Only the day after Li Zengbo recaptured Lanzhou, Li Xia's Eastern Route Army also came to join them.

Yang Ben sat astride his horse, looking at the big flag on Lanzhou City in the distance, his expression a little tense.

He was still young, but the wrinkles between his eyebrows were very deep, and there were already some wrinkles on his forehead. His nose was slightly open, and he took a deep breath, inhaling the dust and smoke raised by the horse's hooves into his nose.

"Do you know Huo Qubing?" Yang Ben suddenly asked the subordinates around him.

"I know! Among us soldiers fighting, who doesn't know about Huo Qubing?"

Yang Ben pointed forward, wanting to say something, but he didn't know how to say it.

His movements were very powerful, and finally he pointed at Lanzhou City and introduced it loudly to the generals.

"Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established four counties in Hexi. Later, he established Jincheng County, which was called the five counties in Hexi. Jincheng County controlled the danger of the Yellow River and separated the Qiang Rong. Since the Han Dynasty, among the Xiongjuns in Hexi, Jincheng has been the most...

"

This is what Li Xia said during the military meeting before departure.

The closer Yang Ben got to Lanzhou City, the more he understood why Li Xia said what he said.

Why?

Going too far.

He fought from Sichuan and Shu to Longxi, and now to Hehuang, across thousands of mountains and rivers. He couldn't quite understand what the people here were saying. When the people here looked at them, the Song troops, their eyes were indifferent and unfamiliar.

It's too far away and gives people the feeling of being in a foreign country.

In this case, why come to this seemingly desolate place? Why not stay in Guanzhong, the rich land of Hanzhong?

Because Yang Ben knew very well that this was by no means a foreign country.

This place was Longxi County in the Qin Dynasty, and it was built as a city in the Han Dynasty... but it was lost for too long.

So take it back.

He wanted to imitate Huo Qubing, wanted to be famous throughout the ages, and wanted to be praised by future generations when his name was mentioned.

Then taking back Jincheng County is the first step.

…

After entering the city and arranging the troops and horses, Yang Ben immediately rushed to the state office, silently following Li Xia.

The state office is very dilapidated, with horse manure everywhere.

Li Xia was standing in front of the Yamen, looking at the couplets on the big pillar.

The paint has peeled off and is still stained with horse manure, but the handwriting is barely legible.

"Thunder clouds and natural moat, golden water and dangerous ground, the name of the vassal has been Gaolan since ancient times."

"The embroidery of the camp is wrong, the rice is gathered in the shape of the mountain, and the throat is hundreds of Qin pass."

There are not many Chinese characters that can be seen on the way into the city, unlike other cities where there are Chinese characters on the shops. Lanzhou is really a bit depressed, so Li Xia couldn't help but stop and look at this couplet for a while.

Li Zengbo strode out to welcome him, held his fists in greeting, then pointed to the couplets and said: "This is a government office built by the Jin Kingdom, and it is also a couplet inscribed by the Jin Kingdom officials."

Li Xia nodded and said: "I have talked about the dangers of Lanzhou's mountains and rivers, which is quite impressive."

Li Zengbo sighed and said: "It comes from the lyrics, 'Recruiting heroic spirits and perseverance to circle Helan Mountain.' This Jin man's lyrics also have some heroic and majestic spirit."

"Because they are all Han Chinese, they rhyme with the same rhyme and use the same code."

With that said, they walked into the hall.

There is nothing interesting about this government office. There are no documents or books. It seems that no officials have been in charge of Lanzhou for many years.

There were only long-dried dark brown blood stains on the floor in the lobby.

"The further west you go, the more barbaric it becomes."

"Mongolia didn't do much to manage Hehuang before. It was only used as a place for horse herding and a commercial port for traders and travelers."

From this we can see that this area of ​​Lanzhou can almost be regarded as a dividing line.

In other words, the Wang family in Gongchang was a buffer, and the southeast belonged to Kublai Khan's territory. The Han system was implemented and Han law was used, and it barely looked like a feudal dynasty.

As for the Hehuang and Xiliang areas, they belong to the Kuoduan Uluse.

Ulusi is a fief, a land that Wokuotai actually granted to Kuoduan. It does not just accept some five-household silk, but actually seals it.

Kuoduan was not only called the King of Xiliang, but also the Khan of Kuten.

If he had not died early, it is foreseeable that the land in the Hexi Corridor might split into another khanate.

