When everyone went down the mountain, the people by the river had already lit many fires, and the iron pot hanging from the fire emitted the fragrance of rice porridge.

Zhang Qing and the others caught up, and they were all attracted by the three Han people behind Chao Yong.

Ruan Xiaoqi said: "Who are they?" How was it beaten like this? ”

Li Kui said angrily: "The Han people who were captured by the Tangut people, and the Tangut people who raised them by the bitch treated them as slaves. ”

Ruan Xiaoqi heard that it was a Han person, and couldn't help but say angrily: "The bald thief dares to hit us Han people in the face, and when Li Renai is caught, grandpa will have to smash his face." ”

Chao Yong nodded and said, "Let's eat, go on the road after eating, and spend the night in Xingqing Mansion tonight." ”

Seeing that the Han people were abused like this, everyone couldn't wait to put on their wings and fly to Xingqing Mansion. It didn't matter if the porridge on the fire was ready, he shouted for everyone to eat.

Soon, everyone reported that they had all had breakfast.

Chao Yong saw that the soldiers were cleaning up the iron pot, and shouted: "You don't need to bring the iron pot, eat dry food on the boat at noon, and eat dinner in Xingqing Mansion." ”

When Li Kui heard this, he immediately kicked a pot into the river and shouted, "Hurry up and get on the boat, go to Xingqing Mansion early to kill the Xixia dog." ”

The fleet on the army, the sailors also sailed the ships a little faster.

After entering the Qingtong Gorge, the steep cliffs on both sides of the bank and the whistling wind in the canyon are even more terrifying.

Ruan Xiaoer's ship quickly caught up with Chao Yong's flagship, and he had to explore the way first.

Chao Yong waved his hand to stop Ruan Xiaoer's actions and let Li Jun drive at full speed.

Led by the flagship, the flotilla sailed through the Bronze Gorge at the fastest speed.

Chao Yong kept an eye on the steep cliffs on both sides of the river the whole time, for fear that Western Xia soldiers would suddenly appear on it, but fortunately nothing happened along the way.

If Qingtongxia is attacked, whether the fleet rushes over or retreats, there will inevitably be casualties.

Li Jun also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Qingtongxia really has a tendency to be closed, if the Xixia people set up some stone forts on it." I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort just to knock down the stone castle above. ”

Han Shizhong said with a smile: "The people of Western Xia know that the Western Army will not dare to sneak attack from the waterway, so naturally they will not make more effort on the waterway. ”

Li Jun said: "What do you say? ”

Han Shizhong said: "First, the Western Army is not accustomed to water warfare, and second, even if the Western Xia people let the Western Army drive straight in, the Western Army will not dare. Most of the soldiers and horses in the Western Xia were in the border military divisions, and there were only about 100,000 soldiers and horses in Xingqing Mansion and Lingzhou. Even if the Western Army arrives at the city of Xingqing Mansion, it may not be able to break through the city in ten days and a half months, and it will be surrounded by Western Xia soldiers and horses. If the Western Army wants to destroy the Western Xia, it can only fight steadily. ”

Chao Yong nodded and said, "Han Shizhong is right, the key is whether you can break the city." I have gunpowder to break through the city, so I can raid Xingqing Mansion. Otherwise, the city can only wait for the Western Xia army to besiege and kill. ”

Out of the Qingtong Gorge, it suddenly opened, the size of the irrigation canal does not know how many complicated, if there is no familiar with the road of people to guide, the probability of getting lost is still very large.

Because of the diversion of large and small irrigation canals, the big rivers have also slowed down, and the speed of the fleet has also slowed down.

Sailing along the Tanglai Canal, both sides of the river are indeed open farmland, and large and small irrigation canals divide the plain into many small pieces. Many of the fields are planted with rice, and the green ones from afar deserve the name of the south of the Yangtze River.

The width of the Tang Lai Canal is different, and the width is more than ten zhang. The narrow place is only two or three zhang, and the big ships can only pass one by one.

Along the way, although some Tangut people were curious when they saw the fleet, they did not encounter obstacles.

Western Xia merchants also transported goods by water, but they were still very shocked to see such a large fleet. Some people leaned up to investigate, and Chao Yong asked people to directly use the divine arm crossbow to scare them away.

When the merchants saw that the men on the ship were armed with strong crossbows, they immediately retreated.

to the Shunzhou boundary. Only then did I see that there were boats barricade in front of me for inspection, and there were dozens of Xixia soldiers on the riverbank.

The man who led the way: "In front is the checkpoint where Shunzhou collects taxes, and all ships have to dock for inspection. ”

Li Jun said with a smile: "The ship of the Xixia people is not big, and it can be directly rammed over. ”

The Xixia soldiers on the shore had also seen more than a dozen big ships coming in the distance, and they all stood on the shore in high spirits, waiting for the boat to search.

