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Xiguan governs four prefectures. The largest is Yuezhou, where Shuoquan City is located, and the smallest is Jinzhou in the north. Jinzhou is the northernmost state in the northwest. It is adjacent to Hezhou in the south, Yanmen Pass in the north, and Xiliang After the iron hoof broke through the Yanmen Pass, Jinzhou suffered the most.

When the Xiliang army broke through the Yanmen Pass, they set foot on the ground of Daqin Jinzhou for the first time, and immediately burned, killed and looted.

Jinzhou is small in size and has three counties under its jurisdiction. Among them, Huangsha County is located in the north. Yanmen Pass is actually within the territory of Huangsha County. The Xiliang soldiers who first entered the pass slaughtered wantonly. The officials and people of the county retreated wantonly, but the people who were too late to evacuate wailed under Xiliang's iron hooves and scimitars.

After the war in Huangsha County, corpses littered the fields, mourning was everywhere, and the population was sparsely populated. This appalling piece of land has become a blessed land for vultures and coyotes.

At that time, the stench of corpses was wafting and disgusting.

After the Xiliang soldiers retreated, although many people returned to their homeland, and a large number of people returned from the prefectures and counties of Jinzhou, the people who returned to Huangsha County were only one out of ten, and a large number of fields were barren. Fortunately, the Northwest Army returned to Yanmen Pass , while repairing the pass as much as possible, while dealing with the post-war mess in Huangsha County.

A large number of bones were buried. The Northwest Army built 36 Wubao near Yanmen Pass in Huangsha County, and opened pits and barren fields, stationed troops to farm, and allocated a large amount of military rations to the Northwest Army. A large number of them were used as grain seeds. The ration of soldiers was very low, and they could barely sustain it. In the wind and sand at the border, the conditions of the Northwest Army were even worse than before the war.

In the three counties of Jinzhou, because Huangsha County is sparsely populated, there are not many people in the government office. The Northwest Army stationed troops in Huangsha County. The actual control of Huangsha County is actually in the hands of the Northwest Army.

Compared with Hezhou City, Lanyi City in Jinzhou is much inferior in defense. However, Lanyi City is located in the most dangerous place in Jinzhou. There are many deserts and rugged roads. The road in the valley is narrow, and it is not easy to pass through Langya Valley. The road in Langya Valley is rugged, and it is not easy to pass through it at ordinary times. [

Zhang Shuyan is over fifty years old and is growing strong. He and Dongfangxin are related by marriage. His son married Dongfangxin's niece. After the two families got married, the relationship is naturally very close. Guarding, this is certainly to put Jinzhou under the control of the Zhu party, but there is another important reason, which also made Dongfangxin decide to hand over Jinzhou to Zhang Shuyan for guarding.

Jinzhou is the smallest state in Xiguan. It is mostly sandy land, and the area for farming is very small. The food here is mainly supplied from outside, and various resources are actually very scarce.

However, within the territory of Jinzhou, there is a large sandy land with a large area. From very early on, there has been a tradition of panning for gold here.

Alluvial gold deposits are formed in low-lying places, and the upstream rocks contain gold veins or gold deposits, which are formed after refinement, denudation, transportation, and deposition.

This is a long process, but it is undeniable that the alluvial gold contained in the yellow sand has become what people yearn for most since it was discovered.

Alluvial gold is naturally owned by the government. The most important means of earning a living for the people of Jinzhou is to pan for gold for the government, get paid, and maintain their livelihoods.

Sand gold panning is to manually dig out the topsoil, dig to the gravel layer, and then take the gold pan to wash in the water. Because the gold has a high specificity, it will settle at the bottom, and those glittering things are alluvial gold. Manpower, in terms of individuals alone, is actually not very efficient, but if a huge gold panning team is formed to specialize in such gold panning, the alluvial gold obtained will not be a small amount.

For a long time, the government of Jinzhou did not lock criminals in the prison, but sent them to the sand pan, and asked them to pan for gold for the government. Ordinary people were employed by the government, and there would be corresponding rewards for panning gold, while criminals could only pay The land panned for gold for the government, and the taxes paid by Jinzhou to the imperial court had always been paid in gold sand.

After the war in the Northwest, the imperial court has also decreed that the Northwest has been exempted from taxes for three years. After the Xiliang people retreated, the Zhu Party once controlled Xiguan. His in-laws, Zhang Shuyan, were sent to guard Jinzhou, and Zhang Shuyan was very clear about what Dongfangxin meant. After he was stationed in Jinzhou, he immediately organized people to start panning for gold. Of course, it was impossible for these sands to be handed over to the court.

It's just that he didn't expect that after the imperial court sent a new governor, the situation in Xiguan would completely change in a short period of time. Dongfangxin, his biggest backer, suddenly collapsed, and the new governor was really resolute. With heavy punches, almost all the Zhu party officials in Shuoquan were wiped out.

Hezhou and Jinzhou raised troops at the same time, and Zhang Shuyan once thought that Chu Huan must send troops to conquer. He kept thinking, would Chu Huan's first target be Hu Zongmao or Zhang Shuyan?

Zhang Shuyan was relieved when he learned that Chu Huan had attacked Hezhou.

Although he and Hu Zongmao raised troops successively under the banner of resisting Chu Huan, the personal relationship between the two was very ordinary. Chu Huan's attack on Hezhou may not be bad news for Zhang Shuyan.

