Ang Lee knew very well that there were very few roads to Dongnu Province, and the Western Border Area was the easiest one. The other roads were even more difficult to traverse, and there was only one road in this area. There were also some mountain roads that were absolutely inaccessible to vehicles, and even horses could barely travel on them. They were all roads opened by hunters and woodcutters, and could only guarantee their passage. For caravans, it was absolutely impossible to travel on them.
Therefore, if the only road was destroyed, Li An's thousand-man team would not be able to continue heading west. They would have to stop.
Obviously, Li An did not understand why the Jiang tribe would destroy the mountain roads. The condition of the roads here was already very bad. If they were destroyed again, the condition of the roads would be even worse. This was simply one disaster after another. Were these mountain people crazy? Didn't they understand the importance of the roads? If they wanted to become rich, they had to build the roads first. How could these mountain people not understand the importance of the roads? Li An could not understand how important the roads were to the prosperity of the mountain areas.
"These mountain people seem to be crazy! What the hell are they trying to do? "
Ang Lee was puzzled.
Chen Long said, "Who knows? Should we send troops to stop them? If the road is really destroyed, we will be trapped here until we die. "
"That is indeed the case. If they really destroy the road, then we really won't be able to pass. No, how can we do that? Gather the troops immediately and get ready for a surprise attack. "
Ang Lee said.
As more than two hundred Jiangs had just started to destroy the road, Chen Long had already returned on horseback. Therefore, the situation of the road being destroyed was not very serious. As long as Ang Lee sent people to stop them in time, the road would not be seriously damaged.
Because there were two hundred Jiangs who destroyed the road, Ang Lee also gathered two hundred men, and all of them were cavalrymen. After quickly gathering, they set off immediately. As Chen Long had been here once, he knew the road conditions well, and the team could move very quickly.
Li An also set off with them, but he didn't walk at the front. Instead, he walked at the back to avoid any danger.
Twenty miles of mountain roads did not take too long for horses. When Ang Lee's team of two hundred cavalrymen approached, the Jiangs were still working.
"General Duan, bad news. Someone is coming on horseback. Judging from the sound of the hooves, there are at least a few hundred people."
A man in charge of keeping watch noticed Ang Lee's cavalrymen and seemed very nervous.
Duan Jianhan was naturally shocked, and so were the four patriarchs.
"Who are these people? Could it be that the Grand Patriarch sent them?"
Duan Jianhan asked.
The four patriarchs shook their heads and said, "It doesn't make sense! The Grand Patriarch has already handed this matter to me. There is no reason for him to send more people. "
"In that case, could it be the imperial court's troops?"
Duan Jianhan was shocked. He already knew that the troops of the Tang dynasty were coming, but he thought that there were more than a thousand Tang dynasty troops, and they moved very slowly. It was impossible for them to arrive here so quickly. This was the main reason why they dared to destroy the road. They thought that as long as they were careful, they would not be discovered. For this reason, they carefully observed their surroundings along the way. However, they did not expect that they were still discovered. As soon as they were discovered, he hurriedly took advantage of the opportunity when everyone's attention was attracted by the cavalrymen not far away to quietly hide. Several of his subordinates also hid.
"Stop, all of you, stop."
Chen Long ran all the way to the mountain road and loudly berated the Jiang Clan members who were destroying the road, asking everyone to stop destroying the road.
Although these people had been destroying the road for a while, they were mainly making necessary safety preparations in the early stages. They had smashed many deep holes in the road, inserted many wooden pillars, and tied ropes. The real destruction of the road had not yet begun, and the road was still well preserved. Fortunately, they had left in time. If they had come two or four hours later, it was estimated that this road would not be able to be used.
"How dare you destroy the road in the middle of the night? Who gave you the courage? Don't you know what the crime is? It's a big crime. "
Chen Long scolded loudly, seeming to be unable to restrain his anger. After all, these Jiangs had gone too far. If he had not stopped them, these guys would have really destroyed the mountain road. In this way, Ang Lee and more than a thousand people would be trapped here, and it would take at least a few months to repair it. At that time, Ang Lee's team would not be the only ones blocked on the road. Yang Xuan's team had more than 5,000 people, and they would arrive in a month at most.
