The northbound convoy moved along the open area of the river valley on the east side of the vast water, and Yan Xing's group of nearly 200 people traveled all the way to the dust, and finally arrived in Lingju County on the seventh day. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The reason why it is called "Lingju" is because it was once the place where the shilling (zero) Qiang lived. After the former Han Dynasty counterattacked the Xiongnu and obtained the land of Hexi, in order to defend the Xiongnu in Mobei and cut off the connection between Qianghu, a Great Wall parallel to the corridor was built in the north of the Hexi Corridor, and the starting point of this Great Wall was the famous "Lingjusai". In that year, Huo Hucai led 10,000 horsemen twice to drive out of Longxi to expel the Xiongnu, which was to use Lingjusai as a base for advance. This can be said to be the earliest military fortress in the west of the river, and the captain of this dynasty was once stationed here.

As spring turned to autumn, the situation reversed, and the light of the Han Empire gradually dimmed, so that after being destroyed in the war, Jusai never stood again. The scene of the strong bow and crossbow guarding the vital place is no longer reproduced, only the sparse grass on the side wall is still swaying and struggling in the wind.

Looking at the fortress that had collapsed most of it and the side walls that had been eroded by the wind, Yan Xing and his party had no time to hang on to the past and the present, and sighed. Yan Li's people had already connected with the Qiang guide who had been waiting on the fortress for a long time, and then, under the guidance of the Qiang guide, the convoy hurriedly left Lingju Sai, along the Qilian Mountains, and turned to the foothill path to the west.

Looking up at the majestic Qilian Mountains, the foothills are red and green grass, trees and mountain flowers, the slopes are gradually thinned alpine meadows, and then up are the peaks that are covered with snow all year round and are inaccessible. Thinking of the former Han Dynasty's recovery of Hexi, when the Huns herded horses through this place and overlooked the majestic Qilian Mountain, they hid their faces and wept, lamenting, "The loss of my Qilian Mountain makes my six animals not rest; Losing my Yanzhi Mountain, so that my wife has no color", Yan Xing's heart was agitated again, and then he looked far to the north, only to see the dangerous desert grasslands all over, strange-shaped bare rock sand dunes, and I couldn't help but have relatives, the former Han family land, now has become the Hu people's horse ranch.

The convoy stretched a long path between the winding paths of the foothills, and walked for more than ten miles, and after turning a corner, the eyes suddenly opened up, as if it was an alluvial plain in the foothills, and the place where the Qiang people traded was Baigouju was a small settlement located here.

It turned out that after Ganling and the others broke away from the convoy under Yan Xing's order, they went out of the convoy day and night, searched around, and found the white dogs gathered nearby in advance to ambush in advance.

The day after they arrived, a tribe of the Qiang people also came to Baigouju, and according to their observations, the number of the other party was between three hundred, and from the totem of the tribe, it was a branch of the Qiang who burned it.

Yan Xing, who had obtained the general information of the other party, began to have a corresponding plan in his heart, and he asked the horseman sent by Ganling to report back to pass the order, and let Ganling take his men and horses to quietly lurk in the woods on the side behind the White Dog Gathering, so as not to startle the snakes, so as not to alarm the Qiang people.

Because of the large number of people on both sides of the transaction, the place of the transaction was placed in an open space outside the settlement. Yan Feng, who had been sent by Yan Li to connect with the Qiang people, was surrounded by several Qiang people with spears and knives and left hair, and walked to Yan Li's side and secretly said something, Yan Li, who looked strange, left only two cronies to direct everyone to carry and hand over the goods, and then took other cronies to hurriedly follow Yan Feng into the White Dog Gathering.

Yan Xing quietly took in the behavior of his third uncle and others, and after weighing it again, he decided to sit back and watch the changes, and turned his attention to the transactions on the field.

Unexpectedly, the Qiang people brought out less than thirty horses before and after, and then a few more intermittently pulled out, and finally the movement became smaller and smaller, on the contrary, they kept urging Yan Li's cronies to unload the goods on the car and trade in blunt Chinese.

