The streets of Hongyi City are actually not narrow, but there are too many lively people to join the Dragon Regiment to go on the expedition, and the streets reserved for the Dragon Regiment are not spacious, even if it is difficult to ride three horses side by side. However, what made Ren Tianxiang happy was that the two leading teams in front did not care about the above meaning, they led the horses and galloped on the not spacious streets, and Ren Tianxiang and their teams followed the example of these two teams, one followed one person, and eight people lined up in a row, closely following the two leading teams.

After about a stick of incense, Ren Tianxiang and the others had already passed through the gate of Hongyi City, came to the plain in front of Hongyi City, and rushed towards the Changhe Pass in the south.

It has to be mentioned here that because of the location of the Ryujin Continent, according to modern geography, the Yokohoku Mountain Range almost follows a meridian through the North Pole to divide the entire continent in two. In other words, these two parts of the continent are considered southern for the North Pole, and in order to distinguish between these two parts, they were established by the emperor of the Wind and Snow Empire, who was the first to unify the continent, and the part where the capital of the Wind and Snow Empire, Tiandu, which was later the Heart City, was located, was the southern continent, and the other part was the northern continent. Since ancient times, the people of the Ryujin Continent have used the North Pole as the center to judge the direction, and for the cities built on the Yokotaku Mountain Range, they are located exactly on the dividing line between the north and the south, and on both sides of them, they belong to the south. This is also a unique custom of the Dragon God Continent, a special custom that cannot be possessed in any era, although it is troublesome, but the people of the Dragon God Continent have used it for hundreds of thousands of years, and they basically can't make any mistakes.

Ren Tianxiang and the others are now starting from the city gate of Hongyi City facing the southern continent, all the way south, to reach the Changhe Pass, which is dozens of kilometers away from Hongyi City.

The road leading to Changheguan is wide, and it belongs to the kind of terrain where it is difficult to see the mountains unless you turn back. This is a unique terrain in the vicinity of the Yokochi Mountains, which rise up like folds in a garment, and the terrain on both sides of the Yokochiku Mountains is almost always plain.

However, the plains area is advantageous for the four border cities, which eliminates the possibility of the Dragon King Empire sneaking up on the border to a certain extent, after all, to reach the Star Emperor Border, you must cross these plains, and how can the army of the Dragon King Empire hide?

The plains are also excellent for warhorses, so that they can run wild without worrying about rough roads and annoying wetland swamps.

Mercedes was running on the official road, getting closer and closer to Changhe Pass, and Ren Tianxiang was getting calmer and calmer. Maybe it's because of Xuanyuan's cultivation a few years ago, which caused him to be extremely calm when facing battle, or maybe it was the battlefield he imagined that made it difficult for him to get excited.

Gradually, on the dirt roads on both sides of the official road, people with the appearance of small freight carriages appeared one after another from the direction of Changhe Pass, as if they were going to Hongyi City.

When Ren Tianxiang saw these people, he couldn't help but be a little puzzled. As far as he knew, Changheguan was a military fortress that was not inhabited by ordinary people, and Hongyi City was not a trading city like another border city, Mingde City, and there would never be merchants going to or from the Dragon King Empire through Changheguan. And now the people he saw were obviously the people who had returned from Changhe Pass, could it be that Hongyi City had become a trading city when he didn't know it?

So he drove his horse a few steps briskly and walked side by side with Xuanyuan Liuli, and then told Xuanyuan Liuli this question.

Xuanyuan Liuli couldn't help but sneer when he heard his doubts, and said: "Tianxiang, everyone says that you are smart, why can't you turn a corner at this time? Who said that those who go to Changhe Pass must be merchants? Don't you see that these people's freight carriages are all empty? They are obviously hired to deliver supplies to Changhe Pass." ”

"Transporting supplies?" Ren Tianxiang was still puzzled, "Shouldn't it be the army's baggage troops who transport supplies?

