They walked all the way out of Yuguan, into Liangdi, and then around to the eastern border of Dingzhou. On the border, Chai Zong had been waiting early, and when he saw Xu Mu's arrival, he happily greeted him.
"Lord!"
Xu Mu smiled and hit Chai Zong on the chest. Just as Si Hu was about to follow him and hit him, Chai Zong jumped away in fright.
"Chai Zong, it's very good. When I passed by Dingzhou, I saw it. The people live and work in peace and contentment. There should be a lot of wheat fields in the wasteland outside Dingbeiguan."
Although Dingzhou is also in the northwest, unlike the three states in Liangdi, the land is barren and the soil is pretty good. However, in the past, due to the presence of barbarians and horse bandits, it had been tired of fighting.
However, Lu Xiu sacrificed his life for righteousness and drove the horse bandits outside the pass to death, almost killing them. In this way, many people in Dingzhou were able to go out of the city to open up wasteland, and no longer had to crowd into a few broken cities.
Without Lu Xiu, there would be no Dingzhou, or even the entire Central Plains.
When passing by Dingzhou, you can often see Lu Xiu's general temple, which is full of incense and the people are grateful.
"I didn't do anything. This great momentum in Dingzhou was all caused by General Lu." Chai Zong did not take any credit, but spoke seriously.
"You have done a good job. However, when you returned to Chengdu to report on your work, I told you that the border of Dingzhou will be the gateway to the West Road of Xishu from now on, but I will leave it all to you."
"Please don't worry, my lord!"
Xu Mu nodded, "How are the arrangements over at Kuzhi Mountain?"
"It has been arranged. Previously, I sent a battalion of people to explore the surrounding terrain. So far, there are no problems."
If given a choice, Xu Mu would prefer to sit down with Chang Laosi, one person and one horse, pour a cup of tea, have a brief chat, and then go back to their respective homes.
But this is simply unrealistic. He and Chang Laosi represent their respective interests.
"Brother Mu, is this mountain going to collapse?"
Xu Mu looked up and found the outline of Kuzhi Mountain not far away. Among the many mountains, it was unique. It was like a skinny middle finger pointing to the sky.
Disrespecting God... This look is somewhat charming.
Although it is a bit steeper, it will not collapse as Si Hu said.
"On the other side of Kuzhi Mountain, people from Beiyu also came. The reconnaissance camps from both sides met. I followed the Lord's order and did not provoke a fight."
"Chai Zong, well done." Xu Mu nodded. If he had not made it this far, he would have been eaten up by the world long ago.
"Let's start setting up."
…
About two days later, Tsuneshiro also came from the border of the inner city. He dismounted, abandoned his Overlord Spear, and subconsciously pulled at his belt. In the end, he realized that he had put on his robe and armor, so he had to stop.
.
The armies of both sides, under the command of their respective generals, began to line up on both sides.
At the foot of Kuzhi Mountain, a large wooden pavilion was built and a long carpet was laid out.
In the center of the pavilion, there is a long table with seats on it.
"Boy Chang Wei!" Si Hu shouted.
"Brother Tiger!" Chang Wei, who was on the opposite side, also shouted in tears.
But no matter what, the troops from both sides sent out several big men to drag the two men back respectively. For those who didn't know, they thought they were beating a mandarin duck.
"King of Shu." Chang Silang walked into the wooden pavilion and spoke calmly.
Hearing these two words, Xu Mu sighed deep in his heart. He stood up and also gave a salute.
"Xu Mu has met the King of Yuzhou."
"sit."
Neither of them touched the wine pot or teapot on the table. After waiting for a long time, a Beiyu general finally came and hurriedly helped the two of them and poured a cup of tea for each of them.
There seemed to be no more happiness between the two of them.
"I already understand what the King of Shu means." Chang Shiro frowned, "I can make a no-fight agreement. But I have a request."
"King of Yuzhou, please speak." Xu Mu also said calmly.
