The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 158 Shanyu City

Several cavalrymen gathered on a hillside, as if discussing something. The surrounding horses were leisurely grazing under the shade of the trees, first looking for gray-green stems emerging from the cracks in the soil.

The army of chariots was marching slowly on the distant road, and the sound of "squeaking" could be heard from time to time, indicating that the axles needed to be oiled.

"Bahhhhh."

Seeing a group of riders coming from a distance, the sharp-eyed people said, "The general is coming."

Several people stopped talking and waited for the pedestrians to arrive.

Wang Xin dismounted and, without waiting for the soldiers to salute, asked, "What did you find?"

One of the men who came out explained, "I saw someone snooping around the army, so I went up to him and asked him. He saw me and ran off on his horse. I couldn't catch up, so I came back and told the captain."

Wang Xin asked, "Could it be a passerby?"

Passersby would of course give way when they saw the army. In those days, people were very wary of soldiers and would hide or escape if they could.

The man couldn't explain it clearly, so Ma Fan, who was accompanying him, said, "The civilian horses can't outrun our war horses. They were able to escape from my hands, which means their horses must be good. They are most likely spies."

After Ma Fan's explanation, Wang Xin understood.

We are all human beings, but different lifestyles can lead to huge differences. Some people cannot even run two miles, some can run twenty miles in one breath, and some can run eighty miles.

The same is true for horses. Civilian horses have different uses, and most of them cannot run faster than war horses, nor do they have as much endurance as war horses.

Then who will keep an eye on his own army?

Could it be Feng Yong?
Not really. He was in Datong, visiting post stations every day, or passing through cities to get supplies. So if Feng Yong wanted to know the whereabouts of his army, he didn't need to send someone to keep an eye on him. Could it be that he wanted to check on the status of his army?
Wang Xin had no clue and couldn't figure it out for the time being, so he could only ask Ma Fan to be more vigilant and try to catch and interrogate suspicious people if they met any more.

There were no unexpected incidents in the next few days.

Apart from the withholding of supplies along the way, these were all expected. They had been withheld by local authorities in the southeast as well, not to mention Datong. It even surprised Wang Xin that the withholding along the way was not excessive.

Logically speaking, if Feng Yong wanted to deal with me, it would be a good idea to withhold a large amount of my food and supplies along the way.

Although he couldn't figure out the clue, he was not afraid. He would fight against the enemy with his soldiers and block the water with earth. He finally led the army out of the Great Wall and arrived outside the pass, where he saw a completely different scene.

The grassland is the grassland, the desert is the desert, and the desert is the desert.

Outside Datong Pass, most of the area is Gobi Desert with sparse vegetation covered by sand. There is no grass in the desert area, let alone people or even birds. There is only grassland.

On the left is an endless desert, and on the right is an endless desert. There are some tribes in the grassland in the middle. Shanyu City and Dabansheng area are both in this grassland.

There is a desert more than a hundred miles west of Shanyu City, which is dotted with oases and deserts.

It is not a completely uninhabited area. It covers a vast area, not only the northern part of Shanxi, but also northern Shaanxi, all the way to Jiayuguan in Gansu. It is not far from the desert on the other side of the sandbar. Such terrain has spawned some desert bandits, who cannot be wiped out by officers and soldiers and cannot be found at all.

When leaving the country, Datong sent an interpreter and accompanying officials.

The interpreter was less than 30 years old, dressed in Hu clothing, riding a slow horse, and had a free and easy air. His name was Tao Sheng, a local. He introduced many local customs and practices, including the Shanyu City that was about to be arrived at.

"Originally, this place had no name. Daldai's ancestors brought their tribe here as nomads and surrendered to our Great Zhou, so they settled here. After a few years, they left again. About twenty years ago, their tribe returned, but the original leader died. Daldai inherited the tribe and called himself Chanyu, so the name became popular."

Of course, things are not that simple. There are connections involved, as well as exchanges between the border areas and this department. Tao Sheng, as a local, knows everything clearly.

Hearing that this man already had six or seven thousand men under his command, Wang Xin was moved and said, "The entire Hu people are soldiers, and both young and old can ride and shoot. Will Feng Jiedu allow this man to become so powerful?"

Tao Sheng said helplessly: "First, this person has always been respectful, and secondly, we have to talk about Dabansheng."

It turns out that there are two main forces in this grassland. The rest of the individual households or small groups of three, five, seven or eight households are naturally not counted. One is Shanyu City, which is mainly composed of foreign Hu people who surrendered, and the other is the Dabansheng area, which is said to be the people who escaped from the mainland.

There are no written records, and they themselves have no history, but they have some customs from the mainland, so this inference is made.