Some time ago, Li Qianshun led a large army to go on an expedition and requisitioned many ships to transport grain, so that there were many fewer merchant ships on the river.

In the past, Western Xia troops did not bring a lot of grain and grass, but only occasionally drove some cattle and sheep, and most of the supplies were obtained through raids. The last time I went on an expedition, I wanted to occupy the Sixth Road in Shaanxi for a long time, not only did I prepare a lot of grain and grass, but also explicitly ordered the soldiers of all tribes to prohibit looting and killing Han people, and I could only wait for the reward of the lord after the war. Unexpectedly, he returned with a big defeat, Li Qianshun and Cha Ge were all killed, and only 100,000 of the 400,000 troops came back.

The deaths of Li Qianshun and Brother Cha really made some people in Western Xia feel painful, but they were not worried that Daliang would immediately send troops to attack.

Two days ago, thirteen-year-old Li Renai had inherited the position of the lord of the country, in order to appease the people, Li Renai announced to the people the situation of the Central Plains competition, so that the people of Xixia knew that the Liang had no time to take care of him, and Xixia could rest and recuperate with peace of mind.

As for the news of last night's raid on the reward and the cutting of the village, the surviving soldiers and horses in the two places reported to Weizhou, which should be managed. The soldiers who reported the news from the two places crossed the mountains and mountains to report to Weizhou after dawn.

The Weizhou garrison heard that thousands of soldiers and horses of Daliang had attacked the two cities, and he did not know if there was a large army behind him, and he did not dare to capture the two villages, so he could only strengthen the guard, and at the same time Pegasus reported the nearest Mingsha City, in case the soldiers and horses of Daliang continued to attack. The messenger who went to Xingqing Mansion to report the urgency had just set off, and Shunzhou naturally didn't know the situation.

Without the shackles of war, it was impossible to reap any more benefits from the Central Plains, so the soldiers of Western Xia focused their attention on the country again. This point is similar to that of every nation, and if the soldiers at the checkpoint want to reap benefits, they naturally have to reap benefits from people in the past. As long as the other party is not a dignitary, the merchant is naturally the most oily and watery, especially the merchant who has transported a large number of goods.

If a businessman wants to pay less taxes, he is naturally willing to spend money to check the people, and for the people who inspect them, the taxes received are from the imperial court, and those who put them in their own pockets are their own. Most of the time, both parties hit it off. Both sides profit, and naturally there will be no trouble.

However, many merchants in Western Xia were from tribes and were fierce by nature, and those who had just started trading would have conflicts with tax collectors for a little tax money, so each level was protected by a squad of soldiers. When you walk more often, the tough ones will also learn the tricks.

Most of the time, this shady income can only be obtained by the tax collectors, and only when they encounter large fleets and the tax collectors are too busy to let the soldiers of the guards help.

Chao Yong said to Zhou Ji, who led the way: "Can you spend some money to get them not to go on the boat for inspection?" ”

Zhou Ji shook his head and said: "There are more than a dozen big boats, it is impossible for them not to go on the ship to check, even if they go through a form, they will also get on the boat." ”

The soldiers hiding in the cabin can make it impossible to see through at a glance that this is a troop carrier, and once they are on board, they naturally can't hide.

"Then kill them all."

The fleet was getting closer and closer to the checkpoint, and the tax collector on the small boat shouted that the fleet was docking, and did not stop the boat in the middle of the river, which disappointed Li Jun, who wanted to knock the boat over.

The tax collector on the small boat shouted several times, and seeing that the fleet did not slow down, he also felt that something was wrong, and was just about to let the soldiers on the shore intercept it with bows and arrows, when he saw a group of black-clothed and black-armored soldiers suddenly rush out of the cabin of the first big ship.

"Liang Soldiers."

"The Liang State has invaded."

"Alert the city."

The costumes of the soldiers and horses of the Liang State who defeated the lord of the country and the Chago army had already spread, and the soldiers on the shore still fled back from Shaanxi, and the soldiers who saw the appearance on the ship immediately shouted.

Without waiting for the Western Xia soldiers on the shore to stretch their bows, the soldiers who came out of the cabin had already sprinkled sharp arrows on the shore, and the unprepared Western Xia soldiers fell in a pool of blood in an instant.

When the tax collectors in the boat saw that the situation was not good, they all threw themselves into the river.

"Help"

One of the tax collectors jumped into the water with the others, and then remembered that he didn't know water, and struggled in the water, cooing and drinking.

Everyone looked at the tax collector struggling in the water, and they couldn't help but laugh.

There was a burst of screams from the boats parked on the shore for inspection, and the people on deck either hid in their cabins or jumped into the water and hid under the boat.

"Forget about the fish that slipped through the net, go full speed."

Soon after the fleet sailed past, the soldiers and horses of the Shunzhou brigade headed for Xingqing Mansion. (To be continued......)