There were many mountains in the southwest.
In autumn, the alternating yellow and green mountains stretched out into the distance under the bright and beautiful sunlight. Occasionally walking on the mountain path made people feel relaxed and happy. Compared to the barren northwest, the southwest was bright and colorful. However, the transportation was less developed than the barren northwest.
Between the mountains and rivers, there were occasional villages of twos and threes. Between the seemingly primitive dense forests, rugged paths were hidden in the weeds and rocks. Only a few developed areas had courier stations. The horse caravans responsible for transportation traversed these rugged paths year after year, passing through the mountains inhabited by ethnic minorities and connecting the Central Plains with the wastelands of the southwest. This was the primitive Tea Horse Road.
This was the hometown of the Xinyi people.
The so-called Xinyi people called themselves the "Ni" tribe. In ancient Chinese, it was pronounced "yi". Later generations changed their name to the Yi people because of the derogatory meaning of barbarians. Of course, at this time in the Wu dynasty, the people living in the southwest mountains were generally called the Xinyi people. They were tall, had high noses, deep eyes, bronze skin, and strong personalities. They were the descendants of the ancient Di Qiang who migrated south. The villages were still implementing a strict slavery system, and there would often be fights between them. It was not uncommon for a large village to swallow up a small village.
During the two hundred years of the Wu dynasty, the trade routes were opened here. They traded with Dali and had always fought for the ownership of the Yi people in the Liangshan area. The two hundred years of trade caused some Han people and ethnic minorities to enter this area. They also opened up several small towns where Han people lived or mixed. There were also some serious criminals who were sent to these dangerous mountains.
When the year of Jing Han passed and the year of Jianshuo passed, several disputes broke out here. During this process, a black flag quietly entered this area. During the third and fourth year of Jianshuo, three small counties in the Liangshan area, Bu Lai, Hedeng, and Ji Shan, declared revolts. They were all unilaterally declared by the county magistrate. Then the army entered one after another and suppressed the resistance.
Most of these soldiers who withdrew from the northwest were travel-worn and shabby. Their bodies were thin after the forced march of thousands of miles. In the beginning, the nearby prefectural magistrate organized a certain number of troops to try to eliminate them. Then … there was no then.
More troops came one after another. Naturally, more problems came one after another. The friction with the surrounding Ni people, several wars, the difficulty of maintaining the trade routes and construction …
*****
The wind suddenly blew and she woke up from her sleep. There was a faint light outside the window and the outline of the leaves swayed slightly in the wind. It was already early morning.
The crow of a rooster could be heard from afar.
There were already people walking around in the courtyard. She sat up and put on her clothes. She took a deep breath and sorted out her confused thoughts. Recalling last night's dream, he vaguely recalled what had happened in the past few years.
Perhaps it was because of the news that came from the outside these days that shook the mountain, and also slightly moved her.
That year, the woman named Su Tan'er was thirty-four years old. Due to the lack of resources, the outside world viewed women as beautiful if they were stout. However, her figure was obviously thin, so she probably couldn't be considered a beauty. In the five years in Hedeng County, the impression that Su Tan'er gave people was that she was determined and sharp. She had an oval face and her eyes were frank and spirited. She was used to wearing a black dress. Even if there was a strong wind and heavy rain, she would lift the hem of her dress to run on the rugged mountain roads and in the mud. Two years later, after the war in the northwest ended and the news of Ning Yi's death spread, she became an out-and-out black widow. She appeared cold and resolute towards everything around her. She would never change the rules that she had set. During this period, even the most 'orthodox' anti-rebel officials in the surrounding areas didn't dare to send troops to Liang Mountain. Both sides maintained secret confrontations, economic games and blockades, as if they were in a cold war.
She continued to maintain this image.
She got up and dressed. There were sounds of people outside. It seemed that they were already busy. It was a few older children who were urged to get up for morning exercises. There were also sounds of greetings. Juan'er, who had just returned, came in with a basin of water. Su Tan'er smiled: "You don't have to do these."
