After repeated fierce battles, Guanzhong fell into chaos. Countless people ran around and told each other, spreading the news to the south step by step.

Since Hanzhong is separated by Guanzhong and Yizhou, the news received by Yizhou is not only slow, but is often mixed with various speculations and rumors.

Some say that Prime Minister Cao gathered in Hebei, with 500,000 troops from the Central Plains. He had already detained Tongguan and killed Ma Chao and Han Sui; some say that Ma Chao and Han Sui and others were attacked by Xiahou Yuan, and tens of thousands of soldiers collapsed. He rode alone into the mountains and disappeared. The most outrageous statement said that Xiahou Yuan betrayed Cao Gong and joined forces with Han Sui's troops to raise an army together, intending to seize Guanzhong, and Ma Chao was loyal to Xuchang, so he was the first to be put on the knife.

All the news was true and false. For a time, Yizhou was at a loss, and more strange rumors arose. When all the rumors came to the end, the conclusion often came to: Cao Gong was coming, and he was not enough to protect Yizhou unless he was the Left General.

At this time, Lei Yuan's troops, who were in Brazil, seemed to be completely unwilling to the surrounding turmoil. They were wholeheartedly patrolling the various parts of the controlled area, appeased the people, and gathered refugees who had died due to the war. However, Lei Yuan, Lujiang, was obviously a military general, rarely stayed in the military camp, and was keen on fulfilling the duties of local officials. In his spare time, he lingered among the mountains and rivers around Dangqu.

Many people have seen him and his subordinates wearing light straw shoes and holding bamboo sticks to climb up the mountain to see the scenery. The officials and the people think that as long as they see this young general so leisurely, it means that there will be no war in the near future. For some reason, they slowly calmed down. Even Pang Xi, the prefect of Brazil who belonged to Liu Yizhou, gradually relaxed, and recently exchanged letters with Lei Yuan and talked about gossip about 4 or 6.

On this day, Lei Yuan took Lei Cheng and Li Zhen to climb a mountain in Huaying Mountain northeast of Dangqu. This mountain is close to the plains and the mountain is not high, but the scenery is very beautiful. The valleys in the mountains are gentle and you don’t feel tired when you walk. The group of people walked around the mountain slowly. Sometimes clouds and mist sink down along the hillside, blocking the vast blue sky and scattering a moist and refreshing atmosphere in the air.

Huaying Mountain runs north and south, extending for hundreds of miles. Its northern end is connected to Daba Mountain, and the south end extends horizontally with Dangqu to Dianjiang. The peaks of this mountain stand tall, with the mountains covered with sky pits, caves, underground rivers, and mulberry forests. Xuanhan County, in the eastern part of Brazil County, is located east of Huaying Mountain and has been occupied by barbarians for a long time.

Lei Yuan asked while walking, "Hanzhang, can you find out the situation in Xuanhan County?"

These days, Zheng Jin's whereabouts were mysterious and often not around Lei Yuan. Therefore, Li Zhen was responsible for all the work of the sentry detectives. Li Zhen was picking a bunch of wild fruits to eat. When he heard Lei Yuan ask, he threw the wild fruits into the forest and sighed.

"In Xuanhan County, except for one county town, all the mountains and forests are deep mountains and dense forests. Ba and Guan tribes have been entrenched in it for many years and are deeply rooted. Our scouts are not familiar with the terrain and do not understand the local customs, so it is really difficult to go deeper. A few days ago, I asked Feng Le to pick out a few capable domestic slaves, and then selected a few smart people from the prisoners who were arrested before, luring them to Xuanhan for investigation...but they only returned two."

"I remember the last time you said, I sent out ten people in front and after. Only two came back?"

"That's right. The situation of the various tribes in this place is different from that of the Wuxi Man. The Wuxi Man is divided into countless species, and the Qu generals are still attacking each other. However, the Ba and the Jin tribes in this place have been established seriously in ancient times. For example, Dangqu City was the capital of the former Jinguo. So those people are more..." Li Zhen thought for a while: "It is more orderly and has a stronger sense of vigilance towards outsiders."

Lei Yuan nodded: "What's the situation reported to the two who came back?"

