On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month of the tenth year of Xianchu, the Monolith Castle was covered with a layer of heavy snow. The strong wind outside the castle blew ice flakes into the air, which could scratch people's faces with blood marks. Li Xiaofei wrapped his leather robe tightly and wore a pair of

The leather hat bought from Mobei was patrolling back and forth between the four arrow towers, when suddenly a man and a horse came from the south and ran towards the Monolith Castle.

Li Xiaofei put his hands in front of his eyebrows and took a closer look. The man was wearing a red robe and riding a maroon horse. He was particularly conspicuous in the ice and snow. The man took out an arrow from his back and then shot at Li Xiaofei. Li Xiaofei couldn't avoid it, and the arrow hit him in front.

The chest fell off, and the arrow originally had no arrowhead. But when the archers on the four arrow towers saw the man shooting arrows at Li Xiaofei, they fired arrows at the man before Li Xiaofei gave the order. Li Xiaofei shouted to stop shooting arrows, but the wind was too loud.

, everyone thought they were going to shoot the intruder to death, so they shot more vigorously.

However, the man in red swung his long knife to block the incoming arrows. Soon he reached the first low wall. The man in red jumped up and jumped on several staggered low walls until he directly touched the arrow.

Below the tower. This time the arrow could no longer be shot. The soldiers drew their swords and came down from the arrow tower to capture the man in red. Li Xiaofei also went down to the bottom of the tower under the protection of everyone.

As soon as they arrived at the bottom of the tower, everyone put away their knives because they all recognized the man in red as Murong Ling. Li Xiaofei gasped: "Hey, Murong, can you stop barging in without saying hello? Tell me your name."

Are we going to keep you out?"

Murong Ling pointed at the low wall behind her: "It's vulnerable."

Li Xiaofei almost choked: "You, do you think all the enemies here are as extraordinary as you?"

Murong Ling shook off the ice and snow on her body: "Fortunately you are not my enemy."

Li Xiaofei started to tremble: "Come in, come in, you want to freeze us to death." After saying that, he led Murong Ling towards the entrance of a cave and walked down. But Murong Ling had to lead the horse in first and let the soldiers place it.

Li Xiaofei had no choice but to walk through the ice and snow with him to lead the horse. When he saw the fiery red horse, Li Xiaofei was filled with admiration. Murong Ling rolled his eyes and said, "Don't pay attention."

The two of them had a bit of fun and soon went to a cave to rest. The cave was five feet long, three feet wide, and one foot high. There was a lot of firewood and red-hot stones piled in the middle. The four corners of the cave were

A hole the size of a fist was opened for ventilation. About twenty people sat around the fire and stretched out their hands to keep warm. A few barrels of wine and water were placed in the innermost position, followed by the pots and pans that Li Xiaofei and the others made themselves. There was also a hanging hanging in the corner.

He was holding a few pieces of beef and mutton that were about to be smoked and dried. When everyone saw Murong Ling coming back, their eyes lit up. After all, they themselves were already filthy. Now that they saw such a glamorous and beautiful person coming in, they couldn't help but feel the love for beauty.

Pharmacist Zhu stood up and greeted: "General Murong, it's really not easy for you to get to the Monolith Castle in such a snowy day."

Murong Ling smiled: "It's nothing, it's just that your guards are too loose, you'd better pray that the enemy doesn't come over."

Li Xiaofei suddenly remembered something: "Murong, are you the only one here this time?"

Murong Ling took out a pile of letters from her arms and handed them to Li Xiaofei: "Read it for yourselves. This is the letter your family asked me to bring."

Li Xiaofei found the red paper that Hong Rui had prepared for him, and handed the other letters to the others. Li Xiaofei sat down and read slowly under the red light, and tears came out as he read.

Pharmacist Zhu also asked about Zhu Xuehua's situation. Murong Ling frowned: "She also wanted to come, but I left her behind. Everything is fine in Shouxian County."

The soldiers were not very literate, so they all went to the few literate people to read the letters. It was lively now, some were crying, some were laughing, and some were jumping around with the letters. Either the wife at home was pregnant, or the parents were sick.

