burning nations

Chapter 73 Traveling Northward to Hebu

On March 41th, 3 years of flattery Zhangwu, a farewell ceremony was underway at the ten-mile long pavilion in the northwest suburb of Chengzha, the imperial capital.

"This is going to thousands of rivers and mountains, and there is no time to see you again. You two cherish it." Tan Yang folded willows and sent them off.

Zhu Wu did the same: "Miss, take care, we will always remember the grace of saving your life."

Zhang Cai nodded lightly: "I will never forget you, Ruopan."

Luo Tu came forward: "Zhang Cai, hold your fists together, my grandfather"

"It's God's will, please wait for me to persuade you, this is not Uncle Luo's business." Zhang Cai comforted Luo Tu.

Duan Yan also came over: "Zhang Cai, I am Uncle Dai to see you off, take care along the way."

Shi Jin came forward: "Young Master Ye Li, I have offended you for many years, I hope you will be safe when I go."

Lin Yang said: "Lao Xiao, I hope that you will still be as handsome next time; Zhang Cai, I hope that you can fight like before next time!"

Yuan Chi said: "Send you a thousand miles, there will be a farewell, the two will meet later."

Zhang Cai and Ye Lixiao clasped their fists: "Everyone, there will be a meeting later!"

After saying that, they drank the farewell wine, got on their horses, and headed northwest.

Standing on the beacon tower in Xianyang, Yang Xiong looked at Zhang Cai's leaving shadow from a distance, secretly saddened.

Yang Song was puzzled and said: "Master, you will never let anyone you like, why are you lenient to this woman?"

Yang Xiong smiled wryly and said: "Why? Because she is my friend, is my only girlfriend God blaming me? It made me so lonely, and my friends left me one after another."

"Zhang Cai. Zhang Yaya. I wish you well."

In the six-door yamen of the imperial capital, Liang Ji, who had just returned, yelled at Shen Lian and the others!

"Why did this girl Zhang Cai leave with Ye Lixiao?! Didn't you all know beforehand?! A bunch of idiots!!!"

Shen Lian quickly said: "Elder-in-law, calm down, we didn't expect Zhang Cai to leave with Ye Lixiao, and my subordinates are still helping her to stay in the military academy to continue her classes."

"Eunuch, do you want to send someone to notify Marshal Tong to stop him at the border?" Lu Jianxing from the second office suggested.

Liang Ji was even angrier when he heard this: "Your Majesty issued an edict to let him go. Tong Dao will intercept people again. Does the empire have any face?! His Majesty just reprimanded Zhang Cai for leaving our house. Do you want His Majesty to reprimand our family again?" Back?!"

"I dare not wait!" Shen Lian and the others said in unison.

"Find a way to bring him back!" Liang Ji said viciously.

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At the same time, Zhang Cai was galloping along with Ye Lixiao on the straight road.

"Yaya, your riding skills are good, you've made progress, you can keep up with me!"

Zhang Cai shouted back: "Thanks for the compliment!"

Ye Lixiao said: "Yaya, I have been to your hometown, this time I want to have fun in my hometown!"

"Don't worry!" Zhang Cai said, "Maybe I'm going to die here in the future, so I'll take care of your business first!"

When Ye Lixiao heard this, he laughed even happier: "Okay! I hope you will live in my house forever! Hahahaha~~~~~"

Ye Lixiao is very chic at the moment, like a tiger released into the forest, full of vigor.

Seeing Ye Lixiao's happiness, Zhang Cai also became inexplicably happy.

Speaking of which, the emperor of the Zhagu Empire was stingy enough. Ye Lixiao was ordered to go home, and he didn't send more soldiers and horses to escort him along the way. Except for Ye Lixiao's 500 steppe army cavalry, the imperial cavalry also came. [-] rides, shabby as hell.

But at the same time, Zhang Cai understood that 500 pure imperial cavalry were not only a lot, but more.

