The Qinling Mountains are a natural chasm that protects both Hanzhong and the northwest.

Before the three armies moved, food and grass were first, and with the supplies and equipment, if there was no smooth road feasible, the troops could not cross the Qinling Mountains at all. This was a natural barrier without a shortcut.

"You should have guessed the purpose of my trip." After a moment of silence, Qi Ning finally said: "The encirclement and suppression of rebellion bandits is just a cover."

Ban Yun thought for a while before saying, "Does the Lord want to attack Xianyang by order?"

Qi Ning nodded and said, "Take Xianyang and take advantage of the civil strife in the Northern Han Dynasty to occupy the northwest. If one of the wings of the Northern Han Dynasty is cut off, once we can control Tongguan, the Northern Han people will worry day and night, and the Northwest and Qinhuai Roads are like pliers, placing the Northern Han in the middle."

"Xiaoguan understand." Ban Yun said: "In fact, Xiaguan also had such an idea. Once the northwest is empty, we can take advantage of the situation to go north. However, this plan is too risky. Although Xiaguan knew that they had checkpoints on the narrow road, he was not sure whether they had ambushing on the narrow road. The four roads were all dangerous roads. When passing through the narrow road, as long as there were ambushing on both sides, there would be only one, and that would be annihilated. And even if we cross the Qinling Mountains, whether the troops could be at the city before the Northern Han people discovered it, and then quickly captured Xianyang, it was still unknown. Xianyang City is the largest city in the northwest, extremely strong. Once the other party is prepared and cannot conquer it in a short time, what awaits us will be a catastrophe."

Qi Ning nodded slightly and said, "There are three conditions to conquer Xianyang. The first is to cross the Qinling Mountains, the second is to control Tongguan, and the third is to break the city quickly by surprise. As long as one of the three problems occurs, the operation will be declared a failure."

"What the Lord said is very true." Ban Yun thought about it and thought for a while before saying, "Justice, what we need to consider now is how to pass through the Northern Han people's guard post. Although their guard post is very simple, it is just a stone wall built in a narrow road, but it is not easy to attack it. And once we launch a strong attack, they will inevitably send a signal to Xianyang quickly. Xianyang is prepared and it is difficult to ascend the city again."

It was already dark and the hall was a little dim. Ban Yun lit the lights himself. Qi Ning sat under the lights for a long time and finally got up and stretched, asking with a smile: "Prince Ban, I heard that there were beautiful women from Bashu, but I don't know if there is also a beautiful girl in Hanzhong?"

Ban Yun was stunned and wondered why the little Duke suddenly turned the topic to women?

But when he thought that this little Duke was young and was a romantic boy, it was not strange that he had some hobbies for women. He was not good at this. But since the little Duke mentioned it, he could not dispel the little Duke's interest and forced a smile: "The Lord will rest in the prefect's mansion tonight. When the official turned around, he will find a few girls to accompany the Lord!"

Qi Ning was stunned and immediately understood that Ban Yun had misunderstood his meaning. He laughed and said, "Prince Ban, you are really misunderstood. I came to Hanzhong with the order. I haven't done anything, so how can I still be greedy for fun."

"What does the Lord mean?"

Qi Ning leaned closer and whispered: "Didn't you say Qu Manbao is lustful?"

Ban Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, understood, and whispered: "Does the Lord want to?"

"You don't know anything." Qi Ning whispered: "Shi Chai Bozhong, the military commander under Qu Yuangu, went to the capital and found me secretly, meaning he wanted to form an alliance with our Great Chu."

Ban Yun was surprised: "Chai Bozhong? Sir, Chai Bozhong is indeed the number one adviser under Qu Yuangu. Did this person actually go to Jianye Capital?"

"Beitangfeng wanted to enter the pass, but hesitated, afraid that Zhongli Ao would return to the army to rescue Luoyang. If so, the Northwest Army under his command would not be enough for Zhongli Ao to block his teeth." Qi Ning smiled and said, "He was only worried that other princes would decide the winner and lose, ascend to the throne and become emperor. Once this is the case, the overall situation is settled, and it is even more impossible for him to turn the tables, so he was anxious and wanted to break into the pass."

Ban Yun smiled and said, "Xiaoguan heard that the Beitang Feng arrived in Xianyang, and he knew that the civil war in the Northern Han Dynasty would begin. Not long after, Qu Yuangu dispatched troops and generals, and then transferred troops to Tongguan. At present, Qu Yuangu commanded tens of thousands of troops and horses in Tongguan, staring at Luoyang, but he kept holding troops. Xiaguan was still thinking in his heart, the Beitang Feng had not moved for a long time, what was he waiting for? It turned out that he was afraid of Zhongli Ao and wanted to wait for my Great Chu to help him restrain Zhongli Ao."

"We have been planning the Northern Expedition. Since Beitangfeng took the initiative to request, we will naturally not refuse his kindness." Qi Ning smiled and said, "The Qinhuai Legion has gone north, and Beitangfeng will soon enter the pass."

