The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 51 Lao Shi’s emotional card
Guan Tieshi led more than 1000 soldiers, divided into three squads, worked hard day and night for five days, and obtained a total of more than 600 catties of fine salt.

Based on the average daily salt intake of 500 grams per capita, this salt is enough for more than [-] Zhangyi Army soldiers in Longshan Pass for seven to eight days.

Shi Kuangwei said that these fine salts were comparable to fine green salt, but Zhu Xiu disagreed.

That is to say, it is just coarse salt that has been detoxicated and basically reaches the edible standard. The impurities like gravel still cannot be completely removed. When it is eaten in the mouth, the residue has to be spit out from time to time.

If you eat it yourself, you have to filter it through thick cotton cloth several times.

The salt shortage crisis in Longshan Pass has been temporarily alleviated, and Shi Kuangwei can concentrate on dealing with the Tubo people.

The Tibetan army that attacked Longshan Pass this time belonged to the local leader in the Hehuang area, Laqin Gongba.

Lachen Gompa is also the Grand Khenpo of Dandou Temple, the largest temple in the Hehuang area. The Grand Khenpo is a senior monk official in the Tubo government and the local leader of a unified government.

The land of Hehuang was occupied by the Tubo people after the Anshi Rebellion. A hundred years later, Zhang Yichao, a native of Shazhou and Dunhuang, took advantage of the civil strife in Tubo to launch an uprising and regained the land of ten states in Helong. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty returned the land to the rebel army accordingly, and the city fell for a hundred years. The old places of Hexi and Longyou once again returned to the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Unfortunately, after Zhang Yichao entered Chang'an, factions within the Guiyi Army fought for power and became fragmented. The Uighurs and Tibetans took advantage of the situation to attack. The Helong area was once again cut off from the Central Plains dynasty and fell into a situation of war on all sides.

The Tubo people occupied the salt wells of Weizhou, and now they coveted the Yuanzhou Racecourse, so they sent troops to harass Longshan Pass many times.

Zhu Xiu wandered around the city for a few days doing nothing, and he had a clear idea of ​​the situation inside and outside the city.

Shi Kuangwei did not restrict his personal freedom, he could go wherever he wanted, and he did not send anyone to monitor him. He seemed to give him the greatest degree of trust.

Because of this, Zhu Xiucai felt angry.

Lao Shi looked down on him quite a bit, knowing that he had the intention to escape, but he didn't have the courage to do so.

Zhu Xiu was embarrassed and got on the gray donkey and called Ma San. The master and the servant lingered at the inner gate of Guancheng for a long time, looking at the lofty Liupan Mountain with no human habitation within dozens of miles. The two of them finally fought against the five scum. I can't muster the courage to hit the road.

I have to say that this black guy Lao Shi understands him very well.

Zhu Xiu would not joke with his own life when safety could not be ensured.

After staying up for a few more days, Zhu Xiu couldn't hold it in any longer and rushed to the military tent to seek an explanation from Shi Kuangwei.

Seeing the furious Zhu Xiu, Shi Kuangwei waved his hands to let several officers Cao go down.

"You don't keep your word! As promised, when you learn how to make salt, you will send someone to take me back to Jingzhou!" Zhu Xiu yelled in grievance.

Shi Kuangwei held the stoneware teapot in his hands and leaned lazily, with a dark smile on his face: "You forgot, I didn't say yes to the conditions you proposed that day!"

"You bastard, you lied to me again!" Zhu Xiu jumped up and looked around to see if there was anything that could greet him directly.

"What the hell! I haven't finished speaking yet! Sit down!" Lao Shi rolled his eyes angrily.

Putting down the big teapot, Shi Kuangwei stood up and left the handsome case, and sat down next to Zhu Xiu with a flattering smile on his face.

Zhu Xiu snorted heavily and turned his head to ignore it.

"Fanzi has withdrawn his troops. Two days later, we will set off back to Jingzhou."

Old Shi shook his head sadly: "You have made great contributions to our Changyi Army since you arrived, saving us the hard work of dividing our troops to transport salt, and also saving a lot of food for the army.

In Kaifeng and Luoyang, millet and wheat cost 35 cents per catty, white rice fifty cents per catty, and salt twenty cents per catty.

In Jingzhou, people are sparse and goods are cheap. A pound of millet and wheat only costs [-] cash, a pound of white rice costs [-] cash, and the lowest price for salt is more than a hundred cash per pound. Moreover, it is expensive but has no market.

For six hundred kilograms of salt, I have to exchange thirty kilograms of grain with Jingnan and Fengxiang towns, which is equivalent to eight kilograms of grain for one kilogram of salt!Now you know why the two prefectures of Jingyuan had a good harvest last year, but there was still not enough food to eat. The brothers were hungry and lacked salt! "

Shi Kuangwei's voice was trembling as he spoke, his eyes were red, and his fists as big as sand bowls were clenched tightly.