The four patriarchs were really scared to death when they saw the soldiers. They were so nervous that they could not speak for a while. After calming down for a long time, their faces returned to normal.
Duan Jianhan, who was hiding, was really scared out of his wits when he saw the Dragon Martial Army of the Tang dynasty. He did not dare to stay any longer and quietly led his men to escape. They fled in the direction of the Lu Tribe. Because there were too many people, no one noticed Duan Jianhan's escape.
More than 200 Jiangs saw that the other side was an elite army with weapons in their hands, and no one dared to resist. They all stood there obediently and did not say a word.
"May I ask who you are?"
The four patriarchs calmed themselves down and asked.
Chen Long was very angry and said, "I'm the Captain of the Dragon Martial Army. Who are you?"
"I'm the junior patriarch of the Jiangs."
The four patriarchs were in the wrong and did not know what to say for a while.
"Junior patriarch of the Jiangs, instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, you led your people here to destroy the road. You're really something! Do you know what the crime is? "
Chen Long said.
In fact, he himself did not know what the crime of destroying the road was, especially the attempted one. He just said that to scare them. Moreover, many crimes depended on the place. For example, if one destroyed the road in front of the palace, it was normal to be beheaded. This was a provocation to the imperial power. However, if one dug a hole in the dirt road in the countryside, no one would pursue the matter. At most, the person who dug the hole would just fill the hole. The detention area in front of them was not an important area for the imperial court. It was indeed wrong for the aboriginals to destroy the road. However, the court would not really punish these aboriginals very severely for such a small matter. It was not worth it to force the aboriginals to rebel over such a small matter. However, this road was after all an important road that connected to the East Woman Kingdom. It was reasonable to punish them a little for destroying the road.
The four patriarchs naturally had nothing to say. However, a man beside them said, "The Ge Clan always makes things difficult for us. This is the road in the Ge Clan's territory. We're here to destroy the road to teach them a lesson and let them know that we're not easy to bully."
"Yes, we have no intention of breaking the law. The Ge Clan has gone too far."
A man said.
Chen Long said angrily, "Good! You're still in the right? You have a grudge against them, so you did such a wicked thing in the middle of the night. Don't you know shame? "
At this time, Li An walked over and looked at the clansmen. He said, "You are all simple mountain people. Just to vent your anger, you came here in the middle of the night to destroy other people's roads. This official doesn't understand. Logically speaking, you shouldn't have thought of destroying roads. At most, you can beat up the people who bullied you. That's in line with the character of mountain people. Therefore, this idea shouldn't have come from you. Speak! Tell me, whose idea was it? "
Although there was no evidence, Ang Lee felt that these aboriginals were provoked by someone. After all, the conflicts between the aboriginals had been going on for a long time. There were all kinds of small fights, but there had never been a case of destroying the road. However, Ang Lee's group had just entered the Western Detention Area and such a thing happened. The road was actually destroyed on the wall. This was very unusual. At least in Ang Lee's opinion, this was too unusual. Why did the destruction of the road not happen earlier or later? Why did it happen when they entered the area? Wasn't this enough to explain the problem?
The four patriarchs and the clansmen heard this and subconsciously turned their heads to look for Duan Jianhan and the others. However, they suddenly found that Duan Jianhan had disappeared. Duan Jianhan's followers had also disappeared. They had disappeared without a trace in almost an instant.
"Did any of you see Brother Duan?"
The four patriarchs panicked. At this critical moment, Duan Jianhan and the others had all disappeared. This made them very confused. If Duan Jianhan wasn't guilty, why would he run away?
"Fourth patriarch, no. Only our people are left here. Duan's group all took advantage of the chaos and ran away."
