Three thousand miles in exile

The next day, a rumor spread in the counties of the Cangxia Plain that the caravan in Zhongyuan sold grain to the Yan thief in disregard of national righteousness, and was eventually killed by the Yan thief.

At that time when Qi Yunjun detained the caravan, the Lord of Guzhu City finally understood Liu Zhan's intentions.

However, Qi Yunjun had already controlled the only entrance to Songliao Mountain. Unless he sent troops to seize it, these caravans would not be able to enter.

Songliao Mountain is located between Qiyun Mountain and Beihai, and it is the only place where Yan State enters the Cangxia Plain.

Guzhu City was originally built here by Qi State 200 years ago. During the change of dynasties, Guzhu City fell into the hands of Yan State. It is the largest city in Yan State and the only city in Yan State that can trade with the Central Plains.

"Old priest, without the food in the Central Plains, how will we spend this year?" The city lord's eyes would become dizzy whenever he thought of the lack of food in Guzhu City.

Not only Lone Bamboo City, but also the tribes of Yandi are very dependent on the food in the Central Plains.

A few years ago, crops could be grown at the foot of Qiyun Mountain. Because of Liu Zhan's strong walls and clear fields, there is only a small part of the cultivated land in Yan Kingdom, which is not enough to supply the whole country.

The old priest was unmoved. "If there is no food, there are cattle and sheep to eat. We are a nation on horseback, and eating cattle and sheep is our tradition."

"But cattle and sheep are precious..." The city lord was in distress.

Naturally, noble people can eat cattle and sheep, but should slaves also be allowed to eat cattle and sheep?This must not make a tribe poor.

If these slaves are starved to death, the tribe will lose a lot of labor. Who will do the heavy work?

At least one-third of Yan's population is slaves. Behind its prosperity is the day and night labor of these slaves. Without the original food in the Central Plains, it is impossible to support such a large number of slaves.

Liu Zhan's research on Yan State can be described as thorough and detailed. This backward tribal country is actually very dependent on the Central Plains.

Although they are rich in iron ore, they don't have enough arable land. As long as their food roads are cut off, Yan will suffer civil strife if there is insufficient food.

Just running out of food was not enough, Liu Zhan quickly sent troops to attack the Yan people's village in the Songliao Mountains.

Everywhere Qi Yun's army went was burned and burned, all the people of Yan people were driven away, and the slaves were brought back to the Cangxia Plain to resettle in their homes.

Naturally, the lord of Lone Bamboo City would not sit still, he sent [-] warriors to pursue Qi Yunjun at the same time.

"Retreat to the valley to ambush." ​​Jiang Changlin immediately led 5000 people into the jungle.

There were yellow and fallen leaves all over the mountain forest, and no trace was left on the dead leaves. General Yan Jun chased them according to the direction dictated by the people but found no trace of Qi Yunjun.

"Send scouts with hounds to search, I don't believe they can hide in the soil!"

It is true that Qi Yun's army cannot hide in the ground, but Liu Zhan's jungle field army has wolves!

There are groups of Wangcai wives and concubines who dominate Tongtian Peak, and there are hundreds of wolves and grandchildren.

Now Wangcai is living on Tongtian Peak for the elderly, and there are special people to serve him with food and drink every day, while his wolf son and grandson serve in the army.

The field army led by Jiang Changlin brought a hundred adult wolves.

These wolves accompanying the army left behind scents to cover up their human scents. The hounds of the Yan army did not dare to approach them at all, and avoided them when they were far away.

The mountains on Qiyun Mountain are much steeper and steeper, and the mountains in Songliao Mountain are like small dirt bags in the eyes of this field army. Jiang Changlin led his men from the valley to the rear of the Yan army, and the 5000 men marched very fast.

At night, wolves howled one after another in the jungle.

General Yan's heart skipped a beat, when did so many wolves come to Songliao Mountain?

Pairs of fluorescent green eyes swayed in the jungle in the dark night, and then cold arrows struck, and the Yan army camped in the valley was suddenly attacked, and Qi Yun's soldiers had fallen before they saw it.

"Report! Captain Jiang killed four thousand enemies, and the remnants of the Yan bandits fled!"

"Good!" Liu Zhan laughed. "Jiang Changlin remembers special military merits!"

All the generals waiting in the account were gearing up, Jiang Changlin made a good start, and they couldn't wait.

"General, I'll call for a fight!" Cao Zhuang gasped for breath, unable to bear it anymore.

Liu Zhan no longer pressed them. "Cao Zhuang led 2 people, and Jiang Changlin and Zhou Ziming's troops entered the Songliao Mountains in two ways, destroying all Yan people's villages."

"The last general takes orders!"

