There are hundreds, thousands of large and small oases distributed in the Jinzhou desert, which are occupied by the large and small forces of the Qianghu, although they are mainly the Qianghu family, but they fight each other, much more frequently than Yanzhou, so the changes and substitutions of the dynasty and the monarchy are far more frequent than Yanzhou. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It is quite rare to have a history of five or six hundred years like the Xiqiang Kingdom.

Even so, the Xiqiang Kingdom lost more than ninety percent of its cities twenty years ago and was almost wiped out, and the borders at this time were basically rebuilt on the ruins after the retreat of the Great Yan soldiers and horses.

In addition to the larger forces such as the Western Qiang State, many medium-sized Qianghu forces in Jinzhou usually proclaimed themselves the lords of the country and the city in the territory they occupied, and divided the titles of officials, but in addition to operating farming, animal husbandry and mining of minerals, sometimes they would also make a cameo appearance as a horse thief, sending troops to plunder merchants and other forces.

It is difficult to say that there is any difference between this type of force and horse thieves, and it is difficult for a large group of horse thieves to survive for a long time just by plundering the Quartet, and they also pay great attention to managing their territory and maintaining basic material supplies, or directly join the stronger vassal powers, and seal one or two oasis cities to recuperate.

In addition to enhancing their own strength, they can also use horse thieves to attack and weaken the strength of the enemy, and there are also many horse thieves who are themselves losers in the struggle for hegemony.

In short, the situation in the Golden State Desert is much more complicated than imagined, and many times it is confusing and unclear.

In terms of the entire eastern part of Jinzhou, the Pinglu Oasis where the Xiqiang Kingdom is located is the first large-scale oasis with a radius of more than 1,000 miles after the Tieliuling in the west of Hexi, and the distance between the two is more than 13,000 li.

Between the Pinglu Oasis and Tieliuling, the glacial meltwater from Wusheling has also given birth to a series of hundreds of small and medium-sized oases, like a long chain of beads, connecting the two regions.

These oases, the small ones are like the Yequ Mountain, only three to five thousand acres, several miles in a radius, and the big ones are also hundreds of miles wide, and they are used as a springboard plot for business travelers to pass through in peacetime and soldiers and horses in wartime, and have a pivotal position in the eastern part of Jinzhou, collectively known as the West Gorge Corridor.

Historically, the Xiqiang Ancient Road, which connects the two states of Jinyan, coincides with the Xixia Corridor.

These old forces in the small and medium-sized green states have long been completely destroyed by the war between Yanzhou and Zhuqiang for many years.

In the war 20 years ago, no one would admit that they had lost, in fact, they had lost both.

The Huben army was defeated, the soldiers and horses of Hexi withdrew to Tieliuling, and the soldiers and horses of the Xiqiang State and the allied forces of the Tibetan and Qiang countries also withdrew to the area west of the Pinglu Oasis.

Neither Hexi nor Xiqiang has the ability to divide troops to control the hundreds of small oases in the Xixia Corridor for a long time, but both sides will not tolerate other forces interfering in it, and will send troops to sort it out almost every once in a while, preferring to let it be barren rather than tolerate other threats by the couch.

Five hundred miles south of Yequ Mountain, that is, under the Rongyang Peak of Wusheling Mountains, there is a Crescent Lake Oasis with a radius of hundreds of miles, which is completely deserted, and at this time it is only a resting place for business travelers.

After all, the strength of Hexi and Xiqiang is still limited, and it is impossible to wipe out the horse thief forces near the Xiqiang old road.

Of course, the real strong enemy that Hexi should guard against is not the Xiqiang State, which occupies the Pinglu Oasis and was destroyed 20 years ago, but the Tibetan Qiang State, which has just unified the Chaihu Oasis in recent years.

The Great Oasis of Chopwood Lake, which has a radius of more than 3,000 li, is less than 2,000 li away from the Pinglu Oasis in the west, and whoever can unify the Oasis of Chopwood Lake is destined to be the overlord of the eastern part of Jinzhou; 3,000 li of fertile soil is enough to store hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and its strength is even much stronger than that of the Dong clan.

The Western Qiang State was willing to form an alliance with the Dong clan at this time, probably because it also deeply felt the threat of annexation by the Tibetan Qiang State.

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Chen Hai's thoughts flew away, and Ning Chan'er looked at the scene in front of her, but asked Hu Bilie with innocence and curiosity on her face:

"With so many slaves scattered outside to work, and no one to take care of them, aren't you afraid that they will escape?"

At this time, on the Oasis and Night Canal Mountain, except for the necessary overseers, the horse thieves did not even release the guard on the periphery.

There is really no need to release the sentry horse.

The oasis is three or four thousand acres in range, and the edge of the meadow is no more than two thousand steps away from Little Rock.

The horse thieves occupy the fortified stone city and are not afraid of surprise attacks by foreign forces at all.

As long as the foreign forces can't storm the stone village in a short time, or even draw water from Yequ Lake to get supplies, they won't be able to gain a foothold in Yequ Mountain.

Although Yequ Mountain is only five or six hundred miles away from the Xiqiang Ancient Road, this is a peerless heavenly path that ordinary people cannot cross even if they die, and the horse thieves are not afraid that these slaves can escape from the range of Yequ Mountain.

"There are slaves who will escape, and you see what happens to the fugitive slaves!" said Hu Bilai with a laugh, pointing to a small forest not far away.

There was the southern edge of the oasis, and there were seventeen or eighteen poplar trees with knotted roots rooted in the depths of the sandy soil, and at this time, three or five tattered dead corpses hung from each tree, absorbing seven or eight vultures to hover in mid-air, waiting for Chen Hai and them to pass through, and then fly down to peck at the corpse meat.

