About half a mile ahead, there is a mountain col on the north side of the road. A caravan camped here to take shelter from the wind and snow. Dozens of carts formed a circle around it to form a wall. A bonfire was lit in the middle, and tents were set up inside. People and animals huddled together to keep warm and cursed. This damn weather.
Suddenly the police sentry outside shouted: "If you have a beard, if you have a beard, arrest him quickly."
There was a sudden panic in the tent. Everyone rushed out with swords, guns and clubs, and they were choked by the wind and snow, unable to open their eyes and breathless.
"How many people have beards?" a man in charge asked loudly.
"I don't know, look to the west..."
Everyone squinted and saw that there was a faint light of fire approaching in the distance in the wind and snow, and the faint sound of horse hooves. The experienced people immediately shouted: "At least thirty to fifty, all of them are on horseback."
"Fuck, this is a horse thief, everyone, please pay attention," the steward shouted: "Second Xu, you guys get on the carriage with the bow and arrow men. The remaining brothers guard the carriage and don't let them rush in."
As he spoke, the other party was already close to him: "The person in charge inside came out to speak."
The man in charge was also experienced in the world. He hid behind the car without showing his face but replied loudly: "Everyone, we are passing by the Hongsheng in the capital and want to say hello to you. Here are twenty taels of silver for all of you." Just buy some wine to warm yourself up and say goodbye."
"We don't want your drink money, but how about we borrow a place to shelter from the wind and snow together?" Kuang Ren said loudly on the horse, because the wind and snow were so loud that he could not hear his words even if he spoke softly.
But after hearing this, the manager of the Hongsheng Hao thought that the other party wanted to rob the goods because he didn't like him, so he said loudly: "You good men, please leave a line so that we can meet each other in the future. Our Hongsheng Hao is one of the best in the capital." Not to mention the influence in Beijing, the big shop has friendship with the military lords in Shanhaiguan. Now we have nearly a hundred people, nearly a hundred swords, and Octopus's bodyguards. Have you heard of Octopus? They are from Dongchang. Backstage"
Kuang Ren couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "I'm telling you serious things, but you talk about useless things. Not to mention that you have friendships with several military lords in Shanhaiguan, including Mr. Gao from Shanhaiguan." When the soldiers come over and see my family, they all have to kowtow. You can see clearly that we are officers and soldiers, not bandits."
Officers and soldiers? The steward frowned after hearing this, murmured a few words to the people around him, and then looked through the gap in the carriage. At this time, the two parties were less than ten meters apart. Kuang Ren was still holding a torch over there. Although the wind and snow were heavy, it was still possible. Looking at the appearance, it turned out that they were all standard equipment, not like horse thieves.
But what kind of good things are officers and soldiers? They still rob and kill people, and no one is sure they are horse thieves impersonating them.
"It turns out it's the military master." The steward said, "I'm sorry, we can't squeeze into this small place with so many people. There's still space nearby. If the military master wants to take shelter from the wind and snow, he can just set up a camp."
"If there is a guy, why should I ask you to borrow a place?" Kuang Ren said impatiently. This is indeed the case. Although they brought winter clothes before leaving Beijing, they never thought that they would encounter windy and snowy weather and they were traveling light and fast. We didn't bring any tents or anything like that. If we didn't have a shelter from the wind and snow in this weather, we would be freezing.
Of course, he also knew that the reason why the caravan rejected them was not because they couldn't squeeze in, but because they were worried that they would steal money and kill people, so he shouted: "If we want to rob you of your property, we don't have to go around such a big detour. With the few people you have, Just like a decoration, we are the guards of the East Factory going to Shanhaiguan to handle business. We are definitely not thieves and will not commit robbery." As he spoke, he opened his bow and fired three arrows in a row. He only heard a few jingles and thought, a few rods inserted in the carriage. The small flag was shot off and fell to the ground, leaving the people in the caravan dumbfounded.
Although it was only more than ten meters away, it was dark and snowy at night, and when I squinted my eyes, the opponent broke three thin flagpoles in a row with his hands. His archery skills were so amazing, and the meaning was very clear. If they wanted to attack, I would have to attack him. Really powerless.
In the midst of panic, another clanging sound was heard. The other party threw something in. The steward picked it up and looked at it in the light of the fire. It was Dongchang's waist badge.
That's right, he is really a member of the Dongchang Guards. The manager was surprised and relieved. He would really be worried if it were other soldiers, but after more than a month, who doesn't know how powerful the Dongchang eunuch is? Not only is the war fierce, military discipline is also strict. Not to mention how Dongchang deals with officials now, at least the scandals of bullying ordinary people are no longer heard.
