On the night of May 21st, the sky was filled with stars and everything in the fields was silent.

It is only thirty miles away from Xiaoguan. I don't know if it is an illusion, but Zhang Jun feels that after leaving Liangzhou, the further east he goes, the more foreigners there will be.

In other words, there is a huge settlement area where barbarians gather between Wuwei and Chang'an.

In this area, the Hu population occupies an absolute advantage, and the Han wealthy families are scattered here and there like rocks in the vast ocean.

This view may be a bit biased. After all, there are two roads from Chang'an to Liangzhou, the north and the south, and they took the northern route.

But Qinzhou on the southern line was not much better, he knew it very well.

The place where they are now has an interesting name: Gaoping.

In fact, it is located at the end of Longshan Mountain.

The Jingshui River originates here and flows to the southeast.

Gaopingchuan (Guyuan Qingshui River, not Hohhot Qingshui River) also originates from here and flows northwest.

There are some other rivers nearby, such as Jing and Wei. The land is high between the rivers, and the terrain is relatively open. It can be said to be both high and flat, so it was named "Gaoping" in the Han Dynasty.

Gaoping is now the territory of the Shiqiang people. Zhang Jun can't figure out which tribe they belong to, and he has no interest in finding out.

Anyway, they were quite obedient. They brought some dried meat, cheese, and corn before nightfall, which was probably the only consolation.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jun shook his head. Why was he worried about Shao Thief?

The two concubines took the child into the carriage and began to feed him.

His wife, Yan, and her six-year-old daughter were picking and washing sunflower leeks from a nearby vegetable garden.

Chang Shiyi came to ask for it. When the gardener of Huangfu's family heard that Zhang Xiping's descendants were there, he didn't hesitate and personally sent half a car over, enough to feed dozens of them for several days.

Sima Yin Yuan and the thief Cao Weijin were sitting beside the fire chatting, their voices could be heard faintly.

"Zhang Gong died of illness." Yin Yuan said: "I heard that Wang Que and the princes were taking the West Sea one by one, and the army made a noise, so he returned ill and died in Wengcheng, fortress."

"What a pity." Jin sighed, "What happened to Gaochang?

"Yang Xuan left with his seal, and took his servants to dig wells and canals in the countryside, and worked hard to support himself." Yin Yuandao said: "He is a man of integrity, I am not as good as him."

Zhang Jun heard it from a distance and didn't know what he felt in his heart.

Even though I had already made up my mind not to pay attention anymore, I was still a little touched when I listened to it now.

He failed his uncle, and also failed Yang Xuan, Song Ji, Song Xiu and other loyal people.

If he wakes up and suddenly goes back in time to the eve of the war in March, will he be able to turn the tide?

After thinking about it carefully, he lowered his head dejectedly, he couldn't, the outcome was inevitable.

"Li Bai has surrendered." Yin Yuan continued: "Leaving the Central Plains, Loulan cannot survive alone. Not only does he lack soldiers and equipment, he even lacks ordinary people. He is counting on the imperial court to move hundreds of households there."

"This is impossible." Jin shook his head.

Everyone knows the benefits of moving away the Hu people and then moving in the Han people, but in fact it is often only possible to do the first step, that is, to move the Hu people away, but not the second step.

To put it bluntly, there are too few people in the hands of the imperial court.

Unless there is a very serious natural disaster that destroys the order of a place and creates a large number of refugees, don't even think about doing this.

With such great prestige, Emperor Liang could only gain population by demoting sinners.

"If all the counties surrender, Liangzhou will not be able to overthrow the sky." Yin Yuandao said: "But this is good. Although there are some injuries, it will not break the muscles and bones. Before leaving, I suggested to Jindu to recruit countless soldiers from the Central Plains.

I don’t know what happened to the brave and strong soldier whose family is exhausted.”

"Jindu probably won't be able to control Liangzhou for long." Jin mused: "He will probably return to Chang'an, deal with Yang Duryodhana, and then plot Hanzhong."

Yin Yuan nodded. The commander-in-chief of Yong, Qin, and Liang benefited the military of the four states. If he did not plan for Hanzhong or even Shuzhong, how could he sleep all day long?

"However, instability in the rear is also a troublesome thing." Yin Yuan added: "As for the situation in the Yong and Qin states, I don't think it is much better than Liangzhou. I am afraid that the Liang Dynasty will spend decades taking care of Guanxi.

It is not that easy to accumulate evil for a hundred years. If the food is not good, even the Qiang chaos that lasted for a hundred years in the later Han Dynasty cannot be pacified no matter what."

"Why does Sima think so much?" Jin smiled and said, "Now we don't know where we are going. We think too much and only make people laugh."

"That's right." Yin Yuan chuckled and said, "The rice smells fragrant, it must be millet rice and spring leeks."

******

After walking for a long time on the 22nd, the ruined city wall of Xiaoguan came into view.

