Dapanbao.
At dusk that day, Wang Yue entered the fort on horseback. Looking at the lively military households and civilians in the streets, Wang Yue also had a smile on his face.
"It's really unbelievable that in just a few months, a small fire road pier has turned into such a large-scale fort. The commander is really a god. Not to mention the Lingshan Guard, even the entire Ming Dynasty has such ability. See you more!”
Maybe Wang Yue was used to flattering him. Thinking about this at this time, he also started to compliment Liu Yan out of habit.
But then Wang Yue's heart collapsed, and Liu Yan asked himself to beat Sun Qian, the private salt dealer, but several days passed, and Wang Yue couldn't even find him. Sun Qian seemed to have evaporated from the world, and he could not see him alive or dead. Not here.
"How can I report back to the commander when I go back?"
Wang Yue was thinking as he came outside the courtyard of the general flag office: "It's better to report this to Commander A."
In the main hall, Liu Yan frowned slightly after hearing Wang Yue's report and said, "Let's leave it like this for now. The salt dealer must be running around. It's not a big deal if he can't find him for a few days."
Wang Yue breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Jia Zhang Mingjian, it is indeed like this."
Liu Yan said: "But you should keep this matter in mind. Remember to keep looking for Sun Qian. If you have any news, report it to me as soon as possible."
"Yes, my subordinates must bear this in mind."
In the blink of an eye, it was August 12th. Although it was already autumn, the weather was still hot. At this time, the salt drying field was on track. The military households busy in the salt drying field were not only women, but also many young men. come over.
At this time, Dapanbao was well-known. During this period, military households and a small number of refugees continued to come to seek refuge. In just over a month, Dapanbao had an increase of more than 70 military households and a population of more than 300 people.
Liu Yan immediately transferred more than a hundred of them, women and young men, to the salt drying field to make every effort to increase the production of sea salt.
Most of the remaining population settled in Juntun and followed Chen Xun to reclaim wasteland in the northwest. Although more than 3,000 acres of cultivated land in Dapanbao have been reclaimed now, with the increase in population, it is no longer enough and must continue to be reclaimed.
Opening up wasteland, building irrigation wells, purchasing cattle and farm tools, expanding salt drying fields, continuing to build fort walls and internal facilities, etc., Liu Yan's monthly expenses have reached more than 1,700 taels. Silver, of which purchasing and labor costs are the bulk.
Fortunately, Liu Yan now has two incomes from the soap workshop and the salt drying field. Otherwise, facing the current situation, he would be really stretched.
That night, the weather was extremely hot and muggy. Liu Yan was lying in the room tossing and turning, and unknowingly he thought of Wang Yunhe.
Ever since Wang Yunhe gave Liu Yan ointment last time, Liu Yan felt a little softer in his heart. Later, when buying soybean oil or going to Wangjiazhuang, he also went to Wanfu Oil Factory several times, but neither of them went further.
"well!"
Liu Yan sighed and said with some self-blame: "Liu Yan, Liu Yan, I am a girl, it is good enough to take the initiative to give things, why can't you take the initiative!"
Liu Yan turned over, and then secretly wondered if he should find an opportunity to go to Wanfu Oil Factory again to think about what gifts to give Wang Yunhe.
Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door. Liu Yan suddenly turned over and asked loudly: "Who!"
Wang Bo said anxiously outside the door: "Chief A, the salt drying field was attacked!"
Liu Yan suddenly became angry, grabbed the Yan Ling Dao with one hand, and then pushed the door open and rushed out: "Gather your men and horses, and the Ye Bu team, come with me to support, tell Wang Yue to immediately lead people to guard the fort. , and at the same time, let Chen Xun lead his people to patrol the military camp overnight!"
"yes!"
Liu Yan was wearing T-shirt at this time and had no time to change his clothes. He hurriedly got on his horse and rushed to the south gate of Dapanbao.
After a while, the eighteen Dunjun troops from Wang Bo's team and the ten Yebushou soldiers led by Miao Shao and Xu Ming were all ready to go and assembled outside the suspension bridge.
Wang Yue also summoned his eighteen Dunjun troops and began to stand guard at the south gate and the fort wall that was about to be completed. Many young men in the fort were also greeted by Wang Yue and distributed wooden sticks and some weapons. Assist in guarding the inside and outside of Daban Fortress.
"Quick, go to the salt drying field!"
Liu Yan took the lead and rode forward with the Ye Bu Shu team led by Miao Shao and Xu Ming. Wang Bo led 18 Dun troops, all of whom were fully armed with spears, blunderbuss, and armor. Rushing towards the salt drying field.
"There was no sound of fighting!"
Liu Yan and others rushed to the north of the salt drying field. Xu Ming frowned slightly and said, "Captain Jia, the battle is over!"
Half an hour has passed since a Dunjun from Zhang Yi's team came back to report the news, and now everyone has arrived here. Liu Yan frowned and said: "It seems that the enemy is definitely not a little thief, and his actions are not sloppy at all! "
Miao Shao and Xu Ming were convinced.
At this time, the first thing Liu Yan thought of was Old Mrs. Xu, and he thought to himself, "Is he that old man?"
Liu Yan first foiled Mr. Xu's attempt to annex the oil mill at Wanfu Oil Factory, and then poached Liu Dayu's people, leaving Liu Dayu deflated in vain. The two sides had already forged a grudge, and with Mr. Xu's reputation and temper, he returned the favor. It's really possible to send someone here to cause trouble.
"Walk!"
Soon everyone arrived at the salt drying field. At this time, everyone living in the salt drying field lived here, and many houses had been built around the salt drying field.
