Chapter 151: Heavy Rain and Fast Travel
Transporting grain is not an easy task.
This is a large-scale mobilization, which requires the mobilization of tens of thousands of human and material resources.
If you want to transport 100 dan of grain to the border, you have to first take into account the consumption of oxen, horses, laborers, etc. during transportation.
In total, for every hundred dan of grain sent to the border, at least five hundred dan need to be prepared in advance.
If you want to transport 10,000 dan of grain to the border, you need to prepare at least 50,000 dan of grain.
The grain transport team consisted of twenty carts in a team, led by an officer and ten soldiers responsible for escorting and maintaining order.
Each carriage was equipped with six laborers, a groom, a rear guard, and two guards on each side.
Six people were responsible for one cart. Apart from the food they consumed themselves, the rest of the food on the cart was the military rations that had to be delivered to the military camp on schedule.
If the military rations are damaged in the slightest, six people will be punished by military law.
Therefore, the six people must unite and guard their own cart of food to ensure their own safety.
With such a solidarity, the six people in the same group will naturally form a small group, work together and supervise each other.
Liu Ji was very disliked because he was thin and delicate, and could not carry anything with his shoulders or hands.
He wanted to ride in the carriage occasionally, so he actively applied to be the coachman. The leading soldier raised his eyebrows and directly arranged for him to be the last one to ride.
So, Liu Ji began his days of following behind a horse-drawn carriage and eating dust to transport grain.
Sometimes the road was difficult to travel on, and the grain bags would fall down due to the bumps in the carriage. He would immediately bend down to pick up the fallen grain bags. It would be bad enough to have his nose filled with dust, but a bubble of fresh horse manure would spray down, which would be the end of his life.
If you move a little slower, the soldiers on horseback will immediately come over with whips waving.
If Liu Ji had not reacted extremely quickly, his back would have been beaten to pieces just like the second to last civilian behind him.
Sadly, this quick reaction was all learned from the evil woman at home.
His reaction was so quick that even the leading soldier couldn't help but look at him again.
Whenever he thought of this, Liu Ji couldn't help but look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, which was bright and sad.
"Hiss~" The sun was too glaring. After staring at it for two seconds, his eyes couldn't stand it and felt sore. Liu Ji felt sad for less than two seconds. He decisively lowered his head, acted honestly, and followed the car with numb legs.
As expected, he had offended the officer who was escorting them, and he was assigned to work under the fierce soldier Shangguan Lie. Among so many grain transport teams, he was the only one who moved the fastest.
If he was a little slower, the shoes would be put to death, and the first pair of shoes was ruined before he had even walked for three days.
Liu Ji was filled with resentment and hated Shangguan Lie to death.
As for Qin Yao, who had put his name on the conscription order, he was afraid and guilty. Hate? He didn't dare at all!
Licking his lips, which were dry and chapped, Liu Ji took off the bamboo tube from his waist to drink some water, but was shocked to find that the bamboo tube was empty. He had finished drinking the water long ago.
It has been sunny since the day we set out.
At the last vestige of autumn, the daytime heat made people dizzy and a pot of water was quickly finished. Every time the team stopped to rest, those who were not on duty would immediately grab the bamboo tubes of their teammates and rush to fetch water.
It's okay when there are wells and large streams or mountain springs, but if you encounter a ravine with water thinner than urine, the little time you have to rest is not enough.
If you meet someone with an impatient temper, occasional physical contact and verbal quarrels are inevitable.
As the most agile person in his group, Liu Ji is always the first to fetch water.
The remaining four guards were there to block anyone from snatching it, and they had already reached a tacit understanding.
But even so, today we were unlucky enough to encounter a spring in the ravine, and we only had time to fill two bamboo tubes.
It was good to have something to drink, so we shared it among the six of us, and the heat was slightly relieved.
Those who had not had time yet had to immediately follow the team and continue to move forward quickly, hoping that it would rain heavily soon.
Then, the heavy rain really fell.
As soon as the rain started, there was a sudden bustle in the team.
Some were covering themselves with oilcloth, some were hurriedly searching for straw hats and raincoats to put on, and some were trying to calm frightened horses.
While they were busy, Shangguan Lie suddenly gave the order to move forward quickly! The
grain delivery team suddenly cried out, "Will they be allowed to live?
" Liu Ji deeply suspected that this leader had a habit of torturing people and couldn't bear to see them get better.
However, the cool rain fell and the summer heat disappeared. Liu Ji had been tortured by the scorching sun for a long time and was miserable. At this moment, he only thought that it would be better if the rain got heavier.
Many people thought the same as he did. If the rain got heavier, Shangguan Lie would definitely stop the team to rest, so they could rest.
But when the heavy rain really fell, everyone realized that they were naive.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. At first, everyone just felt cool and happy, but after walking for a while, the road was soaked by rain and became muddy in a blink of an eye.
The wheels of the cart carrying the heavy grain were deeply stuck in the mud. Before, they could just follow the cart, but now they had to push the cart.
Liu Ji did not have the strength of Qin Yao, and the heavy wheels seemed to be firmly stuck to the mud. He had to use all his strength to barely push them forward.
The soldier rode his horse back and forth in the team, cracking his whip several times and shouting,
"Go faster, faster!"
Liu Ji didn't want to be beaten, so he gritted his teeth, exerted all his strength and fought.
In this way, the grain transport team of twenty carts and more than one hundred people took only half an hour to reach the post station twenty miles away.
There were so many carriages and horses that the post station could not accommodate them all, so everyone had to unload the horses and carriages separately, and hurriedly push the grain carts into the straw shed where they rested, and barely piled them together.
At this moment, Liu Ji was extremely glad that he was not a coachman. Otherwise, he would be the one standing outside the post station in the rain, pulling the horse that was constantly kicking its hooves.
At least he can still stay beside the grain cart, with a thatched shed above his head to provide some shelter from the wind and rain.
As for Shangguan Lie and the ten soldiers, they had already gone into the lobby of the inn to rest.
The sky was gloomy at noon, and there was no sign of clearing up. The rain was even heavier than half an hour ago.
Many civilians were stunned, wondering if the sky was leaking water. How could the water from the sky pour down directly?
In Liu Ji's memory, this rain was the heaviest he had ever seen in his life.
The rain fell from noon to the evening of the next day without any break. The ground of the entire post station turned into a pool of water, with mud and water mixed together and becoming extremely turbid.
Liu Ji stretched out his foot tentatively, and found that the water was deeper than his calves.
Shangguan Lie walked out of the gate of the inn and saw Liu Ji retracting his foot. He frowned, said a few words to the soldier beside him, and went back to the inn.
After a while, the soldier gave the order to rest for another day and set off as soon as the water receded tomorrow morning.
Everyone was happy as they could finally take a break.
(End of this chapter)