"Fourth patriarch, were we deceived by this Duan? Even if he wanted to settle the score with the Ge Clan, there would be other ways. Destroying the road will not only cause trouble for the Ge Clan, but also for the merchants coming and going."
"Fourth patriarch, it seems that we've been used."
At this time, these people were already surrounded by the soldiers. Naturally, they didn't dare to continue to be arrogant. And Duan Jianhan's sudden escape made them very angry. No matter what, they didn't like this outsider who ran away. They felt that they were being used.
The four patriarchs suddenly panicked. Duan Jianhan actually ran away, which made them feel very surprised. At the same time, they also seemed to feel that maybe their people were right. This Duan Jianwei's purpose was not simple, or maybe he really didn't have good intentions. In addition, they were now caught red-handed by the soldiers. If they didn't push the blame to an outsider, they might really be punished. They were very strong, but the soldiers weren't weak either. If there was a conflict, the Central Sichuan might send troops to attack them. Then they wouldn't have a good life. Duan Jianhan who ran away was just an outsider, and an outsider who deceived them. There was no need to be polite to an outsider who used them. They just directly pushed the blame to an outsider. It could be said that there was no psychological pressure at all.
"The people who gave us the idea were here just now. There were less than ten people in total. Now they all suddenly disappeared. They must have secretly run away. We've been used! We're guilty, guilty. "
The four patriarchs said.
"They ran away? Who are they?"
Ang Lee asked.
The four patriarchs said, "The leader is called Duan Jianhan. He said that he's from Dongnu Province and is a high-ranking official."
"Oh, it's this guy."
Ang Lee said to himself.
In fact, Ang Lee didn't know this person. However, Ang Lee seemed to be able to guess who this person was and immediately knew in his heart.
"Duan Jianhan, when did he come and how did he deceive you? Tell me in detail. This is also a chance for you to atone for your crimes. Otherwise, there's no need for the imperial court to punish you. As long as the Ge Clan and the Lu Clan are brought here, you'll have endless troubles in the future. If you cooperate with me, I promise that I won't tell anyone about what happened today, let alone convict you."
Ang Lee said.
Ang Lee really didn't want to delve into these simple-minded people of the Jiimi District. After all, these people were all simple-minded and would be easily fooled by others. They were completely brainless people. There was no need to take them seriously.
Since Ang Lee said so, the four patriarchs naturally told him everything. They told Ang Lee in full detail about what Duan Jianhan told them. They didn't hide anything.
After listening to the four patriarchs, the people of the Jiang Clan all felt that they had been deceived. At the same time, they were also worried that the imperial court would really uproot all the mountains here. These mountains were very important to them. If they were all uprooted, it would be a pity. It would have a great impact on their lives. In addition, these young men were also very worried about the revenge of the Mountain God. They couldn't easily offend the Mountain God. These young men were also more superstitious and seemed to believe in the legend of the Mountain God.
After listening to the four patriarchs, Ang Lee was more certain of Duan Jianhan's identity. This guy must be related to Nanzhao. The Duan Family was originally a big family in Nanzhao and was now in an important position. He came here to destroy the relationship between the Tang dynasty and the Jiimi District. He was really ambitious.
Looking at the puzzled eyes of the people of the Jiang Clan, Ang Lee felt that it was necessary for him to explain. He had to let the people of the Jiang Clan understand that going against the imperial court would not end well. In addition, the imperial court building the road here would be of great benefit to the Jiang Clan. Moreover, the Fengshui of the Jiimi District would never be destroyed, let alone uproot the mountains.
"You have all been deceived by Duan Jianhan. The imperial court is planning to build the road here. However, they will certainly not uproot the mountains on a large scale. This is completely unrealistic. The road must be built along the river. This is the most economical way. You don't have to worry."
Ang Lee answered.
"Are they really going to build the road on the river? How are they going to build it? "
The four patriarchs couldn't figure it out.
Ang Lee also understood. The local environment was relatively isolated. The people living here didn't know much about the advanced bridge building technology of the Tang dynasty. Naturally, they couldn't understand how to build a bridge along the river.
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