Shao Yanshan wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "At that time, I didn't know there were war horses inside. I didn't realize it until the third time I entered the country. But it was too late, so I had to continue to accept their bribes, and acted as usual, and put horses into the pass. Later, I found that the man who drove the horses was different every time. I realized that not only war horses entered the pass, but people also came in. It was not until three months ago that someone told me that this horse dealer was not a Uighur, but a Turkic person. I finally realized that I had caused a big disaster."

Zhang Xuan suddenly heard a hint of clue and immediately asked: "Who told you that the other party was a Turkic?"

"Is a businessman from Hejian County, named Wang Baolin, who has a deal with this Turkic person."

"Which county in Hejian County? What business is going to do, let's talk about it carefully."

"It is Hejian County, which is engaged in mule and horse business. It is very famous in Hejian County, and its nickname is Wang Mule."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and asked again: "Why did the Turks smuggle hundreds of soldiers into the Central Plains?"

This is also what Zhang Xuan felt strange. Their attack on the three northern counties only started in September, but the Turks began to smuggle war horses and soldiers into the Central Plains since the beginning of the year. What were their attempts?

Shao Yanshan shook his head blankly, "I don't know either!"

"What a man I don't know. Do you think you can escape from the crime by chance?"

Shao Yanshan said with tears in his eyes: "I am guilty of being serious and I am not willing to die. I hope your highness will spare my old mother and young son."

Zhang Xuan said coldly: "You have an affair with the enemy country and betrayed the Northern Sui Dynasty. Everything you have done is not enough to atone for your sins, but your family's life and death are in your hands, so you can do it yourself!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand and said, "Prepare it and detain it, give him paper and pen, and ask him to write a detailed confession!"

Shao Yanshan knelt down and kowtowed, and was taken down by the soldiers.

When Zhang Xuan saw that he was taken away, he ordered: "Bring Zhou Yuanqing in!"

After a moment, the Lang General Zhou Yuanqing was tied up and escorted in. When he came in, he knelt down on one knee and said anxiously: "Master, I really don't know about it!"

Zhang Xuan ordered his personal soldiers to "release him!"

The personal soldiers stepped forward and used a sharp knife to break the rope. Zhou Yuanqing rubbed his numb wrist slightly and said, "Shao Yanshan had an affair with the Turks. Bei Zhi just learned about it, but he really knew nothing before."

At this time, Mai Mengcai and the prefect Li Yi also walked in and stood aside with Zhou Yuanqing. Zhang Xuan paced back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. After a while, his sharp eyes fell on Zhou Yuanqing.

"You keep saying that you don't know. Why do the army not check so many times when Turkic war horses and personnel enter the country? Let them be unimpeded!"

"This humble duty is in vain!"

Mai Mengcai next to him hurriedly said, "Your Highness, there is indeed a loophole here."

"What loophole?"

"The garrison of the Beihukou Army is to maintain the smooth flow of the Beihukou trade road and maintain local order in Anle County. Later, two items were added to protect the trading between the municipal office and Tielou department, and assist the county government in investigating and blocking tax evasion and smuggling contraband. Generally speaking, the county government has a dedicated person to investigate and blocking tax evasion and smuggling contraband. However, special circumstances occur, such as abnormal trade is found, or the local government is insufficient, and the county government makes a request for joint investigation, the army can participate in the investigation and blocking, otherwise the army will not interfere in local government affairs."

Zhang Xuan did not speak, the army did not interfere in local government affairs, and the local government could not interfere in the garrison. This was indeed the rule he set, but he did not expect that there would be loopholes in this rule.

At this time, Zhou Yuanqing hurriedly said: "Thank you, General Mai, for explaining it for Beizhi, but Beizhi is still responsible for inadvertent investigation. The court stipulates that more than 100 animal powers must be approved by Taipu Temple. However, the Turks have repeatedly trafficked hundreds of horses into the country, but Beizhi did not conduct a careful investigation. This is the inadvertent investigation of Beizhi."

Zhang Xuan nodded, "You can admit this, which means you still have self-knowledge. Well, even I am responsible for this Anle County incident. I will not pursue other officials except Shao Yanshan."

Zhou Yuanqing was extremely excited, "Thank you for forgiveness by Marshal!"

Zhang Xuan said again: "From now on, every ticket of goods entering and leaving the Siberian Tiger's mouth must be carefully checked by the army. Once violations and abnormalities are found, they will be arrested and interrogated immediately."

"Abide by the orders!"