The civilization built since the Han Dynasty established the five counties in Hexi will be destroyed, and there will be no civilization or order here.

The only order is slavery, and the Mongolian nobles have countless slaves...

Fortunately, Kuo Duan is dead.

He deserves to die too.

But walking into the land of Ulusi, the king of Xiliang, Kuten Khan, and looking at the dilapidated scene, Li Xia still felt disgusted with him from the bottom of his heart.

"Lanzhou is very bad." Li Zengbo lamented, "It's very different from Guanzhong."

"Kublai Khan also just arrived in the old land of Xixia and just started business..."

At this point, Li Xia had to admit the difference between Kublai Khan and the old Mongolian nobles.

It was necessary for Kublai Khan to implement Chinese laws. The barbaric and crude old system of the Mongols was unworkable and would inevitably fall apart. Without Chineseization, the Central Plains would not be conquered.

"The kings of the Western Regions only turned to support Kublai Khan after Ali Buge fled from Haraholin. If we fight further west, we will face the forces left by Kublai Khan, and Kublai Khan has just begun.

Control them..."

"As soon as we started taking control, Ah Shu was still dead." Li Zengbo stroked his beard and said.

With these words, they spread out the map, stood around it with the generals, and began to discuss the matter of capturing Liangzhou.

"Kuduan has five sons. The eldest son is named 'Mie Li Ji Hao'. He inherits the throne of Xiliang King and sits in Liangzhou. The second son is named 'Meng Gedu'. He once accompanied Kublai Khan in his expedition to Dali and now replaces the one who was executed by us.

Tiebi Lie was seated in Xingqing Mansion; the third son was named 'Zhibi Timur' and was named King of Yongchang and was seated in Yongchang; the fifth son was named 'Qulielu' and was entrusted to Ganzhou..."

"Do you have a pen and paper?"

After the military meeting, when they returned to the camp, Song He asked Yang Ben this question.

Yang Ben searched for a while and handed the pen and paper to Song He, and saw him carefully writing down the names of Kuoduan's four remaining sons on the paper.

"What are you doing writing this?"

"The person you want to kill." Song He blew on the wet ink and replied.

Yang Ben felt the cold killing intent.

But he still shook his head and said: "The county prince and Marshal Li have their own strategies. You can kill whoever you want."

Song He glanced at him, didn't say anything, just put the paper in his arms and walked out.

Yang Ben followed, and after walking for a while, he finally heard Song He speak.

"I was born in Jiading Prefecture. Although I can't compare with your general family, my family is still prosperous. When I was five years old, the Mongolian army arrived in Jiading Prefecture and slaughtered them all. I fled to southern Sichuan with the refugees..."

Song He said it very calmly. Twenty-seven years had passed since the incident, and he was still very young at the time and could not remember many details.

He usually didn't talk much, but he didn't talk much at this time. He had a lot of things he wanted to say, but in the end he was too lazy to say any more, so he just reduced it to one sentence.

"Kuao Duan slaughtered my whole family, so now that I have the opportunity, I will also slaughter his whole family."

Yang Ben felt that Song He really didn't have much momentum, his voice wasn't loud, and his tone wasn't harsh.

But his attitude is firm, making people feel that he will definitely do it.

Yang Ben stopped, glanced back at the station, and said, "How many people in the army do you think think like this?"

"a lot of."

In the evening, after Li Xia discussed matters with the generals, he left Lanzhou City and walked to the Yellow River.

At this time, many people were building rafts at Jincheng Ferry, preparing to ferry the army across the river.

When the sun went down, these people each got a piece of steamed bun and squatted there in twos and threes eating it.

Li Xia was preparing to return when he saw an old man falling to the ground and hurriedly asked someone to help him to the tree trunk.

"How old is your father-in-law?"

The old man pursed his lips in confusion, but did not answer, as if he did not understand what Li Xia was saying.

After asking a few more questions, Li Xia got no answer and asked in Mongolian: "Do you understand Mongolian?"

"I understand." The old man pulled away his collar and said, "It's the Yan family's expulsion... I didn't run away, I didn't escape."

"We are not the Mongolian army."

"It's the Yan family... it's the Yan family..."

Li Xia then knew that he was recruited locally in Lanzhou.

Lanzhou is different from Gongchang. Gongchang is at least governed by the Wang family, who cultivated fields to feed the people and plundered people from Sichuan and Shu for farming, thus maintaining the style of the Jin Kingdom.
To be continued...