Chapter 78          Snow Mountain

The old chieftain looked at the people around him and said, "What are the regulations of the court?"

Qiu Jun said: "The court has no other intentions. It is nothing more than rebuilding Songpan Guards and allowing the decent generals to guard the business road. You can't wait to harass the business road, but you are allowed to participate. Just build a yamen for your family in Songpan Guards. You can let their people enter and trade with merchants. This is also a two-way deal."

Qiu Jun's eyes swept across all the toasts and observed the movements between their eyebrows and eyes.

Compared to the old fried dough sticks in the Wuying Hall of Wenhua Hall, there is no emotion on their faces, but these toasts are different.

Although these toasts tried their best to hide it, Qiu Jun still saw a lot.

Some of them are very happy, and most of them are little toasts.

Just as the Ming Dynasty and the thorns were soldiers, the Jurchen Mongolian tribes were really affected. They charged forward as cannon fodder and retreated later as abandoned sons. What is the benefit? It is their turn in the end.

The same is true in Songpan.

These little chieftains, the youngest ones can even be regarded as village chiefs, are not the intention to compete with the court. It would be better if they could return to the Yongle period.

After all, there may not be no conquest among the chieftains, but if the imperial court had authority, the chieftains would not dare to easily embezzle the small chieftains.

But the big toasts remained silent on their faces.

In other words, they are not satisfied with this condition.

It’s not that they don’t want to return to normalization with the court, but that the price offered by the court is not enough.

There were also a few who were full of anger and seemed to care nothing at all. They probably got a lot of benefits from the robbery.

Not willing to stop.

Qiu Jun saw it, it was similar to the person he had estimated before.

Qiu Jun said, "You don't know that the court wants to open a tea and horse market. I have already agreed with the governor of Sichuan that the Songpan road is not impossible to be repaired."

"It's just that there are so many bandits in the mountains, what's the use of the imperial court to cultivate it?"

"As for your concerns, I can promise here that the generals sent by the court are under this road. In addition, the affairs in the mountains are subject to the rules. Moreover, the court strictly investigates tea and guides. Any merchants who see small roads in the mountains can be arrested and taken to Songpan City. The court will reward them. Only on this road, you cannot move."

Qiu Jun's words actually made great concessions.

It even implies that even if something happened to the Han people in the mountains, he would not ask.

These toasts seem to have only benefits and no restrictions. You can agree to this matter first. As for whether to do it in the future, it is another set of remarks.

They discussed it and basically agreed. Although several of the toasts were very dissatisfied, they could not reverse the big thing.

Qiu Jun said: "How can such a big thing be ignored? Let's stop here for now. Ten days later, it will be auspicious day. I will come here again to swore to the heavenly alliance."

These toasts didn't say anything after hearing this.

In fact, the chieftain respects the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth more than the Han people. Naturally, he thinks that the more grand the ceremony, the better.

Qiu Jun returned to Songpan City, immediately called Fan Guang over and said, "General Fan, there is something you want to do today."

Fan Guang said: "Sir, please speak."

Qiu Jun said: "The foreigners fear power but are not worthy of virtue. Today, I make such a concession. These foreigners don't know how good or bad it is. They will underestimate the government of the court. Therefore, I want something. Go and get it for me."

Fan Guang said: "Sir, what is it?"

Qiu Jun said: "The Guluzhai Tusi just sent his son over, but he didn't. And looking at his son, you know that he has no intention of harmony with the court. Moreover, I checked the old files in previous years. This Guluzhai has committed many evil deeds, so I must eliminate it. I want you to take the head of the Guluzhai Tusi. And it will take it within three days."

Fan Guang said: "This --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Qiu Jun said: "There is a road that leads directly to Guluzhai, it just depends on whether you have the courage."

Fan Guang said: "Sir, I will only have courage."

Qiu Jun said, "Okay, I have checked the map and asked Mr. Shu. There is a closest road from Songpanwei to Guluzhai, which is to cross the snow-capped mountains. There is a road that is rarely visited. As long as you choose the warriors in the night, no one will find it."

