The Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi wrote a poem called "The Charcoal Seller", which reads:

Sell charcoal, cut down and burn charcoal in the southern mountains.

His face was full of dust and smoke, and his temples were pale and his fingers were black.

What is the profit from selling charcoal? The clothes on the body eat in the mouth.

The poor shirt is single, and the heart is worried and wishes for the cold.

At night, a foot of snow outside the city came, and Xiao drove a charcoal cart to roll the ice ruts.

The cattle are trapped and the people are hungry, and they are resting in the mud outside the south gate of the city.

Who are the two riders? The yellow-clothed messenger is white-shirted.

The hand put the paperwork in his mouth, and returned to the car and led the ox to the north.

A cart of charcoal, more than 1,000 catties, the palace envoy will not regret it.

Half a horse of red silk and a zhang of silk, tied to the head of the cow to fill the charcoal straight.

The whole poem vividly describes the difficult life of the charcoal burners in the Tang Dynasty, which makes people feel sympathy. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, coal had been widely used to heat residents in northern cities, and few people cut wood and burned charcoal, but coal miners were still at the bottom of society, oppressed and exploited, just like charcoal burners.

As the so-called Shinong industry and commerce, although the workers are in third place, the merchants can make money and live a better life than the workers, especially those who are bitter miners. Only desperate landless people will become miners, get the cheapest wages, do the hardest and most tiring work, and have to risk life, once a mining disaster occurs, it is difficult to find even the bones.

It is precisely because of this that most of the miners are low-quality outlaws, who usually steal and abduct, and the people and residents near the mining area are deeply affected and regarded as thieves.

And at this moment, the six people who rushed into the broken temple were the nearby coal miners, and the leader was called Wang Tang, a native of Yanshen Town, Shandong, and there was no expression.

Compared with the petty theft of other miners, Wang Tang's "business" is obviously bigger, he united a few fellow villagers, and often went outside to do some shady things, and this ruined temple is one of their "extra money" points.

At the beginning, Wang Tang only dared to steal, but later he became more and more bold, and he actually started to make a living by blocking the road and robbing the road. Moreover, Wang Tang chose to act when the weather was bad every time, because it was convenient to act and more conducive to avoiding the pursuit of the government.

It happened to be snowing heavily today, so Wang Tang asked a few accomplices to try his luck. When Wang Tang and the others saw the two luxury carriages parked outside the ruined temple, they couldn't help but be overjoyed, and they all thought that they had caught a big fish today, so they rushed open the door and rushed in.

However, when Wang Tang and others rushed into the broken temple, they found that there was a bit of a situation, because there were a lot of "fish" in the temple at the moment, and four of them were still holding weapons and staring sharply, obviously not fuel-efficient lamps.

Wang Tang's mind was racing, and he immediately pretended to come in to avoid the wind and snow, shook the snow chips on his body and complained: "His grandmother's, this ghost weather can kill a person cold." ”

"Isn't it, my chickens are going to be cold!" Other miners cooperated to lift up the fallen temple gate.

Wang Tang tentatively approached the four people around the bonfire, and said with a smile: "Brothers, can you borrow a fire to warm up?" ”

The thin man pulled out half of his waist knife and said coldly: "If you don't want to cause trouble, get away from Lao Tzu." ”

A trace of jealousy flashed in Wang Tang's eyes, and he slowly retreated, his eyes fell on Xu Jin and the others who were located in the corner of the ruined temple, and when he saw the large pile of luggage and items piled next to him, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Xu Jin frowned imperceptibly, and Mei Yue'er leaned over to him a little frightened. Wang Tang quietly glanced at it, and the five miners beside him immediately surrounded him and sat down around the iron pot for a long time.

With Wang Tang's eyes of "working" for many years, he naturally saw at a glance that Xu Jin was a rich man, and there were "dry goods" in his luggage, which was estimated to be quite a lot, and it didn't seem to be the same as the four people on the other side of the bonfire.

Of course, before he figured it out, Wang Tang wouldn't make a rash move, he glanced at the burden that Xu Jin was holding, and couldn't help but feel warm, hey, it is estimated that this little white face is holding gold and silver, right?

