Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 43: Money, Grain, and People's Concerns
"Xu Huai, here!"
Xu Huai walked north along the narrow beach beside the stream for a while. Xu Xin'an poked his head out of a cave halfway up the mountain and called him over.
There was a path trampled by gold miners from the valley to the cave, which was overgrown with weeds. He groped his way into the cave, and everyone gathered around him anxiously to ask about the situation in Nanzhai.
The entrance of the cave is relatively low, but the inside is quite high, about five or six feet deep. A bonfire is lit at this time, and there are stalactites hanging from the top of the cave, but the ground is relatively flat. There are also some broken pottery pots and jars abandoned here by gold diggers, as well as piles of straw for people to sleep on.
A clay pot was placed on the campfire, boiling hot water.
When the soldiers escaped from Qingxi Village, in addition to armor and weapons, they also carried as much dry food as possible, such as jerky, wheat cakes, etc., which could last them for ten days or half a month. However, they were worried that Su Di and Xu Huai would return to Lutai Village and would not be able to stop the Inspection Office from arresting their families and imprisoning them.
"We escaped from the military camp a moment early. I don't know what Deng Gui's reaction was when he learned that you disappeared from Qingxi Village the night before. But at the middle of the day yesterday, Tang Tiande came here with his men in a threatening manner. Fortunately, Uncle Wu Liang and Aunt Shiqi stopped them, so Tang Tiande returned empty-handed..." There are many things that cannot be explained in detail. At this critical juncture, Xu Huai was not in the mood to take credit for it. He didn't want to waste time explaining, so he pushed the credit to Xu Wuliang and Su Di, and briefly recounted what happened in Lutai Village yesterday.
After confirming that their family members were safe, everyone felt relieved, but they had no idea what to do next.
The dry food was only enough to sustain for a dozen days, which was actually very limited, and we could not expect to gain much from fishing and hunting in Tongbai Mountain.
It is impossible for twenty-five or six strong men to hide in this cave without seeing the sun forever, but the world is so big, where can they find a place to stay?
Everyone knows the answer very well, but some people are still unwilling to give in.
Another question is, even if they become bandits, will they directly find a steep mountain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack and occupy it, or will they find a reliable mountain stronghold to take refuge in?
Xu Huai sat by the campfire that was keeping away the dampness and cold, and listened silently to Xu Wujiang and the others discussing these things.
Things have come to this point, and although he knows he has no choice, he doesn't think that becoming a bandit will really accomplish anything.
All options are just to take one step at a time, so what visionary suggestions can he make?
Of course, most people wouldn't care about his opinion.
Xu Xin'an sat down next to Xu Huai, leaning against the cold and damp stone wall, and whispered:
"Eleven or twelve miles up from Jinshagou is Xiema Mountain. The head of the village, Pan Chenghu, is a very righteous man. He has not had any fierce conflicts with Lutai Village and other surrounding villages. In the past, Lutai Village had made arrangements for Xiema Mountain during festivals, and Uncle Seventeen was secretly responsible for it many times, so he is acquainted with Pan Chenghu. If we go to Xiema Mountain to seek refuge, we should be taken in. However, although Xiema Mountain is more powerful in Tongbai Mountain, it cannot support too many "idlers", and it is impossible for everyone to move their families there. We can hide our identities at first, and there will be no big problem. But as time goes by, after other small gangs in Xiema Mountain know our details, it will be difficult to ensure that the news will not spread. By then, even if the Inspection Office does not investigate, the prefecture and county will definitely make things difficult for our families again. Everyone is worried about this!"
After they left Qingxi Village, they hid in Jinshagou before noon yesterday. They had discussed several times what to do next before Xu Huai came; but when Xu Huai arrived, they had not yet made up their minds.
The fact that more than twenty soldiers had surrendered to the bandits or disappeared was something the Inspection Office dared not conceal; and once it was confirmed that they had become bandits, it was impossible for the prefectures and counties to fail to take follow-up action.
Everyone was still in a dilemma at this time.
Xu Huai thought of the memory that just flashed through his mind and asked in a low voice: "Have you ever thought about staying in Jinshagou?"
