Yanmen County, originally placed by King Zhao during the Warring States Period, is located at the northern foot of Gouzhu Mountain (i.e., Yanmen Mountain) in the western section of the Hengshan Mountain Range in Beiyue.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the seat of Yanmen County was located in Shanwucheng, with a total of 14 counties.

Yanmen County, located in the first line bordering the grassland peoples, and living in the throat of the Sanjin Dynasty, is a veritable border county, and the smoke is continuous.

As a result, its officials are set up differently from those of the inland counties.

In addition to the county taishou located in Shanwu's administrative office, near the pass, there are also eastern and western governors, arranged in an east-west direction, so as to flexibly resist the Xiongnu.

At present, the Yanmen Taishou, who leads the military and people's livelihood of the whole county, is named Chen 圂 (huàn), and is an old subordinate of Chen Feng (xī), a hero of the veteran group.

Chen Feng is a native of the old Wei Dynasty, and he was also a ranger in his early years.

In the first year of King Huai of Chu, when the Chu army led by Liu Ji passed through Wanqu (qú) County, Chen Xian's hometown, Chen Xian led more than 500 righteous troops under his command and invested under Liu Ji, and since then he has become one of the most core heroes and generals in the early Han Dynasty.

Chen Feng has always been familiar with Zhang Cang, before Zhang Cang was transferred by Liu Ji to Zhao State as prime minister, the two of them were literate and martial, and they were stationed around Daidi all the year round, and they had a tacit understanding.

This time, it was rare for Zhang Cang to return to Yanmen County from Zhao State, but it was specifically for Liu Jing's departure.

Seeing that Zhang Cang and Chen Xuan, the two old superiors, came to guide in person, the county guard Chen Wei did his best, not too trivial, and prepared all kinds of supplies that Liu Jing and his party might need to go deep into the Xiongnu, and even checked the hooves of the horses in the team one by one.

In order to ensure that nothing went wrong, Chen Li discussed with Nie San, a border merchant who led the team, for a long time, and somehow found a few tall and sturdy "strange animals" for the mission.

This is Liu Jing, a Qi person, who saw the legendary camel for the first time in his life.

He had a grudge against such strangely described creatures, but when he heard that they could be ridden, pulled, and carried, and that they could travel two hundred miles a day without fatigue, and that they could go days without eating or drinking, he gladly incorporated these behemoths into his long-distance journey.

Everything is ready, just wait to get out of Yanmen, all the way north.

***

The day before Liu Jing and the others set off, Chen Wei led Zhang Cang and Chen Feng to climb the Great Wall built on the ridge of Yanmen Mountain along the winding ancient path.

The mountain of Yanmen Mountain is not extremely high, but the east and west mountains are steep and steep, showing the state of confrontation between the two mountains, its shape is like a door, as if only the geese in the sky can enter and exit in the meantime, so it gets this name.

In addition to the inherent natural hazards, there is also a majestic Great Wall, serpentine on the ridge, stretching to the sky, and the steep terrain against each other, together creating the famous "Yanmen Eighteen Passes".

And unless it flies over from the air, the only passable middle road on the ground, hovering and rugged, known as the "first pass of the Nine Stops", is firmly stuck in this middle road, which is the easiest to defend and difficult to attack.

The three of them looked down from the ridge and saw that the south was full of desert flat fields, and the north was an endless grassland, separated by mountains, forming a sharp contrast.

This is a barrier formed by earth, stone and flesh, distinguishing between the interior and the outside of the Saiwai, the Central Plains and the Mobei, agriculture and nomadism, and also symbolizes the frontier and the enemy, the conquest and the parting, the loyalty and the martyrdom -

If the Central Plains regime wants to expand outward, it needs to cross the Yanmen Mountain;

If the nomads want to let the south peep into the south, they also need to cross the Yanmen Mountain.

Those who win the Yanmen will win the world, and those who lose the Yanmen will lose the Central Plains.

Therefore, as early as a hundred years ago, Zhao Suhou, the father of King Zhao Wuling, took advantage of the topography here to build the predecessor of the Great Wall of Qin and Han Dynasty, Zhao Beicheng.