Perhaps a hundred years ago, the Great Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Tatars and Wala, and the grasslands were deserted. The poor people in the border areas fled to the outside of the Great Wall to live and recuperate, and did not pay taxes to the government. Because of the environment outside the Great Wall, they had been nomadic for generations and could not read and write. Now even their accents have changed, and they are no different from the Hu people.

They all migrated to the fertile grassland, thus forming the Dabansheng area, and even built a small earthen city. Some people in the Dabansheng area also knew their hometown.

In short, the sources are very diverse and very old.

These people have been wary of the government for generations and have traveled very far. The Dabansheng area is even farther than the distance from Shanyu City to the Great Wall. Despite being out of reach, the Dabansheng area has actually developed and is said to have a population of tens of thousands.

Although this force did not rebel, it was wary of the mainland in all aspects.

Jiedushi Feng Yong tried to recruit them many times but was rejected. Of course, they had to be wary of such hostility, but the border troops had been in a difficult situation in recent years and it was not easy to start a war easily. Therefore, the existence of Shanyu City became a barrier between the two places.

After hearing the story, Wang Xin's expression became complicated.

The scenery on the grassland looks fine at first, but it will become boring after looking at it for a long time. After a few days, the army arrived at Shanyu City, which only had some tents and some traces of broken walls.

The officials went to find the Chanyu, while Wang Xin and the army waited far away.

They encountered several tents on the way, which should be the herdsmen of the Shanyu tribe, so they informed the army. When the army arrived, dozens of tents here had already been guarded, and many young and strong men had already mounted their horses with weapons in their hands.

There are not many cattle and sheep, but more horses.

In fact, the Hu tribe did not raise many horses, but mostly cattle and sheep. However, there were many horses here, which showed that the productivity here had reached a certain level.

The area within hundreds of miles is inhabited by small nomadic tribes of herdsmen who provide support for the base camp here, and they have become half-herders and half-soldiers. The closer they are to the inland, the more they will learn advanced production models.

With this stable production relationship, there is more manpower to provide professional soldiers. Growing up on pony backs, combined with professional soldiers, they can be a formidable existence.

The Hetao area is indeed fertile, and the Shanyu City should not be underestimated. Wang Xin frowned.

History has proven that Fatty Feng's actions will only lead to his own destruction.

Knowing the risks, why do so many people still do this from ancient times to the present? It is just for their own interests, or as Yi Tao Sheng said - they are forced by the situation.

While Wang Xin was thinking, officials, interpreters, and a group of Hu cavalry came over.

A Hu leader spoke with a smile.

Tao Sheng relayed the leader's words and said with a smile, "General Wang, he is Daldai Chanyu, and he sends his regards to you."

Don't hit a smiling person, Wang Xin bowed and said formally: "Hello, Daldai Chanyu, I am Wang Xin, the guerrilla general of the Great Zhou. I am ordered by Feng Yong, the governor of Datong, to inspect the land of the Great Zhou and patrol the various tribes." Tao Sheng spoke to the leader again. The leader had a smile on his face and was very polite. However, a general wearing cotton armor next to him had a defiant look on his face.

Wang Xin suppressed his unhappiness. The Hu people outside Datong Pass did not have their own mining technology or blacksmiths, but the Shanyu tribe had a lot of armor. Where did these armors come from?

Either it is smuggling from within the customs, or there are craftsmen from within the customs.

These are all my own speculations. If there is no evidence, I am not afraid of turning against you rashly. I am just afraid that I will not be able to find any evidence here, and in the end I will be the one to blame.

But as Tao Sheng said, the Chanyu was very submissive.

Not only did he warmly entertain the Zhou army, he also gave them ten horses. Although they were castrated stallions, they were still good horses. This was such a generous gesture. Wang Xin smiled and said, "Thank you, Daldai Chanyu."

When Daldai Chanyu saw the smile on the new general's face, he felt relieved.

The army camped far away and did not mix with the Hu tribe. This has always been the case. Daldai had made preparations in advance and even sent cattle and sheep to the Zhou army camp.

In the evening, Wang Xin received an invitation from Daldai to attend the night banquet prepared for them in Shanyu City.

Wang Xin settled his subordinates and only brought a few of them to the banquet.

After a few rounds of drinking, the Chanyu pulled Wang Xin aside to complain, stuttering. It turned out that he could speak some Central Plains dialect, but he was not very fluent.

"Dabansheng is a bully."

"Their leader, Mo, didn't allow us to graze and even injured us. We asked the honorable Lord Feng to supervise them, but they even dared to expel the people Lord Feng sent."

"We've already lost three of their pastures. They have so many people and so many pastures, yet they're still not satisfied and want to bully us." Daerdai said aggrievedly, "Respected General Wang Xin, please make a decision for us and ask Dabansheng to stop bullying us."