"It's not that I haven't thought about it, but it's too ," Xu Xin'an shook his head and said, "You've seen it from here, the terrain of Jinshagou is dangerous, and it's hard to get in from the outside, but from beginning to end, you can see a few slightly flat lands; and another thing is that this place is too close to Xiema Mountain, and there is no room for two tigers on one mountain. If we want to gain a foothold here, we don't need to wait for the Inspection Office to take action, Pan Chenghu may send people to attack us first."
Xu Xin'an was afraid that Xu Huai didn't understand, so he picked up a branch from the bonfire, used the burning charred end to draw a rough topographic map of the left and right sides on the stone ground:
"Xiema Mountain is at the source of Jinshagou. Although there is another road out of the mountain to the east, Jinshagou is always its back door. Of course, more importantly, we have established our own business in Jinshagou. It is inevitable that we will have to take grain, salt and iron from nearby villages. However, these villages have long been the sheep farms of Xiema Mountain. How could they tolerate our interference?"
Regardless of whether they were desperate and looking for a way to survive at first, once they became bandits, some would kill and burn, some would rob and loot, and the indiscriminate killing of innocent people was endless.
However, the mountain strongholds that have been able to survive for a long time in Tongbai Mountain have maintained a delicate balance with the surrounding villages and major clans, and the conflicts will not be too intense.
Some mountain stronghold forces would even avoid harming the surrounding villages as long as they could provide daily respect, but they would never easily allow other forces to interfere.
The main reason is that the mountain stronghold and the surrounding villages have formed a "support" relationship that not only does not allow others to interfere; if there are occasional bandits crossing the border to commit crimes, the mountain stronghold forces will also provide manpower and effort to capture them, which has actually replaced the role of the government to a certain extent.
This was the key reason why Xu Wujiang and Xu Xin'an felt that it was impossible for them to gain a foothold in Jinshagou; as for whether Jinshagou was the gateway to Xiema Mountain, Pan Chenghu and other bandit chieftains might not have such foresight.
Xu Huai didn't think it was easy to stay in Jinshagou, but over the past period of time, he had been thinking about what triggered .
The memory that flashed back this time involved the gold miners in Xiema Mountain, and he had never heard of the chute method before. He suspected it was related to the Jinshagou alluvial gold.
As for how to convince Xu Wujiang and others to stay?
He was still unclear about the details of the chute method. Even if it was useful, even if he could fight ten people at a time, the twenty or so people who stayed would not be able to make a fortune, but would have to face the tremendous pressure exerted by the people from Xiema Mountain. This was not a good excuse.
More importantly, many people tend to join Xiema Mountain, so the chute method cannot be mentioned too early.
"What do you think?" After seeing Xu Huai coming to report the news, Xu Wujiang sat in the corner and whispered with Xu Xin'an, so he sat down and asked.
Xu Huai hesitated for a moment and said, "Uncle Seventeen, no matter how hard and dangerous it is, we still have to stay in Jinshagou. Yesterday, Aunt Seventeen persuaded us with emotion and reason, and the clan members all thought that Uncle Seventeen and you died in banditry, and they were outraged; this also made Xu Wufu dare not openly collude with Deng Gui. However, too many people still have to rely on their own family. After a long time, the indignation will disappear, and what is left is compromise. What really makes Xu Wufu afraid is Uncle Seventeen and you. As long as you keep an eye on the left and right, like a nail nailed to Jinshagou, Xu Wufu will not dare to openly hand over everyone's family even if he is given a courage!"
Xu Wujiang frowned.
Regardless of whether Xu Huai suddenly came to his senses or had always been wise but appeared foolish, Xu Wujiang was still able to objectively weigh the current dilemma.
As long as Xu Huai's words made sense, he would listen to them.
Of course he did not want to become a bandit, and he was not the kind of person who would complain about the world, but the lives and deaths of so many people rested on his shoulders, which made him feel extremely heavy.
Xu Xin'an still found it difficult to accept Xu Huai's big change, and hurriedly said:
"Didn't I just tell you that there is no way Xiema Mountain would allow us to stay here?"
