Xu Huai walked north along the narrow beach by the stream for a while. Xu Xin'an poked her head out of the cave halfway up the mountain and called him over.
From the valley to the cave, there was a path trodden by gold diggers. It was overgrown with weeds. He climbed into the cave gropingly, and everyone gathered around eagerly to ask about the situation in Nanzhai.
The entrance to the cave is short, but the inside is quite high, about five or six feet deep. There is a bonfire burning at this time, and there are stalactites hanging from the top of the cave, but the ground is relatively flat. There are also some broken pottery pots and pots abandoned here by the gold rushers, and A sleeping pile of hay.
A clay pot was placed on the campfire to heat hot water.
The soldiers escaped from Qingxi Village. In addition to their armor and weapons, they also carried as much dried meat, wheat cakes and other dry food as possible. They could survive for ten days and a half. At this time, they were worried that Su Di and Xu Huai would return to Lutai. They cannot stop the inspection department from arresting their family members and putting them in jail.
"We escaped from the military camp a moment earlier. I don't know how Deng Gui reacted when he learned that you disappeared from Qingxi Village the night before. But at noon yesterday, Tang Tiande came with his men and horses in a fierce manner. Fortunately, Uncle Wu Liang, Aunt Seventeen and others stopped us. Tell Tang Tiande to return without success..." There are many things that cannot be explained in detail, and Xu Huai is not in the mood to take credit at this point. He does not want to waste time explaining, so he puts the credit on Xu Wuliang and Su Di, and puts Lutai yesterday What happened in the village was briefly explained.
Everyone was a little relieved after confirming that their family members were fine, but they couldn't agree on where to go next.
The dry food is only enough to last for more than ten days, which is actually very limited. We can't expect much harvest from fishing and hunting in Tongbai Mountain.
It is impossible for twenty-five or six young and strong men to hide in this dark cave | but the world is so big, where can they find shelter?
Everyone knows what the answer is, but some people are still unwilling to accept it at this point.
Still one person, even if they fall into the trap, should they and their group directly find a steep peak that is easy to defend and difficult to attack and occupy the mountain as king, or should they find a reliable cottage to take refuge in?
Xu Huai sat by the bonfire to relieve the cold and dampness, listening silently to Xu Wujiang discussing these things with everyone.
When things got to this point, even though he knew he had no choice, he didn't think anything could happen if he fell into the wrong trap.
All choices are just taking one step at a time. What far-sighted suggestions can he make?
Of course, most people won't care about his opinion.
Xu Xinan sat next to Xu Huai, leaning against the cold stone wall, and whispered:
"Eleven or twelve miles up from Jinshagou is Xiema Mountain. Pan Chenghu, the head of the family, is quite generous and has no serious conflicts with Lutai Village and other surrounding villages. In the past, Lutai Village had many conflicts during the New Year and festivals. Xiema Mountain has been managed. Uncle Seventeen has been secretly responsible for it many times, and he and Pan Chenghu know each other well. If we go to Xiema Mountain to seek refuge, we should be taken in. However, although Xiema Mountain is more powerful in Tongbai Mountain, But there are not enough "idlers" to support, and it is impossible for everyone to move their families there. At first, we could go there anonymously, and there was no big problem. But as time went by, the other gangsters in Xiema Mountain knew our details. , it is difficult to ensure that the news does not spread. Even if the inspection department does not investigate by then, the state and county will definitely make things difficult for our family again, and everyone will have a headache!"
After they left Qingxizhai, they hid in Jinshagou before noon yesterday. They had discussed what to do next before Xu Huai came over. However, when Xu Huai arrived, they had not yet made up their minds.
.
More than 20 soldiers had defected to bandits or disappeared, and the inspection department would not dare to conceal it; and once it was confirmed that they had become bandits, the prefecture and county would not fail to take follow-up actions.
Everyone was still in a dilemma at this time.
Xu Huai thought of the memory that just flashed in his mind and asked in a low voice: "Have you ever thought about staying in Jinshagou?"