"It's just convenient," Juan'er said.
Back then, the three personal maids were all trained to handle the business at hand. Later on, they became capable right-hand men. After Ning Yi took over the Office of Secret Investigations, the scope of their involvement was too wide. Tan'er hoped that Xing'er and Juan'er could also become Ning Yi's concubines. Although this was a method used by rich families to win over people's hearts, it wasn't that Xing'er and Juan'er had no feelings for Ning Yi. It was just that Ning Yi didn't approve of it. Later on, there were too many things to do and this matter was delayed.
During the three-year war at Little Canghe, Xing'er and a Black Flag Army officer gradually developed feelings for each other and they finally got together. Juan'er remained silent. Two years after that, Ning Yi went into seclusion. Because Wanyan Xiyin didn't give up on the search for Ning Yi, the Jin spies and the Black Flag Army's counter-spies had several confrontations in Liang Mountain. Tan'er and the others couldn't easily go to Ning Yi's side to see each other. During this period of time, it was Juan'er who accompanied Ning Yi. She took care of his daily life and handled all kinds of communication and other details. Although they didn't talk much about personal matters, they generally understood each other's hearts.
Their family was originally just merchants in Jiangning. After they got married, they just wanted to live a peaceful and stable life. Who knew that they would be involved in the war. Thinking back, it had already been ten years. In the first half of these ten years, Su Tan'er watched over Ning Yi and was worried about him. In the second half, Su Tan'er was in charge of Hedeng. She watched with trepidation as the three counties gradually stabilized and developed in the midst of the wind and rain. Occasionally, she would dream about it in the middle of the night. If she hadn't rebelled and didn't care about the world's affairs, she might have been able to accompany her husband in the best years of his life. She was also a woman. She would also miss her husband. She would want to hug his body to sleep at night …
But she didn't say it even once.
Over the years, she had also seen the people who died and suffered in the war. She had seen the fear of the flames of war. They had to flee with their families and live in constant fear … Those brave people bravely charged forward in the face of the enemy and turned into corpses in a pool of blood … And when she first came here, there was a lack of resources. She could only accompany Hong Ti, Watermelon and the others to eat the leftovers … If she was alone, she might be able to live in fear for the rest of her life. However, she could only watch these things …
Autumn was getting deeper and deeper. When they went out, the morning breeze was a little chilly. Their family lived in the small courtyard. Hong Ti was probably not far from the courtyard. Xiaochan was helping to make breakfast in the kitchen. Yuan Bao'er was probably still sleeping in. Her daughter, Ning Ke, who was five years old, had already woken up. She was now enthusiastically going in and out of the kitchen, helping to pass firewood and carry things. Yunzhu followed behind her to prevent her from running around and falling.
Seeing Tan'Er coming out of the room, Xiaoning let out an "ah" and ran to find a basin. She went to the water tank in the kitchen and began to scoop up water with difficulty. Yunzhu followed behind in distress. "What are you doing …"
"Auntie is up. Help Auntie wash her face."
With a "hua" sound, a ladle of water was poured into the basin. Yunzhu squatted at the side and looked back at Tan'Er in distress. Tan'Er hurried over. "Young Ke is so sensible. But Auntie has already washed her face …"
"Ah? She has … "Ning Ke stood there holding the ladle and blinked at her.
"Yes, but Auntie needs a cup of warm water to brush her teeth."
"Oh!"
The little girl hurriedly nodded. Then Yunzhu and others watched her panic when she touched the pot of boiling water next to her.
The children in the family had different temperaments, but Jin'Er's child was the purest, most likable, and the most peculiar. She was enthusiastic about everything and couldn't stay idle as long as she could remember. She would help people get water when they were thirsty. She would share half of her rice when they were hungry. She would jump around anxiously under the tree when a bird fell from its nest. Even when a snail was crawling forward, she couldn't help but want to help. Because of this, Jin'Er was very worried. She said that she would be a maid in the future. Everyone joked that maybe Jin'Er was like this when she was a child. But Jin'Er would probably deny it after thinking for a while.