, or a relative died, but it was mostly a good thing. The reason Murong Ling told them was that after Xiang Xiaoyu arrived in Luoyang, he hired several oxcarts to send some money back to the families who came out to join the army. This Xiang Xiaoyu's

The money was usually rewarded by Liu Jian. In addition, Xiang Xiaoyu took care of the affairs of the palace in an orderly manner and was able to do business. After more than half a year, he became a rich man.

Li Xiaofei and Zhu Yaoshi were envious, but also very ashamed, especially Li Xiaofei. They opened a private market on the border and made a lot of goods, but they never sent them back to Shouxian County. Murong Ling smiled: "These meats are waiting for delivery."

By the time you get to Shouxian County, you will have already died, don’t even think about it.”

Li Xiaofei asked again: "Murong, who is in charge of Shouxian County now?"

Murong Ling thought for a while: "The current governor is an old man named Xiao An. He treats everyone well and is a good gentleman. Don't worry, there are good people in the Xiao family. Meng Crow and Huang Banxian continue to lead the troops to defend the city, and your wife is still in charge of the treasury.

I just replaced you. It seems that everyone’s life is better without you."

Li Xiaofei retorted: "Without me, there is a shortage of people to drink, and they will not be able to enjoy themselves."

Pharmacist Zhu also interjected: "I often hear you mention Meng Crow and Huang Banxian. If I have a chance, I will go to Shouxian County to have a drink with them."

Murong Ling glanced at Pharmacist Zhu: "I'm afraid you can't get used to eating Jiangnan sea bass."

Pharmacist Zhu patted his chest: "I, take it all!"

Murong Ling's stomach growled, and she punched Li Xiaofei: "You fool, go and cook something."

Li Xiaofei stood up and went to get the meat. Several soldiers next to him immediately stopped him: "General, let's do it."

Murong Ling took a look and said, "That's right. If he comes to cook the meat, he might spoil it."

Everyone quickly set up a big pot, washed and cut the meat, mixed it with wild vegetables and dried vegetables and threw it into the pot to cook. Murong Ling took out another baggage from his arms, opened it, took out some things and threw them in. Very quickly.

The aroma filled the air, and people outside the cave came in from time to time to ask what kind of meat they were cooking, and why they had never smelled this aroma before.

Murong Ling only ordered everyone to take turns to cook meat, eat meat and drink soup, but did not mention anything about what to add. Li Xiaofei asked for a long time but did not find out, but Pharmacist Zhu seemed to have discovered a treasure: "What if we cook it again?"

If the people in Mobei smell the pot-flavored meat, wouldn't it be able to attract them all?"

Li Xiaofei slapped his head: "That's right, we won't change things this time. Let's change people, men and women. Let them herd cattle and transport goods to farther places for us. It's much better than going by ourselves."

Murong Ling was very disdainful: "You two should just hire a bunch of people from Mobei to defend the city."

Pharmacist Zhu smiled naively: "This is a good idea."

The three of them were making trouble in Dushibao, and spring started in a blink of an eye. After the spring started, many herdsmen were bitten by snakes on the grassland. Zhu Yaoshi and Murong Ling could not tell whether they were from the Central Plains or Mobei.

They were all treated. As time went by, more and more people came to the market. In addition to those who came to barter, there were also those who came to treat illnesses. Once there were more people, the news could no longer be concealed. At first, the Xiao family in Mobei

After passing the message back, Xiao Shan and others didn't take it seriously. They thought it was just for the border troops to exchange some rations, so they didn't take it seriously. In April, the memorial from Xiao Ming, the governor of Youzhou, was delivered, and they realized that Li Xiaofei and others were in Dushi.