Although he doesn't like Hu Zongmao's character and temperament, Zhang Shuyan still has some appreciation for Hu Zongmao's ability to defend the city. Both of them have served under Zhu Lingyue's command, and both sides also know each other's advantages. However, after careful research, Zhang Shuyan finally came to the conclusion that if nothing else happened, Chu Huan would not be able to win Hezhou City for at least a month with the power of both exhibitors.

In fact, Chu Huan's food and fodder cannot last for too long, and Zhang Shuyan is very clear that Hezhou City is not fighting alone. As long as he persists long enough, then many forces will be mobilized. At that time, Chu Huan will definitely not only face the people of Hezhou. Even if Xun Ziying retreated [-] steps, Hezhou City was finally lost. At that time, the Chu army was already seriously injured, and it was already very difficult to attack Jinzhou again. [

Zhang Shuyan understands better that if Hezhou really falls into Chu Huan's hands, he will definitely not be the one who is anxious. Someone will be more anxious than himself. When Chu Huan attacks Jinzhou, he will encounter much more resistance than when he attacked Hezhou .

Moreover, Dongfangxin asked him to guard Jinzhou at the beginning, and the Genzi Battalion equipped for him was the most elite army among the eight battalions of the Pingxi Army. Among them, occupying the first place, there are more than [-] cavalry. Although compared with the tens of thousands of cavalry in Xiliang, the number of [-] cavalry is ridiculous, but among the armies in the northwest, [-] cavalry is not a small number.

Therefore, although Lanyi City is not as tall as Hezhou City with thick walls, but with Langya Valley as a barrier, with [-] cavalry and thousands of elite warriors in hand, Zhang Shuyan is still full of confidence in defending Jinzhou.

He didn't have much fear of Chu Huan, but was full of fear of the Northwest Army behind him.

Strange to say, this Langya Valley is located in the south of Lanyi City. Although passing through Jinzhou to go to Yanmen Pass does not have to pass through Lanyi City, you can detour from other places, but if you want to reach Lanyi City from the south, you must pass through Langya Valley, although apart from Langya Valley, the Shigouzi River in the east can also go to Lanyi City, but the Shigouzi River is wide and deep, and boats are required to cross the river, and boats on the river have long been They were all dragged to the west bank by Zhang Shuyan, and he ordered that boats be banned on the river, and anyone who disobeyed would be shot.

It is impossible for Chu Huan to march with a large number of ships, so he can only pass through Langya Valley. He has already stationed troops in Langya Valley. Yagu, but he also affirmed that as long as the battle of Langya Valley, the strength of the Chu army could be seriously injured, and it was only a scarred army that finally arrived at the city of Lanyi.

He would go to the north wall of Lanyi City to look around almost every day to see the situation in the north. He was not afraid of the Chu army approaching the city, but he was afraid that the Northwest Army in the north would suddenly appear.

The Northwest Army is no longer as majestic as it was when Feng Hanxiao was in command. At that time, the Northwest Army had strict military discipline, hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, fierce generals like clouds, and the Thirteenth Taibao was even more famous all over the world.

The Northwest Army stationed in Yanmen Pass now has only tens of thousands of people, and their equipment and morale are not as good as before. More importantly, although the current commander of the Northwest Army was once a fierce general under Feng Hanxiao's command, Feng Hanxiao will always be Feng Hanxiao, as one of the four great generals of the Great Qin Empire, Feng Hanxiao's departure is replaceable.

The current commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army is nicknamed "Dumb General". This is the title Feng Hanxiao received when he was alive. It's hard to see through his mind.

When Feng Hanxiao was in command of a [-] army in the Northwest, the twelve commanders under his command were all brave and skilled fighters, and when Feng Hanxiao was killed, almost everyone knew that the power of the Northwest Commander must rest with these twelve Among the commanders, they were promoted, so some of the twelve commanders formed cliques and fought openly and secretly for the position of Northwest General.

The Northwest Army in the era of Feng Hanxiao may not have had factional disputes, but they were suppressed by Feng Hanxiao, and they were still united. When Feng Hanxiao left, the factions of the Northwest Army were immediately clear. The iron hoof suddenly came over, and the Northwest Army, which was deeply infighting, fell apart for a while. It can even be said that when resisting the iron hoof of Xiliang, the Northwest Army did not have a general who truly unified the command, and each army fought on its own. One of the reasons for the collapse.

More than half of the Twelve Commanders died on the battlefield, but the unit of the "dumb general" Liu Fengjun was the best performing unit of the Northwest Army when resisting the Xiliang soldiers, and even won several battles , this was very rare in the environment when the Northwest Army was retreating across the board. This low-key general was widely known, and his prestige among the soldiers became even higher.

The Northwest Army returned to Yanmen Pass, and Yu Buqun, at the last moment, offered to the imperial court Liu Fengjun as the commander of the Northwest Army, and Liu Fengjun led the remaining tens of thousands of Northwest Army, returned to Yanmen, opened up land, built 36 forts, and guarded the border. .

Zhang Shuyan has naturally heard of Liu Fengjun's fame, but he really doesn't understand Liu Fengjun's temperament. Although someone assured him that the Northwest Army would never take any action, since the day he raised his troops, Zhang Shuyan has never been worried that something will happen on the back The figure of the Northwest Army was far more fearful of the Northwest Army than Chu Huan.