Everyone had already done this, and the manager felt that it would be shameful to refuse any more, so he ordered a few carriages to be pulled away, an opening was opened, and Kuang Ren and his entourage were allowed to come in.
Kuang Ren and his party did not all come in. Twenty riders were wandering outside the camp. Ten riders entered and ordered the steward to gather the people in the caravan together and count them. The total of sixty-seven people was consistent with the number reported by the steward.
"Come out of Octopus." Kuang Ren raised his lips slightly. Four men walked out of the team. They were the escorts from the Octopus Escort Agency owned by Dongchang Holdings. Kuang Ren called them out and asked in a low voice if there were any suspicious persons in the caravan. The four men He thought for a while and shook his head.
Then Kuang Ren called the steward over again: "Are the rest of your caravan's crew members?" The steward nodded: "Are there any who have joined recently?"
The manager thought about it and said, "The latest one is three months old."
Kuang Ren felt relieved and couldn't help but laugh when he saw those guys still carrying swords, guns and sticks in their hands: "The imperial court has already issued a decree prohibiting the concealment of weapons privately. Violators will be charged with treason. What do you guys want to do?"
As soon as he said this, the expressions of all the gangsters changed drastically and they threw them all over the floor. The steward hurried forward: "Master Jun, I, Hongshenghao, am a serious businessman. A caravan going out to cross mountains and rivers must be able to protect itself, right?" He handed over a bag of silver and said, "Master, take it and give it to the brothers to drink."
Kuang Ren actually just said casually that although the Ming Dynasty law prohibited civilians from carrying weapons, these days, well, they are just like decorations.
"You can't take this money." Kuang Ren pushed the money back: "The cashier of the East Factory Guard will be beheaded." He put his finger in his mouth and whistled, and the attendant outside struck a horse. Go report to Chang Yu.
"It seems it was a false alarm." Jiang Fa breathed a sigh of relief, and Chang Yu smiled: "It's always better to be careful." Then he led his troops to the caravan camp. Only then did the person in charge realize why Kuang Ren's inspection was so strict just now. , and even randomly checked the goods in the carriage. It turned out that there were noble people behind, and they should be high officials in the two carriages.
Two carriages entered the camp, and the caravan people circled their trucks again, and then squeezed out a few tents for the officers and soldiers to help set up. After a while of work, it was already late at night, but everyone was still hungry.
Dozens of guards crowded into two tents, munching on dry food and cursing the damn weather. Snowing at this time was not a new thing, but it was rare for it to snow so hard and fast, but they just happened to catch up. .
Chang Yu pulled the two carriages side by side. He was in the same carriage with Zhu Cihong, and Princess Kunxing was in the carriage with the personal palace maid and Song Luoyu. The two carriages were next to each other and they opened the curtains as if they were in the same room.
Chang Yu tore off a leg of the hare meat left during the day and handed it to Kun Xing. She shook her head. Zhu Cixiang stretched out his hand to grab it, but Chang Yu avoided his grab with a flick of his wrist and handed it to Song Luoyu.
Song Luoyu took it and handed it to Zhu Cixiang: "Your Highness, please use it."
Zhu Cixiang was a little embarrassed: "I'm teasing him, you can eat it."
At this time, Zhu Aona took out a box, took a few mooncakes from it and handed them to Chang Yu: "These are made in the palace. I wanted to give you some on the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I forgot."
Chang Yu took it and looked at it, then sighed and stammered.
Even in later generations, they haven’t eaten mooncakes for many years, and they don’t even have a good time to celebrate the festival. After all, no matter what kind of festivals they have in later generations, they will eventually be hyped up as shopping festivals by merchants, and the original meaning of the festival has long been diluted to the point of being like a bowl of boiled water.
"How long will it take for the snow to stop?" Zhu Yulao asked in a low voice. Chang Yu shook his head: "I'm not a god and I can't predict how long it will last, but tonight Miss Nine is destined to fall asleep in the carriage with the flying snow." .
"I think it's pretty good. This experience is magical." Zhu Ailao smiled, and Chang Yu sighed: "Okay, as long as you are happy." Then he raised his head and looked at Zhu Cixiang: "Come to the tent with me later." .
Zhu Cixiang didn't react for a moment: "If you don't want to sleep in the carriage, why do you have to squeeze into that tent?"
Because I can't sleep.