"The Xiaguan has a spy near Tongguan. If there is any action there, the news will be quickly received here." Ban Yun said: "Justice, if you want to attack Xianyang, you must wait for Qu Yuangu's troops to enter the pass, and pass through the Qinling Mountains, and you must divide the troops into two groups, one to pounce on Xianyang, and the other to quickly kill Tongguan. Before the Northern Han people reacted, they would take down Tongguan. In this way, even if Qu Yuangu got the news and wanted to return to the army to rescue, if Tongguan was guarded, Qu Yuangu could not come back."

Qi Ning nodded and said, "Yes, the importance of taking down Tongguan is not under Xianyang." He waved his hand and smiled, "Let's think of a way to cross the Qinling Mountains first. Since the third prince of the Northern Han Dynasty has formed an alliance with us, we will send someone to send some gifts for good things, which should be said."

Ban Yun smiled and said, "It's really reasonable to reciprocate."

"Qu Manbao is famous for his reputation as a lewd person, so we will send beautiful wine and beautiful women to Xianyang." Qi Ning said, "But I didn't bring any beautiful women here, so I can only choose from Hanzhong." He sighed and said, "Picking beautiful women will naturally not cause the whole city to storm, so I can only bother the prefect of the Labor House to help me find them." After thinking for a while, he asked, "Yes, what special hobbies does Qu Manbao have for women?"

Ban Yun shook his head and said, "I don't know this official, but it is said that Qu Manbao is doing something wrong in Xianyang. Although many of the Cardamom Girls were poisoned by him, he would not let go of many beautiful married women. It is rumored that Qu Yuangu had an aide under his command, and his wife was quite beautiful. Qu Manbao fell in love with the woman. In the middle of the night, a group of people broke into the mansion and took the woman back to Qu Manbao's mansion. After three days of abuse, he let her go. The woman committed suicide by hanging herself. The aide silently disappeared. This matter was widely spread and many people knew about it."

Qi Ning nodded slightly and said, "Then you can choose eight beauties, four beautiful girls, and four charming women as soon as possible. Then you will use them to help you pass the test."

Ban Yun bowed and said, "Don't worry, it's not difficult to select eight beauties quietly. The minister immediately arranged someone to do it." He also said, "The minister likes to drink on weekdays, and has stored a lot of good wines in the mansion, which is also useful this time."

Qi Ning smiled and said, "Don't worry, take a jar of wine and I'll give you ten jars of wine back, which is guaranteed to be no less than your fine wine."

The Daba Mountains extend 500 miles east-west, so they are called Qianli Ba Mountain. They are also the watershed between the Jialing River and the Han River. The entire Daba Mountains are composed of Micang Mountain, Daba Mountain, Dashennongjia, Wudang Mountain and Jingshan.

Daba Mountain is steep and has many peaks, caves and rivers. When the world is in turmoil, there are often bandits gathering in Daba Mountain in Hanzhong, taking Ba Mountain as its roots, burning, killing and looting everywhere.

This is certainly because there is enough water and prey on Daba Mountain to survive, but more importantly, the terrain of Daba Mountain is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if the officers and soldiers encircle and suppress, once they hide in Daba Mountain, it will be difficult for the officers and soldiers to suppress the bandits.

After Ban Yun was transferred to the prefect of Hanzhong, he spent two years to clear out some of the bandits and rioters in Hanzhong. Since then, the entire Hanzhong has been peaceful and the people live and work in peace. Daba Mountain has also become the most popular hunting place for hunters.

Although it is the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty after passing through the Qinling Mountains and Hanzhong is on the front line, people seem to have forgotten where they are. Many people even feel that there are defenders who are guarding the Qinling Mountains, and the Northern Han people are unable to fight. The Hanzhong Plain is actually an excellent place to live and work in peace.

But early in the morning, a group of cavalry rushed past the streets in Nanzheng City. After that, a group of officers and soldiers gathered outside the city, and even officers and soldiers rushed to the carriages carrying supplies to go out of the city. This made the people in the city feel a little uneasy. But soon news spread in the major teahouses and restaurants in the city. It is said that a group of bandits were doing evil near Chengdu and were targeted by the officers and soldiers. The bandits fled in a hurry to Daba Mountain to hide. The prefect of Ban got the news and dispatched troops to Daba Mountain to suppress the bandits.

After people learned the news, they quickly felt relieved.

As long as the Northern Han people were not fighting, there would be no big deal. Of course, it is not a fear of a few bandits who flew over with Ban's prefect. There were quite a few bandits who gathered in Dabashan and were extremely cruel. In the end, they were not caught by Ban's prefect. Some restaurants and tea shops even started gambling, how long would the bandits take to wipe out the bandits this time?

The officers and soldiers sent by Nanzheng left quickly, and the next day, there was news again. The troops were also transferred from Chengdu Prefecture. The two groups of officers and soldiers worked together to kill the bandits. After the news, the people in the city were even more happy. Since even Chengdu had officers and soldiers sent over, there was naturally no need to worry that the bandits could do evil in Hanzhong.

Therefore, there are occasionally large groups of officers and soldiers on the ground in Hanzhong, and people are used to it, knowing that these officers and soldiers are here to suppress bandits, and these officers and soldiers enter the ground in Hanzhong with strict precautions. Wherever they pass, they will not harm the people, so naturally they will not feel any uneasy.
Chapter completed!