Naturally, the whole cavalry unit moved very quickly. Within a few days, they arrived at Xiaoguan, a military pass in the north, and were inspected by the White Grass Army guarding the pass. It proved that the White Grass Army released it directly.Leaving Xiaoguan is the Lingzhou of Dong's family in Lingzhou. If you continue to pass through Lingzhou and cross the side wall of Helan Mountain in the north, you will also leave the sphere of influence of the Zhagu Empire.

After leaving the country, the cavalry of the Prairie Army lay on the border and waited for the response. Among the elders of the "Three Powers", the elder Hu Li and Ye Lixiao's teacher before going to the empire came to escort them personally. The Zaku cavalry returned home after completing their mission. Xiao continued north.

On the way, Hu Li saw a girl in the team, so he asked Ye Lixiao why. After knowing the situation, Elder Hu Li remained silent, glanced at Zhang Cai, and never spoke to Zhang Cai from the beginning to the end.

Well, it may also be because Zhang Cai can't speak He language.

Zhang Cai has never been to the grassland, so she looked east and west when she stepped out of the side wall. Wherever she saw, there were tall or low grasslands, lush green grass spread on the ground, small rivers and streams, and white cows. Sheep eat grass and drink water, and strong horses gallop on the grassland, like a painting painted in thick ink.

"Is this the range of the Grassland Army Jiedu? It's so beautiful!"

"This is still within the scope of the empire, and the grassland of the tribe has not yet arrived." The speaker was a veteran who had stayed in the imperial capital for 10 years with Ye Lixiao. Answer Zhang Cai's question.

"This is a grassland belonging to the Zhizhai of the Empire. If I remember correctly, there is a village 10 miles to the east. This grassland, cattle and sheep belong to Zhizhai in that village."

This veteran may be able to communicate with Zhang Cai without barriers because he has learned some Zhagu language.

The veteran explained the history to Zhang Cai, but what do you expect a veteran to explain clearly?What Zhang Cai said was in the fog, that is, Ye Lixiao came to make up for Zhang Cai, and Zhang Cai only understood after combining what he knew before and after.

This history is very big, and we have to go back and start from the beginning.It was still when the Zhagu Empire was first established, that is, when the Taizu Wu Emperor Zhao Bin ruled the world. At that time, the empire had not yet bordered on the northern iron men and golden men. The northern border of the empire was a number of independent nomadic tribes. kill.

Several generations before Zhao Bin fought against him to seize the land, and sometimes married and formed alliances to stabilize the rear. It was probably when Zhao Bin arrived, and in order to go out and rule the world, he decided to clean up the hidden dangers from behind.

So Zhao Bin set up an army in Zhagu City, mobilizing 10 soldiers, and 2 soldiers belonging to the tribe. A total of 12 soldiers fought against the north. The Huanren, Huangren, and Sairen tribes were defeated, and the young and strong were collected to stabilize the rear.

Then Emperor Taizu Wu ruled the world, and then died of illness. Emperor Taizong Wen ascended the throne, holding the elite soldiers left by his father in his hand, intending to restore the ancient empire, launching battles one after another, clearing up the rest of the Huanren and others. The vast north.
At this time in northern Xinjiang, as the nomadic tribes outside the grasslands attacked and annexed each other, a large-scale nomadic united empire headed by the Iron Man tribe gradually formed. The Iron Man tribes were called by the Zhagu people, and its official name is "Yesui-Nagai-Liaowu".

Ye Sui-Nagai-Liaowu Empire (Unified Iron Man Empire below) was established, rapidly expanded to all directions, and also annexed the tribes of the Huanren who were defeated by the Zaku Empire, followed by a north-south collision.The Iron Man Empire launched an attack to the south, and Emperor Taizong Wen also attacked across the board. The ending said too much, and the elite of the imperial army was exhausted.

Then came Zhenzong, Renzong and other dynasties. Zhagu army summed up experience and lessons after defeats again and again. In the end, they were all like Qi Qi.
So a stupid method was born in the imperial army at that time!

