In the summer, on both sides of the Gupo River, the grass grows and the orioles fly, and the mountains in the distance are endlessly green.
The Gupo River is one of the tributaries on the south bank of the Wei River, and its upper reaches and the upper reaches of the Wei River have always been one of the core habitats of the Qiang people.
This area used to belong to Qinzhou on Qinfeng Road, but was changed to Minzhou on Xihe Road during the Xuande period. Together with the Taoshui River in the west and the area along the Daxia River, it has been the most fiercely contested area between the imperial court and the party in the past hundred years.
When Chihu invaded the south, Xihe's military envoy Gao Junyang was ordered to lead his troops to the east. When Bianliang fell and Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang, Gao Junyang led his troops to resist the invasion of the Japanese troops along the Jingwei coast. After that, all battles were defeated.
After losing troops and generals, they were forced to retreat to Fengzhou and other defensive lines in the central and western sections of the Qinling Mountains, unable to escape and return to garrison Xihe River.
Because the main force of Xihe's troops had been fighting in the hinterland of Guan-Shaanxi for a long time, the Dangxiang people and the Nanjian Army Division took the opportunity to send troops to invade the Daxia River and the lower reaches of Taoshui River.
By the time Emperor Jianji ascended the throne in Xiangyang, the area west and north of Xihe Road had basically fallen into the hands of the Dangxiang people.
At that time, in order to form an alliance with the Dangxiang people to jointly resist the Chihu cavalry, they could only accept this established fact; then Xihe Road was abolished, only Xizhou was retained, and at the same time, the Gupo River and Fuqiang Village along the upper reaches of the Weishui River were transferred
Tan County and other places were reclassified into Qinzhou as a habitat for the remnants of the Khitan tribe to move into.
At this time, Qinzhou, Xizhou in the west, and Minzhou and Wuzhou in the south were all included in the jurisdiction of the West Qin Road.
The Qishan Road in a broad sense starts from Lueyang County in the west of Hanzhong Prefecture. It travels all the way through Wuzhou and enters the Longnan Mountains. It goes north to Qinzhou (Tianshui), then goes west along the Weishui River, and then goes north to the land of Longxi; and goes east along the Weishui River.
, is the Guanzhong Plain, which has dominated the fate of the Central Plains for thousands of years and has gradually declined.
Qishan Road in a narrow sense is a throat gorge road about fifty miles long located east of Lishan County and embedded in the mountains of Longnan.
Qishan Road has always been the only way for Longxi and Hexi areas to connect with Sichuan and Shu. After caravans and caravans enter Hanzhong Prefecture, they can also go eastward along the Han River and enter the hinterland of Jinghu Lake.
During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, after the Shu Han lost Jingzhou, it lost the channel to attack the Wei State from Nanyang, and the roads in the Qinling Mountains were easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Shu Han Dynasty wanted to attack the Wei State in the north. The army took the Qishan Road north to Tianshui several times, intending to attack Chang'an and Qishan in the east.
Tao is famous throughout the ages for this reason.
The Qishan Gorge Road extends to the south bank of the Gupo River, and then branches off into two branches. One goes eastward along the south bank of the Gupo River towards Qinzhou City. The Gupo River merges into the Wei River in the west of Qinzhou City; the other crosses the river through the ferry.
Go west among the gentler hills and valleys on the north bank and head towards Tai Tam County.
At this time, a huge team of mules and horses came out of the Qishan Gorge. In addition to the four to five hundred grooms pulling the mules and carrying the horses, there were also more than two hundred armored guards riding war horses, carrying crossbows and saddles.
There was a quiver, a large shield, a rolled felt bundle tied behind the saddle, and many other miscellaneous items.
This huge group of mules and horses walked slowly through the valleys, but under the vast sky and among the rolling hills, they were so small, like a group of hard-working ants, heading towards the south bank of the Gupo River.
