"Why is it easier for us to recapture those pastures and grasslands from the Black Jie people than from the seven Shatu tribes?" Sun Bingchen seemed to be interested and asked after Yan Liqiang finished speaking.
"Because the Qiyun Mountain separates those pastures and grasslands from the territory of the Black Jie people, especially in winter, that area is an enclave for the Black Jie people. No food or soldiers can be transported in, and there is no way to resupply them. In a short period of time, the Black Jie people cannot migrate a large number of people from the area they occupied that originally belonged to the Seven Shatu Tribes. Even if they can deploy some troops, they will not be too many. For the Black Jie people, the area currently occupied by the Seven Shatu Tribes is easy to defend and difficult to attack because of the Qiyun Mountain. For us, there is no such obstacle, and several important checkpoints bordering the base of the Seven Shatu Tribes are in our hands. The offensive and defensive forces are very different, and the initiative is on our side. Under this circumstance, it will naturally be easier to drive the Black Jie people back to the west of the Qiyun Mountain again!"
"In this case, wouldn't we be betraying the seven tribes of Shatu and the Black Jie people?"
"Even if the adults didn't say it, I know that the seven Shatu tribes must have been involved in the collusion with the Ye family this time. The seven Shatu tribes have had evil intentions for a long time and are ready to make a move. They have long forgotten who took them in and gave them a way out and land to live when they were hunted down by the Shatu Alliance like stray dogs. Now that their strength has recovered a little, they are secretly colluding with the Shatu Alliance. This is true betrayal. As for the Black Jie people, they have been eyeing us covetously. As long as they can occupy the base of the seven Shatu tribes and their ambitions expand, as long as we show a little weakness, they will definitely make further advances and invade our border passes. We can use static to dynamic, let the Black Jie people take the first step, and bear the blame for betrayal first, and then send troops to drive the Black Jie people back to the west of Qiyun Mountain. In this way, who can say anything!"
After hearing what Yan Liqiang said, Sun Bingchen remained silent, but the look in his eyes made Yan Liqiang feel even more uneasy.
Sun Bingchen suddenly sighed, "If all the officials in the court had your insight, the world might be much more peaceful!"
Yan Liqiang laughed dryly twice. "Well, I just said those things without any hesitation. They are just theoretical theories. I have limited knowledge and have not considered many unexpected situations. The facts may not be as I thought. Please don't be offended, sir!"
"From what you just said, do you think there will be chaos in the empire in the future?"
Yan Liqiang thought about the things that would happen in and outside the Han Empire in the next few years. Judging from those things, he has not yet seen a great chaos in the Han Empire, but it seems that the things that have happened are not good things. Not to mention the large and small frictions that have occurred between the Han Empire and the Chamans on the border, just look at the things that the White Lotus Sect caused in the south of the Han Empire and the fact that several vassal states of the Han Empire have successively severed ties with the Han Empire and turned to the embrace of the Crescent Moon Dynasty. From these things, it seems that the instability factors of the Han Empire are rapidly increasing, and the control of the Han Empire central government over the empire and abroad is rapidly weakening. This is not a good sign!
Of course, when Sun Bingchen asked, Yan Liqiang didn't dare to tell him what would happen in the next few years. If that happened, he would probably be caught and sliced into pieces, so he could only say vaguely, "I don't know whether it's chaotic or not. It's really embarrassing for me to ask this, sir. I just saw that the people of the Seven Shatu Tribes in Pingxi County and Ganzhou seemed to be getting more and more arrogant and unscrupulous. As the saying goes, one thing goes up, the other goes down. The Seven Shatu Tribes dared to do this, which must not be a good sign!"
After listening to what Yan Liqiang said, Sun Bingchen looked at the vast mountains in the distance with a worried look on his face. He then took a long breath and said to Yan Liqiang, "Liqiang, remember, if any accidents or dangers happen along the way, what you need to do is to ensure your own safety. Don't be stubborn. You don't have to worry about other things, even my safety. I will give you an order now. From now on, your biggest task is to return to the Imperial Capital alive. Two days ago, I sent your information to the Imperial Capital for reporting by the express horse of the post station. As long as you arrive in the Imperial Capital alive, your identity will be confirmed. You will be officially promoted to the eighth-rank commander of the Qubu with a sword..."
As he spoke, Sun Bingchen's face became extremely serious, even a little stern. This was the first time Yan Liqiang saw such an expression on Sun Bingchen's face.
If Yan Liqiang remembered correctly, this was the second time he had heard such a reminder. The last time it was Liang Yiji who reminded him. If it was just one time, it could be understood as concern. But if it was twice, especially when spoken with Sun Bingchen's expression and tone at the moment, coupled with an order to return to the capital alive, Yan Liqiang's heart suddenly skipped a beat and he thought of a possibility - could it be that Sun Bingchen already knew what would happen ahead and what kind of dangers he would encounter, so he reminded him so deliberately
After hearing what Sun Bingchen said, Yan Liqiang's nerves became tense.
…
As the saying goes, "A horse will die if it runs too far up the mountain", you will understand what this saying means when you are actually traveling in the mountains.
A mountain that seems to be just a few miles away seems to be within reach and can be reached in no time. But when you actually start walking on it, you will feel that the winding road like a goat intestine can suddenly increase the distance between you and the mountain in front of you by more than ten times in the blink of an eye. Sometimes you wander around on the road for a long time and walk seven or eight miles, but in fact, you have only bypassed a mountain path of several dozen meters or a huge rock that lies across the road.
There were carriages in the team, so the road they chose was both a horse path and a car path. The car path was more picky about the road conditions, so the journey was slower and more roundabout. Looking at the heavy carriage creaking on the ground, Yan Liqiang's idea of getting a four-wheeled carriage, which had already been put to rest, became active again at this moment. In such long-distance travel and rushing, the flexibility, carrying capacity, and speed of the four-wheeled carriage were completely incomparable to this old fixed two-wheeled carriage. The gap between the two, if you really compare them, is as big as that between an ordinary train and a high-speed train.
Fortunately, everyone in the team brought enough dry food and water, so they did not starve. Everyone could just ride on their horses and did not have to get off and walk. But even so, Yan Liqiang and his group walked for almost half a day, and by the evening, they had not yet covered a hundred miles in a straight line.
Then, Yan Liqiang met Liang Yijie and the others again at a fork in the road...
(End of this chapter)