Du Zhongxiao rode his horse and walked north along the Yellow River. The northward, the wider the valley became, but the less and less crowded. Looking at a wide and flat grassland, the Yellow River passed by, occasionally there were cattle and sheep dotted it, as if it was a grassland, and it was not like the Central Plains of the Han people.

Confused in his heart, Du Zhongxiao asked Pang Xun who was following him: "The more you go north, the flatter the land is, and closer to the Yellow River. It is cultivated and all the land is fertile, so why is there no people? It is said that the volcanic army has a bitter and cold land, with barren land and poor people, and they cannot make a living, but the best land is deserted. Isn't this begging for food with a golden rice bowl? If it is said that the Hu vulgarity is soaked, the people are mostly used to half farming and half pastoralism, and there are always people from the Central Plains who come here to open land."

Pang Xun smiled all over his face: "I know that the officers don't know that this place is close to the border and is close to the Khitan. As the rules are all about to abandon the wasteland, thinking that it is forbidden. Although the officials do not see that this place is flat, there are many big trees and it has become a forest. It means to take the elm barrier to limit the Khitan horse army."

Du Zhongxiao nodded without saying a word. The place where the Song Dynasty and Khitan bordered, Dutangpo, Hebei Province was constantly excavated over the years, forming a barrier to block the Khitan cavalry from moving south. Hedong Road is located on a plateau, without a large river and lake, so he had to use the help of trees and forests. Historical records show that in the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian guarded the north of the barrier, built stones into cities and trees and elms as a barrier. This large man-made forest is called the elms as a barrier.

When the Song Dynasty established a country, in addition to intentionally planting trees on the border, it was strictly prohibited to cut down trees on Hedong Road. After decades of accumulation, there are many large trees in the mountains in this area, which is completely different from the southern states that have caused no trees in the mountains due to iron smelting.

However, Du Zhongxiao could only shake his head by using the help of forests to block the Khitan cavalry.

Corresponding to Yushou, reclamation is prohibited within twenty miles of the border, which is called a forbidden area. The geographical restrictions of the volcanic army are that the vast valley is within twenty miles of the border. In fact, the reason why the army is set up here is because the city is located at the narrowing of the wide valley to the south, shaking the throat. The numerous forts under its jurisdiction are all the periphery of the military city, forming a complete defense system with the military city.

Everything here is for military defense. For decades, people's livelihood has not been considered. A small half of the three thousand households rely on garrisons, and many rely on border trade. The true meaning of the farmers are quite rare.

I headed north all the way and arrived at Xiongyong Village at noon. It is located on the west side of the Yellow River and the east side of the mountains. It is the intersection of the south and north side of the road. Although it is a small village, it is like a Xiong Pass. There is a 100 people in the village that commands 100 people to station, which is the northern gate of the Volcanic Military City.

The head of the village and the head of the capital, Fei Lizhi, came out of the village early and picked up Du Zhongxiao and his party into the city.

Du Zhongxiao took Pang Xun to the north today. He volunteered to actually command the military city. There were no subordinates in this area. That day, Du Zhongxiao gave the newly steamed wine to the Xiangjun, which made Pang Xun misunderstand that the new Zhijun looked at the Xiangjun differently and was particularly intimate with Du Zhongxiao.

Looking at the various shops on both sides of the streets of Zhaizhong, they seemed prosperous, but there were very few pedestrians on the road. Du Zhongxiao knew that the business here was not based on locals, and they were all done by foreign merchants. The place was close to Khitan and the terrain was complex. I don’t know how many messy businesses were, which supported countless businesses. After careful investigation, I was afraid that every shop would have shameful business.

When he arrived at the village hall, he made some news. Fei Lizhi crossed his hands and said, "It's not early, so the young one has prepared some wine and meat to welcome the army. This is a small place, and it can only be in this official hall, so don't blame the officials." After that, he ordered his subordinates to clean up the miscellaneous items in the hall and prepare to serve wine and meat.

Du Zhongxiao waved his hand: "Just let your subordinates be busy, take me to the city tower to take a look. This is the gateway of the volcanic army, which is not comparable to ordinary villages and forts. I am a wise army and I have to know the geographical situation. By the way, I brought a few jars of good wine, and you can move it down to distribute it to the army soldiers in the village."

