Even after scolding the old man who had been following him for a long time, the strong man's gloomy expression still didn't ease until dark.
He knows that many things originate from the bud. If you can't strangle the idea as soon as it appears, it will be too late to curb it when it grows up.
Taking advantage of the last ray of sunset, the strong man determined the direction and led the caravan off the road to a forest sheltered from the wind.
This forest is a pine forest, and outside the forest, there is a large flat open space. It looks like it has been tidied up by someone, and it should be the usual place for caravans to camp.
After leading the people here, the strong man jumped off his horse and looked around before asking others to come down and prepare to camp for the night. [District 8 www.yeyin8.com]
The carriages were parked in a row, blocking the way they came. As for the pack horses, there were naturally people wiping their sweat and feeding them bean cakes.
After all, after working hard all day, it’s time to give others something good to eat.
The snow in the open space was swept away, and soon several large and small fires were lit.
Because this camp is backed by a forest, there is no shortage of firewood. In addition, pine trees are easy to burn, and the fire tonight is especially big. It only takes less than a while to burn the moist land.
Let it dry.
While others were doing these tasks, Xiao Han, Cheng Yaojin and others also jumped out of the carriage.
The son of the caravan boss was right. The three of them did not work. Except for occasionally helping out, they spent most of their time watching others work.
There was no other way. Both Cheng Yaojin and Luo Shixin thought that they were dignified generals, how could they do the work that only servants could do? So even Xiao Han, who was willing to help, could only watch on the sidelines.
Traveling in winter is hard, but in some aspects, it also has benefits that are not available in summer.
For example, there are no mosquitoes or flies at this time, and wild animals are rare.
For example, you don’t have to worry about food spoilage or lack of water.
The biting north wind not only froze the breeding bacteria, but also brought abundant water sources to the people on the way.
Use a few thick wooden sticks to support the hanging pot on the fire, and then put a few handfuls of soft white snow into the pot. Watch the white snow melt into water little by little, and then gradually stir in the pot. The whole process is also
Quite comfortable.
"Ah? Eating paste again? Hey, can you change the taste?"
Xiao Han squatted by the fire to warm himself up, and accidentally watched the caravan leader distributing flour one by one, and his stomach couldn't stop churning.
I don’t know how these people feel, but they can’t bear to cook and eat noodles like this every day. At any rate, you might as well turn the dry noodles into noodles!
The strong man heard Xiao Han's complaints, smiled and walked over and said politely: "Haha, thank you for your hard work. You can't be too particular when you are away from home. Please bear with me! When we get to Luzhou, we will be the hosts of a certain house.
, be sure to treat a few of them to a feast!”
Xiao Han suppressed his stomach discomfort, looked at the strong man and asked, "How far is it from Luzhou?"
The strong man squatted down, picked up a few scattered firewood and filled it into the fire in front of Xiao Han. He looked at the swaying flames and said slowly: "There are still hundreds of miles to go. We can't walk in ten days. It should be
almost there!"
"Ah? There are still ten days left..."
When Xiao Han heard this, he immediately let out a feeble cry! He was about to ask Cheng Yaojin how far it was from Luzhou to Shandong, but when he turned his head, he suddenly found that Cheng Yaojin, who was squatting there just now, actually
No trace!
"Hey, where is Cheng Da?"
Xiao Han asked strangely.
This time when we came out, because we didn't want others to see through their identities, the names of the three people also changed a bit.
Cheng Yaojin was called Cheng Da, Luo Shixin was called Luo Er, and as for Xiao Han, the only name left was Xiao San...
Wait, Xiao San, Xiao San, Xiao San?!
Luo Shixin on the side looked up, looked at Xiao Han and said, "I just went to the woods, I guess I went to the toilet."
"Use the toilet?"
When Xiao Han heard this, he said "Oh" and didn't take it to heart. Instead, he turned around and continued talking to the caravan boss about coal.
Perhaps because of Ziyi, the caravan boss did not hide his profession from Xiao Han, so Xiao Han soon had a general understanding of their lives.
As an emerging industry, the supply of coal has been increasing in the past two years.
Now around Chang'an, mines have been mined one after another in Shanxi, Gansu and other places to supply Chang'an's huge consumer market.
In addition, the caravan boss even heard that big families were planning coal mines as far away as Shandong and Hebei.
For those families, it is only right to put aside whether they use it or not, and occupy it first! Anyway, it is not very good to grow food in places where coal is produced, and it is also cheap to buy!
In this regard, Xiao Han could only sigh secretly.
As a descendant, he is very aware of the importance of mastering resources! From this point alone, we can see that the success of those big families is definitely not a fluke! At least this kind of vision is not something ordinary people can have.
"Then there are only ten of you, how much coal can you transport at one time? Don't they say that three times is not enough for a hundred, and ten times is not enough for a thousand? Can you make enough money from this trip?"
Looking at the dozen or so people scattered around, Xiao Han was a little confused. There were no coal trains these days. They relied on people to pull horses. How many kilograms of coal could be pulled at a time?
The caravan leader laughed and explained to Xiao Han: "Haha, the third brother Xiao is not aware of something! Naturally, our number of people is not enough. When we go to Luzhou, we can take advantage of the winter leisure to recruit more people and big animals. Then
There will be more people at that time!”
"Isn't charcoal still cheap? How much money can we make from this!"
"Hey, the charcoal we sell is different from the charcoal around Chang'an. This charcoal has no smoke and is resistant to burning, so it is supplied to the rich and powerful. The price is not bad, and it is no problem to earn hard-earned money back and forth.
"
Xiao Han was used to one transaction costing tens of thousands of dollars, so he naturally looked down upon this kind of business that required little effort and little profit, but the strong man was quite content with it.
If he didn't take advantage of the situation along the way, he would have at least dozens of coins left. In addition, the female shopkeeper promised to increase the price by 30%, so this trip would be worth the previous two trips. This transaction could make him laugh in his dreams.
Awake.
While the conversation was getting intense, it became completely dark outside.
The tired bird returning to its nest called twice in the sky. Luo Shixin, who had closed his eyes to rest, suddenly opened his eyes and stood up suddenly!
"No! Why hasn't Lao Cheng come back yet?"
Xiao Han was startled by Luo Shixin's actions. When he came to his senses, he slapped his thigh fiercely: "Hey, that's right! After going to the toilet for so long, your butt will be frozen, right?"
"Did you get lost?"
The caravan boss also noticed something was wrong and stood up to look at Lin Zi.
Luo Shixin touched the short knife hanging on his waist and said solemnly: "No! It's so quiet here. If he gets lost, he only needs to shout a few times and we will hear him! I haven't heard anything for so long!
"
"That's right!" The caravan boss heard this and nodded slowly: "Then, I'll take a few brothers and go into the forest to look for him together!"
"I'll go too!" Xiao Han quickly stood up and said.
Luo Shixin thought for a moment, then nodded: "That's fine, one more person, one more person to take care of you!"
The caravan leader's eyes changed subtly.
He has been traveling all over the country for many years, and it is natural to see that Luo Shixin brought Xiao Han not for the so-called extra manpower, but because he was worried about leaving him here alone.
I felt a little uncomfortable, but the man also knew that there was nothing wrong with what he did.
After all, people's hearts are separated from each other. If you are cautious, no one can make a mistake.
"Well, without further ado, let's make a few torches and go look for them now!"
Holding his hands towards Xiao Han and Luo Shixin, the strong man strode towards other fires and began to gather his hands, preparing to enter the forest to find Cheng Yaojin.