The fork in the road, which is also the ferry crossing to the north bank of the Gupo River, is slowly moving.
These people were dusty and their clothes were quite shabby.
Almost half of the armored warriors on horseback were young, and some even had childish faces, but they were all tired, and there were stains of solidified dark brown blood on their armor.
You can imagine how far they traveled and what dangers they experienced before arriving in Qinzhou - the war is now in chaos, even if it is not the defense line of the Chihu people in the north of the Qinling Mountains, there are also bandits breeding, and it is far less peaceful than in the past.
"The caravan from Zhufengtang is here!"
"It's the caravan from Chushan. I wonder what new things are brought here this time?"
"Thank God for bringing more tea cakes and salt on such a long journey. Ukler, don't think about pleasing girls - practice your archery skills well, and there will be no girls who won't let you take advantage of you."
A tent?”
The herdsmen at the ferry saw this scene and rushed to tell each other.
This team of mules and horses comes to Qinzhou every three or four months, bringing salt, tea, essence and iron that Qinzhou is in urgent need of, and the price is approachable, much cheaper than the caravans from Sichuan, Shu and Hanzhong.
, extremely popular with herdsmen.
Most of the salt tea essence is traded directly to the Dudu Mansion. A small amount is also traded directly with the tribes along the way and will not be traded with ordinary herdsmen. However, because of the existence of the Zhufengtang caravan, the Khitan people will receive a share every quarter.
Fine salt and tea cakes are rare but precious.
Eat salt to gain strength.
Although Qinzhou also produces salt, rock salt is bitter and astringent.
Free-range animals will lick the salty smell from the stones, but people cannot eat too much.
Herdsmen who rely on meat and cheese as their staple food need tea to relieve fatigue.
As long as we have these two items, no matter how difficult the conditions are after moving west to Qinzhou, we can survive.
In addition to salt, tea, refined iron, Zhufengtang's mules and horses also bring pens, inkstones, paper and ink every time, as well as exquisite jewelry that girls and wives love, such as rouge and red. They also purchase silk and other materials from Sichuan, Sichuan and other places.
- These will be sold to ordinary herdsmen at Zhufengtang's shop in Qinzhou City, and the prices are approachable. Basically, after deducting the cost of the long journey, only a small profit will be added.
Therefore, when they saw Zhufengtang's mules and horses appearing on the banks of the Gupo River, the nearby herdsmen saw it as if it was a festival, and many people rushed back to their tents to pack up and prepare to go to the city for the market.
After all, it is not easy for a team of mules and horses to come over once. Seven or eight hundred mules and horses cannot carry too much goods. If you miss these three to five days, these goods will basically be sold out. If you don’t hurry up, you will have to wait for the next one.
Trip.
Seeing the Gupo River, I knew that this difficult journey was coming to an end. I could rest in Qinzhou for a month and wait until the mules and horses became stronger before embarking on the return journey again. The haggard grooms and armed guards of the mule and horse teams suddenly changed their expressions.
Vibrate, the fatigue of the past months is gone.
The team of mules and horses paused for a moment at the ferry. The groom untied the cloth bag and fed the mules and horses beans. They also cut as much grass as possible for feeding. In order to save energy, some leaders also contacted nearby tribes to get some salt and tea.
In exchange for pasture and other feed.
In order to load as much cargo as possible, mules, horses, grooms, and guards would try their best to exchange for food along the way.
Otherwise, so many people and horses would have to travel for three or four months on the way, and they would all be used to carry feed and grain, and there would not be enough food.
There was still one day's journey from Qinzhou City, and now we had entered the sphere of influence of the Khitan tribes. The herdsmen of the tribes we met along the way were very enthusiastic towards them, and everyone was quite relaxed. Xu Tan left his war horse to the care of his guards,
He lay on his back on the grass with his head in his arms, looking at the clear blue sky and the long white clouds.
“The scenery here is so beautiful. It’s been a hard journey, but it’s worth it!”
