If he hadn't seen the Thousand Worlds in Xia Fan's Swallowing Heaven Pocket with his own eyes, Xia Hu and the others would probably scoff at his words.

But now none of them doubted it.

Because they think about it for themselves, they also feel that it is indeed much better to have a world that is completely their own than to be an emperor in this world.

"If you are short of soldiers and horses in the future to conquer other worlds, you can come to us at any time. When leaving, Xia Hu looked at Xia Fan and said solemnly: "We will definitely do our best to help." ”

"Good. Xia Fan smiled and agreed.

Xia Hu, Xia Lei and Xia Yu left, saying that they would reorganize the army after they returned, and then come back when the Thirteenth Prince ascended the throne, and swear allegiance to them in person.

However, Xia Xue did not go with them, but chose to continue to stay by Xia Fan's side.

Xia Hu and the others said that they would help Xia Fan to conquer the Ten Thousand Worlds was just a promise, but Xia Xue had already done it down-to-earth.

........................

More than ten days have passed in a blink of an eye, Xia Hu and others have gone and returned, and the envoys of Zhao Yin, the king of Pingnan, and Liu Yuchengen, the king of Jingnan, have also arrived.

It's just that the envoys of these two families did not go to see the thirteen princes who were about to become emperors, but handed over the letters written by their respective princes to their own little princes, Zhao Weiwei and Liu Yulinglong.

As a result, Zhao Weiwei and Liu Yulinglong became envoys of the kings of Pingnan and Jingnan, expressing their allegiance to the new emperor on behalf of their respective fathers.

In addition, envoys from the countries surrounding the Han Dynasty also arrived.

Although the accession to the throne of the Thirteen Princes this time seemed a bit hasty, there were not many missions that came to congratulate them. Even the Great Sun Demon Kingdom, which annexed the border, sent an embassy.

It's just that when the envoys of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom came to the capital day by day, information about the frequent movements of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom on the border came to Xia Fan's hands.

Not all of this information came from the intelligence system under Zhao Wei's subordinates, and there were two other parts from Qianlongwei and Feng Ming.

Although the Qianlong Guard had suffered heavy damage at the hands of Xia Fan before, it was an institution loyal to the Han Dynasty, or more accurately, to the emperor.

Therefore, when the Thirteen Princes decided to ascend the throne as emperor, the general of the Qianlong Guard personally met and pledged his allegiance to the Thirteen Princes.

Although the Thirteenth Prince didn't have a good impression of Qianlongwei, he was not the kind of child who only relied on likes and dislikes in everything, so he still accepted Qianlongwei's surrender after some scolding.

Then the Thirteenth Prince asked the Qianlong Guard to obey Xia Fan's dispatch and began to go all out to find out the intelligence of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom.

Although the current Qianlong Guard is not as good as before, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, so the intelligence ability is still extremely strong, much more detailed than the information collected by Zhao Wei's subordinates. The only thing that can be compared to it is Feng Ming.

And Feng Mingzhi is now providing Xia Fan with information, and there is also a reason.

When the news of the death of the king of the town came, the head of the Fengming organization, Feng Feng, had sought out Xia Fan, wanting to pay allegiance to him and help him fight for the western frontier with Xia Hu and others.

It's just that at that time, Xia Fan rejected the crested head's proposal because he had his ideas. Since then, Feng Ming has never taken the initiative to contact him, nor has he participated in the battle of the Eight Tigers of the Xia family.

Until now, the eight tigers of the Xia family have been damaged, and the remaining Xia Hu, Xia Lei, Xia Yu and Xia Xue are no longer competing with Xia Fan, which means that Xia Fan has completely become the leader of the Xia family's generation, so Feng Ming, who was about to leave before, came over again and pledged his allegiance to him.

This time, Xia Fan did not refuse Feng Ming's surrender again. Because he needs this vast intelligence organization more than ever. At the same time, he now has the ability to control this huge organization.

In fact, because the Xia family's sphere of influence is located in the western Xinjiang. And the western frontier is located in the three-regardless zone between the Great Han Dynasty, the Great Sun Demon Kingdom and the Tianyu Empire, so the Fengming organization rooted here has a greater advantage in the intelligence collection of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom than the Qianlong Guard.

Among the information submitted to Xia Fan, the information of the Fengming organization was the most detailed, especially the subtle understanding of some important information, which even the Qianlong Wei could not compare.

For example, the transfer of the army on the border of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom was mentioned by both Zhao Wei's subordinates and the Qianlongwei and Fengming organizations.

However, when it comes to how to mobilize and the number of soldiers and horses, the information sent by Zhao's only subordinates is slightly insufficient, but Qianlongwei and Feng Ming have done a very good job in this regard.

What's even more rare about the Fengming organization is that they can even collect the information of the generals who will lead the troops, as well as their habits and the characteristics of using troops, which alone makes Xia Fan quite satisfied.

In addition, the transportation of grain and grass in the Great Sun Demon Kingdom was also under the supervision of the Fengming Organization.

From the direction of the convergence of these grains and grasses, Xia Fan was roughly able to judge the strategic direction of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom.

It's easy to understand. As long as it is a war, the soldiers and horses are the most indispensable, but the position of the soldiers and horses in the actual battle often changes.

In particular, in order to carry out strategic deception, so as to mislead the enemy and make him misjudge his strategic intentions, the movement of troops and horses will be even more deceptive. Otherwise, there would be no conspiracy to attack the west, hide from the sky and cross the sea, and so on.

Soldiers and horses can move constantly, but food and grass will not be endlessly moved. Especially before the start of a large-scale war, preparing enough food and grass is something that any commander must consider.

