What is a "mountain"? It is because the earth gathers stones and is high. Therefore, when walking on mountain roads, winding and steep terrain must be one of them because the terrain goes from low to high. If you want a small slope, you must choose a meandering one instead of a short one; if you want a shortcut and avoid a far one, you must accept its steepness. Although the eight people from Mei Siyuan have practiced martial arts and have extraordinary skills, they are not good at climbing, so they followed the mountain all the way up.
"Hey, brother the youngest, are you on the right track? How come I've been here before?" Fu Sui followed closely behind the youngest and was walking through a bush.
"Hey, there's no mistake. This is the case with this blind mountain. At first glance, each hilltop is of the same height and size, just like several brothers. The bushes are also one after another, and others don't dare to come. Here." The youngest replied with a silly smile.
"Really? Why do you dare to come when others don't dare to come?" Although Fu Su was tired, he was also interested in chatting.
"When people in the village go up to Blind Mountain, they just collect some firewood and the like, and there is plenty at the foot of the mountain. How can you tell the right and left when you come to this deep place? Can't you go around in circles here? My parents died early, at the age of thirteen. So I plowed the land for my employer. We were young at that time, and we didn't do much farm work. The rice we got wasn't enough to fill our stomachs, so we often came to the depths of the Blind Mountain to find food." The youngest's face looked a little shaken when he talked about the past, " Wherever I go, I break a branch from side to side so that I don't get lost. Look, this is the branch I broke a few days ago." After saying that, he pointed to the branch next to him and looked back. Fallen branches. I saw that its crease was dim, and it had obviously been down for several days.
"Oh, that's it! Haha." After hearing this, Fu Su found it very interesting. He thought that he could use the youngest's method to identify the road when he walked in the mountains in the future. He was immediately happy and answered with a smile as he walked. road.
"Several officials are in front." The youngest turned around and said to everyone with a smile.
"Oh, really!" Mei Siyuan was shocked and quickly followed to the front, "Let me take a look."
"It's on the edge of the elm forest on the lower right in front. After passing through the elm forest, the cave is at the very edge. I guess it's only three miles away." The youngest pointed to the lower right in front and explained to Mei Siyuan.
It was noon at this time, and everyone had been hiking for more than three hours. Although the sun is not too hot in winter, you will feel sticky and uncomfortable after being exposed to the sun for a long time. Now that they heard that the salt mine was right in front of them, they all felt much lighter, their feet were strong, and their steps became longer.
"Bah! These tree knots are not pleasant! The leaves bite like saws!" I heard Yin Chenghui, one of Mei Siyuan's four personal guards, cursing at the end of the team. Unexpectedly, he was hit by an elm branch. There was a big gash on his face.
"Chenghui, it's up to me. This, alas." Zhai Kai, one of Mei Siyuan's four personal guards, heard Yin Chenghui complain, so he turned back to look. It turned out that he was pushing the elm branch while moving forward, and he was pushing the elm branch in a hurry. It bounced back too fast, and before Yin Chenghui could avoid it, he was hit on the cheek, and there was already a trace of blood. Then he blamed himself.
"What's the matter! Come on, let's talk!" Yin Chenghui didn't seem to mind and said happily.
Everyone walked out of the elm forest and saw a trickling stream, and there was a small pool at the bottom, the bottom of which could be clearly seen.
"Hey! It's so easy to find!" Fu Su has been following the youngest. As soon as he walked out of Yulin, he rushed to the front. Seeing a trickle of clear water in front of him, he rushed over to grab a drink. With a "pop" sound, Fu Zuo spit out a mouthful of water, his face changed several times, and then he laughed, "Haha! You can't be wrong! This is it!" It turned out that the water was extremely salty in the mouth, and it was naturally old. Yao brought everyone here to find the salt cave.
Mei Siyuan had also arrived. He stretched out his hand to scoop up some water and put it into his mouth. He took several breaths and said after a long time, "I'm so happy!" His smile gradually grew, and soon he burst out laughing.
