National color raw owl

A group of people left Tongzhou and headed north all the way. In only three or four days, they arrived at Xiguguan. Xiguguan is located between the eight hundred miles of Beiling. One is divided into two, and the only tens of miles of land in the middle that can pass through has already built checkpoints. No matter whether you go out or enter the customs, Xiguguan has become a must pass.

Chu Huan and the gate guard general Da Xizhang were acquainted, but this time they left the gate, they did not intend to alarm Da Xizhang. The armor of the guards was there, and the guards always had some vision, so they let Chu Huan and his party go out. close.

The spring breeze in the pass is radiant. After leaving the pass, the feeling is quite different. The air has become a little drier. The further you go to the northwest, the less pure the taste of the air.

Chu Huan didn't care. Su Niang felt that the climate here was much worse than that of the capital. Sometimes she looked at the ground she passed and found that the color of the ground was yellowish. It became more and more serious, and the wind that blows from time to time actually contained sand and dust in it.

Going out is sand and gravel, and the road is Gobi.

The loess in the northwest is vast and vast, and there are many Gobi lands, and there are many high mountains rising from the ground. When you go out of Xiguguan, you have to bypass the land of Qingzhou under the jurisdiction of Beishan Road.

The northwest is sparsely populated, and sometimes you may not be able to see people even if you walk tens of miles. The houses in the northwest are also different from those in the Guan. The houses are relatively low, and most of them are built of rammed earth. Scattered in groups of three or five on the vast land in the northwest, the climate in the northwest is arid, and there are many endless loess Gobi. It is not very easy to see the lush green forests.

Chu Huan led the team to walk on the hard land, but he also sighed in his heart the hardships of the Northwest. Although the Northwest is also engaged in agricultural production, there have not been many good fields enough for farming. The food produced may not be able to meet the needs of the officials and people in the Northwest, so every year the Northwest will replenish food from the pass.

There are many Gobi areas in the northwest, and many places are still sandy lands that can't be seen at a glance. Although they are not comparable to the vast Jingulan Desert outside Yanmen Pass, these sandy lands are useless to the people in the northwest, and they cannot engage in production at all. wasteland.

The Northwest is a magical place. It has the vast Gobi, good land suitable for farming, and pastures suitable for animal husbandry. The most developed area of ​​animal husbandry in the Great Qin Empire is in the Northwest. , a good place to see cattle and sheep when the wind blows the grass, especially the once-famous Daqin Eight Great Racecourses. There are only two major racecourses in Xiguan Road in the northwest of the state. Xiguan Road was also famous for the existence of the two horse farms world.

It's a pity that the turmoil in Xiliang caused the Xiguan Road to collapse completely. The once proud Northwest has now become the biggest mess in the world.

The destination of Chu Huan's trip is Beiyuan County in Jiazhou of Xiguan Road. The capital of Xiguan Road was originally in Yuezhou, but Xiliang invaded the territory of Qin State. The four states of Xiguan Road were invaded and occupied three states, the largest of the nine states in the northwest Yuezhou is also occupied by Xiliang people. Shuoquan City, the Taoist city of Xiguan, is located in Yuezhou. Shuoquan City was once the largest city in the Northwest, a pearl on the Northwest land, and was once the cultural and economic center of the Northwest. After the Xiliang people occupied it, they burned, killed and looted. It is said that Shuoquan City, which was once known as the first city in the Northwest, is now in a mess and has never regained its former style.

The only city where the habit survives is Beiyuan County in Koshu. It was once the front-line command post for the confrontation between the Northwest Army and the Xiliang Army, and it was also repaired and reinforced during the war. After retreating to Beiyuan County, the yamen of Xiguan Road are now barely working in Beiyuan County.

Although Beishan Road has not been directly invaded by Xiliang people, this land does not seem to have much vitality, giving people a sense of depression. Along the way, we saw many refugee camps. Chu Huan frowned. They thought that after the Xiliang people retreated, the people living in Xiguan states would return to their hometowns and rebuild their homes, but after sending people to inquire, they found that almost all of the skinny refugees escaped from Xiguan. Did not think about going back immediately.

Chu Huan was surprised, but fortunately he quickly found out what these refugees were thinking. From their point of view, Xiguan Road had been plundered by Xiliang people, their fields had been destroyed, their cattle, sheep and livestock had been looted, and their houses had been turned into ruins. , Back to Xiguan, there is only one dead end, even if it is a beggar, it is better to stay in Beishan than to go back to hometown.

If you stay in Beishan, you are lucky and you still have a chance, but if you return to Xiguan, you will definitely die.

Because of this, although some of the Xiguan people living abroad returned to their hometowns, many still lived in Tianshan and Beishan.

Chu Huan also passed by Xiguan Road half a year ago, and he was devastated. He didn't know if the situation there had changed.

Chu Huan didn't think about things in a good way, and prepared for the worst, and the facts were indeed as expected. On the way through Qingzhou to Jiajia, what he saw was still chaos and starvation everywhere, although it was not like before. There are corpses everywhere like that, but every time you walk a certain distance, you will see a large number of graves. The graves are buried randomly. Chu Huan also knows that the local government organizes manpower to collect corpses and bury them collectively. Of course, many of them are Bandits and robbers took the opportunity to plunder and kill people, but more people starved to death because of lack of food.

