Chapter 80: The Army Passes Through (Part 4) Update
There were almost no pedestrians on the road, and the ground became more and more open. Sometimes we were walking in the wilderness, sometimes in the valley, and sometimes circling in the canyon.
This place is almost an abandoned land of the Zhou Dynasty.
However, even though the Great Zhou Dynasty treated this place like a piece of trash, it had always clearly planned Yansai Mountain as the border of the Great Zhou since the reign of Emperor Shengzu, and would not allow the Eight Tribes to cross Yansai Mountain.
In the evening, Chi Mu chose the valley where the Wuwei Camp was trapped that day as his campsite for the first day after entering Xiguan County.
Although the bodies of the Wuwei Camp Imperial Guards who had died here due to the snowstorm had all been transported back to Yanjing and buried in the Imperial Guards' cemeteries after they successfully escaped, after the army had finished its stationing, Chi Mu, Miao Tailin and other Imperial Guards from the Wuwei Camp who had experienced this incident that year still came to the leeward side of the valley beside the main road.
Chi Mu took the lead, holding a bowl of wine, and stood in front of a half-person-high monument to the Imperial Guards that they had erected, pouring the wine in front of the monument.
Behind him, Miao Tailin and others neatly poured the wine onto the ground.
Chi Mu said: "Your life was taken by heaven, there is no hatred or resentment. Rest in peace."
After a brief memorial service, Chi Mu returned to his tent. Just as he was taking off his armor, Miao Tailin's voice suddenly rang out from outside the tent.
"General! I have something to report!"
Chi Mu was a little surprised: "Come in."
He took off his armor's lining and asked Miao Tailin, who had lifted the curtain and entered the tent, "What's going on?"
"General!"
Miao Tailin's tone was urgent, but Chi Mu knew from his tone outside the account that it was probably just something beyond their expectations, but definitely not a bad thing.
Chi Mu relaxed his posture, stretching his muscles while listening to Miao Tailin's instructions.
As expected, Miao Tailin continued, "Our scouting team just reported back that after passing this mountain pass and continuing ten miles deeper into the West Gate, we encountered a road that wasn't at all difficult or difficult to navigate. Instead, it was a hard, smooth, and unprecedented road, more than 20 to 30 feet wide, wide enough for any carriage to advance at the fastest possible speed!"
Chi Mu, who was enjoying the most relaxing moment of the day, suddenly turned around and looked at Miao Tailin.
"A hard, smooth road, seventy or eighty feet wide?"
“That’s right!”
Chi Mu then asked, "How long is this road you're talking about?"
"It's infinitely long!" Miao Tailin said, "When our scouting team came back to report, they said they had walked dozens of miles along this road. There was a fork in the road, and judging by the direction it split, one should lead to Yucheng and the other to Qingcheng."
Chi Mu pondered, that is to say, the two main cities of Xiguan County have been connected by such roads.
Chi Mu had personally experienced how complex the terrain of Xiguan County was, and he understood the difficulty of building roads, as well as the earth-shaking significance of such roads in Xiguan County.
He frowned slightly, suddenly thinking of something, and asked, "Has the scouting team entered Yucheng?"
"They haven't entered the city yet. After discovering this, they immediately sent scouts to report back."
"good."
Chi Mu arrived: "Order the army to temporarily camp here and await further marching instructions. Tomorrow, you and I will lead a team to meet up with the scouting team."
“Here!”
Miao Tailin got the order and left.
In the tent, Chi Mu stood up and began to rummage through his suitcase.
A moment later, Chi Mu found out a series of intelligence reports about the Xiguan Marquis Mansion that had been reported by the secret guards stationed on the Xiguan line.
These intelligence reports were divided into two parts, one covering the first two years after he personally led his troops to Xiguan County, and the other covering the following two years.
For the first two years, the Imperial Guard's secret guards were responsible for reporting on the Xiguan Marquisate. Any activity recorded by the secret guards would be reported directly to him. Later, due to the secret guards' requests and the assessment by officials in Yanjing, including Chi Mu, that the Imperial Guards' secret guards were unnecessary in Xiguan, the responsibility for monitoring and reporting the Xiguan Marquisate's activities was transferred to the Xiguan Governor's Office.
Therefore, all the intelligence reports of the next two years came from the reports of the Governor of Xiguan.
Chi Mu arranged the reports one by one and quickly read through them.
First, there is this group of imperial guards.
"On the twelfth day of the first month of winter in the eighth year of Tianxi, the Marquis of Xiguan sold its treasury materials to the Fu family of Yucheng."
"On the thirteenth day of the first month of winter in the eighth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left his residence and went to the Fu family workshop to discuss matters unknown to anyone."
"On the twenty-sixth day of the winter of the eighth year of Tianxi, a heavy snow fell in Xiguan County. The teacher at the Xiguan Marquis's Mansion appeared before no one knew."
"On the 30th day of the winter of the eighth year of Tianxi, the heavy snow in Xiguan County stopped. The young Marquis of Xiguan left his residence and went sledding with the young head of the Fu clan out of Yucheng."
"On the sixth day of the first winter of the eighth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left his residence and went out of the city with the young patriarch of the Fu family to Xisai Lake to participate in the Fu family's winter fishing activity at Xisai Lake."
"In the early spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left his residence and went riding in the suburbs outside the city. He had too much fun and was brought back to the city by his personal guards on horseback."
"In the early spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, Xiguan County was in spring plowing. After the young Marquis of Xiguan hibernated for the winter, he went out of the city almost every day with the young patriarch of the Fu family. In name, he was joining the Fu family in spring plowing, but in reality, he was playing digging with the young patriarch every day."
"In the second month of the spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left the palace and headed for the north of Xisai Lake. His whereabouts remain unknown, presumably to explore uninhabited areas."