After everyone sat down, they saw two people walking out of the woods on the other side. They were actually dressed as government servants from the Zhengsi Yamen. When the two people got closer, they saw that one of them was a big man with scars on his face, and the other was short, but they were He Guanggen and Wan Yong who had been to the youngest's house before. The two of them had already seen the youngest in the crowd and scolded, "Why did you bring so many people here?" The youngest was about to explain, but Fu Chun first revealed the identity of the group, and the two were frightened for a while. , hurriedly bent down to salute.
"Are you from the State Salt Administration Department?" Mei Siyuan asked, "Are you two here?"
He Guanggen had never seen such a high-ranking official before, and he was a little nervous at this moment. He replied in a low voice, "The two young people are from the Fuzhou Salt Transport Administration. The superiors sent us to guard here. No one is allowed to come and cause trouble. Except for me, we are here." In addition, there are six people, divided into two to determine a position." I thought he had finished speaking, but unexpectedly he added, "Oh, there is also a staff member from the state capital who has been here for seven or eight days. Every day Eat with us.”
"The staff?" Mei Siyuan was very happy and asked, "Where is it? Take me there quickly!"
He Guanggen had a hundred promises and walked in front to lead the way. He replied, "It's meal time now. We are making rice at the entrance of the mountain in front."
The place where the nine people cooked was not far from the cave. They arrived in less than half an hour and saw two fires burning, with an iron pot and a large rice dish set up respectively. The seven people were busy working, and they were confused when they saw He and Wan bringing so many people. He Guanggen shouted to the seven people, "Come and see Mr. Mei, the county salt transport administrator!" The seven people were shocked when they heard this, and hurriedly put down their belongings and came to pay homage.
"Get up!" Mei Siyuan said, then turned around and asked Fu to punish everyone, "Open our food bags, let's eat here together at noon!" Wherever the nine members of the walking and staff dared to eat with the superior officer, they all had to come and say goodbye. ,Mei Si comes from disallowance. Then he asked, "Who is Mr. Zifang?"
A thin, dark man in his early forties stood up, knelt down and said, "Sir, I am a young man named Xie Buquan, who was sent by the state government to map the terrain here."
Mei Siyuan stepped forward and pulled him up, saying, "Sir, why are you so polite?" After he stood still, he said, "Can the terrain here be mapped well?"
Xie Buquan took the folder from his back and said, "Sir, I just finished drawing the last piece this morning, and it's all here!"
Mei Siyuan was overjoyed and took the splint to look at it. I work as a draftsman and travel all year round. To save my drawings and albums from getting wet in the rain, I always carry a waterproof cowhide bag and drawing plywood with me. Mei Siyuan opened it carefully and took a closer look. Xie Buquan was waiting aside, figuring out what was going on.
Half an hour later, the food was all ready, but Mei Siyuan seemed to have no intention of eating. Fu Chu came over and asked, "Sir, can we have lunch?"
This album was specially drawn by the Prefectural Government Office for the Prefectural Salt Transportation Secretary, thinking that the salt caves in this area were used for mining. Therefore, although this map only depicts a town in Fuyang, the entire area is detailed. After Mei Siyuan finished reading, he slowly closed the album, and the terrain near Blind Mountain was laid out in his mind: "The salt mine stretches for more than ten miles, and within a hundred miles, there are only Tuge Village in the north, Butou Village in the southeast mountain, and He'ao Village in the southwest. There were three large open areas, but at that time, people had gathered together to form villages. A closer look at the mountain village of Butou shows that it is only thirty-four to five miles away from the mine, and the mountain is not steep. It can be reached within sixty miles, so the ore is best transported. There are two rivers passing through the village, which are necessary for boiling salt. There are also ready-made rural roads leading to towns and counties, which can be used to transport salt if they are slightly widened. It is really the best place to build a salt farm. !”
