Panlong Town, located in the northwest direction of Bluestone Fort, the distance between the two places will not exceed fifty miles.

As soon as he finished breakfast, Yang Zheng drove out of the city gate with a mule and horse convoy composed of two hundred people, heading towards the front of the valley.

This time, those who followed Yang Zheng to Panlong Town to buy grain, in addition to the more than 100 Han people who were born in the army, there were also dozens of elites of the Yang family such as Yang Mazi and Yang Meng.

The Han laborers were responsible for driving the convoy, and Yang Meng and others were responsible for opening the road to explore the wind.

This time out of the city, Yang Zheng didn't dare to bring too many Yang family horses, because the Yang family's elite strong men were not many, if they were all brought, the city would be empty at that time, and I was afraid that it would give the enemy a chance to take advantage of.

After Yang Zheng left the city, the city defense of Qingshi Fort was completely handed over to Zhao Tiequan to be fully responsible.

Today, Yang Zheng's 200-strong food convoy has three shotguns, two submachine guns, ten pistols, and two AK47s.

Originally, Yang Zheng had five AK47s, but considering the importance of city defense, before leaving, he left three on top of the city defense.

As for the RPG bazooka, Yang Zheng has always been stored in the Infinite Arsenal, and no one knows that he has such a killer feature.

Unless it was a particularly dangerous and urgent matter, Yang Zheng would not easily use the bazooka and five rockets.

In addition to carrying some munitions and weapons, basically everyone is equipped with cold weapons such as repeater crossbows and hand crossbows.

In this western wilderness where the gang forces are divided, you must have enough self-protection ability.

Beyond the bluestone fort is a long, narrow valley.

The valley is long, long, so long that there is almost no end in sight.

According to the Han laborers who accompanied them, this long valley is five miles long, and after leaving the valley road, it is a fork in the road, leading to Fengcheng County on the left and Panlong Town on the right.

Yang Meng took more than a dozen horsemen to explore the wind in front, and Yang Zheng sat in the carriage and followed the team of carriages and horses slowly.

Inside the carriage, Yang Zheng looked at the bags of ore stacked at his feet, picked up a small piece casually, and observed it carefully.

These ores are all Xuanyuan stone, and in the entire Western Wilderness, it is a more popular hard currency than real money and silver.

Xuanyuan stone is turquoise throughout, and under the sun's light, it can even emit a faint green halo, but its weight is very light, far less than half the weight of a stone of the same volume.

It is said that one or two high-quality Xuanyuan stones can be exchanged for ten taels of silver, which is worth as much as gold.

You know, the ratio of gold to silver is only 1:24.

The rarity and price of Xuanyuan stone can be seen.

There were hundreds of taels of Xuanyuan stones in several cloth bags in the car, and all of these Xuanyuan stones were taken to Panlong Town to buy grain.

The carriage drove in the valley, and the bumps were a little strong, which made Yang Zheng, who had just eaten breakfast, a little uncomfortable in his stomach, and he immediately opened the window of the car, ready to breathe.

At this time, the middle-aged man with a scar on his eyebrows happened to follow on horseback, "Castle master, if the carriage is bumpy and uncomfortable, my subordinates will let you ride the horse." ”

Yang Zheng waved his hand and said with a smile: "I'm not that noble, I'm just a little unaccustomed to the road conditions here, by the way, Jiang Chun, how much grain can I exchange for these Xuanyuan stones in my car?" ”

The scarred man named Jiang Chun said: "If you stay elsewhere, you can exchange it for a hundred carts of grain and grass, now let's go to Panlong Town, and deal with those Yan people in the Qinglong Gang, with the style of those people sitting on the ground and raising prices, it is estimated that our prices will be severely reduced." ”

Hearing this, Yang Zheng couldn't help frowning, "Xuanyuan Stone, worth thousands of taels of silver, can be exchanged for a hundred carts of grain and grass?" You must know that within the border of Northern Liao, a cart of grain is only worth three or five taels of silver, and even if you buy a hundred carts, it is less than three or five hundred taels of silver, why is the gap so big here? ”

Jiang Chun sighed and said: "The castle owner doesn't know, there have been few people planting and farming in the Western Wilderness, almost all the grain and grass to eat, all of them are transported from the surrounding countries, in this Western Wilderness, even the worst kind of small yellow rice, can be sold for a high price of thirty wen a catty, you know, the small yellow rice in the Central Plains is only a few pennies a catty, but when it is transported to the Western Wilderness, the price has skyrocketed ten times in an instant." ”

Yang Zheng didn't expect that the grain in the Western Wilderness would be so expensive, and he immediately sighed: "It seems that this Western Wilderness not only feeds the major gangs and separatist forces, but also fattens the grain merchants of various countries. ”

Jiang Chun nodded and said, "Not really." ”

At this time, Yang Zheng glanced at him and said, "I didn't expect that you are so familiar with the price of grain and grass in the Western Wilderness, you must have gone to buy grain with the Khitans before, right?" ”

Jiang Chun shook his head and said: "I don't buy grain, but there are often other forces that come to Qingshi Fort to buy grain and grass, because the Khitan people in Qingshi Fort have Da Liao as the backing behind them, so most of the grain and grass in Qingshi Fort are transported from the Northern Liao." ”

Hearing this, Yang Zheng couldn't help but ask: "What is the background of the original group of Khitan people in Qingshi Fort?" Why can you get the support of Daliao? ”

Jiang Chun lowered his head and thought for a while, and said, "I don't know very well, I only know that the group of Khitans who occupied Qingshi Fort, they all belong to a gang organization called the 'Blood Wolf Gang', which specializes in collecting Xuanyuan stones in the Western Wilderness, and then secretly transporting them to Daliao. ”

"The Blood Wolves?"

Yang Zheng was stunned for a moment and said, "So, Bluestone Fort is just one of their territories?" ”

Jiang Chun nodded, "The Blood Wolf Gang is in the Western Wilderness, there are a total of six mines and two cities, and Bluestone Fort is actually one of their mines. ”

As he was talking, he suddenly saw Yang Mengce riding back.

"Big brother, I just found a few Khitans on the top of the mountain!"

Yang Zheng's face sank, and he hurriedly asked, "What about people?" ”

Yang Meng said: "When we were about to catch up and arrest them, the group of Khitans disappeared. ”

Hearing this, Yang Zheng lowered his head and muttered for a moment, "Let Yang Mazi and them come back quickly, don't fall for the enemy's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain." ”

"Yes, big brother!"

After a while, Yang Mazi and the others came back one after another after receiving Yang Zheng's order.

"How many Khitans have been found?"

"So far, only five have been seen, and it is not clear how many people are still hidden in the secret." Yang Mazi suddenly suggested: "Owner, I think something is wrong today, let's go back to Bluestone Castle, anyway, our convoy has just left the city not far away." ”

Yang Zheng was silent for a moment, turned his head to look at the others, and said, "What do you think?" ”

Yang Meng said: "It is estimated that the Khitans have set up an ambush in front, and it seems that we are ready for battle." ”

At this time, Jiang Chun suddenly spoke: "Fort master, I suspect that this is a suspicious plan laid by the Khitans, intended to prevent us from going to Panlong Town to buy grain and grass, if the Khitans really want to ambush us, why do they suddenly appear for us to discover?" Wouldn't it be better to keep it in the shadows? ”

Yang Zheng held his chin and thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said: "Keep going, whether there is an ambush or not, we will go to Panlong Town to buy grain and grass, pass the order, everyone strengthen their guards, be careful and vigilant!" ”