As soon as Li Luo and the three of them entered the tent, several people in the tent got up to salute, Shen Xiangdong returned the salute, greeted everyone, and found a place to sit down casually.

The tent was quite small, and everyone sat down, looking a little tight.

The middle-aged man surnamed Cheng said slightly apologetically: "I still bothered Wu Lao to come over so late, and the Ji Yuan Committee really didn't want to go." ”

Shen Xiangdong smiled slightly: "Cheng is polite, we are all friends all over the world, and we are also fated, so if you have a place to get an old man, just ask." ”

"Haha, Wu Lao is quick to talk, and he is really a man of temperament."

Cheng Jiyuan praised Shen Xiangdong, but when he saw Shen Xiangdong, he just smiled, but he didn't see joy.

Hurriedly gathered his heart and said: "Several Wu Lao in the account have already met, so Ji Yuan doesn't have to bother more, this time I invited Wu Lao to come over mainly to discuss the itinerary after tomorrow." ”

After finishing speaking, he straightened his body and said solemnly: "You all know that we will arrive at the three forks in one day at most, this place is the junction of Xirong, Baihuo and Huimeng, the land is barren, there are no garrisons in all countries, it can really be called a borderless land, there are more rogue horse thieves than cattle hair, I am afraid this road is not the most peaceful"

Before he finished speaking, he heard a person in the account say with a little impatience: "It's not the first day we run the rivers and lakes, who doesn't know this place, if it's too peaceful, whoever still walks the Yingchou Gorge will run to the Chen River Valley." ”

The speaker is also one of several larger merchants, named Zhao Tianci, who is extremely arrogant, Li Luo and others want to join the caravan when they have a lot of complaints, many obstructions, but also because Cheng Jiyuan is the leader of the caravan to hide anger and old grudges, often fight against each other.

Sure enough, Cheng Jiyuan's face sank, a haze flashed in his eyes, he glanced at Zhao Tianci, and said in a stiff tone: "I don't know what Brother Zhao proposes?" ”

Zhao Tianci snorted and said: "Brother Cheng is the leader of the caravan, you can go how you say Zhao Mou, how dare you have any objections?" ”

Cheng Jiyuan's face turned red and white, and he was extremely annoyed.

However, this merchant surnamed Zhao is the strongest in this caravan, but his popularity is not good, and he often bullies the small, and the other two immediately promoted the Cheng family merchant with the second strongest strength as the leader of the caravan.

Zhao Tianci was narrow-minded and dissatisfied with everyone's election of Cheng Jiyuan, so he made things difficult from time to time.

Patience with the strength of the Zhao family, everyone did not want to offend, and no one in the tent spoke for a while, which was extremely dull.

Shen Xiangdong broke the boredom and said with a smile: "The old man rarely comes to the Western Regions, but he doesn't know the origin of these three forks. Cheng Dangjia and Zhao Dangjia must have gone through a few trips, can you tell me which way to take tomorrow? ”

Cheng Jiyuan saw Shen Xiangdong relieving the siege, and thanked him.

Although Zhao Tianci said that there was no one in his eyes, Li Luo and a few people really talked well, and they seemed to be walking leisurely along the way, without seeing the slightest melancholy, sharp and introverted, and had the momentum of a wealthy family.

Although Zhao Tianci was arrogant, he was also quite jealous, and when he saw Shen Xiangdong say this, he snorted coldly and stopped interjecting.

Cheng Jiyuan wanted to enter the Chen River Valley from this road near the Xirong side, which was separated from Xirong by a broken mountain called Haz.

Haz Mountain is the barrier between Xirong and Sanchakou, the terrain is treacherous, drought and little rain, but there are many poisonous insects, almost dead, only in the area of the Chen River Valley, the terrain will become flat.

In the past, business travelers often chose this road to enter Xirong to avoid the horse thieves entrenched at the fork in the road.

After Cheng Jiyuan finished speaking, the other two merchants agreed to this proposal, Shen Xiangdong was noncommittal, and his head should be lowered, Zhao Tianci saw everyone looking at him, and snorted coldly in agreement.

Then Cheng Jiyuan told some more places that should be paid more attention on the road, Shen Xiangdong pointed out a few words, all of which were the life and death of this westward expansion, Cheng Jiyuan and the other two Shang clans did not admire the five-body throwing to the ground, even if Zhao Tianci's eyes were above the top, he also listened attentively.