Fei Lizhi hurriedly crossed his hands and thanked him, loudly ordered a few personal soldiers to follow Tao Shiqi to bring wine.

The village was very small, and it was less than a hundred or two hundred steps away from the village hall, and then it was at the Beizhai Gate. Fei Lizhi led Du Zhongxiao to the village building and pointed to the river valley in the north: "People, look at it. From now on, the village will be flat and there will be no danger to guard. The road from the north of this village will cross the hills there, and the Yellow River will enter the mountains. The one that tightly connects the valley is Dongjia Village, where there is a scene."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and asked, "From this way, the Yellow River is scattered around and the valley is dozens of miles wide. It is a rare fertile land. Why don't you see others? Could it be that these hundreds of hectares of fertile land are all wasteland and have not been reclaimed?"

Fei Lizhi said: "What the officials said is right. This is a forbidden land. It is not only not allowed to be opened as farmland, but also not even grazing."

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "The border was listed as forbidden areas. It was decided by the dynasty and Khitan Chanzhou. Twenty miles along the border, the people of both countries were not allowed to cultivate and cultivate. The alliance has been under more than 40 years. The dynasty has not changed, but the Khitan did not abide by it. Not only did they reclaim the forbidden areas north of the border, but in recent years they have continued to invade southward, and there are countless disputes arising from. Is there no such thing here in the volcanic army?"

Fei Lizhi was a little embarrassed: "I heard that the volcanic army was full of earthen mountains to the north, with a high terrain and not many Khitan households. There were no ones who went to the river valley to invade, but they often saw those who crossed the border to grazed cattle and sheep. The court had a good relationship with the Northern Dynasties, so we turned a blind eye and couldn't stand it, but we expelled. In recent years, the Khitans have become more and more bold. Some people have set up accounts in the territory all year round, but they don't know what to do."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head repeatedly and did not speak. The so-called civil and military play, since the alliance of Chanzhou, most of the border guards dared not conflict with the Khitan, and strictly restrained the internal forces. If they could cover up the behavior of the Khitan, they would keep the illusion of peace. It was like the forbidden area along the border. Originally, both sides banned farming for twenty miles, forming a forty-wide unmanned area to avoid various conflicts. In fact, the Khitan never abides. Forty years have passed, the territory of the Song Dynasty was 20 miles away, but the Khitan had completely reclaimed the forbidden area, and in recent years it has continued to invade the south border.

The Khitan had psychological advantages over the Song Dynasty and was also a nomadic people. In their eyes, these wastelands were not forbidden areas, but good pastures. The river valleys in this area were rich in water and grass and low in the terrain. In the eyes of the Khitans, they were the best wintering pastures. They took it for granted that cross-border grazing.

Fortunately, in recent years, the mentality of officials in the Korean Central Government changed and became stronger against border issues. Recently, the Khitan was defeated by Dangxiang. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the voices of the Korean Central Government demanding the reclaim of forbidden land have increased significantly. First, Bao Zheng reported that the foreign households on Hedong Road invaded the forbidden land, and then Ouyang Xiu demanded that the reclaiming of forbidden land be abolished, and the policy began to loosen.

With so many years of policy inertia, it is not realistic to require a small village leader to be tough on the Khitan. Only a landlord like Du Zhongxiao can do such a policy change. What Du Zhongxiao needs to do now is to understand the actual situation in various places under his rule as soon as possible.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao silent, Fei Lizhi obediently changed the topic and pointed to the opposite side of the Yellow River and said, "On the other side of the river is Fuzhou. After crossing the river and crossing the mountains, Anfengzhai is Anfengzhai. In recent years, Dangxiang has been in chaos, and wars have continued there. Most of our volcanic army soldiers are supporting there."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Dangxiang has already made peace, and the past is not to be mentioned again. Now the Khitan was defeated by Dangxiang, and Yunzhou was promoted to Datong Prefecture and was designated as Xijing, and the number of troops stationed increased. Just north of us, Ningbian Prefecture was newly established, and there were heavy troops stationed. These days, you carefully check the territory. How many Khitans have crossed the border, and they must be found out one by one. I have a decision on how to deal with it. I can't be confused, and I don't even know how many people came."
Chapter completed!