Globe Trekker

Chapter 38
Master Lu and Chief Lu left in a hurry, probably to consult with his brothers. Only Wu Ming, who was silently smoking and checking the map, and Lu Kuiyuan, who was at a loss, remained under the big tree.

Lv Kuiyuan, who has just turned 20, is very strong. Since he was five years old, his father forced him to practice the Tongbiquan handed down in his family. Very solid.

Wu Ming felt that although this son lived in the mountains for a long time with a simple mind and a simple and honest temperament, if he had the opportunity to go out for a walk, see the world and broaden his horizons, he would soon be able to stimulate his extraordinary talent.

On the night of the attack, Lu Kuiyuan slashed people with a knife under Wu Ming's nose. Wu Ming was deeply shocked by the viciousness he displayed. After a few tricks, he was still defeated, and he admired Lu Kuiyuan's amazing strength and speed. This incident made Lu Kuiyuan feel better for several days, and he became more confident.

For more than half a month, Lu Kuiyuan accompanied Wu Ming to travel all over the mountains and rivers in a radius of hundreds of miles. He deeply admired Wu Ming's ability and profound knowledge, almost to the point of worship. Knowledge of firearms, and superficial knowledge of topographical surveying, what is altitude, what is the angle of observation, and the height of mountains can be calculated according to the projection of the sun. Brand new fields opened up in front of him, which made him tremble and feel a sense of awe. novel.

But now, Lu Kuiyuan was worried again. He couldn't fully understand the conversation between Wu Ming and the two elders just now, but he knew that the danger was in front of him, and he might not be able to leave this place.

Seeing Wu Ming roll up the map, Lu Kuiyuan, who was waiting anxiously, quickly asked, "Brother, are we going to move to Maoliangwu, the second uncle's hometown?"

Wu Ming nodded, rolled up a cigarette and lit it, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled the smoke: "A lot of things have happened outside recently, and I have discussed it with you. This place is too dangerous, so we have to go."

"Is Maoliangwu here?" Lu Kuiyuan asked anxiously.

How should I answer?Wu Ming knew exactly where Maoliangwu was. In his memory, it was the starting point of the water transportation of the Leyuan River. The Qianligang Mountains and the Huaiyu Mountains to the west endowed the Leyuan River with abundant water, making this river a continuous stream since the Tang Dynasty. It can carry nearly [-] tons of ships in all seasons. A large part of the silver and copper mines that were hollowed out there during the Ming and Qing dynasties were transported from Maoliangwu.

What's even more rare is that Maoliangwu has the best fluorite mine in western Zhejiang within a radius of 70.00 miles, as well as a handful of high-combustion value coal mines and a large amount of high-quality limestone and ceramic clay in Changshan. Although it is located in a remote area surrounded by mountains, However, the hidden roads in the mountains extend in all directions, and the output of camellia oil and rare wood is close to half of the total output of Changshan County. After a hundred years, the forest coverage rate is still above [-]%.

There are two more important points, that is, whether in the past or in the future, all the flames of war will not burn to the beautiful Maoliangwu, which is like a paradise like a paradise; secondly, Wu Ming found himself too lonely and too weak, regardless of the future No matter how he went, he needed a place to hide and a group of people who could help him.

After thinking for a long time, Wu Ming could only answer: "That place should be better than here. First of all, there is much more land than here. There is a river called Leyuan River, where big boats can take it. There are many small streams around, and the land is fertile. , surrounded by endless forests and high mountains, and century-old trees can be seen everywhere. I remember reading a book, which said that there is a kind of stone in the northwest of Maoliangwu, which can shine for three days after being illuminated by light, which is similar to the legendary Like a night pearl."

Lu Kuiyuan was very excited: "If you find it, wouldn't you make a fortune?"

Wu Ming said with a smile: "It depends on luck, but you still have to ask your father, your second uncle and the others to agree to move there. As long as you go there, you have plenty of time, so you can find it slowly."

Lu Kuiyuan blushed with excitement, and suddenly became anxious again: "Brother, are you going to live with us?"

Wu Ming nodded: "For the time being, I have no place to go. In a few months, I'm afraid there will be chaos in Northeast China and North China, and then there will be a big war in Shanghai. Remember the Oriental people I told you about? Since the Qing Dynasty, their troops have been stationed in the three northeastern provinces of my country, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Fuzhou and other places. Because their country is an island, they cannot feed their rapidly increasing population every year, so they began to deliberately invade China decades ago. In our country, you know that there are them in the Eight-Nation Allied Forces, and the Sino-Japanese War, which was regarded as a century-old shame by the Chinese people. They squeezed hundreds of millions of taels of silver from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. They used the money to develop industries and build warships. Build guns and come back to attack us, I am afraid that the Eastern Army is about to move now."

"The government's army doesn't care?" Lu Kuiyuan was very angry.

Wu Ming smiled and said, "Do you think the government's army is strong?"

"This one……"

Lu Kuiyuan was stunned. Brother Ang in front of him was a ruthless man who killed the head of the government army alone: ​​"Will the Japanese army come to our place?"

Wu Ming thought for a while: "It's possible, but no matter what, they will never reach Maoliangwu, because it is not easy to get there. There are high mountains along the way, and the only feasible way is to enter by water. Coke Yuanxi has nine bends and eighteen bends, just choose a narrow highland by the river and give him a cold shot, and he has to retreat obediently."

