Chenxi accepted the flint and steel, thinking that if he sold it, he could probably buy a warehouse full of grain.

Shenxi said to Leng Aofu, "Great hero, I'll have to trouble you again."

Leng Aofu nodded.

Chenxi said, "I'll have to trouble you to go up there, but if the other party is already at the top of the cliff, it will be dangerous."

Leng Aofu raised her head arrogantly and snorted: "With my skills, I might not be able to beat too many people, but it's easy for me to run away."

Shenxi smiled, that's good.

"Also, if the other side comes but doesn't come down and retreats directly, you still need to give us the information. But once the fire starts, it will be difficult for you to retreat."

Leng Aofu pointed directly to the package on her back: "Guess what's in here?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Chenxi realized that there must be various odds and ends, including long ropes.

When traveling the world, people usually prepare a lot of things in case of unforeseen circumstances.

"Okay, Aunt Leng, you must take good care of your safety. No matter what, I will not light the fire here unless you send a message that you are absolutely safe."

Leng Aofu didn't expect that Chen Xi cared so much about her safety, but she didn't stand on ceremony. She simply cupped her hands, rushed over, grabbed the vine, and leaped up.

Shen Xi looked at Leng Aofu's agile figure with great envy.

When will she be able to reach that level?

As Shenxi analyzed the salt in the saline-alkali land, estimating that the amount of salt was not much, he asked Luzhuang, "Is there usually a lot of salt here?"

"It's not much. We can manage if we eat sparingly."

In that era, salt was extremely expensive. In ordinary households, the monthly wage for a strong laborer was only ten to twenty coins, with the best earning up to thirty coins a month.

Nowadays, the price of salt is outrageously high, with government-issued salt reaching 200 wen per jin, and in some areas even reaching 300 or 400 wen per jin, which is simply exorbitant profit.

In other words, a strong laborer's wages for a year might not even be enough to buy a pound of salt.

Ordinary people had no choice but to buy smuggled salt or find other ways to get some salt to eat.

Privately made salt was much cheaper, costing thirty or forty coins per pound, and at most fifty or sixty coins. If you saved it, ordinary people with decent families could afford it.

The buying and selling of smuggled salt was a serious crime punishable by severe penalties, to the point that many ordinary people could not even buy smuggled salt.

Chenxi has been racking his brains trying to figure out how to get cheap salt.

Even with Song Zhen's official status and Zang Huatian's skillful hands, salt still cost 150 wen per jin in Bian'ai County.

Shenxi even ordered people to try to contact smuggled salt dealers, but the quantities they managed to contact were all small.

Even if you wanted to fleece Ge Congshan, the price wouldn't be less than 100 coins per catty.

The imperial court controlled the salt and iron taxes, and powerful families all got involved. So how could the taxes be easily distributed to the local areas?

Shenxi ordered his men to search the entire territory of Bian'ai County, but there was no place where salt could be produced.

Saline-alkali land does exist, but it cannot be used as a regular salt-producing area because its salt content is not high.

At this moment, the guards who had been searching around returned.

"Sir, the cliff to the east is similar to this one, except there are no vines, so it's impossible for people to climb it."

"Sir, the one to the north is also one."

"The one to the west is also one."

Chen Xi felt a little regretful. If there were vines all around, and the other person really wanted to come down, she would have set them all on fire.

Even if the other party brings a rope, they are not afraid to come down from a cliff without vines.

Firstly, ropes that long are not easy to carry, and even if they were, there wouldn't be many, so the number of people coming down in one batch would be limited, making them easier to deal with.

Secondly, even ropes can be burned without any problem.

Chenxi smiled and said to the villagers and guards, "Those who have flint and steel, bring them. I will give the order, and you can light the fire."

Lu Zhuang said with some reluctance, "Commander, if it's all burned, we won't be able to get up there."

Chenxi laughed heartily: "It's alright. Once it starts burning, my men should be here by then. They'll come looking for us once the fire is extinguished."

It's still a pity for Luzhuang. These vines and trees have grown for generations. They were burned down, and their lives will be even more difficult afterward.

Shenxi noticed his concerns and comforted him, "Don't worry, the village will receive compensation later. You've saved me."

Lu Zhuang immediately bowed and said, "No, no, Commander, you've saved us."

If the leader wasn't trying to save them, why would he come to this remote place in the middle of the night?

But in the end, the leader faced danger.

Just then, people indeed appeared on the cliff.

"Boss, these people have gone down below."

One of his men reported this to Hu Axiong.

Hu Axiong is angry.

Everything was planned perfectly, but Cao Qiang ruined it.

Cao Qiang is Cao Sen's cousin from Linchuan County, but Cao Sen is a direct descendant of the Cao family of Jianming.

Although Cao Qiang wasn't exactly a good person, a cockfighting and dog-racing enthusiast, he was still a member of the inner circle, and the most favored member of that inner circle.

He stayed in Linchuan County because the Cao family wanted to place people to monitor Cao Sen, and the county's troops were all under Cao Qiang's control.

Cao Sen felt uncomfortable, but he still had to flatter him. It was Cao Qiang who introduced Hu Axiong to Cao Sen.

Cao Qiang had known Hu Axiong for a long time, and it was Cao Qiang who gave Hu Axiong the idea to become a bandit.

With Cao Qiang's support, Hu Axiong's business grew larger and larger, and he also colluded with Ge Liang, which led to its later scale.

Cao Qiang, who was in charge of the raid on Lu Zhuangzi this time, already knew about Hu Axiong's plan.

Hu Axiong persuaded Cao Qiang to bring more than 800 people with him.

The idea was to gradually lead Chenxi to Luzhuangzi.

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