Jungle field soldiers are not expensive, but expensive!

The foot soldiers of Qi Yunjun's field battles are all wearing soft armor, carrying bows and arrows, machetes, hooks and locks on their belts, and cowhide boots, so they can go into the mountains without making a sound.

Unger's department calls itself a forest hunter, and Liu Zhan's field army is a forest killer!

The Lord of Lone Bamboo City sent troops to ambush Qi Yun's army many times and they all failed. If they hadn't known enough about the Songliao Mountains to run faster than rabbits, these Yan's troops would not have been able to squeeze their teeth.

In this way, Liu Zhan cleared the villages in the Songliao Mountains, confiscated all their cattle and sheep, and destroyed the little cultivated land. Guzhu City became an isolated island in the forest.

And because the trade route was cut off, within a month there was a food shortage in Guzhu City.

Just after one winter, it was the time when food was urgently needed, but at this time Liu Zhan cut off their trade route and destroyed their village.

In the midsummer, Qi Yun's army of [-] marched out with all kinds of equipment, and the army marched towards the Songliao Mountains like a wandering dragon.

"They're really going to attack the city!" The Lord of Lone Bamboo lost a lot of weight. Hearing the news that Qi Yun's army was approaching, he felt his mind was in a mess.

Qi Yunjun came prepared this time, and the Yan army scouts were staggered in fright by the siege equipment that they had never seen before.

There are ladder carts like towers, ramming carts wrapped in shields like turtles, trebuchets, and ballista carts.

Guzhu City is located in the hinterland of Songliao Mountains, surrounded by mountains, the mountains are not steep and mostly hills.

Qi Yun's army entered the mountain and began to cut trees and level the ground to set up siege equipment. There was not enough space outside Guzhu City, so Liu Zhan asked the soldiers to level out enough space.

The people in the city could only stare blankly. If they wanted to fight out, the rows of armored soldiers and Mo Dao soldiers were all ready to fight.

The city lord sent his henchmen to ask for help, but none of the tribal leaders agreed to help.

Now Yan State is busy fighting for the throne, and the major tribes are fighting with the Xianbei to grab territory and supporting candidates for the throne. How can the Unger tribe be in charge.

On this day, the mountain was windy and sunny, and the sky was clear.

Qi Yunjun officially attacked the city.

"First use a trebuchet to smash a few rounds of kerosene, and burn all the baggage on their city walls." Liu Zhan stood on the hillside and personally supervised the army.

Thick smoke billowed quickly over Lone Bamboo City.

These fire oil tanks can not only ignite quickly but also have a pungent smell, causing the defenders on the Lone Bamboo City Wall to be in a mess for a while.

Liu Zhan didn't intend to waste time with Lone Bamboo City. This time he adopted a strategy of fierce attack, using the sophisticated equipment of Qi Yun's army to launch a strong attack.

"The crossbow bed is ready." Liu Zhan held the knife, his eyes were firm.

Hundreds of crossbow beds were fired at the same time, and the soldiers who were busy putting out the flames on the city wall were hit by arrows one after another.

Catapults and crossbow beds took turns striking for an hour, and a gap appeared on the front wall of the gate tower of Guzhu City, and the Yan army was in chaos.

"The tower is ready, the left forward army and the right forward army attack the city." Liu Zhan issued a series of military orders.

The heavily armored shield soldiers held up their shields to clear the way, and the infantry pushed the turret carts and approached the Guzhu city wall.

The defending general hurriedly ordered to shoot arrows and throw stones. The rain of arrows fell on the shield and made a tinkling sound. Some stones hit the tower, but the front of the tower was inlaid with iron sheets, and the tower shook for a while and continued to move forward.

The tower vehicle was specially made by Liu Zhan for attacking Guzhu City, and soon the defenders of the city saw the horror of this mobile tower.

When the tower was only ten steps away from the city wall and stopped, the soldiers immediately put down four wooden stakes, and some warriors swung a sledgehammer and smashed the tower car to the ground with wooden stakes.

"Put down the drawbridge! Siege!"

An outer wall on the front of the tower car suddenly fell down, and the strong iron chains hung on the outer wall. It was a suspension bridge connected to the city wall!

Dozens of towers built dozens of roads leading to the city wall in an instant, and the Yan army was stunned for a while.

Soldiers of Qi Yun's army swarmed up, walked along the steep and spiral stairs inside the tower car, stepped over the suspension bridge and directly entered the Guzhu city wall.

"kill!!!"

Qi Jun Yun drums were loud, and a steady stream of infantry climbed up the city wall through the tower.

"The siege engine is ready." Liu Zhan kept his eyes fixed.