The fort started doing big business, and even the merchants no longer went to Fanyang, but all went to Dushi Fort. The memorial said that "grain and herbs, salt and iron treasures, and specialties from all over the country were all exported to Mobei from this fort." Li Xiaofei and other names

In order to garrison the city, it is actually collaborating with the enemy. Xiao Ming, the governor of Youzhou, asked the court to deal with Li Xiaofei and others and replace the garrison to defend the country! "

Xiao Shan and others were very angry. Firstly, Li Xiaofei and others did not give gifts to the important ministers, and secondly, they did not involve the various aristocratic families. Even if they were not killed this time, they would have to be replaced. How could such a profitable business make them rich?

So at the court meeting, everyone discussed and discussed. Except for killing Li Xiaofei and others to change the defense, no one mentioned the serious crime of collaborating with the enemy country without authorization. Liu Xuan couldn't help but ask: "According to what you mean, this is open to the enemy country."

Is trade allowed at the border? Now we just have to change a group of people, is that right? "

Yuan Kang was prepared for it, so he cited scriptures and taught foreigners from a country where etiquette was the norm, saying that it would benefit the country and benefit the people, etc. Liu Xuan smiled helplessly: "In this case, order Li Xiaofei and others to hand over the profits to the court, and then transfer them to the imperial court."

Wouldn't it be enough to replace them and let people who are loyal to the court manage the mutual market? If we have to kill them, if they really surrender to the enemy, wouldn't it cause big trouble? "

Xiao Shan and others looked at each other. Since the emperor agreed to let their people run this business, there was no need to offend Chen Hongyi. After all, if Li Xiaofei and others were killed, Chen Hongyi would definitely cause trouble for the new people.

.

Li Xiaofei and others were also unambiguous. Knowing that the matter had been exposed and that they would not be here for long, they distributed some belongings to the sergeants, and sent 20 carts to Chen Hongyi and Liu Jian respectively. The remaining 50 carts were sent to Jinling and Dushi.

Twenty carts were left in the fort's treasury. Li Xiaofei and Murong Ling took twenty carts of property to Luoyang to join Liu Jian. Zhu Yaoshi took ten carts of property back to Fan Yang's hometown. The five thousand garrison also returned to Chen Hongyi's account in Xiangguo after the defense change.

Originally, opening up the mutual market could bring a lot of money, but the three generals sent by Jinling, Xiao Zhi, Superintendent of the Army, Xie Li, and Yuan Ke, deceived the people of Mobei with shoddy goods. In addition, two doctors, Zhu Yaoshi and Murong Ling, left.

Patients from the north no longer came to Dushibao, and the business of this Dushibao plummeted. Seeing that the property sent to Jinling was getting less and less each time, the three of them became worried and couldn't help but come up with a poisonous plan to send people to the grassland to drop the goods.

The poison killed many cattle and sheep, so the Mobei people had no choice but to sell the poisoned cattle and sheep to Dushibao at a low price. This caused much harm, and the Mobei people naturally discovered it.

Mobei not only has the Fire Dragon Tribe of the Black Flag Khanate, but also the mountain people of the Liugui Kingdom, the Romo Tribe, and the Whale People further north. The Fire Dragon Tribe of the Black Flag Khanate was defeated several times by Liang Jun, so they had to

He swallowed his anger, but other people had to take revenge. The mountain people were good at climbing walls. Even though the Monolith Fortress was so complete, the people stationed there were no longer the troops brought by Li Xiaofei, but came from Jinling to make a fortune.

There were slaves from various aristocratic families, so the mountain people killed the general Xiao Zhi and the supervisor Xie Li in a night attack. Yuan Ke, who joined the army, escaped by hiding in a cave.

At dawn, Yuan Ke, who joined the army, came out of the cave under the protection of his left and right officers to check. Fortunately, the fortress was not captured, but Xiao Zhi and Xie Li died. Yuan Ke sent people to send their bodies back to Jinling, and wrote a letter claiming that the black flag was

The memorial of the Khanate's night attack on Monument Castle, which was repulsed by Yuan Ke's army, was also sent back.

After Zhu Yaoshi returned to Fanyang, he first sent six carts of property to the governor Xiao Ming, and then divided one cart among relatives and friends. He took a cart of property and built a manor outside the city to specially accommodate refugees, and led hundreds of refugees to open up wasteland.
Chapter completed!