Jiang Hexing took Fan Jia to his office and had dinner with Fan Jiao. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Jiang Hexing originally intended to send Fan Jiao back, but unexpectedly, Fan Jiao said that she didn't want to help her father in business anymore and was willing to continue to work in the office.

Recently, Fan Jiao's work is also very good, she can write and calculate, draft official documents, and often make a lot of good suggestions. She has been in business since she was a child, she has seen a lot of people, and she also knows a lot about the Han Dynasty.

Jiang Hexing had nothing to say, so he agreed. Fan Jia was not unhappy, on the contrary, he was very happy to see Jiang He retain Fan Jiao.

After the meal, Jiang Hexing looked at Ma Yuan's letter, and it seemed that the pawn was basically settled, but there was still a tail to be swept away. It seems that it is difficult to get rid of it for a while, so let's do it slowly.

The autumn is high and crisp, the sky is cloudless, and the river line takes a group of merchants, riding horses, and marches on the way to Jilin City. Along the way, these merchants saw that the golden rice fields were endless and ready for harvesting, and that people were starting to be busy in the fields, but there were very few people. They secretly envy these people who have eternal fields, this is a family heirloom, never pay taxes, never have to work. They secretly wondered what the rivers and rivers relied on to feed the officials and soldiers.

Just when they were confused, Jiang Hexing was also thinking about these people, thinking that the real source of wealth was coming, and Pingzhou would roll over the source of wealth in the future.

Along the way, because they are all under their own control. Not far away, there is a post station to transfer horses, and the journey is very fast, and it will arrive at Jilin City on the 8th.

Li Xiaowu was even warmerly received, and Jiang Hexing instructed to prepare a big boat. He was going to take these merchants down the river and see where he could go.

The big boats were hard to find, so I had to find a few small boats, and the group walked down the river. Li Xiaowu sent a battalion of men and horses to follow and protect both sides of the strait and provide backup.

Even though it was autumn, the river was still very fast, and the water was so deep that there was no bottom in sight. Both sides of the river are densely forested, and the leaves are all golden, and there are thick foliage under the trees. The autumn wind blows, and the leaves dance in the air. A businessman who has been busy with money is relaxed and happy. It's either a forest or an endless wilderness, with pools and swamps in the distance. The grass began to wither and yellow, and the withered grass rustled in the autumn wind. From time to time, the sky flies through the flocks of birds, large and small, some fly high, some fly low, this place is simply a paradise for birds.

From time to time, all kinds of wild beasts came out of the meadow, but fortunately, there were soldiers, and everyone was very relieved. During the day, they walked on the water, and at night they camped on the grass. The soldiers shot all kinds of wild beasts, and everyone ate with great pleasure.

After walking for several days, there were some farmland on the way, and some even planted rice. The group went to see the growth of the crops, and they were all happy, as if they had seen a good harvest in their fields.

After another two days, everyone felt a little cool, and Jiang Hexing stopped the trip and all of them rode back.

When he returned to Jilin City, Jiang Hexing immediately issued an order to the shipyard to set up a shipyard in Jilin City to produce galleons and other large and small ships. He also ordered Li Xiaowu, Ma Yuan, Liu Qing and others to investigate the hydrological situation in their respective jurisdictions and make preparations for maximizing the use of shipping and rivers to irrigate farmland.

After a short rest in Jilin, everyone hit their horses and returned to Xianwu City, and along the way, except for the rice fields began to be harvested, there was no other situation, and they came back smoothly.

Jiang Hexing went home for reunion and lived a few days of his own small life.

Fan Jia returned to Xianwu, and the shipyard informed him that the ship had been built. Fan Jia was taken aback, he could be so fast, and asked the shipyard how it did it. The shipyard told him that now he was buying standard sailboats, and the shipyard itself had stock, only slightly refitted.

Fan Jia was overjoyed and called all the businessmen to discuss. Should you do the grain business or not, and how to do it. Later, the result of the discussion was that some people bought canvas from here and went back, and some people wanted to go back directly. Fan Jia used a sailboat to bring back the merchants who wanted to go back and buy goods here to sell to Luoyang, Chang'an, and the remaining 6 ships, and the remaining merchants joined hands to do business, and the ships would come to Luoyang, and strive to sell them three times before they froze.

