"I'm a little worried about General Wei now!" Han Chong said.
"Did the Privy Council allow him to send troops?" Zhang Cheng asked.
"Well, I received the news last night that the Privy Council agreed to send 10,000 light cavalry westward out of Helian Mountain to harass the Zhou army's food route."
"Didn't you already have full authority to take charge of the defense of the Western Front? Why did you let that guy intervene again?" Zhang Cheng asked anxiously.
"Hmph, he is one of the four generals and a close confidant of the emperor. How can I, a newcomer, control him? Now the war has fallen on us in Ganzhou. If his 10,000 soldiers can defeat Yang in those days,
If he conquers half the momentum and takes the lead, it is very likely to change the status of the Ganzhou General Army among the four major military towns. His goal is to be the next Privy Councilor!" Han Chong said.
"Our goal is to defend the Hexi Corridor. As for Wei Boyan's group of bird soldiers, wouldn't they be devoured in one bite after they left?" Zhang Cheng said anxiously.
Han Chong said: "He is not as unbearable as you said. If the Zhou army really attacks with all its strength, we should indeed attack early to disrupt its rear, but it is obvious that it is not the main force yet. Wei Boyan should be considered as the defender of Quan Tongwan City
When most of them arrived here, they no longer had any worries, so they just wanted to pick a peach, and they even called it: "Surround Wei and save Zhao!" They even boasted about Haikou, saying that whether they can hold Jiayuguan depends on whether the surprise troops he sent can cut off the Zhou army's food and grass!
"
Zhang Cheng said angrily: "Huh! He just wants to take away your credit. I guess he also knows that we can hold on to the current situation. After the cavalry team goes around the grassland and comes back, the credit will become his!"
Han Chong said: "It's okay if I can come back. I'm worried that I've fallen into Zhou Jun's trap!"
"Do you think Wei Boyan will attack Tongwan City?" Zhang Cheng asked.
"Of course he's not that stupid. He can't command our people. Those 10,000 cavalry are almost half of his possessions. How can he squander it so easily?" Han Chong said.
"Oh, it's a pity that Wushi slipped back. If Wushi hadn't been in Tongwan City, we could have given it a try." Zhang Cheng sighed. In order to round up Wushi, the Zhang family used almost all their strength.
, the other party's traces were discovered twice, but unfortunately the master was far away, so Wushi was allowed to escape.
"Fortunately, Wushi's injuries were aggravated and many of the 'General's' men were dug out, so we can have less worries." Han Chong said, probably thinking of He Qizhou who besieged Wushi together, and sighed: "Oh, I don't know He Qizhou
How is Qi Zhou doing now?".
Zhang Cheng said: "The Altai Mountains are too big. Hundreds of people have been searching for two months but still found nothing. Now the mountain has been closed by heavy snow. I have sent everyone back. I don't know what happened to my little girl. She might have been trapped."
Chi Yan has caught them, I hope they will be lucky!"
"Well, it's better to be caught than to be killed. Let's pay more attention to the news from the north. If we are really caught, we must rescue him at all costs!" Han Chong said.
Zhang Cheng said: "That's natural. I guess the military equipment center is more anxious than us now. They are both unparalleled geniuses. There are also the Xiao family, Yang Zheng's old department... all the informants in the Northern Zhou Dynasty are inquiring about the two of them.
If he is really alive, he will definitely be able to find out his whereabouts."
…
"Why is it so cold? I don't know how long we have to go?" Xiaoxue muttered while sitting on the horse. She was covered in thick animal skins, and He Qizhou's clothes were also on her body.
"Have you seen the snow-capped mountains in the distance? Could it be Helan Mountain? We should be walking out soon." He Qizhou was wearing single clothes and carrying a large bundle of firewood on his back and back. The two of them walked for about a month, and the ground was gradually starting to fade.
With vitality, sparse weeds appear from time to time, and the ground is not entirely gravel, and most of the place has turned into sand.
"Probably not. Why is Helan Mountain so short? Are you really not cold? Why do I feel that today is the coldest day?" Xiaoxue asked immediately.
"Cold! But it's good. I think this will be more helpful for practicing." He Qizhou's skills have improved now, and his ability to withstand the cold has improved.
"Would you like to get on your horse and rest for a while?"
"No, that's how I walked more than half of the way from Chang'an to Suzhou." He Qizhou said. The two of them always seemed to have endless things to talk about, and they weren't very lonely along the way. Although Xiaoxue still hasn't put on much weight, she still has a lot of weight.
The whole person felt much more energetic and could already sit on the horse for half a day.
"How many days can our food last?" Xiaoxue asked.
"There are still more than ten kilograms of horse meat and six grilled fish. It will last for ten days or so. That snow-capped mountain is probably the end of the Gobi! We can arrive there as soon as tomorrow." He Qizhou said confidently, and the two of them were standing there
Ten days ago, a glacial lake was discovered, and there were actually fish in it. He Qizhou broke through the ice and sank to the bottom of the lake, and caught a lot of fish using the same method as in the snow-capped mountains.
"You said it's been two months since we came out of the Altai Mountains. How much distance have we walked in total? Have we ever left the border of Xiazhou?" Xiaoxue asked.
"We can walk up to fifty miles in one day. I didn't even walk a step when there was heavy wind and snow a few days ago. Plus the days of delay in going to the basin, I estimate that it can be up to a thousand miles. I must not have left the boundary of Xiazhou, but I don't know where.
Is this Gobi a 'raw Zhou' or a 'ripened Zhou'?" He Qizhou said.