It is clear that there is something wrong with the transaction.

Although Yan Xing did not calculate the value of the goods on the fleet in detail, it was roughly estimated that there were millions of dollars based on the market of previous transactions.

After all, the trade between the Qiang and the Han people has always been in a weak position for the Qiang people, and the Qiang tribe basically lacks everything, and there is a great demand for the food cloth and handicrafts of the Han people, and the Han people are good at the market, often buying the horses and furs of the Qiang people at the bottom price, and selling the grain cloth in their hands at a high price, and making a profit several times or even dozens of times after a transaction. If the Qiang people really want this batch of goods, based on the average price of a horse and 20,000 yuan, they must bring at least 100 horses to trade.

But the number of these horses in front of him is far from enough, and they are not good horses. Yan Xing had heard from horse merchants who traveled to and from the north that the Hu people had suffered a lot in their trade with the Han people, and they had also learned the tricks of the Han people, such as the loss of shoddy horses. But now that the Qiang people don't even use these tricks, they only use a small number of horses to exchange for large quantities of goods, so are these Qiang people planning to use their large numbers to make a hammer deal?

Or, his third uncle has a request for these Qiang people, what agreement has been reached between them, and these Qiang people look fearless?

Thinking of the mystery that might be implied in this transaction, Yan Xing's heart became more and more anxious, and he couldn't see the specific situation in the White Dog Gathering, so he could only stare at the Qiang people on the field with his eyes, the ring head knife on his waist was held and released, and the horse seemed to be affected by the master's emotions, and he used his front hooves to dig up the sand on the ground uneasily.

The transaction had already begun, and Yan Xing waited for a while longer. Seeing that his third uncle didn't come out for a long time, his face finally changed color, and he couldn't wait any longer. He beckoned a servant to come over, and whispered in his ear: "You go quickly to contact Ah Ling and the others, according to the original agreement, listen to my orders, and act when the opportunity arises!" ”

Hu Cong quickly rode away after receiving the order, and looking at Hu Cong's departing figure, Yan Xing turned around and ordered another Hu Cong to summon the horses of the convoy.

This time, in order to prevent losses in the transaction with the Qiang people, the Yan family not only selected young people from the clan to transport them, but also arranged for the troops to escort them. Ma Lin is a member of the Yan family, with a rough and righteous personality, coupled with extraordinary strength, he can be respected in the team. More importantly, he is not Yan Li's cronies, which determines that once Yan Xing wants to take command of the team from Yan Li, Ma Lin is a lever that he can rely on at a critical moment.

The horses came quickly, and a burly man more than seven feet tall and with a dark complexion, who was not riding a horse, and had a ring-headed knife at his waist, strode over.

"Shaojun, is there something wrong with me?"

Yan Xing dismounted in advance, nodded quietly, and pulled Ma Lin to the side, but the words he said exploded in Ma Lin's ears like a thunderbolt on a sunny day.

"Ah Lin, my uncle has not returned for a long time, and the Qiang people who traded on the field are acting abnormally, I plan to take a few people to take a look, you will take over the team!"

"This-Shaojun!" Ma Lin was obviously frightened by Yan Xing's words, although he had a rough appearance, it did not mean that he only had the courage of a horseman, how could such a high-level order be accepted casually, and he was about to ask the reason. Yan Xing had already followed up and said: "You see that the number of horses used by the Qiang people to trade is far from enough, and my uncle was inexplicably taken by these Qiang people to gather in the middle of the gathering and has not returned, and do you remember that Yan Feng, who was connected with the Qiang people, was followed by several Qiang people with spears and knives when he came, and the guards seemed to be holding them hostage, aren't these suspicious?" ”

"Uh-" Ma Lin was speechless for a while when Yan Xing said this.

Sometimes, when several things are mentioned by people with ulterior motives and then connected in series, it is easy for people to fall into a situation of hesitation.

