A horse team of two to three hundred people walked through the mountains, escorted by several officials at the front and rear, and came towards Wang Yuan and others.
"Back off!"
Qin raised his head and shouted loudly, and the entire team immediately turned around and walked back.
After turning around for two miles, they finally came to a relatively spacious place. Wang Yuan and the caravan porters stood quietly by the roadside, waiting for the other party to pass by.
Several officials responsible for clearing the road saw Wang Yuan and others wearing Confucian scarves. Although they did not stop for this reason, they clasped their fists and saluted them from a distance.
Living things have no need to return gifts, and there is no need to return gifts.
The huge team in front of us is the official tea-clearing team.
Tea farmers have been growing and making tea for generations. The output of every ten tea trees is taxed one-tenth, and then sold to the government at a flat price for two taels of dry tea, which is transported by the tea team to the tea horse department for unified deployment.
The tea and horse racing department in the northwest is located in Hanzhong, Shaanxi, and the tea and horse racing department in the southwest is located in Bozhou, Sichuan.
The Yang family in Bozhou is one of the richest chieftains, because Bozhou is the distribution center of the tea and horse trade in the southwest.
Some tea leaves from Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, and even Huguang need to be transported to the Bozhou Tea Horse Company in advance. Merchants can transport grain to the Tea Horse Company in exchange for tea, and then buy tea and go to Tibet and other border areas to exchange for horses, earning money every time.
Make huge profits.
This system has huge loopholes, and eunuchs and civil servants have taken advantage of it, causing the official government to lose money when transporting tea.
When Yang Yiqing was supervising Ma Zheng in Shaanxi, he carried out reforms. This was also one of the contents of the Hongzhi reform. That is, the "official luck" was changed to "commercial purchase". After the wealthy merchants obtained the commercial purchase qualifications, they could go directly to the tea-producing areas.
Tea is purchased from tea farmers and then transported to the Tea Horse Company for reporting.
This move ruined the wealth of countless eunuchs and civil servants, so regardless of whether Yang Yiqing opposed Liu Jin or not, he would be beaten to the end by Eunuch Liu. Who made him guilty of public outrage?
Zhengde succeeded to the throne and Liu Jin took full power.
The tea and horse trade in Shaanxi was okay, as Liu Jin's base camp was there, and there were many ways to line his own pockets, so he still used "commercial purchase". The southwest region returned to the old way, all using the old "official movement" system, and it was in the hands of eunuchs, even civil servants
There is not much money left.
The civil servants would definitely be unhappy if the eunuchs were allowed to eat alone, and those whose interests were harmed would resolutely join the anti-eunuch army!
…
After successfully completing the one-way road crossing, the caravan and the students continued to move forward.
June of the lunar calendar is midsummer.
Although the temperature in Guizhou is not high, it often exceeds 30 degrees Celsius. The most uncomfortable thing is the heat and humidity. The environment is green and it rains every now and then. The humidity in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty was very high.
"Poof!"
While walking, a student named Lu Yu suddenly fell to the ground.
"Qin, hold your head, wait a moment, someone has fainted!" the students shouted.
Qin Hao and the caravan were walking in front and stopped immediately after hearing this. Because the mountain road was too narrow, he could not come back to check, so he could only ask: "But are you sick?"
The person next to me replied: "It seems to be a fever."
Fever means heatstroke. Wang Yuan led his horse and stood behind him, reminding him: "Open his clothes, let the people in front and behind him spread out to breathe, and then feed him some cold water, and sprinkle some on his face and chest."
People were busy rescuing people there, and Wang Yuan also took the opportunity to sit down and rest.
After a while, Lu Yu finally woke up from being pinched, but his head was so dizzy that he couldn't walk on the mountain road.
He couldn't afford to waste time, so he had to rush into the city before dark, otherwise he would have to sleep in the wilderness. Before he could rest, he was helped by others to get on the horse and lay on his stomach, and continued on the bumpy road.
It was still sunny in the morning, but dark clouds came over in the afternoon.
Qin quickly finished the food and drank water while saying, "Hurry up and get into the city before the rain."
Wang Yuan immediately quickened his pace and asked, "Are you okay?"
Li Ying smiled and said: "What's this little road? Have you forgotten that we crossed Miao Mountain?"
"I'm about to die, I'm hot and tired." Yue Zhen said as she wiped away her sweat. The more she wiped her sweat, the more it became because it was even hotter and muggier before the rain.
Wang Yuan encouraged him and said: "The road should be much easier to walk over this ridge. Then you can ride a horse and a donkey."
Guizhou’s official system is really a disgrace to the official system!
There are steep trails in many places, but thanks to the strength of the Guizhou horses and Guizhou donkeys, we can still walk normally even with loads of goods on our backs.
Wang Yuan even encountered some horseless caravans on the road, relying entirely on manpower to transport goods. Their shelves have two wooden legs. If you get tired, you can stop and rest. The wooden legs are just the supports that touch the ground.
.
Carrying the goods from Kunming to Guiyang, crossing mountains and ridges in the wind and sun, Wang Yuan could not imagine how they persisted.
"Boom!"
As soon as we came down the mountain, there was a loud thunder.
The mountain breeze brought a chill, and everyone's heart felt chilly. It was 100% likely to rain today!
Most of the students were riding donkeys and horses, except for two poor boys, who were trotting behind the team carrying book boxes.
As they walked, raindrops began to fall. Commander Qin immediately ordered to stop and took out an oilcloth to cover the horses and cargo. People also got under the oilcloth to take shelter from the rain.
This kind of oilcloth is made of cotton cloth and tung oil. It is very waterproof, but it is easy to burn.
