Volume 1 Nightfall Border City Chapter 51 Smuggling

  "Man by the sea?" Ning Sheng Zhai's second monk couldn't understand, and he didn't bother to think about it anymore. He just needed to bring back the original words.

  Chahar cavalry has just retreated, and the Kill Hu Kou is still closed. Ning Sheng dare not delay, so he writes a letter by hand and orders someone to deliver it to Geng Guang's hands.

  Geng Guang has been in and out of various wine houses and gambling dens throughout Youyu County since entering the pass at the beginning of the first month, and has not stayed at Sahu for a long time.

  Youyu County has high mountains and dense forests, adjacent to the grasslands. In the past when there were many merchants traveling through, various local tyrants emerged, extorting silver from small merchant teams to make a living. Of course, they didn't dare to provoke large business owners. After the decline of the Kill Hu Kou trade, these people's lives lost their footing, and many had the idea of smuggling goods out of the pass. The roads leading out of Shanxi Province are treacherous, and those who return home safely are one in ten, but still countless people are willing to take risks. Nothing else, it's just that this place is too poor.

  Eighty percent of Shanxi is mountainous terrain, with the Taihang Mountains, Lüliang Mountains, and Hengshan... The rainfall is scarce, the land is poor, and almost every year there are crop failures. Someone once wrote: "No flat fertile land surrounds us, no water springs bring benefits, no boats or carts carry rice, the villagers can only rely on farming on the hillsides, exhausting their oxen, looking up to heaven for survival."

  As Amur of Chahar tribe said, it takes time for the situation in the south of the prairie to ease.

  Although the Han people still have some fear of the Chahar people, for the sake of a living, there are always people who are willing to take risks.

  The merchant is still observing, but the smuggling horse gang has taken action. They are scattered on both sides of the Great Ming border, walking through mountains and forests, avoiding the border checkpoints, without having to bribe or buy their way through, making several times more profit with each success, even if it means risking their lives, which is better than starving to death at home.

  Chahar herdsmen need goods from the Han people, at least they cannot leave tea, salt and even iron cooking utensils. Tribes can of course exchange them in Zhangjiakou, but if someone sends them out from the Great Ming border, some tribes have also slowly learned to accept.

  Heihushan Mountain on the east side of Hu Kou, from February onwards, horse caravans began to venture out. The smuggling road was filled with bloodshed, and the dense forest of Heihushan Mountain was constantly killing people who escaped from Tumu River without a place to settle down, and there were also some scattered bandits. Even if the smuggling merchant caravan arrived at the grassland safely, the future was still uncertain.

  Geng Guang took the silver from Ning Sheng and started living a life of luxury, gathering various information. In Youyu County, he found it easy to collaborate with the smuggling horse gangs, but Geng Guang's discerning eye made it difficult for ordinary people to gain his trust.

  When Ning Sheng's letter arrived in Geng Guang's hands, he was just preparing to leave Hei Hu Mountain.

  He recently picked a horse team leader, nicknamed Chen Lao Da. This man looks like an honest farmer, with few words and careful handling of affairs. He has more than 40 brothers under his command in the horse team and is also somewhat famous in Youyu County.

  Geng Guang wanted to walk through the road of Hei Hu Shan, and Chen Lao Da accompanied him all the way. The road out of Hei Hu Shan was rugged and difficult to travel, with steep cliffs and narrow paths that only allowed one horse to pass at a time. As a result, the Mongolian cavalry could not pass through this area, which is why the Ming dynasty did not establish a fortress here. Chen Lao Da was very familiar with the terrain of this mountain range and explained it to Geng Guang along the way. Although he knew the road well, he suffered from lack of funds.

  There were no goods, only two horses, and they were also good hands of sixty or seventy people. Even the thieves in the mountains did not dare to take action. The group of people climbed over mountains and ridges for nearly two days before arriving at the grassland.

  Geng Guang left the pass and gave Chen Lao Da twenty taels of silver, asking him to wait for two days at the Black Tiger Mountain Pass, while he himself rode swiftly towards Old Crow Mountain.

  At the end of May, the weather was particularly refreshing with the wind blowing from outside. Geng Guang took off his top and rode his warhorse at an extremely fast speed on the mountain path. It wasn't until they arrived at Lao Ya Mountain that they found out that Di Zhe had left with a group of people.

  Xiao Zhi's words sent someone to take him to the Han camp overnight.

