The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Sun Shaozu secretly admired Jia Chen; the kid was incredibly audacious, willing to kill to cover up his caravan's goods.

In Datong, who doesn't know their own Sun family?

But Jia Chen still did it.

So, he secretly had those soldiers who didn't return to Qianshan Fort killed by his men.

But this did not completely quell his anger, because the instigator was Jia Chen.

In addition, the first time he was intercepted by Hu Youcai was also because of Jia Chen. When had Sun Shaozu ever suffered such a big loss?

With Jia Chen in Qianshan Fort and now valued by Liu Tianwang and Chen Tai, it was difficult for him to make a move. He was hoping that Abunai would hurry south.

It seems this matter will have to drag on until next year; we can only let Jia Chen live a few more days.

Thinking of Jia Chen, Sun Shaozu couldn't help but ask, "Sir, I heard that the Qianshan Fortress is already completed?"

"Whether it's finished or not depends on your perspective," He Liding said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Sun Shaozu asked, somewhat curiously.

“I accompanied Lord Liu to see it a few days ago,” He Liding said. “They dug a moat and built city walls, but inside the city there are only low mud houses. There isn’t a single decent house. I think the most valuable things are the city gate and the drawbridge.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Shaozu was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

"Brother, that kid really did build a lot of cannons, thirty or forty tiger crouching cannons. Tsk tsk, I'm afraid he spent all his money on them. He probably doesn't even have enough money left for timber to build houses," He Liding said again.

Sun Shaozu began to understand.

Timber is not cheap in Datong; it is mostly transported from other places.

If everything else is made of earth, then the city gate and drawbridge made of wood are definitely more valuable.

"You really built so many cannons?" Sun Shaozu asked in surprise.

He was present when Jia Chen came over to ask for wrought iron last time.

Knowing that Jia Chen wanted to build the cannon himself, he laughed at Jia Chen, saying he couldn't do it.

"Brother, why are you so surprised?" He Liding smiled. "Where would Qianshan Fort get the silver to smelt so much wrought iron? They can't even get charcoal. As far as I know, that kid never bought charcoal; he used coal. Even if they could produce so much wrought iron, do you think it could be used to make cannons?"

"This... probably won't work?" Sun Shaozu thought for a moment and said.

Sun Shaozu didn't know much about iron smelting and cannon making, but he did know that it was best to use charcoal to smelt iron, as using coal would result in poor-quality iron.

"So, although there seem to be quite a few tiger-squat cannons, and they look quite imposing when placed on the city wall, once they are actually used, they will probably explode after only a few uses," He Liding laughed loudly. "They can only fool our Lord Liu from the Beijing Garrison, but they can't fool me."

"Haha~~" Sun Shaozu laughed, "I didn't expect this kid to have such ideas, but he's quite capable of currying favor with Liu Tianwang."

"After all, we were both from the Beijing Garrison before," He Liding shook his head and said, "Unlike me, I'm a local and not well-received."

"Ah, Lord He, local is always the best. Aren't we close friends?" Sun Shaozu said with a smile. "Although Lord Liu bought some grain from my Sun family, he is still wary of us."

He Liding smiled but didn't say anything.

He understood some of Liu Tianwang's thoughts.

They wanted to gain the support of some local wealthy and powerful families, such as buying grain from the Sun family, but they also wanted to maintain a certain distance.

How could something be so cheap?

For someone from out of town, even if he came from the capital, it wouldn't be easy for him to gain a foothold in Datong Town.

"I heard that you have a good relationship with Wei Ya, the fortress commander of Desheng Fort," He Liding said.

The officer in charge of defense is the deputy to the garrison commander of a fortress, and is generally responsible for the military defense of the fortress.

Deshengbao was a road city on the northeastern route. With Liu Tianwang as a deputy general, he also served as the garrison commander.

"It's not because Wei Ya's ancestors followed the Liu family. He is Liu Tianwang's trusted confidant, and I want to start with him," Sun Shaozu said with a smile.

Sun Shaozu had nothing to hide from He Liding about these matters.

He Liding understood Sun Shaozu's actions.

Liu Tianwang still had some reservations about going directly to Liu Tianwang.

Then let's first win over his trusted confidants; these things should be done slowly.

He did hope that Liu Tianwang could be like everyone else; only when everyone is in the same boat will many things be easier to handle.

……

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, at the border between the territories of the Tumed and Chahar tribes.

A long convoy of vehicles was slowly moving across the vast expanse of white snow.

The procession included nearly a hundred horse-drawn carriages carrying various goods, a scale that was quite rare.

The size of smuggling caravans on the grasslands is usually controlled; a few dozen wagons would be considered large.

The main reason is to better conceal oneself and ensure one's safety.

However, during this cold winter season, even the various tribes on the grasslands rarely come out. Even if the team size is larger, the safety is actually much higher than before.

The snow makes travel difficult and takes even more time and effort.

"It's fucking cold! My face is frozen. We've only been on the grasslands for two days, and it's already much colder than Datong," a guard on horseback cursed, pulling down his fur hat.

"Haha~~ Hang in there, if we get back safely this time, we'll be living the high life." One of the people next to him laughed and said, "Be careful, watch out for the Northern barbarians and bandits."

"Brother, it's freezing cold here, and there's not a soul in sight."

"That's right."

Despite the cold weather and difficult roads, everyone was in a relatively relaxed mood.

The worse the weather, the less likely you are to be attacked by northern barbarians and bandits.

Thinking of the generous rewards that would follow this success, the cold weather couldn't dampen their enthusiasm.

"What is that?" Suddenly, a surprised voice came from ahead, then his voice turned terrified, and he shouted, "Yes, Northern barbarians, the main force of Northern barbarians, quickly form a defensive formation!"

The caravan quickly gathered its wagons together, forming a large circle. The caravan guards drew their swords, and some even picked up firearms.

As the distant black dots grew more numerous and closer, a massive earthquake shook the earth, and the faces of everyone in the caravan turned deathly pale.

They had already recognized them; they were Northern barbarian cavalry, numbering no less than tens of thousands.

"It's over!" That was the thought on everyone's mind.

The roaring Chahar cavalry quickly surrounded the caravan.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect to run into a caravan from the Great Hong Dynasty at this time." Abunai's face was full of smiles. "Good luck, it seems this trip south will definitely be smooth sailing."

The people around burst into laughter.

They really didn't expect to run into a smuggling caravan at this time of year.

Isn't this just a gift delivered to our doorstep?

The caravan leader recognized Abunai and called out, "Abunai Taiji, we are from the Sun family of Datong. Please do us a favor; we are willing to donate three cartloads of tea and salt..."

"Only three carts?" someone next to Abunai scoffed.

Abunai stared at the nearly one hundred cars without saying a word.

The head of the Sun family was uneasy, but he still continued to shout, "Abunai Taiji, my master said that you promised to guarantee the safety of our Sun family's convoy."

These words made Abunai's heart sink.

Yes, he said that.

In order to keep the soldiers at Qianshandun in place, he sent a message to several smuggling families in Datong.

In the end, the Sun family did contribute.