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During the Baima Mountain War in the Ming Dynasty that lasted for several years, Ye Xueguan has always been the center of the second line of defense of the Ming Dynasty, and it was also the battlefield command post. The Governor-General of the Ming Dynasty, the Military Affairs Office of Western Sichuan, and the Daomen Western Sichuan Xuanwei Division Wartime Affairs Office were both located here.
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During the summer offensive in the fifteenth year of Jiajing, the Ming army concentrated on Xiaoshan Guard, Loushan Guard, Baima Qianhu Station, Yulong Qianhu Station, and Diexi Qianhu Station, totaling more than 17,000 troops, and deployed the Xia army at
All the forts outside the White Horse Mountain were conquered and a great victory was achieved. At that time, the Ming army and the Daomen unanimously judged that the war situation had entered a new turning stage. The White Horse Mountain would be recaptured in one year, or at most two years, and the Ming Dynasty would recover what had been lost since the war began.
Baima Mountain and the homeland 200 miles to the west, the confrontation line will be moved back to the Minshan area next summer.
Unfortunately, two years have passed, and Baima Mountain is still firmly occupied by the Xia army, and the passage to the west has not yet been opened.
The protracted and unsuccessful war made the emperor very angry. Li Shi, the bachelor of Huagaidian and the first assistant, was so worried about it that he couldn't even get sick. The cabinet was acted by Xia Yan, the bachelor of Wuyingdian and the second assistant. After Xia Yan took charge, the first thing
That is to take down Li Chengkui, the former military governor of western Sichuan, and replace him with Zhou Gao.
Speaking of Zhou Gong, Zhao Ran had actually seen him before. When he first entered Wuji Academy, he attended the Beacon Villa Gathering with Yu Zhiyuan. The owner of the Villa was Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Zhou admired his calligraphy very much.
, and even asked him for his official title. Zhou Gao had a prosperous official career in the past few years. He first entered Sichuan as the prefect of Long'an and was appointed as the right counselor of the political envoy. Two years later, he was transferred to the left counselor and the right governor. The year before last, he was appointed as the governor-general of military affairs in western Sichuan.
Yamen, with the rank of chief minister, helps handle military affairs.
While assisting in military affairs, Zhou Miao showed a lot of military talents. He personally initiated and presided over the summer offensive the year before last year. In the past few years, Zhou Miao followed Xia Yan's path, and Xia Yan took charge of the cabinet as a secondary assistant.
, the first move was to replace Li Chengkui and take full charge of military affairs in western Sichuan.
Knowing that the current Governor of Western Sichuan is Zhou Gao, Zhao Ran couldn't help but recall the scene at Beacon Villa that day. However, after arriving at Ye Xueguan, he gave up this thought. Today's Ye Xueguan is even more beautiful than when he came that day.
It was heavily guarded and busier at the same time. New military camps were built around Ye Xueguan. Brigades of chariots and horses pulling all kinds of combat supplies crowded the official roads of Ye Xueguan. I want to see this newly appointed officer.
Governor Zhou is about to start a big fight. It is a bit inappropriate to visit Governor Zhou at this time and will only annoy people.
After leaving Qingcheng Mountain, Zhao Ran put on a mask. He changed into the clothes of a merchant, and when he entered Ye Xueguan, he also took out the road guide from Cheng'an, the owner of Chengji Shop.
After entering the city, Zhao Ran went straight to the Yongfu Inn and asked the store owner. He found out that Chengji Store had arrived here ten days ago. Li Laoshi, the store owner, was about to go out when he happened to bump into Zhao Ran and immediately went up to say hello.
Take him to the upper room, which has been wrapped up, to rest.
Li Laoshi is about fifty years old, dark and thin. As expected, he doesn't like to talk much. He basically answers Zhao Ran's questions. There is a small magic circle in the mask instrument that converts sounds, and the intonation and sound he speaks are all
It was settled, so Zhao Ran didn't show any flaws.
After Zhao Ran asked about the general situation, he waved Li Laoshi away and made an appointment to set off early the next morning.
There was nothing to say that day. Zhao Ran stayed in the room and continued to practice hard on the forbidden technique, improving the purity of his spells little by little.
Before dawn on the third day, the caravan set off. A dozen guys drove five large mule carts out of Yongfu Inn, picked up Zhao Ran and Li Laoshi, and left Ye Xueguan.
These guys are all strong men, with big shoulders and round waists. From the looks of their behavior, they all come from a training family. The carts also carry weapons such as swords, guns, and even three Ming army standard crossbows, all stacked in a large wooden box.
Zhong. Chengji Store operates in the gray area between black and white, so a certain amount of self-protection force is absolutely indispensable.
The carts were mainly loaded with commercial goods that were in short supply in the Xia Kingdom, including salt, silk, tea bricks, porcelain and other items. Of course, they were all of the highest quality, with a value of more than a thousand taels. When they were brought to the Xia Kingdom, they were mainly sold to Buddhist temples and dignitaries.