  Geng Guang arrived at Han Village after a long and arduous journey, where he informed Di Zhe of the situation inside Hu Kou, and also took out Ning Sheng's letter.

  "To occupy the smuggling route of Hei Hu Shan, the key is to block the outside. Geng Guang didn't wait for Di Zhe to finish reading the letter and continued: "After all, Hei Hu Shan is in the Great Ming, and the smuggling merchants dare not make too much trouble with each other, let alone that most of them are locals from You Yu County, if they get too aggressive, it's hard to make friends!"

  "What do you want to do?"

  "Let Meng Kang lead his troops to blockade the Black Tiger Mountain pass, just ambush a few smuggling merchant teams, and the news will spread. The people in the fort will know that they are being targeted by horse bandits, and they will disperse!"

  Di Zhe nodded and said: "There's no problem with this matter!"

  "I also want to bring some more people in, but all the locals I've recruited are unreliable!"

  "Pick thirty more men from the stronghold!"

  Geng Guang squeezed out a smile and said: "Thirty people are enough, as long as the master allows Meng Kang to cooperate with me, I will definitely be able to handle the matter!"

  "Your tribesmen are all doing well here, Geng Zhu follows me every day, and Wang Yi is in charge of the affairs in the Han camp. Go see them! Tomorrow I'll accompany you to Hei Shan!"

  Geng Guang bid farewell and left, he hadn't seen his family and friends for several months, and also wanted to know about their current situation.

  Di Zhe finally had time to open Ning Sheng's letter.

  "Man by the sea?"

  He muttered to himself a few times, thinking for a moment, wasn't that the Jurchen woman from Liaodong? Liaodong was indeed located on the coast of the East Sea.

  The Jurchen people want to secretly contact the Tumed people! Di Zhe sneered and slowly tore the letter into pieces. It seems that Fan Yongdou's Dashun Gui is no longer just doing business with Liaodong, their cooperation has entered a new stage. This letter must not be known to Princess Wulan, he does not want to push the Tumed people to the Jurchen people yet.

  Deep in the mountains, the Han village is quiet and peaceful. The flowing water of Tuoma River is like a gentle melody that accompanies day and night, turning this place into a utopia isolated from worldly affairs. Occasionally, fishermen can catch fish by boat on the river. In the mountain village, except for craftsmen, others are not busy, and every day is spent repairing earth houses. According to current plans, the Han village can accommodate nearly 5,000 people at most.

  Geng Guang met with his clansmen and listened to Wang Yi's account, calming his mind by more than half. Even within the borders of the Great Ming, all he saw was struggle; if heaven didn't send rain soon, Shanxi would surely be littered with corpses from starvation again this year.

  "Brother Geng, only by following the great master can we get through this difficult time!" Wang Yi is now completely devoted to Di Zhe. It's not what you say but what you do that matters. Seeing the golden millet stored in the granary of the Han village, enough for a year's worth of food reserves, how could he not be convinced?

  Geng Guang nodded and said: "I was on Hei Hu Mountain, it's like I did it for these brothers of mine. At least it's much easier than pulling teeth from the mouth of a tiger in Mongolia."

  "Geng Zhu has been learning to read and write with me for the past few days. In the past, you said he was useless, but now that the master of the house has spoken, he has no choice but to learn!" Wang Yi said with a smile.

  "I've said it before, now it's too late, he can't take the imperial exam after studying!" Whenever mentioning his son, Geng Guang's tone was always somewhat resentful. Then he asked: "Does the master of the house still like him?"

  Wang Yi's mouth twitched slightly, hesitated for a moment, and smiled: "The master of the house quite likes him."

  Geng Zhu and Di Zhe's personal soldiers were not the same, those people had grown up in hardship since childhood. Di Zhe promoted them to be his personal soldiers and also let Wang Yi teach them to read and write. Each of them was deeply devoted to Di Zhe and did not dare to slack off on a daily basis. However, Geng Zhu was spoiled by Geng Guang and was also the young master in the mountain stronghold. After coming to Di Zhe's side, he still had some reluctance when doing things. Wang Yi temporarily didn't want to tell Geng Guang about these matters and only hoped to advise Geng Zhu again.

  Becoming Zhai Zhe's personal soldier was the best opportunity for young people in the mountain stronghold, but unfortunately, Geng Zhu didn't know how to cherish it. Even Wang Yi saw that his position would eventually belong to that Zong Mao. That young man was too clever, and he could do calculations and read books with just a glance.