The Qinling Mountains are a moat that protects not only Hanzhong, but also the northwest.

The three armies did not move, the grain and grass went first, coupled with the baggage equipment, if there was no smooth road feasible, the soldiers and horses could not cross the Qinling Mountains at all, this is a moat with no shortcuts.

"You should have guessed the purpose of my trip." After a moment of silence, Qi Ning finally said: "Encircling and suppressing bandits is just a pretense. ”

Ban Yun thought for a moment before he said, "Is the lord on order to make a surprise attack on Xianyang?" ”

Qi Ning nodded and said: "Take Xianyang and take advantage of the civil strife in the Northern Han to occupy the northwest, just like cutting off one of the wings of the Northern Han, once we can control Tongguan, then the Northern Han people will be worried day and night, and the northwest and Qinhuai roads are like a pair of pliers, putting the Northern Han in the middle." ”

"Xiaguan understands." Ban Yun said: "In fact, Xiaguan also had such an idea, once the northwest is empty, we can take advantage of the situation to go north, but this plan is too risky, although Xiaguan knows that they have a checkpoint in the narrow road, but they are not sure whether they have an ambush in the narrow road, the four roads are all dangerous roads, through the narrow road, as long as there is an ambush on both sides, there is only one result, that is, the whole army is annihilated." And even if it passes through the Qinling Mountains, whether it can be found by the Northern Han people before the soldiers come to the city and then quickly take Xianyang, that is also unknown, Xianyang City is the largest city in the northwest, extremely strong, once the other party is prepared, can not be conquered in a short time, then what awaits us will be a catastrophe. ”

Qi Ning bowed slightly, and said: "To defeat Xianyang, there are three conditions, the first is to pass through the Qinling Mountains, the second is to control Tongguan, and the third is to quickly break the city by surprise, as long as one of the three has a problem, this operation will be declared a failure." ”

"What the lord said is very true." Ban Yun thought for a while, and then said: "Sir, what we have to think about now is how to pass through the checkpoints of the Northern Han people, although their checkpoints are very simple, just build a stone wall in the narrow road, but it is not easy to really storm the past, and once we launch a strong attack, they will inevitably quickly send a signal to Xianyang, Xianyang is prepared, and if you want to attack the city, it will be difficult to climb to the sky." ”

The sky has darkened, the hall is a little dim, Ban Yun personally lit the lamp, Qi Ning sat under the lamp and was silent for a long time, finally got up and stretched, and asked with a smile: "Ban Taishou, I heard that Bashu has a beauty, but I don't know if there are also beautiful girls in this Hanzhong?" ”

Ban Yun was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, why did Xiao Guogong suddenly turn the topic to women?

But when I think about this little Guogong's young age, it is when he is a romantic boy, and it is not a strange thing to have some hobbies for women, he himself is not good at this, but since Xiao Guogong proposed it, he can't stir up Xiao Guogong's interest, and reluctantly smiled: "The lord is resting in the Taishou Mansion tonight, and when I go back, the official will find a few girls to come over and accompany the lord....!" ”

Qi Ning was stunned, and immediately understood that Ban Yun had misunderstood what he meant, and said with a smile: "Ban Taishou is really misunderstood, I came to Hanzhong by order, and I haven't done anything right, where can I still be greedy for entertainment." ”

"What does the lord mean?"

Qi Ning leaned in slightly and said in a low voice: "Didn't you say that Qu Manbao is greedy and lustful?" ”

Ban Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, understood, and said in a low voice: "Does the lord want to .....?" ”

"You don't know." Qi Ning said in a low voice: "Shi Chai Bozhong, the commander of Qu Yuangu's army, went to the capital and secretly found me, meaning that he wanted to form an alliance with our Great Chu. ”

Ban Yun was taken aback: "Chai Bozhong? Sir, Chai Bozhong is indeed Qu Yuangu's number one adviser, this person ..... Actually went to Jianye Capital? ”

"Beitangfeng wants to enter the pass, but he hesitates, afraid that Zhongli Ao will return to the division to rescue Luoyang, if so, the Northwest Army under his command is not enough for Zhongli Ao to plug his teeth." Qi Ning said with a smile: "He is only worried that the other princes will win or lose and ascend the throne as the emperor, once this is the case, the overall situation has been decided, and it is even more impossible for him to turn the tables around, so he is anxious to kill in the pass." “

Ban Yun said with a smile: "When the lower officials heard that Beitangfeng arrived in Xianyang, they knew that the civil war in the Northern Han Dynasty would start, and it didn't take long for Qu Yuangu to transfer troops and send generals, and then transfer troops to Tongguan. Xia Guan was still thinking in his heart, what were he waiting for when this Beitang wind had not moved for a long time, it turned out that he was afraid of Zhong Liao, and wanted to wait for my Da Chu to help him contain Zhong Liao. ”

"We have been planning the Northern Expedition, and since Beitangfeng took the initiative to request, we naturally will not refuse his good intentions." Qi Ning said with a smile: "The Qinhuai army has already gone north, and it will be time for Beitang Feng to enter the customs in a few days." ”