Just like Qi Qi's big cart, aren't you a cowhide in field battles? Well, if I can't beat it, I will build cities, dig ditches, and build castles!
Then the Zhagu army gave full play to this tactic when they captured Hetao. Hundreds of thousands of troops went out of the Lingxia states, out of the side walls, and stopped for 70 miles out of the fortress. Build a military fortress - the village!

The Zhagu army built the stronghold very strong. The large village can house nearly 500 infantry, and the small village can also support [-] soldiers and their families.Taking the stronghold as a point, the troops and food were gradually moved northward, and they would fight against the stronghold when encountering battles.

So the Zhagu Empire relied on this stupid method to invest a lot of national power in it for decades, and finally managed to conquer the south of the Yellow River, and established two prefectures, Fengsheng and Yinshan, in the north of the Yellow River. foothills.

When the empire was strong, there were more than 300 large and small army villages in the north and south of the Yellow River in the Hetao area, and there were more than 50 defenders in a single army village.

But the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious. The continuous investment and the accompanying large number of redundant troops will do great harm to the national strength of the empire.Think about it, every year the Minister of the Household Department tells the emperor that there are more than 50 frontier troops in Danhetao. What does the emperor think?
As a result, the sequelae continued to this dynasty. Even if some villages were taken away and destroyed by Iron Man, and they were abandoned and destroyed by themselves, there are still a large number of military villages in the Hetao area.

Of course, it's not just Hetao, there are also a large number of military camps in Taohuiling and other states in Lanhe to the west, either to guard against iron men or against high men.

Ye Lixiao jokingly said: "In my opinion, if the Emperor of the Empire and the Iron Man Khan judge how good their martial arts are, they should stop recruiting troops repeatedly, and just grab the villages directly. They are all based on these military villages. Several military strongholds; lay down several military strongholds from north to south, just like this."

Zhang Cai complained directly: "It's basically two turtles fighting, it's better to let the two emperors play house next time."

After a few days of ups and downs, on March 3th, after crossing the frozen Yellow River, snowflakes were still falling in the area under the jurisdiction of the Grassland Army.

When Ye Lixiao saw it, he untied the thick plush cloak and put it on Zhang Cai, comforting and caring for her, and took the beauty oil on his shoulders by the way.

Elder Hu Li saw it.

After crossing the river, we were very close to the royal court in the river department. We walked for half a day without any hassle, and arrived at Fengzhou Castle for breakfast on March 3.

Fengzhou was the seat of the Grassland Army and the royal court of Hebu. The imperial people also called it Fengzhou City or Jiuyuan City, and the He people who moved here called it "Tubo City".

Fengzhou is a strong city. At that time, the empire spent a lot of thought on building a fortress on the north bank of the Yellow River—the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain.There are three cities built by the empire in the Fengzhou area. In addition to Jiuyuan City where the state government is located, there are also Yongfeng and Feng'an counties expanded from the military village. These three cities are all close to the Yellow River, allowing the empire to rescue them in time.As for the materials for building the cities, compared with the rammed earth walls that were dug and sand-dug in the Hetao area, the method of building the three cities is "sanhe soil".What is triadic soil?It is composed of lime, clay (or broken bricks, crushed stones) and fine sand in proportion. After being compacted in layers, it has certain strength and water resistance. It is very suitable for the southern foot of the Yinshan Mountain where there is less rain and more drought.The city is far more solid than the military strongholds in the Hetao area, and each city is built according to the support of more than 3 guards for one year. Each city has two inner and outer walls, each wall has a horse face, and each gate has In Wengcheng, there are drainage ditches not far from the city wall, which can not only drain water but also prevent the enemy from digging tunnels and sneak attacks. It can be said that the experience of defending the empire has been fully revealed.

The same is true of the three cities of Fengzhou, and the same is true of the three cities of Shengzhou, but the people of Hehe can't live in the Tangchi of Jincheng, or the "sheep pen" as they say.The He people still retain the tradition of the grassland people - pitching tents.

Therefore, 50 miles southeast of Feng'an City, at the confluence of rivers and waters, at the foot of Muna Mountain, where the Prairie Army's rule is located, this seemingly endless sea of ​​tents.

(End of this chapter)