These dead corpses, looking at their clothes and craggy flesh and bones, must have been many fugitive slaves who were captured and executed after escaping.

Even if the fugitive slaves prepared enough water and food and walked on foot in the vast sea of sand, how could they escape the pursuit of the horse thieves? And even if they fled to the Crescent Lake Oasis in the south, which was barren, except for the demon beasts that came out of the Wusheling Mountains to hunt, it was only a one-in-a-hundred chance to encounter a merchant traveling and not hesitate to offend and provoke the horse thieves' forces.

Seeing Chen Hai and the other nine people galloping over, twenty or thirty armored horse thieves galloped out of the stone city.

Hu Bili showed an iron plaque that was as dark as ink and engraved with the image of the eagle's head, and the horse thief did not interrogate anything, only said that the leader Fan Dachun was not in the mountains, but he said that Hu Bili might come over in the next few days, and specially instructed them to be hospitable.

The leader Fan Dachun was not in the mountains at this time, although there were still more than 200 horse thieves stationed in Shicheng, but it was difficult to decide a major matter, so Hu Bili and they had to live in Shicheng for two days, waiting for Fan Dachun and them to come back before they could discuss important matters.

Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er also pretended to be ignorant and lived in the stone city of Yequ Mountain first, and on the second night, Fan Dachun, the leader of the horse thieves, led more than 100 horse thieves to rush back, and set up a banquet in the small stone city to entertain Hu Bihan and his party.

Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er, as distinguished guests, were also invited.

"The Hexi Dong clan wants to form an alliance with the Xiqiang State, and the Xiqiang State Lord forgets the blood feud of the year, and once the Ye clan and the Hexi Dong clan collude, don't say that we will be suppressed by the Ye clan in the Xiqiang country, and the Ye clan will definitely use the power of the Dong clan and will no longer tolerate you living on the periphery of the Xiqiang Ancient Road. At that time, I'm afraid that even Fan City Lord, you won't be able to enjoy yourself in this Yequ Mountain, right?"

At this time, Hu Bilie didn't mind that the confidential matter was heard by Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er, and he straightforwardly explained to Fan Dachun the purpose of his trip at the banquet.

"Captain Hu is afraid that it is not appropriate to say this in front of outsiders, right? You are not afraid that your identity will be leaked out, so that the lord of Xiqiang will know that you are secretly colluding with us horse thieves to sabotage the marriage between the Ye family and Dong Ning?" Fan Dachun heard the name at first glance, and thought it was a bearded man, but in fact he was a middle-aged man with a white face and gloomy eyes, at this time, he responded to Hu Bilie's words with a soft smile, but when he raised his glass to drink, his eyes swirled on Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er, who were of unknown origin.

"This time I was in a hurry, I didn't bring any gifts, and I happened to meet a lost little fat sheep on the road, so I took it to Yequ Mountain to honor the Lord of Fan. Hu Bili laughed at this time and said unabashedly.

"Are they talking about me?" Ning Chan'er pointed to her nose and asked Chen Hai with an innocent expression.

Chen Hai spread his hands and said: "You seem to be a little ordinary at this time, but the desert is so big and sandy, most of the mother-in-law have rough and black skin, even if you snatch a few beautiful women, you will wither after playing with them for a while, and those with fine skin and tender meat like you can be regarded as the best." Didn't you see that Captain Hu had to swallow from time to time when he saw you? If he hadn't sacrificed you to Lord Fan, I'm afraid he would have done it a long time ago. ”

When Chen Hai said this, Ning Chan'er was not only not angry or annoyed, but also smiled shyly, as if she was embarrassed by Chen Hai's praise.

Although Ning Chan'er did not show her true face, this smile also had the attitude of captivating the city and the country, even if Hu Bilie and Fan Dachun knew that Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er's demeanor at this time was too weird, they couldn't stand being confused by Ning Chan'er's smile.

Chen Hai arched his hand towards Hu Bilie and Fan Dachun, and said with a smile: "This servant beside me has a very bad temper and a vicious heart, and has tried to murder me three times and several times, I have already sold it and got out, thank you to the city lord Fan for being willing to take over this time!" "......" Fan Dachun is a martial arts cultivator in the early stage of the Ming Realm after all, and it was only a short time to be confused by Ning Chan'er, at this time, he smashed the jujube wood case in front of him, destroyed the black sheath spirit sword behind him, and was just about to ask Chen Hai, What is the origin of Ning Chan'er, she felt that the true yuan mana in the Linghai Secret Palace was boiling uncontrollably, like water rushing into a pot of boiling oil, and the furious true yuan rushed towards the twelve Xuan veins, and suddenly she couldn't suppress the rioting true yuan, and a mouthful of blood spurted out wildly, shouting: "Reverse spirit scattering!"

Ning Chan'er's slender jade hand pressed to the ground, and thousands of rays of light bloomed, like a spring tide sticking to the ground and the wall surging in all directions, forming a sparkling spring tide spirit cover in an instant, completely enveloping the banquet hall, and shouted at Chen Haijiao: "I can only hold on for thirty breaths, if you can't kill these people, we can only run away." ”

In addition to Chen Hai, Ning Chan'er, Hu Bilie and other nine people in the stone hall, there were thirteen horse thief leaders who attended the banquet, and in addition to these people, there were more than 400 elite horse thieves who were not afraid of death outside the stone hall.

As soon as the slightest movement came out, more than 400 hummer thieves frantically came in, and Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er could only flee as the best policy.