choke element

Chapter 239 Han'er

Since ancient times, the salt industry has been the source of wealth for the imperial court.

Since the founding of the country, Dajin has relied even more on the salt industry financially.Even if the imperial court made great efforts to push through inspections every now and then to expand the income from property tax, that is, material money, by the Taihe period, the annual income of the saltworks was still seven times that of material money.

Official salt is like this, and private salt is more profitable.Jinan City was the first center for the three major salt companies in Shandong, Baodi, and Cangzhou to transfer salt to the inland, so the business was prosperous and the population gathered.And along the Xiaoqing River that runs through the salt field, there are countless heroes who were born of salt.

More than [-] miles west of Changbai Mountain where Dong Jin took refuge with his family, there is a rolling high slope called Hongtang Ridge.It is said that thousands of years ago, Zheng Xuan, a great Confucian, wrote a book here, saying that when the Song Dynasty was strong and prosperous in the Southern Dynasty, another minister named Fan Zhongyan lived here.

In modern times, all these relics have disappeared, and Hongtangling has become a place where private salt dealers occupy.After the Mongols invaded Jinan, some heroes gathered rebels here and refused to surrender to the Mongols.

There are now five to six thousand people on the entire Hongtang Ridge, most of whom are people who escaped from Jinan City.On that day, the Mongolian army suddenly entered the city, and there was great chaos inside and outside the city. 6000 to 6 people fled the city and scattered in the countryside.Many people were later captured by the Mongolian army and returned. Most of the men worked as coolies or filled the trenches, while the women were treated as slaves or military prostitutes and were ravaged.

Only a small number of lucky ones can escape the catastrophe. After all, the main force of the Mongolian army did not stay in Jinan Prefecture for a long time, and the Mongolians plundered the four fields, usually avoiding the complex mountainous areas.

Of course, this is also due to the fact that the Mongols are not familiar with the unspoken rules of the land boundaries of the Kingdom of Jin.They didn't expect that the villages that seem to be in the fertile plains are usually poor and empty, but the land of private salt dealers, those valleys and valleys are rich in oil and water.

There are naturally difficulties on Hongtang Ridge.There are water sources, wild vegetables, and wild fruits here, and towards Changbai Mountain, there are also two privately cultivated dry fields in the mountains, but even if you count all the grain stored by the private salt dealers over the years, it is not enough to support five or six thousand mouths for a long time.

Zhang Rongsui, the leader of the rebel army and a native of Licheng in Jinan, reorganized his troops and went down the mountain to plunder food.

Originally, private salt dealers were mainly middle-aged men who dared to fight, and they carried weapons with them.Since the Mongolian army invaded Hebei, Zhang Rong felt that the situation was not good, so he recruited a few blacksmiths to build gun heads on the mountain. Now almost everyone on the mountain has a long gun.He recruited many hunters and formed a team of archers.

As long as he doesn't encounter Mongolian cavalry, Zhang Rong is quite confident in the fighting power of his subordinates.

They first arrived at Zhangqiu County, but found that most of the soldiers and civilians in the county had fled, and the granary had already been carried away by the Mongols.The only people left in the city are the old and the weak, women and children, and they all starve to death.

Zhang Rong left some food for them, and his family became more and more distressed.So he led his troops to continue to the north, intending to cross the Xiaoqing River, and went to Jiyang County to see if he could gain anything.

This area is frequented by private salt dealers. The roads along the way are remote, the terrain is rugged, and there are many reeds and forests. Mongolians rarely come here.So everyone is inevitably a little relaxed.

But today is also really strange, the group of people just came out of the forest in the mountains when they were discovered by a group of Mongolian cavalry.

At noon, some of these Mongolian cavalrymen were busy setting up round tents, some were grilling meat, and some were half lying by the stream, washing their feet in the stream.

But they were extremely vigilant, and as soon as they saw Zhang Rong and the others, they immediately got on their horses with a yell.As soon as some cavalrymen took off their saddles, they jumped onto the saddleless horses, and with a machete in their hands, they rushed towards Zhang Rong and the others.

The Mongols are so fierce that they can't fight against them at all.Without hesitation, Zhang Rong ordered his subordinates to flee into the woods behind him, and he and several archers personally guarded the rear.

His archery skills were good, he stood on the spot and fired two arrows, one missed and the other hit a person.But the Mongol happened to be in armor, and continued to charge with arrows as if nothing had happened.Zhang Rong didn't care about regrets, guessing that his companions were coming to the woods soon, threw away the bow and arrow, and started to run wildly.

Seeing that there were still more than [-] steps away from the forest, nearly a hundred Mongolian cavalry reined in their horses and spread out to both sides, while drawing their bows and firing arrows.

Only the sound of "Beng Beng" bowstring flicking was heard, and several archers around Zhang Rong were shot instantly.

Fortunately, these Mongols didn't seem to have come to fight specially, they used light arrows.Except for one person who was killed by arrows, several people who were hit by the arrows kept screaming, most of them used their hands and feet, and continued to struggle into the woods.

Only Liu Bin, Zhang Rong's fellow countryman and a tall man, was shot in the left thigh.He hopped vigorously on one leg, his speed was not much different from his usual walking speed, how could he escape in time?
Zhang Rong was about to draw his sword to cover him, but at this moment, his heart broke, and he ran behind Liu Bin, dragged him over, and then dragged him back quickly.

