The cold wind from the northern grasslands was still wringing in the two cities, rolling up thousands of yellow sands, and there was a solemn silence.

The lively atmosphere has long since disappeared, and all the sergeants in the Erniang Inn have left, including Na Hu Sloppy and Sergeant Li.

The military order is like a mountain, and no one dares to joke about this.

"You, follow me to the Inner City Palace's Marshal's Mansion!" The moment he turned over and got on his horse, Li Xin ordered without looking back.

When Yang Tingfeng heard this, he couldn't help but be taken aback again. Why is it so urgent? Are you going to the Shuaifu today to receive the flag appointment?

However, surprised to surprised, he still clenched his fists and said, "No! ”

"Drive!"

The sound of horses' hooves sounded again, Li Xin galloped in front, Yang Tingfeng followed, and the two horses flew out, like two lightning bolts splitting the sky, along the winding post road, and disappeared.

At dusk, the two of them arrived at the inner city of Zisai, only to see people and horses coming and going, the lights were bright, and the noise was terrible.

This is the inner city of Zisai, and it is also the Zisai mutual market for free trade with the countries of the Western Regions.

Yang Tingfeng looked at it at a glance and saw that a main post road ran through the east and west, north and south.

On both sides of the avenue, there are traders from the Western Regions who are full of deep-nosed and high-eyed Western Regions vendors selling along the street, and various Western Regions specialties such as fat sheep and horses, furs and spices are dazzling, making people dazzle and dazzle.

On the other side, there are all kinds of stack shops in Dayin. This tea, silk, porcelain, brocade cloth has everything; In addition, there are many fresh melons, fruits and vegetables sent from Yingzhou, mountain delicacies and wild game from Yunzhou, and fresh fish from Jianghuai land, which are lined up on both sides of the store.

In the midst of this loud noise, there were still many women's cries from time to time.

Yang Tingfeng looked up, and saw that both sides of the street were full of ragged and blood-covered women, from different countries such as Pars, Body Poison, Yueshi, Shanxi, Izumo, etc., and even the "Negro" woman from the other side of the ocean, with a dark body, was not uncommon......

The women, without exception, had been stripped of their tunics, had the mark of a slave on their right arm with a soldering iron, had countless terrible whip marks on their backs, and had a chain dangling from their feet.

Purple plug.

Strategically located, trade has flourished since ancient times, and for hundreds of years, merchants from all over the world have brought a steady stream of wealth to the fortress.

However, since ancient times, the literati have shown skepticism about the construction of this long broken wall by successive dynasties, and they have not spared pen and ink to compete with each other to ridicule it, laughing at its imperfections when the country is in danger, and as if it does not exist when it is peaceful.

Only the soldiers guarding the frontier know that Zisai is not a wall made of stones, it is also an escort formation connecting the Silk Road in Eurasia.

It is also the economic trump card of China Shenzhou, according to the need, the decision-makers can not only deal with the nomads to carry out economic blockade, so that speculative merchants, materials, and technology can not flow at will, so as to achieve the purpose of strategic siege.

It can also use inter-market trade as a bargaining chip to become our current customs.

In short, the purple plug is a carrot and a stick.

It can be a defensive war as well as a trade war.

Zisai is not a wall, in the north of the Eurasian continent, the grassland stretches from the northeast and west of Shenzhou, to the west, through Mobei, Tsarist Russia, Almaty, Rakshasa fruit, Dacia, Magyar and the lower reaches of the Danube River in Europe, constituting one of the most extensive Asian steppe areas in the world.

In ancient history, these tens of millions of square kilometers of grassland area were the 'cavalry corridor' of the steppe peoples, who came and went like the wind, scimitars and fierce horses.

The Zisai Great Wall, which is laid on the lofty mountains, is the 'Mannerheim Line' of the life-and-death game between the farming people of China and the northern nomads.

And Zisai, what can be brought to the Dayin Dynasty is nearly a quarter of the annual tax revenue of the national treasury.

The slave business accounted for a large part of this.

If you think about it carefully, what kind of business in this world can compare to the slave trade, which is a lucrative business?

In this inhumane trade activity, countries accelerated the primitive accumulation of capital and promoted economic prosperity, so the imperial court repeatedly banned it.

The female slaves saw Yang Tingfeng looking, and then saw the armored beast helmet, knowing that it was a big Yin soldier with a lofty status, and they all cast their expectant eyes.

