Just parked and set up camp.
Lei Er ran over and rubbed his hands together.
"Old Ren, everyone said that we haven't seen so many ordinary people in a long time. I want to go to the city with my brother who is purchasing medicinal materials."
Ren Ning saw through his little trick at a glance.
After looking up at the sky, he nodded in agreement.
"There are only fifty brothers, and you can only enter half at most. The rest will wait for the next city. Pay attention to the women and children. You must come out before the city gate is closed."
"Okay!" Lei Er touched his pocket excitedly, turned around and was about to leave.
"Wait a minute." Ren Ning called to him, "Let's see if there are any fresh vegetables and fruits that horses like to eat, and buy some for Zhui Feng."
Lei Er glanced at the dark horse next to Ren Ning and nodded, "I understand."
Not long after, he led a group of happy people into Pingxi City.
Ren Ning shook his head.
Sending the soul back to his hometown sounds quite tragic.
But the soldiers in the fortress and the family members nearby have seen many separations in life and death, and have long been used to it.
And now that we can go home, everyone is overjoyed all the way east.
At this time, Gu Shengnan from the Gu family caravan came over with several tall guards.
Ren Ning chatted with her while checking the team's situation.
It turns out that this female business leader came to give gifts to build relationships.
But it's not a big gift, just some horn combs produced in Xiliang.
This is also a Xiliang product that is very popular among the people of Yunchui.
It is said that combing hair with an angle comb can not only cure headaches, heat poisoning and insomnia, but also remove dandruff and protect hair. Even those ornately carved horn combs were favorite accessories for Yunchui ladies.
Ren Ning did not refuse and accepted it with a smile.
In the blink of an eye, night fell, and Lei Er and his party left the city with smiles on their faces.
Ren Ning checked that the number of people was correct, then turned to look at Lei Er.
"Old Ren, you don't know. Pingxicheng is also poor. We can buy some medicines, but not much..."
Lei Er was nibbling something while flipping through the basket he brought out, "You want Zhui Feng's snacks, right?"
"We entered late, and the vegetable market was almost gone. We didn't find anything that horses particularly like to eat."
He pulled out a few green vegetables and said, "That's it!"
"It's already very good." Ren Ning asked people to put away various medicines first, and did not dislike it. "Tear off the outer layers of leaves, it's still quite fresh,"
After speaking, he whistled.
The black horse immediately came running over.
"Zhui Feng, your snack." Ren Ning cheered and raised the green vegetables in his hand.
Zhui Feng tried chewing a few mouthfuls and found it tasted good. He swung his tail happily and ate it.
A night of silence.
Ren Ning asked people to turn around.
After a while, the soldiers and women returning home knew that a small and medium-sized caravan would join the team tomorrow.
"The Gu family caravan will walk with us to the Xinglan Grand Canal."
"They will pay the escort fee, which will be distributed to everyone at that time. Women and children will be calculated on a household basis, and each household will receive one tael of silver; each of the fortress soldiers will receive three taels."
Everyone was overjoyed.
Especially the officers and soldiers of the fortress, which was equivalent to three and a half months of military service for nothing, so they expressed no objection.
Early the next morning, the huge team began to set off.
After all, carrying more than 600 jars of ashes is a taboo.
So the vehicles of the Gu family's caravan walked in front. After their car had finished driving, the convoy coming from the fortress followed.
Travel, rest, and travel again.
Everything seemed to be the same as when they first left the fortress.
However, there are many people and long queues, so it is more troublesome to find a place to park and rest or stay overnight.
There must at least be enough water for the horses and livestock in the team to drink, and enough open space for parking. You can't park a long motorcade on the post road and block the road.
Fortunately, the terrain in Dingxi County is similar to that of grassland, so it is not difficult to find an open area to camp.
Ma Dali rushed over.
"Commander, we can reach the Luoxia Mountains tomorrow afternoon. It will not be easy to find a larger place to camp after entering the mountains."
Ren Ning spread out the map in his hand.
The map in my hand is very messy, even the military map produced by the fortress is the same. There are only a few lines marking some important geographical locations.
It shouldn't be too small to be called a mountain range, but the Luoxia Mountains are just a few thick curved lines running north-south on the map.
Ma Dali laughed.
"This mountain range is quite high and runs north-south. It blocks all the dry wind blowing from the grassland in Dingxi County. Therefore, the climate on both sides of the mountain range is completely different. When you get near Luoxia Mountain, you no longer have to worry about water sources. "
Ren Ning didn't care about water sources or anything like that.
He tapped the curve of the mountain range on the map and turned to ask Ma Dali: "Old Ma, is there any danger on this mountain?"
Ma Dali hesitated for a moment.
"With such a large mountain range, there must be bandits and robbers on it. It is said that there are several nests. However, the ancient merchant leader said that their number is not large and they dare not touch the large caravans passing by."
Ren Ning chuckled.
The Gu family caravan is famous in Yunchui and Xiliang.
But it's not because it's powerful, but because its leader is a woman.
In fact, the Gu family caravan is just a small and medium-sized caravan. Excluding the grain and grass trucks in the team, there were less than a hundred commercial vehicles actually transporting goods. There are only about forty guards accompanying the team.
But it's a good thing to have a good reputation.
At least all the way east, I saw their caravan flags, and the inns along the way were all polite.
Even when Ren Ning put away the flamboyant Xingluo military flag, the post officials didn't know that the caravan was followed by a team sending Ling back home.
While walking the next day, the team stopped.
After Ren Ning asked, he learned that the axle of a car in the Gu family's caravan was broken.
The car breaks down and needs to be repaired.
But the car was loaded with heavy Panlong stones, which made it very troublesome to repair. It took a long time before we could move on.
It turned out that we were supposed to go to the Luoxia Mountains in the afternoon, but ended up arriving in the evening.
When we get near the mountains, it seems that spring with hanging clouds has really arrived.
The front is finally no longer full of desolation, but a thick green. Whether it's the woods on the mountain or the grass on the roadside, they are all full of life.
"Commander, there is an open space on the mountainside ahead, suitable for parking for the night." The soldier who was surveying the terrain in front ran back and reported.
Ren Ning nodded, "Inform the Gu family caravan to park in the open space in front for the night."
The messenger returned the favor and hurriedly ran back and forth in the long queue to deliver the news.
More than two hundred cars gradually left the post road and drove into the flat land next to it. Once again, they formed a huge circle, surrounding the women and children of the fortress, and the livestock of the caravan.
Staying with the caravan has its disadvantages and advantages, at least you don't have to worry about running out of meat.
Setting up camp to cook, killing sheep and feeding horses, taking care of the young and old, people who had been traveling all day jumped out of their carriages and got busy happily.
Ren Ning doesn't need to do any of this.
He did not dismount, but looked back at the blood-red sunset in the western sky, and took out his binoculars to look into the mountains and forests ahead.
Ahem!
Ma Dali and Lei Er next to them looked at the telescope in Ren Ning's hand and drooled wildly.
Along the way, they had seen Ren Ning often taking out this thing and looking around.
At first I thought it was a gadget. After later learning that this was an artifact that could see clearly from a distance, the two of them were half-convinced and their hearts were itching.
"Commander, let me see how to use this treasure."
"Old Ren, the day before yesterday you said you would lend me your clairvoyance. Hehe, now is the time."
Ren Ning couldn't laugh or cry.
He stuffed the telescope into his hand in disgust.
"Take it! What's so fun about this? Remember to give it to Lao Ma after you've seen it. This will save you two from drooling over me every day."
