Just when Zuo Sanxiang proposed to withdraw his troops and return to Gaochang, Liu Jingchuan shook his head and looked sad: "It's too late, Commander Zuo, there will be heavy snow in less than three days. We can't go far, the horses will freeze to death, and the people will freeze to death."

For the current plan, we can only quickly collect the roots and bark of trees outside the city before the poisonous people have recovered, dig holes in the ground and search out rats and other things, otherwise we will not be able to survive the ice and snow melting next spring!"

Everyone was exhausted. Although they were winning battles every day, except for some weapons and armor, they had no food supplies.

At this time, when they heard that it was going to snow and there was insufficient supplies, all the commanders of Liang Jun couldn't help but panic.

Seeing that the morale of the army was about to collapse, Zuo Sanxiang winked at Fu Dingyuan, stood up, walked back and forth for two steps, and then sat down.

Zuo Sanxiang cleared his throat, "There is no road ahead. With Mr. Liu here, we will not suffer from cold or hunger. By the way, Dingyuan, is there any good way to keep out the cold in winter here!"

Fu Dingyuan pointed at his feet, "Dig a hole in the house. People hide in the hole and the wind and snow can't get in! Firstly, it can save firewood. Secondly, digging holes in the ground can keep warm. Sometimes you can dig some useful things. For example, big

Han Dynasty coins, and rat or badger nests."

"Besides digging holes, are there any other good ways, such as what to do with the brothers guarding the city wall and the brothers in the watchtower of Beacon Fire Castle?"

Fu Dingyuan rubbed his head, "This is easy to do. Use the captured Shitou people's clothes to make a tent. The brothers will light a fire in the tent, and then put their clothes on! But the wind and snow here are too heavy.

There is no need for the tents, and the wet poisonous people cannot get up to the city wall in the snow, it is all frozen and it is difficult to walk!"

"I heard that hunters go into the mountains to hunt in this heavy snow weather. Why can they walk?" Zuo Sanxiang then asked his question.

"The soles of hunters' shoes are different from ours. They have serrations and nails, so they can be stepped on firmly."

"That's it. If the hunter can do it, we can also try it. The Shitou people may not know it. It will really snow by then, and we still can't relax our defense!"

At this point, the topic has changed, and everyone began to whisper about hunting in the snow and so on.

But Liu Jingchuan was too responsible: "Zuo Shuai, there are not many medicinal materials to prevent typhoid fever in winter. If any brother gets infected with typhoid fever, it will be troublesome. But there is a lack of medicinal materials to treat typhoid fever locally! Even if you dig it, there is nowhere to go.

Dig this matter"

Zuo Sanxiang almost vomited blood. When he said this in front of more than a dozen commanders and deputy commanders, the military morale he had just mentioned suddenly dropped back.

"This typhoid fever spreads from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, this"

"When the time comes, we will sit around the fire every day and don't go out. If we get typhoid fever, we don't need to be beaten with poisonous people. We will be dead!"

"Maybe, the ancestors and heroes of the Han Dynasty were just like us. They were not afraid of anyone on the battlefield, but there was nothing they could do if they got sick!"

"It seems to be fate. We Central Plains people are destined to be unable to leave Congling and can only fight here!"

Zuo Sanxiang's face became increasingly ugly. At this time, someone outside the door shouted, "Report to Commander Zuo! There is someone outside the city asking to see you!"

"Who is this person? Come here now, arrest him first and then talk about it!"

Zuo Sanxiang was upset, so he asked the messenger to catch the person who wanted to see him first.

"Commander Zuo, there is a convoy of hundreds of camels and carts outside the city! We can't catch them unless we go out together!"

one

Hearing hundreds of camels and carts, Zuo Sanxiang and everyone else's eyes lit up, and they stood up together, "Let's go, take this commander to have a look!"

When I went up to the top of the city, I saw a man in the city wearing a mink hat, a fox fur coat, and a tiger skin scarf around his neck. He waved to Zuo Sanxiang, "Master Zuo, this villain is Hu Xiya. Don't you remember?"

Zuo Sanxiang couldn't believe his ears and rubbed his eyes: "Hu Xiya, why are you here? This convoy belongs to you? You come from the east, so you have been to Gaochang?"

Hu Xiya bent down and saluted, "Commander Zuo, I hired this convoy from Chang'an. It has a small number of people and a lot of camels and goods. It was specially given to Commander Zuo as a gift! There is only one day of cargo in Gaochang City, so as not to miss it.

Zuo Shuai has important matters, so he traveled straight to Luntai all night long!"

"Haha, come on, come on, open the door and collect Hu Xiya and his convoy! If you were coming from the west, I would have thought you were a lobbyist sent by the Shitou people!"

Having said that, Zuo Sanxiang still ordered MCA Fu Dingyuan and Wang Bingsan to take people out of the city to receive supplies. He was still uneasy about the businessman Hu Xiya.

However, with hundreds of carts of supplies entering the city, the military morale in the city can be completely stabilized. Whether the Huxiya gift is real or fake, the three phases of east, west, left and right will be determined.

After taking Hu Xiya into the city, Zuo Sanxiang got straight to the point, "Do you know that these hundreds of carts of supplies will not be able to get out after entering Luntai City, and I, the general who conquers the west, have no money to give you!"

"Commander Zuo is joking. What Commander Zuo wants to do is to surpass the famous generals of the previous generations. In the future, our Daliang cavalry will cross Congling. From now on, our Daliang caravans will have unimpeded access to the Western Regions and will not have to be exploited by the Shitou people. I am

Hundreds of carts of supplies can be earned back at any time!"