"They only know a rough idea. According to their statement, since Park Hu was killed at the head of Dangqu City, the barbarians in Hanchang have fallen into chaos. Because Xu Huang retreated, Cao's army lost power, and no one can suppress it with powerful means. At present, the tribes are arguing with each other and guard against each other."

While organizing the language, Li Zhen said: "The strongest ones are naturally Du Bin and Yuan Yue, but they have recently been interested in migrating their tribes to Hanzhong, so their influence in the local area has been shaken. Then there are the remaining troops of Park Hu, which are now divided into three or four branches, and there are also some smaller tribes. Du Bin and Yuan Yue each retain more than 3,000 genocides in Xuanhan, and the rest of the species have fallen by about hundreds, with a total of about 20,000 genocides. If Du Bin and Yuan Yue are inciting them effectively, they will gradually reduce them."

Lei Yuan nodded and said, "There are really a lot of people. The number we can control around Dangqu City is only 20,000. Moreover, they are also in line with the barbarians in Badong County, Ba County and other places. If something happens, it will be difficult to deal with. The main reason is that Shamoko will be more worried."

During the Yongxing period of Emperor Huan, Sanba belonged to a total of 14 counties, with households of 460,000 and 1.87 million. Sixty years later, only looking at the Dangqu, the actual household registration was less than 30% of the past. The wars, famines, epidemics, and even the urgency of officials and the exploitation of powerful people were unimaginable.

At this time, the group followed the sound of water and found a sweet spring in the mountains. Lei Cheng cheered and jumped into the spring to drink. The other entourage also went to the skin to pack the water.

Li Zhen followed Lei Yuan step by step and whispered: "Samoke is naturally attentive. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"General, Shamoko has never fought a serious battle since he came to Brazil. Instead, he tried his best to repair the local barbarians, and even brag about himself under the banner of a general. After all, this person is not of my race, so do you need to control it a little?"

"It's great that Shamoko's movements can't be hidden from you." Lei Yuan laughed: "But, don't worry for the time being. What he is doing now is exactly what I need him to do."

Li Zhen was a little puzzled, but bowed and said, "Yes."

Lei Yuan paused and explained to Li Zhen: "One, without his actions along Huaying Mountain, our Dangqu and Hanchang would not be stable. Second, Shamoke tried his best to rush in the mountains, not to expand his power, but to seek local specialties such as rhinoceros skin, ox horns, stone honey, etc., and tried to open a business road to Lexiang. His mind was getting better and better, which is a good thing. Three..."

Lei Yuan hesitated for a moment, and saw that the other entourages were a little farther away, so he briefly said: "Where Shamoke goes, he is under my banner. In this way, Pang Xi, Yan Yan and others around him will think that I really want to infiltrate the power of the East Ba and the Jinmao tribe."

Isn't it? Did I have been busy for the past few days? Li Zhen was confused for a moment, and then showed a sudden enlightenment. He wanted to say something, and saw Lei Yuan's eyes, and quickly reached out to cover his mouth.

Li Zhen is a confidant around Lei Yuan, and he will inevitably know more than others, earlier; but if he doesn't know the importance of it, he will have ten heads, which are also cut off by Lei Yuan.

In the past period of time, Lei Yuan sent spies to the east of Huaying Mountain on the one hand, and asked Shamoko to try his best to expand his influence in Huaying Mountain on the other hand, and personally paid attention to the civil affairs of Dangqu and Hanchang counties... These are all pretexts.

He went out of the city to travel from time to time, as if he was free and leisurely, but still a cover.

Half a month ago, Liu Jiyu's subordinate was responsible for formally inviting Duke Xuande to Sichuan, Fa Zheng. Meng Da had arrived in Jiangling, and Duke Xuande immediately promised to enter Shu to assist in the fight against Cao.

At the same time, Guo Jing and Ding Feng's two battalions disguised themselves as supplies and supplies teams, set off from Yidu and headed to Dangqu. In addition, Lei Yuan recruited new recruits in the name of the Baqi tribe, the Jingzhou army could use 4,000 troops in Brazil.
Chapter completed!