Yun Zheng opened his mouth and spit out the astringent water in his mouth, threw off his poncho and asked the old man who was sitting on the back of the elephant: "Master, there is not a single cloud in the sky, why is it still raining in the forest?"
Ye Sou pointed at the tall trees that towered into the clouds and said: "This rain is not from God, but these big trees are vomiting excess water in their bodies. The hotter the weather, the more they vomit."
The monkey pulled an inch-long worm from his head and said, "It's not just raining, it's also raining worms!"
The old man smiled and took the bug from the monkey's hand and stuffed it into his mouth. It tasted very sweet. Yun Zheng knew that Jiaozhi people had the habit of eating bugs, so he could still stay calm. The monkey pointed at the old man in horror.
There was a surge inside.
"When we walk into the jungle, the jungle is the master. We are guests. We eat whatever the master gives us. Buddha is compassionate and will not begrudge his kindness. Even in remote mountains and remote areas, his virtues will spread widely."
After the old man finished eating the worm, he sat cross-legged on the elephant's head, really looking like an enlightened monk.
Yun Zheng stood on the back of the elephant and looked forward. Hundreds of elephants were waving their trunks to clear the way, and they were shouting from time to time. The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard far away, making snakes, insects and beasts stay away. Standing
The soldier on the elephant's back wielded a long knife to cut off the vines on both sides of the road one by one. Liang Ji stood at the front, holding a crossbow, constantly patrolling the surroundings. As a vanguard, he
Don't dare to be careless in the slightest.
In the jungle on both sides of the road, there are naked Khmer people leaping like flying on both sides, climbing vines like apes and swinging between the big trees. Everyone is carrying a bucket of blow darts on their backs. I heard that.
Each arrow is coated with snake venom, which has the effect of sealing the throat with blood. This thing is not only a tool for them to fight, but also something they hunt and eat. In the jungle with dense branches, it is hard to guard against.
Behind the elephant array are countless pack horses and mules. The cavalry are sitting on the horses, holding whisks in their hands, constantly helping the horses to drive away the dense blood-sucking bugs in the jungle. Although these pack horses and mules are covered with gauze, as long as they stop,
The gauze clothes will be crawling with all kinds of weird bugs.
Zhou Tong personally escorted the rear formation. He was also responsible for leaving eye-catching marks so that the caravan would not get lost on the way back. Although there were Khmer people who could serve as guides, Zhou Tong still maintained a strict attitude towards ethnic groups other than the Song people.
Skeptical attitude.
Cui Da led eleven shopkeepers from large businesses in Sichuan and followed closely behind the army. The clerks and shopkeepers who followed them this time were the most astute and capable people from each business. At the same time, they also brought a large number of people with them.
Guard.
Walking in the mud of the jungle, no one of these usually pampered shopkeepers complained. Seeing that their huge investment was about to be harvested, they would rather die of exhaustion than give up this bloody feast of merchants.
Cui Da did not ride a horse. Six Khmer men carried a light gauze tent. He sat leisurely inside and looked around with interest to enjoy the wonders of the tropical rain forest.
Cui Da is not a soldier, so he can sit in the gauze tent, which is fine. As long as the Khmer people are paid enough, it is not a problem to carry a person through the jungle. And Cui Da is the one who can afford the price.
.
Behind the merchant team, there was a detached army, which was Lang Tan's subordinates. When they had just finished handing over errands to Peng Jiu and walked past Cui Da's gauze tent, they gritted their teeth and said, "I'm crawling in the muddy water with two feet. You
Isn't it natural that you can actually lie down in a gauze tent and sleep? I think you just need to bring a maid to take care of you."
Cui Da took a bunch of bananas from the gauze tent and threw it to Lang Tan and said: "This is my skill. If you have the ability, you can come up. If you don't do it, you have to be a Qiu Ba. You deserve to die from exhaustion."
"Hahahaha, Lao Cui, you must be sour." Lang Tan grabbed a banana, pulled off one, and threw it to the brothers behind him. He peeled a banana himself and took a big bite and continued: "You were raped by your mother in the first place.
Although I suffered a little hardship when I was dragged back, I will definitely find a wife and a shadowy son when I go back this time, and I will give you back to Qiu Ba, if you want, we don't want you."
Cui Da put away his smile and said: "Old man, do you think our trip to Shenglong Mansion can be successful? The big business houses in Sichuan have made heavy bets. If this time is unsuccessful, the business in Sichuan will be hit hard.
, it won’t take three to five years to get over it.”
Lang Tan chuckled and said: "I heard Master Ye Sou say that the most valuable thing in Shenglong Mansion is the Shenmu Palace. The entire palace is made of fine red sandalwood. If you have the ability, demolish that palace.
If you take it back, it will probably be enough for the cost you pay."
Cui Da nodded and opened his mouth to ask shopkeeper Hua, who was riding a mule in front of him: "Old Hua, how much is a chessboard made of rosewood worth? I heard that you gave it to King Han and he was greatly praised!"