In the middle, we strive to bring other goods from Luoyang, and strive to keep the ship from empty.

Fan Jia started an unprecedented business, with truckloads of grain arriving and filling the cabins one by one. Then set sail and crossed the river and waded through the sea until Luoyang.

When Fan Jia was busy with food, Li Xiaoquan of the domestic city got the news: he found that 200 miles northwest of the domestic city, there was a stone city, built on the mountain, surrounded by water on three sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Originally, it was an important stronghold of Buben Buyeo, and defending this place could block the enemy from Jilin City. But the guide Li Xiaoquan was looking for didn't know the way very well, so he actually walked from the south and bypassed this place. Li Xiaoquan listened to the report, and he really couldn't cry or laugh, it turned out that there was still a road over there.

Ma Yuan and Wu Kui were called to discuss, and the three of them reached an agreement, and immediately sent troops to surround them first, where the terrain was too dangerous and the casualties of the attack were too large. Now they have been found because they have come out to grab food, and now that the weather is getting colder, it is even more difficult for them to eat food. Surrounded and forced to surrender, the three reached a consensus and lit up the military horses. Li Xiaoquan, Wu Kui, and Ma Yuan led the team to the battle.

Along the way, the leaves are colorful, the grass and trees are bleak, and the fields have been harvested, leaving only the gray earth. Autumn is very short, and it may be winter soon. The north wind blew the banner of the expedition, and the horse aid followed closely behind the banner, with silver-white plate armor on his body and a golden helmet on his head, dazzling. Riding a tall white horse, with a longbow on his back and a large knife in his hand. The eyes scanned the low hills around them, where the branches were already bare and swaying in the wind, and occasionally a few birds were seen chirping and flying up the branches, perhaps disturbed by the actions of the army, and after a short time they stood and flew high again.

Looking behind him, the narrow mountain road was winding with a long silver dragon, the cavalry was stretched for a long time, and the infantry and support brigades behind were still nowhere to be seen.

After a while, the Malay newspaper was surveyed, and 50 miles ahead was Stone Town, and seeing that the sky was getting dark, it was estimated that it would be dark soon. Ma Yuan looked at the silence around him, thinking that it was safe. At the sound of an order, the team stopped and set up camp on the spot.

At nightfall, sentries were sent out everywhere for fear of being attacked on the camp, and there was no movement until dawn.

After dawn, the team set off again. The road is not far for 50 miles, and by noon we are already at the foot of Stone Town Mountain. Ma Yuan rode his war horse around half a circle and looked at this mountain city.

The mountain castle is built according to the mountainous terrain, slightly longer from north to south, and slightly shorter from east to west. To the east is a cliff with a rapids below. The west, south and north sides of the city are built on the mountain, the lower the mountain, the higher the city wall, and there are also places where the cliff is directly used as a wall. The walls are narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and are all accumulated with stones.

Ma Yuan looked at it for a long time and shook his head, this city is difficult to attack. This gang is also yes, and there are mountain cities everywhere. Mountains and rivers are used as defense, which is admirable.

Fortunately, now that you don't have much food, Ma Yuanchuan ordered that each gate be guarded by an archer and a squad of mine-throwers, and resolutely not let you go out of the city. The rest of the men and horses retreated a mile away and set up camp. As soon as he finished packing, Wu Kui and Li Xiaoquan's infantry also arrived, and they looked at the arrangements of the horse aids, especially the arrangements at the gates, and were very satisfied.

Li Xiaoquan rode around the city wall and looked at it again, he had suffered a loss in the mountain city, and he looked very carefully. The whole city is only 5 miles around the circumference, and the barracks are set up around the city wall, and the encirclement is like an iron bucket, and there is really no flaw to be found.

The three of them made a division of labor, Ma Yuan was in charge of the southern city wall, Li Xiaoquan was in charge of the west city wall, and Wu Kui was in charge of the northern city wall, focusing on guarding the gate. Ma Yuan also suggested that they should now be sleepy and lacking in food and grass, like frightened birds, and that they should be harassed, fatigued, and frightened until they surrender.

After half a day's rest and dinner, two-thirds of the people put cloth on their ears, and the rest of the men and horses lit torches, beat war drums, threw thunder soldiers, and threw a cloud of thunder at the mountain gate. It was a little noisy in the middle of the night before I went back to rest. The next day, it was the same during the day, except that the mine-throwers occasionally threw the cloud thunder behind the gable. After all, the gables were piled up of stones, and there were few clouds and thunders, and the walls collapsed one after another.