Two siege vehicles wrapped with shields rushed towards the gate of Guzhu City amidst the sound of drums, and crashed into the thick city gate with two loud bangs.

The soldiers untied the iron chains in the car, and the huge wooden piles hanging inside the car changed from fixed to movable, and a dozen wrestlers carried the big piles and began to hit the door inside the car.

Yan Jun poured fire oil and molten iron from the dark corner of the city gate tower, but was blocked by the thick tortoise shell of the siege engine, and the sound of wooden piles hitting the wall was like thunder.

As Qi Yun's army continued to climb the city wall to fight, the Yan army's defenders began to retreat.

"Modaoshou is ready." Liu Zhan finally ordered to send Qi Yunjun's big killer.

Cao Zhuang personally led [-] Mo Dao soldiers to climb the city wall. When the Mo Dao soldiers reached the city wall, an overwhelming scene of battle on the city wall appeared.

"Come and follow me to attack the city tower!" Cao Zhuang was the first to charge at the Yan soldiers, and Mo Dao swept down and killed several people on the spot. He was quite brave.

Up to now, Qi Yun's army has dispatched [-] troops.

Only 5 people captured the city wall of Guzhu. No matter how the officials in the imperial capital smeared Liu Zhan, in this era, Liu Zhan is indeed a well-deserved famous general!

The fighting on the city wall was fierce, and the wrestlers knocking on the door did not stop.

The thick city wall made a tearing sound, which encouraged the fighters even more. The kerosene and molten iron above their heads stopped, but there was already a sea of ​​fire under the city gate.

These wrestlers wore thick cotton robes filled with water to prevent fire, even though their lower bodies were still burned by the fire.

But none of them flinched, and with the belief that they must die, these more than 30 wrestlers broke through the gate of Guzhu City.

At the moment when the gate of Guzhu City was knocked open, Liu Zhan took the Modao handed over by his personal guard and got on his horse. "Send someone to pick up these warriors and go down to heal their injuries, and all of them will be awarded first-class merit."

Liu Zhan pointed forward. "The whole army is attacking!!"

The remaining [-] Qiyun troops rushed into Guzhu City at dusk.

"City lord, run!" He dragged the city lord away from the city lord's mansion.

The city lord has lost his three souls and seven souls. "How could it be so fast...how could it be...I don't believe it..."

Lone Bamboo City is the foundation of the Unger Division. Without Guzhu City, the Unger Division is just a stray dog ​​on the grassland, and the Unger Division is considered finished.

"No young and strong are left behind, and all women, old and young are driven away." Liu Zhan rode on a horse and looked down on this city that had fallen into the Yan Kingdom for hundreds of years.

The north gate of Guzhu City was opened, and the people in the city fled out of the city in fear. Some slaves rose up to resist and kill the Yan people who enslaved them, and the city was in chaos.

The city lord's family escaped from the city under the coercion of soldiers, and some tribesmen fled northward with the city lord's team.

Taking Guzhu City is equivalent to taking the Songliao Mountains. From this day on, the Cangxia Plain will no longer be exposed to the iron cavalry of the Yan people. With Guzhu City, the Yan people will no longer be able to go south half a step!

Now the territory of Yan State has shrunk significantly, with Xianbei in the west and Qi Yunjun in the south.

In addition, without the Lone Bamboo City, the Yan people could no longer unscrupulously exchange food with the Central Plains caravan.

Without these cheap rations, the Yan people could not afford to support a large number of slaves, and the productivity of the entire country would decline rapidly.

The era of Yan State's prosperity is completely over.

Guzhu City was in ruins, so Song Fenglin personally led the officials to enter. At that time, Liu Zhan was also in Guzhu City.

In the luxurious mansion of the city lord.

"Ma'am, come here." As soon as Liu Zhan saw Song Fenglin, he immediately dragged him to see the treasure.

The owner of Guzhu City did not expect Qi Yun's army to invade the city in just one day, and there was no time to take away many things.

For example, the golden throne of the city lord, the complete set of gold furniture in the bedroom, and even the walls are inlaid with agate and jade.

"This city lord is probably richer than King Yan, look at this." Liu Zhan raised the luminous cup in his hand and covered it again to show Song Fenglin that the cup really glowed.

There are two iron mines in the Songliao Mountains, just trading these ores is enough to make the city lords rich.

"I specially brought Wen Qingshan and Lu Changquan on this trip. The private property left by the nobles in the city has to be counted, and the mine has to be taken over." Song Fenglin held the cup in his hand to play, but he was thinking of more.

"Now that we have conquered the Songliao Mountains, it happens to be connected to the Cangxia Plain. This large piece of land cannot be wasted." Song Fenglin was thoughtful.