At this time, everyone was cleaning up the mess. Liu Yan asked Miao Shao and Xu Ming to lead people to patrol the surrounding area to prevent the enemy from leaving and returning. Then Liu Yan rode his horse and looked around. He saw that the two salt-drying pools were damaged in some places, but fortunately the impact was not big and a little repair would be enough. Several houses were also set alight. Although the fire was strong at this time, It was extinguished, but these houses are no longer habitable and need to be renovated.
"Captain A!"
Zhang Yi came over with a tired look on his face. Liu Yan got off his horse and asked, "Is everyone okay?"
Zhang Yi first apologized to Liu Yan, and after being helped up by Liu Yan, he said: "Commander A, at midnight today, a group of people suddenly appeared and started smashing and setting fire to various places in the salt drying field. My subordinates immediately led people to fight, and at the same time, there were The young men also began to resist. The subordinates led people to fight fiercely with them for less than a moment, and the enemy withdrew. "
"What are the casualties?"
Zhang Yi's face darkened and he said: "Three of our subordinates were killed and three injured, and the rest of the young men also injured more than a dozen people. Several houses in the salt field were burned down. Fortunately, the salt pond and aqueduct were not affected. big."
"Where's the salt in the warehouse?"
"Part of it was robbed, about more than a thousand kilograms."
Liu Yan nodded, his face becoming more and more gloomy. He had never suffered such a big loss before. Was he one of Mr. Xu's people?
"Can we capture prisoners?"
Zhang Yi shook his head and said: "The enemy retreated quickly, but my subordinates killed four enemies. When the enemy withdrew, they wanted to take the four corpses away, but they were stopped by my subordinates."
"Well done!"
At this moment, Wang Bo and his team arrived. Liu Yan immediately asked Wang Bo to strengthen the vigilance in the surrounding area, and then drove Miao Shao and Xu Ming back.
Liu Yan said to Miao Shao: "You stay up all night and check the tracks to see if you can find any traces of the enemy and give chase."
"yes!"
Then Liu Yan said to Xu Ming: "You stay and check the four corpses. I want to know who dared to attack my Dapan Fort!"
"yes!"
Zhang Yi gave guidance and found that the enemy was withdrawing to the west, so Miao Shao led his troops to set out west, preparing to search for traces of the enemy along the way.
Liu Yan took Xu Ming to an open space, where the four enemy corpses were placed side by side.
Xu Ming knelt down and took a closer look, while Liu Yan also knelt down and watched.
I saw that these four corpses were all strong men in their thirties or forties, with strong bodies and bronze faces. The hands of the four corpses were covered with calluses. Liu Yan also noticed that the clothes of the four corpses were very distinctive. They were not the bunts commonly worn by the people at this time, but a patterned cloth, which was different in style from bunts.
"Captain A, if my subordinates guessed correctly, these four people are all pirates!"
"Pirates?"
Liu Yan was taken aback and asked, "Why do you see it?"
"Please look at the length of the nails. The calluses on the hands of these four people are all vertically striped. This is caused by their long-term use of ropes. In addition, judging from the color and roughness of their skin, it is caused by living at the beach or at sea all year round. The most important thing is that What is obvious is that the clothes they are wearing are the kind of clothes our pirates in the Lingshan Guard area often wear to make it easier to move on board."
Liu Yan nodded and said: "I didn't expect that the salt drying farm would attract pirates just after it started to make profits!"
But now Liu Yan is not sure whether the pirates who came to attack the salt drying field tonight are related to Mrs. Xu.
"It seems we can only wait for Miao Shao to come back and see if the Ye Bu Shu team can find any clues."
Then Liu Yan said to Xu Ming: "Tomorrow morning, go to Wangjiazhuang and report the situation here to the team leader!"
"yes!"
This salt drying farm has 30% of Wang Wenzhen's shares. Since he gets money every month, if something happens to the salt drying farm, Wang Wenzhen, the superior official, cannot stay out of it.
Early the next morning, Xu Ming mounted his horse and went to Wangjiazhuang to report the news. Not long after, Miao Shao led his team back.
At this time, Liu Yan was cleaning up the mess in the salt drying field. Liu Yan sent people to invite doctors from Wangjiazhuang overnight. Now the several casualties of Dunjun and Qingzhuang have been properly taken care of.
In addition, Liu Yan also made a promise in front of everyone in the salt field: each of the three Dunjun soldiers who died in the battle will be given a pension of twenty taels of silver, and the remaining injured Dunjun soldiers will each be given between five and fifteen taels of silver according to the severity of their injuries. The injured young people are given pensions ranging from five taels to ten taels each.
All of these people breathed a sigh of relief.
You must know that now in all parts of the Ming Dynasty, let alone the Dunjun, even if the elites of the Nine Sides are injured or killed, the court may not necessarily provide pensions. Even if they do, it will not be much, and even the money for the coffin is not enough. This is also the time when the Ming army is fighting. One reason for his low strength: I can even take my life, but the court is not willing to give me a penny. Who would go to the battlefield to fight for my life?
After doing this, Liu Yan selected three young men from the salt drying field to join Zhang Yi's army. These three people were all young men who had participated in the battle last night and were confirmed to be brave by Zhang Yi. .
Then Liu Yan said to Zhang Yi: "The production of the salt drying field cannot be stopped. During this period, you have to be more careful and call out the young men to be on guard at night. From today on, people must be sent to contact the fort every day without interruption. .”
"yes!"
Liu Yan then led the Wang Bo Team and the Ye Bu Shu Team back to Dapanbao, preparing to wait for news from the team officer Wang Wenzhen in the fort.