"The army eats food and the people eat food, and most of it has to be exchanged for salt. No matter how much food you have, it can't withstand the tossing! From last year to now, I have withheld all the taxes paid to the court. I don't even have enough to eat, and I still have to pay a shit! The Jingzhao Salt Pond Supervisor obeyed the imperial court's order and refused to give the Zhangyi Army credit for the salt, and the salt road was completely cut off.
Damn it, it's okay now. I produce my own salt. I don't have to look at the faces of those dog salt officials, and I don't have to exchange the food that my people have worked hard to grow for salt with those scoundrels! "

Lao Shi quickly wiped the corners of his eyes, faced Zhu Xiu with a black face, and said with red eyes: "Brother Zhu, stay here and let me, Lao Shi, slowly repay your kindness."

Zhu Xiu's eyes widened in shock. She felt her hand being grabbed by this black guy. Then she looked at his "affectionate" bull's eyes. A cold air rushed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head!
"Move your hands and feet! What a shame! Get out!" Zhu Xiu shook him off in shame and anger, wanting to slap the guy's black face with the sole of his shoe.

Perhaps because he felt that he was overacting, Shi Kuangwei laughed a few times and retracted his black claws, laughing loudly and said: "In short, your boy taught the salt-making method, made great achievements, and was a great favor to our Zhangyi Army! I, Mr. Shi, and thousands of brothers are grateful to you. If you stay, Zhangyi Army will be your home from now on!"

Zhu Xiu rolled his eyes and made a fuss for a long time. It turned out that he was playing the emotional card with him here.

"Don't refuse in a hurry, follow me to the top of the city to have a look."

Shi Kuangwei waved his black hand and pulled him out of the military tent and straight to the head of Guancheng.

On the wall that was more than three feet high, Zhu Xiu saw the scene outside the pass.

In winter, the scenery of Liupan Mountain is unique, with white snow covering the rock and soil, the sky and earth being gray, and fine rain and snow accompanied by mist, lingering among the towering mountains.

However, when several hideous and mangled corpse faces were exposed from time to time under the snow, Zhu Xiu lost interest in admiring the scenery.

Under the wall, the corpses of Zhangyi Army soldiers and Tubo soldiers were piled together. The blood and water mixed with the boiling water poured down, and after being covered by rain and snow for days, they actually froze into pieces of ice sculptures.

The corpses in the ice sculptures have different shapes, which makes people feel creepy and chilly from the bottom of their hearts.

Some soldiers and civilians transported large barrels of burning oil out of the customs and prepared firewood to burn the bodies.

Time was short, there were too many dead bodies, and the mountainous terrain was so small that it was impossible to carefully identify the remains of our own soldiers, so we could only burn them with a fire.

Lao Shi slapped the blood-stained, cold and damp wall, facing the white mountains in the distance, and chanted passionately: "The moon is bright in the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty is close, and the people who marched thousands of miles have not returned! But the envoy. But the envoy"

After holding it in for a long time, he couldn't take it anymore. A rare blush appeared on Lao Shi's black face: "Hey~ But I forgot what it was about!"

Zhu Xiu was not in the mood to laugh at him and hummed: "As long as the flying generals of Dragon City are here, I will not teach Hu Ma to cross the Yin Mountains."

Shi Kuangwei clapped his hands: "Ah, yes! Those are the two sentences! I have loved Du Fu's poems since I was a child, and I have determined to be a general like Wei Huo who will be famous throughout the ages!"

Zhu Xiu sighed and said quietly: "This song "Out of the Fortress" was written by Wang Changling, and it praised the flying general Li Guang."

"Uh..." Old Shi's generosity stopped abruptly, and his black face turned red.

The atmosphere was silent for a while.

Zhu Xiu looked up at the sky. Cold rain and snow fell on her face, and the sky filled with lead clouds was depressing.

"Snapped!"

Lao Shi slapped his palm heavily on the wall and said boldly: "Come on! Join the Zhangyi Army! Be a good man determined to serve the country! With your talents, you will definitely show your talents in this vast land!"

Zhu Xiu glanced sideways at him, sniffed, wrapped her sheepskin jacket tightly around her body, closed her sleeves with both hands, and silently turned around and walked down the city.

Shi Converse was left alone with open arms in a heroic gesture of embracing the world. The winter wind blew, making him look a little desolate.

Lao Shi slowly put down his hand, his excited expression turned into a lonely and bitter smile, his straight back hunched down a bit, and the layer of white hair on his short head became more and more conspicuous.
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(End of this chapter)