Chapter 448

At noon, the warm sun fell on the Hanyang Pass city wall, making this majestic pass look exceptionally tall. But the strong shadows also made it look mottled and ancient, with a touch of decadence.

Xu Xu Zhongxing sat on the terrace of the West Gate city wall, with a pot of wine warming by his side, his eyes slightly narrowed, looking at the boundless Western Regions.

Fan Fan Donghe sat beside him, also with a pot of wine by his side, drinking slowly, and said: "It couldn't be better for Big Brother to come back."

Xu Xu Zhongxing gave a "heh" and pointed forward, saying: "Look, three years ago, looking out from here, it was a piece of deep green. But now, in just over two years, it has already turned into light green, and there is even some clear energy under the clouds. Actually, I don't care about those official positions and ranks, but now guarding this place has really become a sinecure."

Fan Fan Donghe could only sigh for a long time.

In the eyes of people who don't know the truth, Hanyang Pass is still the majestic pass under heaven as it was in the past.

But Fan Fan Donghe knows very well that the Hanyang Pass, which has lost eight giant crossbows and whose pass defense array has also been destroyed, now only has the appearance, and is just a taller stone city. If they really fight, the pure city wall is of no use; cultivators in the Blood Merging Realm can climb up with their bare hands, and those in the Bone Forging Realm can even run and climb the city.

Now both of them have been stripped of their official positions and salaries, and have been sent to Hanyang Pass, serving as the main and deputy guards of the West Gate. The newly appointed guard is an elder ranked at the bottom. Fortunately, this elder has no foundation and his cultivation is weak. As a Dharma Form, Fan Fan Donghe can probably beat him in less than a column of incense time.

So this elder is also sensible, simply not asking about the affairs of the West Gate, only caring about searching for land and scraping money in the territory outside the West Gate.

Xu Xu Zhongxing drank a sip of wine, looked at the west, and said slowly: "The clear energy of heaven and earth in the west is gradually being born; although it is not a good thing for us, it is a great good thing for the human race."

Fan Fan Donghe sighed: "Who cares who is good or not; now my heart is cold, and I just want to muddle through life."

Xu Xu Zhongxing suddenly said: "Do you want to go north with me to fight the Liao tribe?"

Fan Fan Donghe was stunned and said: "Big Brother, I have been dealing with the Shaman tribe all my life, and I am not familiar with the Liao tribe! Besides, our territory is not related to the Liao tribe. Are you going to work for the Lu family?"

"No, we are not in the Western Jin; we are going to the Northern Qi. The war there is tight now, and it is exactly the time when people are needed."

Fan Fan Donghe was shocked and said: "Big Brother, don't you want the foundation in the clan anymore?"

"After this incident, I feel that the so-called foundation and future are really meaningless."

"What about the sisters-in-law and the nephews and nieces? They can't follow to the Northern Qi, right?"

Xu Xu Zhongxing was silent for a moment, then sighed and didn't speak.

At this time, Fan Fan Donghe suddenly shook his whole body, stood up, full of murderous intent, and shouted in a deep voice: "Army aura! There is an enemy coming!"

Xu Xu Zhongxing was still lying lazily and said: "Where would there be enemies in the west now? Besides, looking at this army aura, the current Hanyang Pass cannot be defended. If they really come to attack, we will just open the city and surrender."

Fan Fan Donghe was confused for a moment, not understanding whether Xu Xu Zhongxing was telling the truth or the opposite. His cultivation was not as good as Xu Xu Zhongxing's, and at this time he could only see an army aura rising in the distance, approaching rapidly.

After a while, Fan Fan Donghe finally saw the full picture of the army aura, and his heart sank. That army aura was square and upright, condensed as if it were real, and there was a vague, huge, peerless flying horse phantom above the army aura.

Judging by the quality and quantity of the army aura, at least ten elite border armies were needed to rival it. At this moment, there were only fifty thousand soldiers in Hanyang Pass, forty-five thousand of whom were new recruits, and only five thousand were veterans, and that was in the literal sense of old soldiers.

