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Chapter 74

Outside Xia County.

The Yanghe Chamber of Commerce, the Huitong Chamber of Commerce, the He San Chamber of Commerce, and the mules and horses of more than a dozen small caravans were all pulled from Xia County.

At a glance, Li Chongjiu saw that this was almost a large caravan with over two hundred mules and horses. The mules and horses were pressing boxes on the left and right, and all of them were filled with goods sold to the grassland.

For example, salt, Sichuan brocade, silk and satin, tea bricks from Sichuan, medicinal materials, paper, ironware, jewelry and jade, and ceramics are all in short supply that cannot be produced on the grassland.

More than a dozen caravans sent out to transport the guys alone, there were 60 people, plus the shopkeepers in charge, and some servants brought by each, and many guards belonging to their respective caravans. There are also veterinarians, and even a few people who are proficient in Turkic and various grassland languages ​​and serve as translators.

Including the 100 members of Sun Erniang's bodyguards from Li's Escort Bureau, there was a total of nearly 700 mighty caravans.Indeed, such a strength is enough to deter ordinary Xiaoxiao in Taiyuan County.Seeing this, Li Chongjiu felt more confident in his heart, and seeing this large caravan leaving the city at this time, and hearing that it was going to Jiang County, many caravans who were suffering from being in Xia County and unable to move forward were also the same. One after another came and asked to join.

Watching the smoke and dust billowing behind for a while.

Manager Lin of the Yanghe Chamber of Commerce immediately drove to Li Chongjiu's side and said, "Young escort, don't accept these people. The more people in the caravan, the more attractive the target is, not the bigger the mutual support. Make the thieves happy."

Li Chongjiu looked at Sun Erniang, and Sun Erniang nodded, supporting Guanshi Lin's opinion.

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Manager Lin, I will make arrangements for this matter."

Manager Lin had a puzzled look on his face.Li Chongjiu explained: "There is a refugee team of nearly 3000 people in front of me. I took them in. When the time comes, everyone will go to the gate together. The more people and the bigger the momentum, the better."

Listening to Li Chongjiu's words, Lin Guanshi thought that he had subdued a team of refugees with more than 3000 people. Now he changed his mind about Li Chongjiu and agreed immediately.However, if Manager Lin knew that Li Chongjiu's refugee team was mostly old and weak, women and children, he might not think so.

At that moment, Steward Lin let go of his worries and left to supervise the goods of his caravan.

But Li Chongjiu said to Sun Erniang: "Aunt Wu, you send people to collect the security deposits from the newly joined traders. Every article must be collected in full, and then let them all join this big caravan. There is a large caravan of thousands of people."

Sun Erniang said: "Xiao Jiu, Fifth Aunt has always been trustworthy in your work, but this is a large caravan with thousands of people. If something goes wrong on the way, it will not be enough even if our Li Family Escort goes bankrupt. Be careful."

Li Chongjiu said with a smile: "Aunt Wu, you are right, but difficulties are also opportunities. If everyone can't do it, we can do it. This is our ability. This is also a means of marketing our bodyguard agency."

What is marketing?Sun Erniang couldn't help asking.Li Chongjiu understood that he recruited various caravans to join this time, which was also a hype for his Li Family Escort Agency. The more people joined, the more he would be able to spread the name of his Escort Agency.

As for the three thousand refugees, it seems to be a drag, but for the future of the Li Family Escort, having a foothold in Yanmen is of no use.

The caravan bought a lot of grain and grass, and it happened that the rice merchant in this city also had a horse of goods to be transported to Mobei. Li Chongjiu promised him to transport the goods for him for free.

The rice merchant heard that the other party was the young head of the Li Family Escort Bureau, so he didn't feel embarrassed at the moment, and sold it to Li Chongjiu and the caravan at a "loss" at the price of fifty cents a bucket of rice.

However, after spending this money, it is equivalent to consuming all the points earned by Sun Erniang's dart trip.However, Li Chongjiu is convinced that the money is well spent, and it will definitely be of great value.

After the rice was bought, he packed it into the pot, and Li Chongjiu asked the caravan to borrow three large tanks to cook the rice.Pour the river water to soak the rice in it, and all the people did not need to be dispatched, but each carried dry firewood, put it under the big tank and lit it.

Everyone was staring at the three big vats, swallowing their saliva, and the common people held up the broken bowls on their bodies, looking forward to it.

This was their first meal after three days of food deprivation, and it was extremely delicious rice, not corn and wheat, but rice only found in the south.

The moment the water boiled, all the people boiled. Several temporary cooks continued to stir the rice in the vat with sticks, and kept adding some wild vegetables, wild mushrooms, and a little raw salt.

Seeing this scene, Li Chongjiu asked the caravan for some skewers of bacon, cut them into slices, and threw them into the big vat.

