In the early morning of the next day, Han Zhan took Luo Bu and a hundred tigers and leopards, accompanied by Fu Zhi, to inspect the completed communication platform outside the city.

"My lord," asked Fu Zhi, who was walking side by side with Han Zhan on the way out of the city, "The communication platform in the north will probably be completed in two months. After the completion of the communication platform on the northern route, can the construction of the main board south line be started? ”

"Gonghe," Han Zhan said to him, "Benhou built the northern line of the high platform mainly to prevent foreign invasions, and by the way, to monitor Gongsun Zan and Yuan Benchu. As for the south, it is not a cause for concern. ”

"Lord, don't take it lightly." Seeing Han Zhan's indifferent look, he couldn't help but be a little anxious, and hurriedly reminded him: "Cao Mengde is not a thing in the pool, sooner or later he will become a confidant, it is better to take advantage of the fact that he has just occupied Chen Liu, and his foothold is not stable, and he will definitely win by surprise." ”

"Although some people once said that Cao Mengde was a traitor in troubled times, he was also a capable minister who governed the world, and it would be a good thing if he could be loyal to the court." Han Zhan continued: "Besides, Chen Liu, where Cao Mengde is now, is constantly threatened by Yuan Shu of Yangzhou and Tao Qian of Xuzhou, and he is currently taking care of himself, where is there still an opportunity to expand his strength. After the marquis pacifies the north and controls Jizhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou and Merge Prefecture, it is not too late to wave his army south and pacify the princes. ”

After Han Zhan said this, he paused for a moment, and then continued: "Bingzhou is bold and ambitious, and he is not the master of the defense, and this marquis plans to send a man of argument to Bingzhou to persuade him to submit to the imperial court. I don't know if there is a suitable candidate? ”

Hearing that Han Zhan asked him to recommend a strategist who could lobby Zhang Yang, he thought for a while, and then replied: "If you go back to the lord, you can send Tian Toyoda Yuanhao to go, and you will definitely be able to persuade Zhang Yang successfully." ”

Who knew that after hearing this, Han Zhan waved his hand and said: "Tian Yuanhao is an upright person, I'm afraid he won't be able to persuade Zhang Yang to succeed." If he returns to Shun after the annexation of the state, he is the best candidate for assassination. ”

When he heard Han Zhan say that he planned to appoint Tian Feng as the assassin of the state, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but he still said sourly: "The lord knows that people are good at his job, and after Tian Yuanhao serves as the assassin of the state, he will not let you down." ”

Han Zhan saw the loss on his face, and said to him with a smile: "Gonghe, after Benhou plans to destroy Gongsun Zhan, he will appoint you as the assassin of Youzhou, responsible for helping the Han resist the invasion of foreign clans, I don't know if Gonghe can be confident?" ”

Knowing that Han Zhan planned to appoint himself as the assassin of Youzhou in the future, his eyes widened in surprise. You must know that compared with Youzhou, Bingzhou is simply a poor and remote country, not only the production of land is limited, but the number of people is not large, even conscription is a big problem.

He hurriedly bowed to Han Zhan on horseback: "My subordinates thank you for the lord's kindness, and my subordinates will definitely rub their brains on the ground to cover the kindness of the lord." ”

While speaking, everyone came to a communication platform.

Han Zhan grabbed the reins of his horse and looked up at the communication platform on the hillside, which was made of bricks and stones, like a copy of a beacon tower.

Seeing that Han Zhan was standing still, he hurriedly explained to him: "My lord, this place was originally an abandoned beacon tower, and his subordinates sent people to renovate it, and it became the closest communication platform to the Jingshi. ”

"How many soldiers and horses are stationed in the high platform?"

"Ten soldiers, exactly one man."