Thinking of the bustling and bustling capital, singing and dancing, and seeing the scene in front of him, Chu Huan felt that the contrast was too strong. Less than a month ago, he saw the paradise of the Qin Kingdom. Less than a month later, What he saw was the hell of Qin.

After walking on the ground of Qingzhou for four or five days, I finally crossed the boundary of Beishan and entered the territory of Xiguan Road. The vast land stretches as far as the eye can see, the loess is long, the Gobi is undulating, and the Gobi is full of shrubs. The completed houses are also difficult to see.

Walking along the ancient loess road in the northwest, Chu Huan knew from the northwest map prepared by Du Fugong that he was in the territory of Jiajia Qingtang County, passing through Qingtang County, it used to be Beiyuan County.

There are not as many cities in the northwest as in the pass, and many times along the way, they can only camp in the open air. It stands to reason that Chu Huan sent people to notify the local officials along the way in advance. Huan didn't want to disturb along the way, so he tried to be as silent as possible.

At dusk that day, only a few dozen miles away from Qingtang County, Chu Huan was thinking about whether to camp before dark, or rush to Qingtang County overnight to make a fuss, when he suddenly heard a noise coming from the front of the team Just as he was wondering, the white blind man had come to report that there were dozens of refugees in front of him, who had no food and clothing, and were blocking the line to beg for food and drink.

Chu Huan was surprised, thinking to himself that the refugees on Xiguan Road are really courageous, and they have seen many refugees in distress along the way, but Chu Huan's team has two hundred iron horses and golden weapons to kill the heroic guards, Not to mention the refugees, even the bandits did not dare to approach them. When they reached Xiguan, these refugees seemed to become more courageous, and even dared to stop this team.

Hearing the voices of the refugees in front of them screaming weakly, Chu Huan was also considerate, knowing that there was no last resort, and these victims would not be so courageous. In the end, it was all caused by their stomachs, hungry stomachs, in order to fill their stomachs , whoever is more courageous will be three points more courageous. This group of victims can stand in the front, and it is really unbearable to be tortured by hunger. What's more, the people in the northwest are already tough. Thinking about it this way, Chu Huandao doesn't think so. Strange.

He was worried that there would be a conflict between the two sides. The guards are all elite soldiers and strong generals. If the attack is a little heavier and hurts the already weak people, it will be a bit bad. After all, he came to Xiguan to take office, and the governor's chair Before he touched his ass, he hurt the people under his rule first. If this is spread, it will not be a good thing.

After ordering the team to stop and keep calm, Chu Huan got off his horse and got to the front, only to see a large group of ragged civilians blocking the road, all of them sallow and emaciated, with a few tall middle-aged men leading the way. In the front, if it was changed to before, these Northwestern men must be thick-backed, but now although they look big-boned, they don't have much flesh on their bodies, and they just lead a group of people feebly begging for rewards.

"Master Guan, it doesn't matter if we're hungry." A man from the Northwest had lost his expression between his brows, his face was sallow and thin, and he was holding a scrawny child with sunken eyes in his hands, "I beg you to give me a bite. The child hasn't been there for many days." I ate something... I'm going to die...!"

There was a lot of pleading, and some people even knelt right in front of the line.

The man has gold under his knees, but in the face of the threat of the death of his family, they can give up everything.

Chu Huan looked at everything in front of him with a dignified expression. Du Fugong was also following Chu Huan at this time, and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency also saw it along the way. The leaves that just grew were all picked and eaten... the situation in the northwest, It's more serious than we thought...!"

Chu Huan frowned and said, "There is also a shortage of food in the pass. Even if we get food, we still have to use it for grain seeds. If we really want to eat all the grain seeds, more people will die in the northwest."

"My lord, what should I do with this group of people in front of me?" Faced with the situation in front of him, Xuanyuan Shengcai did not dare to act rashly.

Chu Huan thought for a while, and said: "We still have some food in the car, take out a small part, give them some first, it won't help many people, we can only do our best...!"

At this moment, suddenly heard a scream from behind, Chu Huan heard Su Niang's voice, turned around, only to see a few Guards soldiers had drawn their knives, and walked quickly, only to find A seven or eight-year-old child was sitting on the ground with a terrified face, two big knives pointed at him, his pupils were full of horror, seeing Chu Huan approaching, a guard was ashamed and said: "My lord! , this kid got mixed up in the crowd and wanted to get into Madam's car, and disturbed Madam, this subordinate deserves to die...!"

Chu Huan smelled a stench, saw the child's face full of fear, turned around, and saw the curtain of the carriage that Su Niang was riding in was open, Su Niang turned pale and looked outside, and Su Niang explained : "He...he climbed up the car window and almost rolled in...I want him to get down, he...his fingers scratched my hand...!"

Chu Huan understood. Seeing that the child was young, he was worried that the child would be startled. He smiled and said, "It's okay, little guy, you can't mess around with what you want...!" There is a large swollen area that has ruptured, and green pus is flowing out from it, which is very terrifying.