The lean shopkeeper rolled his eyes and said, "If you don't understand, stop talking. It's called a chess scale. How can you negotiate the price of something for self-cultivation? But if you have a red sandalwood chess scale, I'll give you a price of three hundred guan."
Cui Da laughed and said: "Just wait, I will get you thousands of red sandalwood chessboards. If you don't give me this price then, I will be in trouble with you."
The flower shopkeeper said: "Red sandalwood is available but not required. If you have the ability to get a few thousand yuan worth of material, I will bankrupt my family and I want it. I'm afraid you won't be able to get it."
Cui Da laughed and covered up the matter. After all, he hadn't seen the palace yet and couldn't do much.
Lang Tan took out a large handful of fried noodle leaves from Cui Da's gauze tent and asked while eating: "Old Cui, how much did we spend on sending troops this time? I think it may be no less than 100,000 yuan."
."
Cui Da smiled bitterly and said: "One hundred thousand guan, you think that one hundred thousand guan is too big. The army is actually worth gold, mountains and silver sea. Not counting the various equipment, food and grass we provide, just the army marching out of Shu.
To get to Guangnan, it cost no less than 70,000 guan. If all were included, it would have been almost 200,000 guan. Therefore, the general knew that the march to Shenglong Mansion was very difficult and in order to prevent the merchants in Shu from going bankrupt, he still persisted.
The purpose of walking around is to fill the holes.”
Lang Tan said strangely: "No, isn't it possible that the wealth in Nong Zhigao's hands is not enough to pay for our military expenses? Forget about the seizure of Hot Spring Pass, the seizures in Pennsylvania alone are probably a lot, right? Could it be that they were all given to you, a black-hearted ghost?
Too greedy for ink."
Cui Da touched his chin and said: "Of course it's enough, but not too much. The people Nong Zhigao plundered were all from poor families, and they didn't have many valuables. The wealthy families in Guangnan ran away with Xinruan before Nong Zhigao came.
, It will take a lot of time to convert those seizures into money. My brother, if you don't have a tenfold profit, who will run with you if you follow the army to do business."
Lang Tan angrily spat out a core at Cui Da. He couldn't argue with such a black-hearted man. The brothers had to fight to the death to get a few bucks, but all the benefits were taken away by these people.
Having nothing to say to the black-hearted merchant, he blew a whistle and hurried towards the main formation with his men. The army marched in a rolling manner, and only in this way could the army be kept on alert at all times.
Marching in the dense forest was extremely difficult, and the physical exertion was even more terrifying. The army had only been walking for two hours before they had to stop and find a dry open-air place to rest.
I originally thought that there would be water everywhere in the jungle, but when I came in, I realized that was not the case at all. There was indeed a lot of water here, but unfortunately there was very, very little drinkable water.
As long as you look at the corpses of wild animals lying beside the pool, you will know that the water here is poisonous, and the mountains are overlapping, the forests are as vast as the sea, the woods are endless swamps, the valleys are thick and dense, jackals and ferocious beasts are rampant, and miasma and malaria are spreading. It is considered a place where
A very dangerous place. The mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, and miasma in Savage Mountain make it difficult for people to guard against, and every blow is a fatal wound.
The road Wu Shengjun walked was not so much a road as a forest path. It was first stepped on by elephants, and later it was continuously widened by people, so these roads came into being.
Yun Zheng was very lucky to have the help of Master Ye Sou and the Khmer people. Without their help, it would be difficult for him to find a clean water source. Without their help, he would have to really fight Li Rizun to enter Jiaozhi.
, when things have developed to this point, it is no longer as simple as a simple combination of interests. Without the Khmer people, the price that I have to pay is too high. Now that I can bypass those important passes and appear under the city of Thang Long, it should be
the best choice.
It had only been less than six days since they entered Linmang, and the soldiers' feet were already swollen with blisters. If they were not baked and dried quickly, they would rot away in a short time.
After finally finding a large area where the army could camp, Yun Zheng ordered the entire army to rest and rest here for two days before continuing on the road.
"Master Ye Sou, please call out the tribesmen who are exploring the path in the forest. They should also rest. As long as they leave enough manpower behind, our road is still long and we cannot withstand damage."
Yun Zheng knew very clearly in the past few days that some people in his army had fallen ill, and the situation was not serious. In addition, although walking with elephants would be attacked by mosquitoes, he had not encountered any poisonous snakes.
and wild beasts.
Those Khmer people who were shouting and running on both sides of the road were in the highest danger. Yun Zheng saw with his own eyes a huge python lying on the roadside with its belly bulging after eating and unable to move. He ordered people to kill the python and break the road.
After opening the stomach, it was discovered that there were three Khmer corpses in the python's belly that had not been digested...
"This is the sincerity of the Khmer people, general. We have almost nothing. The only thing we have is our own lives. Now, we are devoting our lives to asking the general to help the Khmer people get out of the ignorant world and build their own country."
,Only in this way will our sacrifices be meaningful."
Master Ye Sou saw the corpses of his tribesmen being placed on the pyre for incineration. He looked at Yun Zheng with compassion and made his request. (To be continued)