At this time, the Mongolian cavalry had rushed to a little distance on both sides, and then turned back. Most of them laughed at Zhang Rong and others' distressed appearance. Only a few cavalry came closer and continued to shoot.

Zhang Rong dragged Liu Bin, facing the whizzing arrows all the way, and retreated into the forest.

The Mongols reined in their horses outside the forest for a long time, and then tentatively shot a few more arrows.Seeing no movement in the woods, that's all.

Zhang Rong dragged Liu Bin all the way to the depths of the forest, and when he saw his companions on the left and right surrounded him, he let go of his hands panting heavily: "Damn, let's see if Liu Bin is dead."

Just now, in order to avoid the arrows, he rushed to the brambles and bushes. Liu Bin was dragged by him, and he didn't know how many times he was hit by stones, and how many times he was stabbed and cut by thorns, but they should all be flesh and blood injuries.

Everyone agreed, but they didn't move. Everyone looked at Zhang Rong in horror.

"See what I do?"

Zhang Rong felt something was wrong with what he said, and felt heavy on his face.He reached out and touched his face, only to feel the excruciating pain, and his mouth was full of blood.It turned out that an arrow shot obliquely, penetrated from under his eye socket, pierced straight into his mouth, cut his tongue, and right now there was a mouthful of blood gushing out of his mouth.

Fortunately, it was a light arrow with a slender cluster of arrows. It only pierced a hole, but there were no major tears or cuts.

Many subordinates shouted: "Hurry up, hurry up, take the sackcloth! Quickly take the knife and pick the arrows!"

The private salt dealers are all experts in crimes and crimes, good at wielding knives and swords, and they are also quite good at dealing with injuries caused by knives and arrows.At that moment, someone supported Zhang Rong and made him open his mouth wide so that the knife could reach in and cut the arrow clusters.

"The arrow cluster is not rusted!" the man with the knife said loudly, pressing Zhang Rong's head hard.

When I hit the arrow just now, I didn't feel it, but now that the arrow shaft moves a little, the flesh under the eye socket is involved, and the pain is so painful that I want to die.Zhang Rong snorted coldly, kicked his feet wildly, finally cut off the arrow cluster, and when he wanted to pull out the arrow shaft, the pain was so unbearable that he couldn't do it.

Zhang Rong lost too much blood, he felt a little dizzy at this moment, and everyone had double images.He knew that if he procrastinated, his life would be at stake, so he lay down on his back and called a subordinate: "Come on, step on my forehead! Step on it hard!"

After that subordinate stepped on firmly, another subordinate pulled out the arrow vigorously.Zhang Rong let out a muffled snort and shook his head violently, but fortunately he was firmly stepped on and could not move much.

When the arrow shaft was pulled out, several subordinates rushed up together: "Herbal medicine! Herbal medicine! And anointing oil! Apply the anointing oil!"

Someone else took a sackcloth and wrapped it around Zhang Rong's face more than a dozen times, and stuffed a ball of sackcloth into his mouth to block both ends of the wound.

Zhang Rong lay dizzy for a while, but dared not move like a corpse.After a long time, he asked in a muffled voice, "Is Liu Bin okay?"

The sackcloth blocked his tongue, and he couldn't speak clearly. After asking several times, Liu Bin limped over: "Brother Shihui, I'm fine!"

"Where's Ma Wu and Ma Liu? Where's He Boquan?"

"Ma Wu is fine, Ma Liu's arm is crippled, He Boquan was shot in the ribs, and fainted...whether he can live in the future depends on the sky."

Zhang Rong cursed loudly.

"It's odd," he said.

"Yeah, why did the Mongols suddenly inspect Xiaoqinghe? They usually..."

"It's not an inspection... If it's an inspection, it won't be camped." Zhang Rong only felt his cheeks, cheeks and tongue twitching, and the pain was burning.Every time he said a word, he broke out in cold sweat.

He insisted: "Someone is coming from the lower reaches of the Xiaoqing River, and these Mongolians are ready to welcome them."

Liu Bin was surprised: "Could it be that the main force of the Mongolian army turned back? I heard that the fourth Mongolian prince led the army to Laizhou. Could it be that they won the battle and retreated?"

Hongtang Ridge is not far from Jinan Prefecture. If the Mongolian army increases its troops in Jinan, there will be big troubles on Hongtang Ridge.If it cannot be transferred in time, wouldn't so many human lives be handed over to the Mongols for massacre?

Zhang Rong put his hands on the ground and slowly got up.

When the two feet just stepped on the ground, the feet were a little weak, and the ground seemed to be shaking.He stomped his feet vigorously, forcing himself to lift his spirits. The vibration of stomping made his mouth taste salty again.

It's a wound on the tongue that's open, it's all right.The wound here on the cheek seems to have healed a bit, just don't open your mouth too much.

"Let Ma Wu choose a few clever ones and follow me. Let's go around the Shiwuligou and take a look in the direction of Xiaoqinghe. You bring people and wait here. If there is any disharmony, the wolf smoke will be called."

(End of this chapter)