Seeing this, Yang Tingfeng was slightly stunned, suddenly blushed, sighed secretly, pulled the reins fiercely, and just lowered his head and walked away.

He was just a soldier, a small man, and although he had compassion, he didn't have any power to change the current situation.

No, don't say it's him.

Even if the imperial court is a military attaché and the supreme military and political head of the three northwestern provinces and six towns, in the face of this slave trade, I am afraid there is no way to completely stop it.

The man also knows that Ge Shu has been in charge of Zisai for nearly 30 years, and he has always turned a blind eye to this matter under the rule of iron-fisted and thunderous means.

"Perhaps, among the salaries of the 100,000 border troops, this slave trade is probably also the most important source of income." Yang Tingfeng smiled helplessly, even if he was rough and tenacious by nature, he had to sigh that he was in the rivers and lakes, and he couldn't help himself.

The rivers and lakes are like this, and the court, why is it not like this?

......

The inner city, the border army's heavy treasury.

Rows of warehouses made of stone, with red paint written on the walls of the words "trespassers beheaded".

Around the warehouse, there is a post in three steps, a post in five steps, and a soldier of the middle base battalion standing with guns and sabers, and the guard is extremely strict.

When the twilight shrouded the corner tower of the treasury, in the boundless darkness, there were no traces of snowflakes quietly floating.

In the wind and snow, at the end of the road, several figures wearing cloaks walked towards the vermilion lacquer gate of the mansion.

Although it was snowing heavily, the sergeants guarding the treasury gradually saw the appearance of the person who came - he was wearing a Yinwu helmet on his head and General Mingguang armor on his body, which was an armor that only military attachés of the second rank or above in the imperial court were allowed to wear—the deputy commander of the Zisai Border Army and the 'chief detective of the three armies and the chief detective of the secret of the three armies'.

In addition, there are also Xu Andu, the 'Right Governor' of Dongying, Han Tianwei, the 'Left Governor' of Xiying, Li Chengxun, the 'Xiaoqi Zhonglang General', and Chang Chifeng and Zhang Jingqian, the Yu Commander, who were suddenly named as the second military staff by Ge Shu Lao Shuai in the month of the previous year.

Speaking of this military staff system, it is also unique to the Zisai border army.

It is divided into ten seats, and the chief is Tan Xu, who is in the class with Ge Shu.

The second seat is Chang Chifeng, and the second team is formed with Deputy Marshal Hu Yanhui.

If the old commander is not there or dies in battle, then the second class can take over all the military and political power of Zisai.

If the second team is also killed, Xu An of the third class will lead the three Cui Liang to take over, and so on.

Chang Chifeng followed Hu Yanhui's side, squinting his eyes and looking around, like a child - full of curiosity about everything.

Hu Yanhui looked at him like that, and couldn't help but smile and said, "Taixue is the first time to come to the border army's heavy treasury?" ”

Chang Chifeng also had a smile on his lips: "Yes, I have heard that the strict defense of the Purple Saibian Army's heavy treasury is the example of the whole army of Dayin, and I can see it today, so I know that this is true!" ”

Hu Yanhui immediately became interested, and he pointed to Chang Qifeng and said: "Taixue, you see, these patrolling spearmen are all the captains and chiefs of the middle base battalion, and each of them can be ten with one." On the surrounding corner towers, there are fifty of my soldiers who 'don't collect at night', controlling any enemy situation within a radius of 100 meters. Look again, this is the cellar, the cellar stores grain; Look, this is the forage field, the armory, the Guangchu Division...... Look, this is the Fire Corner, which is equipped with a hundred soldiers, and is fully responsible for the fire administration in the region, everything is available. ”

Chang Chifeng exclaimed: "How can the deputy marshal be so familiar with the situation of the treasury, what a treasure!" ”

Zhang Jingqian, the chief of the Yu Division, who had been with him, lost no time in interjecting: "Mr. Chang, do you know that this Zisaibian Army's heavy treasury was planned by the deputy marshal and personally supervised it. ”

Hu Yanhui smiled and said, "Okay, Jing Qian, it's over." ”

He Zhang Jingqian, knowing that Hu Yanhui was talking back, and he was harsh on the surface, but in fact he was quite useful, so he continued: "The humble position is not exaggerated, in the third year of Emperor Wu, the humble position still remembers that when he built the army's arrow storehouse, the deputy marshal once stomped on his feet and shortened his clothes, and personally surveyed and mapped and explored....." Suddenly, Zhang Jingqian kept silent.

