What gave Ouyang Xuan and others a headache was how to enter Liuliba's village. Because of the deep forests and dangerous roads in Jiguan Mountain area, it has been a place where Han and Tibetan people have lived together since the Tang Dynasty. In the more than 20 years since Kuoduan invaded Shu, the Southern Song Dynasty officials have never formed effective governance here, and it has always been a foreign land. Because bandits are rampant, few people from outside the mountains reach the mountains. Liuliba is located deep in the Jiguan Mountain area. The road here is even more remote, and no one in the grain collection team has been here. Zhu Tiaozi, a new member of the team, went to the mountains once when he was working as a traveler a few years ago. That time he carried some needles and threads to try his luck in the mountains. These things are in short supply in the mountainous areas. As a result, as soon as he arrived at Wanjiaping, bandits from Wanjiazhai robbed all the goods under the pretext of taxation. Fortunately, his life was not injured, but he did not dare to set foot in the mountains again after that.
Ouyang Xuan often hiked in the Jiguan Mountain area before crossing, but the scenery before him was not consistent with what he remembered. Fortunately, the terrain did not change much, but even so, he made two mistakes in giving directions. After passing Wanjiaping, Ouyang Xuan relied on his memories of previous hiking trips, tried hard to identify the directions of mountains, rivers, and rivers, estimated the itinerary, and finally found Liuliba. When he saw the village gate of Liuliba from a distance, Ouyang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and sighed that he finally didn't go the wrong way this time.
Just as everyone was getting ready to march towards the village, Zhu Tiaozi extinguished everyone's enthusiasm with one sentence: "Sir Ouyang, most of the mountain people here are Qiang and Fan. They are by nature arrogant and unyielding to the king. They have never interacted with the government, let alone When the official army arrives, if we go to knock on the gate of the village with such great fanfare, the mountain people will not open the gate to welcome it, but they will greet it with swords and arrows."
Just before Cao Ergou came back, Ouyang Xuan proposed that he and Zhu Tiaozi pretend to be a monk and a salesman respectively and go to the village to explore the road. It had only been a few days since Ouyang Xuan traveled back in time. Ouyang Xuan's hair was still very short and his attire was different from ordinary people. He thought he could hide it from the guards at the village gate. As for Zhu Tiaozi, he was a traveling businessman before he was exiled, so there was no issue of dressing up. But his idea of taking risks was opposed by the fire chiefs.
Just before Cao Ergou came back, Ouyang Xuan proposed that he and Zhu Tiaozi pretend to be a monk and a salesman respectively and go to the village to explore the road. It had only been a few days since Ouyang Xuan traveled back in time. Ouyang Xuan's hair was still very short and his attire was different from ordinary people. He thought he could hide it from the guards at the village gate. As for Zhu Tiaozi, he was a traveling businessman before he was exiled, so there was no issue of dressing up. But his idea of taking risks was opposed by the fire chiefs.
After Cao Ergou returned to the team, everyone discussed for a while, but still had no good plan. Seeing the sky getting darker and darker, and seeing Yu Zhu lying on a makeshift stretcher talking nonsense due to high fever, Ouyang Xuan ignored everyone's objections and decided on the spot that he and Zhu Tiaozi would go to explore the village first, with the rest of the people nearby. Chu Jinghou heard the news. If something happens to him, the whole team will follow Huang Dagen's order.
The Liuli Bazhai Gate is also located at a dangerous point on the mountain road and is made of logs 2 feet high. When the villagers guarding the village gate saw Ouyang Xuan and the two men coming with weapons, they did not panic. They just closed the village gate from a distance, stopped the two men standing there and asked questions, their words full of vigilance. When they learned that Ouyang Xuan was a wandering monk, the mountain people were surprised and confused. After all, there was no temple here and no monks had ever come here. However, when they were asked about Zhu Tiaozi being a salesman, they all cheered with surprise. He walked over to the village wall, opened the village door, walked to the two men, and asked Zhu Tiaozi to take out the goods for sale. The sudden enthusiasm and demands of the mountain people did not panic Zhu Tiaozi. Due to the war, production was destroyed, the roads in the mountainous area where Liuliba is located are difficult, and bandits cut the trails, so few outsiders can get here, so there is an extreme shortage of materials here. Fortunately, before Zhu Tiaozi's goods were confiscated, he hid a few on his body. Under the gaze of several mountain people, Zhu Tiaozi took out a small cloth bag in his arms and opened it to reveal some scattered items, including shiny sewing needles, jelly beans, marriage powder, silk headbands... ..
When they learned that the only goods they brought were the contents of cloth bags, several mountain people could not hide their disappointment. Zhu Tiaozi was also a little embarrassed. As a salesman, the goods he brought were really too little. However, as a person who has been in business for many years, Zhu Tiaozi is not only good at observing the psychological changes of customers, but also cleverly guiding customers' needs. He took out an oil paper bag from his arms, opened it, and dipped his index finger into the white powder inside. He put it in his mouth and handed the oil paper bag to the mountain people. After several mountain people tasted it, they showed happy expressions on their faces - this is salt that is in short supply in the village.
Although there was little salt and groceries, Zhu Tiaozi used his clever words from many years of selling goods to transfer the incident where bandits robbed his goods a few years ago to this time, and narrated the bandits' evil deeds, which not only won the sympathy of the mountain people, but also made people The mountain people were convinced of their identities. "It's a pity, that's all. Other groceries don't matter. It would be nice if there was more salt!" A thick and sturdy mountain man sighed. After talking, he learned that this person's name was Shi Zhongshu, and he was a guard. A minor leader among the villagers in Zhaimen.
"There will be more in the future. Bring more salt into the mountains in the future." Zhu Tiaozi sneered while getting close to Shi Zhongshu.
"The salt is carried by the companions who walk behind." Ouyang Xuan continued, and gave a whistle, and the team hiding at the bend of the mountain road came out of the hiding place one after another, led by Huang Dagen and walked towards the gate of the cottage. This made Shi Zhongshu's expression change greatly. He took a few steps back, and then ran back quickly with several other mountain people. After closing the village gate, he rang the big iron bell at the entrance of the village, and the loud bell echoed instantly. Covered half of the valley. Shi Zhongshu stood on the gate of the cottage and said loudly to Ouyang Xuan and Zhu Tiaozi outside the gate: "This matter is important. I have sent people back to ask for the leader. Please wait a moment."
