After bidding farewell to Princess Wuyou and his party, Shen Bing went straight to Wuyuan with his personal guards.
Dragon City is much closer to Wuyuan than imagined, only more than 1,600 miles away, and the terrain is flat with abundant water and grass along the way.
This was extremely important for marching in ancient times, especially when coming from the Western Regions to the grasslands... The desert areas of the Western Regions are miserable. You have to bring water and grass, you have to walk around sand mountains, and occasionally there are sandstorms. .
The grassland terrain is designed for cavalry to march. You can graze wherever you stop. You can find a river to set up a tent and light a bonfire and spend a beautiful night. If you can still meet herdsmen and exchange them for a few sheep, then It’s even more of a pleasure.
Because they were equipped with horse gear, the marching speed was greatly improved, so they arrived at Wuyuan in only ten days.
This time, Shen Bing and others entered Wuyuan from the Langkou of Yinshan Mountain.
When they arrived at Langkou, they saw groups of Qin troops building walls on both sides and blocking the entrance.
When the soldiers guarding the city heard that it was Shen Bing and his personal guards, they hurried out of the city and lined up... These troops were actually newly recruited Hetao troops from Wuyuan, Jiuyuan and other places. However, since Shen Bing had been in the Western Regions for a long time, they only listened to I’ve heard Shen Bing’s name but never seen Shen Bing.
At this moment, they saw Shen Bing in front of him, and people came from all sides to greet him.
Then, before Shen Bingren arrived, the news had already reached Wuyuan.
Immediately, the whole Wuyuan was boiling. The idle people spontaneously brought food and drinks out of the city to greet them. The queue even stretched several miles away. If there were not soldiers protecting both sides, the road would have been blocked. Unable to walk.
Ren sighed from the side:
"We are so honored that the general is so supported by the people!"
Shen Bing just smiled and said nothing.
What he was thinking was that if Ying Zheng saw this scene, he would probably be even more afraid of him.
What Shen Bing thought was indeed correct. At this time, Ying Zheng was dressing up as a horse dealer at Tingxuan Inn, drinking and waiting for Shen Bing upstairs.
He originally wanted to see how grand Shen Bing was, but what he didn't expect was the scene of people rushing out of the city to greet him.
Ying Zheng felt quite unhappy and thought to himself:
"Although I was greeted by hundreds of officials and people when I returned to Xianyang, most of the people were afraid and in awe."
"But there has never been a scene like this where people spontaneously come to greet us."
"If one day Shen Bing rebels, wouldn't these people also rebel with Shen Bing?"
Thinking of this, Ying Zheng couldn't help but "hum".
At this time, Shen Bing's cavalry was walking this way from a distance.
Although this cavalry team is not very neat, they all wear rattan armor at their waists and have bronze swords on their waists. You can still faintly see the damage and sword marks on the rattan armor of the guards... Although this is not very elegant, it can be seen invisibly. There is a murderous aura, and you can tell at a glance that he is an army of hundreds of warriors.
Ying Zheng was shocked again:
"If Shen Bing and his cavalry are so powerful, the Qin army will probably not be able to match them!"
"Shen Bing, Shen Bing, are you here to help me conquer the world, or are you here to seize my kingdom?"
When Shen's troops were about to pass downstairs, Ying Zheng raised his head towards Zhao Gao.
Zhao Gao understood and took a few people downstairs to stop the cavalry, saying:
"My master wants to meet the general for a while. I wonder if the general can give me a favor?"
Shen Bing recognized Zhao Gao, and when he looked upstairs, he saw Ma Shang raising a glass in greeting from a distance in this direction.
Shen Bing happened to have something on his mind and wanted to have a few drinks, so he got off his horse and walked into the inn without hesitation.
The shopkeeper quickly came forward with a group of waiters to greet him.
When the guests upstairs saw Shen Bing coming up, they all stood up and clasped their fists, saying:
"The general is polite!"
"Congratulations to the general on your triumphant return!"
…
Shen Bing returned the greeting while walking through the crowd and came to the horse dealer's compartment. He saw the horse dealer stood up and cupped his hands and said:
"The general is polite!"
"I haven't seen you for several months, but the general is still as charming as ever!"
Shen Bing said "Oh" and said nothing. He sat down and drank a few sips of wine.
The horse dealer couldn't help but wonder:
"The general is always victorious in every battle, but why is he so preoccupied?"
Shen Bing glanced at the horse merchant and stopped talking.
How could you talk to others about such a great achievement, especially if the person talking behind the scenes was the Emperor... It would be enough to save your life.
After thinking for a while, Shen Bing replied:
"Brother, I don't know. If possible, Shen Bing would like to make a living by selling horses like my brother."
The horse dealer said "Oh" in surprise, and then smiled:
"The general is joking."
"The general has hundreds of thousands of troops at this time, all of whom are elites who have fought in hundreds of battles."
"Is there anyone in the world who doesn't know that the general is so brave that no one else can ask for him, but the general wants to make a living by selling horses?"
Shen Bing didn't answer, he just raised his glass and touched it with the horse merchant, drank it all in one gulp, and then drank several more glasses in succession.
Seeing Shen Bing like this, Ying Zheng's suspicion dropped a lot.
Because Ying Zheng could see that Shen Bing was acting out of emotion, not to mention that he had nothing to show off in front of a "horse dealer" like him.
If Shen Bing intends to retreat...it seems to mean that he has no intention of rebellion.
However, Ying Zheng remained calm. He toasted Shen Bing another glass of wine and said:
"The general is very preoccupied, could it be that... he wants to imitate General Wang Jian and go into seclusion?"
Shen Bing was stunned when he heard this.
Of course he knew what the horse dealer meant.
Ma Shangming's work is about imitating Wang Jian's return to seclusion, but in fact it points out that Shen's military achievements were outstanding.
Shen Bing shook his head and said with a smile:
"General Wang Jian is retiring and returning to his hometown. I, Shen Bing, am no longer in my thirties, so how can I learn from General Wang Jian?"
Then Shen Bing wanted to change the topic and said casually:
"I'm not afraid of brother making fun of me. Shen Bing is just tired of this kind of fighting life and wants to rest for a while."
"Actually, what's wrong with a guy like Xiongtai who drinks and has fun and is at ease?"
However, Ma Shang was unwilling to let Shen Bing go. He laughed and said:
"I thought the general was worrying too much!"
"Even if the general is willing to make a living by selling horses, I'm afraid the emperor will not agree."
"I'm asking about the current Qin Dynasty. If anyone can control the Western Regions and grasslands, it must be the general!"
"With this alone, the general can rest easy!"
Shen Bing couldn't help but frowned, thinking that this horse dealer seemed a little different from usual. Why was there so much thorn in his words this time, as if he was targeting himself?
However, Shen Bing didn’t think much and raised his glass and answered:
"That being said, brother, I don't know something."
"The Western Region is a land of wind and sand and is not suitable for large-scale farming. The grasslands are suitable for horse herding."
"As long as we in the Central Plains hold the Hexi Corridor and connect the Great Walls to other places... in the Western Regions, it will be difficult for the Huns to go south."
"So what if two places can be controlled? What if they can't be controlled?"
This question actually stunned Ying Zheng.
What Shen Bing said is correct. Both the Western Regions and the grasslands are dominated by cavalry.
The characteristic of cavalry is that they are not good at attacking cities, so Ying Zheng only needs to connect to the Great Wall regardless of the current situation... Then wouldn't the Central Plains be invincible?