If it were really an enemy army attacking, this kind of defense would basically collapse at the first touch. Fan Fan Donghe shouted subconsciously: "Activate the city defense array!"

But the officers in the city tower didn't move, each with a strange look.

Fan Fan Donghe then remembered that since the last bandit disaster, the Hanyang Pass city defense array had also been dismantled, and most of the materials for the array had been snatched by the bandits. Subsequently, Wei Yuan's government army entered the city to scrape the land again, and dismantled some of the remaining leftovers.

And the Western Jin treasury was empty, unable to come up with money to repair the array, nor money to supplement the giant crossbows, so now the entire Hanyang Pass was in a state of no defense, and no defense array could be activated.

Fan Fan Donghe's face changed again; the moving speed of that army aura was unimaginably fast. If it were a team of elite cavalry of a hundred or so, it could be understood, but how could an army of ten thousand level move so fast? This speed was already faster than the charging speed of many cavalry armies!

Suddenly, several cavalrymen came like flying, shouting from afar: "The Dingxi Military Governor Wei Yuan is entering the capital to see the Emperor! Open the pass quickly to let the escort army pass, otherwise, if you delay the Military Governor's itinerary, you cannot afford the consequences!"

Fan Fan Donghe was furious when he heard this and said: "If you want to open the pass, bring the military order from the Ministry of War! We don't belong to the Dingxi Fan Military Governor, so why should we listen to his orders?!"

Xu Xu Zhongxing suddenly said: "Open the gate!"

Fan Fan Donghe swallowed all the words in his belly, not understanding Xu Xu Zhongxing's intention. At this time, although Xu Xu Zhongxing had lost his official position, his prestige remained, so the soldiers opened the pass gate according to the order.

In the blink of an eye, the Dingxi iron cavalry moved to the front of the pass, and the army under the army aura revealed its true colors. It was an iron cavalry of over ten thousand people, with banners like a forest and bright clothing and armor, all heavy-armored cavalry holding spears, rolling in like a steel torrent.

Just looking at the equipment of the cavalry, Fan Fan Donghe frowned. Only the most elite "Black Edge" cavalry in the Xu family's private army had this level of equipment, and there were only three thousand "Black Edge" iron cavalry in total, and they didn't want to take them out in the two attacks on the domain boundary. But the Dingxi iron cavalry under the army aura was a full fifteen thousand!

Since when did Qingming have such strength?

Just the iron cavalry escorting Wei Yuan to the capital was fifteen thousand; this strength was probably enough to take down any city along the way except for the King's Capital.

The army did not stop at all, rushing directly into the city through the pass gate. At this time, the Xu family elder who was the newly appointed pacification commissioner hurried over, and as soon as he arrived, he shouted in frustration: "Where did this army come from? Why haven't you closed the gate yet? Close the gate!!"

His face was still flushed with wine, and there were many traces of women's rouge on his cheeks. Although it was not yet noon, the life of the newly appointed pacification commissioner had already become rich and colorful.

He ordered in a panic, but Xu Xu Zhongxing said: "It's already too late."

The Dingxi iron cavalry had automatically turned into four rows and rolled into the city, then followed the pass road directly toward the East Gate. The defense of the East Gate was much weaker than that of the West Gate, and the guard had heard that the West Gate was wide open, so he had long ago opened the pass gate, praying that these ancestors would leave as soon as possible.

Just like this, Wei Yuan's iron cavalry rumbled through Hanyang Pass and went east all the way.

Until the army aura went away in the east, the newly appointed pacification commissioner patted his chest, let out a long sigh, and then said: "How could you open the gate? What if he turns against us after the main army enters the city? What can we use to resist?"

Xu Xu Zhongxing glanced at him, not hiding the contempt in his eyes, and said: "Elder, don't forget how the position you are sitting in now became vacant, and how your predecessor disappeared."

The elder instantly thought of his predecessor's fate and turned pale with fright; this Hanyang Pass couldn't stop Wei Yuan's government army, nor could it stop Wei Yuan's bandits.

At this time, Wei Yuan was riding on a green colt, the light of a book page on his head vanished, and the army's speed slowed down.