Several other miners along with Wang Tang couldn't help but swallow their saliva, such a heavy bag of gold and silver, if they could grab it, they would get rich, so they all set their eyes on the boss Wang Tang, waiting for him to come up with an idea.

Wang Tang sat down quietly by the iron pot and said hypocritically: "This brother, let's sit here and warm up, shall we?" ”

Xu Jin saw at a glance that these guys in front of him had bad intentions, so he didn't make a sound, but secretly reached into the baggage and held the handcuff, the handcuff was already loaded with ammunition, but it had not yet inserted the lead, and it could be used immediately after inserting the upper lead.

Xu Jin's performance of clinging to the burden, in the eyes of outsiders, naturally thought that he was afraid. However, it is normal for a weak scholar to be afraid in the face of six fierce and vicious armed men, isn't it?

A trace of contempt flashed in Wang Tang's eyes, a scholar like Xu Jin who was powerless, he asked himself if he could pinch to death with one hand, if it weren't for the other group of four people carrying weapons in the temple, he would have already made a move.

Wang Tang reached out and took a piece of bread from the pot and ate it, and the other five miners reached out one after another when they saw this, and the food in the pot was quickly taken away.

"You ...... How can you take it without asking, it's too much! Yue'er was shocked and angry.

Wang Tang glanced at the sweet-looking Yue'er, couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and secretly sighed in his heart that it was a pity, if there was no other group of people in this temple, he would definitely have to taste this woman today.

Wang Tang's eyes widened, and he said with a fierce look: "Little Niangpi, my brother eats your things to give you face, what's the matter, do you have an opinion?" ”

Yue'er's face turned pale with fright, and she subconsciously hid behind Xu Jin.

Wang Tang glanced at the other four people in the temple out of the corner of his eyes, and saw that they were indifferent, and couldn't help but feel relieved, it seems that these two groups of people are really not all the way, hey, then things will be easy to do.

Wang Tang finished the dough in two bites, and then stood up with a pickaxe, and the old god said in the ground: "This son, do you still have anything to eat?" Take some out and divide it, don't be so stingy! ”

Several other miners also stood up, their iron bolts and shovels tapping the ground eagerly, smiling evilly.

Xu Jin said lightly: "No! ”

Wang Tang took two steps forward and sneered, "No? What's in that bag, bring it to me and see. ”

At this time, the mixed-race woman seemed to be blind, and stood up with her sword, but the young man at the head was fierce, obviously signaling the mixed-race woman not to meddle in her affairs. The half-breed woman hesitated, but finally sat down again, staring at her with a cold face.

Wang Tang secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, and said with a smile: "Boy, don't toast and don't drink, you don't have a good fruit to eat." ”

Xu Jin raised his eyebrows, and was about to light up the firecracker, when Xie Xiaowan, who was in a coma, coughed lightly twice, and actually struggled to stand up.

Xu Jin was taken aback, and hurriedly supported the crumbling little girl, Yue'er hurriedly came up to help, and said, "Madam, you are still sick, hurry up and lie down!" ”

Xie Xiaowan shook her head stubbornly, stepped forward to protect Xu Jin, and shouted weakly: "You are not allowed to hurt my father-in-law!" ”

Xu Jin was both moved and distressed, and hurriedly hugged Xie Xiaowan back, and said softly: "Silly girl, you are still reckless when you are sick like this, lie down obediently and don't make trouble, Xianggong can handle it." ”

Wang Tang was stunned, and continued to laugh contemptuously, this little white-faced scholar was powerless, and in the face of his six big men, he was ashamed to say that he could handle it?

"Hey, this kid really doesn't shed tears when he sees the coffin!" One of the miners raised his hammer and walked towards Xu Jin.

At this moment, the mixed-race woman suddenly stood up, pulled out the long sword in her hand, and said coldly: "A group of shameless robbers, what kind of ability is it to bully a weak scholar and a weak woman with a disease, get out immediately, otherwise don't blame this girl for being merciless under the sword." ”