After leaving Wuguan, you can go south along the Chi Road, and you can enter the territory of Nanyang County in one day.

Danshui County, one of the 36 counties of Nanyang County, is named because it is located at the confluence of Danshui and Heqi River, the scale of this county is not large, the city wall is also dilapidated, and the population is not much, but because of the gallop road connecting Nanyang into the pass, it is very lively.

There are many markets here, and there are also many business travelers.

And because of the recent chaotic battle in Guanzhong, many caravans did not dare to enter Guanzhong, or even dare to approach Wuguan, so they could only stay here, making this small city more lively.

"I don't know when Wuguan will be able to get through?"

"God knows!"

"Now Guanzhong is still fighting, I heard that Wuguan has been occupied by heavy troops, and the caravan does not dare to take this road!"

"Don't say it, Wuguan was still fighting a few days ago!"

"It's a pity that my car of cloth, if you enter Guanzhong, you can at least make a profit, and now, you may even lose money on the road!"

"Brother Lin, didn't you sell all the cloth before to Jingping Trading House?"

"Don't you know, Jingping Commercial Bank has already been infighting, and now that the commercial bank is separated, how can we have time to deal with our small merchants!"

"Hey, if Lord Xiangguo is still here, how can Jingping Commercial Bank end up like this!"

“……”

Merchants could not enter Guanzhong, so they could only stay in some tea shops and taverns, gathering three or five people every day to drink small wine, taste tea, and wait for Wuguan to clear customs.

The first year of the first peace, August 17.

Midday.

A queue of soldiers and horses appeared in the northwest suburbs of Danshui County.

Most of the flags are the main flag of the pastoral character, and then there are military flags such as Jingping, Yellow Turban, Baibo, and Violent Bear.

This is the main force of the pastoral army.

On the three-day march, the whole army of the herdsmen broke away from Wuguan, left the land of Guanzhong, and entered Danshui County in Nanyang County.

"We've finally made it out!"

Countless soldiers of the pastoral army sighed.

Coming out of Luoyang, with twists and turns, they experienced one battle after another, and the number of 100,000 soldiers in the four armies at the beginning is now less than two-thirds, and the number of casualties makes everyone's mood heavy.

But even so, many of their soldiers still have a feeling of being reborn after a catastrophe, and that is their joy in survival.

"Nanyang, I'm back!"

Mu Jing's idea is different.

Stepping on the land of Nanyang again, his mood is very complicated, there is the joy of rushing to the sky, there is also confusion about the future, and more of the sense of steadiness of returning to his hometown, as if he should take root in Nanyang.

Although Nanyang may not be able to stay for a long time, after all, he can't stop Yuan Shu's momentum now.

But planting the flag here, he can do it.

"How come we have so many soldiers and horses in Danshui?"

"Where did this come from?"

Countless soldiers poured into Danshui County, which caused onlookers from the people of Danshui.

"Shepherd Battle Banner?"

"The county commander personally greeted him, who is it!"

"Could it be Lady Xiangguo?"

"Didn't you say that Lord Mu had already died in battle?"

"Lord Mu is classified as today's Xiangguo, how heroic, from our Nanyang all the way to the north, with great achievements, how can he die in battle!"

"The imperial court has already announced that Mu Xiangguo is dead, this should be the young master of the Mu family!"

"The young master of the Mu clan is young and promising, and now that Mu Xiangguo is dead, only someone else has such a momentum!"

There are not many people in Danshui, but they are not worried about entering the soldiers and horses, after all, they are opening the city gate to welcome in, not the enemy army, and the Muzi battle flag makes them have a natural sense of trust, after all, Mushan starts in Nanyang and has great prestige in Nanyang.

……

County office.

Mu Jing strode in, marching for several days, dusty, but for him as a warrior, he was not too tired, he untied the cloak on his body, went straight to the top of the head, and knelt down.

The civil and military generals who followed him in stood in line.

"Subordinate Tan Su, meet the lord!"

A fifty-year-old scribe came out, bowed his hand, and bowed respectfully.

"Lord, this is the Danshui County Order, Tan Su, Tan Mingyi, the Danshui County Order personally assigned by the first master!" Liu Jin said softly.

"Tan County's order, please, don't be polite!"

Mu Jing raised his head, looked at this scribe, looked at his face, but a pragmatic person, this should be his father's inheritance to him, he gently supported him, and said with a smile.

"Lord, this is our Danshui's household registration register, as well as the tax ledger, the princess of the current lord, you should see it in person!" After Tan Su exchanged a few words of greeting, he sent a few files.

