Chapter 173 Dragon Flame Valley
Yandu went northwest. The further the distance, the more desolate it became.
The mountains gradually fade away, and the green becomes more and more sparse. Wherever you look, the exposed earthy color fills your field of vision, and strangely shaped weathered rocks are everywhere. Stretch out your hand to hold the protruding rocks. , pinch it gently and it will turn into powder.
A group of ten people rode on the former riverbed.
Many years ago, this place should have been a big, rippling river, with green trees and grass on both sides. But time flies, the sea changes, the river disappears, and the vitality gradually dissipates, leaving only Leaving this desolate place behind will allow future generations to remember everything that once existed here.
The spring night was still very cold. Li Dachui had strong martial arts cultivation, so he didn't care. However, the cultivation of Gao Qunshu and some young disciples from Changchun Valley who accompanied him were shallow. If the spring cold entered the body, he would have to get sick. .
In spring and autumn, it is extremely important to keep warm.
Gao Qunshu dragged a trunk as thick as an arm's length and punched it down. The trunk immediately broke a big hole and split into several pieces. It's not that Gao Qun's martial arts skills are so good, but that the tree trunk has gone through countless years and has long since become rotten.
The fire was burning brightly, and Li Dachui threw some stones into it, making a crackling sound. This is his experience in surviving in the wild. Compared with firewood, these thoroughly burned stones can be kept warm longer. long.
Putting a mattress on hot stones at night can keep you safe no matter how low the temperature is.
Now that the spring is cold, there is no need to go to such trouble, but Li Dachui used to live in the wild all year round, so he has formed a habit.
It is not surprising that there are many Qin people in the Yuan Kingdom.
There were even many people who served as officials in the Yuan Dynasty or in the local government.
When the Yuan Kingdom was founded, there was no very detailed charter. It just blindly imitated the Qin Dynasty and built a system from scratch that could basically maintain operation. Naturally, there were many talents needed.
So at that time, Mamba recruited people from the Qin State, and some who were frustrated in the Qin State, or had resentments, came to join him one after another.
After more than a hundred years, these people have formed a considerable force in the Yuan Kingdom. However, as the Yuan Kingdom stabilized and became stronger and stronger, such people began to be gradually squeezed out, and their important positions in the Yuan Kingdom's court It is no longer difficult to find traces of such people. They can only hang out in some lonely yamen or work as local herdsmen of the Yuan Dynasty.
Li Dachui always thought that Gao Qunshu was a descendant of one of such a group. He never expected that Gao Qunshu was one of the people who fled to the Yuan Dynasty due to the impact of the Chang'an Incident.
Looking at Gao Qunshu’s current age, he was only in his teens when he came here.
"Three hundred miles northwest of Yandu, there is a place called Dragon Flame Valley!" Gao Qunshu handed the soft pancake to Li Dachui and said, "This is the place where the Yuan Dynasty settled us."< br>
“It’s not a good place to come here!” Li Dachui said.
"Of course. When we first came, the Yuan Dynasty was very welcoming. Those who escaped at that time were not only frontier army officers and soldiers, but also local herdsmen officials. The total number of people was thousands. Regardless of these people, Both civil and military forces can be called heroes."
"Want to use you as the vanguard to attack the Beiting Protector?"
"Of course!" Gao Qun wrote: "The Chang'an Incident, Beiting. Purge, how could the Yuan Kingdom let go of such a great opportunity to seize the foundation outside the customs? Those of us who have escaped are familiar with the local situation and military deployment, so we naturally want to win over you."
"But you don't. No consent!"
"Yes." Gao Qunshu said a little melancholy: "I don't know what the leading officials thought at that time, but they just didn't want to. This is not the same as telling the Yuan people that we need your protection. But we don’t want to do things for you, Li Dachui, if you were Yingzhuo, would you be satisfied?”
"Of course I'm dissatisfied!" Li Dachui said: "But from the standpoint of the Qin people, I still admire them."
Gao Qunshu chuckled: "Since we can't satisfy the Yuan people, we The fate of people is naturally not good. Fortunately, Princess Changle was just married at that time, and she was favored. She was also pregnant with Liujia, and it was her protection that saved our lives. We were driven to live in the Dragon Flame Valley. This Dragon Flame Valley is like a huge open-air prison, and we have been trapped there since then!”
“Without freedom of entry and exit?” Li Dachui was a little shocked.
Gao Qunshu nodded, "At the entrance of Longyan Valley, the Yuan people have set up a military stronghold. Although it is not many, only a few dozen people are guarding it, but this is indeed a chokehold for our entry and exit. We must kill everyone in the valley. These dozens of people can do it easily, but what happens next? This is the core area of Yuanren."
Li Dachui nodded. "Fortunately, the Dragon Flame Valley is big enough. The original source of this river was in the Dragon Flame Valley. Although the river bed has dried up now, there is still water in the Dragon Flame Valley that is barely enough for everyone to live." Gao Qun wrote: "From now on everyone Settling down in Longyan Valley, farming and grazing, Li Duhu, doesn’t it sound like freedom?”
