"PS: The number of chapters in the previous chapter is wrong, it should be "one hundred and fifty-two chapters", in addition, the "yang" in the chapter name is actually "暘", which is due to the relationship between the traditional Chinese characters of the chapter cannot be used at the starting point. Note: The ancient Chinese word "暘" is different from "yang".

"Ps: I don't know what to say——, I just released the update mechanism, and I owe 13 chapters that day.

Thanks to the 100,000 yuan reward of the "Dump Saki Tide" book friend, the 10,000 yuan reward of the "Yipin Scholar's World" book friend, and the 20,000 yuan reward of the "Uesugi Eri's husband" book friend.

So, it's 1/13 now.'"

———— the following text————

From Mushan to Shangcai, it is about a three-day journey.

Originally, Zhao Hongrun also planned to take advantage of the new victory of the army and the high morale of the army, and ordered the whole army to march quickly, but unfortunately the sky was not beautiful, and the next night, the temperature began to plummet, and the sky began to fall in the middle of the night, that is, the slang dialect "Xuezi" or "Xuezi", a small particle caused by the condensation of cold air.

When this situation was discovered, Zhao Hongrun sighed helplessly, because when the ice hail fell, it would almost inevitably usher in a heavy snowfall, which was simply a disaster for the Wei army that was marching towards the Chu State.

Sure enough, when the sky was bright the next day, heavy snow began to fall in the sky, which caused a great obstacle to the march of Zhao Hongrun's army.

"It's only two days away."

At that time, Zhao Hongrun straddled the war horse, looking up at the heavy snow falling in the sky with some chagrin.

Why was he so upset?

That's because he had already learned the general situation of the border of Chu from Qu Cheng, Yan Mo and other Chu generals, and knew that south of Shangcai, on the border of Wei and Chu, there was an ancient city that could be called the northern barrier of Chu, Runan.

According to Qu Cheng, Yan Mo and others explained to Zhao Hongrun, Runan City is located in the southwest of Rushui, hence the name Runan. And because there are clouds in the "Notes on the Book of Water": the river flows from east to west, bending and flowing, hugging the city on three sides. The shape is like a hanging gourd, so it is also called the hanging gourd city.

It is undeniable that Runan Hanging Fortress is one of the important gateways into the territory of the Chu State, and its strategic significance is equivalent to the Fencheng Fortress of the Wei State. If you can't conquer this city, you can only take a detour, or go east into the land of Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, or go west to Xiangshan, but no matter which way you go, it will inevitably add a few days to the journey.

In this situation of heavy snow and road closures, it is not a joke to delay even ten days because of this.

And the question is, where did Zhao Hongrun get more than ten days of work?

He must flee back to his territory in the city of Xiong Tuo. Before quickly recruiting an army, conquer at least one city in the territory of the Xuancheng Junxiong Tuo, otherwise, the problem of grain and grass alone would be enough to bury the 80,000 troops under the command of Zhao Hongrun.

On November 12, Zhao Hongrun led an army of 80,000 troops to Shangcai with great difficulty, so that the army could be stationed in the ruined ancient city of Shangcai.

There is an ancient city in Shangcai, and judging by the ruins. The scale is not small, after all, this was the capital of the ancient Cai Kingdom.

Wait for Chu and Wei to gradually become stronger. The state of Cai gradually perished, so that this former capital of the state of Cai has now become the border between Chu and Wei.

"This kind of broken city can live in people?"

Seeing the dilapidated ancient city of Shangcai from a distance, Zhao Hongrun beat a drum in his heart.

Although he hoped to find a place to shelter from the wind and snow in this snowy weather, the ancient city of Shangcai in front of him was inevitably too dilapidated. Zhao Hongrun clearly saw that a large part of the northeast corner of the ancient city wall had collapsed, which was simply undefended.

