With this guide sent by the Keshiketeng Ministry, it saved a lot of time for Fan Yongdou's caravan.

The guide not only gave them a shortcut to the south around the lake, but also eliminated some unnecessary troubles on the road.

After the Chahar tribe moved westward, the original owner of this grassland had been scattered by Lin Dan Khan, and the Keshiketeng tribe became the new master of this grassland, so they obtained the friendship of Batu Taiji, which is equivalent to the friendship of the entire Keshiketeng tribe, which made them gain a lot of convenience.

Twelve days later, the caravan arrived at the southern edge of the Bashang grassland, which was once the central capital of the Great Yuan Dynasty, and was later placed by the Ming Dynasty as the place where Xinghe guarded the Thousand Households.

Of course, in addition to a ruin here, there is no trace of Zhongdu and Daming Qianhu.

Fan Yongdou settled the caravan for a day in Yuanyangluo, took out some gifts and gave them to the two guides, and sent them back to the tribe.

From Yuanyang Luo to the south, there is a mountain range that stretches north and south, dividing the grassland in the north and the hills in the south into two completely different areas above and below the dam.

Standing on this mountain ridge and looking north, it is a flat scenery outside the Saiwai, and looking back at the south, it is the majestic Taihang Mountain.

This place is the dividing line between the Saiwai grassland and the Guannei Han land, and this dangerous mountain range is also the world-famous Wild Fox Ridge.

Yehuling is famous not because of its dangerous terrain, but because Genghis Khan led an army of 100,000 to defeat the 400,000 Jin army in one fell swoop, which laid the foundation for the decline of Mengxing Jin.

When I arrived at Yehuling, there was only one day left on my agenda when I arrived in Zhangjiakou. In fact, the Great Wall was built on the mountain beam of Yehuling, and it was already considered to have entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty here.

A long convoy made its way through the narrow valley, and everyone was in good spirits. The terrain on both sides of the valley is steep, the forest is high and the grass is thick, and the dense forest is gloomy, and the situation in the forest is completely invisible.

The road in the valley was rough, and the convoy was difficult, and all that was heard was the howling of the wind, and everyone held their breath. Out of this "wolf's nest ditch", which is called the wolf's den and tiger's den, there is the last pass left, which is called: "Black Wind Mouth".

The reason why it has this name is because this mountain pass is the throat section of Zhangjiakou leading to the dam, and the wind is very strong, if you are not careful, it will end up with the car on your back.

Fan Yongdou held the end of the convoy, and after directing the vehicles and camels to get out of the black wind safely, he lowered his head and pulled the mount with one hand and the hat with the other, and walked out of the mountain pass step by step.

After leaving Yehuling, everyone looked at Cuiping Mountain in the distance, and all of them had smiles on their faces. At this moment, they all knew that this year's trip was a successful one, and they could all have a good year.

After Fan Wencheng and Ma Guozhu crossed the mountain pass, they did not smile like these caravan guys, they followed the convoy all the way south, always paying attention to the terrain on both sides, looking at the dangerous terrain of deep mountains and valleys on both sides of the road, although the water and grass are abundant, but from time to time there are dangerous terrains in deep mountains and valleys, and suddenly frowned.

Fan Wencheng whispered to Ma Guozhu beside him: "From the beginning of Yehuling to the edge of the Great Wall in Zhangjiakou, this more than 100 miles of land, there is a terrain everywhere, and it is not easy to attack the Ming Kingdom from here." ”

Although Ma Guozhu frowned and looked at the surrounding terrain, he retorted to Fan Wencheng and said: "The Great Khan has long said that no matter how dangerous the terrain of mountains and seas is, it will eventually depend on people to guard it. If this Ming general's army is cowardly and greedy for money, even if the Ming Xiong Pass is everywhere, it will be difficult for me to strike a fierce blow from the Golden Eight Banners. ”

For this Han general, who was deeply trusted by Huang Taiji, Fan Wencheng didn't have the intention of arguing with him, he just smiled and fell silent.

However, Ma Guozhu seemed to be aroused by the interest of the conversation, he looked up at Fan Yongdou, who rushed to the front of the convoy, and said with some unease: "These barbarian businessmen dare to sell anything for a few dollars. You say, will he sell us too? ”

Fan Wencheng subconsciously glanced at him, and suddenly remembered that although this person was a Han from Liaodong, he was robbed by a certain Jurchen general with his mother when he was a child, and that Jurchen general had always treated him like a parent, so this one had always considered himself a Jurchen rather than a Han.

It was really not surprising to hear the word brute from his mouth. Although Fan Wencheng felt a little uncomfortable, he was not used to separating himself from the Han people. Therefore, it is a bit harsh to hear this title.

However, he didn't think the word barbarian was harsh, but he felt that this Ma Guozhu was not qualified to say this word, if it was the real woman Allah, he didn't feel anything, but a fake Jurchen also said this, which made him feel a little strange.