A heavy rain fell until dark, and finally the rain tapered off. However, the rainwater gathered into a stream and flowed down the mountain road, submerging Wang Yuan's ankles.
The oilcloth was of no use, and everyone was soaked in the water.
Everyone gathered on the ramp to eat, and Wang Yuan asked: "Boss Qin, are your goods okay?"
"It's okay, I've already wrapped it twice with oil paper." Qin banged his head on the flint crazily, but it couldn't be ignited. The fire folds and collodion he hid on his body were all soaked with water.
Wang Yuan hid some in his book box, but he couldn't find any dry firewood, and the bonfire he made was thick with smoke. Although it couldn't keep him warm for the time being, the effect of repelling mosquitoes was immediate.
The sun in the morning, the rain in the afternoon, and sleeping in the open at night directly caused a porter and two students to fall ill, and Yue Zhen's book boy also fell ill.
This is less than a quarter of the way!
The next day, the two sick students and Yue Zhen's scholar were left in Anshun City to recuperate slowly. They were not alone. There were several Guizhou scholars in the inn, and they all fell ill and stopped on the way.
If you are resting, you can also learn from each other even if you are sick.
Fortunately, four classmates, Wang Yuan, Li Ying, Yue Zhen and Zou Mu, can bear it better.
Although Zou Mu had a cold, he had no fever and had a runny nose all the way.
After passing Zhenning, you will reach Guansuoling.
It is said that during Zhuge Liang's southern expedition, Guan Suo once stationed his troops here.
When the team passed the Suoling Pass, the number of members was reduced again. One unlucky guy urinated and was bitten by a poisonous snake. Qin turned his head to see the appearance of the poisonous snake, and his face changed drastically with fear. He then cut off the man's two toes with a knife and threw him ahead.
Chacheng is slowly recuperating.
On the 20th day after the journey, we passed through Pu'an Prefecture and were about to leave the boundary of Guizhou.
Wang Yuan was almost going crazy. No matter how rugged the Guiyang side was, it was still the provincial capital and was the flattest place in Guizhou.
From Anshun Prefecture to the junction of Yunnan and Guizhou, there are rolling mountains. Three-quarters of the day is spent walking with horses. Not only are the people tired from walking, but the horses also lose weight!
When a student walked to Pu'an Prefecture, he heard that the most difficult section of the road had just begun. He was so frightened that he returned to Guiyang halfway and refused to take another step forward until he died.
There are Pingyi Guards on the Yunnan border, and Qianhu Posts on the Guizhou border. But not only did they fail to wipe out the barbarians, they were defeated by the thief Milu ten years ago. The commander of the guards and Qianhu were killed in battle.
Clean and tidy.
At that time, there were countless defeated soldiers, and many of them fled into the mountains and became bandits on the Yunnan-Guizhou border.
When the Pingyi Guards from Yunnan came to suppress them, the bandits fled to Guizhou. When the Pingyi Qianhu from Guizhou came to suppress them, they fled to Yunnan. Anyway, the distance is not far, and they can leave the province after climbing one or two mountains, which is both a
It is a must pass place on the Yunnan-Guizhou Tea Horse Trade Road, and it is a leisurely trip back and forth.
Well, Wang Yuan met bandits.
There were sixty or seventy people in the bandit gang, and the leader even wore leather armor.
Boss Qin seemed to be an old acquaintance with the bandits. He asked his men to send money to the bandits, and he clasped his fists and said, "Brother Zhang, thank you for your hard work. Please accept your kindness."
"It's easy to say," the bandit leader named Brother Zhang weighed the money in his hand, but did not get out of the way, "Qin Wu, you and I have known each other for almost eight years, and I can't let you go today. You and your people
, and all your goods, come back to the village with me. If you are willing to Luocao, kill all the students and let you take the fourth position in the village."
Qin put his head to hold the handle of the knife and sneered: "No need to discuss?"
"There is no need to discuss," Brother Zhang shook his head and said, "Just half a month ago, Brother Pang Pang of 'Zhensanshan' was arrested by the army. Unless the army releases him, the King of Heaven will not even think of passing through this road.
"
Chief Qin was extremely angry: "'Zhensanshan' has been arrested. You are going to rob the prison. How can you be considered a hero by intercepting merchants?"
Brother Zhang smiled and said: "I'm not stupid. There are five thousand troops in the Pingyi Guards, and at least six or seven hundred can fight, and they are easy to defend and difficult to attack. I am a military household who escaped from there, how could I bring him with me?"
Hundreds of bandits will be killed back. As long as the official road is blocked, this year's spring tea will not be shipped. The eunuchs will hunt down and scare the commander Wang to death. If he doesn't let him go for a day, I will.
Japan is closed to official channels!"
"Let's talk about it. I'll give you half of the goods and you can let us go." Qin said gloomily.
Brother Zhang shook his head and said: "No. I'll give you two options: First, go up the mountain with people and goods. From now on, we will be brothers, sharing the money with a big scale and eating meat with a big bowl; second, you can leave and take the goods with you."
Stay. There are still these scholars who must come back to the village with me. If the scholar is kidnapped and brought back to do something, we can force the Pingyi Guards to release them!"
"Do you want to force me to death?"
Qin pointed his head at Li Ying: "That is the third son of Mr. Li's military family in Guizhou. If something goes wrong here, how can I hang around in Guiyang from now on?"
"The young master of the general's army?" Brother Zhang was not surprised but delighted, "I heard that general Li was busy suppressing the bandits. He has not been able to suppress the bandits for two years. He must not have time to come here. This third young master Li is worth a lot of money.
, maybe we can get Brother Pang Pang back. Someone, bring them all back to the village!"