The population of the Northern Desert is only one-tenth of that of Zheng Guo, but the area is about the same size as Zheng Guo, if you include the remote and uninhabited land, I am afraid that it is three points larger than Zheng Guo, and tens of millions of people are scattered on the grassland, and sometimes you may not be able to meet people when you ride a horse for three days.

The Hashuo tribe is a small tribe of only a thousand people, living in the southeast corner of the Balga steppe, and is a tribe under the command of King Zuoxian. Kuaima brought the order of King Zuoxian, and the Hashuo Department selected fifty warriors to go to King Zuoxian's tent to obey the orders and go to war.

Jiang Jian has been in the Hashuo tribe for more than five years, when he was seriously injured and fainted by the Egan River, he was rescued by the Hashuo tribe who migrated to the pasture, wearing the clothes of the desert, the Hashuo tribe thought he was a wounded soldier, and the leader Nichesan ordered people to take care of him. After three months, Jiang Jian gradually regained his strength, and as the tribe migrated thousands of miles away, because of his silence, he was called Sai'e by the tribesmen of the Hashuo tribe, which means the stone that does not speak.

Only twenty-two of the hundred warriors who went to the war from the Hashuo Department came back, and they did not bring back the expected cattle, sheep, and food, but brought back the news that Zheng Mo was defeated in the battle, and the leader Su Heke was an old man in his sixties, and said silently: This winter is sad.

This tribe of more than 1,000 people is facing a lack of food and clothing, and there are not many cattle and sheep in the tribe, and half of them are taken away during the war. Jiang Jian's days of recuperation were mostly taken care of by a woman named Zayang, her husband went out on an expedition and did not return, leaving behind two young children, the food distributed by the tribe was simply not enough to eat, and the two children could not survive the winter without food.

There are only five sheep in the circle, which is the inheritance left by Zayang's husband, Zayang killed a sheep in tears, and the mutton was brought to the table to beckon Jiang Jian to eat together, watching the two children gobble up, Jiang Jian turned around and walked out of the tent and walked into the snowstorm.

Two days later, Jiang Jian returned with two red deer on his back, alarming the entire tribe. Red deer is very agile and flexible, and it takes the cooperation of many people to hunt, and now the wind and snow are all over the sky, and you can't even discern the direction when you go out, how did Jiang Jian hunt red deer. Jiang Jian handed over a red deer hind leg to Zayang, and Zayang got into Jiang Jian's tent that night, Jiang Jian did not refuse, and Zayang made a choice in order for the two children to live well.

This winter, Sai Er led the remaining more than 100 men in the tribe to hunt hundreds of deer, rabbits, wild sheep, wild asses and other things, relying on these prey Hashuo to survive the most difficult winter, Sai Er became the best warrior in the tribe.

Following the migration of the Hashuo tribe, Jiang Jian gradually got used to such days, and the matter of staying away from Zheng Guo's revenge also faded, he and Za Yang had a son, named Lapu, watching Za Yang carry his son on his back to milk in the circle, and from time to time he turned around and smiled at him, Jiang Jian wanted to live his life by grazing and hunting on the grassland like this.

If there had been no war, it would have been peaceful and beautiful. King Zuoxian's summoning order came, and the war was about to start again. Za Yang shed tears for Jiang Jian to pack up, the bonfire was lit in the open space, and the priests of the tribe danced in front of the fire, praying for the blessings of the warriors who went out on the expedition. The mare's milk wine exudes the unique fragrance of the grassland, and the tribesmen have stepped forward to toast the warriors, Jiang Jian hugged Rapp, poured the mare's milk wine into his mouth, as the bravest warrior of the tribe, he wanted to lead the tribe's warriors to win the victory and bring back the "prey" for the tribe.

It was late at night, Za Yang, who had exhausted his physical strength, fell into a deep sleep, and there was a gentle snort of horses outside the tent, Jiang Jian couldn't sleep, it had only been a few years, and Zheng Mo was about to start fighting again. Jiang Jian was a little dazed, it would definitely not be possible to fight Zheng Ren for the Mo people, but it was impossible for him to use the knife against the Mo people, he had lived in the Hashuo tribe for five years, and had his own children, this is also his home, he was in a dilemma, it was better to leave, out of sight.

After making up his mind, Jiang Jian got up, reached out and patted the back of Za Yang's neck, and Za Yang fell asleep. Finding a cowhide rope, Jiang Jian tied Za Yang behind his back, reached out to pick up his son Lapu, and walked out of the tent lightly, as for Za Yang's other two sons are already teenagers, naturally there are people in the tribe to take care of them, Jiang Jian doesn't want to take them. Pulling the horse around the guards, and turning over on the horse after walking out of Lixu, Jiang Jian discerned the direction and headed southwest.

The next day, the people of the Hashuo Department found that Sai Er was gone, and took Za Yang and his son away, no need to ask, Sai Er was afraid of the war and fled with his wife and children, everyone cursed hatefully, and re-selected a warrior to make up the quota and go to the account of King Zuoxian.

When the knights of the Hashuo Department came to the residence of King Zuoxian, it was already a sea of people, more than 40,000 soldiers and horses gathered in one place, and the horses neighed loudly, and they even shouted loudly when they spoke.

