Zhang An was a minor official in the imperial examination in the fifth year of Taixing. In the sixth year of Taixing, he came to the Western Regions and served as the supervisor and counselor of Xihai City in the Western Regions.
"Counselor! Brother Zhang! Help me!"
On this day, Zhang An's friend Li Xin ran to Zhang An's home as night fell. He startled Zhang An by saying, "Brother Zhang, only you can save me from this!"
Li Xin is a minor official in the Duhu Mansion, responsible for document sorting, copying, filing and other trivial matters.
"Two days ago, my bad mouth... angered General Wei..." Li Xin looked a little pale and recounted what he said that day.
"This is not a big deal..." Zhang An said, "General Wei... that person is the most money-conscious. If you can't do it, just pay a share... Although this is not good, but... I still have some savings here. If you
If it’s not enough, just use it first...』
"No, it's not about money..." Li Xin's face was still a little pale, "I'm afraid this matter can't be solved with money..."
"Money can't solve it?" Zhang An was a little surprised, "Didn't you just say a few words too much?"
Li Xin was silent for a moment, "This... this is just an introduction..."
"Introduction? What exactly did you do?" Zhang An asked.
Li Xin was silent for a moment before sighing, "I wrote more..."
"What?" Zhang An asked subconsciously, and then he immediately understood, "What did you write? You...you, you, couldn't you..."
Li Xin's body was a little limp, "I... the memorial I wrote for Hussar was... was..."
"Ah!" Zhang An frowned, almost stomping his feet, "You...I don't even dare to write...you are...cough!"
"I just couldn't get angry a while ago. Really, I just couldn't get angry... so I just wrote it. I didn't even think about handing it in..." Li Xin held her head, "I just... I worked hard to write it."
They used it for free, and then they said they were using me because they looked up to me... This happened not once or twice, but I really couldn't bear it, so..."
"Then you can't write it! Look, who is in charge of the Western Regions now? The Protector? Believe it or not, your memorial will never reach the Protector!" Zhang An also said anxiously, "Last time, could it be that
Have you forgotten how Counselor Wang of Zhiyin Prison died?"
"He wrote a letter of remonstrance to the Great Protector, and then what happened?"
"Not only did the remonstrance seal disappear inexplicably, and the Great Protector didn't see it at all, but a group of people came to scold him, and some people accused him of expropriating people's property and extorting bribes..."
"What a pity! Who doesn't know that in the Western Regions, the people in Zhiyin Prison are the poorest among all the officials in the Protectorate? Counselor Wang just takes advantage of his free time to go to the streets to write a few words for others, write letters on his behalf, and get paid for
It was just some money to support the family... This became the evidence of Counselor Wang's crime! Later, not only the government officials were talking about him, but also the people in the neighborhood threw feces into his house! Those who had written letters to him before
When the people heard about this, they went to him one by one to ask for money! Give him alive..."
Li Xin held her head and said, "Stop talking! I...Brother Zhang, save me, save me! Doesn't your Zhiyin Supervisor have a direct channel to the General Hussar? Report this matter! Report it to him."
!I……"
Zhang An fell silent and didn't speak for a long time, just looking at Li Xin.
Li Xin's face became paler and paler, "No...can't you?"
"Not to mention that opening this dedicated direct channel requires the joint authorization of three or more counselors from the Zhiyin Supervisor... Even if it works, I will go find someone, ask for help, and report your matter... Are you sure you can wait until that day? This day.
Come on..." Zhang An sighed, "Sorry, I really can't help you..."
When Li Xin heard this, she was so devastated that she almost collapsed on the ground.
"How about..." Zhang An couldn't bear it when he saw this, and whispered, "If you really want to live...or escape...as long as you can escape back to Guanzhong, you can't talk about this..."
"Yes!" Li Xin seemed to have grasped the last straw, "Yes! I can go back to Chang'an! Chang'an!"
Zhang An stood up, then brought some money and handed it to Li Xin, "This is all I have left here... If you want to escape, you'd better hurry up... I have to find a way in these two days, maybe I won't have time to take care of it yet."