After a while, they washed up and left the yard. The sky was already shining and the yellow ginkgo trees were swaying in the morning breeze. Not far away, sister Red Ti was watching a group of children doing morning exercises. Dozens of children, big and small, were running along the watchtower at the foot of the mountain. Ning Xi, Ning Ji, and others were also among them. Ning He, the younger one, was jumping and doing some simple stretching.
In the quiet morning light, Hedeng County in the mountains had woken up. Layers of houses were scattered on the hillside, among the trees, and by the stream. Because of the participation of the soldiers, the scale of morning exercises on the side of the foothills was very large. Passionate singing could be heard from time to time.
Among the three counties of Bulai, Hedeng, and Jishan, Hedeng was the administrative center. Along the foothills, the core components of Black Flag — or rather, Ning Yi's forces — were all gathered here. The General Staff Department was responsible for the strategic level and was responsible for the overall situation. It was evolved from Takeshi. The General Political Department was responsible for internal ideological issues. The General Intelligence Department was responsible for external espionage, infiltration, and transmission of all kinds of information. On the other side, there was the Commerce Department, the Engineering Department, and the Military Department that was independent of Bulai. These were the six most important departments of Black Flag.
Of course, the alliance of Blii, Hedeng and Jishan three counties was not the current Black Flag Army's overall appearance. Outside of these three counties, the Black Flag Army's true garrison was Dayang Tribe at the border between Tubo and Dali. This tribe was old friends with Tyrant Blade Liu Dabiao. The place where they lived guarded an iron mine, maintaining sporadic trade with the outside world all year round. In these years, the Dayang Tribe had a small population and was often suppressed by the other Tubo tribes. When Black Flag went south, they absorbed a large number of veterans and elites. The elite soldiers who had undergone ideological reform were gathered here. On one hand, it was to intimidate Dali. On the other hand, there were several conflicts with the Tubo tribes and the remnants of Guo Yaoshi's resentful army who had sought refuge with the Tubo vassal king.
The three counties of Bulai, Hedeng, and Jishan were built to separate the troops who had surrendered after the battle of Little Cang River so that they would not affect the internal structure of the Black Flag Army before they received enough ideological reform. On the other hand, Jishan County was built along the river and was the trading hub between Dali and the Wu dynasty. Bulai stationed a large number of troops and trained them. Hedeng was the political center and Jishan was the commercial hub.
Dali was a relatively gentle and loyal country. It had been close to the Wu dynasty for many years and was extremely disgusted with regicidal rebels like Black Flag. They were not willing to trade with Black Flag Army. However, when Black Flag Army infiltrated Dali, they first targeted some of the Dali nobles, or various unorthodox forces, mountain strongholds, and horse bandits. The resources used for trade were cannons and firearms.
Merchants pursued profit and were willing to do anything. In fact, Dayang, Bulai, and Jishan Counties were all lacking in resources. The merchants taught by Ning Yi were crazy and would sell anything. At this time, Dali's political power was weak. The current Duan family could not compare to the Gao family who held real power. Black Flag Army found the weak nobles of the Duan family or the scum of the Gao family and first signed all kinds of contracts. When the trade started and the royal family found out, they were furious. Black Flag Army messengers no longer cared about the royal power.
"We only recognize the contract."
"Either come according to the agreement or die together."
Dali's side naturally would not accept the threat, but Black Flag Army was also struggling on the edge of the knife. The elites who had just retreated from the frontline of the Little Canghe broke into Dali's territory. At the same time, the operation team that had infiltrated Dali City launched an attack. Caught off guard, they captured seven descendants of the Duan family and the Gao family.
The interests of the business were secondary. However, Black Flag Army had just retreated from the north to resist the Jurchens. If they did not recognize the contract and Black Flag Army died, they would perish together.