Fan Guang felt his scalp numb for a moment.

If Fan Guang climbed over the snow-capped mountains, he would know that it would be an extremely difficult task to complete.

To be honest, how many people can a village of toast have? It would be good to have four or five thousand people.

Fan Guang selected more than a thousand people and had no problem breaking a village.

The problem is that the road is extremely difficult.

But he was not allowed to speak at this moment. After all, this was a military order. Fan Guang said: "The last one will obey the order."

"Okay," Qiu Jun said: "With General Fan here, I can rest assured."

Qiu Jun did not make a decision temporarily, but had been planning for a long time.

In fact, Qiu Jun should fight a battle with Songpan's troops first to convince them and then take a gentle approach.

It’s just that Qiu Jun was very tight. After all, this road was blocked by heavy snow in winter and could not pass through. The court sent Qiu Jun here not to ask him to manage Songpan, but to open up the rational business path.

This is the most important thing.

He came out of Zhu Qizhen, how could he not know the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty?

Let the tea tax be paid as soon as possible. This is what Qiu Jun wants to do, and he can only fight quickly.

That's why he chose such a military operation.

The purpose is to tell the chieftains that no matter how difficult your village is, it can be comparable to the snow mountain. The soldiers of the Great Ming Dynasty can come and go freely even on the snow mountain.

If you have this ability, it is just that the court is compassionate to the world.

Moreover, Qiu Jun had also secretly watched the Beijing Camp exercises. In his opinion, he was already a rare elite. However, Qiu Jun still estimated the difficulty of climbing the snow-capped mountains for a while.

Although in summer, it is a season that is easy to climb over snowy mountains.

After receiving the order, Fan Guang immediately selected more than a thousand elite soldiers from the entire army, all with long ropes, iron hooks, and no firearms. Each of them had a single sword or a bow or arrow on their backs.

We set out late at night and headed all the way up. When it was bright, what they were stepping on was no longer dry land, but snow.

At this moment, many soldiers felt difficulty breathing, as if they were carrying something extremely heavy and couldn't breathe. Even Fan Guang felt this way.

It’s just that Fan Guang is in good health, and this feeling is not deep.

Fan Guang had to let the soldiers wear light clothes again, put down their bows, arrows, and arrows. He was only wearing a cotton coat, a single knife, and a rope.

However, overall, the slope of this snow mountain is not low, but it is not very difficult to climb.

When the rope was stuck on the mountain pass, the Ming soldiers grabbed the ropes one by one. From a distance, it looked like there was a black line on the snow-capped mountain.

Unfortunately, Fan Guang encountered altitude sickness.

If they were on the flat ground and relying on Beijing camp training, they had good physical fitness, so it would be no big deal to climb mountains like this. But at this moment, many soldiers felt that they had been sucked and could not exert their strength at all.

A dozen soldiers fell into the mountain in a row, following the snow, and I don’t know where they fell.

Fan Guang had to leave the soldiers in bad shape behind in batches.

Because the time for this mission is very limited.

Fan Guang couldn't wait for him to adapt.

In this way, after Fan Guang climbed over the snow-capped mountains, there were only 700 people around him, leaving two camps in the snow-capped mountains and more than a dozen lives.

The road below is much easier to walk.

When it snowed, they saw Gulu Village from afar.

Gulu Village is a typical copycat. It has been managed by Gulu Tusi for several generations. Outside, it is not high in the mountains. From the outside, it feels like a mountain passes thousands of miles away.

This Guluzhai is not very crowded, and it looks like there are less than a thousand households.

Although this mountain village looks like a strong city, they never expected that the Ming army would come suddenly. If they bypass the snow-capped mountains, it would take several days to get from here to Songpan City.

As for Fan Guang himself, he prefers fighting wars rather than climbing mountains, especially snow-capped mountains.
Chapter completed!