"It's a little thing!"

Mu Jing glanced at these files and shook his head: "Since you are the commander of Danshui County, this matter should be managed by you, my father trusts you, I also trust you, you can manage Danshui well, I came south this time, although it is to flee, but it is not a county land, how Danshui operated before, how it will operate in the future, there is no need to change the order!" ”

"Yes!"

Tan Su breathed a sigh of relief.

He is a capable official, depressed for more than ten years, after Mushan lived in Nanyang, he recommended himself, but got Mushan which, appointed as a county order, these years he has exhausted his mind in Danshui County, although it will not make Danshui develop rapidly, but it has gradually changed the life of many people in Danshui.

He doesn't mind surrendering to Mu Jing, after all, Mu Jing is the only son of Mu Shan, Mu Shan and he have the grace of acquaintance, in today's troubled times, the court is not the master, the local self-reliance, the idea of loyalty to the court is getting weaker and weaker, but to find the master, give full play to his talents, only to be superior.

And Mu Jing is quite famous, he became famous as a young man, he was invincible on the battlefield, and he was able to kill his generals from Guanzhong after Mu Shan died in battle, which made him more confident in Mu Jing.

So surrender to Mu Jing, he has no opinion.

But he was afraid that Mu Jing was young and not familiar with government affairs, and after taking over, he would cultivate cronies and get rid of veterans.

It's not enough, now Mu Jing's attitude makes him feel a lot more relaxed, no matter whether Mu Jing understands government affairs or not, at least he is not a person who doesn't know how to pretend to understand.

"Zhongsun!"

Mu Jing's eyes hunted, staring at Liu Jin, now he is the master, calling Liu Jin, naturally based on words, he said in a deep voice: "How many counties in Nanyang are still under your rule today?" ”

Now that you are back in Nanyang, you must first understand the situation in Nanyang.

What he is most concerned about is how much territory there is in Nanyang.

"The subordinates are incompetent!"

When Liu Jin heard this, he smiled slightly bitterly, and he replied: "At the beginning, the Runan Army entered from Runan, and the Jiangdong Army went north, my troops were insufficient, and I couldn't keep Nanyang County at all, and I failed to live up to the trust of the ancestors, and the ancestors entrusted the Nanyang Army to my hands, but I lost Nanyang, and now there is only the west of Nanyang, the more barren champions, Nanxiang, Shunyang, Wudang, Danshui, Xixian, and the six counties are under my command, and the rest of the land is ruled by Yuan Shu!" ”

When Mu Jing heard this, he sighed softly and said: "I don't blame you, blame me, blame my father, blame us for being too greedy, if we had given up entering the capital and not stirred up this mess, maybe we could have taken root in Nanyang, but we would have been too greedy after all!" ”

He thought about it a million times, if he hadn't made his father decide to enter the capital, would everything have been different.

But if after all, it is if.

They just entered the capital, and now they are defeated, and they are completely defeated.

Sadness is only for a while, Mu Jing soon returned to the topic, he waved his hand, Hu Zhao walked up, spread out a map, this is the map of Nanyang, detailing the landmarks, roads, cultivated fields, peaks, rivers of each county in Nanyang County...... Wait a minute.

Mu Jing pondered for a long time on this map before he spoke: "The land of the six counties, although there are not many, but in the terrain of Nanyang, it is a good place, occupying the western part of Nanyang, the land is sparsely populated, there are available resources, but it is a place to raise troops in Tuntian!" ”

"Tuntian raising soldiers?"

When the generals heard this, they looked at each other.

"Out of Guanzhong, the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong will not go south to pursue, they have not yet had the courage to get out of Guanzhong, as for Yuan Shu, he will kill us all, but their energy is now focused on Yuzhou, and they will not fight me for these six counties!"

Mu Jing said: "We have a period of time to recuperate, and this time is the time for us to recuperate!" ”

"But my lord, although Nanyang is rich, these six county towns have always been barren, and they can't afford to raise so many soldiers and horses?" Xi Zhicai said.

Although the shepherd's vitality is greatly damaged, there are still tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the four armies, and it is a very difficult thing to feed these soldiers with these six counties.

"That's why we want Tuntian!"

Mu Jing said: "As far as I know, the western part of Nanyang has steep terrain and mostly hilly slopes, as long as the wasteland is cleared, it will not be a problem!" ”

"I'm afraid that it will take a lot of effort to cause the combat effectiveness of our soldiers to decline, and we will have to fight against Yuan Shu's army sooner or later, once the fight starts, even if our combat effectiveness only lands a little, it will be very troublesome!"