"In the second month of the spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left the palace again and headed to the north of Xisai Lake to explore the uninhabited area again."
"In the second month of the spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left the palace with his personal guards and headed for an expedition deeper into the uninhabited area."
"In the third month of the spring of the ninth year of Tianxi, the young Marquis of Xiguan left the palace with his personal guards. The Marquis's teaching chair sent people to the young Marquis's campsite in the uninhabited area of Xiguan to deliver supplies."
"In April of the ninth year of Tianxi, the Marquisate of Xiguan sent five batches of supplies. The imperial edict arrived from Yanjing, granting the young Marquis of Xiguan another fiefdom. It's understood that the outdoor campsite he built is within the boundaries of his newly acquired fiefdom. The Marquisate's chairperson sent another person to notify the young Marquis of Xiguan and to deliver supplies to the campsite."
"In the fifth month of early summer in the ninth year of Tianxi, the Xiguan Marquisate issued a recruitment order throughout Xiguan County to develop its fiefdom in an uninhabited area, recruiting all kinds of craftsmen to develop the fiefdom."
"In the sixth month of the summer of the ninth year of Tianxi, Fu Zhen'er, the young patriarch of the Fu clan, accompanied the troops to the uninhabited land..."
Records like these continued until the following winter.
After reading it, Chi Mu remembered what was written in it, that the young Marquis of Xiguan was already in the area where his fiefdom was located before the imperial edict from Yanjing arrived in Xiguan County.
Chi Mu frowned slightly in thought.
However, if we consider that the young Marquis of Xiguan had previously taken the initiative to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a fiefdom because of the private opening of the salt lake, it is not surprising that he went to the fiefdom to set up camp in advance.
He read the message sent by the secret guard in front from beginning to end.
The teacher in charge of the Xiguan Marquis's Mansion was forced by the young Marquis of Xiguan to bring in all kinds of people, and then after a little cleaning, he was thrown into the fiefdom camp where the young Marquis of Xiguan was.
And what about the young marquis of Xiguan?
After knowing that his fiefdom was granted, he plunged into the desolate and uninhabited area, treating it like a real treasure, and kept bothering the people in the mansion and sending people and goods there in batches.
The secret guard wanted to explore the place where the young marquis was, but it would be difficult to find the place without a clear map.
As for the team sent by Xiguan Houfu to the uninhabited land, he responded to the recruitment several times, but was driven out by Xiguan Houfu every time because they were considered useless!
Chi Mu put down the reports in his hand and looked at the one sent by the Xiguan Governor's Office. Chi Mu quickly read it and calmed down after reading it.
There is something wrong with Wang Yanpeng, the governor of Xiguan Prefecture.
Originally thinking that Wang Yanpeng was about to be hooked up with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he felt relieved and handed over the task of supervising and reporting the movements of the Xiguan Marquis Mansion to him, and also recalled the secret guards who were howling from time to time.
But unexpectedly, it was this governor Wang Yanpeng who covered up the earth-shaking changes that took place in Xiguan County later!
Chi Mu put the report heavily on the table, and finally let out a sneer on his lips.
·
On the second day, Chi Mu personally selected a team of men and left Miao Tailin to guard the temporary camp in the valley. He led a team of fast horses to Yucheng, Xiguan County.
By noon, Chi Mu, riding on his galloping horse, saw the outline of the road becoming clearer and clearer.
Instead of slowing down his horse, he raised his hand and whipped it.
"drive!"
The horse neighed, and at the command of its master, its muscles bulged and it galloped forward like lightning.
When they reached the place where the dirt road connected to a completely different hard-surface road, the horse neighed, leaped up, and jumped onto the road.
The metal of the horseshoes collided with the hard gravel ground, making a sound that pierced the eardrums.
Then, a firm touch, something the horse had never felt before, caused its galloping steps to stumble for a moment. Even the rider on horseback, holding the reins tightly with both hands, let the horse swirl a few times on the ground, adjusting to the surface beneath its hooves.
Soon, the ear-drum-shaking sound of horse hooves rang out again. Chi Mu led the team forward and walked for another hour before they met up with the pathfinder team that had reported the news yesterday.
When they reached the first fork in the hard stone road, Chi Mu clearly saw traces of pedestrians and vehicles on the road.
Although the number of people was far less than that of the main traffic arteries outside the city of Yanjing, it had already shocked Chi Mu.
He recalled his first visit to Xiguan. From the moment he entered Xiguan County until the Imperial Guards entered Yucheng, he had seen virtually no signs of activity. Xiguan County had a small population, and each city and town was separated by vast distances due to geographical and road barriers. Most of them were self-sufficient, with little interaction between them.
This time, it is obvious that Xiguan County has had little communication with the outside world for a long time, but within Xiguan County, the situation has changed.
What caught his attention even more was the shape of the cars that occasionally passed by on the road.
There is no horse pulling ahead!
Instead, each vehicle frame was emitting white smoke. The driver was holding a wheel in his hand, controlling the direction of the vehicle.
He stopped at the fork in the road from Yucheng to Qingcheng, watching one car after another pass by them. There were ordinary carriages, but from time to time there would be a car like this one spewing white steam passing by.
These passers-by would occasionally glance at their team of heavily armored troops, but only occasionally would someone look at them with a kind smile and quickly continue on their way.
as if……
It seemed as if they had no idea how shocking their existence and their carriages were.
They also didn't think that their team's stay here would bring them any harm.
Chi Mu frowned slightly, and he remembered a theory.
The people of Xiguan County seem to have created their own paradise.
They should have been a group of mounted cavalrymen that ordinary people would look at with dismay and avoid. But now, they had become the most discordant and intrusive elements in this scene.
Chi Mu waved his hand from his horse and said, "Enter Yucheng."
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