You, in addition, the city defense may be looser... By the way, you'd better not wear official robes and pretend to be a herdsman. The leather robes should be older and your face should be smeared with plaster or something..."
"Okay!" Li Xin responded one by one. Just as she was about to leave, she stopped and asked, "Brother Zhang, why do you have so many ideas? You even asked for old leather robes and plaster..."
Zhang An was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Actually...this is what I have thought about. If one day I have to escape...oh, take care! Be careful along the way..."
……o(╥﹏╥)o……
Yumen Pass.
Gao Shun would patrol the city every day, once in the morning and once in the evening, regardless of wind or rain or thunder and lightning.
When the weather is fine, you can faintly see some figures of Lop Nur. In the Han Dynasty, Heleshu did not dry up as much as it did in later generations. Even in the Western Regions, many small countries still lived a very moist life and never went there.
What water and soil issues have you considered?
It can be said that except for Fei Qian, no one in the entire world will pay attention to these "small issues".
"Colonel, the water level this year seems to have dropped one point compared to last year..." A small official stood beside Gao Shun, holding a book in his hand, "Colonel, according to the instructions of the hussar, at the edge of the mooring
We made the pillars and signs, and when I checked them two days ago, they seemed to be lower than last year..."
"It seems?" Gao Shun frowned.
"Uh... it's true, it has indeed dropped compared to the same time last year." The clerk's eyebrows jumped and he quickly added. He knew that what Gao Shun disliked the most was Mohu's words, but it was just what the clerk himself said on weekdays.
I got used to it and forgot about it for a while.
In the Han Dynasty, there were still many water sources near Yumen Pass. In addition to Heleshu, there were also places such as Wuwachi, Xitugou, and Huoshaogou. However, these places were all related to Lop Nur, and the water level in Lop Nur dropped.
, which means that the water levels in these places will also drop.
If it were other people, they would probably be bored with such tedious and repetitive tasks. Because there is no timely reward for this kind of thing, even if you do it for ten or twenty years, it may not be of much use. It depends.
If you don't get it, or you can't get rewards in certain aspects, you may become slacker the further you go.
Just like observing astronomical stars, everyone can look up at the sky at night. As long as the air pollution is not serious, you can see the stars. The difference between ancient times and later generations is just the difference in observation instruments, but there is no difference in doing this.
No matter how difficult it is, the difficulty lies in serious and meticulous persistence, repetition, day after day, without slacking off.
"Arrange the records and send them to Chang'an." Gao Shun ordered.
Since it is an order, it must be followed to the letter.
Gao Shun never asked why, so he didn't like to explain why to his subordinates.
He will do what Lu Bu tells him, and he will also do what Qiao Qi tells him.
He is located at Yumen Pass, with Lu Bu to the west and Fei Qian to the east. Not only is this geographically true, he actually looks like a character sandwiched between Lu Bu and Biao Qi.
Lu Bu didn't trust him very much.
Of course, Lu Bu is no longer the Marquis Wen he used to be.
Yumenguan is not Gao Shun's home, nor is Yanzhou.
"Colonel! Captain!" A soldier came to report, "We encountered General Wei's bodyguard at the outpost and are heading here!"
In the past, Wei Xu was just a personal guard who followed Lu Bu, resisting the halberd and holding the horse. Now he has become a general, and Gao Shun is still an unbeatable captain.
"..." Gao Shun was silent for a moment, "What are they here for?"
The soldiers shook their heads. Obviously, Wei Xu's personal guards didn't say anything, and they couldn't ask.
After a while, Gao Shun received a new report, saying that Wei Xu's personal guards had taken over a checkpoint twenty miles in front of Yumen Pass and were checking the passing pedestrians and caravans.
"Colonel Captain..." The soldier who came to report the news looked at Gao Shun with some caution, "How should this matter... be handled?"