Later, Prince Wuling of Zhao inherited his father's business, Hu Fu rode and shot, broke Lou Fu, Lin Hu and other foreign races, and established Yanmen County, and then there was a long garrison of Li Mu, the general of Zhao State, to resist the Xiongnu.

But now, Liu Jing has to go out of this pass, go to the unknown danger, and fight for several years of peace and respite for the imperial court with his incorruptible tongue.

Zhang Cangmo counted the endless enemy towers and beacon towers, and couldn't help sighing,

"I originally thought that Liu Jing, who had offered a peaceful approach, must be a coward.

But he dared to risk his life and go deep into the barrenness, which made the heroes of the world ashamed.

Come to think of it, in order to defend the way he believes, he probably went to the soup and did not hesitate to do anything. ”

***

Standing on the tower of the city where the wind was hunting, the crowd of farewell was condescending, reluctantly looking at the messengers, watching them closely follow the leadership of Nie San, and walked out of the pass and into the distance.

"Is this Nie San reliable?"

"It is said that Nie San is the guest of honor of the Xiongnu clan, so it shouldn't be a big problem......"

"Lord Liu, after all, he is also a celebrity who was given the surname of the country by His Majesty, will he never go back?"

The figures of the envoys became smaller and smaller, and gradually, even the straight bright red knots inserted in the car behind Liu Jing could not be seen.

Seeing them gradually disappear into the gray and green sky, the questions and worries in the eyes of the county guard Chen Qian and his subordinates became more and more obvious.

Seeing the doubts of this group of martial artists, Chen Feng glared at them fiercely, and then turned his face to Zhang Cang and said,

“…… That, Lao Nie won't sell Liu Jing, right? ”

"You can't be like them, just worrying about the sky.

Liu Jing is gone, if something really happens, can you still send troops to rescue him? ”

Zhang Cang looked at Chen Feng angrily, and saw that he was speechless, so he softened his tone and said,

"Nie San led the caravan to trade on both sides, and it has been so many years in a blink of an eye, it can be regarded as being done under the noses of the two of us.

Don't you know what he's going to do?

Liu Jing went, at most he couldn't talk about it, and he was detained by the Huns, and he returned in vain.

As long as he didn't talk nonsense, Mao Dun wouldn't necessarily make him blood splatter on the spot. ”

Zhang Cang's words were not so much to comfort Chen Feng as to comfort himself.

"Do you look at Liu Jing's dumb look, as if he was acting on the plane?"

Chen Feng pursed his lips and said that Liu Jing's prospect of going here was more than lucky.

"It's useless to look through the autumn water now, you guys keep the pass steadfastly, and wait for him to come back.

Lao Nie, it's quite reliable. ”

Zhang Cang patted Chen Yan on the shoulder, nodded to Chen Wei again, and slowly walked down the city tower.

***

Liu Jing, who was evaluated as a dull head, got along exceptionally well with Nie San.

Originally, Liu Jing kept an eye on it, and memorized it along the way, wanting to draw the direction of the Xiongnu royal court with his own memory;

But as their horse team continued deeper and deeper into the grassland, they saw that in addition to the identical grass, they were exactly the same flock of sheep on the slopes of the mountain.

Even the rolling hills in the distance look exactly the same, and there is not even a single sight to mark.

Liu Jing then dismissed the idea of drawing a map, and only concentrated on chatting with Lao Nie.

Hearing that Nie San had been supplying the Yan clan of Mao Dun all the year round, he couldn't help but be curious, and asked the question that had been bothering him,

"How did I hear that Mao Dun Shan Yu's Yan clan had already been shot to death by him with a Ming Di?

Could it be that Shan Yu has continued the string again? ”

Lao Nie couldn't cry or laugh,

"My lord, why do you all have hearsay and speculation.

The Yan family, which does not specifically refer to the queen of Shan Yu, the various concubines in the Han population, are also called the Yan family in the Xiongnu.

Even the mother of Shan Yu, as well as the wives and concubines of the following kings, can also be called the Yan family. ”

"Oh, I see.

Do they have the status of the big and small clans? ”

"Yes, the Yan clan we are going to see this time is even the big Yan clan in your mouth.

This Yan clan, Mao Dunshan didn't dare to shoot to death. ”