The next day.
Yu Jun slowly opened his eyes amid the alluring fragrance.
It was really uncomfortable to sleep last night. There were too many mosquitoes in the mountains, so I slept fitfully until dawn.
Many people simply stayed up all night and just took a nap against the tree.
Sitting up, he followed the aroma and saw soldiers lining up to eat.
hiss!
What he ate was cooking cakes!
Eating refined grains early in the morning is a sin.
The soldiers lined up in a long and orderly queue to receive their meals.
Each person has three big cakes, a bowl of thick porridge, and a few pickles.
After receiving the meal, the soldiers sat together in twos and threes, took a bite of the cooking cake, and drank a mouthful of thick porridge. The food was particularly sweet.
Yu Jun couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"Dad, I'm hungry."
The younger son's voice sounded beside him.
After swallowing again, Yu Jun turned around and consoled him: "Don't be impatient. Just be patient. When you get the rice, my father will cook for you!"
Although they had just harvested wheat a while ago, they didn't have any rice at home.
The summer tax is not only the 20% field tax, but also a large number of exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes, such as bent money, cowhide money, salt money, shoe money, foot money, farm tool money, public money, and purchase money... and more than a dozen other taxes.
Basically, all kinds of taxes from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were perfectly inherited by the Northern Song Dynasty, and many additions were made.
The vast majority of farmers had no surplus after paying their summer taxes.
A small number of farmers have to pay back the damn money...
At this moment, Nie Dong stepped forward and asked condescendingly: "What is your name?"
"My name is Yu Jun."
Yu Jun answered honestly.
Nie Dong said: "Since you have joined the army, come over and have a meal together."
"I...do I also have a share?"
"Um!"
Seeing Nie Dong nodding, Yu Jun was surprised and happy. After thanking him, he quickly took out the pottery bowl from the package, got up and walked towards the hut.
The cook held the wooden spoon and glanced at him: "New here?"
Yu Jun replied: "Yes!"
The cook scooped a large spoonful of rice porridge into his bowl, and then handed over four cooking cakes.
Seeing his surprised look, the cook smiled and said, "One more recruit."
Yu Jun thought for a while and asked, "Can I feed it to my family?"
"Okay, just don't waste it. If it's a waste, hey!" The cook didn't say it would be like this, but his weird smile already made Yu Jun feel scared.
"Thank you!"
Yu Jun thanked him and walked back quickly holding the cakes and rice porridge.
"Eat quickly."
After giving the four cooking cakes to his mother-in-law and three children, Yu Jun handed the rice porridge to his father.
The three children took the cakes and ate them with great gulps.
The woman broke open the cooking cake in her hand, handed it over and said, "Master, you should also eat some. I heard that joining the army and training is very hard."
Hearing this, Yu Jun felt it made sense and reached out to take the cooking cake.
In ancient times, wheat hulling technology was immature. Regardless of whether it was pounded or ground, part of the wheat husk would be mixed in, causing the flour to turn yellow and have a slightly rough texture.
Of course, these minor problems are just Han Zhen’s opinion.
For the military, it is rare to eat refined grains several times a year, so why should we pay attention to these things.
After swallowing half of the cake in two mouthfuls, he licked his lips with unfinished content, feeling a little glad that he had not refused to join the army last night.
When the other villagers saw this, they all showed envy.
The resistance in my heart to joining the army disappeared without a trace in an instant, and I wished I could join the army.
…
…
Montenegro.
Also called Shangshan, Iron Mountain.
Since the Shang Dynasty, it has been famous for its rich iron ore and is called Shangshan.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Duke Huan of Qi cast copper and iron here, so it was called Iron Mountain.
To this day, the local people call it Black Mountain because the rocks are as black as ink.
"Taiping Huanyu Ji", a general geographical journal of the Northern Song Dynasty, records: "Shangshan is located 70 miles north of Zichuan County. There are iron mines, which have been cast in ancient and modern times."
The mountain is not high, only 500 meters, but it is extremely dangerous and stretches for several miles.
There is Panlong Ridge in front of the mountain, Tieniu Peak behind it, Jinshan Temple on the left, Lotus Cave on the right, Lugu Temple on the top, and Holy Water Spring beside it.
It has a unique geographical location and has long been used as a boundary to divide states, prefectures and counties. It is located in the middle of Shandong, at the junction of Changshan, Huantai and Linzi counties, and is a real "three no matter" zone.
As far back as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, this place was occupied by several groups of bandits.
Now, there is even King Li Tian, who is very famous.
On the official road in the distance, a man and a horse galloped.
Where the horse's hooves galloped, countless smoke and dust were raised, like a yellow dragon.
After going around a section of mountain road, it was finally hidden in the black mountains.
The horses slowed down and after traveling several hundred meters along the bluestone road, a tall village gate appeared in front of them.
"Stop!"
On the wall of the village, a bandit wearing rattan armor shouted.
The man on the horse shouted loudly: "The kite returns to the mountain!"
The Tengjia bandit said: "Camellia!"
"Begonia!"
After answering the password, the Tengjia bandit made a gesture, and the village gate opened immediately.
After entering the stronghold, the man got off his horse.
In the mountain stronghold, there were hundreds of bandits, all wearing armor and carrying bows and swords on their backs.
Judging from their momentum and equipment, they are countless times stronger than the Xiang army, and even the Forbidden Army is outnumbered.
After walking several hundred steps, a steep and rugged staircase appeared in front of us.
Go up the stairs and reach the top of the mountain.
This place is just Panlongling, the outer village, and the high mountain opposite is the real Black Village.
The two peaks are connected by an iron cable bridge.
If the outer stronghold is lost, the iron cable bridge can be cut off. In this case, the enemy will have to go around to the foot of the mountain to attack, doubling the difficulty.
This is also the reason why, from the Five Dynasties to the present, the Black Mountain bandits have not been eradicated.
Four bandits wearing heavy armor and holding large axes guarded the entrance of the bridge.
One of them asked: "Why go home?"
"The wheat is blooming."
The young man in shorts gave another command.
Upon hearing this, the four people immediately turned sideways and made way for them.
After crossing the chain bridge, the young man stepped into a cave.
The interior space of the cave is huge and can accommodate hundreds of people. This was a mine dug out by Qi Huan when he openly mined copper and iron in the early years.
There are more than a dozen mines of this size in the entire Black Mountain.
There is a passage connecting each mine, winding and rugged, like a maze.
If you are not familiar with this place, you may get dizzy just by walking around the passage a few times.
The young man was obviously very familiar with Black Mountain Village. He twisted around along the passage and reached the top of the mountain in an instant.
On the top of the mountain, the scenery is beautiful and there are houses standing there.
The largest house in the middle is Juyi Hall in Heishan Village.
Quickly arriving outside the Juyi Hall, the young man cupped his hands and said, "The Green Kitten has something to report!"
Kites are the slang for Shanzhai, and they are the spies placed by King Li in the surrounding counties and towns.
And use different colors to correspond to each county and town.
Green corresponds to Linzi County.
"Come in!"
Hearing the sound, Green Kitten stepped into Juyi Hall.
There are nine chairs in total in the lobby, and sitting on the top chair facing the door is a burly man.
(End of chapter)