Xi Zhicai said with a wry smile.

"Survive, there will always be a solution!"

Mu Jing opened his mouth, and his words were not shocking: "Big deal, I'll disarm!" ”

"Disarmament?"

"Do you want to cut the current establishment?"

"How can it be?"

The generals were taken aback, and looked at Mu Jing in surprise.

Mu Jing smiled indifferently and did not analyze.

Disarmament is impossible, after all, the target given to him is Guanzhong, once he enters Guanzhong, this point of strength is necessary, he just took a preventive shot in advance, released some news, and let some people relax their vigilance against him.

……

August 19.

Morning.

After resting in Danshui County for two days, Mu Jing continued to lead the army south, he marched along the official road to the southeast, marched for more than three days, and entered the county seat of Nanxiang.

Nanxiang County is the main city in the west of Nanyang.

After entering Nanxiang County, Mu Jing's escape this time can be regarded as a real end, and it can be regarded as giving him time to calm down and start arranging for the future.

"What is the situation in Wuguan now?"

On the second day after entering Nanxiang County, Mu Jing couldn't wait to ask about the situation in the north.

"My lord, Huangfu Song has arranged his main force in Wuguan!" Xi Zhicai arched his hand and said: "The spies left by Jing Wusi in Wuguan have checked their troop layout very clearly, and the Guanzhong army has left 30,000 main forces, which is estimated to be guarding against us!" ”

"More than just back to us?" Mu Jing shook his head: "I'm afraid what they're more worried about is Yuan Shu!" ”

Yuan Shu is a prince whose strength is growing, and now he has Yuzhou and Nanyang, the first county in heaven and earth, and it is not an exaggeration to say that there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers with armor, as long as he is given time, let him completely laugh at Yuzhou, and he will be the first prince in the world.

Mu Jing thought for a while and said, "What about Ma Teng?" ”

"Ma Teng has led the Longxi army back to Chang'an!"

"Went to Chang'an?" Mu Jing sneered: "He is unwilling to fall behind, his alliance with Yang Biao is equivalent to an alliance with the Guan Sergeant Clan, this is what he means to fight against Dong Zhuo!" ”

"The lord thinks he will oppose Dong Zhuo?"

"Yes, for sure!"

Mu Jing squinted, his eyes lit up hunting: "But it's hard to say when, at this stage, Dong Zhuo can still control Guanzhong, but I don't know if he has the ability to sit firmly in Guanzhong, if he can completely suppress the Xiaguan sergeant clan, and then collect the troops of the princes of Xiliang for his own use, then he will have the ability to jump out of Guanzhong and conquer the world!" ”

"Dong Zhuo took retreat as the time he won for him, and now the princes from all walks of life are ambitious, and they all lead their troops to return to their respective territories to fight for power and profit, but let him get the time to rectify Guanzhong!"

Xi Zhicai said: "But whether he can suppress the Guan Sergeant Clan is still a second word, the Guan Sergeant Clan now has Ma Teng and Huangfu Song two sharp blades, and they may not be afraid of him!" ”

"Huh!"

When Mu Jing heard this, he smiled sarcastically and said, "You are wrong, it's hard to say whether Huangfu Song will be in the same breath as the Guan Sergeant Clan, but Ma Teng, he will definitely take refuge in Dong Zhuo!" ”

"Why?" Xi Zhicai was a little confused, Mu Jing's words were inconsistent, he himself said that Ma Teng would be opposed, and now he said that Ma Teng would return to Dong Zhuo, which made him confused.

"Ma Teng is a Xiliang man, if he is smart enough, he understands that it is impossible for the Guan Sergeant clan to accept him, judging the situation, Dong Zhuo is his only choice, to join Dong Zhuo's command, not only for the general, but also for the ambition to replace him!"

"I understand when you say that!"

Xi Zhicai's eyes flashed with a glint of essence: "So Guanzhong may not be too peaceful!" ”

"It's not peaceful anywhere!"

Mu Jing shrugged: "But this is just our opportunity, we can't use this time to recuperate, we will never have a day!" ”

"But the lord is the ...... of the six counties of Nanyang"

"Have you ever heard of the Ming Xiu Plank Road Darkness Chen Cang!" Mu Jing interrupted him and asked.

"The lord means that entering Nanyang is a plank road, just to let the people of the world relax their vigilance, right?"

Xi Zhicai himself is a very smart person, and he immediately guessed Mu Jing's intentions: "And the purpose of the lord is to enter Hanzhong!" ”

"Zhicai is willing to take a trip to Yizhou for me!"