It can be said that the value of these things will immediately double at least twice. According to Li Laoshi, if you don't make three or five thousand taels, you will be embarrassed to come back.
After leaving Ye Xueguan, the convoy took the southwest route. After a day's journey, it arrived at Hulu Post, thirty miles south of Baima Mountain. On the way, it passed three checkpoints set up by the Ming army, and all passed smoothly with a customs clearance document. After arriving at Hulu Post,
, this is the last border controlled by the Ming Dynasty, and customs clearance documents are difficult to use. However, Chengji Shop has always made a living as a smuggler on the Ming Xia border, so it is no problem for Li Laoshi.
In fact, the inspector general of Huluyi was an acquaintance of Li Laoshi, and he had been feeding him with money all year round. There were several such border officers in Chengji Store, and no matter who was on duty at the border, they could find connections to clear the way.
When Nadu Si saw Li Laoshi, he pretended to scold him twice, then took the customs clearance document handed over by Li Laoshi and pretended to inspect it. He quietly collected the money check, returned the useless customs clearance document to Li Laoshi, and let him go without saying a word.
The channel is opened.
After passing Huluyi for about five or six miles, we came to Hulu Pass, which was already controlled by the Xia army, and the Xia army set up a garrison in the valley.
Zhao Ran couldn't help but feel happy when he saw the guard on the wall. This gentleman was none other than Li Guangxian, the inspector of the Southeast Military Supervisory Department of Xia Kingdom who had been deceived by him with the ultimatum.
In the Ming and Xia, the border customs of both countries were the same. They strictly checked the traders coming from one side, but they were very lax with the traders coming from the other side. They didn't have time to welcome them, so how could they expel them so easily?
The Xia Army soldiers at the gate came forward to inspect the goods, and then shouted at the gate. Li Guangxian opened the door and came out to meet him in person. He stepped forward and looked at the goods in the big box on the car one by one, and then came to the last carriage.
Next to him, he stared at the box full of weapons and frowned: "It's not easy to bring these items in, they have to be buckled down."
Li Laoshi stepped forward and said: "Li Dusi, these are our self-defense items. There are only a few of them. It's difficult to walk on the road. I hope you can help me."
Li Guangxian snorted: "I didn't know you wouldn't cause trouble like this..."
Li Laoshi took Li Guangxian's hand and stuffed two gold ingots into it. Li Guangxian's words immediately changed sharply: "... Anyway, now that the war is in chaos, you should defend yourself, but you must not use force to violate the prohibition. Do you understand?"
"That's that."
"Let's go!"
The convoy passed through Hulu Pass and continued moving forward.
After passing Hulu Pass, the convoy headed west along the southern foot of Animaqing Mountain. Zhao Ran couldn't help but be filled with emotion. He and Pei Zhongze fled along this road that day, with countless monks chasing behind them. Now that he thinks about it, it's quite strange.
Find it interesting.
After traveling westward for more than two days, the convoy entered the mountain from Debo Pass, crossed Animaqing Mountain and turned northwest.
Over the past few days, Zhao Ran gradually became familiar with Li Laoshi. By comparing the case files given to him by Dongfang Li, he quietly found out the details of Chengji Store.
Several times on the way, he tried to practice with Li Laoshi and his assistant. After using the second level of the Great Forbidden Technique, he started talking nonsense and the effect was quite good. For example, if he said he was going south, Li Laoshi would just be honest.
Li Shi nodded and said that it was indeed Xiang Nan. He said that he was actually an immortal descended to earth, and Li Laoshi quickly kowtowed to him. Such things were also fun things to pass the time, and he enjoyed it endlessly.
For these "mortals", every time Zhao Ran casts a spell, the lasting effect is about a cup of tea, and then Li Laoshi and others will completely forget what happened just now.
But the sequelae were also obvious. After leaving Anima Qingshan that day, Li Laoshi and the leader of the gang, Cheng Qi, came to find Zhao Ran.
"Master, we have to be more careful."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid it won't be smooth ahead!"
Zhao Ran asked why? Logically speaking, the most dangerous place is in the mountains. Now that we are out of the mountains, why is it not peaceful?
Li Laoshi and Cheng Qi then said that they had not been able to sleep well these past few nights, their eyelids were twitching wildly, and they were feeling very panicked, fearing that something big was about to happen.
Zhao Ran understood what was going on, and after a perfunctory talk, he allowed them to "be more vigilant". However, he didn't bother these people anymore. It could be seen that Li Laoshi, Cheng Qi and others all had red eyes.
, obviously sleep deprivation, if I continue to play like this, I'm afraid it will affect my schedule.
On the fifteenth day after leaving Ye Xueguan, a majestic big city appeared in front of him. Li Laoshi's heart that was pinched along the way finally relaxed. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhao Ran: "My boss, we finally arrived at Xingqing Mansion safely.