Northridge.

Eight hundred miles of North Ridge is like a huge dragon creeping on the vast earth, traversing the northwest of the empire, from the south of the West Mountain Road to the north, extending to the north of Anyi Road, lofty mountains, towering, unattainable, when it is summer, the North Ridge is lush and green, a verdant color, the northwest three roads of the empire lie outside the North Ridge.

From the inside of the customs out, only the West Valley Pass.

Xiguguan is jokingly called the gate of heaven, stretches for dozens of miles, the wall is high and thick, the towering Xiguguan is between the eight hundred miles of the North Ridge, along the Tongzhou all the way to the northwest direction, only three days, then rushed to the Xiguguan.

Xigu Pass can be said to be the first pass in the world, easy to defend and difficult to attack, there is a garrison of more than 5,000 people stationed here, stretching for dozens of miles on the wall, there will be soldiers guarding every other distance, overlooking the inside and outside at the pass.

The defenders of Xigu Pass, although subordinate to the guard army of Xishan Road, are not under the jurisdiction of Xishan Road, but are directly under the jurisdiction of the military department, even so, without the holy decree of His Majesty the Emperor, no one can mobilize a single soldier of the Xigu Pass army.

The main gate of Xigu Pass is like a big mouth of blood, the door is heavy, made of pure copper, weighing thousands of catties, there is an organ, whether it is open or closed, the organ must be activated, and then dozens of people can be mobilized to work together.

The main gate is less than five miles apart from each other, each has a sub-door, much smaller than the main gate, but it is also a copper gate guarding the pass, under the door hole, of course, it is a heavy military inspection, in addition, within a few miles of entering and exiting the gate, more than a dozen checkpoints have been set up in a row, and before the gate is closed, it needs to go through the heavy search of the checkpoints, which shows the importance of Xigu Pass for the empire.

Now that the war in the northwest is raging, Xigu Pass is the only pass to enter the pass, and it is naturally tightly guarded, and the guards above the pass have doubled, and they are equipped with longbows and crossbows.

When the mission arrived at Xigu Pass, Da Xizhang, the general guarding the pass, had already personally greeted him and led the mission out of the pass.

Da Xizhang didn't say much, Xue Huai'an occasionally asked, he replied, if he didn't ask, he wouldn't say a word, he was not a sociable person, but from his eyes, it could be seen that this person was not only a tiger general, but also very shrewd, imagine how important Xiguguan is, how can ordinary generals take on such a heavy responsibility.

When the mission came to Xigu Pass, it was noon, and it did not stop, and Da Xizhang did not say polite words, so he kept the mission to rest for a while, and Xue Huai'an said that he wanted to leave the customs immediately, so he personally led the way in front.

The mission did not come out of the main gate of Xigu Pass, Xu Congyang had already ordered that people could only enter and exit through the secondary gates on both sides, and the main gate was prepared to be used to transport supplies to the northwest.

Xuanyuan Sheng came to Xigu Pass for the first time, when he passed through the door hole, he found that he had been walking for a long time, and when he saw Xigu Pass towering, very tall, he knew that the wall of Xigu Pass was extremely thick, and his heart was full of admiration, and he couldn't help but think that if the Xiliang people really occupied the northwest, they would really be able to break through the first pass in the world?

But soon I thought of my cousin Xuanyuan Shao's words, according to Xuanyuan Shao's statement, there is no unbreakable pass in this world, and there is no city that cannot be attacked, but Xuanyuan Shengcai still feels that the Xiliang people really arrived at the Xigu Pass, and if they want to break through this copper wall and iron wall-like pass, it is an unusual difficulty, if they want to cross the North Ridge and enter the pass, unless they really have the ability to take the West Valley Pass, or fly over the North Ridge from the sky.

Out of Xigu Pass, after counting the checkpoints, Xuanyuan Shengcai and many cavalry of the Guards still couldn't help but look back, the wide and tall city wall, Wuzi gave people a strong sense of oppression.

Unconsciously walked to the last level, suddenly heard a noise in front, and saw that a lot of people gathered at the checkpoint, the checkpoint was sealed, dozens of guards in armor were spears forward, big knives out of the sheath, the atmosphere was very tense.

Da Xizhang was originally expressionless, but at this time, his thick eyebrows tightened, and he stepped forward, Xue Huai'an glanced at Chu Huan, frowned, and said, "Lord Chu, there seems to be something wrong in front of this?" ”

Chu Huan had already seen that something was wrong with the situation in front of him, and said, "Lord Xue, go over and take a look!" Shaking the reins, urging the horse over, when he got closer, he saw that outside the checkpoint blocked by Hengmu, there were hundreds of people in rags, looking haggard and depressed, some old and some young, pushing small wooden wheeled carts, and the cars were also full of some tattered things, Chu Huan only glanced at it, and knew that this group of people must be refugees who fled from the northwest.

At this moment, there were twenty or thirty young men huddled outside the crosswood, all of them showing anger on their faces, and the soldiers behind the crosswoods were spears forward, and one of the soldiers had already shouted: "All retreat, whoever dares to mess around, stabbed to death on the spot!" ”

"Why don't you let us in?" A man in rags shouted angrily: "We are the people of the Qin State, why don't you let us enter the customs? ”

One person shouted, "We are coming from the Tianshan Road to enter the customs, why don't you let us in?" ”

The Tianshan Road is in the northwesternmost part of the empire, a border land, and these people rushed to Xiguguan from the Tianshan Road, but it is also a long way.