"Born in Zhou" and "cooked in Zhou" were also what Xiaoxue told He Qizhou on the road. In the south of the Zhou Dynasty, most Hu and Han people lived together, with both farmers and herdsmen. After two or three hundred years of sinicization, life was not much different from that in the Central Plains. People like Zhou Dynasty
Zhongjing, Nanjing, and Xijing of the DPRK were all "cooked". Xijing was located on the fertile plains at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain; Zhongjing Qingcheng was located at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain; and Nanjing was the city of Yanjing that had been occupied by the Qi State, and it was only to the north of Yanjing.
Most of the Yanshan area was still occupied by the Zhou Dynasty.
The Helian royal family deliberately downplayed the distinction between Hu and Han. Even the succession to the throne no longer required pure Dangxiang blood. Most of the important ministers and generals in the court were familiar with Zhou from the south.
The "Sheng Zhou" are those herdsmen and hunters who still make a living by nomadic herding and live together as tribal races. They are more like the Keji people. Because the territory of the Northern Zhou Dynasty is very wide, the Zhou court still demarcates the nomadic range in terms of counties, but these counties
The county capital is very large, often covering hundreds of miles in radius, and several counties in Xiazhou, the westernmost part of the Zhou Dynasty, were born in Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, He Qizhou concluded that he had not yet left the boundaries of Xiazhou. He could only cross the Helan Mountain and was close to leaving Xiazhou.
Not far away.
"In such a desolate place, most of them were born in the Zhou Dynasty. Now that the war is about to start, the checks at various checkpoints in the Zhou Dynasty must be extremely tight. We have to find a way to get two household registrations as soon as possible, otherwise it will be very difficult on the way back to Daqi.
Trouble." Xiaoxue said.
"Well, it's best to kill a few eagle dogs from Qinglong Temple. It will definitely be a lot easier to steal their certificates! Or go to the Tianlong Sect Temple, but you don't look like a monk." He Qizhou said.
"Who said I don't look good? It's okay not to have that little yellow hair!" Xiaoxue replied arrogantly.
"What should we say if we encounter the Zhou Dynasty army now?" He Qizhou asked.
"Well, let's just say that we are brother and sister. We were kidnapped to a gangster's den when we were young. Now we are looking for opportunities to escape from the gang!" Xiaoxue said.
"There were really so many horse bandits in the Zhou Dynasty?" He Qizhou asked.
"Well, I heard from the old man at home that the northerners are bloody. Those who don't want to be Chinese and pay taxes or who are exiled during the war will turn into bandits and form horse teams to plunder everywhere. In order to deal with these horse thieves, Zhou Ting sent troops all over the country.
There is a Qinglong Temple institution, and some gangs are allowed to participate in suppressing bandits."
"Like our six major sects?" He Qizhou asked.
Xu Mu said:
"It's not the same thing at all. Unlike Daqi, there are still hundreds of gangs in the Zhou Dynasty. These gangs have many ways to make money. The better ones are close to the imperial power, and both black and white can take advantage of them;
Generally, you can make a living by teaching martial arts, acting as a bodyguard, and escorting supplies;
At worst, you can survive by smuggling. Many young people from "Shu Zhou" would rather join gangs than herd or farm.
However, Zhou Ting did not let it go. Qinglong Temple would send people to keep an eye on each gang, and when a war broke out, it would also force the gangs to send people into the army.
In addition, almost all the men in the 'Shengzhou' were good at riding and shooting, and could fight on horseback. Therefore, even though the Zhou Dynasty did not have many standing troops, its ability to recruit troops was far stronger than that of Daqi."
"Then if the imperial court cannot suppress it, wouldn't the world be in chaos?" He Qizhou asked.
"It is for this reason that we, Da Qi, set up an armament hall to collect the world's talents. When Helian Chenwu and Helian Qingfeng fought for the throne, dozens of tribes rebelled in the Zhou Dynasty, and we had the opportunity to take back Yanjing.
, Now that Helian Qingfeng is getting older, the rebellion has been subsided, and no new rebellion has been heard. If he kills his younger brother again, our Daqi life will not be easy. I think this is also the emperor's grandfather.
Probably one of the reasons for changing the year and preparing for war."
"Not letting you become the Privy Councilor was the emperor's biggest mistake!" He Qizhou said.
"Well, I'll be the Privy Councilor and you'll be the Commander-in-Chief." Xiaoxue said.
"Okay! Okay! Where will you be the commander-in-chief?"
"Privy Council concierge, kitchen, latrine, and three-room commander-in-chief!"
The "snow mountain" in front of them was neither as far away nor as high as it seemed just now. It was just a stone ridge dozens of feet high. After walking for more than ten miles, the two of them arrived at the foot of the stone ridge.
Although the snow-covered stone ridge on the top is not high, it is extremely long, which is why He Qizhou mistook it for a big mountain. Without stopping, the two of them drove their horses up the gentle stone hills. An endless desert appeared in front of them, but it was not.
For example, the desert north of Anxi Racecourse is lifeless. This desert is full of clumps of dead grass, shrubs, and piles of snow scattered all over the desert like flowers scattered by a goddess.
"There is smoke there!" Xiaoxue pointed to the distant northeast and shouted happily.
"It looks like the smoke from herdsmen's cooking, let's go over and have a look." He Qizhou had also seen white smoke rising several miles away.
Under a sand dune, the two discovered that there were indeed herders camping. Thousands of sheep, hundreds of horses and dozens of camels were crowded around seven simple camps, filling the bottom of the dune. There were several shepherd dogs on the sheep.
People outside the group kept barking and herding the animals together.