Seeing that Ma Lin was already showing signs of being moved, Yan Xing struck while the iron was hot, and then said: "In a hurry, in order to prevent accidents, we must act immediately!" Speaking of which, looking at Ma Lin who had turned his big black face into a big red face because of nervousness, Yan Xing grinned, patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Could it be that the horses in the past are afraid now, you don't have to worry too much, you are known in the team, and you are worthy of the great responsibility, I will leave ten horsemen to help you, and when I take my uncle back, this matter can be guaranteed." ”

Being patted on the shoulder by Yan Xing like this, Ma Lin felt as if the burden of the convoy had fallen on him, heavy, and his heart was mixed, but if the situation was as Yan Xing said, now was obviously not the time to shirk, so he gritted his teeth and simply agreed.

Seeing that Ma Lin had already obeyed the promise, Yan Xinglian said two good words, once some things were conceded, he would have to stand in line immediately after. He continued to add: "You take over the convoy, let people delay the transaction on the surface, and secretly command everyone to be on guard, you must pay attention to three points. ”

"Young gentleman, please speak, Lin Ding should obey!" Ma Lin, who had made up his mind, gradually became firm.

"First, among the goods traded are blades, arrows, and other things, and these weapons must not be handed over to the Qiang people; Second, all the bows and spears in the convoy were distributed to the people, and everyone must work together: finally, with the chariot as a barrier, with their backs to the trees, they formed a circle, and the chariots were connected by ropes, and no other livestock or miscellaneous items were allowed to be hoarded in the cart except for the horses they were riding! ”

In the end, Yan Xing's tone became heavier and heavier, and Ma Lin hurriedly agreed, and he didn't dare to be negligent when he wrote it down carefully.

Don't use suspicious people, don't suspect people. Since Ma Lin was chosen, what should be ordered was also ordered, Yan Xing didn't say more, and let Ma Lin immediately carry it out. He quickly got on his horse, took the spear handed over by Hu Cong, took the remaining twenty horsemen, whistled, and galloped towards the Jumen.

There were also nearly 100 Qiang people who were present to trade and carry goods, and when they saw that some Han people suddenly went around behind them, they shouted loudly when they became suspicious. The two cronies left behind by Yan Li were also at a loss for a while in the face of this situation, but they were afraid that the Qiang people who were clamoring for a bad thing would ruin the great affairs of the lord, so they hurriedly ran to the Qiang people to appease them, and the other rode a horse to chase after them.

There were more than a dozen Qiang guards with spears at the gate of the gathering, and when they saw Han people galloping on horseback, although they didn't know the situation, they still set up spears and wanted to stop the horses. Yan Xing took the lead, saw the Qiang people blocking, did not slow down and rushed directly over, glimpsed the tip of the spear can be approaching, shouted, on the horse pulled out the spear out of an arc, the move was strong and heavy, the spear that was blocked by swing to both sides, and the first to rush into the gathering. The twenty horsemen who followed him took advantage of the opening opened by Yan Xing, and each showed his skills to break in one after another, knocking the unlucky Qiang people to the ground and falling to the ground.

Rushing into the gathering, Yan Xing looked around, and several rows of dilapidated houses came into view, some of which could no longer see the structure of the houses at all, and they were completely in ruins. There are still many Qiang people in the White Dog Gathering, some of them are taking care of the horses, some are cleaning up the soil and rocks, and they are alarmed by the Han people who suddenly rushed in, and some of the Qiang people have already raised their voices.

Seeing the lax appearance of the Qiang people in the gathering, Yan Xing was sure in his heart that his third uncle must have given these Qiang people some promises or benefits, so that such a strange situation happened.

Yan Xing's plan in his heart was settled, and regardless of these surprised Qiang people, he slapped his horse and went deep into the gathering. Quickly bypassing the houses in the front row, Yan Xing's eyes lit up and he saw the two sides of the transaction standing next to a mound of dirt in the back.