Wang Xin remained silent, saying these were just Daldai's one-sided statements.

There is no unified force in the Dabansheng area. Among the most powerful ones, one is called Mo Bisheng, and it is this person that Daldai complained about. The other leaders have competition among themselves, but they are also allies, so Datong is extremely cautious.

If the Dabansheng area unites as one, it can mobilize tens of thousands of cavalrymen, and no one dares to neglect this force.

Therefore, we have to consider Daldai's attitude and the current situation. The Dabansheng area is really too powerful. In the original time and space, it should have been the territory of Altan Khan.

At the peak of his power, Altan Khan led 100,000 cavalrymen to attack Datong. The general of Datong did not dare to resist and even bribed Altan Khan. Altan Khan then let Datong go and plundered Xuanfu next door, and finally arrived at the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Altan Khan finally led his generals to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and became the King of Shunyi of the Ming Dynasty, the wealth of Hetao can be seen.

Shanyu City and Dabansheng are both in this area.

And Dabansheng was the lair of Altan Khan in the original time and space.

In time, it is possible that these major leaders will lead 100,000 cavalry to attack the Great Zhou. We must be on guard. Thinking of this, Wang Xin has some understanding of the situation outside the pass.

At present, it seems that this Shanyu City cannot be removed.

Wang Xin shook his head and decided to go and see it for himself.

On the second day, the Shanyu tribe was inspected. This was mainly done by officials from Datong. The official in charge was called Zhai Wen, a fifth-rank inspector, and there were also several prosecutors.

The nine frontiers had their own civil service system consisting of governors, censors, inspectors, and envoys, so Wang Ziteng was given a title. Although he had great power in name, he actually held a low position.

Zhai Wen had been an official in Datong for five years and was familiar with the Chanyu tribe. The inspection process was carried out step by step, and several officials were treated well. Wang Xin saw that there were women sent by the tribe to accompany them in their tent.

It is not a bad habit, nor is it a deliberate flattery, but the population outside the Great Wall is sparse and needs fresh genetic infusion. It has been like this since ancient times.

Not only several officials, but also their entourage, had gifts specially prepared for Wang Xin, but Wang Xin refused.

Everything went very smoothly and peacefully in the Shanyu tribe. The tribe behaved well and there was no sign of violating the ban of the Great Zhou. On the fourth day, Wang Xin led his army out of Shanyu City and headed for Dabansheng.

"General, do you dislike the Hu tribe?"

Along the way, Zhai Wen sat in the carriage and asked Wang Xin curiously.

Wang Xin, riding his horse, passed by Zhai Wen and heard Zhai Wen's question. He smiled and said, "It's not that I don't like it. The Great Wall is the boundary. If you go in, you farm. If you go out, you graze. Being a Hu or not is not just a name."

"Oh?" Zhai Wen, upon hearing this, looked at Wang Xin with new eyes and said with a smile, "General, you won't accept a woman from the tribe. I'm afraid the Chanyu must be feeling uneasy."

Zhai Wen had heard some news about Datong City. They also knew that Fatty Feng was arbitrary, but he was generous. The entire Datong bureaucracy had been conditioned by him, and a closed-minded atmosphere had been formed.

The entire Datong, from officials to wealthy families, were annexing land and engaging in smuggling trade, so Fatty Feng became their umbrella and the tall man who was pushed forward.

So Fatty Feng is not just one person, but a group of people who have gathered together and are rooted in the local area.

From common people to wealthy families, from wealthy families to officials, and then to the Jiedufu, Zhai Wen chose to go along with the monster that combined the interests of smuggling and trade because he was reluctant to sacrifice his own future.

I kept my distance from this young general on the road, and we met by chance today.

"If you feel uneasy, then you feel uneasy. Do you really need to coax her?" Wang Xin disagreed.

Instead, he is arrogant and domineering, and does not know how to be patient.

Zhai Wen shook his head.

Wang Xin understood what Zhai Wen was thinking and said calmly, "It's inevitable for a couple to have some bumps in the road. You can always tell if they are of one mind or just trying to accumulate strength."

Zhai Wen paused. He didn't expect Wang Xin to say that. He felt that the young general in front of him was not ordinary.

I don’t know how Fatty Feng will treat this person.

The two didn't speak anymore.

soon.

The scouts brought back news that someone was coming to follow the army again.

"General, could he be from Dabansheng?" Zhang Can couldn't help but doubt.

Dabansheng is lawless and must be hiding many prohibited things. Zhang Can is worried that Zhou Jun will go to patrol and investigate, but he is not sure what Dabansheng will choose to do. If he plans to turn against them, their two thousand men will be in danger.

(End of this chapter)