Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 141 A person must always rely on themselves to succeed.

The territory of the Han Dynasty was vast and boundless.

If the ancestral fire and the community fire constitute the spiritual connection of the Han people, then the post stations have always been the chains connecting the whole country, essentially binding the Han people into a whole. It was because the Han people had countless post stations that the Han people looked like a complete dynasty, rather than a loose tribal alliance.

According to the current laws of the Han Dynasty, post stations must provide food, lodging, and even transportation free of charge to people passing through on official business.

When Yun Ce traveled thousands of miles from Longmen Post Station to Chang'an, he relied on these post stations, even though the supplies in some places were very poor, and he even had to bribe the staff in the post stations to get accommodation.

Overall, this rest stop system is reliable.

Although Yun Ce's group consisted of more than 11,000 people, fewer than 200 actually needed accommodation at the post station.
Now, just two days' journey from Chang'an, the people at the post station are openly telling him that they cannot find lodging here.

Is it because there are too many of us?

Yun Ce stopped the angry Feng An, took out the token given to him by Wu Tong, and asked the postmaster in front of him with a smile.

Upon seeing the sign for the Grand Marshal's residence, the postmaster's eyes visibly darted away. However, this fellow was also a straightforward man. Seeing that Yun Ce seemed to be the leader of this group, he cupped his hands and said, "Let's go back to Chang'an. The road ahead is impassable."

If you remain at my Tongming Post Station, I cannot guarantee your safety.

Yun Ce pointed to his long convoy and asked, "Is it the safety of the two hundred or so families entering the post station that needs to be ensured, or is it everyone here?"

The postmaster hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Let's go back to Chang'an. I can't guarantee anyone's safety right now, including my own."

Yun Ce looked up at the low walls of Tongming Post Station and the relatively bustling market inside, nodded, and ordered Feng An and the others to find a water source and camp in the wild for the night.

Seeing that Yun Ce and his group did not enter the post station, the postmaster shook his sleeves, scolded a group of onlookers, and then ordered the post station gates to be closed.

The post stations of the Han Dynasty wielded considerable power. Some important post stations even surpassed the power of local officials. For example, the men at the Longmen Post Station earned profits that were not necessarily less than those of high-ranking officials in the prefecture each year.

The Tongming Post Station in front of them was clearly no match for the Longmen Post Station in terms of scale and importance, but their audacity was even greater than that of the few giant rats in the Longmen Post Station.

Because Yun Ce was traveling with a pass issued by the Grand Marshal's Mansion, which represented the authority of the Grand Marshal's Mansion, which was also the army.

Now, the postmaster of Tongming Post Station does not recognize the pass issued by the Grand Marshal's Office, which proves one thing: the Grand Marshal's Office has lost its jurisdiction over Tongming Post Station.

This is very interesting.

I've heard Zhang Min say that the Grand Marshal's Mansion places the greatest importance on the Iron Enclosure Pass, followed by the Great Wall defense line. Logically, the area north of Chang'an, and the road currently known as "Ghost Swift Road," should be the most obedient to the Grand Marshal's military orders. However, it seems that what Zhang Min said doesn't match up.

The failure to implement government orders may seem like a big deal, but it's actually not that serious. If it can be corrected in time, it's not a big deal. If it can't be corrected, then all is lost. There's no need to correct it.

Feng An found an abandoned military camp with a water source, an open space for pitching tents, an extinguished hearth, and piles of horse manure.

Yun Ce decisively chose this place as his campsite.

"This is where those large caravans we encountered on the road were stationed. The water source is a small, flowing river."

Yun Ce looked at Feng An, whose face was solemn, and smiled, "You sensed the danger?"

Feng Andao said, "Liang Kun led his men to investigate and initially discovered that the population at Tongming Post Station is suspicious."

Yun Ce asked, "What's wrong with it?"

Feng Andao said: "According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, first-class post stations, such as Longmen Post Station and Jiming Post Station, require more than 10,000 people to support the heavy labor and ensure the smooth operation of the post station."

Tongming Post Station was a fourth-class station, and such a post station required thousands of people to operate. Including their families, Tongming Post Station should have at least five or six thousand people.

Liang Kun just reported that this Tongming Post Station currently has fewer than three hundred people, but they all look quite fierce, more like warriors than post station workers.

Yun Ce asked, "Then, where did the people from Tongming Post Station go?"

Feng An blinked and said, "I'd like to know too."

Liang Kun didn't rush back until the camp started serving dinner. He looked a little tired. He drank two bowls of cold porridge before putting down his bowl and saying to Yun Ce, "The population is migrating north in a planned and large-scale manner."