After discussing for nearly an hour, Hu Chajing hid behind and dozed off, Cheng Jiyuan intentionally or unintentionally hinted that if Shen Xiangdong really encountered a horse thief, he would lean over to a few big merchant clans and resist the enemy together, don't worry about others, Shen Xiangdong smiled and did not answer.

After discussing the next day's itinerary, several people breathed a sigh, and one of them, a merchant surnamed Han, sighed: "We are very weak, we have been doing business in the Western Regions all these years, and we are afraid that we will throw our lives on the road, and the corpse will not know which ditch it will be buried in." ”

Cheng Jiyuan also sighed and said: "The world is chaotic, we businessmen can ask for peace and worship the gods and Buddhas, who will care about our life and death." ”

Another person continued: "Brother Cheng, Hu heard someone say that our Dagan has recently defeated Xirong in Dizhou and killed hundreds of thousands of enemies, I don't know if this is true or not?" ”

The merchant surnamed Han sighed and continued: "I also heard this rumor, saying that it was a young general newly promoted in the imperial court, and he also beheaded a member of Xirong and some kind of big future." ”

Cheng Jiyuan nodded and said: "I have also heard people talk about it, but some people say that tens of thousands of enemy soldiers were killed, and some people say hundreds of thousands, Cheng doesn't know how much." ”

Zhao Tianci said in a strange manner: "Nonsense. ”

"Brother Zhao, how do you say this?" The businessman surnamed Hu hurriedly asked.

"It's just to fool the village man, and some people will believe it." Zhao Tianci laughed shamefully.

"Oh, please also ask Zhao to teach you." Shen Xiangdong asked with a smile.

Zhao Tianci rolled his eyes and said proudly: "Zhao has also heard these rumors, the leader is Li Luo, the son of Prince Chun Li Chengye. You don't want to think about it, General Di Jie Di has been in the army for decades, has fought hundreds of battles big and small, and has 500,000 soldiers guarding Xifu, and has never had a big victory like this. In my opinion, even if Li Chengye comes in person, he may not be able to defeat Xirong Zuoshuai. ”

"Then why is there such a rumor in this Xifu?" Shen Xiangdong asked.

Zhao Tianci glanced at Shen Xiangdong contemptuously and said, "This is not simple, the greater the exaggeration of the battle achievements, the more rewards will be received when you return to Zhuocheng." Hundreds of thousands, ridiculous, it's good to be able to kill ten. What an auxiliary general, but just a gentleman who teases under a woman's skirt. ”

Hu Chajing was furious, and was about to get up to teach Zhao Tianci a lesson, Li Luo hurriedly grabbed it, smiled at Hu Chajing, and signaled that it was okay.

Hu Chajing forcibly suppressed his anger and sat back, Zhao Tianci returned a complacent look, completely unaware that he almost caused a monstrous disaster.

Cheng Jiyuan frowned and said, "Brother Zhao, why did you say it so ugly, be careful to reach the ears of the government." ”

Zhao Tianci rolled his eyes and said, "What, Brother Cheng wants to tell the truth?" ”

Cheng Jiyuan was furious and said: "Zhao Tianci, am I, Cheng Jiyuan, such a person?" ”

Zhao Tianci snorted coldly, and was about to speak, but Han Hu and the others hurriedly got up and persuaded the two.

The merchant surnamed Han persuaded: "Okay, okay, how can we, the people, manage the affairs of the palace and the court, don't hurt the peace." They have their own wealth, we also have our own days, this time it is better to return to the township smoothly than anything else, and we have to take care of each other along the way, and we must not be vindictive. Whether this matter is true or not, this great general will not care whether we live or die. Brother Cheng, don't be angry, Brother Zhao is just unintentional, don't take it seriously, Brother Zhao, Brother Cheng is also for your good, in case it reaches the ears of this general, it will cause disaster in vain, and everyone knows that Brother Cheng is a person, how could he do such a thing, he will go to Xirong immediately, and it is better to say less about the things on the battlefield. ”

Cheng Jiyuan flicked his sleeves and ignored Zhao Tianci.

Zhao Tianci also felt speechless, and reluctantly gave it up, which was regarded as an apology.