Zhang Xuan sent a letter to Zhongdu that day, asking Fang Xuanling to find Baolin, the mule and horse merchants of Hejian County, to see if he could get any clues from him.

The next morning, Zhang Xuan immediately set off to visit the Beihukou to check the current defense status.

Compared with Turkic cavalry infiltrating into the Central Plains, Zhang Xuan was more concerned about the defense situation at the Beihukou. Once the Turkic army chose to break through here, the Northern Sui Dynasty would face a catastrophe.

The Beihukou is one of the three channels of the Yanshan Mountains. It is the Baoqiu water that has gradually formed a river valley after tens of millions of years of erosion. The valley is very wide, with a widest place of more than ten miles and a mile at the narrowest place. Like Loufan Pass, there are continuous Great Walls on both sides.

Since the Beihukou is far away from the golden pastures of the northern desert grasslands and is also far away from the habitat of the fishing and hunting people in Liaodong, this has kept the Beihukou away from war and has almost never encountered any threats of war for hundreds of years. Even Cao Cao attacked Wuhuan and went to Lu Longsai in the east, and did not choose the Beihukou.

The mouth of the Northern Tiger should actually be called the Northern Tiger Valley. The water of Baoqiu flows in the valley that is dozens of miles long. The mountains on both sides are towering, the mountains are high and dense, the forests are dense, the valleys are full of ravines and beasts. A clear river flows from the valley, the water flows rapidly, and the riverbed is filled with stones of all sizes.

However, it was the middle of winter, and the entire valley seemed to have been solidified. The thick snow reached the knees of people. The flowing water turned into jade carvings. The entire forest was covered with a layer of white snow. The sun shone on the glaciers and snow, shining with magnificent light. You can occasionally see the colorful snow leopards slowly walking through the snow.

At this time, a bird was shocked in the woods in the distance, and a flock of elks for food raised their ears vigilantly. A cavalry came from the distance of the avenue beside the woods. The cavalry struggling in the snow with difficulty. This two thousand cavalry was Zhang Xuan inspecting the defense at the mouth of the North Tiger.

But the inspection along the way really disappointed him. Except for the fortresses where several soldiers were seen along the way, buildings were not visible everywhere, and the entire valley was almost in a state of unpreparedness.

At this time, the guard Zhou Yuanqing pointed to a giant pine tree that was more than twenty feet tall not far away and said, "Did your highness see that pine tree? That is the famous welcome pine tree in the Beihu Valley, which is also the narrowest part of the entire valley. The cliffs on both sides are only one mile apart. After walking about a hundred steps, they suddenly opened up, just like the waist of a gourd."

Zhang Xuan held the war horse and looked for a moment, then urged the horse to rush up. The cavalry behind him followed one after another. Soon, Zhang Xuan came under the giant pine. He first looked at the big tree that he had never seen before. It was twenty-three or four meters tall, and the bottom was thicker, and it required at least seven or eight people to surround him.

Zhang Xuan patted the huge pine tree and smiled and said, "I like this pine tree. Don't be sawed off, save it!"

At this time, Mai Meng urged the horse to follow, looked at both sides and smiled, "Master, it's very suitable to build a pass city here!"

Zhang Xuan also looked at the surrounding environment, then at the mountains on both sides, nodded and said, "It is best to build a four to five-meter-high Guancheng. We have all the way over there. There are many huge rocks in the river, so we can build them with huge rocks. It must be completed before mid-February."

Everyone looked embarrassed and no one said anything. It was difficult to build the city wall in the middle of winter, not to mention that it was only more than a month, so how could it be built?

Zhang Xuan glanced at the prefect Li Yi, "How many civil servants can Anle County recruit at most?"

"Report to Your Highness, it is estimated that there are about 10,000 people."

Zhang Xuan made a quick decision and said, "Go to inform all the families in Anle County that as long as they are willing to come here to build the city of Shuguan, they will be exempted from taxes for five years."

Li Yi nodded, "If this is the case, I guess everyone is willing to come and build the city wall."

"I will leave this matter to you. Within ten days, all the civilians will arrive here. In addition, let them bring their own dry food, each person will give three hundred dollars a day as a food subsidy, and the military will be responsible for solving the required tents and other materials."

Zhang Xuan asked Mai Mengcai again: "At least three thousand tents are needed to build a city here. Do you have one there?"

Mai Mengcai said with a look of distress: "Your Highness, all our tents have been transported to Shanggu County for immigrants, and there are no tents in the Lushui warehouse."
Chapter completed!