradually dried up, and the court's workload continued to be reduced. The strong and oppressive people were passed on, and Yanhu was ruined and his family was destroyed. He couldn't even support it.

Can escape."

"However, the villain only has the skill of panning salt, so he can only live here and there, panning salt to survive. Now the story of Tuojing has to be repeated again, and the old men will be forced to death by the imperial court..."

Cheng Wenying couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted. Hearing Su You cough next to him, he quickly straightened his face and said, "Brother, I believe what you said is the truth, but since we are here, we won't make it impossible for you to survive.

There is only one thing. Recently, Meizhou was issuing salt banknotes and taking inventory of salt affairs, but a public case was discovered."

Old Man Li was shocked, and all the salt workers around him changed their colors.

Cheng Wenying said word for word: "There is a difference between the output of Meishan Mausoleum and the actual amount of salt used in Meishan! There is a large amount of private salt in Meishan salt. Brother, do you have anything to say?!"

A salt worker pulled out a short knife from his waist: "Dad!"

"Whoosh!" A short arrow appeared in front of the salt worker's feet and was firmly nailed to the ground.

Crossbow arrows! This salt worker was too familiar with them. Many of his companions died during the raids by government soldiers as they fled along the way.

On the surrounding high ground, sporadic men in black appeared, holding short crossbows and full of murderous intent.

Old Man Li quickly stopped everyone and said, "This private salt is strictly prohibited by the imperial court. Old man does not dare to cross the thunder pond. Nobles can investigate it as much as possible."

Cheng Wenying said: "Get up, the court system is about to change, let the people pick it up, brother, your good days are coming."

Old Man Li asked suspiciously: "Is what the noble man said true?"

Cheng Wenying nodded and said: "It's true, but for each well, the court charges a fee of 5,000 guans. Do you have the funds?"

Old Man Li shook his head and said sadly: "In this world, there is no way for the poor to survive..."

Cheng Wenying said: "I am not from the Yamen. The prevalence of private salt in Meishan has nothing to do with me. I will just say that if there is a salt well around this mausoleum and we find it, was it opened by you?"

The young salt worker wanted to speak, but Old Man Li quickly stopped him: "It must have been done by other escaped salt workers, and it has nothing to do with... or me."

Cheng Wenying continued to ask: "In that case, if we also take a fancy to that place and hand over five thousand strings to the government, can we take possession of the unowned well?"

Old Man Li said dejectedly: "That... that's natural. The premise is that you have the ability to find it."

Cheng Wenying finally smiled: "Brother, it's better to tell the truth. We just took over the salt banknotes from the mausoleum, so we have to pay attention. Now if you tell us the location of the salt well, we will naturally give you a benefit and a worship position.

, I can still afford it, how about offering ten guan of money a month?"

Old Man Li hesitated for a long time: "No, we don't mine salt from wells privately."

Cheng Wenying said: "If we repay the salt lessons you and the salt workers owed in Tuijing, and then ask the state government to move to Wen, and transfer your household registrations to Meizhou for resettlement, the government will not be held accountable for the illegal salt work last year. That's it.

You will become a decent salt householder from Meizhou and no longer be a savage who fled on the run. Is this okay?"

Old Man Li turned around and looked behind him. He held his hands covered with calluses and scratches several times and then released them: "The officials are kind-hearted, but we do not collect well salt privately."

Cheng Wenying couldn't help but get angry: "You..."

Su You quickly tugged at the corner of his clothes, and Cheng Wenying could only sigh: "Brother, brother, if we really find Yanjing, we won't have such good conditions..."

Old Man Li didn't dare to look into Cheng Wenying's eyes, lowered his head and shook his head: "No... we don't..."

Cheng Wenying said: "Then please ask Brother Li to get on the horse with us, and let's go take a look around."

The salt worker man was about to get angry again, but Old Man Li stopped him: "Ah Da, I will accompany the gentlemen for a walk, and you can restrain them. If the gentlemen don't walk for a walk, you can't rest assured."

So everyone mounted their horses again, this time with the little yellow horse taking the lead.

Old man Li got on a mule and followed behind him. The further he walked, the more frightened he became.

In later generations, in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, there was a rural occupation called "mountain craftsman". In order to raise tuition fees, Su You often followed them into the mountains to dig medicine and hunt during holidays, so he also had the ability to find traces in the mountains.

After walking southwest for fifteen miles, Su You took a look at the surrounding mountains and said, "Old Zhang Li, why don't you tell me?"

Old Man Li almost fainted with fright, his face turned pale, his eyes were straight, and he was muttering something to himself.

Su You sighed: "Uncle-in-law, with our mining method, we can get salt brine by digging at this place at will, but in order to convince my father-in-law... please come with me!"

All the way to a valley, Su You pointed with his whip: "It's right there!"

There is a small work shed hidden in the valley, surrounded by firewood sheds, stoves and pottery pots. It looks like a privately mined salt well.

Shi Dongxiu couldn't help but be overjoyed: "You are truly a god! How did you know about it, Mingrun?"

When it was time to show off, Su You pointed at the surrounding mountains: "Shibo, look, the five surrounding mountains are all concentrated here. This is the force of the five dragons taking water."

Cheng Wenying was not happy: "Brother Li, what's going on? Are you still stubborn?"

Old Man Li now closed his lips tightly and said nothing, as if half his life had passed away.

Su You sighed and turned his horse's head: "This is just a small well. Come with me."

Old Man Li suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at Su You as if he was seeing a monster.

Su You was not afraid: "Old man, what the five dragons are fighting for is the Dragon Pearl. Next, I will find out where the Dragon Pearl is. If there is a private well there, I sincerely admire the skill of the person who found the well."

Following the trend of the mountains again for five miles to the south, we found another well.

This well is much larger than the one just now. There are many bamboo tubes inserted into the well wall, which can directly connect the brine into the jar.

Su You said to Old Man Li: "Old man, do you want to continue?"

Old Man Li's face was ashen. He climbed down from the mule and lay on the ground: "Young Master's miraculous skills, the old man can only marvel at it. The old man spent three years surveying the mountains and looking for the mines. These two wells took a full three years."

.”

Su You blushed with shame. There were many salt wells in Jingyan in later generations, but he only remembered these two.

At first glance, it was named Wulongjing because of the peculiar mountain topography.

There is another one, which is the best one in Jingyan. It is said that it is the location of the dragon ball that the five dragons are fighting for. It is easy to find the location of Wulongjing and then find it.

After this well was opened, the brine gushes continuously and the output is extremely high. It is affectionately called "Big Flood" by the salt farmers.

When he came back to his senses, he heard Old Man Li continue to speak: "...Young master walked over and followed the directions, and there was no mistake. How dare I remain stubborn? However, the tragedy of escaping to Yanhu, I'm afraid the nobles have no idea."

Saw it."
Chapter completed!