Lu Kuiyuan finally felt relieved, and nodded heavily after a moment of contemplation: "Brother, I know why you chose Mao Liangwu. I want to follow you, and I will follow you for the rest of my life."

Wu Ming was quite surprised. Seeing Lu Kuiyuan's expectant and firm eyes, he had no choice but to agree: "You are my brother. I only have three brothers in my life. One is Tian Zhenggang, who is probably still farming in my hometown, and the other My name is Chengzong, and he is a Taoist priest. He was the one who saved my life, and you are the only one left. No matter what your father decides, I want to go to Hangzhou and Shanghai when I settle down. When the time comes, you should be willing to come together go."

Lu Kuiyuan was overjoyed, and when he was about to say something, he saw his father, second uncle, third uncle and several other uncles walking quickly, so he shut his mouth and obediently stood aside.

Wu Ming glanced around at the people who sat down one after another, picked up the cold tea and drank it slowly without saying a word.

Master Lu coughed lightly and stared at Wu Ming under the signal of Chief Lu Zhengde: "We have made a decision. I will listen to you. Anyway, there is no other way to go. It's just that brothers want you to stay with us."

Wu Ming asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

"The sooner the better, otherwise the night will be long and dreamy." After Lu Zhengde answered, the others nodded one after another. It seemed that everyone was scared.

"There are nearly a hundred people, old and young, how do we get there?" Wu Ming asked again.

Master Lu showed a confident smile: "You don't have to worry about that, we are familiar with every road going east."

Everyone laughed and chatted for more than half an hour. The others left in a hurry under the orders of Chief Lu, leaving only Master Lu and Master Lu, who seemed to have something to say to Wu Ming.

Master Lu really showed his cards to Wu Ming frankly: "This time, all the pots and pans accumulated over the past ten years have to be thrown away, and we don't take anything except money, bullets, and personal clothes. We plan to pack our bags tomorrow, and the next day will be in the middle of the night. Leave quietly, take a boat across Sanqing Lake from the mountain pass in the east, and then go around the small path, the third person will lead the people to be in charge of the front stop, there should be no problem in terms of safety, and you will not be afraid to enter Changshan after walking for a day."

Wu Ming knew that this place was not far from Changshan County. It was less than [-] kilometers away by road, and it was closer by a small road across Sanqing Lake in the east. It was only about [-] kilometers away. Checkpoints are better than safety.

Seeing that Wu Ming had no objection, Master Lu gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Wu, to tell you the truth, although we have saved 10,000+ oceans of hard-earned money, we have to take nearly a hundred families, old and young, to the new place for the fields, houses and Including the food expenses for half a year, the cost will definitely not be small, and we have to think about the future. You are a great talent, and my brothers and I believe in you, knowing that you must have plans in your heart, right?"

Wu Ming smiled wryly: "You look up to me, you are all veterans, you eat more salt than I eat rice, and West Zhejiang is your hometown, no matter what, you should know better than me, but There is one thing I am sure of. From the markings on the map and the situation in the newspaper, it is not a problem to settle in Maoliangwu. It is estimated that there are not many families left there. At worst, I will send some money to the surrounding natives and get along well with them. It’s not a problem to spend a little effort opening up wasteland and farming, and everything will be easy to handle this year.”

"What about the future?"

The master asked reluctantly.

Wu Ming weighed it over and over again, and still expressed his opinion: "If the ancient book I read is not wrong, there is Dongwu Mountain about five miles west of Maoliangwu, and there is an extremely easy-to-mine coal mine at the foot of the mountain. The rare good coal mines in western Zhejiang are not like the hard-to-burn stone coal that can be seen everywhere, but real coal that can be used to forge iron, burn porcelain, and make cement."

Master Lu and Lu Zhengde were astonished, and Wu Ming pretended not to see it: "Also, the Leyuan Creek, which you all know, although the name sounds like a stream, is actually a very wide river that travels nearly a hundred miles. A large ship with a ton of tons can go directly to Zhaoxian Town, and then go from Zhaoxian Town, whether it is going east to Quzhou City, or west to Changshan County, water and land are very convenient."

"After you settle down, if you like, you can buy two more cargo ships with diesel engines and come back to do coal business. These ships are sold in Shanghai and Hangzhou, and they are published in newspapers. You can buy one for 220 oceans. , it is equipped with a [-]-horsepower diesel engine made in the United States, and there is no problem in transporting [-] tons of goods against the current. If you really want to buy it, you can bargain for a lower price."

Master Lu took a deep breath, turned to Lu Zhengde who was extremely confused after being shocked: "Zhengde, what do you mean?"

Lu Zhengde bit his cheek: "Go! If this is the case, you don't have to worry about it in the future, but you have to catch this kid and let him do it!"

Wu Ming was horrified, and the Lu brothers didn't care about his reaction, they immediately leaned forward and tried both hard and soft, and began to finalize the details of the relocation after a while of talking and talking.

Early the next morning, Wu Ming, who was clean-shaven, changed into the black youth uniform, took a Mauser pistol, took Lu Kuiyuan with him, and quietly left the cottage with Li Kun, the third master, and met at home at the crossing at the foot of the mountain. After breakfast, the two eyeliners boarded a wooden boat and headed east across Sanqing Lake.

After dark the next day, under the protection of dozens of thugs, young and old, young and old, packed up, held torches, and under the moonlight, reluctantly left the cottage where they had lived for many years. Lu Zhengde's pregnant woman and a group of old women were crying. Looking back, when I walked down the mountain, I was in tears.

(End of this chapter)