Xu Huai knew that Xin'an obeyed Xu Wujiang in everything, so he continued to persuade Xu Wujiang:
"I sneaked into Deng Gui's room the day before yesterday and took out some gold and silver from his suitcase. This place is only two mountains away from Yuhuangling. Food, cotton, salt and other items can be transported directly over the mountain from the South Village. There is no need to rush to extort nearby villages in a short period of time. As long as we don't compete with Xiema Mountain for food, I don't think they will rush us away..."
Although the mountains from Yuhuangling to Jinshagou are dangerous and the slopes are steep, there are only more than 20 people here. It is not difficult to arrange for people to carry 100 to 200 kilograms of food every three to five days.
Even if Xu Wujiang and the others didn't have much savings, the gold and silver he stole from Deng Gui's suitcase the day before was worth thousands of strings of cash, which could still last for a while.
Although there are not many people in Xuwujiang, they are well-equipped and strong. They are just a small group active in the Jinshagou area and do not directly infringe on the interests of Xiemashan. Xiemashan may not be willing to pay a high price to help the government remove this nail.
Of course, if Xu Wujiang and his men wanted to recruit soldiers and expand their power in Jinshagou, they would inevitably come into conflict with the bandits in Xiema Mountain, but that is another matter.
Maybe that is the time to talk about the chute method.
"...Tongbai Mountain is said to be 300 miles in radius, but there are not many deep mountains and old forests in the true sense. We have many concerns about joining other forces, but if we want to set up our own camp, how can we avoid conflicts with other forces no matter where we run? I think we can't be hesitant about this matter."
Seeing that Xu Wujiang was interested, Xu Huai continued to persuade him.
"Even if we stay in Jinshagou temporarily, in addition to deterring Xu Wufu from openly colluding with Deng Gui, Chen Tong and others, it is more important to rely on Lu Tainan Village as a cover to facilitate the secret delivery of supplies. If we don't rely on Lu Tainan Village, where can we buy 100 to 200 kilograms of food every three to five days and send it to the deep mountains and old forests? How can we avoid being targeted by the Inspection Office? We can't really think that Deng Gui, Tang Tiande and others are blind?"
"...You're such an idiot..." Xu Xin'an, who was sitting next to him and heard what Xu Huai said, felt that he was somewhat convinced. He couldn't help but start to tease him and call him an idiot, asking how he knew all these weird things.
"Uncle Seventeen, why don't we call everyone over to discuss this? What Xu Huai said seems to make sense." Xu Xin'an changed his mind.
"Sihu, come here..."
Xu Wujiang also thought that what Xu Huai said made sense, but he knew in his heart that when things had come to this point, people's hearts were the most important factor in determining whether they could move forward.
There are only more than 20 people among them. If one of them wavers in his determination and wants to join Xu Wufu or disband and go his separate ways, big problems could arise.
At this critical juncture, we still need to convince everyone as much as possible.
Xu Wujiang waved his hand and called Xu Sihu and others over, and repeated Xu Huai's intention.
"I think this can be done," Xu Sihu and others agreed. They had been worried for the past two days, and at this moment they patted Xu Huai's shoulders with some joy, "How much gold and silver did you take from Mr. Deng?"
Not only were they unwilling to abandon their families and flee far away, they were not even mentally prepared to rob.
He was a soldier the day before yesterday, but today he has to become a bandit and do things on the edge of a knife. Who can accept this calmly?
Since Xu Huai had taken away a lot of gold and silver, and could secretly carry food from Lutainan Village, they did not need to attack the familiar villages around them just to survive. This was more acceptable than taking refuge in the mountain strongholds or fighting their way out to other places.
"There are two hundred strings of cash!" Xu Huai said.
Xu Huai did not tell the truth, mainly because he was afraid that everyone would want to divide the spoils and run away.
The fields in Tongbai Mountain are scarce and grain is expensive, but with two hundred strings of cash, in addition to purchasing some necessities, you can also buy hundreds of dan of grain, enough for everyone to eat in Jinshagou for half a year.
Now everyone is taking things one step at a time. Since they think they won't have to worry about hunger or cold in the next six months, they won't be so panicked.