"It's not that I haven't thought about it, but it's too difficult here," Xu Xinan shook his head and said, "You have seen it when you came here. The terrain of Jinshagou is very dangerous and it is difficult to get in from the outside. But from beginning to end, you can see that there are some slightly flat areas.
The other one is that this place is too close to Xiema Mountain and there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. If we want to establish a foothold here, Pan Chenghu may send people to attack us first without waiting for the inspection department to take action."
Xu Xin'an was afraid that Xu Huai would not understand, so he picked up a branch from the bonfire, burned the carbonized end on the stone ground, and briefly sketched the topographic map of the left and right:
"Xiema Mountain is at the source of Jinshagou. Although there is another road out of the mountain to the east, Jinshagou is always its back door. Of course, the more important thing is that we have established our own business in Jinshagou. It is inevitable that there will be traffic from nearby villages.
We need to get food, salt and iron, but these villages have long been the sheep farms of Xiema Mountain, how can we tolerate our involvement?"
No matter whether you are desperate and looking for a way out at first, as long as you fall into the trap and become a bandit, you will always commit murder and arson, you will always rob your house and rob your house, and you will continue to kill innocent people indiscriminately.
However, the copycat forces that can survive in Tongbai Mountain for a long time maintain a delicate balance with the surrounding villages and clans, and the conflict will not be too intense.
Some copycat forces can even ensure that they respect the surrounding villages on a daily basis, but they will never easily allow other forces to get involved.
The main reason is that the "support" relationship that has been formed between the mountain village and the surrounding villages does not allow others to interfere; occasionally, when bandits cross the border and commit crimes, the forces of the mountain village will also send people to arrest them, which actually replaces the role of the government to a certain extent.
This is the key reason why Xu Wujiang and Xu Xin'an felt that they could not gain a foothold in Jinshagou. As for whether Jinshagou was the gateway to Xiema Mountain, Pan Chenghu and other bandit chiefs may not have such a vision.
Xu Huai didn't think it was easy to stay in Jinshagou, but for a while, he had been wondering what triggered those memory fragments.
The memory that flashed this time involved the gold pit households in Xiema Mountain, and he had never heard of the chute method before. He suspected that it was related to Jinshagou alluvial gold.
As for how to convince Xu Wujiang and the others to stay?
He still doesn't know the details of the chute method. No matter how easy it is to use, even if one can equal ten, if more than twenty people stay, they won't be able to make a fortune. However, they have to face the huge pressure exerted by the people of Shemasan Mountain. It is not a good idea.
Rhetoric.
More importantly, many people tend to seek refuge in Xiema Mountain, and the chute method should not be mentioned too early.
"What do you think?" After Xu Wujiang saw Xu Huai coming to report the news, he and Xu Xin'an sat in the corner and muttered, then sat over and asked.
Xu Huai pondered for a moment and said: "Uncle Seventeen, no matter how difficult and dangerous it is, we still have to stay in Jinshagou. Yesterday, Aunt Seventeen showed her affection and moved her with reason. Everyone in the clan thought that Uncle Seventeen and you were dead."
Because of the banditry, Xu Wufu did not dare to openly collude with Deng Gui. However, too many people still attached themselves to the family. As time went by, the indignation would disappear, and the rest would just be contented.
The only thing that really scares Xu Wufu is Uncle Seventeen. As long as you peek around, like nails in a golden ditch, and give Xu Wufu the courage, he will not dare to openly hand over our children.
!”
Xu Wujiang frowned.
Regardless of whether Xu Huai had a sudden enlightenment or whether he had always been wise and foolish, Xu Wujiang was still able to objectively weigh the current dilemma.
As long as Xu Huai's words made sense, he would listen to them.
Of course it was not his wish to become a bandit, and he was not a blaming person, but the lives and deaths of so many people were weighing on his shoulders, making him feel doubly heavy.
Xu Xin'an still found it difficult to accept such a big change in Xu Huai, and hurriedly argued:
"Didn't I tell you just now, how could Xiema Mountain allow us to settle here?"