The Pingzhou soldiers laughed when they saw it, but they didn't attack, and the soldiers behind the wall were shocked and fled one after another.

They were harassed day and night for five or six days, and then they stayed here and waited for them to surrender. It is not far from the domestic city, it is quite convenient to transport supplies, the soldiers eat well, sleep soundly, dress warmly, and are not in a hurry to fight the enemy, because it is not clear how many enemies there are on the mountain now.

Even if you fight, you have to wait until the enemy is hungry and has no strength at all, and then there will be basically no losses.

After another 10 days or so, the weather became colder and colder. The sky was gloomy, and it looked like it was paying no attention to anyone. The moisture in the air was cold to the bone marrow, and the soldiers stamped their feet one after another, and their mouths kept muffling, cursing the weather. God ignored the troubles of these soldiers, and sprinkled the raindrops in the sky, perhaps not much rain in the sky, and then there was a heavy snow like goose feathers. In the barracks, the charcoal pot was burning vigorously, and hot water clay pots were hanging on it, steaming. Soldiers sat around the firelight, constantly waving their hands at the heat.

In Ma Yuan's barracks, Wu Kui and Li Xiaoquan sat around the charcoal fire together, discussing their next move. Li Xiaoquan held the iron bar in his hand, pulled the charcoal in the charcoal basin and said: "These guys are much more frost-resistant than us, and at this time, it is indeed not easy to hold on." “

Li Xiaoquan was about to go on when a personal soldier lifted the curtain and walked in and said, "General Li, General Wu, General Ma, they have surrendered." ”

The three of them stood up at the same time, watching the soldiers say in unison, "What? ”

The pro-soldier saluted and said, "Three generals, Gao Shili has surrendered, and now he is kneeling at the south gate." ”

Li Xiaoquan rushed out with an arrow step, Wu Kui followed, and only Ma Yuan walked out unhurriedly, calling his own personal guards to go to the south gate.

The earth is snow-white, the snowflakes are still falling, and when the wind blows, the people who hit the snow can't open their eyes. Li Xiaoquan ran briskly on the snow, leaving a series of footprints on the ground. Wu Kui followed, and further behind, Ma Yuan led the guards to run forward with neat steps. Behind the guards, a large number of Pingzhou military horses with weapons in their hands walked out of the various camps, surging forward like ocean waves.

Li Xiaoquan had already run to the door, and saw a person kneeling at the door in front of him, holding a piece of white cloth with both hands, and a big word "descending" written on it. The snow kept falling, and the black letters were already showing their edges.

Li Xiaoquan took the word "down" and put it in his pocket. Holding the man up with both hands, he found that it was very light, and looked at the man's face, the skin was covered with bones, the cheekbones were protruding, and his eyes had lost their lustre. When he picked it up, he found that the man was shaking as if he could not stand.

At this time, Wu Kui also arrived, and saw a small child kneeling behind the man, and the child was a little more energetic. It's just that his complexion is yellow and black, and he is skinny, Wu Kui picked up the child and hugged him.

Li Xiaoquan helped the man to turn around, and the man didn't know what to say, and everyone standing behind him got up. At this time, the Pingzhou army at the gate was already full.

Ma Yuan commanded two ways out, and let the surrendered soldiers go out one by one, and by the way, they all disarmed themselves. Every 10 surrendered soldiers were escorted by a Pingzhou army to the open space in front. In addition, organize men and horses to dig camps as soon as possible, so as not to let these surrendered people freeze to death.

People came out in teams, and teams were taken away. Ma Yuan ordered that porridge be cooked for these people, and dry rice must not be fed. The leader who surrendered now knows that it is Gao Li, and now he can't worry too much about him, so he has to save his life first. Li Xiaoquan arranged for him and the child to be supervised by a special person, and also cooked porridge for them to eat.

A total of more than 15,000 people walked out, and the Pingzhou army who went up the mountain reported that many people above had starved to death, and now there are no living people. Look at the surrendered soldiers, they can't walk the road, and they are powerless to stand one by one. The people no longer had the intention of killing, but rose to pity.