It has been more than half a month since the bandit camp moved to Hutou Village. The weather is still hot, even hotter than in previous years. If you stand in the sun for a while, you will feel like you are about to be roasted.
In the hot weather, a team of spearmen guarding the foot of Hutou Village hid under the shade of the trees. There was no room for people on the official road, leaving only a wooden fence blocking the middle of the official road.
"It's so fucking hot. It hasn't rained in more than a month. I don't know when it will rain again to cool off." Jia Liu grabbed the handle of the knife with his right hand and poked the tip of the knife on the ground. , holding a sheepskin water bag in his left hand and taking a sip of water from the water bag from time to time.
"Squadron leader, why don't you go back to the mountain first? We can keep an eye on it here." Zhang Sancha, the captain of the spearmen team, said, "No caravan convoy has taken this official road for such a long time. I think it will be the same today. "
Jia Liu put the cork on the water bag and said angrily: "It's the master's order that I stay here. Do I dare to disobey? Or do you dare to disobey?"
Hearing this, Zhang Sancha on the side shrank his neck, laughed twice, and did not dare to persuade him any more.
Every day, a squadron leader would stay to guard the trap on the official road at the foot of Hutou Village. The squadron captains of the three brigades would come in turn. On this day, it was Jia Liu's turn to guard here.
In addition to a team of people on the official road, there is also a small team and a fire gun team in the woods not far from the official road.
Since the first brigade did not have a firecrackers team, archers were used instead of firecrackers. The second brigade guarded the Dazhai on the Hutoushai Mountain and was also responsible for guarding the captured bandits.
Chen Xunping's third battalion already has a second firecrackers squad, but this firecrackers team has little to do with Jia Liu. It is a firecrackers squad under another squadron.
"Squadron leader, there seems to be a convoy coming ahead." Zhang Sancha suddenly pointed to the official road in the southeast direction.
"Fart, if you go on the road in such hot weather, you'd be damned to death by the sun." Jia Liu cursed, put his hand back and put the scabbard on the ground, and rested his head on it.
Zhang Sancha did not give up because Jia Liu cursed. Instead, he pushed Jia Liu's thigh with his hand and said, "Squadron leader, it's really a convoy. I kid you not, it looks like there are several big cars."
Jia Liu was pushed impatiently, so he sat up from the ground and said, "If there is no convoy coming, let's see how I deal with you."
As he spoke, he looked towards the official road and was suddenly startled to see a convoy coming towards their direction.
Seeing this, Jia Liu rubbed his eyes vigorously with his hands, looked at it again, and said to himself: "There really is a fucking convoy."
Zhang Sancha on the side heard it and said, "I'm right."
"Boy, if you have good eyesight, you have made a great contribution." Jia Liu patted Zhang Sancha on the shoulder, stood up at the same time, and shouted loudly, "Get up, you have work to do."
Although the spearmen resting in the forest were unwilling to move in such hot weather, they quickly gathered after giving the order and followed Jia Liu to the fence on the official road.
The fence was about fifty steps away from the forest where they were resting, and the convoy was still at least a mile away. When Jia Liu led the team to the fence, the convoy was still several hundred steps away from them.
Jia Liu said: "Stand still, stand still, stand still. This is the first safe money we have received since we came to Hutou Village. We must not mess it up."
The convoy coming over saw a group of people suddenly appear on the official road and a wooden fence blocking the middle of the road. However, they did not stop or change their route and continued to move forward.
Soon, the convoy came to a dozen steps away from the fence. The lead car stopped, and a middle-aged man with two moustache jumped out of the car.
Jia Liu stood behind the fence holding his knife with one hand, and behind him stood Zhang Sancha and two spearmen.
"Everyone, we are the Fan family's caravan." The middle-aged man cupped his hands with a smile on his face, "Please do this for your convenience."
While he was talking, he took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and put it into the hand of the knife-wielding man who seemed to be the bandit leader.
The person who got the silver was Jia Liu. He weighed it with his hands and found that there were almost twenty taels. He threw it back into the hands of Zhang Sancha beside him and said at the same time: "What are all the things in the car?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Some worthless iron ingots."
Jia Liu glanced sideways. There were six carts in total. Each cart was pulled by two horses. The wheels left a deep mark where the carts passed. It was obvious that the things on the carts were not light.
"Go and have a look." Jia Liu raised his chin and motioned to Zhang Sancha to take someone over to inspect the goods.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man on the opposite side hurriedly blocked Zhang Sancha who was walking forward. At the same time, he said: "Fellow heroes, my convoy has the flag of the Xu family. This batch of goods belongs to the Xu family in Lingqiu. Please show your respect, heroes." , let us pass."
"Didn't you just say it was the Fan family's caravan? Why did it become the Xu family's goods again?" Jia Liu narrowed his eyes.
The middle-aged man laughed awkwardly and said with an apologetic smile: "It's true that we are the Fan family's caravan, but this time the goods are from the Xu family, so please be kind and show your respect."
Jia Liu sneered and said, "I don't recognize any of the Xu family or the Fan family. Sancha, take someone over to check the goods."
"Okay!" Zhang Sancha responded, leading a few spearmen and walking towards the cart.
"Good man, I hope you will be kind to me." As he spoke, the middle-aged man took out another twenty-two pieces of silver and handed it over, smiling and saying, "It's a trivial thing, but I'm not going to accept it. I'm treating you all good men to a drink."
Jia Liu, who took the silver, threw it to a spearman behind him and said, "Where is the silver, I will accept it."
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the other party accepting the money.
Jia Liu, who paused for a moment, said again: "We still have to check the goods. If you want to pass through this official road, you have to pay Ping'an silver, one for every thirty. The money you gave just now will be included in the Ping'an money and will not be allowed." Your Fan family caravan will suffer a loss."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man's face darkened.
Drawing one out of thirty is a lot of money for the caravan, and he, a small steward, cannot do this.
There was no other way, so the middle-aged man had no choice but to apologize, jog all the way to a carriage in the middle of the caravan, and bow down in front of the carriage window to report to the people inside.
Jia Liu didn't care at all.
After paying the money for peace, he would naturally let the caravan pass. Without paying the money, not a single wheel would even cross the fence.
When Zhang Sancha on the other side approached the cart, he was stopped by the guards on the side of the cart. He failed to check the goods on the cart. Seeing that there were many guards on the caravan side, he had to retreat.
"Squadron leader, these people won't let us inspect the goods." Zhang Sancha said in a low voice.
Jia Liu naturally saw this scene and said with a smile: "Don't worry, wait until the person who can make the decision comes out."
Zhang Sancha nodded and retreated behind Jia Liu.
Not long after, a man wearing a silk robe walked out of the caravan.
The middle-aged man standing under the carriage window carefully helped the man in silk robe get out of the car, and then accompanied him to walk towards Jia Liu.
"The person in charge is here." Jia Liu turned his head and said to Zhang Sancha.
When the man in silk robe who came closer saw Jia Liu, he frowned slightly, showed disgust, and said arrogantly: "Did you know that what you stopped was the convoy of the Fan family in Zhangjiakou?"
