Shanzhou was known as Xiping County in ancient times, and it is very close to Qinghai. As for the Heyuan Army, as the name suggests, it is the army stationed at the source of the Great River.

Shancheng is the state city of Shanzhou, and the garrison of the Heyuan army is located in Huangyuan, which is further west, and the distance between them is more than sixty or seventy miles. Since the road passes through mainly the Huangshui Valley, the terrain is flat and open, and the road is not rugged to walk.

Li Tong was embraced by Heiya Changzhi and others, and rode west along the Huangshui River. Although this area does not belong to the real plateau range, the low pressure still brings a distinct feeling of wheezing, and the energy consumption of people and horses will be doubled when moving in such an environment.

However, Li Tong only rode a horse and marched, and there was no heavy armor to burden, and the slight discomfort was not enough to affect his movements, and he gradually got used to it, and his breathing rate was normal.

On the way, Li Tong saw that the water in Huangshui was quite turbulent, and there was already a faint momentum of spring flood. Around the Huangshui River Valley, there are large tracts of land that have been cultivated, and there is no shortage of soldiers working hard in the fields at this time.

Aside from the obvious difference in climate from the inland, the area around the source of the river he saw at the moment, whether it was the hydrological environment or cultivated land resources, was not inferior to the mainland, and even faintly surpassed some areas in Guanzhong, which was very different from the stereotype of Longyou.

"Several water sources come out of Qinghai, and there are many snow-capped mountains in the realm, which warm up in spring and summer, the snow melts, and the canals are filled, so it is natural to be able to guard the power of the camp."

Hei Zhi Changzhi said along the field of vision of His Royal Highness King Yong, the war is not limited to swords, soldiers, bows and horses, so this time King Yong's patrol is not limited to the various Feng Forts, he also told a little about the various operations of the Heyuan Army along the way: "In the past, this realm was reclaimed for many years, with more than 5,000 hectares of camp land and an annual income of 5 million......

Speaking of past achievements, Hei Tooth Changzhi is also proud.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Heyuan army was built by him, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the defenders of this place were brought back to Shanzhou from the Tuguhun realm by attacking against the trend at night and sacrificing his life in the battle of Chengfengling.

At that time, the actual support that the imperial court could give was really limited, and the Heyuan garrison was even so hungry that it had to resist the continuous attacks of the Tibetans while fishing, fishing, and hunting.

After gaining a foothold, the second year Tubo launched a fierce attack on Heyuan, when Heiya Changzhi was outnumbered in Liangfeichuan, defeated the Tibetan army, and won a rich harvest, so as to stabilize the situation in Heyuan.

The batch of military funds obtained became the foundation of the Heyuan Army's operation, based on which the black tooth Changzhi was deeply operated in Heyuan, and cultivated and killed, and combined with the terrain to build more than 70 Feng Forts, to form a complete prevention and control system.

Since then, the horses have not dared to advance eastward for several years. Until the year of the vertical arch, the imperial court requisitioned the black tooth Changzhi to return to the court to quell the rebellion of Xu Jingye, and there was no large-scale war between the two countries.

Although the Qinling is known as the god of the Tubo army, he still does not dare to touch the idea of snooping lightly in the face of the black tooth Changzhi. It can be said that if there were no Heiya Changzhi and the Heyuan Army, then after experiencing two defeats in Dafeichuan and Chengfengling, and more than 200,000 Tang troops hated the south of Qinghai, then in the confrontation with Tubo, the Tang Dynasty really lost face.

Along the way, Hei Zhi Chang Zhi told the story briefly, but Li Tong listened attentively, and did not feel that Hei Zhi Changzhi was deliberately showing off. Of course, even if it is a showmanship, he has such capital.

At the same time, Li Tong couldn't help but sigh in his heart, his grandfather Li Zhi, the emperor, did the first half of his life to be really the state that all emperors dreamed of, inherited the legacy of Zhenguan, controlled the ministers internally, and attacked and destroyed the powerful country externally, which can be said to be extremely arbitrary.

But all this lasted until the Battle of Dafeichuan came to an abrupt end, and the power of Tubo grew and became difficult to contain, and various ills after the country's reckless military and extreme expansion also broke out one after another.

Including Li Zhi himself, he was also suffering from illness, his wife's tail was too big to fall, and the prince repeatedly overturned. So that Li Zhi no longer has the kind of fierce recklessness before, Dafeichuan recuperated for nearly ten years after the first war, and finally arrived in the Yifeng period, coinciding with the death of Tubo Zampu, only to send troops to attack Tuyuhun again, as a result, the entrusted non-people, with Li Jingxuan's scholars to point troops, suffered a defeat of Chengfengling that was even more tragic than Dafeichuan.

After two successive defeats, both Li Zhi and the Tang Empire were in decline, so that soon after, the Turks revived and rebelled against Monan. The first half of the business is full of vigor and unlimited scenery, and the second half of the body is sick and weak, with internal and external troubles. If there is no continuation, the life journeys of Li Zhi and Emperor Yang of Sui are quite similar.

"Jiuqu, Huangyuan and other realms are rich in water and grass, not inferior to Guanzhong, the only regrettable is that the cultivation is not enough. If the grain cannot be stored before July, you can only be hungry and cold. The previous difficulties of the humble post are due to the fact that the accumulation of the source of the river is not very much, and if the agricultural work is missed this spring, the future will be even more difficult......"

There is no snow in August, and the harvest period is too short, which is a major factor restricting the development of agriculture.