From the side, the general, no, now it should be said that it is Yan Mo, the general of the Pingxuan Army. After he heard Zhao Hongrun's muttering, he hurriedly explained: "His Royal Highness King Su, within a radius of a hundred miles, Shangcai is the best choice for our army to be stationed temporarily. Maybe King Su didn't know, but in fact, before Xiong Hu's defeat, the 30,000 troops under Xiong Tuo's command had been stationed here. ”

Yan Mo used to be a general of 3,000 people under Xiong Tuo, and his familiarity with this land is far better than Qu Cheng, after all, Qu Cheng was once the general of Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, and he knows Pingyu County, but here, Qu Cheng is far from knowing Yan Mo, so Qu Cheng sent Yan Mo to follow Zhao Hongrun as a guide.

Sure enough, Zhao Hongrun didn't know what was going on, and looked at Yan Mo in surprise.

Seeing this, Yan Mo briefly explained the scene to Zhao Hongrun: "At that time, when Xiong Tuo waved his army to invade the Great Wei, he made Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, the vanguard, and ordered the three generals Zaifu, Zicheyu, and Lian Bi to lead the troops to take Xihua, Linying, and Zhaoling respectively, and he himself led the 30,000 troops under his command at that time and settled here for more than a month...... Don't look at the dilapidated Cai Chengchi, but in fact, there are many useful materials left in the city when Xiong Tuo was garrisoning, which our army can use. ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo suspiciously, and no matter how reluctant he was, he could only enter this ancient city. After all, no matter how you say it, this ancient city also has four walls, which can block the wind and snow a little.

"At that time, you were under Xiong Tuo's 30,000 people?"

"Yes." Yan Mo nodded unabashedly.

"No wonder Qu Cheng sent him as a guide......

Zhao Hongrun suddenly entered Shangcai City with the Wei soldiers of the Junshui Battalion.

When passing through the city gate, Zhao Hongrun glanced at the empty city gate hole, and said strangely: "Xiong Tuo didn't think about repairing the city gate at that time? ”

Yan Mo hesitated for a moment, and said cautiously: "At that time, Xiong Tuo's 30,000 troops were stationed here, and I thought that those thieves didn't have the courage to attack. ”

Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, originally he was just a joke, but he didn't expect to get a piece of information unexpectedly.

"Thieves?"

"His Royal Highness King Su doesn't know?" Yan Mo's eyes widened, and he replied in surprise: "Shangcai is a famous lawless place on the border between Chu and Wei. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun turned his head and glanced at Bailiba, but saw that the general of Baili shrugged his shoulders, obviously, this general of the Junshui battalion, who had been stationed near Daliang Junshui for many years, did not know about the Chu-Wei border.

It can be seen that Yan Mo is a very discerning general, and he saw that Zhao Hongrun and Baili Ba didn't know the situation here, so he took the initiative to explain without waiting for the two to ask.

Indeed, although Shangcai is a ruined and ruined city, in fact. It's not uninhabited.

Of course, the people of the two countries who follow the rules do not dare to live in this lawless land, and those who live near the border between Chu and Wei are some robbers and bandits who are not tolerated by Chu and Wei.

It is also a trading place for merchants who smuggle salt and rice.

I have to say. When he heard Yan Mo say this, Zhao Hongrun was really taken aback, and he asked in surprise: "You mean that my merchants of Great Wei privately transported salt and rice here for trading?" ”

"As far as the Admiral knows, it does." Yan Mo nodded.

"How is it traded?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously: "The sword coins of the Chu State are not in circulation in my Great Wei." ”

"Pearls, lacquerware, jadeite, and agate are mostly traded, and bartered for goods."

"Oh." Zhao Hongrun nodded suddenly, and said secretly in his heart, it seems that there are also black market merchants who smuggle across the border in my Great Wei.

The lacquerware of the Chu State, just like the porcelain of the Song Kingdom, was also a very valuable ware in the Great Wei Dynasty. Not to mention valuables such as pearls, jadeite, agate, etc.

Obviously, most of the black market smugglers in Wei bought salt and rice from the territory of Wei, and then transported it to Chu to trade it into pearls, lacquerware, jade, agate and other valuables, and then shipped them to Wei to sell them for huge profits.