"Yuan Ren will definitely not make you feel so comfortable!" Li Dachui said with a smile. "What additional conditions were given to you?"
"Taxes, heavy taxes!" Gao Qun wrote: "More than 70% of our annual income must be given to the Yuan people as the price of our living here. The rest. It is difficult to maintain the most basic survival under the roof, but we have to bow our heads. Princess Changle allows us to survive, so why bother her because of these things! At that time, the Yuan Kingdom had decided to go to war, and her life was not easy. "
"It's really hard for you!" Li Dachui said with emotion. "As time went by, life became easier?"
"As time passed, the Yuan people gradually relaxed a lot of their vigilance towards us. If they want to go out, they only need to bribe the Taniguchi military camp. Then, people like me went out and worked for them, so that I could exchange some resources to give back to the valley. And I am now very important in the palace of the Second Highness, and I am the soldier at the entrance of the valley. , just be polite to me." Gao Qun wrote.
"Do many people like you go out?"
Gao Qunshu shook his head and said: "Not many. In addition to me, there is an army of five hundred people guarding the northwest border."
< br>"Ah, there are still established troops serving for the Yuan people?"
Gao Qunshu shook his head: "It's not service, it's employment. You know, back then, it was possible to escape all the way to the Yuan Dynasty through the obstacles of the Qin border army. People from the country , the combat effectiveness can be called the ceiling of the Qin border army. Even the Yuan people feel it is a pity to keep it unused in Longyan Valley. But if it is placed on the Qin border, firstly, we will not do it, and secondly, they will not be worried. But there is nothing to worry about in the northwest. As long as the logistics are grasped, this army is a toothless tiger and can only be driven at will. "
"I guess the hiring cost must be very little."< br>
"This is also one of the requirements for us to survive in Dragon Flame Valley. The employment fees are naturally very small, and these fees are directly collected by the Yuan people as taxes. We did not get a penny!"
“It’s free work!”
“You can put it this way!” Gao Qun wrote: “This army has always been five hundred people. If one person dies, the valley will need to replace one. These dozen Over the past year, these five hundred people have been injured and killed, and they have been completely killed."
"In more than ten years of fighting with barbarians like Xihu and Beihu in the northwest, they only died once. , This army can indeed be called the ceiling of Qin's frontier army." Li Dachui was a little shocked. "But now that Xihu and Beihu have surrendered, the role of this army will probably disappear."
Gao Qunshu took a deep look at Li Dachui: "Yes, they will return to Dragon Flame Valley soon. It’s just unclear whether the Yuan people will allow you to take them away.”
"Tie Le shouldn't be so stingy, right? No matter how powerful this army is, there are only 500 people! Since the people in Dragon Flame Valley have allowed them to leave, there are not more than 500 people!" Li Dachui said: "It's just that It’s just the price I need to pay, but let’s see what price Tiele needs me to pay for them, right?”
“Are you willing?” Gao Qun wrote.
"I do!" Li Dachui looked at Gao Qunshu and said resolutely. "They are the people of the Great Qin who lived in a foreign country because of court disputes and suffered for decades. As the Deputy Protector of the Anxi Protectorate of the Great Qin, I feel it is my responsibility to take them home."
< br>“But to Great Qin, we people are rebellious and cannot be said clearly!”
“Now that Great Qin is crossing the river with the Ni Bodhisattva, it is difficult for us to protect ourselves. Where can we control you? Outside the pass, I make the decision. !" Li Dachui patted his chest.
"Not Xiao Changche?"
"Xiao Changche listens to me!" Li Dachui said with a smile.
“Well, he is indeed an opponent that His Highness values highly!” Gao Qunshu said with a smile: “I am not afraid that the Emperor of Qin will put him in his eyes, he will not put Linghuye in his eyes, and he will not put his Shangguan in his eyes either. , but he is responsible and does not hide his ambitions. But whether you can take them back depends on Gu Nei's decision. We have no good feelings towards Da Qin, and we only have hatred for Ling Huye."
Li Dachui smiled. The Gao Qunshu in front of him only knew that he was Li Dachui, the deputy governor of Anxi Protectorate, but he did not know that his father was Li Anze and his mother was He Qingqiu.
“Linghuye participated in the purge of the border troops? Was he also one of the promoters?”
"At that time, Linghuye was not qualified to operate a sword. He was one of the swordsmen. The sword that hunted us the most ruthlessly, my brother, was killed by him when he attacked him in Qingtongxia. Damn it!" Gao Qunshu gritted his teeth and said, "This is him too. One of the reasons for his rapid promotion. "
"Don't worry, I will convince everyone in the valley that after decades of suffering, it's time to finally pay off!" Li Dachui tore off the cake and stuffed it into his mouth. , chewed hard.
(End of this chapter)