Alas, it was beyond our reach. There were so many people there that even the horse thieves could not be found. There were so few people and it was like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. This really gave several generals a headache.
Nowadays, fewer and fewer business travelers are leaving the customs, and they all stay in the Jianbei City area, waiting for the imperial envoys to come and then follow them, which is better than trying to survive like this."
"These horse thieves are really hateful."
"It is indeed hateful, but there is no way. Dagan and Mengjue have been fighting for years, and the three hundred miles outside the pass have turned into a pot of chaos. There are so many rogue bandits that they can't be killed. I can only hope that after Mengjue and Dagan join forces, the people will be saved.
Life will be easier." Le Shaodong sighed.
"I heard that there is a horse bandit in Mobei area, and his reputation is higher than Chaoshu. Is he also causing trouble?" Li Luo interjected and asked.
"You're talking about Mad Eagle, I didn't expect Young Master to have heard of the name Mad Eagle.
It is true that the famous Kuangying is still superior to Chaoshu, but this person is an anomaly among horse thieves. How can I put it, some thieves also have a sense of morality.
Almost all of these business travelers are looking forward to meeting Kuang Ying. Although this person is also a horse thief, he rarely kills them all. After taking the property, he will sometimes give these business travelers a ride. It is somewhat similar to our business, and the property
Not all of it will be wiped out, at least half of the money will be left to the merchants, which is very weird."
"Isn't this surprising? If there were no traders outside the customs, these horse thieves would all starve to death. Humph, they are not just deceiving the world and stealing their reputation." Zhu Zhi said coldly.
Le Shaodong didn't care and said with a smile: "What the young hero said is right. Maybe it's just what the young hero said. This is just Kuang Ying's scheming method, but this person does have some reputations. In the Mobei area, his
His reputation is no worse than that of several generals in our imperial court, and maybe even better in some places."
Zhou Fang coughed lightly and calmly motioned to Le Shaodong not to say more.
Li Luo nodded and said: "It should be like this. A ruler is long and an inch is short. Since Kuang Ying can achieve such a reputation, he naturally has his own merits, but it has little to do with us. It's just Mobei."
The chaos has been going on for a long time, and the people here have suffered, and are worried and in danger."
"Who says it isn't?" Le Shaodong also sighed and said, "We'll see if there will be any changes after this trade deal."
Li Luo sighed secretly, Da Gan and Meng Jue were doing business just because of the words of the messenger Gu Ya. No one could predict whether there might be any secrets hidden at the moment. We could only take one step at a time.
Li Luo stayed in Jianbei City for three days. He walked around and looked around. He found that the city had a lot of things to do, there were many pedestrians, and it was quite prosperous.
If you were only in Jianbeicheng, it would be difficult to imagine that Yeliang Prefecture was the battlefield where Dagan soldiers and Mongolian soldiers fought and buried their bones.
Three days later, Li Luo bid farewell to the Chang'an Escort Bureau and continued northward with Mu Tianlang and Zhou Fang. The escort carriage was left in Jianbei City and was temporarily under the care of the Chang'an Escort Bureau until it was needed.
The imperial edict clearly stated that Li Luo was asked to first see if there was anything fishy on the Mongolian side regarding the opening of Shangfu.
After leaving Jianbei City, the journey north became increasingly difficult, and the population gradually became sparse. Many people who originally lived and thrived here could not bear the raging war, and the dead were buried here. Many of the survivors left their hometowns.
Go to the south of Jianbei City and live a simple life.
Half of the houses in the villages I saw along the way were empty, and most of the people who were still here were old people. Maybe they couldn't walk anymore, or maybe they were attached to the land where they lived and didn't leave.
Three hundred miles further north of Jianbeicheng is Huifengfu, the northernmost prefecture in Yeliang Prefecture.
Huifeng Mansion is the first pass for the Northern Army of Da Gan Ding to guard Yeliang Prefecture, and the pass is named immediately.
The terrain of this place is very peculiar. The entire state capital is almost covered by mountains, with only one flat river in the middle called Yimachuan.
There are high mountains to the left and right of Yimachuan River. The main veins of the two mountains are in the north and south. Beyond the main veins are many valleys eroded by wind and rain. If a bird in the air looks down, the mountains here look like two handfuls.
Opposing the comb, between the two comb teeth is a valley. The rows seem to grow out of the main veins of the mountains. In the middle of the two rows of comb teeth is the Yima River, which is less than ten miles wide.
As Li Luo and his party walked toward Lima Pass, the number of people on the road became sparse and sparse. Sometimes they walked for a long time without seeing a single village, which was particularly desolate.
Years of war have really frightened the people here, and those who can hide are hiding far away. In addition, Li Chengye's strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness has left the people here displaced and helpless.
Entering Yimachuan, maybe the surroundings were too desolate, and the few people in Li Luo seemed to be outnumbered.
The official road is still neat and tidy. It should be repaired by the Dingbei Army every year. However, the fields outside the official road are much deserted. Many fertile fields are now covered by weeds and are hiding under the heavy snow.
The pedestrians I occasionally saw on the road were also in a hurry, their faces were earth-colored, and they were all like frightened birds. They didn't even have the strength to raise their heads to look at Li Luo and the others, so they kept their heads down and hurried on.
Li Luo and the others secretly sighed. Compared with the drunken life, dreams and death in Zhuocheng, this scene was a bit different.
Immediately locked up at the northernmost end of Yimachuan, where Dagang stationed more than 50,000 troops, an elite division of the Dingbei Army. Although the leading general Li Luo had never seen it, he had heard about it, but this time Li Luo
Luo had no intention of meeting him for the time being, so he concealed his true appearance and just regarded him as an ordinary businessman from Dagan who was looking for money.
Although Huifeng Prefecture was depressed, there were still merchants traveling there. Dagan and the Mongols had been hostile to each other for hundreds of years, and there was no trade with Fu. The products of the Mongols were rare in Dagan, and naturally the things in Dagan were also desired by the Mongols.
From ancient times to the present, there are many Dagan and Mongolian businessmen who are willing to take risks and risk their lives in order to make money. If they can succeed, they will not have to worry about food and drink in a few years.
It is said that when Dagan and Mongolia were at odds with each other, both countries strictly ordered merchants from all over the world not to do business with the enemy. Anyone who violated the order would be punished.
However, as these years have passed, these bans have gradually been ignored. Most of the imperial courts in various countries have turned a blind eye and allowed merchants and travelers to barter. After all, to be honest, there is something in the Mongols.
It cannot be found anywhere else, and the same is true for Da Gan Yu Meng Jue.
The soldiers guarding the customs just kept the rules open and would not embarrass merchants who risk their lives too much. There are still taxes to be collected at the entry and exit gates, so why not do it. In this way, the gate inspections here are actually more expensive than elsewhere in Dagan.
There are many pines and the taxes are not heavy, so it can be considered a great blessing among misfortunes.
In front of Lima Pass, there is a small town here. It is said to be a town, but in fact it only has a few dozen households.