"Here comes, prepare your horses!" Gao Shun didn't waste any more words. After getting off the city wall, he rushed to the checkpoint ahead.
When Wei Xu's personal guards saw Gao Shun coming, they exchanged greetings with each other, but they didn't show much fear or panic.
"I've met Gao Xiaoxiao." The commander of Wei Xu's bodyguard came forward to greet him.
Gao Shun frowned and said, "You are here, do you have any military orders?"
"According to the order of my general, the fugitive soldiers were captured and brought back to prison." The chief said, as if one plus one equals two.
"Fugitive soldiers?" Gao Shun pondered slightly, and then said, "To take over the sentry post, you need a military order. Please get the military order text!"
"I'm reporting to the high school captain, Dadu Protector has an order. Due to the vastness of the Western Region, it is difficult to convey information, so the army of less than thirty people can go to their own places first and report later." The commander said calmly, "I am here
...There are only ten people. The general's checkpoint is only three corps. Even if they are all added together, they are still less than thirty, so they are not violating military regulations... I don't know if Gao Xiaowei has other
Is there an order? If not, please ask the High School Captain to be lenient. After Rong captures the deserter, he will naturally return the sentry post to its owner. Please rest assured, the High School Lieutenant."
With less than thirty people, it’s easy to do things.
There is indeed a rule like this in the Western Region Protectorate. After all, not all places can get approval from superiors in time.
But the problem is that this checkpoint is only twenty miles away from Yumen Pass, so it is not a place where reports cannot be reported at all.
But it doesn’t seem so strange, because after this regulation was implemented, many people were dispatched according to this regulation, but very few were reported. In some places, twenty-nine people were even dispatched, and then several more...
It was said that the limit was once set at fifty people. Later, when these things happened too many times, it was lowered to thirty people.
After all, if there are policies, then there are so many things...
Gao Shun was silent for a moment, then waved his hand.
Unless Gao Shun is not prepared to abide by this regulation, there is really no way to violate it. In terms of regulations, there are regulations, and in terms of rank, although Gao Shun's rank is higher than that of Shi, he is the chief of Wei Xu's bodyguard, and he also has to watch for dog beatings.
Master, unless Gao Shun wants to fall out with Wei Xu now, it's hard to do anything right now.
The chief of Wei Xu's bodyguard nodded, saluted Gao Shun, then turned around and shouted.
Although several of Wei Xu's personal guards did not speak, and there was no problem with etiquette, there was a hint of contempt in their expressions, which made the soldiers around Gao Shun somewhat angry, "Captain Lieutenant, do you mean to let them take over like this?"
But it’s our checkpoint!』
"Those who stay in the first group, keep an eye on what they are doing..." Gao Shun ordered, "Since they follow the military regulations, we also act in accordance with the laws... deserters? Humph, we will catch them when the time comes and bring them to us.
see me……"
Gao Shun felt that this matter was a bit strange.
Deserting is generally not a big deal. In which generation would there be no deserters?
And most of the time, the general's personal guards do act like "gendarmes", arresting deserters and supervising soldiers who retreat on the battlefield, so there doesn't seem to be any problem.
If Gao Shun hadn't been cautious, this matter might have just passed.
But in fact, deserters are very common in Shandong. Even Gao Shun's subordinates had deserters when they were in Yanzhou. Because from the time new recruits are trained to become trapped in the camp, it cannot be done by just hanging around twice a day.
To get it, hard work is necessary, and you may even die of exhaustion on the spot during practice. Therefore, it is too common for the soldiers recruited in Shandong to simply make a living and leave when they see something wrong.
.
But after arriving in Guanzhong, the situation was different.
In Guanzhong, there were almost no deserters.
Moreover, in Guanzhong, recruits will not be trained as soon as they come up. Instead, they will have a recruit training camp stage. During this stage, the level of training will be gradually intensified, and the recruits will also be diverted. After all, not everyone
They are all suitable for the heavy armor and strong weapons mode similar to the trapped camp. The weaker ones can take the archer line, and the smaller ones can take the cavalry line. There is no need to force everyone to be heavy infantry.