"You don't know that. On the border, especially the defense line with three checkpoints like Hongyi City, the total number of troops is not much different from the other three borders, and Hongyi City will divide the army into three parts and garrison three checkpoints, while the Northwest Army and the Northeast Group Army will only have troops sent to support in wartime, and the strength of Hongyi City in peacetime is only the garrison corps of the Hongyi City defense line, so Hongyi City will appear to be a little short of troops. Therefore, Hongyi City has not set up a special baggage force for a long time, but temporarily hired coachmen in Hongyi City to transport supplies. These coachmen will return to Hongyi City as soon as they finish delivering the supplies, and some of the ones who move quickly may even be able to send them a second time. And as far as I know, the funds for hiring these drivers have always been from the Li family. ”

"However, isn't this very unreliable? How can a coachman have a specialty in a baggage unit? Moreover, is the Li family crazy? Hiring a coachman at his own expense instead of raising a baggage unit at the expense of the military department?" Ren Tianxiang raised a new question.

Xuanyuan Liuli glanced at Ren Tianxiang deeply, then looked around for a moment, making sure that no one was paying attention to them before saying, "It's normal that you don't know these things. Hongyi City is the fief of the Li family, and the Li family has the final say in many things, and the Li family also has great prestige in the army. But Tianxiang, let me ask you, which department of the imperial court is Li Xinda, the city lord of Hongyi City, from?"

"Prime Minister's Mansion?"

"According to the bureaucracy of the Star Emperor, that's right. But in fact, in Hongyi City, it is the Li family who is in charge, and the city lord of Li Xinda is not from the Prime Minister's Mansion, but from the Li family. Then let me ask you again, which department is the commander of the legion stationed in the defense line of Hongyi City?"

"Military Department, I'm sure of this, the imperial court will never arrange people from the same faction to be in charge of administration and military affairs in a city. ”

"That's right, now Zhou Zhixuan, the commander of the Hongyi City Defense Line Garrison Corps, is an authentic military person, he is the commander of the Hongyi City Defense Line personally appointed by Chen Ziang, the military commander-in-chief, and belongs to the Central Imperial Court. Now I will answer your question, why did Hongyi City not set up a baggage army. Now the number of legions stationed on the defense line of Hongyi City has been determined after nearly a thousand years of adjustment, and this number of soldiers, without affecting the premise of guarding the border, the garrison legion is not sure that it can suppress the city lord's mansion, and on the contrary, the city lord's mansion has no way to garrison the legion, and this situation has formed a balance. But if you increase the number of troops stationed in the army, this balance will be broken, and in Hongyi City, where the Li family almost has the final say, God knows what the Li family will do. ”

"In other words, the current situation in Hongyi City is the result of the game between the Li family and the military department?"

"It's not with the military department, but the Li family is playing with the imperial court. The Li family was made a marquis because of Li Hongtu, the general who protected the country thousands of years ago, and was given the fief Hongyi City, which is considered a relatively old hereditary nobleman in the Star Emperor Kingdom, and the Chen family in Guangya City and the Lin family in Mingzhi City are the same. It was actually a wrong decision to hand over the borders to the princes, so the emperor always wanted to bring these three borders into the hands of the imperial court. But the Li family, the Chen family, and the Lin family are all old aristocrats, and once one family is stabbed, the other two families will definitely not sit still. Moreover, in addition to these three families, there are more than a dozen hereditary marquis in the empire scattered throughout the empire. The hereditary marquis of these non-border areas, the imperial court did not strictly control them, and some marquis could even be the commander of the city defense army. These marquis with foreign surnames are all looking at the imperial court, once the imperial court makes a move on the border three...... The Empire can't afford a civil war right now......"

"The aristocracy of the Empire?"

"Yes, but as far as I know, the imperial court already has some measures to deal with it. Like a few decades ago, when His Majesty Xingyao was still in power, His Majesty Xingyao's younger brother Xingmang was the king of Mingde, and he was the commander of the Mingde City defense line and the Mingde Xuan cavalry. And the city lord of Mingde City was personally appointed by His Majesty Xingyao, and he was regarded as a person from the Prime Minister's Mansion, so he could be regarded as firmly controlling Mingde City in the hands of the imperial court.

Moreover, I always feel that the matter of Mingde City is just the beginning, and if I don't take all the borders into my own hands, the emperor may not be able to sleep at night......"

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