Da Xizhang had already ridden to the edge of the checkpoint at this moment, and said in a deep voice: "Listen to me, no one is allowed to enter the customs without an entry letter issued by the government, if anyone comes hard, don't blame Ben for being polite!" ”

"We are Qin people, if we want to enter the customs, what else do we need to enter the customs?" Someone shouted, "Why didn't I use it when I used to enter the customs?" ”

"This is an order from the top!" Da Xizhang said stiffly: "Where did you come from, where do you go back, don't dwell on this!" ”

These people have traveled a long way to come here, how can they give up like this, several people have already rushed to say: "We don't go back, the Xiliang people have already called, we want to enter the customs!" ”

A group of people crowded up behind, all shouting: "We want to enter the customs, we want to enter the customs......!" ”

Da Xizhang's face was like frost, he raised his hand, and more than a dozen archers immediately went up behind him, bent their bows and arrows, and aimed them at the group of refugees, and the people saw that the bows and arrows were aim, and they all retreated, but after a few steps back, one of them took a few steps forward and said loudly: "Are your bows and arrows aimed at your own people?" The Xiliang people are in the northwest, you have the ability, why don't you go to the northwest and kill the Xiliang people? ”

Chu Huan urged him to step forward, frowned and asked, "General Daxi, what's going on?" ”

Da Xizhang said: "There is already an order from above, unless there is a letter of entry, no one is allowed to enter the customs, and those who forcibly break into the customs will be killed!" ”

Chu Huan asked, "I just saw a few carriages, why can they enter the customs?" Are they all holding entry letters? When he just left the customs, he saw several carriages entering the customs, and he thought that the refugees could enter the customs, but he did not expect to be blocked here.

Da Xizhang nodded and said, "Yes!" ”

One refugee said, "What the hell is the entry letter?" We are Qin people, we pay taxes every year, can't we even enter the pass of our own country? ”

Another humanitarian: "Someone entered the customs just now, they are Qin people, and we are also Qin people, why can't we enter the customs?" ”

Da Xizhang frowned and said: "The Xiliang people will withdraw their troops soon, you all go back to your hometown, take advantage of this time, hurry home and farm." ”

"Farming?" Immediately, someone sneered: "The northwest is about to be occupied by the Xiliang people, what kind of fields are you planting?" Do you farm for the Xiliang people? ”

"Nonsense." Da Xizhang reprimanded: "The general said that the Xiliang people will withdraw their troops soon, and they have already surrendered to our Great Qin. ”

Someone behind shouted: "We don't believe it, the Xiliang people are still in the northwest, I heard that they will attack soon, let's not go back and die." ”

There was a lot of noise and shouting, and the scene was very chaotic for a while.

Chu Huan was a little puzzled, didn't this group of people know that Daqin had negotiated peace with Xiliang?

Immediately, they were relieved that the people of the Northwest were in the war zone, and the people of the Western Liang had not retreated for a long time, and of course they did not know whether the peace negotiations were successful, and the people of the Western Liang region did not withdraw their troops, and the people in the Northwest were naturally afraid of it, and they poured into the customs one after another, but it was also a reasonable thing.

He was about to speak, when he suddenly heard another voice from behind him: "Let go, let go!" The people got out of the way, but they saw several carriages approaching slowly, a carriage with carriages in front, and a few carriages pulling wooden boxes behind, and twenty or thirty guards on horses with swords on the side, shouting loudly, and driving hundreds of people out of a road.

The people were divided into two sides, but they saw that the leader of the team, a horseback escort, galloped to the edge of the checkpoint, turned over and dismounted, stepped forward, took out a letter from his arms and handed it over, and said with a smile: "Officials, it's convenient, this is a customs entry letter!" ”

A soldier took it and looked at it, turned back to Da Xizhang and said, "General, you can let you go!" ”

Chu Huan had already said, "Bring it to me!" ”

The soldier saw that Chu Huan was wearing an official robe, that is, Da Xizhang also had a little respect for Chu Huan, and he didn't dare to slack off, glanced at Da Xizhang, saw Da Xizhang nodding, trotted over, and handed the entry letter to Chu Huan.

Chu Huan took it, opened it and looked at it, this entry letter is also very simple, stamped with the official seal, it is the official seal of the Qingzhou Household Division, he knows that after leaving the customs, he will enter the territory of Ganzhou, Beishan Road, the land of the three states under the jurisdiction of Beishan Road, Qingzhou is also in the territory of Beishan Road, frowned, looked at the guard, and asked: "This is the official seal of the Qingzhou Household Division?" Is it a customs entry letter issued by the Department of Household Affairs? ”

Seeing that Chu Huan was wearing an official robe, the guard didn't dare to slack off, and nodded: "Exactly, it was issued by the Qingzhou Household Department." ”

"Where are you from?"

The guard straightened his chest and said, "The grass people are subordinates of Lord Yu, the director of the Qingzhou Military Department, and they were ordered by Lord Yu to send the old lady into the customs!" ”

"Old lady?" Chu Huan glanced at the carriage and asked, "Old lady Yu is in the carriage?" ”

The guard nodded, "Exactly!" ”

Chu Huan smiled indifferently and asked, "This official asked you, how was this entry letter issued?" Who can have this entry letter? ”

The guard was stunned and glanced at Da Xizhang, but Da Xizhang had a cold face and said in a deep voice: "Lord Chu asked, don't say it quickly!" ”

The guard said helplessly: "Lord Hui, the grass people don't know much, it's just ...... It's just that this entry letter is not available to ordinary people, and if you want to enter the customs, it's really ...... It's really difficult! He spoke in a hurry, his words flickered, Chu Huan smiled coldly, turned over and dismounted, walked to the edge of the crosswood, and without waiting to open the crosswood, he had already risen and jumped over from the crosswood, his movements were light and chic, everyone saw this, looked at each other, and they didn't know what Chu Huan was going to do.