For a while, there was steaming heat in the big vat, and a scent seduced everyone's sense of taste, and Li Chongjiu himself couldn't help being moved.

"Don't grab it! Don't grab it for me! Everyone has a share, women with children, stand in front with a bowl, one bowl for each person, and only one bowl, everyone has it, don't grab it for me."

The porridge was thick and full of weight, not the kind of clear soup with little water. According to Li Chongjiu's promise, every commoner lined up to get his own bowl of food.

A six or seven-year-old child, regardless of the boiling hot porridge, held the bowl in his hand, circling around it, taking a sip from the side from time to time,
"Mom, I have a piece of meat here." The child's surprised voice immediately aroused everyone's envy.

"Well, eat more." On the one hand, the mother put a chopstick of wild vegetables in her bowl into her scrawny child's bowl.

"This mushroom is really delicious!"

Many people held their own hot porridge in their hands and sighed like this.

With a bowl of porridge to rest their stomachs, the common people are far from full, but they are extremely comfortable.Seeing Li Chongjiu pass by, they all bowed down and said loudly: "Thank you, Young Escort, for your kindness!"

"Thank you, Young Escort, for your kindness to me!" Such voices came and went one after another.

The refugees have been running around for more than ten days. After eating porridge and resting overnight, everyone is full of energy.They had a rest that night, and the next day everyone started to set foot on the road.

The caravan of thousands of people, plus the refugee team of more than 3000 people, were now merged and gathered by Li Chongjiu for integration.

Li Chongjiu ordered Sun Erniang to lead a hundred escorts' children, carrying escort flags and shouting escort numbers, to open the way ahead; the large caravans of the caravan followed behind, the caravan must be the top priority, for protection, In the third queue were nearly 300 people led by Li Chongjiu Tanzong, and at the end was an army of [-] refugees.

Before the journey, Li Chongjiu ordered the refugees, regardless of age, men and women, to tie up their hair and wear headscarves to hide their eyes and ears, and all of them made a disheveled appearance. Everyone held wooden sticks and bamboo sticks. If you look closely, you won't be able to tell the difference between male and female or old and weak for a while, making it hard to tell the truth from reality.

Li Chongjiu was ordered not to speak during the march, and he was even more concealed at the moment. At first glance, it seemed that three thousand young men were passing through the border.And on this day, the refugees were all full of food, and they walked in a slump, and their walking speed was greatly accelerated.

Li Chongjiu was riding on a horse, and in a blink of an eye, the road was full of soap-colored headscarves tied with sackcloth, with their heads lowered and their feet stepping on the loess, and smoke and dust billowed everywhere. I feel that there is an aura of a mighty army.

Li Chongjiu couldn't help showing a look of satisfaction, and Lin Guanshi also stopped his horse at this time, looking at Li Chongjiu with a look of admiration.At first, Manager Lin and several business leaders were dissatisfied when they saw that Li Chongjiu was going to bring three thousand old and weak women and children with him, which affected the speed of travel.

But seeing that Li Chongjiu used this trick to conjure up three thousand "heroic soldiers" out of thin air, they all expressed their admiration for Li Chongjiu.

When Steward Lin waited for Li Chongjiu to catch up with him on horseback, he said: "Young escort, that's a good idea. Tomorrow I will order the caravan's men to tie up this linen soap towel as well."

Linen soap towel?

Because of his actions at this moment, Li Chongjiu couldn't help but think of the Yellow Turban Army and the Red Eyebrow Army. These two are peasant rebels with low status and no flags to identify ourselves as enemies, so they use them as their own.As for the soldier soap towel, this is Cangtou, and it is more appropriate to call Cangtou Army.

In the historical records, Su Qin said that among the soldiers of the king, there are 20 warriors, 20 heads, 20 fighters, and [-] servants.And Chen Sheng also has the Cangtou army under his command, presumably Cangtou is such a man with a soap scarf on his head.

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "Many Lin, thank you so much." Steward Lin said with a smile: "It's all mutual benefit and mutual help, why is there a word of thanks? By the way, the word below is the front. If Brother Li thinks highly of it , you can use the name below." Li Chongjiu nodded immediately, and said: "A good name, the sword is drawn to be the front, and if you want to be the front brother, your ambition is not small."

Lin Dangfeng smiled, and said: "I'm ashamed to say that when I was young, I also studied books and practiced martial arts. I wanted to be successful, but my family was in trouble, so I had to come down to start a business. If there is an opportunity in the future, I would like to have a place to show my ambition."

"It's too far away, let's talk about the freight route to Yanmen County first."

Then Li Chongjiu and Lin Dangfeng chatted a few more words, and Lin Dangfeng returned to work in his caravan.

This day's journey was extremely fast, and when night fell, everyone had already camped in Jiangjun.

(End of this chapter)