Although Fan Wencheng felt uncomfortable, his mouth was still as calm as ever, "Ma Hujun, we are now in the territory of the Ming Kingdom, and it is better for this barbarian not to say it." If it is listened to by irrelevant people, I am afraid that there will be a lot of trouble. ”

Ma Guozhu glanced at him and said disapprerovingly: "Fan Wenshu, you are too careful, I will talk in private, what's the matter." ”

Fan Wencheng still gently persuaded him: "I'm not afraid of anything, I'm afraid of delaying the big Khan's big event, I'm not here to play."

As for that Fan Changxin, you don't have to worry so much. He has many more crimes than the two of us, and if the Ming court knows about it, he will not be able to cut off ten heads. ”

Fan Wencheng pressed him with the name of Huang Taiji, which made Ma Guozhu feel quite angry, but he was quickly diverted by Fan Wencheng, and talked to him about what Fan Yongdou had done over the years.

The two of them were having a conversation when suddenly the road under their feet became smooth and open. The two of them looked up and saw that in the middle of the two hills, there was a gate, flanked by a tall and endless wall.

Before this gate, the people and horses in the convoy really seemed extremely small, and it really deserved to be the first line of defense in the north of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall.

This gate is called Xiaojing Gate, which is the main passage from Zhangjiakou to the Great Wall. Although this is the main trade route in Zhangjiakou, this gate is narrow and short, people cannot ride horses, and the width can only be two horses in parallel.

The convoy did not encounter any obstacles when it passed through the Xiaojing Gate, but after passing through the Great Wall, a castle stood 30 meters away from the Xiaojing Gate.

The north wall of this castle is parallel to the Great Wall, and there is a fort gate on the wall opposite the Xiaojing Gate, but the 100-meter bridge on the east and west sides makes it an artificial fortress.

More than 100 meters to the east is the wide Qingshui River bed, and to the west is blocked by mountain cliffs, obviously the builders of this castle want to annihilate all the enemies who come to invade in this mezzanine.

This castle was built in the 41st year of Wanli, was built by Wang Daoheng, the governor of Xuanfu at that time, and he also took the meaning of "having friends from afar, and was happy", and named this fort: Laiyuan Fort. Unfortunately, it hasn't been used since it was built.

According to the rules of caravan trade, the cattle traders who came in from outside the fortress were separated from the people and animals after entering the Great Wall, and the cattle were driven west into the open space on the bank of the Qingshui River, while the people and goods entered the Laiyuan Fort to be inspected and paid taxes.

Fan Yongdou did not carry livestock this time, so the caravan entered the castle directly, but a small accident happened here.

The Fan family has been in business for seven generations in Fan Yongdou, and his family has been operating in Zhangjiakou for almost more than 150 years, and has a deep friendship with the local border guards.

What's more, since he contacted eight local businesses in Zhangjiakou, and established relationships with Sandetang and other big merchants in Shanxi, and began to operate illegal business with Houjin, the military general of Xuanhua Mansion had the gold and silver that he had not received.

The flag of the Fan family's firm planted on the caravan is his family's customs clearance documents. But today, his caravan was stopped by several unknown soldiers, saying that they wanted to check the customs personnel and verify the goods declared.

The goods brought back from the caravan this time were worth 2,000 catties of fine ginseng. 1,500 catties of ginseng were sold by Fan Yongdou for Huang Taiji, and then purchased materials for Houjin.

This ginseng has always been a monopolistic commodity of the Later Jin, although the Ming Dynasty reached a peace treaty with the Later Jin and opened up trade. However, the trading locations were Jinzhou and Yingkou, and Zhangjiakou was not included.

If these soldiers were allowed to search for these many ginseng people, even a fool would know that they did not come back from the Mongolian steppe, but from Liaodong. This is not in line with the business regulations issued by the caravan, and they can be investigated and dealt with as profiteers who collaborate with the enemy.

What's more, there are two outsiders in their team who can't be checked, these two people really can't afford to lose, if something goes wrong, Fan Yongdou feels that his net worth and life will be lost.

The steward of the caravan and Fan Yongdou himself left to stop the soldiers, and while persuading each other, they stuffed some gold and silver into the hands of the little banner in the lead, hoping that these soldiers would not make things bigger.

Fan Yongdou's nephew, under Fan Yongdou's orders, hurriedly ran to find the familiar general of Yuanbao and came to solve the matter.

The soldiers who blocked the road to inspect this small group finally got out of the way under the reprimand of the generals who came to Yuanbao in a hurry, and watched Fan Yongdou and the others take the caravan away.

After talking to Fan Yongdou for a while, the pot-bellied general walked up to the soldiers, pulled aside the small flag that led the team and talked for a long time, and when he left, he stuffed a heavy leather bag into his arms, and then left happily.

Looking at the distant back of the general, the little flag weighed the weight of the skin in his hand, but a mocking smile appeared on his face.

He thought about it, took the skin into his bosom, and then returned to the group and gave a command to his companion. He walked towards the garrison in the northeast corner, and a military general wearing a hundred household costumes in brocade clothes on the garrison also happened to put away the clairvoyant mirror in his hand.

Several soldiers outside the garrison turned a blind eye to this little banner, and just let him go up to the garrison. After this Xiaoqi saw the hundred households upstairs, he immediately knelt down on one knee and saluted, reported what happened, and handed over the skin in his arms to the hundred households.