Yun Ce looked up at Liang Kun and said, "You mean the population here isn't migrating to the bustling Chang'an area, but is instead migrating north in a large-scale, organized manner?" Liang Kun replied, "There should be large villages around the post station. These large villages are responsible for raising cattle and horses for the post station's use. They also have to go into the wilderness to gather food and various supplies for the post station."

I led my men on a journey of over a hundred miles and found two villages. However, they were completely deserted. Some families had left in such a hurry that they hadn't even had time to take their cooking pots and food with them.

Judging from the traces they left behind, they evacuated in the north, and their evacuation lasted no more than ten days.

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "This is very unreasonable. Since when did everyone start to love ordinary people so much? Didn't we just let them fend for themselves before?"
Be careful at night. When people were worthless, nobody cared about slaves. Now that people are valuable, someone might come and rob us.

I think that postmaster looks like he's about to rob us.

Feng An rubbed his hands anxiously and said, "Most of our men are women and children, and their fighting strength is not strong. If it is an army that comes, we are no match for them."

"Then let's rob them first."

"Is Your Excellency going alone?"

"No, we're deploying all of us."

"Does the Lord mean to use bombs?"

"Yes, now that this thing has been created, everyone should understand that we are very powerful. Tongming Station is quite good, not too big or too small, with just the right number of people, perfect for practice."

By the way, have Chu and the others mastered the grenade throwing technique yet?

Liang Kun said with a smile, "My lord, you don't need to worry about that. They are currently obsessed with dropping bombs."

Yun Ce nodded. As long as you're a normal person, you're actually quite obsessed with throwing bombs. Because after a bomb explodes, the person who threw it will associate the power of the explosion with their own abilities, and eventually form a fixed mindset: it's not how powerful the bomb is, but how powerful I am at throwing it.

When leaving Lantian County, Yun Ce followed the procedure given by Gouzi, purified the sulfur and mirabilite stored in the manor, and then strictly followed the production formula and process, and according to the amount of explosives, produced a number of bombs with different powers.

The most powerful type is the size of a human head. Once it explodes, there will be no living thing within a ten-meter radius. There are more than three hundred of these bombs. One was given to each of Eji, Zhang Min, Feng An, and Liang Kun, and the rest are all in Yun Ce's hands.

As for the simple bombs made by hand, Yun Ce directly distributed them to the grenadiers he had just organized.

These bombs were naturally no match for the high-quality bombs that Dogman had handcrafted. However, those bombs filled with a pound of gunpowder, once thrown by a strongman, could still cause significant damage to the enemy with their iron nails, metal fragments, and porcelain shards.

Those with great strength were given large bombs, and those with less strength were given small bombs. Even among the women who were strong enough to throw bombs far away, Yun Ce also gave them bombs.

Since Yun Ce equipped strong women with bombs, the harm to women and children that was common in slave camps has decreased significantly.

After the bombs exploded eight times in their own camp, and especially after a young boy, unwilling to accept his mother's humiliation, took his mother's bomb, lit the fuse, and killed the man who had abused his mother, the killing of women, children, and men harming each other in the slave camp disappeared.

Because with bombs, it's no longer an era where whoever is the strongest or has the biggest fist wins; even a small child can become a significant threat.

Yun Ce did not make any changes to the slave camp. Apart from requiring everyone to clean themselves up and get rid of the parasites on their bodies, he did not have many other requirements.

They need time to adapt from slaves to humans. At least until the bombs have fully boosted their morale, it's too late to talk about changing their worldview.

After all, before you can change someone's worldview, you must first have your own worldview.

"Because the people from Tongming Post Station are going to attack us tonight and capture everyone to sell for money, we need to attack them before they attack us tonight."

This was the motion that Yun Ce sent to Chu and his group of commanders of thousands, hundreds, and tens. Then, the motion was quickly passed on and became the motion of everyone in the camp.

Everyone agreed that the Lord was right, and that they absolutely could not be sold again, otherwise the good woman they had finally found, the family they had started, and the children they had acquired would once again no longer belong to them.

As the sun set, everyone became restless. The strong men couldn't even wait until dark and walked towards Tongming Station with a bomb in each hand. Behind them were women holding bombs as well. Although the children didn't have any bombs to carry, they picked up sticks, bamboo poles, and stones, preparing to fight the enemy to the death.

"Aren't you going to go and direct them on how to fight?"

Zhang Min glanced at the chaotic groups of people, shouting loudly, trying to bolster her courage as they gathered around Tongming Post Station, and couldn't help but ask Yun Ce.

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "This is their own war. They must adapt to the war as soon as possible. Only by adapting can they firmly protect their property in the near future."

(End of this chapter)