Three Kingdoms

More than a hundred miles southeast of Tianshui.

A team of grain transporters lined up in a long queue, moving forward slowly. In the middle was the grain transporter, and the guards were on both sides. On the first car at the front, there were two flags, one with "Ginger" written on it. "Yang" is written on one side.

The guards were all capable Xiliang men, with big shoulders and round waists. They numbered about a hundred people. Although not all of them were wearing iron armor, most of them still wore leather armor and were armed with weapons. Among them, there were about 20 people on horseback. They were shouting and shouting in front and back, which was quite majestic, but the folk who were responsible for pushing and pulling vehicles and dragging livestock looked much thinner and ragged, which formed a sharp contrast.

Although it is not a serious official road, this road is relatively smooth and does not have many ups and downs. In addition, these guards have not taken this road once or twice. They have been doing so for a while. It was peaceful, so the Xiliang men guarding both sides of the convoy were more or less relaxed. They followed along and joked with each other to relieve their boredom. Even the two commanders at the front of the queue were no exception.

On the ground of Tianshui, the Jiang family and the Yang family have joined forces. Are they capable? They have some relationship with the Jiang family or the Yang family, and they will not have to break up their friendship for decades just for these grains and grass. And those guys near Tianshui who have no friendship Well, most of them don’t have the ability to do it...

In addition, the weather has been good these days, and apart from being a little hot and dusty on the road, it will not be difficult. Therefore, it is said to be an escort, but in fact it is almost like playing.

"Bah! Damn..." At the front of the queue, the guard commander on the left spit out the sand that flew into his mouth in the wind, cursed, and then said, "Old Jiangtou, which trip is this? Already?"

The old ginger head on the right said: "This is the third trip! There are only two trips left and it will be over! Damn it, you are covered in dirt! When it is over, I am going to Tianshui to take a good wash in the river..."

"Hahaha... I said, Old Jiangtou, go borrow the river not only to bathe, but also the Chunxiang Building in Dongmenlifang... Hehe, hehe..."

"What's the matter? I'm a bachelor. If I don't go there, why don't I just endure it? Why are you laughing at me now that you have a wife? You haven't gone there often! Besides, this weather makes people feel anxious. Don't go. Let your anger out, be careful if I can’t hold it in any longer, I’ll climb over your wall!”

"Yes, you are the uncle! Are you the uncle?"

Lao Jiangtou was shaking his head proudly and laughing twice, but suddenly his face stiffened, and then he turned around and asked: "...you...did you hear..."

The sand on the road surface trembled slightly.

A group of cavalry suddenly appeared on the top of the hill in front, and then rushed down the hillside!

"Damn it! Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

"Arrange yourself in formation! Get your weapons!"

The guards escorting the grain and grass did not expect to encounter enemies here. They were already looking forward to the hot soup and hot pancakes at the end of the field. They were about to reach Tianshui. This journey should be without danger. The sudden situation made them unprepared and panicked.

Although Lao Jiangtou and Yang Qi, who were leading the team, shouted loudly and hoped to direct the guards to defend and counterattack, not many of the unprepared guards could react. Although a few could still shoot with bows and arrows, they shot down several attackers. However, the rest of the people did not show any strength and were quickly killed to the point where they were defeated and fled in all directions.

The peasants were also frightened. They threw down their cars and food. Running around.

The attackers shouted "Yo yo" and galloped wildly. They crashed into the queue and killed those guards who dared to resist. The sharp sword light brought up a cloud of blood, splashing on the yellow sand and the road transporting grain and grass. on the vehicle.

"Surrender! Surrender!" Seeing that the momentum was wrong, Yang Qi immediately dropped his sword and raised his hands. He also had a newly married daughter-in-law at home, so he couldn't take advantage of others. "Don't do it, don't do it! I am People from the Yang family in Ji County, Tianshui...the heroes across the street...ah ha..."

Before Yang Qi finished speaking, he saw a war horse running from the side. The cavalryman on the horse stretched out his spear and pierced his chest with a "pop" sound. Then the knight on the horse sneered and then continued. Off to chase the next target.

"Kill them all!"

A voice shouted.

The attacker galloped on horseback, and the rapid sound of horse hooves stirred up bursts of smoke, like roaring ferocious beasts, swallowing up all those kneeling on the roadside, as well as the guards and civilians who fled in all directions...

…………………………

Different from the semi-desert and semi-green loess hilly areas like Tianshui, from a certain perspective, the scenery near Xiabian is much more beautiful than in later generations. At least here, there is still a lot of green in the area as far as the eye can see.