As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first, which is the truth. At the same time, since the transportation of grain and grass is far more troublesome than the movement of troops and horses, no marshal or general in command of the army will endlessly let his subordinates move grain and grass around unless necessary.

The consequence of this is either to drive the support staff crazy, or to cause a lot of attrition, which is easily not done by anyone.

Therefore, Xia Fan kept an eye on the gathering and transportation of grain and grass through the intelligence of the Fengming organization, and basically was able to understand the whereabouts of the soldiers and horses of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom later, and thus he could also judge its subsequent strategic direction.

Soon Xia Fan noticed something quite strange, and after pondering for a while, Xia Fan called Xia Xue over.

"You've always been in the Western Frontier, do you know what kind of place Tongtianguan is?" Xia Fan asked.

"Huh, why do you think of asking this?!" Xia Xue didn't expect Xia Fan to ask this question, she was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Tongtian Pass is an extremely important gateway to Western Xinjiang. ”

Speaking of this, Xia Xue paused slightly, stretched out her hand and grabbed it, the earth aura condensed, and a huge sand table appeared in front of Xia Fan.

This sand table is not only large but also quite exquisite, and the mountains and ravines, and the dangerous mountains are clearly displayed. Among them, what particularly attracted Xia Fan's attention was a mountain range that ran from north to south and was extremely steep.

"If you want to talk about Tongtianguan, you can't fail to mention this Tongtianling. Xia Xue pointed to the eye-catching mountain range and said, "This mountain range is thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and sixty-one miles long, almost crossing the edge of the entire Western Frontier, like a natural barrier separating the Western Frontier from the Great Sun Demon Kingdom. ”

"There are many legends about this Tongtian Ridge in the western frontier, some say that there was a demon dragon who was locked here by the gods to repent because he violated the rules of heaven, but it has always wanted to return to the heavenly realm, so it struggled every day, but it was always unable to escape. ”

"After a long time, this demon dragon finally died, but its body turned into Tongtianling, and it was not until it died that its head was raised high, wanting to return to the sky. While speaking, Xia Xue pointed to the northernmost side of Tongtian Ridge, and said at a glance the steep and towering part: "This is where the dragon's head is located, so it is also called Longshou Mountain." ”

In addition, there are individual legends, according to legend, there were many powerful ancestors in Western Xinjiang countless years ago, and at that time there was not such a wide variety of cultivation exercises as now, but they still yearn to ascend to the sky. ”

"So in order to be able to go to the Heavenly Realm, these powerful ancestors who were born with infinite strength, ran like flying, and could move mountains and reclaim the sea, could build a road to the Heavenly Realm, and their intention was to build the road all the way to the Heavenly Realm. ”

"The process of the ancestors building the road to heaven was quite smooth at first, but when the road to heaven became higher and higher, and it was about to meet the sky, trouble came. ”

Because the ancestors' vain attempt to ascend to heaven angered the gods, the gods sent down punishment, and under the thunder bombardment, not only were the ancestors almost completely destroyed, but also most of the roads to heaven that they had worked so hard to build were also destroyed. ”

Speaking of this, Xia Xue pointed to Tongtian Ridge on the sand table and said, "The remaining part is Tongtian Ridge, and Longshou Mountain is the starting point of this road that continues down to the Heavenly Realm. ”

"Do you think these two legends are credible?" Xia Fan asked with a smile.

"I can't say for sure whether it's credible or not, but it's widely spread in Western Xinjiang. Xia Xue smiled and said, "You just have to listen to a story." Although these are legends, the steepness of Tongtian Ridge and Longshou Mountain is obvious. ”

"This Tongtianling is like a natural city wall, keeping the enemy out, but it also blocks the expansion of the soldiers and horses in the western frontier. ”

Xia Fan looked at the sand table and said in disbelief: "Such a ridge can stop the soldiers and horses who have achieved cultivation?"

"Tongtian Ridge itself is not high, and the highest point is only three thousand zhang. Xia Xue said: "But what is really dangerous is the bad weather over Tongtian Ridge, the vicious demon beasts, and the violent thunder that may bombard down at any time. ”

"Where are there thunderbolts that often appear?" Xia Fan was taken aback.

"That's right. Xia Xue nodded and said, "Otherwise, how could the legend say that the gods of heaven were angry that the ancestors wanted to build a road to heaven without authorization, so they sent down a punishment to destroy it with heavenly thunder." ”

"The sky over Tongtian Ridge has been covered with clouds for many years, and there will be thunder bombardment every day, and sometimes there will even be thunder falling all day and night, such as heavy rain, hail and so on. ”

"In such weather, not to mention ordinary soldiers and horses, even cultivators of the Divine Spirit Realm may not be able to safely cross the mountains and skies of Tongtian Ridge. ”

"If it weren't for such a Heavenly Ridge blocking the way, the Great Sun Demon Kingdom on the opposite side might have already invaded the Western Frontier. ”

"As for Tongtian Pass......," Xia Xue said, pointing to a gap between Tongtian Ridge and Longshou Mountain, and said, "It's here." ”

"There is a gap about two hundred and thirty miles wide here, which cuts off the Tongtian Ridge, but it has also become the only passage that can safely connect the Western Frontier and the Great Sun Demon Kingdom. ”

"Although the mountains here are higher and more precipitous, and the thunder and thunder have been bombarded for many years, they rarely fall in this gap, so a city was built here to prevent the invasion of the Great Sun Demon Kingdom. ”

"Because this is the only passage from the Great Sun Demon Kingdom to the Western Frontier, it has been heavily guarded by heavy troops for many years, and the Great Sun Demon Kingdom has coveted this place for a long time, and it has also sent many soldiers and horses to watch here. ”

After saying this, Xia Xue paused and said, "Why did you suddenly remember to ask about this place?"

(End of chapter)