Probably seeing a group of people coming up the hillside, two soldiers immediately came out of the high platform and walked down the hillside to greet them. A man dressed as a long man came to Han Zhan and bowed down: "The little one is the lord!" ”

Han Zhan guessed from the other party's title that he had already known that he was coming, otherwise how could he know his identity with his small elder. He turned his head to look at the frustrated professor on the side, the two looked at each other, Han Zhan saw a trace of panic in the other party's eyes, obviously his guess was not wrong.

He turned over and dismounted, and rushed to the chief who was bowing down: "No courtesy!" ”

After standing up straight, he asked amiably, "I wonder how many people are in the high platform?" ”

"Returning to the lord," replied the chief respectfully, "there are now ten people in the high platform, including the small ones. ”

"Take Ben Hou to have a look!"

Shi Chang agreed, and with several of his subordinates as guides, he led Han Zhan towards the high platform on the hillside.

When he was still a dozen steps away from the high platform, Shi Chang shouted inside: "Everyone come out to greet the lord!" ”

With the shouts of the chief, several more people came out of the high platform, and they quickly lined up in a row, waiting for Han Zhan's review.

After Han Zhan approached, he silently counted the number of people, and found that there were only eight people including Lian Shichang, so he couldn't help frowning and asked Shichang: "Didn't you say that there are ten people including you?" Why are there only eight people at the moment? ”

"Lord Qiqi," the frustrated professor on the side saw that Han Zhan was unhappy, and hurriedly explained to him: "They were originally guarding the beacon tower, and in order to prevent sudden accidents, there must be a special person on duty at the top of the high platform. The subordinates felt that the other two might be on duty at the top at the moment. ”

"What the frustrated supervisor said is extremely true," Shi Chang waited for the frustration to finish speaking, and hurriedly echoed: "It is true that there are two people on duty at the top of the high platform, and they did not come to greet the lord, and they ask the lord to forgive him. ”

Han Zhan walked into the high platform and found that there were several ground bunks on the ground on the left, which seemed to be the sleeping place of the soldiers guarding the high platform. On the wall on the right is an armory rack with Changge and a saber on it.

He felt the wind above his head, looked up, and saw a boxy hole, but no ladder. He turned his head to look at the frustration who followed up: "Gonghe, why don't you see the ladder?" ”

"My lord," Seeing that Han Zhan didn't understand the reason for this layout, he hurriedly explained to him: "In order to prevent the enemy from touching the sentry, the beacon tower usually uses a soft ladder, and after the soldiers on duty go up, they will put the soft ladder up, so that even if the enemy army rushes into the beacon tower, there will be time to send a signal. ”

"I see." After Han Zhan figured out what was going on, he turned his head and asked Shi Chang: "Where do you usually cook, and the cooking smoke will not be used as a beacon fire by other beacon towers, right?" ”

"No, my lord." Shi Chang hurriedly explained: "We usually cook in the open space outside the high platform, and the smoke usually hasn't risen yet, and most of it is blown away by the wind. Even if there is smoke rising into the air, the soldiers on the nearby beacon tower can tell the difference between the smoke and the smoke. ”

Han Zhan stayed here for a while, encouraging the soldiers guarding the high platform to say a few words before leaving the high platform with the people.

After descending the hillside, Han Zhan asked curiously, "Gonghe, and the rest of the high platforms, are they all guarded by a soldier?" ”

"Not really." Fu Zhu shook his head and said, "If each high platform is guarded by one soldier, then tens of thousands of soldiers will be needed for thousands of high platforms, and the daily supply alone is a lot of expenses. The high platform where Yishi was stationed was usually rebuilt from a beacon tower, while the ordinary communication platform was guarded by only two soldiers. ”

"I see." Han Zhan nodded and said to Fu Zhu, "Then let's continue to inspect the other high platforms and see if they play a role." ”

"I wonder how many high platforms the lord plans to inspect today?"

Han Zhan still trusted Fu Zhu very much, and believed that the other party would not engage in any tofu scum project, so he replied: "With a limit of fifteen miles, after seeing fifteen high platforms, Ben Hou will return to the city." ”