As soon as the sky brightened, the Fan family's caravan took advantage of the cool morning air and started on their way.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather was really hot. The caravans were walking on the grassland, so they had to travel more in the morning and evening, leaving the hottest time for rest.
A caravan of more than fifty people walking on the grassland is like a moving piece of fat. Any horse bandit or herdsman can rob them.
However, this batch of goods from the Fan family's caravan was sent to Bansheng City, the territory of Su Nang Taiji. Unless the Khan of Qingcheng gave the order, no one would dare to risk offending the powerful Su Nang Taiji and plunder Fan. Home caravan.
The Fan family has always had close contacts with the Beilu, and most of the friends they made were small Taijis and Mongolian generals with little strength. After the Ming Dynasty shrunk the horse market, the Fan family had the opportunity to make friends with big Taijis like Su Nang.
Before making friends with Su Nang Taiji, the Fan family's caravan only had four or five carts at most each time it went to the grassland, but the escort required more than a hundred.
Now that there is a big Taiji like Su Nang taking care of them, the number of carts that the Fan family brings to the grassland has doubled, but they don't need many escorts. Most of them are accompanied by a few guys.
"Master Steward, it's really hot today. Why don't you find a place to rest first? If you keep going like this, even if the people can bear it, the animals pulling the cart won't be able to bear it either." The driver wiped the sweat from his head. .
The steward of the Fan family's caravan covered his brow with his hands and looked up at the sky. When he looked away, he said, "We are walking forward. There is a lake in front of us. Let's take a rest over there."
The driver weakly cracked his whip into the air, and the animal pulling the cart walked quickly for a few steps, but soon slowed down again.
In the hot weather, the guys walking with the caravan were all listless and distracted. They reluctantly followed the car forward. The caravan guards accompanying them were all shirtless and threw their weapons into the car. Walking empty-handed.
The caravan steward turned around and shouted to the people following: "Everyone, hold on, you can rest when you get to the water in front."
The attendants and guards weakly agreed, staggering forward as they stumbled forward.
Boom!
"It's thundering!" The caravan manager looked up to the sky.
In the blue sky, there is only one sun left cleanly.
There were others in the caravan who looked up to the sky like him, but in the end they all looked back with disappointment.
Looking at the clear sky, the driver said: "It looks like there will be a severe drought this year."
"I don't know if it's a severe drought or not. It's so fucking hot today. Counting the days, it hasn't rained in almost three months." The caravan manager took out a dry cloth and wiped the sweat from his face.
The coachman raised the whip in his hand and said: "As the old saying goes, when the sky is clear and thunder is heard, it means the birth of the drought demon, which indicates that the land will be thousands of miles away this year."
"Horse... horse bandit..."
At this moment, someone in the caravan pointed in the distance and screamed in terror.
The caravan steward sitting in the car was startled and looked over quickly.
In sight, a horse team was galloping towards their caravan. It was not thunder in the clear sky before, but the sound of galloping horses' hooves.
At this moment, he wanted to kick the driver in front of him out of the car.
What kind of drought demon is born here? This damn horse bandit is here.
However, at this time, he was not in the mood to argue with a coachman, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, protect the convoy, don't let the horse bandits get close."
Needless to say, the guards who came with the caravan had already retrieved their weapons from the carriage and were guarding the cart with vigilance.
The caravan has stopped, and the guys in the caravan are picking up the guy one by one.
Everyone knew that no matter how fast the caravan ran, it was impossible to outrun the horse bandits on the grassland. The only thing they could do was to fight off the horse bandits in order to save themselves.
As the horse bandits approached, the caravan manager's heart grew cold.
It's not that there were no horse bandits coming to rob the Fan family's caravan due to Su Nang Taiji's care.
The total number of people in the caravan was only over fifty, and the horse bandits in front of them numbered at least a hundred people and horses.
Not long after, the horse bandits rushed over and surrounded the entire caravan.
"Guan, Mr. Steward, what should we do?" A waiter stuttered and asked the steward of the Fan family's caravan.
The caravan steward pursed his lips tightly, not knowing what to do.
A big man among the horse bandits came out on horseback and shouted: "Who is in charge among you?"
All the eyes of the people nearby the caravan steward turned to him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Dear heroes, we are all Han Chinese. We are the caravan of the Fan family in Zhangjiakou. Can you give us some face and let us go?"
Ma Yunjiu grabbed the reins and sneered: "Who do you think you are? You don't deserve to show face to me. If you want to survive, hand over the goods in the car. You don't have to kill them. I will spare your lives. I only want the goods in the car." .”
As a bandit, he had a somewhat ferocious look on his face, said some cruel words, and the gangster spirit he exuded was no different from that of a real horse bandit.
The people in the Fan family's caravan secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the horse bandits only robbed goods and did not kill anyone.
The goods belong to the owner, and they don't feel bad if they lose them. But their lives are theirs, and if they are lost, they are gone. From now on, the whole family will have to drink from the northwest.
"No, it can't be done." The caravan manager's expression changed and he begged, "Fellow heroes, I am willing to offer you some money to buy the way, and please let us and the cart pass."
Ma Yunjiu sneered: "You have some bullshit money, and now these things belong to me."
"You can't rob. These things were sent to Banshengdi for Suangtaiji." The caravan manager said nervously, "Sutangtaiji is Tumote's big taiji. If you robbed his things, he I won’t let you go.”
"What bullshit Taiji." Ma Yunjiu spat on the ground, "I'm not going to discuss it with you again. If you don't leave, I will not only steal goods, but also kill people."
boom!
He raised his musket and struck it at the caravan's cart. The wooden planks on the car's trunk were directly punched through, leaving a hole and several cracks.
The driver of the cart that was hit by the projectile was so frightened that he collapsed on the ground.
The caravan steward's face turned livid. He had already moved out of Su Nang Taiji, but he didn't care at all about the horse bandits in front of him.
"Master Steward, give them the goods in the car! Otherwise, everyone will lose their lives. These horse bandits really dare to kill people." A man standing next to the caravan steward said in a low voice.
The caravan steward looked struggling.
With so much goods lost, even if he returns to Zhangjiakou alive, he will not end up well.
The guy on the side continued to persuade: "If you don't agree, the other people in the caravan will do it without the horse bandits taking action."
The caravan steward was startled and turned to look at the caravan guards and accompanying men.
I found that all of these people were staring at him, and some even touched the handle of the knife with one hand.
How could he not understand at this time that if he didn't agree to the horse bandits' request, there would be no need to wait for the horse bandits to take action. The people in the caravan would attack him first in order to survive.
He hesitated and said: "If I leave all the goods to the horse bandits, will they really let us go?"
The waiter smiled bitterly and said, "We have no choice at all."
"Yes!." The caravan steward smiled bitterly and said immediately, "Go down and give all the goods to the horse bandits. I hope these horse bandits can keep their word and let us leave."
After saying that, it was as if the last bit of strength had been sucked out of his body, and he collapsed on the carriage.