Su Mung was always excited and tireless wherever he went. He reined in the reins lightly and galloped up a naturally formed river embankment with Liu Huting and others, overlooking the undulating mountains to the north.
After the flood season, the water in Gupo River is also very strong, but the rapid water flowing between the hills and mountains like a green blanket is a completely different scene from the Huishui River and the Ru River.
Su Mung sighed and asked Xu Zang to come over quickly.
"It's worth it," Xu Zang ignored Su Miao's greeting and asked complainingly, "Grandma, I didn't make any mistakes this time, but I was demoted to serve as a guard for the mule and horse teams, except for a few groups of indifferent people along the way.
The thief hit the master's knife edge, and the days are free - Su Mung, why are you so excited? Mr. Shi said that you have a lot of eyes, and you will definitely be a wise general in the future. You don't have the slightest hint of a wise general, I think you just lack it.
Mind’s eye.”
"Walking thousands of miles and reading thousands of books," Su Miao said, "It is said that the road to Qishan Mountain is difficult. If we hadn't walked this way, how would we feel? Besides, let's talk about the people we met along the way and the scenery we saw.
, there are so many differences from Chushan, aren’t you happy?”
"Three to five days is fine, ten days and a half is fine, but if he walks for a hundred days, how can his grandma be excited?" Xu Tan sat up from the grass and said, "Su Mung, you fight me.
Let’s have a fight, if you beat me, I will ride as your horse, Han Qihu will definitely not dare to fight with me!”
"You two are about to get married. You are about to go to Qinzhou to meet Prince Xiao. Don't make any jokes." Xu Guanshan warned.
"Speaking of wives, Niu Er said that Khitan girls are very beautiful, but along the way, the herdsmen's women's faces were as dark as the bottom of a pot, and their buttocks were as big as grain bags - I never expected that such an honest Niu Er would still
Liar," Xu Pan said, "In fact, we should have thought of it a long time ago. Otherwise, why would Han Qihu defect to Chushan and not follow Prince Xiao to Qinzhou? Or our girl Shui Ling from Tongbai Mountain, with that figure.
Beautiful! Su Mung, do you think Han Qihu has secretly fallen in love with a few of them?"
Han Qihu ignored Xu Zang's teasing.
"Haha, that's because you haven't entered Qinzhou City yet," Xu Guanshan, who was standing aside, said with a smile, "If you and Su Miao are willing to marry the Khitan girl and meet Prince Xiao, I can shamelessly invite Prince Xiao
The king will act as a matchmaker for you two boys, and I will ensure that you both marry the most beautiful and hottest Khitan girl!"
Xu Guanshan is the father of Xu Xinan.
Although Xu Xin'an is already married and has children, and is one of the generals of Chushan, early marriage is common in the world. Xu Guanshan is only forty-five years old this year. He is in the prime of life and will not stay in the house to take care of himself.
Now Xu Guanshan is the general person in charge of the trade route between Qinzhou and Chushan.
As the general person in charge, he does not have to personally follow the mules and horses on every trip, but this trip, in addition to Zhang Xiongshan, Han Qihu, Su Mi, Xu Zhen and others, there are also a group of cadets and generals from the Samurai House who are inspecting and training at the same time.
He just personally escorted the team.
"Damn it, Commander Jie won't be so cunning as to sell some of us to make peace with the Khitan, right?" Xu Tan jumped up from the grass as if he was frightened.
"You are lazy and have many ideas. Is it worth playing such a big trick on you?" Zhang Xiongshan came over and said with a smile, "I just want you people to take advantage of the war to be less tense and have the opportunity to walk more."
, experienced and handsome, Mr. Shi and the others have placed too much expectations on you!"
"By the way, Master Shan, I heard from Niu Er that Commander Jie had an affair with Princess Xiao. Is this true?" Xu Zan asked again in a low voice.
Zhang Xiongshan laughed, he would not take this topic casually...