"As a gift of a thousand warships, I, Beiyu, grant you a two-year no-war agreement."
Xu Mu laughed.
Behind Chang Laosi, the accompanying Beiyu generals also looked at him with unkind expressions.
"Not to mention a thousand ships, not even a hundred. If not, when you go back tomorrow, you will immediately cross the river to fight." Xu Mu was not polite.
The navy is the backbone of Western Shu. He will try his best to kill even Huo Fu. How can he offer a warship?
"Five thousand war horses are my sincerity from Xi Shu." Xu Mu said expressionlessly.
"I, Beiyu, don't need bad horses like you."
Changshiro smiled lightly and tapped his fingers on the table, adding a bit of arrogance.
"Since we can't reach an agreement, let's go back to our homes tomorrow and prepare for a fight."
"Okay." Xu Mu also smiled.
Only a few Beiyu generals behind Changshiro approached hesitantly and whispered in Changshiro's ears.
"King Shu, you'd better go back and think carefully about how to talk tomorrow."
Chang Shiro stood up and walked back without looking back. Several generals from aristocratic families also sneered at Xu Mu and followed him away.
Xu Mu sat on the chair, not panicking at all, and was completely lost in thought.
…
Withered fingers on the mountain, it drizzles in the middle of the night.
Halfway up the mountain, Xu Mu only brought Si Hu with him. Si Hu also had two jugs of wine tied around his waist.
"Brother Mu, what's the matter? Do you want to drink and talk with me at night? Hehe, you really know that I, Sihu, have been smart since childhood."
Xu Mu turned his head and rolled his eyes.
He was no fool to go up the mountain in the middle of the night and brave the gentle rain.
Sure enough, about an hour later, two figures finally passed by nearby.
"My boy Chang Wei!" Si Hu cried and shouted.
"Call your mother, silly tiger, don't be so loud!" Chang Shiro cursed, tying his robe as he walked. Chang Wei followed him, running towards Si Hu with red eyes.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Chang Shiro rubbed his face and sat down next to Xu Mu.
Xu Mu looked up speechlessly, "You're acting like a ghost today, and you're still worried that others won't know that your fingers broke the table top three times."
"I took Chang Wei with me and used Qinggong to climb the mountain in the rain. I made several mistakes and found you!"
"You won't tell me the place first?"
"There are so many people, I can say nothing! Stand up like a dog and give me a hug first."
In the night rain, Xu Mu also stood up with a smile and gave Chang Shiro a bear hug.
This hug has nothing to do with the world or war, only the friendship between two people.
"Brother Tiger, if you let go, I'm going to be strangled to death by you! Brother Tiger, I have roast chicken in my arms!"
It was raining at night, and on the mountainside, four people and two jars of wine were drinking happily.
"Don't think about the no-war agreement. I'm going to fight a rebellion over there, so I'll definitely sign it with you." Tsuneshiro burped and lay down comfortably on the wet grass.
"When the time comes, I say 20,000 horses. If you agree, I will give you 5,000 horses. I will ask Chang Wei to take over."
"This is more like Master Chang's temperament."
"You're so stupid." Changshiro cursed, "I fucking don't want to fight you, but I have to."
"I don't want to either."
Just like now, they are obviously the kings of two forces, but at this time, neither of them has any worries about assassination.
"Little boss, you and I have no control over these things. You also know my temperament. After meeting this time, it will be difficult for you and me to meet each other, so we will have a good fight with our own fists."
"Okay!" Xu Mu nodded.
"Just mentioning this, you and I won't talk about business tonight. Let's have a drink and talk, and don't care about the stupid Northern Chongqing and Western Shu."
Changshiro picked up the jar of wine and poured it into his mouth comfortably.
On the side, Si Hu and Chang Wei were giggling while talking about the differences between Chengdu Qingguan and Changyang Qingguan.
Xu Mu grabbed the wine jar and drank several large swigs while Chang Silang scolded her.