At the same time, the most important point is that soldiers have good pay and benefits.
It's like companies in later generations advocate the idea of treating the company as their home. They always talk about being dedicated to their job and being dedicated, but they don't pay overtime and even their salary must be donated voluntarily. Do you still want employees to coexist with the company?
I'm afraid that within the company, either they didn't leave due to some other reasons, or they submitted their resume online and haven't found a job yet...
Therefore, after Gao Shun arrived in Guanzhong, he hardly heard of any desertion incidents until he reached Yumen Pass in the Western Regions.
And now the deserters appear again?
Maybe it's just because of personal grudges, or something else?
Gao Shun left soldiers under surveillance while the others returned to Yumen Pass first. Not far from the checkpoint, a man who looked like a herdsman appeared out of nowhere and followed a small group of caravans.
Outside Yumen Pass, it was desolate in later generations, but in the Han Dynasty, when Lop Nur had not dried up, Lop Nur was once thought to be "a vast area of three hundred miles, with water pavilions inhabited, and it does not increase or decrease in winter or summer." However, in fact, due to water and soil reasons, Lop Nur
Lop Nur continued to shrink. By the Qing Dynasty, even when the water rose, Lop Nur was only "eighty or ninety miles long from east to west and two to three miles or one or two miles wide from north to south." It became a mere small lake.
.
Lop Nur in the Han Dynasty was very large, and there were many herdsmen grazing around to make a living.
Of course the caravan leader saw the herdsman's actions, but he didn't say anything, because Yumen Pass is a pass, but it can also be regarded as a relatively large city in the surrounding area. Some herdsmen went to Yumen Pass to exchange some oil and salt.
It's too common. Anyway, as long as the herdsman doesn't do anything extraordinary, is it possible that the caravan can still express arrogantly that this road is its own and no one else is allowed to follow it?
The herdsman was carrying a bag of leather on his shoulders, tied up with a few hemp ropes. Perhaps because the leather blocked his sight, the herdsman always tilted his head and looked at the road.
The herdsmen followed the caravan and wandered forward. Not far away, they suddenly found a lot of people staying at the checkpoint in front of them.
In fact, this is not a normal phenomenon.
However, those who are inexperienced, or who do not know much about the situation at Yumen Pass, cannot detect anything from this abnormal phenomenon.
Normally, this checkpoint would not conduct a detailed search of the caravan again.
From the front checkpoint to Yumen Pass, only two places will be searched in detail. One is the forward camp a hundred miles away, and the other is in front of Yumen Pass. There will be no additional searches at the small checkpoint in the middle.
of.
Because the main responsibility of this checkpoint is to prevent risks, the main purpose is to detect whether there are any abnormalities. For example, when a caravan passes through the first checkpoint, there are 100 people, but when it reaches the last checkpoint, there are only 90 people left, or it changes.
It became one hundred and ten people, or maybe the cargo was originally written as ten carts, but then it turned into twelve carts in an instant, etc.
In about ten days, the code words with specially selected words will be changed once. The commander of the checkpoint will confirm the situation of the caravan or other passers-by based on the approval on the road ahead. If anything is found to be wrong, he will not immediately
They will break out on the spot, but will use intermittent smoke, flags, or other methods to summon the rangers near Yumen Pass according to the predetermined situation. In the luck and joy of these people, they think they can get away with it.
, giving them a heavy blow.
Checkpoints are set up next to the road.
There are a few blocks erected on the road, as well as some simple wooden fences. Of course, these things are only for the road. If you have Mr. Bei's ability, you don't need to take this road at all.
"Everyone stand still! Get in line! Get checked!"
A soldier wearing armor shouted loudly, his eyes scanning back and forth in the queue, as if searching for something.
The herdsman's face seemed a little pale. He recognized the logos on the armor, which represented Wei Xu's personal guards.
He was a little hesitant, not knowing whether to turn around and leave now, or follow the caravan and take a look ahead...
