ps: The number of chapters in the previous chapter is wrong, which should be "one hundred and fifty-two". In addition, the chapter name "Yang" is actually "Yang", which is because the starting point cannot be related to traditional Chinese characters in the chapter. ← Note: The ancient text "Yang" and "Yang" are different.

PS: I don’t know what to say--, I just released the update mechanism and I owe 13 chapters that day.

Thanks to the book friends of "Qingxi" for their 100,000 yuan reward, the book friends of "Yipin Bookman's World" for their 10,000 yuan reward, and the book friends of "Uesugi Erie's Husband" for their 20,000 yuan reward.

So, it's 1/13 now.

————The following text——

It takes about three days to get from Mushan to Shangcai.

Originally, Zhao Hongrun planned to take advantage of the new victory of the army and his morale was high, and ordered the entire army to march quickly. Unfortunately, the weather was not good. The next night, the temperature began to drop sharply, and the sky began to fall ice sluggishly in the middle of the night, which is the "Snow Zi" or "Snow Zi" in the slang dialect, a small particle caused by the condensation of cold air.

When Zhao Hongrun sighed helplessly when he discovered this situation, because when the ice sludge descended, there would be a heavy snowfall, which was a disaster for the Wei army that was advancing towards the Chu State.

As expected, when the next day was dawn, heavy snow began to fall from the sky, which caused great obstacles to the advance of Zhao Hongrun's army.

"It's only two days away."

At that time, Zhao Hongrun was sitting on the war horse and looked up at the heavy snow falling in the sky with some annoyance.

Why is he so upset?

That's because he had learned about the general situation of the Chu border from Qu Jun, Yan Mo and other Chu generals. He knew that on the south side of Shangcai on the border between Wei and Chu, there was an ancient city that could be called the northern barrier of Chu, Runan.

According to Qu Jun, Yan Mo and others, the city of Runan was located in the southwest of the Ru River, so it was named Runan. Because the "Shui Jing Zhu" says: The river flows from east to west, bent and flows, and embraces the city on three sides. It looks like a hulu, so it is also called Xuanhu City.

It is undeniable that Xuanhu City in Runan is one of the important gateways to enter the Chu territory, and its strategic significance is equivalent to that of the Fenxing Pass of Wei State. If this city cannot be conquered, then you can only walk around, or go east to the jurisdiction of Xiong Hu, or go west to Xiangshan. However, no matter which way you take, it is inevitable that you will have to add several days to the journey.

Maybe it's not a joke if the road is blocked with heavy snow, even if it's delayed for more than ten days.

The question is, where did Zhao Hongrun get more than ten days?

He must conquer at least one city in the territory of Junxiongtuo, Yangcheng, before he quickly recruited an army, or the food and grass problem alone would be enough to destroy the 80,000 troops under Zhao Hongrun.

On November 12, Zhao Hongrun led an 80,000 army under his command to arrive in Shangcai with difficulty and sent the army to station in the defeated ancient city in Shangcai.

There is an ancient city in Shangcai, and it is judging from the ruins of the site. The scale is quite large, after all, it was once the capital of Cai State in ancient times.

Waiting for Chu, the two countries of Wei gradually became stronger and stronger. Cai gradually perished, so that the former capital of Cai has now become the border between Chu and Wei.

"Can people live in this kind of broken city?"

Seeing Shangcai's ruined ancient city from afar, Zhao Hongrun felt a stir in his heart.

Although he really hoped to find a place to shelter the wind and snow in this snowy weather, the ancient city of Shangcai in front of him was too dilapidated. Zhao Hongrun clearly saw a large area of ​​the northeast corner of the ancient city collapsed, which was simply unprepared.

From the side, surrendered generals, no, now it should be said that it is Yan Mo, the general of Pingyang Army. After hearing Zhao Hongrun's mutter, he quickly explained: "Your Highness Su, a radius of hundreds of miles, Shangcai is the best choice for our army to temporarily station. Perhaps King Su doesn't know, but in fact, before Xiong Hu's defeat, the 30,000 troops under Xiong Tuo were stationed here."

Yan Mo was once a 3,000 general under Xiong Tuo. He was far more familiar with this land than Qu Jun. After all, Qu Jun was once a general of Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu. He knew Pingyu County, but here, Qu Jun was far less familiar with Yan Mo. Therefore, Qu Jun sent Yan Mo to follow Zhao Hongrun as a guide.

Sure enough, Zhao Hongrun was not sure about this incident and looked at Yan Mo in surprise.

Seeing this, Yan Mo briefly explained to Zhao Hongrun: "When Xiong Tuo rushed his army to invade the Great Wei Dynasty, he appointed Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, and the three generals of Zaifu Geng, son Cheyu, and Lian Bi to lead troops to capture Xihua, Linying, and Zhaoling. He himself led the 30,000 troops under his command at that time and stationed here for more than a month... Although Cai City was dilapidated, in fact, many useful materials were left in the city when Xiong Tuo was stationed at that time, which our army could use."

Zhao Hongrun looked at Yan Mo suspiciously, and no matter how reluctant he was, he could only grit his teeth and enter the ancient city. After all, no matter what, this ancient city has four walls, which can block the wind and snow slightly.

"At that time, you were under the command of Xiong Tuo's 30,000 people?"

"Yes." Yan Mo nodded without any concealment.

No wonder Qu Jun sent him as a guide...

Zhao Hongrun suddenly realized in his heart that he entered Shangcai City with the Wei soldiers from Junshui Camp.

When passing by the city gate, Zhao Hongrun glanced at the empty city gate hole and said strangely: "At that time, Xiong Tuo didn't think about repairing the city gate?"

Yan Mo hesitated for a moment and said carefully: "At that time, 30,000 troops under Xiong Tuo were stationed here. I think those bandits did not have the courage to attack."

Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this. He was just a joke, but unexpectedly he got some information.

"Bandit?"

"Your Highness Su doesn't know?" Yan Mo opened his eyes wide and replied in surprise: "Shangcai is a famous illegal land on the border between Chu and Wei."

When Zhao Hongrun turned around and glanced at Bailiba, he saw General Baili shrugging. Obviously, this general of Junshui Camp who had been stationed near Junshui, Daliang, for many years, was not clear about the Chu-Wei border.

It can be seen that Yan Mo is a very eye-catching general. Seeing that Zhao Hongrun and Baili Ba were not aware of the situation here, he took the initiative to explain without waiting for the two of them to ask.

Indeed, although Shangcai is a broken city, in fact, it is not uninhabited here.

Of course, the people of the two countries who follow the rules dare not live in this illegal land. Those who live near the border between Chu and Wei are all robbers and bandits who are not tolerated by Chu and Wei.

In addition, this is the place for merchants who smuggled salt and rice.

I have to say that. When Zhao Hongrun was really surprised when he heard Yan Mo say this, he asked in surprise: "Are you saying that my merchant from Dawei privately transported salt and rice to this place for trading?"

"As far as I know, that's true." Yan Mo nodded.

"How did you trade?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously: "The sword coins of Chu State are not circulated in my Great Wei."

"Pearls, lacquerware, jade, and agate are mostly traded, and things are exchanged for things."

"Oh." Zhao Hongrun nodded suddenly and said in his heart, it seems that there are also black market merchants smuggling across national borders in our Great Wei Dynasty.

The lacquerware in Chu State, just like the porcelain from the Song State, was also a very valuable item in the Great Wei Dynasty. Not to mention valuable items such as pearls, jade, and agate.

Obviously, most of the black market smugglers in Wei bought salt and rice from Wei, then transported it to Chu, and traded it into precious items such as pearls, lacquerware, jade, agate, and other valuables, and then shipped it to Wei for sale, making huge profits.

"Did you sell it to Xiong Tuo?"

Yan Mo shook his head and said, "It's not only Xiong Tuo, but also the city lord under Xiong Tuo."

"City Lord?"

Yan Mo explained after hearing this: "King Su may not know that the big clans of Chu lived in their own small towns, for example... Have you heard of Zicheyu?"

Is it the Chu general who almost capsized the ship in Caihe and later defeated by Sima An, the general of Dangshan Camp?

"I've heard of it." Zhao Hongrun nodded.

"Ziche, in Xiongtuo's fief, it is a large clan of great size. Such large clans will build a small city on their own with Xiongtuo's permission. The people of Chu nearby depend on these large clans to survive. For example, renting grain seeds in spring. King Su should have learned that the farmers of Chu State did not even have enough grain for winter. How can they reserve grain seeds? If they don't rent them from those large clans, what will they take to sow seeds next year?... Therefore, in the territory of Chu State, many poor peasants often gather around the cities of the large clans. Over time, a unique back-shaped city of Chu State was formed. The inner city was home to the large clans, while the outer city was home to those poor peasants... Every year, the large clans collect grains and taxes from the farmers, and then transport them to the city where Xiongtuo is located..."

Yan Mo paused and said seriously: "When you enter the territory of Chu, your Highness Su will know at a glance that there are countless small cities like that in Chu."

"Um." Zhao Hongrun nodded and then joked: "For salt rice to exchange for pearl jade agate, this transaction is a huge profit... In the future, I also sent some people to exchange salt rice to exchange for pearl jade."

Yan Mo sighed when he heard this, shook his head and said, "That's the past. Nowadays, those big clans no longer exchange pearls and jade for salt and rice..."

"What then?"

Yan Mo's face looked a little embarrassed and he whispered: "Woman!...The young women in Chu State are mostly wives and daughters of poor families. Because they were unable to make ends meet, they had to sell them to those big clans at a low price because they could not make ends meet, and then they were sold to..." He glanced at Zhao Hongrun and did not continue.

But even though he didn't say it clearly, Zhao Hongrun obviously understood what he meant, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

After all, this is not a glorious thing.

After a while, Zhao Hongrun coughed, changed the subject and said, "By the way, apart from salt and rice, what else have I transported in the black market merchants of Dawei?"

Black market businessman?

Yan Mo muttered this word in his heart, nodded and said, "Yes, there are iron ore, and..."

When Zhao Hongrun frowned when he heard the word "iron ore". After all, iron ore is different from salt rice. It is a resource reserve and important strategic materials. How can it be traded to a hostile country like Chu?

"what else?"

"And there are weapons!"

Yan Mo replied in a deep voice.

In his opinion, since he has voted for Zhao Hongrun, there is no need to hide anything.

ordnance?!

Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, but failed to close his mouth for a while.

Next to him, Baili Bayi, the general of Junshui Camp, subconsciously turned his gaze to Yan Mo, with a look of shock on his face.

What a joke...

Zhao Hongrun's expression suddenly became dark.

In his opinion, it would be fine if you smuggled salt and rice, but smuggled iron ore and ordnance to enemy countries?

"Is it true?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a cold voice, squinting his eyes.

Yan Mo said seriously after hearing this: "The General of the Immortals dare not speak nonsense... If King Su doesn't believe it, and wait until Xiong Tuo's capital captures, the General of the Immortals will personally lead His Highness to see the warehouse. I believe there are still many weapons flowing out of the Great Wei in the warehouse."

Zhao Hongrun looked at Yan Mo deeply and believed it in his heart. After all, there was no need for Yan Mo to destroy Zhao Hongrun’s trust in him.

In other words, his words should be true.

What a courage!

Zhao Hongrun cursed in his heart.
Chapter completed!