On the southwest coast of Guangzhou, Huian Town is a small town under Etouling, a tributary of the Pearl River.

The rebel soldiers from the Nufeng Camp were plundering/paying the gifts called whistle grains. This was also the first time Zhou Huaian left his resident and went to the countryside.

When entering the town, it seemed that it was because I had been here before. I did not react particularly strongly to the existence of the rebel army, or it showed a numbness and dullness after being forced to get used to it. In the end, there was only a small poke in the huge town, and I was fully responsible for contacting and negotiating with the rebel army.

Because it is close to the suburbs of the inland Guangzhou, in addition to some common rice fields and vegetable beds outside the town, there are also scattered orchards that are not regularly distributed on the hillsides and hills. However, most of the local trees are tung trees that have already grown fruits. The livelihoods of most people in the town are somewhat related to the surrounding industries of sea trade and shipping.

Therefore, besides the town, in addition to the wild market that regularly sells fish and aquatic products from nearby fishing villages along the river, there are also rope making yards that use straw, ramie and palm skin as raw materials, plate yards that use materials to make hard sails nearby, oil yards that squeeze tung oil, water mill piles for processing grain, and several weaving and dyeing workshops, wood workshops, wine and vinegar houses and sauce workshops of varying sizes.

Therefore, it is said that under the rule of previous years, the villagers and coolies who squatted under the eaves to work in groups formed a daily landscape in this town; however, now these people and the craftsmen and servants in the workshop either escaped or hid, and most of the rest were recruited/sucked away by the rebels. Therefore, these places basically showed a deserted and depressed sense.

In addition, he also discovered a small temple with a regular half-wall single room and several small wooden ancestral halls; they enshrine strange gods and tablets such as the ancestor Gongshu clan to the black-faced Zhurong Shen, and the horse-headed plague king.

The town is not very big, but the layout of various buildings is densely clustered together, and many large and small streets are divided into streets and alleys. Walking on the dirty and narrow streets, Zhou Huaian can feel the figures of hiding behind the door panels and windows, and their hiding gazes such as curiosity, fear, worry, and rejection.

Because it is a border area with industry and commerce as the link, although the people here are full of vegetables and thin food, they are much better than the hungry refugees outside Guangzhou.

Except for the two rice and grain shops that have been transported, most of the other buildings are intact, and there are no signs of burning or smashing. However, whenever someone sees the rebels passing by, they will shrink or hide in a hurry.

The wine shops and tea shops hidden deep in the alley seem to be open, but both the guests and the guys are secretly coming and going, not daring to greet or shout loudly, and there is a lot of roads with purpose.

From another perspective that Zhou Huaian knew,

Although the rebels adopted quite severe cleaning methods and control measures in the city of Guangzhou, they still adopted quite extensive occupation and control measures in the suburbs and villages outside the city, and basically the rebels of each department were responsible for the affairs in a certain area in the nearby sections, and at the same time they raised the expenses of the part;

Therefore, after roughly expelling and eliminating the influence of the government, and plundering and scaring away many wealthy families, these villages actually have so-called old and elderly people with prestige to take the lead in maintaining the daily order. Through various requirements for collecting money and raising orders, they form a short-term coexistence and balance with the nearby rebels.

After some negotiations, under the leadership of the fellow villagers, the ground outside the town was soon piled up, hundreds of stones of rice and other miscellaneous grains had been prepared, hundreds of packs of thick and thin silk cloth and a large jar of copper coins, two carts of vegetable oil and sauce, and several large jars of wine. Finally, there were even a dozen women who had been dressed up in a hurry and looked very dusty.

Of course, as one of the potential benefits of going out for whistle food, these women can only be used locally and are not allowed to be brought back to the camp. Despite this, these women who are covered with inferior fat and difficult to distinguish their true age have attracted the attention of most rebel soldiers who are between single dogs and old bachelors.

Fortunately, there was no ignorant among them. They came over to ask and disturb Zhou Huaian if he wanted to share the same thing. Therefore, he temporarily got rid of the hustle and bustle of crowds, and had a moment of leisure and space to walk alone.

He still discovered and gained something during this casual stroll; as one of the market towns near Guangzhou, there are still some special local products among the shops along the streets that were forced to open their doors; for example, many gray-headed geese that look similar to wild geese are stocked in the local area, so it is famous for its smoked goose chestnuts and whole wax goose.

Zhou Huaian also tasted it specially. In addition to the obvious monotony and lacking sweetness and saltiness, the heat was not far from the broad-flavored wax of later generations. Therefore, he directly used the authorization he came out this time to directly include the corresponding wax goose, its goose egg and other by-products in the list of military preparations.

For example, the popular shrimp paste tofu and Kezi rice in this generation; the former is a fermented fermented sauce from small fish and shrimp and crabs, and the product boiled together with the diluted raw bean juice. It tastes less fishy and smells, and only a kind of salty and fresh feeling left in the aroma of the mouth beans;

The latter uses oysters called oysters everywhere, and cooks them with overnight meals that are half-dried and half-diluted. If enough seasoning is added, it will be a prototype of the so-called seafood risotto in Southeast Asia in later generations.

Although they are all simple foods that are hasty and easy to eat by lower classes, because they have been circulated for a long time, the simplicity of the production and the convenience of cooking do not prevent Zhou Huaian from secretly adding it to his daily recipes.

Of course, according to the practices and practices in the Nufeng Camp, when the rebel army usually raises military supplies on the spot, it usually uses a certain amount of money to compensate for the difference in addition to the routine expropriation share; if there is not enough money, it will also use other items at hand to compensate;

However, whether it is good or bad, or whether it is needed or not, the other party has no reason to refuse or resist, otherwise it is a "spy who is sad for the government" or a "malignant hoarding person with ulterior motives", and there is no good ending. Therefore, for the locals, doing business with the rebel army is also full of some risk and uncertain probability, and there are different degrees of concealment and separation in their hearts.

However, this common situation caused Zhou Huaian to have a bold idea; the spoils and wealth in the hands of the rebels, as well as the resource output under the control of the station near the station, were obviously different; can't they use the Rage Camp as the lead and link to let them start to communicate with each other's needs, and can they expand their influence and connections at one stroke, as well as direct or indirect resource channels and sources?

Just as he was thinking divergently, he walked aimlessly, and came to the archway at the entrance of the town again and saw the pack horses loaded with good things underneath, as well as the guards who had disappeared for the time being. Suddenly, he discovered something, and he seemed to have gained some freedom and purity in a sense without realizing it.

At least in the sight around him and nearby, except for a few villagers and passers-by who were rushing away, there was no obstacle or eyeliner around him; even the hearing and perception that he was responsible for protecting himself, Xiao Qi, the follower who was responsible for protecting himself, was busy dealing with the matter he assigned temporarily, except for the visual barrier of at least hundreds of steps.

In an instant, it seemed that the opportunity to defect to freedom was already in front of him, and he was at his fingertips at any time. As long as he held the pack horse and continued to walk out, no one would hinder or stop him.

Then he woke up again. What if he rode out here, most of the things he prepared were still in the camp. How far could he run with a pack horse? One mile or two mile? And then he was still within the sphere of influence controlled by these rebels.

Although their power is relatively scattered and their efficiency in contact and communication is not so high, the levels and patrols on the road are real obstacles and troubles. As for the probability of hiding until the rebels leave, it is not as likely as an outsider who has no relatives and no reason to be starved to death in a certain corner.
Chapter completed!