"It's all up to you." Liu Zhan was in a good mood, and led him to sit on the Kang bed inlaid with agate gemstones of the city lord.

Li Asan was clever, and brought some herdsmen's special milk tea snacks, and some baked naan, for the master to chat while eating.

"Bring me the map." Song Fenglin had an idea in his mind, and it happened that Liu Zhan had time to discuss it together.

Li Asan immediately took the order to get the map.

"I have an idea, do you think it is feasible?" Song Fenglin's white fingers moved on the map, and finally stopped at the junction of the west of Songliao Mountain and the Jianshi Peak of Qiyun Mountain.

"The north of Jianshi Peak is the easternmost exit of Maizi'ao Hilly Land. It is the location of Beifeng County that we want to establish. If we can dig a plank road on the cliff of Jianshi Peak, we can build a road from Beifeng County to Songliao Mountain."

Liu Zhan listened carefully, the more he listened, the more serious his expression became, and the light in his eyes became brighter.

If a plank road can be built, it will be able to open up the Cangxia Plain in the north and south of Qiyun Mountain, without having to go around Qiyun Mountain and then enter the Cangxia Plain.

Regardless of the convenience of daily travel for ordinary people and business travelers, if there is a war in the north, Qi Yunjun also has an additional route to choose.

"It's feasible, I'll send people to investigate on the spot right now." Liu Zhan couldn't wait, so he called his personal guard and ordered Zhang Xiaoman to take people there.

After the matter of the plank road was settled, Song Fenglin continued to discuss the plan in his mind with Liu Zhan.

"I want to set up Beihai County between Liyangguan and Songliao Mountains, and set up a state capital in Guzhu City to govern the surrounding areas. If the plank road is feasible, Guzhu City will govern Beirao County, Beifeng County, and Beihai County. "

In this way, the planning along the line from Songliao Mountain to the north of Qiyun Mountain can be formed.

Naturally, Liu Zhan agreed with everything except one point. He clicked on Guzhu City on the map. "Change its name to Songzhou."

Changing the name gave Songzhou a new life, which also indicates that the rule of the Yan people in the past has become history.

Three days later, Zhang Xiaoman came back from inspection, and seeing his excited face, there must be good news.

"Mr. Song, it is feasible to dig a plank road! That distance is not very far!" Zhang Xiaoman happily described the situation along the way carefully.

There are steep rock walls to the north of Jianshi Peak, but the branch line is not far away. The plank road crosses it. According to Zhang Xiaoman and the accompanying craftsman, it only takes an hour to walk to Beifeng County.

The next day, General Qi Yun issued a new order.

Guzhu City was renamed Songzhou, Beihai County was established between Liyangguan and Songliao Mountains, and Songzhou governed Beirao County, Beifeng County, and Beihai County.

A plank road is dug on the cliff to the north of Jianshi Peak, connecting the Maizi'ao hills and Songliao Mountains.

There is also the Songliao Pass and the Songliao City Wall at the exit of the Songliao Mountains entering the Zhaodong Plain, which are the gateways to northern Xinjiang.

For this big move, the city will be built, plank roads will be opened, and the city wall will be built. The government will recruit a large number of young and strong, and the daily wages will be marked at a price of ten days.

This announcement is undoubtedly good news for the refugees. After the spring plowing, there is no need to guard the fields every day, and they can just go to the construction site to earn some wages to supplement their families.

And the ten-day period, if you are too tired to go home and rest for a few days before going, if you are diligent, you can go after the autumn harvest, and you can get a tael of silver after doing the calculations.

For a while, the place where the government registered was overcrowded every day, and even villagers on Qiyun Mountain came down to work on purpose.

Because there is no shortage of people, the construction of several construction sites is in full swing.

Like Beihai County, Song Fenglin has already drawn up the city plan, and rich businessmen and rich people pay attention to it every day, waiting for the private listing in the city to be sold and snapped up as soon as possible.

Because too many people inquired, Liu Zhan came up with an idea to hold a public auction one month later, the one with the highest price would win, and each person and household could only buy one piece of land to prevent monopoly.

Even so, there are still an endless stream of people making inquiries.

Now that Northern Xinjiang has completely expelled the Yan people, and set up Songliao Pass to resist the enemy, the Cangxia Plain will no longer be affected by the flames of war, and the visible Cangxia Plain will become a good place to live and work in peace and contentment.

The population on the Cangxia Plain is expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye. The good policies in Northern Xinjiang attract not only refugees, but also wealthy businessmen.

Some business travelers from Hanzhong even moved their families to the north, waiting to buy a piece of land so that they could live and work in peace.

Liu Zhan naturally welcomed these wealthy businessmen who moved in with their families, and the wealth they brought would also stimulate the local economy.