Wei Yuan looked left and right; the rivers and mountains for a thousand miles were covered in white snow. But in some fields, the snow layer had melted, revealing black soil, and some farmers were plowing in the fields.

This kind of field is called "Fire Field," maintaining the ground temperature with arrays, and can also plant vegetables and fruits in winter, allowing the powerful and wealthy to eat fresh vegetables and fruits in winter.

Naturally, these vegetables and fruits are extremely expensive, and even the most ordinary vegetable is not something the farmers who plow it can afford. The farmers in the field were ragged, their feet stepping in the melted snow water, with large patches of chilblains on their exposed calves. They were shivering with cold, but still had to work, and several cultivators in leather clothes stood by the field, monitoring the farmers' work.

A piece of fire field generally has more than ten mu, and there are nearly a hundred farmers working in it, all of them skinny and bony.

Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked at the mountain village not far away. In this cold weather when the snow had just cleared, it was the coldest, but only a few households in the village had smoke rising, and there was fire in the house. These few households were independent, and at a glance, they were wealthy families, while all the other households didn't have a bit of smoke.

A moment later, the book was full of spiritual energy again, so the army accelerated and went east.

A few days later, Wei Yuan arrived at the King's Capital; the majesty of the army and the solemnity of the army aura shocked the King's City! The Nine Gates Commander Lu Lu Zhongzhi climbed the city to watch, and then personally went out of the city to welcome Wei Yuan.

!.

This time Wei Yuan brought a total of five thousand Long Yi heavy cavalry and ten thousand Long Xiang cavalry and infantry, filling the military camp in the Weng City.

Wei Yuan stayed in the post house as usual, but this time half of the post house was partitioned off for his exclusive use. Wei Yuan was not polite either, letting Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and others all move in, and incidentally settled dozens of trusted officers.

Just settled down, before the luggage could be opened, he heard a long sound from the post house: "The Imperial Edict has arrived!"

Wei Yuan was prepared, thanked for the grace, and after receiving the edict, took out a square box and stuffed it into Liu Quangong's hand.

This box was about the size of a book, neither big nor small, and it felt light when weighed, not knowing what was inside.

Liu Quangong didn't decline, nor did he put it away, and asked: "I don't know what kind of object this is?"

Wei Yuan lowered his voice and said: "Inside is the 'Underworld Blood Little Year Pill' refined from Blood Blood Yingluo, totaling ten pills. One pill can extend life by three years, does not conflict with other life-extending medicines, and the life-extending effect is not discounted. It's just that this pill uses Blood Blood Yingluo as the main medicine; although it is not as fierce as Blood Blood Yingluo, it is also very harmful to the body and should not be taken too much."

Liu Quangong immediately opened the box lid a crack, took a look, smelled the pill energy, and was moved, saying: "This treasure... this old servant has to accept it! Lord Wei has heart; if there is anything you need this old servant for in the future, just say it."

Wei Yuan smiled and said: "I will have to rely on the Chief Steward for care in the future."

Liu Quangong's attitude was already much closer at this time, saying: "This is this old servant's duty. By the way, Concubine Yuan has summoned you to enter the palace for an audience immediately, without delay. This time, still take this old servant's carriage, let's go now!"

Chunhua Hall.

At this time, the warming array of the Chunhua Hall had already been opened, and thick brocade screens and warm walls were set up around the hall to block the cold wind. Charcoal basins were burning in the four corners of the hall, making the hall somewhat hot and dry.

Wei Yuan was led by a maid to the entrance of the Chunhua Hall, and the two maids retreated, signaling Wei Yuan to enter by himself.

At this time, there were two-zhang-high warm walls around the Chunhua Hall, and there was a screen-like warm wall at the hall door, so he couldn't see the situation in the hall. Wei Yuan felt somewhat uneasy in his heart, walked around the screen, and entered the Chunhua Hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, it was warm and fragrant, and two incense burners were emitting curling smoke. Smelling this fragrance, Wei Yuan felt as if a layer of pink gauze had been covered over his consciousness, and his whole person became lazy, and his body became more and more sensitive.