A meaningful smile rose at the corner of Mu Jing's mouth and spoke.

"Yizhou?"

Xi Zhicai asked: "But go see Liu Yan!" ”

"I have made a lot of preparations, Tan Zong will explore the way first, but I need someone to talk to Liu Yan head-on, in addition, I will give you a bargaining chip, whether you can convince Liu Yan and let Liu Yan allow us to enter Hanzhong, it depends on your ability!"

"What chips?"

"Zhao Xin!"

"In!" The eunuch Zhao Xin, wearing a robe, dragged his back, walked out from behind, put the brocade box together with both hands, and handed it over.

"What is this?" Xi Zhicai frowned.

"Open it and take a look!" Mujing Road.

Xi Zhicai opened the brocade box, and when he saw it, his heart suddenly beat faster, his eyes were round, and his eyes burst out with an incredible light, and he muttered to himself in a little distraction, and spit out four words: "Inherit the jade seal of the country!" ”

"That's right!"

Mu Jing said: "The fire in Changqiu Palace burned my father and Empress Dowager He to death, and there is one other person, that is, Liu Bian, the Son of Heaven, after Liu Bian's death, Liu Xie ascended the throne, but he issued a holy decree, and there was no seal of the jade seal of the country, this jade seal has already been taken out of the palace by Zhao Xin taking advantage of the chaos!" ”

"Do you want to exchange the heirloom jade seal for Hanzhong with Liu Yan?" Xi Zhicai took a deep breath, calmed down, and said.

"That's one of the reasons!"

"Is there another reason?"

"I want him to be emperor!" Mu Jing's eyes were distant and deep, his essence flickered, and he was as cold as a knife: "The jade seal of the country will give him courage!" ”

"Emperor?"

Xi Zhicai kept repeating these two words, and looked at Mu Jing's eyes flickering more and more.

What a big game.

"Liu Yan's temperament, I can't grasp it, this time I enter Yizhou, and I hope that it will only be fifty or sixty percent!"

Mu Jing looked at Xi Zhicai: "But there are not many people I can use, and this matter can't be widely publicized, even if I am my own person, there are only you and me and Hu Zhao if I know, I need Hu Zhao to stabilize the six counties of Nanyang for me, only you will go out in person!" ”

"Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely convince Liu Yan!"

Xi Zhicai felt a heavy pressure, but this gave him a sense of mission.

"It's one thing to be able to convince or not, once you feel wrong, leave immediately, Jing Wusi went to explore the way first, in the past, when Jingping Commercial Bank was doing business, it also left some foundations, as long as you react quickly, before they start, you will definitely be able to leave Guanzhong!"

Mu Jing instructed: "Remember, I don't care if things work out or not, it's a big deal that I will enter Hanzhong, but I don't want you to fold in the land of Bashu!" ”

"Hahaha!"

Xi Zhicai laughed, and he said confidently: "I have broken out of Bears Ears Mountain, and I can't stay in the land of Bashu!" ”

That night, Xi Zhicai mixed in a caravan and left Nanxiang County......

……

August 25th.

In the western suburbs of Nanxiang, on the top of Nanshan, a memorial is underway.

"Soldiers, we have come out, go all the way!"

Mu Jing personally wore linen and filial piety, mourning the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in battle.

"Go all the way!"

"Go all the way!"

The four soldiers and horses of the Mu clan lined up among them, one by one wearing linen and filial piety.

This big battle greatly damaged the vitality of the Mu family.

Especially the Tyranny Bears.

The seven battalions of the violent bear, the violent bear battalion, the bow and crossbow battalion, the Pingshan battalion, and the three battalions were all wiped out, plus they died during the breakout, and now they are not counting Liu Jin's Yangshan battalion, but there are only 6,000 soldiers left.

And the Jingping Army, the Yellow Turban Army, also suffered heavy casualties when they ambushed the Xiliang Flying Bear Army.

When the Baibo Army was surrounded and suppressed by the Guanzhong Army, the number of casualties was also an astronomical number.

Of the 100,000 troops, there are only 68,000 soldiers left.

In the war, at least more than 30,000 soldiers were killed, and it was the sacrifice of these soldiers that allowed them to rush to life.

So today, in order to cheer up the morale of the army, in order to make his soul better, he established a cemetery here, maybe there are no bones, but the names of the sacrificed soldiers are carved on these stone tablets.

……

In September, the impact of the burning of Ruoyang began to expand, and the world was in turmoil, and the news that Mu Jing led the remnants of the Mu clan to kill out of Guanzhong also continued to spread into the ears of the princes.