"Is it sold to Xiong Tuo?"

Yan Mo shook his head and said, "It's not just Xiong Tuo. There is also the lord of the city under Xiong Tuo's rule. ”

"City Lord?"

Yan Mo heard the words and explained: "King Su may not know that the big clan of the Chu State. They live in their own small towns, such as ...... King Su has heard of Zicheyu? ”

"Is it the Chu general who almost capsized in Caihe, and was later defeated by Sima An, the general of the Dangshan battalion?"

"I've heard of it." Zhao Hongrun nodded.

"Ziche, in Xiong Tuo's fiefdom, it is a large clan of no small scale, like this kind of big clan, they will build a small city on their own with Xiong Tuo's permission. The nearby Chu people depended on these big clans to survive, such as renting grain seeds at the beginning of spring, and King Su should have learned that the farmers of Chu State did not even have enough grain for the winter. How can they afford to reserve what grain seeds, and if they don't rent them from those big clans, what will they take to sow in the coming year? …… Therefore, in the territory of Chu, near the cities of the big clans, there were often many poor peasants, and over time, a unique "Hui" type city of the Chu State was formed, with the big clans living in the inner city and those poor peasants living in the outer city...... Every year, those big clans collected grain and taxes from the peasants and transported them to the city where Xiong Tuo was located......"

Yan Mo paused, and Zhengse said: "When you enter the territory of Chu State, when His Royal Highness King Su sees it, you will know that there are countless small cities like that in Chu State." ”

"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun nodded, and then joked: "Exchange salt and rice for pearl jade agate, this trade is profitable." …… Turning around, the king also sent some people to exchange salt and rice for pearls and jade. ”

Yan Mo sighed when he heard this, shook his head and said, "That was in the past, and now those big clans no longer exchange pearl jade for salt and rice......"

"What's that for?"

I saw a little embarrassment on Yan Mo's face, and said in a low voice: "Woman! …… A young woman from the state of Chu. Most of them are the wives and daughters of those poor families, who have to be sold to those big clans because they can't make ends meet, and then they are sold to ......" He glanced at Zhao Hongrun and didn't say any more.

But although he didn't say it explicitly, Zhao Hongrun obviously understood what he meant, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

After all, it's not a glamorous thing.

After half a ring, Zhao Hongrun coughed, changed the topic and said, "By the way, in addition to salt and rice, have I shipped anything else in the black market of Dawei?" ”

"Black marketeer?"

Yan Mo muttered this word in his heart, nodded and said, "Yes, there are iron ore, and ......"

When he heard the word "iron ore", Zhao Hongrun had already frowned, after all, iron ore is different from salt and rice, it is a resource reserve and an important strategic material, how can it be traded to a hostile country like Chu?

"What else?"

"And ordnance!"

Yan Mo replied in a deep voice.

In his opinion, since he has voted for Zhao Hongrun, there is no need to hide anything.

"Ordnance?!"

Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, but he couldn't close his mouth halfway.

And beside him, Bai Liba, the general of the Junshui Battalion, also subconsciously set his eyes on Yan Mo, his face full of shock.

"What are you kidding......

Zhao Hongrun's face suddenly sank.

In his opinion, smuggling salt and rice is enough, smuggling iron ore and ordnance to hostile countries?

"Is it true?" Zhao Hongrun squinted his eyes and asked coldly.

Yan Mo said solemnly when he heard this: "The last general will never dare to speak falsely. …… If the king of Su does not believe it, he will wait for Xiong Tuo's city to be captured, and the last general will personally lead His Royal Highness to look at the treasury, believing that there are still a lot of ordnance flowing from the Great Wei in the treasury. ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo deeply, and he had already believed it in his heart, after all, Yan Mo really didn't need to do anything to destroy Zhao Hongrun's trust in him.

In other words, his words should be true.

"What a guts!"

Zhao Hongrun secretly cursed in his heart.

He had decided that when this battle was over, he would investigate and see which group of people had the audacity to secretly trade the weapons of Great Wei to the Chu State. (To be continued.) )