Although after the departure of Heiya Changzhi, the successor Lou Shide made additional gains on the basis of the original reclamation, so that the scale of reclamation in the heyday of the Heyuan Army reached more than 7,000 hectares, and the cultivated land was across Huangyuan and Taoshui, which greatly benefited the people's livelihood and military.

However, no matter how rich the accumulation was, it could not withstand the consumption of several major wars, and the operation of the imperial court in the Western Regions greatly depleted the savings of the Heyuan army.

After Lou Shide returned to the dynasty, the Heyuan army was out of control, and the Tubo Qinling had resolved the civil strife in which his brother was killed, and returned to Qinghai again, intensifying the invasion of Heyuan. By the time Heiya Changzhi returned to Heyuan again, the original scale of reclamation had been reduced by more than half, and if it lost cultivation again this year, it would be in danger of not being able to continue.

Therefore, before, no matter which envoy came to contact Heizhi Changzhi, he had to ask about the strategy against Tubo, that is, he did not want to see the Heyuan army he had built up single-handedly abandoned. In the end, only King Yong expressed his strong support for the Heyuan army, and personally led the army and escorted supplies to Longlong.

The group stopped and stopped, and arrived at Huangyuan City, where the Heyuan Army was stationed, in the morning. Different from the hustle and bustle of Shancheng, the atmosphere in Huangyuan is much more solemn, with people in and out of the country with swords and armor, and sentry checks along the way.

"Although Huangyuan is the garrison of the Heyuan Army, there is not much time for the army to gather here. From this west, thirty miles away is Chiling, and the east and west of Chiling are where the two countries are entangled and killed, and there is almost no war every day. ”

Following the direction pointed by Hei Zhi Changzhi, Li Tong looked extremely and saw that the horizon was gradually rising, and it was no longer a flat river. Today's clouds are thin, and the view is not very good, but you can still see the peaks of the mountains and the clouds floating in the sky.

When the group entered the city, there was a commotion in front of the camp outside the city, and several armor soldiers with messy armor and bloodstained armor were surrounding the quartermaster in the camp and shouted and scolded: "Lao Tzu Magangling Fengbao has killed nearly 100 thieves for more than a month, and today it is the thief, more than a dozen people are seriously injured and need to be treated, you thieves dare to say that there is no medicine?" ”

Seeing this, Li Tong was about to turn around and walk over, but was stopped by Hei Zhi Changzhi: "This realm is not perfect, Your Highness should not show up easily." ”

"It's already so hard to save in business?"

Looking at the tears in the eyes of several warriors who had just returned from the front line, Li Tong couldn't bear it, took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.

"The storage can still be used for the month, but it is necessary to seal the warehouse and prepare for war, I don't know how fierce the battle will be in the future, and I will be prepared."

Seeing that King Yong was still about to open his mouth, the black tooth Changzhi continued: "Your Highness is benevolent and compassionate, but the military resources in the customs are not worth Huangyuan for a day, and the warehouse cannot be opened lightly for a day!" ”

The tragedy of the offensive and defensive battles on the Heyuan front far exceeded Li Tong's previous understanding, and he was far from being hard-hearted and could be fierce to the enemy, but he couldn't bear to see his soldiers dying and difficult to save. However, he will not easily question the decision of the black tooth Changzhi, he just hides his face and leaves, but the sense of responsibility in his heart has become heavier and heavier.

"If Tugu is not lost, the situation in Longyou will not be so dangerous!"

Li Tong also understands this emotion of Hei Zhi Changzhi, but after all, it is still based on the summary of paper talk, and he does not have too deep feelings. When the group rested in the Huangyuan camp and then arrived at Chiling Feng Fort, Li Tong really felt how heavy the meaning of this sentence was.

Chiling is the geographical dividing line between Tuguhun and Longyou of the Tang Dynasty, the peaks and peaks stretch for hundreds of miles, the east is Shanzhou of Longyou, and the west side is the Haidong region of Qinghai.

When winding through the Chiling Mountain Road, passing a hillside along the lower edge of a Fengbao, Li Tong also saw that there were still human bones scattered at will under the rubble of the rugged mountain road, but he did not know whether it was the Tubo people or the Tang soldiers who died here.

Traces of this kind abound in the Chiling Mountain Road, and there are countless of them. At first, Li Tong was quite emotional, but gradually, he was a little numb to this, and he just walked hard while listening to the black tooth Changzhi's narration.

"When the commentators of the country talk about the defeat of Dafeichuan and Chengfengling, they all sigh. But I don't know that if Chiling is a thief, it will be rare to ask for this defeat again......"

The Black Tooth often walked while talking about this arming. The Heyuan army is located in Huangyuan, but the real focus of defense is the mountain range of Chiling, only in this way can the Tubo army be resisted in the Tugu Hun realm on the west side, once the blockade of Chiling is broken, the Tubo army can attack the cities of Longyou without hindrance, and plunder the countryside.

Originally, Tugu Hun was located between the two countries and served as an important strategic buffer zone.

However, with the Tubo taking Tuyuhun, the balance of the battlefield tilted towards Tuyuhun, and the two major wars between the two sides in previous years, whether it was Dafeichuan or Chengfengling, all occurred in the Tuyuhun realm, in other words, even if it paid such a big price, the Tang army still did not attack Tubo itself!

However, the evil consequences of allowing Tubo to invade Tuyuhun do not stop there, if the situation still develops according to the original history, the future Datang will pay a more heavy price for this strategic mistake, and the time will be counted in a hundred years!

After climbing a peak, Li Tong looked around the four fields, thoughtful, and then asked, "Is there a Fengbao in this realm called Stone Castle City?" ”