Five days later, it was thick in the mulberry field.
Four skinny and ragged men stumbled along a muddy road.
It was Ji Chang and others.
Another of their soldiers was attacked and killed by wild beasts on the road.
"We've finally arrived.
Ahead is the Choosang Plain.
Although we haven't reached the surrounding area yet, it can still be regarded as the territory under our jurisdiction."
Boyikao said weakly.
"Then let's go quickly."
Ji Chang replied weakly.
The Choumulg Plateau is a highland with a plain terrain at the top, but the vegetation on it, mainly mulberry trees, is so dense that people cannot pass through it, so it is called the Choumulg Plateau.
The only way to cross this plateau is through a cracked canyon in the plateau.
The canyon is only a dozen meters wide and about fifteen miles long.
This is the Hangu Road that can be blocked by Niwan.
Not long after Ji Chang and Boyikao entered Hangu Road, several figures blocked the entrance to Hangu Road.
Then, Ji Chang and Boyikao saw five or six figures walking towards them in the Valley Road, carrying their backs.
The light outside the road could not clearly see how they were dressed, but it seemed that everyone was holding a weapon.
"Who are you" The other party did not answer, and put the big sword in his hand on their necks.
The two guards tried to resist, but their necks were cut instantly, and then their heads were beheaded.
The frightened Ji Chang and his son were escorted out of the valley.
Then they were taken to a bamboo castle.
Only then did Ji Chang know that he had fallen into the hands of Xia Jun.
"One head is worth an acre of land.
A prisoner is worth an acre of land plus two hundred dollars.
It's better to keep the head.
To hold the captives, we need to keep a few more people to guard the fort.
Two hundred dollars is not worth it.
We'd better put them on the spot.
Kill it."
A militiaman's abacus crackled.
"If you let us go, I will give each of you a hundred acres of land.
I am Jichang, Bo of Zhou Xi."
Jichang said with a roll of his eyes.
"Are you really Ji Chang?"
asked a shield guard.
"Exactly, and this person next to me is my son Boyikao.
Look at my age.
How can I be a soldier at such an old age?
Who else could I be if I weren't Ji Chang?
Let us go, and when we get to Xiqi, I will not only Give you land and give you titles.”
The shield guard cheered and said: "Brothers, shield guards, we can return to Huayi today."
Ji Chang and Boyikao were escorted back to Huayi by bronze shield guards.
What Ji Chang didn't understand was why the other party wasn't moved by the conditions he proposed.
In fact, the other party did not believe his words at all.
In addition, most of the Xiangbao members who performed the interception mission on Hangu Road were the bronze shield guards of the Qilin Guard.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
They were absolutely loyal to China.
Xiqihao Palace.
A beautiful young woman walked into Ji Fa's study.
He seems to be the same age as Ji Fa.
"Son, if there is news about your father and brother's expedition to the East, I have been restless these days."
This person is Ji Fa's mother, Tai Si, who married Ji Chang, who was in his fifties or sixties, at the age of thirteen.
Boyikao was born at the age of thirteen, and Ji Fa was born at the age of fifteen.
The marriage of Taisi and Ji Chang was praised by later generations of Confucian scholars and served as an allusion to the idiom "A match made in heaven".
"Mom, there is no news yet, don't worry.
Xiqi is far away from Heluo, so it is normal for there to be no news for a while."
Ji Fa comforted his mother.
After sending Tai Si away, Ji Fa himself became anxious.
He knew in his heart that no matter what the outcome of the battle was at this time, there should be news coming back from the front.
No, we have to send some people out to investigate.
Can't wait here.
Thinking of this, he ordered to go down and send a sentry to drive an express train to the Heluo area to contact the frontline troops and investigate the military situation.
Four or five days later, some Zhou people who were doing business outside reported to the police that Hangu Road had been controlled by the Xia army.
Ji Fa's heart skipped a beat and he had a bad premonition.
Two days later, the sentinel finally came back.
It turned out that he was intercepted by the Xia Army outpost in Hangu.
After being tortured, his true identity was found out and he was taken to Huayi.
Then Hua asked him to bring back a volume of letters to Xiqi.
When Ji Fa opened the bamboo slip of the letter and looked at it, his eyes turned black and he felt dizzy.