In the Han Dynasty, there was not much water, soil and water. It's just that soil erosion is basically a vicious cycle for vegetation. If there is no conscious restoration of vegetation, nothing will be left.

I just don’t know how long this green color can remain under the erosion of humans?

Fei Qian stood at the temporary camp built on the waterside of the Western Han Dynasty, looking at the civilians and soldiers busy at the waterside, who were loading grain and grass into ships.

The grain and grass from Hanzhong were transported to Xiabian, and then the grain and grass from Xiabian were transported along the Western Han River to Qishan. From Qishan to the north, you can reach Tianshui. From outside Tianshui City, you can then switch to water transport, and pass through the Weishui River to reach Guanzhong. .

Therefore, in general, the section from Xiabian to Guanzhong can be traveled by water most of the time. Only the section from Qishan to Tianshui is transported by land. In addition, Jiang Ji is originally from Tianshui County, so it is completely It is a local snake, so whether it is the speed of transportation or the convenience of transportation, it is still acceptable.

After all, water transportation is much better than using horses and horses to carry horses and camels on mountain roads. Fei Qian walked the Tangluo Road himself. Sometimes he walked for a whole day and found that he just climbed from one mountain to another. , the straight-line distance may only be a few hundred meters, but the men and horses have to climb for a whole day...

Fei Qian watched the flat-bottomed boats loaded with grain and grass row across the water of the Western Han Dynasty, raised their sails, and sailed toward the north.

These ships are not big, but both the hull and the sails inherit the characteristics of the Han Dynasty and are square and square. The shape of these ships is that the bow and stern are slightly curved, and the hull strings are straight. Fei Qian even suspected that if the bow and stern parts of the ship had not broken through the water flow, they might have been changed to a square shape. These are purely cargo ships. As for the combat Mengchong and Lou ships, there are very few to be found in the entire Northwest.

Before, there were one or two large ships remaining outside the cities of Chang'an and Luoyang. Later, when Chang'an and Luoyang were in turmoil, these ships were all burned down. It can be said that the puzzle piece of the navy, whether Fei Qian or Yang Biao, even Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, are all on the same starting line.

Although Fei Qian has these ships in front of him, basically speaking, their combat effectiveness on the water is close to zero and they can only be used for transportation...

But that’s all it can be. We can’t say we can build an armored ship right now, right?

And even if you want to do it, you can't do it. After all, there is no steam engine yet...

There are also various materials, lathes, mechanics, etc.

All missing.

Technology is like this. Even if one piece of the puzzle is missing, the whole picture will not be complete.

However, the utilization and development of coal is already a task of Huang's workshop. Even among the dozens of people sent by the Mohist family, several of them are studying coal specifically. The most important thing is to study how to use it on a large scale. Producing anthracite coal, after all, coal containing sulfur and impurities and pure anthracite coal have a huge difference in the role of smelting steel.

"This is the third batch..." Jiang Ji stood beside Fei Qian and introduced.

The fleet is divided into three batches. After arriving at the corresponding location, they will rest there for a night, load some return cargo, then reboard the ship and return, and so on. A large amount of grain and grass were transported to Guanzhong, and then some cloth, utensils, and even a considerable number of weapons were transported from Guanzhong, all of which Longyou lacked.

Basically, anyone with some sense knows how rich the oil and water on this road is, so Jiang Jiong was able to gather a large number of transport ships in a short period of time to run this route specifically. In addition to the original Jiang family in Tianshui Hebei In addition to the influence of the county, the families or tribes involved can obtain considerable benefits from it, which is naturally a very strong cohesion that promotes this matter.

Fei Qian also knew this very well. After all, you have to share some profits before someone is willing to stick to you, but...

"Zhong Yi," Fei Qian looked at the sails going away and said calmly, "How much damage did the shipping cost along the way?"

Jiang Ji quickly glanced at Fei Qian, and then said: "...This...is about 40%..."

Drift.

"Forty percent. Haha..." Fei Qian smiled, noncommittal. Although there was no such professional term in the Han Dynasty, it was still the same as plucking the hair of a goose.

In other words, assuming that ten shi of grain and grass are transported from Xiabian, only six shi will be left by the time it reaches Youfufeng, and the other four shi will be the transportation reward for this route.

The amount of this loss, or the transportation cost, is high. It is indeed quite high, but compared with land transportation, it is much better. Of course, how much of this is a real loss and how much falls into the pockets of the transporters is a matter of opinion.

After entering Guanzhong, build a fleet of your own and come out...

Fei Qian found that as the territory expanded, besides war, there were many, many more things he needed to do, more and more.

At this moment, several Han and Qiang cavalry came from the north in panic, bringing news that shocked both Fei Qian and Jiang Ji. The food and grass were robbed!