Xu Huai knew that Xin'an obeyed Xu Wujiang in everything, so he continued to persuade Xu Wujiang:
"The day before yesterday, I sneaked into Deng Gui's room and took out some gold and silver from the suitcase. However, this place is only two mountains away from Yuhuangling. Food, cotton, silk, salt and other items can be transported directly from Nanzhai over the mountains. There is no need to rush in a short time.
To blackmail the nearby villages. As long as we don’t compete with Xiema Mountain for food, I don’t think they will rush to drive people away..."
Although the mountains from Yuhuangling to Jinshagou are dangerous and steep, there are only about twenty people on this side. It is not a difficult task to arrange for someone to carry one to two hundred kilograms of grain every three to five days.
Even if Xu Wujiang and the others don't have much savings, the gold and silver he stole from Deng Gui's suitcase the day before yesterday are worth thousands of dollars, and they can still be used for a while.
Although there are not many people in Xuwujiang, they are well-equipped with weapons and armor and are not weak in strength. They are just a small group operating in the Jinshagou area. If they do not directly infringe on the interests of Xiemashan, Xiemashan may not be willing to pay a high price to help the government.
Pull out this nail.
Of course, if Xu Wujiang and others want to recruit troops and strengthen their power in Jinshagou, they will inevitably conflict with the Xiema bandits, but that is another story.
Maybe that time will be the opportunity to talk about the chute method.
"...Tongbai Mountain is said to be three hundred miles in radius, but there are not many deep mountains and old forests in the true sense. We have many scruples about joining other forces, but if we want to stand on our own, no matter where we go, how can we not start a fight with other forces?
Conflict? I think we can’t look forward and backward on this matter,”
Seeing that Xu Wujiang was moving, Xu Huai continued to persuade him.
"Even if you stay in Jinshagou temporarily, in addition to deterring Xu Wufu from openly colluding with Deng Gui, Chen Tong and others, the more important thing is to rely on Lu Tainan Village as a cover to facilitate the secret delivery of supplies. If you don't rely on Lu Tainan
Village, where do we buy one or two hundred kilograms of grain every three to five days and send it to the deep mountains and forests? How can we avoid being targeted by the inspection department? We can't really think that Deng Gui, Tang Tiande and the others are blind?"
"...You're so stupid..." Xu Xin'an was sitting next to him and heard Xu Huai's words. He felt a little persuaded and couldn't help but start teasing him as a fool again. How did he know these crooked things?
"Uncle Seventeen, why don't we call everyone over for discussion? Xu Huai's words seem to make sense." Xu Xin'an changed his mind and said.
"Sihu, come here..."
Xu Wujiang also believed that Xu Huai's words were reasonable, but he knew better that whether the situation could go on to this point, the people's hearts were actually the most important.
There are only more than twenty of them, and as long as one of them has a wavering mind and wants to join Xu Wufu or break up and go their separate ways, big problems may arise.
At this juncture, we still have to convince everyone as much as possible.
Xu Wujiang waved to Xu Sihu and others and told Xu Huai what he meant.
"I think this can be done," Xu Sihu and others all agreed. They had been worried for the past two days. At this moment, they patted Xu Huai's shoulder with some joy, "How much gold and silver did you take away from Deng Langjun?"
In addition to not wanting to abandon Jia Xiaoyuan and fly away, everyone was not even mentally prepared to rob their homes and homes.
The day before yesterday we were officers and soldiers, but today we are going to be turned into bandits and lick blood from the edge of a knife. Who can accept it calmly?
Since Xu Huai got a lot of gold and silver, and could secretly carry food from Lutai Nanzhai, they did not need to do anything to survive in the familiar villages around them. This would be better than seeking refuge in a copycat village, or fighting a bloody road elsewhere.
It is easier for people to accept it.
"There are two hundred dollars!" Xu Huai said.
Xu Huai did not tell the truth, mainly because he was afraid that everyone would think of splitting the spoils and then running away.
Grain is scarce and expensive in Tongbai Mountain, but with two hundred guan, in addition to buying some necessities, we can also buy hundreds of kilo of grain, which is enough for everyone to live in Jinshagou for half a year.
Now everyone is taking it one step at a time. Since they think that they will not have to worry about hunger and cold in the next six months, they are not so panicked.