"Quickly, find my fourth brother."
Ji Fa ordered his servants.
"Second brother, what happened, but the battle ahead has changed?"
Ji Dan asked eagerly after coming in.
"Failed, defeated, all defeated."
Ji Fa said incoherently.
"Where are the father and brother who were completely defeated and wiped out?"
Ji Dan asked in surprise.
"My father and brother were all arrested by that thief Xia Hua."
"Ah, how could this be the result?"
Ji Dan frowned and said, this result was completely beyond his expectation.
"I was worried at the time that the Xia Kingdom's reputation as the Tiger and Wolf Warriors was not in vain.
We still underestimated the enemy too much."
Ji Dan calmed down and said, "It's useless to talk about this now.
The only solution for now is to find a way to save my father and brother.
Does Xia Hua have any conditions?"
Ji Fa handed the scroll to Ji Dan and said, "Read it yourself."
Ji Dan looked at it and said, "Can we agree to this condition?
Three hundred thousand shi of grain, one thousand oxen, and five thousand laborers to help him build Hangu Pass.
Three hundred thousand shi of grain is enough for the entire population of our Zhou Fang.
One hundred thousand people can eat for half a year, which is almost all the food stored in the state treasury.”
Ji Fa painfully replied: "If you don't agree, what can you do?
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
If you don't agree, this guy will kill our father and brother, and the dried bodies will be circulated to the princes to list the crimes of our father and brother.
This guy is a madman, It’s totally possible.”
Ji Dan said: "For the sake of the foundation of Zhou State, we must not agree.
This will greatly deplete our national power.
If anything happens to my father and brother, my second brother can succeed."
At this time, Tai Si suddenly rushed in, and she already knew the actual situation.
She shouted loudly: "People must be rescued no matter what.
Your father is so old, it doesn't matter, but your eldest brother is still so young, and several of his children are not even minors.
Can you bear to watch your eldest brother die?"
" Ji Fa also said: "If you do this, the reputation I have accumulated for decades in the Great Zhou Dynasty will be gone.
I can save my father and brother but deliberately don't save my father and brother.
How will others think of me because I want to gain power?"
Ji Dan shook his head helplessly.
Groups of oxcarts pulling grain headed for Huayi under the supervision of Huben shield guards and halberd militiamen.
The Zhou farmers who were driving the carriages looked at the scene in horror.
From time to time, heads hanging high on the tree branches on both sides of the simple road could be seen.
More than 5,000 heads of Zhou soldiers were hung from Cousang Plain to the east bank of Yishui River. .
From time to time, headless skeletons can be seen scattered in the wilderness.
The skeletons are covered with tattered Zhou army uniforms.
When the soldiers of the Xia Kingdom escorting the convoy were eating, they chatted with the civilians of the Zhou Kingdom and said that these were the consequences of your monarch's coveted invasion of the Xia Kingdom.
It was your monarch Zhou Bochang who killed these soldiers.
At the Hangu Pass, the Zhou people were sweating profusely, pounding earth and moving wood, and were working hard to build Hangu Pass under the supervision of the Xia Kingdom's supervisors and soldiers.
In the autumn of another year, Hangu Pass was finally built.
After being imprisoned for more than half a year, Ji Chang and his son, who had been raised white and fat, were released back to Zhou Fang.
After the disaster, the family reunited and cried.
Ji Chang said bitterly: "I swear to avenge this, and we will recruit all soldiers from tomorrow.
How can we, with a population of 300,000 in the surrounding area, not be able to defeat this small country?
Let us also follow the example of the Xia Kingdom, where all the people are soldiers, and 100,000 soldiers We can gather all the weapons and armor."
Ji Fa smiled bitterly and said: "Now that the grain storehouses are almost at their bottom, who will grow food when all the people are soldiers?
Where will the money and food for soldiers and chariots come from?"
Ji Chang sat down.
Ji Dan also said: "Yes, we can only rest and recuperate now and wait for action.
Now Zhou Fang's vitality is seriously injured and he can't fight Xia Fang."
Ji Chang said bitterly: "It's all your fault for instigating the attack on Xia Fang.
Otherwise, this calamity would never have happened
.
":