The Biedouzhai was built during the Northern Han Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. It has a high rammed earth wall, bordering Shuangfeng Mountain in the east and Guanhe in the west. The Guanhe passes around the city and replaces the moat. The terrain is dangerous. This is a three-way intersection, reaching the volcanic army in the west, and there are two routes in the east, one in Xinzhou, Bingzhou, and the other into the hinterland of the Khitan.

This area is deep in the Loess Plateau, with broken mountains and rivers and inconvenient transportation. Most of the roads on the east bank of the Yellow River cross the south and north, most of which meet here, are one of the tunnels for grassland people to move south. The focus of the Khitans is in the northeast and they do not pay attention to Hedong Road as much as Hebei Road.

As the sun sets, more than a dozen foreign people drove cattle and sheep to eat grass leisurely outside the village wall. The Pass River flows quietly, and the sunset shines on the river surface, shining with the light of the waves. There are a few persimmon trees outside the village wall, no one picks them, and the persimmons are as red as fire.

With the sound of horse hooves, Du Zhongxiao's brigade appeared from the valley, and the bright flags were particularly conspicuous in the setting sun.

"Oh, the official army is here!" The sheep-grabbing men saw the flags in the distance, roared in panic, and were at a loss.

The scout came to Du Zhongxiao and sang his promise: "The wise official, the subordinates have clearly observed and found that there are neither Khitans nor large foreign tribes around. There are only a few foreign families who shepherd sheep here and set up tents outside the village. It seems that they have lived here all year round."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and ordered: "Take down those families of foreigners and don't let them spread the news. Remember to treat them well, don't abuse them, and avoid losing the prestige of the court. The scouts were scattered together, and a large group of people followed me into the village!"

Everyone was clamoring and surrounded Du Zhongxiao along the Guan River Valley and headed towards the Pianguan Village to the southeast.

Several fast horses ran all the way in front of the village wall and whispered to a dozen foreigners who were huddling together: "We are the soldiers of the court. You don't need to panic. You will drive your own cattle and sheep into your own tents. The officials will give their own instructions later!"

More than a dozen foreigners were voluntarily voluntarily and did not dare to refuse to follow. They drove cattle and sheep and returned to their own tents, and were all worried. When there were military troops stationed in the past few years, it was still very lively and all facilities were all there. Since several surrounding foreign tribes rebelled and the officers and soldiers suppressed them, they could not stand here, and the village was abandoned. Several rebellious small foreign tribes were surrounded and suppressed several times, and the surrounding population was sparse, and these people moved from other places.

When he arrived in front of the village, Du Zhongxiao rode on his horse and looked at the Bietou Village across the river. This village was built on the high ground opposite the river, facing high, overlooking the Guanhe River and the road in front of the village, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Guanhe River in front of the village turned a corner here, in a few shapes, and just surrounded the village and became a moat.

This kind of strategic location is very cautious, and it is not built here casually. Since the construction of the village during the Five Dynasties, it has been a strategic location. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, the main threat came from the northern grasslands, and it was one of its important roads to the south, directly threatening Bingzhou, which was later Taiyuan Prefecture.

The formation of a strategic location is of course not just a village like this, but a series of surrounding support. The reason why Baitou Village was abandoned in the past few years was because the surrounding forts were gone and the lonely village was difficult to guard.

The scout who was exploring the way came to report: "I heard from Zhijun that it is late autumn and the river is not deep, so I can ride a horse across the river. It's just that it's too late and the river is too cool. I'd better wait until the sun rises tomorrow and the brigade crosses the river."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Okay, camp on this side of the river tonight, and the brigade will cross the river tomorrow. Order Guangrui Army Shao Dutou to cross the river with me!"

The personal soldiers around him agreed to the promise, turned their horses to pass on their military orders.

The sun sets down the mountain, leaving a touch of bright red in the sky. The cold wind in the mountains suddenly becomes cold.