Chang Chifeng was slightly stunned, but shrewdly, he immediately caught a flash of melancholy from Zhang Jingqian's eyebrows......

Hu Yanhui didn't notice his change, but was reminded by him, and said with great interest: "Let's go, Taixue, let's take you to the arrow library to have a look!" What goose feather arrows, jackdaw arrows, five-toothed arrows, star-chasing arrows, oops, guaranteed to dazzle you and open your eyes. ”

After speaking, he pulled Chang Chifeng straight and walked in the direction of the arrow storehouse.

The group said as they walked, and Zhang Jingqian walked in the front, opening the door of the arrow warehouse early, and the heavy Zhu Gate with the head of the gilded swallowing beast made a slow and low voice.

He didn't seem to give up, and continued to dissuade: "Deputy Marshal, no flammable things such as straw are allowed in the warehouse, so this cold is heavier than outside, your old legs ....... You don't have to go in, do you? ”

Hu Yanhui was talking with his eyebrows fluttering, and when he heard the words, he stopped: "En? Jingqian, what do you say? ”

Zhang Jingqian smiled, "The humble position means that the adult's leg hurts badly when it gets cold...... Can't sleep all night! ”

Before he finished speaking, Hu Yanhui laughed, "Jingqian, you kid has followed me for many years, and it's not that I don't know, old man, I am from a 'night don't collect'." This body is not so delicate, back then you went deep into the hinterland of the Beiban grassland with the old man for 3,000 miles, but it was much colder than here. Besides, we are not even afraid of death, are we afraid that this old cold leg will not succeed? Walk! ”

As soon as the words fell, Hu Yanhui entered the arrow warehouse surrounded by everyone.

In the arrow warehouse, the cage boxes are stacked neatly and orderly.

Hu Yanhui walked slowly in the aisle between the cage boxes, and said with concern as he walked: "Jingqian, these arrows won't get wet, right?" ”

Zhang Jingqian took a step forward, clasped his fists and said, "No." Adults, please see, the shelves of the stacked cage boxes are three feet seven inches above the ground, there are air windows on the shelves, and the ventilation is good, these arrows were sent from the Imperial Capital Ordnance Bureau three years ago, and they have not been damp at all. ”

Hu Yanhui was still not at ease, and ordered: "Open!" ”

Zhang Jingqian hurriedly moved a cage box, pried open the rivets with his own hands, opened it and saw that there were ten in a row, erecting five columns of brand-new hard-cutting arrows, lying quietly in the box.

Hu Yanhui took out one, stroked it for a moment, nodded with satisfaction, and put the arrow back in the box, but did not leave.

He strode into the depths, and everyone did not know what medicine he was selling in his gourd, so they had to follow him in.

After walking less than ten steps, Hu Yanhui suddenly raised his hand and put it on a cage box in the middle, but when he heard the noise, the strong wind dispersed, and only the faces of everyone on the side were painful.

Zhang Jingqian's face changed, Hu Yanhui pointed his hand, and said to Zhang Jingqian: "Open!" ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a plop, and he fell to his knees, his face frightened.

Hu Yanhui's eyes suddenly condensed, and he shook his wrist slightly, "pop", with a bang, the cage box broke, and a pile of dead grass rolled out of the box!

Then, he continued to slap his palm, without pause, shattering the cage box, which was full of dead grass......

He didn't say a word, but every time he opened the box, his eyes looked at Zhang Jingqian fiercely, and his eyes gradually turned into ice.

Zhang Jingqian's face was like ashes in an instant, his lips were pale, his knees kept trembling, and he slowly collapsed to the ground.

Hu Yanhui glanced at Li Chengxun, the 'Xiaoqi Zhonglang General', and nodded slightly - only hearing the sound of "choking", Li Chengxun had already drawn the knife in his hand, the knife was like autumn water, the knife light was like practice, and the cold blade was stretched with a special fine pattern, which the blacksmiths called "iron snowflakes".

Zhang Jingqian saw Li Chengxun drawing his knife and staring, his eyes were cold, knowing that the catastrophe was coming, he suddenly shouted: "Deputy marshal, I am wronged-"

Before the words could be spoken, the sword light swept by, a cavity of blood splattered, the head rolled off, the corners of the mouth were still opening and closing, and he was still speaking, but he did not make any sound......