This agreement was finally negotiated with great difficulty. Black Flag Army released the hostages intact, retreated, paid compensation for every casualty of Dali, and made an apology. At the same time, they would not pursue the loss of their own people. In exchange, Dali turned a blind eye to the border trade in Jishan. At the same time, they also tacitly agreed to the rule of only recognizing the contract.
With the first gap, although the rest was still difficult, there was still a way out. Although Dali had no intention of provoking this group of madmen from the north, they could stop the people in their country. In principle, they would not allow them to continue trading with Black Flag Army. However, how could a country that could be controlled by a relative of the emperor have a strong constraint on the local government?
For two hundred years, although Dali and the Wu dynasty had always had border trade, the initiative of these trade had always been firmly in the hands of the Wu dynasty. Even when the Dali Kingdom submitted a petition to the Wu dynasty, asking for the title of "King of Dali," it had been rejected several times by the Wu dynasty. Under such circumstances, there were too many monks and not enough gruel. Border trade couldn't satisfy everyone's interests, but who didn't want to live a good life? Under Black Flag Army's persuasion, many people were actually tempted.
While they were dealing with Dali, they were also infiltrating the Wu Dynasty at every moment. Perhaps the people of the Wu dynasty would rather starve to death than do business with Black Flag Army. However, facing a strong enemy, the Jurchens, who wouldn't have a sense of danger?
The fall of the Central Plains had caused a part of the army to gain benefits from the great crisis. These troops were mixed, so the firearms produced by the crown prince's residence could only be provided to the Beiwei Army, Han Shizhong, and other direct troops. Under such circumstances, the firearms of the Black Flag Army, which had worked with the Jurchens in the Little Cang River for three years, were the most tempting thing for them.
Since then, under the principle of blocking Black Flag Army, a large number of smuggling teams appeared. These teams brought the designated things in Jishan according to the agreement, exchanged for several cannons and ammunition, and trudged all the way back to the location of the army. In principle, the army only bought the cannons and didn't ask where they came from. In reality, how could they not secretly protect their own interests?
This two-way trade was extremely difficult at the beginning. Many elites of Black Flag Army sacrificed their lives, just like those who died in the Dali operation. Black Flag Army couldn't take revenge. Even Su Tan'er could only go to the souls of the dead and kowtow to them. In nearly five years, Jishan gradually built up the reputation of "contracts are more important than anything else." In the last two years, it really gained a firm foothold and spread its influence. It became the core stronghold of Qin Shaoqian's Dayang and Chen Fan's Lan Huandong's Lan Huandong.
In the last five years, Su Tan'er was in charge of Jishan. She had experienced more than just the problems of the trade route. Although Ning Yi had solved many macroscopic problems with remote control, the detailed planning was enough to exhaust a person's energy. Getting along with people, the operation of the new department, dealing with the local people, negotiating with the Ni people, and all kinds of construction planning. In the last five years, Tan'er and many people around her hadn't stopped. She hadn't seen her husband for more than three years.
The news of Tian Hu's death in the North had spread back a few days ago. It caused a huge wave in Bly, Jishan, and Jishan. Ever since Ning Yi's "suspected" death, Black Flag Army had been silent for two years. Although the ideological construction in the army had been carried out, there were still many people who had doubts in their hearts or were sulking. This time, Black Flag had easily defeated Tian Hu. Everyone felt a sense of glory, and there were also some people that understood whether or not Mister Ning's death was true or false. Perhaps they were on the verge of finding out …
Tan'er naturally knew more.
She stood on the mountain and looked down with a smile on her face. It was a small city full of vitality. The leaves of all kinds of trees were golden and fluttering, and birds were singing in the sky.
When they met, she was eighteen years old. She thought she was mature and old in her heart. She treated him with full politeness. She never thought that so many things would happen in the future.
In the five years that Jishan worked hard, she didn't complain about anything. She only sighed when she thought about it.
"You're coming back, but I'm not looking good."
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