Jiang Jian fled, but there was no way to escape, and he was ordered by Kunbo to go out with the army and counsel the military. On weekdays, I think I can strategize and win a thousand miles, but I really ride a war horse and follow the army to fight, but I am nervous everywhere, Gaisu swamp is a murderous man, and if you are not careful, you will be swallowed up in the quagmire, so it is okay to let others take risks, and it is better not to do it.

Zhou Chucun followed closely by Kunbo's side, moving forward along the road taken by the former army, and there were constantly reports of people and horses being swallowed up by the swamp, and Zhou Chucun estimated that since entering the grassland, at least more than 100 people were gone. This has just entered the meadow, three hundred miles of Gaisu swamp, and at least more than a thousand people will be lost according to this ratio.

Kunbo asked with a cold face: "What can you do, if you continue to be demoralized like this, I am afraid that you will not be able to fight after the swamp." ”

Zhou Chucun had an idea and said, "King, you can let the soldiers tie the cowhide rope around their waists, so that they can pull each other together, and they can be rescued even if they fall into the quagmire." ”

Three days later, Kunbo's 40,000 men crossed the Gaisu Swamp at the cost of 216 men, and more than 100 miles ahead was Zheng Guo's Pinghaiguan. Kunpo ordered: "Rest for a day, set off tomorrow, and take the level customs." ”

Because to cross the Gaisu swamp, the cart could not pass, these 40,000 horses only carried seven days of dry food and jerky, the road has spent six days, tomorrow if the Pinghaiguan army will be cut off food and kill the horses, the capture of Pinghaiguan is a dangerous move, if the defenders of Pinghaiguan can support three days, then it will be Kunbo who will flee.

The scouts were scattered, the army rested, and Cumpo convened the generals to discuss the matter.

Lan Qitao said: "Ping Customs has not experienced war for many years, and the garrison is very loose, but the terrain of Ping Customs is dangerous, and it is not easy to attack according to the danger. ”

Zhou Chucun agreed: "You can enter the city as a merchant." The estuary of the Wushao River is very close to the Ping Customs, and there are often maritime merchants entering the city from the Ping Customs. ”

"Maritime?" A general said: "King, let the sons be careful, don't let the maritime merchants find out about the existence of the army, and if the news is leaked, it will be troublesome for the customs to be prepared." ”

Kunbo asked, "How far is this from the port, so I can simply send someone to control the port, so that we will not leak the news and can replenish it." ”

An hour later, the Kunbo army surrounded the harbor, and none of the 300 Zheng troops guarding the harbor and the merchants of the port escaped. Half an hour later, Zhou Chucun and more than 100 Mo soldiers dressed as traders drove the convoy to Pinghaiguan, forty miles away.

Pinghaiguan, set up according to the mountains and seas, the city is four zhang three high, two zhang five thick, the terrain is very dangerous, it is the barrier of the northeast of Zheng Guo. There are 5,000 Zheng troops stationed in the customs, and because there has been no war for many years, the Pinghai Customs has become an idle checkpoint.

The town general Xu Yi has just come to Pinghaiguan for two years, and when he took over, he found that there were actually less than 3,000 guards of 5,000 soldiers, and the guards in the customs were secretly doing business and trafficking goods through the port. At the end of the year, Xu Yigang sent back 2,400 taels of silver to his home, and he made up his mind that if he could do it for another two years, he would be disarmed and return to his hometown, spend money on sports, and strive to be a state Sima, Xu Yi had just inquired, a state Sima would probably cost 5,000 taels of silver, if he wished, the money would be worth it, and he would be able to come back in a few years.

Routine patrol every day, Xu Yigang stood on the arrow tower and looked into the distance, a long caravan came from the port, and the brothers guarding the customs had a good harvest today. Xu Yigang smiled slightly, he didn't plan to get a piece of the pie, he had to give a soup to his brothers when he ate meat, and these tariff money had not been put in his eyes. This year, get two more big ships to go to sea, and strive for dividends of more than 4,000 taels, Xu Yigang thought confidently.

After paying the tariff of ten taels of silver, the convoy safely entered the Pinghai Customs, and the heartstrings around the tension relaxed, and ordered: "Find an inn to rest." "I discussed with Kunbo before I came, if it goes well tonight, the third watch should be opened to the outside to open the Ping Customs, Zheng Jun, who was guarding the customs when he entered the customs, looked lazy, and he was not aware of the impending murder, and he didn't know if the town guarding the customs would send detectives out to investigate.

Waiting for the second or third watch in fear, Zhou Chucun and the others took out their weapons from the car and quietly touched the city. The city gate has been closed, and the jack is put down, and if you want to raise the jack, you have to go to the city head and pull the winch. The inn is not far from the checkpoint, Zhou Chucun and others touched the pass and no one found it, the whole checkpoint was quiet, the snoring in the barracks under the checkpoint was everywhere, there was no figure under the pass, half of the people were guarded below, and the other half of the people touched the checkpoint along the road.

On the first lunar day, the cold wind rose, and there were no people standing on the city. The soldiers defending the city hid in the arrow towers and took a nap, and no one patrolled at all. The sound of the winch "rolling" alarmed the soldiers on duty in the arrow tower, and when these people rushed out of the arrow tower, they were greeted by a shining knife light, and the screams sounded, and the level was alarmed.

Zhou Chucun hurriedly shouted: "Quick, speed up, send a signal, open the city gate." ”

Ten miles away, Kunbo waited quietly with a large army, and when he saw a few fireworks rising above the head of Pinghaiguan, he shouted, "Come with me."

The sound of hooves is rolling and unstoppable.