The large army stopped.

The wolf-like and tiger-like sergeant stood behind the horse, with his sword unsheathed and his bow strung, looking like a tiger gazing.

These are the troops from the Guanzhong Prefecture who are accompanying us. There are nine hundred people in total. They are stationed at the outermost perimeter to interrogate the officials and sergeants coming and going.

Thousands of cavalry did not dismount, but quietly waited for orders.

Most of them are Huns soldiers brought by Jin Zhun from Chang'an. They are mainly from the Jin tribe, with a large number of herders from Tuge, Huyan, Qiao, Bu and other tribes. Of course, they are now the "new Jin tribe", and the tribes have annexed them.

This is normal.

In other words, they are all private soldiers that Jin Zhun trusts and has strong control over.

Zhang Jun opened the curtain of the car, with a rich expression on his face. He seemed to be a little scared, but also had some schadenfreude that he couldn't explain clearly.

But he was disappointed.

Jin Zhun immediately dismounted and ordered his officers to lead his troops to find a valley to camp.

He only brought a dozen personal followers with him, negotiated with the officers of the imperial army standing behind the horse, and then sat in a grass pavilion by the road and waited silently.

Zhang Jun was a little disappointed, but also a little understanding.

Jin Zhun was not like this in Wuwei.

After the city was broken, I heard that the property in Liangzhou's treasury and the Zhang family's residence had been taken away. Emperor Liang did not offer a reward, so he had to use Liangzhou's property to reward the troops. Jin Zhun had a fierce quarrel with Jin Zheng.

, the sound was so loud that even Zhang Jun, who was detained in the camp, heard it.

But he dared to quarrel with Jin Zheng, but he did not dare to say any nonsense at this time. Shao Taibai had accumulated great power, and Zhang Jun had seen it.

Thinking that he was always being advised against by people no matter what he did, he immediately started to hate him again and looked at Hui Yi, Yin Yuan, Han Pu, Jin and others.

Yin Yuan felt the gaze and gave Zhang Jun a strange look.

Han Pu was too lazy to look more, so he only observed Shao Bing.

Liangzhou is not a land without bravery. In fact, the literati dare to fight hard. Yang Dan, who was in charge of governance, went to see Sima Mo, the king of Nanyang, in the past. In order to win his trust, he cut off his own ear on the spot and put it on a plate.

, and then quoted scriptures and learned about the benefits, and finally stopped Sima Mo's attempt to send someone to replace Zhang Gui.

This kind of borderland scholars have a fierce spirit that is different from the natives of the Central Plains, but their hearts are not aligned.

But Shao Bing also seems to be quite impressive.

The skills of these soldiers in front of you are not obvious, but their energy and energy are very good. Once they fight in formation, their morale will be very high, and their ability to endure casualties will surprise you.

This is Han Pu's experience, he will not make mistakes.

"It's not an unfair defeat." He sighed softly.

If you can return to Liangzhou to serve as an official in the future, it would be better to be cautious.

Well, you have to watch other people and don't let those who are not clear-headed get back to you.

After waiting for a long time, the group heard the sound of horse hooves.

Soon, a young man came over with two clerks.

"General Shao." Behind the horse, the leading troops immediately stepped forward to salute.

"Your Majesty has an order to summon the talents of Liangzhou at Xiaoguan Tower." The man who was called "General Shao" dismounted and saluted in return and said.

"The general will obey." The general ordered the sergeants to move away the horses and antlers to make way for a passage.

"General Jin is also going together." General Shao said again.

"I obey your order," Jin Zhun said with a salute.

The man in front of me is an orphan adopted by the emperor. His surname is Shao Mingzhen, and his nickname is "ugly slave". He practices martial arts very hard, and he will definitely be able to be released as an official in a few years. There is no need to offend him.

A group of dozens of people continued to move forward.

Wherever you pass, there are soldiers in helmets and armor everywhere on the mountainside on both sides. Flags prefixed with "Silver Spear" and "Black Flag" can be seen everywhere.

In a wide valley, there are even a large number of cavalry stationed, and the defense is very strict and organized.

Now even Yin Yuan felt something unusual.

We walked all the way, looked all the way, whispered all the way, and sighed with emotion, until we climbed a mountain road and arrived at Xiaoguan.

******

Shao Xun had just returned from hunting. He was still wearing a fiery red hunting suit and was chatting and laughing with a group of officials.

Zhang Jun was led by his own soldiers to the tower and took a sneak peek.

This man is said to be over forty years old, but you can't tell from his appearance. He is probably in his early thirties. He speaks with great energy and a very loud voice.

Moreover, he often used gestures when he spoke, and there was an unquestionable air. Civil and military officials stood by, but they just smiled, their eyes always fell on Shao Xun, and occasionally interjected a sentence or two, following his meaning.
To be continued...