"Xiaguan has spies near Tongguan, and if there is any movement over there, this side will soon get the news." Ban Yun said: "Sir, if you want to attack Xianyang, you must wait for Qu Yuangu's soldiers and horses to enter the pass, and through the Qinling Mountains, you must also divide the troops into two ways, one way to Xianyang, and the other way is to quickly kill Tongguan, before the Northern Han people react, take Tongguan, so that even if Qu Yuangu gets the news and wants to return to the division to rescue, there is Tongguan to guard, Qu Yuangu can't come back if he wants to go back." ”

Qi Ning bowed his head and said: "Yes, the importance of taking Tongguan is not under Xianyang." He waved his hand and said with a smile: "Let's think about how to cross the Qinling Mountains first, since the three princes of the Northern Han Dynasty have formed an alliance with us, we will send someone to send some good gifts, which should be said in the past." ”

Ban Yun said with a smile: "The courtesy is still exchanged, it is really reasonable." ”

"Qu Manbao has a reputation for being greedy and lustful, so let's send a beautiful wine to Xianyang." Qi Ning said: "It's just that I didn't bring any beautiful women over, so I can only choose here in Hanzhong." He sighed and said, "Choosing a beautiful woman, naturally you can't make the city full of wind and rain, so I can only bother the labor class Taishou to help me find it." After thinking for a while, he asked, "Yes, does Qu Manbao have any special hobbies for women?" ”

Ban Yun shook his head and said, "I don't know about this subordinate, but ...... It is said that this Qu Manbao did mischief in Xianyang, although there are many cardamom girls who have been poisoned by him, even many beautiful married women he does not let go, it is rumored that Qu Yuangu has a staff member, the wife room is quite gorgeous, Qu Manbao fell in love with the woman, in the middle of the night three watches a group of people broke into the house, and took the woman back to Qu Manbao's house, and played for three whole days and put it back, the woman committed suicide by hanging the beam, and the staff also silently lost the news, this matter spread widely, and many people knew. ”

Qi Ning bowed slightly, and said: "Then you choose eight beauties, four beautiful girls, and four charming women as soon as possible, and then you will use them to help you pass the test." ”

Ban Yun arched his hand and said: "Don't worry, sir, it is not difficult to quietly select eight beauties to come out, and the lower officials will immediately arrange someone to do it." He added: "Xiaguan likes to drink alcohol on weekdays, and there are a lot of good wines stored in the house, which also comes in handy this time." ”

Qi Ning said with a smile: "Don't worry, you take a jar of wine out, and I will return ten jars of you when I go back, and I promise that it will not be inferior to your wine." ”

The Daba Mountain Range stretches for 500 miles from east to west, so it is called Qianliba Mountain, and it is also the watershed of the Jialing River and the Han River, and the whole Daba Mountain Range is composed of Micang Mountain, Daba Mountain, Dashennongjia, Wudang Mountain and Jingshan Mountain.

When the world is turbulent, there are often bandits in the Hanzhong generation who gather in Daba Mountain, take Ba Mountain as the root, burn and kill and loot everywhere.

Of course, this is because there is enough water and prey on Daba Mountain to survive, but more importantly, the terrain of Daba Mountain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and even if the officers and men encircle and suppress it, once they hide in the Daba Mountain, it will be difficult for the officers and men to suppress the bandits.

After Ban Yun was transferred to Hanzhong Taishou, it took two years to clean up some bandits in Hanzhong, and since then, the entire Hanzhong has been peaceful, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and Daba Mountain has also become the favorite hunting place for hunters.

Although the Qinling Mountains are the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty, and Hanzhong is on the front line, people seem to have forgotten where they are, and many people feel that there are defenders guarding the Qinling Mountains, and the Northern Han people are not able to fight over.

But early in the morning, a group of cavalry galloped through the streets in Nanzheng City, and then there were groups of officers and soldiers to assemble outside the city, and even officers and soldiers rushed to the outside of the city with carriages carrying heavy loads, which made the people in the city feel a little uneasy, but soon the news spread in the major teahouses and restaurants in the city, it is said that a group of bandits were evil near Chengdu, and were targeted by officers and soldiers, this group of bandits fled to Daba Mountain to hide in a hurry, Ban Taishou got the news, and transferred troops to Daba Mountain to suppress the bandits.

When people learned the news, they quickly settled down.

As long as it is not the Northern Han people who came over, then there will not be any big incident, just a few bandits who are wandering around, there is Ban Taishou in charge, of course, there is no fear, there are not a few bandits who gathered in Daba Mountain in the generation, and they are extremely ferocious, and in the end they are not all wiped out by Ban Taishou, some restaurants and tea shops even have people betting, betting on how long Ban Taishou will take to exterminate the bandits this time.

The officers and soldiers sent by Nan Zheng left quickly, and the next day there was news that soldiers and horses were also transferred from Chengdu Prefecture, and the two officers and soldiers worked together to kill the bandits, and the people in the city were even more happy when they got the news.

Therefore, there are occasional brigades of officers and soldiers on the ground in Hanzhong, and people are accustomed to it, knowing that these officers and soldiers are here to suppress bandits, and these officers and soldiers enter the ground in Hanzhong, and the orders are strict, and wherever they pass, they do not commit any crimes against the people, which naturally does not make the people feel any uneasy.

There are bandits in Daba Mountain, and the hunters naturally dare not get close to the past, and there are indeed officers and soldiers stationed around Daba Mountain, and the officers and soldiers set up camp tents at the foot of the mountain, as if they want to fight a protracted battle with the bandits in the mountains.