Zuo Sanxiang was stunned for a moment and then smiled, "Good boy, I didn't realize that you still have such ambitions. But from Chang'an to Luntai, it's a journey of nearly ten thousand miles. I'm afraid you will lose everything! What will you do with your life after this?"

Where’s the business?”

Hu Xiya took out a thick account book from his arms and said, "Commander Zuo, you are the best at fighting, but you are not as good as me at doing business. When I started from Chang'an, it was silk porcelain pulled by five hundred oxcarts. When I arrived at Jiuquan,

The cattle, porcelain and silk were sold and exchanged for 500 horses. The carts were loaded with wine, dry vegetables, iron pots and other sundries. When they arrived at Yumen Pass, they were resold, and 500 camels were collected locally, and the weeds that others did not want were sold.

Roots, bark, and beef and mutton that were competing for lower prices were loaded onto the truck.”

Zuo Sanxiang nodded, "No, if you bought the beef and mutton and let it rot, wouldn't it be a big loss? You kid,"

"I really can't hide it from Zuo Shuai. Before arriving at Jiuquan, I took a detour to the West Sea. Every car and every piece of our clothes was soaked in the salt lake on the other side of the West Sea. There is no shortage of salt, so, this beef and mutton

It’s turned into bacon jerky! Of course, the specific method is too complicated, so I won’t go into details, lest Zuo Shuai learns my business skills in the future!”

Everyone was happy when they heard that there was beef and mutton jerky in the car, and Liu Jingchuan was also busy asking what medicinal materials those weeds, tree roots and bark were.

It seems that Hu Xiya is really a genius. He even has angelica, cinnamon twigs, peony, Tongcao, jujube and licorice to prevent typhoid fever.

Hu Xiya and everyone were filled with joy, but Sanxiang Zuo felt that this was just a stopgap measure. The Shidu Kingdom's offensive and Liang Jun's defense remained unchanged. When the ice and snow melted the next year, they would continue to fight and consume.

On the third day after arriving at Huxiya, it snowed heavily on time. Within half a day, the whole city inside and outside Luntai City was completely white, and even the moat was completely white.

Snow temporarily covered everything, and Liang Jun's soldiers hid in caves, cooking bacon and wild vegetables to eat and drink. Zuo Sanxiang told Hu Xiya about the war in the past few months.

"Xiya, after the spring begins, you should go back quickly. The imperial court in Luntai has no troops to send, and only the two thousand or so of us can't defend it! By the way, when you went to Gaochang, what happened in Gaochang? I

There was no response from those who sent people to call for food and grass. I wonder what happened?"

"Commander Zuo, the trade in Gaochang City is normal. I also saw Liang Jun patrolling, and there were also troops from Gaochang State. However, the people in the city are normal and there is no abnormality!"

"Gaochang army? When did Gaochang have an army? Sure enough, something happened. Alas, Tuoba Han almost missed my important event!"

Hu Xiya didn't know what was going on: "The army of Gaochang Kingdom and Daliang are not enemies. Why is Commander Zuo so nervous?"

"You don't understand. Gaochang has been under the protection of Daliang for more than ten years. The army has been disbanded long ago. The sudden restoration of the army is probably not an order from the court, but Tuoba Han's reckless behavior. If Tuoba Han betrays Daliang,

Or if the Gaochang people betray Daliang, then we will really become a lonely army!"

Only then did Hu Xiya realize the seriousness of the problem, "I'm just a commoner. I really didn't expect this level. I should have inquired more about it and reported back to Zuo Shuai!"

"Perhaps I am overly worried. Now we can only wait. But if we can defeat the Shidu Kingdom soldiers and horses in the snow, I won't be afraid even if Gaochang rebels. But now the Shidu Nation soldiers are pressing on the border, and behind them are the enemy

I don’t know who my friend is!”

Hu Xiya rolled his eyes and said, "Commander Zuo, in order to prepare for the heavy snowfall this time, I hired fifteen people from the Liugui country. They are people who can work in the ice and snow!"

"Flowing Ghost Country? That country in the far north that was destroyed by the joint efforts of Daliang and Yu State? Is there anyone still there?"

"It was true that only one out of ten Drifting Ghosts were defeated in the First World War, but their lives were tough. They could survive in the bitter cold of the far north. What else could they not survive? But now they can only hunt everywhere or feed the Central Plains.

People work for a living and don’t dare to plunder the Central Plains anymore.”

"With all the strength of our country, we in Daliang can only gather supplies for five thousand soldiers and horses to come to Luntai to fight. It's a pity. If we can have five thousand more people, why not worry about not being able to cross Congling!"

Zuo Sanxiang shook his head as he spoke, feeling that it would be good to be able to withstand the attack of the poisonous people at the turn of spring and summer this time.

"Commander Zuo, there's something I don't understand. I can hire people from different tribes to work. Why can't you hire people from other tribes to fight?"

Hu Xiya's words woke up Zuo Sanxiang, who wiped his face: "It's not that I haven't thought about it, but I have attacked all the tribes in the Western Region. Now I'm afraid it will be difficult to ask them to help fight!"

"The world is bustling, and everyone is seeking gain. There is no one who cannot be bribed, it just depends on what methods and prices the commander uses. As far as I know, there is the Ili Valley northwest of Luntai, where there is a group of remnants of the Han Dynasty.

, they can both cultivate land and herd horses for fighting. Even the Shidu people have to bypass their camp and come to Luntai. If we can unite with them to attack the Shidu people from behind and cut off the food routes of the Shidu people, our Central Plains

The cavalry will cross the Congling Mountains again!"

Zuo Sanxiang looked at Hu Xiya and said, "It would be great if you didn't do business and became my adviser. We would be a perfect match!"
Chapter completed!