Shao Qun was wearing iron armor, and he couldn't help but shrink his neck in the cold wind, and whispered: "This village is on the other side and cannot run away. Why do you have to cross the river today? Those who don't marching and fighting don't know the value of horses. With such cold river water, what should the horse do if it gets sick!"

Although he was dissatisfied, he did not dare to disobey the military orders. He commanded his subordinates and slowly crossed the river with Du Zhongxiao and his party.

The river level in this area is slow, and the bottom of the river is covered with mud and sand, so there is no accident when crossing the river. When it reaches the other side, Du Zhongxiao let out a secret breath and ordered Tao Shiqi to take people to open the gate of the village and lead the army into the city.

But in a few years, the village seemed extremely desolate. The schoolyard in front was covered with weeds, and many houses had collapsed. Fortunately, the area was dry and rainy, and the largest village hall was still intact, but it was covered with spider webs and dust was everywhere.

Shisanlang took people into the village hall, looked carefully, and came out to report to Du Zhongxiao: "Officials, the village hall is still intact, and the tables, chairs and other utensils inside are there, and they are not decayed. It's just that there is too much dust and it needs to be cleaned to make people stay."

Du Zhongxiao looked at the sky and shook his head: "Forget it, I'll clean it tomorrow, and I'll sleep all night tonight."

After entering the village hall, the personal soldiers cleaned the case and asked Du Zhongxiao to sit down. A pot of charcoal fire was created next to it. The village originally had various materials such as charcoal, but in several years, it had been moved by nearby foreign households, so they could only rely on what they brought on this trip.

Shisanlang and Tao Shiqi went out for a walk and came back and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Officials, we looked around. Apart from the empty rooms, there was nothing left here. Fortunately, a well behind did not collapse, so we could fetch water, so we boil some water to drink."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It is better not to drink the water well that has been useless for several years. Guanhe is ahead. Go upstream and get some water to drink. The water in the river does not rot, and the water in the river is always more reassuring."

After all the cleaning, Du Zhongxiao settled down in the village hall and sat by the fire. He followed him to boil hot tea and handed it over.

Du Zhongxiao took a sip of tea and said to Shisanlang: "Go and call the head of the Baojie Army, and I have something to say to him."

After a moment, Shi Kaicheng came in, sang the no-no with his hands, and Du Zhongxiao ordered him to sit opposite him.

After instructing the followers to come to tea, Du Zhongxiao said to Shi Kaicheng: "There is a hurry and many things are not ready. Fortunately, everything goes well. We enter the city safely and have to plan for the future. After this village is rebuilt, someone will need to be stationed. I want to send you to be the leader of the village. If you make a contribution, you will be promoted to the leader of the village, which is also a way out."

Shi Kaicheng was quite surprised and crossed his hands and said, "Thank you for your kindness! - But why are you a young man? There are also two imperial guards who come this time. They are both superior to me according to their official positions. They should let them be the leader of the village."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The imperial guards are all cavalry, so it is difficult to station them separately. When the villages here are repaired, they will go back to the Volcano Army in the spring of the next year. Baojie command was originally stationed in various places, so it is natural to station here. In the past few months, you have no great contribution to the army and horses of our headquarters. Although you have no great achievements in taking the troops of our headquarters, you should promote you. Besides, this area is full of foreign troops. When you are in the field, you can talk to the various foreign troops, which is the right choice."

Shi Kaicheng hurriedly thanked him. He heard that Du Zhongxiao said that the most core reason for making him the village leader was that he got along well with the foreign people when he was building the field affairs. The village leader wanted to govern the foreign troops, and Du Zhongxiao used Shi Kaicheng, obviously trying to appease him.

At this moment, there was a clamor outside. Du Zhongxiao was shocked and hurriedly called his in-person to ask what was going on.

After a while, Shisanlang came in from outside and crossed his hands and said, "Officials, when the people of Guangrui Army saw the sheep of the foreign people, they insisted on killing a few of them to eat. The foreign people refused and quarreled there. Shao Dutou was angry, pulled out his knife and shouted to kill someone."
Chapter completed!