…………………………

"To tell you in detail, what happened?"

Fei Qian sat in the central military tent, looking at the soldiers who came to report the news, and asked.

The soldier who reported the news drank some water and regained his composure. Regardless of his physical fatigue, he responded and then began to tell what happened...

The Western Han River can directly reach Qishan from Xiabianchu, and in the entire northwest region, there is not as dense a water network as in the southeast or southwest, so there are no private organizations such as water thieves. Therefore, basically speaking, except for boating, Apart from the natural risks, the rest of the risks are not very high.

So there were no problems along the way from Xiabian to Qishan. From Qishan to Tianshui, the Jiang family and the Yang family of Tianshui jointly took over the escort. Then they took the Yang family's boat and went from Tianshui to the Weishui River to Youfufeng...

When Fei Qian heard about Yang, he glanced at Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji nodded slightly, indicating that the person he mentioned was Yang Fu whom he and Fei Qian mentioned yesterday.

Yang Fu is also from Ji County, Tianshui. Like Jiang Ji, he is considered a local aboriginal in Tianshui. He must not go around it when recruiting vehicles and ships, so Jiang Ji also recommended Yang Fu to Fei Qian.

The Yang family in Hebei County actually has some connection with the Hongnong Yang family, but it happened many generations ago. It should be the generation of Yang Jiong that started to separate. It has long been outside the fifth server. The specific interval Fei Qian is not sure how many generations have passed.

Unexpectedly, before meeting Yang Fu, he would encounter such a thing.

When the food and grass were transferred overland from Qishan to Tianshui, something went wrong and they were robbed and killed by cavalry who appeared from nowhere...

After hearing this, Fei Qian frowned and pinched the short beard on his chin.

Qishan is close to Tianshui, and there was no danger in transporting grain and grass some time ago. Therefore, whether it is the Jiang family or the Yang family, they may be relatively lax, but they dare to openly slap the local snake in the face, and then pull Those who poop and pee are probably not good at it either.

"What's the banner? How many people are there?" Fei Qian asked.

The soldier who reported the news reported back: "There was no flag...the number of people was about five hundred horses..."

"No flag?" Jiang Ji couldn't help but ask from the side. After all, this matter was also related to his Jiang family. "Are there any other traces left?"

"...There are some..." the soldier said, "According to those who escaped with their lives, the clothes and clothes were a bit like those of Di people..."

"Di people?"

Jiang Ji asked a few more questions, but the soldiers didn't give out much useful information.

Fei Qian thought for a while and realized that there was really nothing he needed to ask, and he probably wouldn't be able to get anything out of the question, so he waved his hand and told the soldiers who reported the news to retreat first.

"General...according to certain inferences, the thieves must be familiar with the terrain of Tianshui..." After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ji raised his hands and said, "If the more than five hundred cavalry are not familiar with the terrain, they will definitely be discovered during the operation... But Di Ren Most of you are arguing that there are not many Di people near Tianshui..."

"And most of the Di people are infantry, good at fighting in the mountains, but not good at mounted combat..." Fei Qian nodded and said, "If we exclude other people pretending to be... so good at mountain fighting and good at mounted combat, I'm afraid only …”

"Baima Qiang..."

"White Horse Di..."

Almost at the same time, both Fei Qian and Jiang Ji gave their answers.

"But... I am not excusing the White Horse Qiang... It's just that this matter is a little strange..." Jiang Jiu pondered for a moment and then said, "Most of the White Horse Qiang are nomadic in Wudu. They say they came to Tianshui to rob food and grass. Although this distance is reasonable...but I dare not hide it from the general. I also know the leader of Baima Qiang and have some friendship with him. This...is there no reason at all?"

"Hmm..." Fei Qian pondered. This matter was like a picture, but a few important pieces of the puzzle were missing. Then he slowly said, "Could it be that Bai Maqiang didn't know about the Jiang family's transportation before?" It was someone’s food and fodder, and now I know...or maybe there was someone else behind the scenes..."

Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "If that's the case, it's possible... The Baima Qiang have a large number of people, and they are considered a large tribe nearby. It's not difficult to dispatch five hundred cavalry... However, in the battle of Guanzhong, the most damaged ones were the yaks. Qiang, Baima Qiang did not suffer much damage. It would be too far-fetched to say that they have enmity with the general because of this... In any case, I kindly ask the general to allow me to go to Tianshui immediately, conduct a detailed investigation, and report back!"

Fei Qian just nodded and was about to give some instructions when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from outside the tent. A soldier reported outside: "Report to General! A scout was spotted fifty miles away from the northwest!"