Hangu Pass! Since ancient times, it has been called the No. 1 Pass in the world.
Of course, it was Lao Tzu who really made it famous...
Um, the Lao Tzu mentioned here is not Lao Tzu!
In the past, I left Hangu Pass in the west and traveled three thousand miles to the east with the Purple Qi. In response to the instructions of the city guard, I left behind an eternal masterpiece, the Tao Te Ching, and was never seen again! Later, some people said that he went all the way to India to practice
The way of heaven and earth's inaction combines the teachings in the Buddhist scriptures, and he himself becomes a Buddha.
(Excerpted from Journey to the West: Laojun... rolled up his sleeves, took off a circle on his left arm, and said: "This weapon is made of Kungang... a 'Jingangzhuo', also known as 'Jingangzhuo'"
Tao'. When I passed through Hanguan, I turned Hu into a Buddha, which was a great loss to him.")
Of course, some people say that I looked down on the world, traveled around, and lived in seclusion in the mountains.
However, things are always too long ago and the truth is no longer traceable, so Xiao Han often thinks that I may have been robbed by bandits...
Although if you think this way, you will be strangled to death by Xiao Lizi who recognizes me as your ancestor, but in fact, this is exactly what is most likely to happen!
When the group arrived here, the road ahead started to get difficult. After passing Hangu Pass, they were basically out of the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence. If they went further, no one knew what they would encounter!
Although the dozen or so people accompanying them were all good at martial arts, their personal martial arts skills were really not enough to be seen in front of thousands of troops. So the group of people decisively abandoned the main road and took a small road instead, passing through the village.
In the past, a dozen or so galloping horses like this would definitely attract countless people to watch, but now, after passing through so many villages, Xiao Han saw less than two dozen living people on his hands.
The houses in many villages were obviously still very new, but when Xiao Han and the others dismounted and prepared to ask for a drink of water, they found that there was no one inside. Uncle Fool went in and walked around, then quietly came back and told Xiao Han: The people here,
They all fled in a hurry to avoid the military disaster.
After hearing this, Xiao Han suddenly remembered the historical records: the Sui Dynasty had a population of 8.9 million households, and by the early Tang Dynasty, there were only less than 2 million households left.
Maybe the numbers are cold. When Xiao Han saw this, he just sighed: Oh, so many people are missing. But now that he has seen villages turned into ghost towns with his own eyes, a chill rises from the bottom of his heart!
The viciousness of war is almost indescribable!
The sights along the way shocked Xiao Han. He touched his chest and felt the purse that Xue Pan had given him. Xiao Han stopped complaining about pain and followed Li Shimin on the road!
Now, he just wants to get to a crowded place quickly.
On the afternoon of the third day, the tired group finally arrived at Xiazhou, where Changsun Shunde and his army were stationed.
When they drove their horses to the city, a guard naturally stepped forward to reveal his identity. The captain on the battlement carefully unfastened a basket and hung the token representing his identity on the city wall. Before he could carefully inspect it, Changsun Shunde hurried over.
Grabbed it.
"Open the city gate! Welcome His Majesty the King of Qin!" Changsun Shunde, wearing an old armor, lay on the top of the city and looked down, and immediately shouted excitedly.
The heavy city gate was opened, and the sand and dust in the city gate hole seemed to have found a vent! It swirled out and rushed out. Xiao Han and Li Shimin, who were standing in front of the city gate, were unprepared and did it at that time.
A disgraced face.
Several people quickly turned their heads and spat out the dirt in their mouths, but their faces, which had just been freshly washed, were completely ruined.
"Hahaha..." Changsun Shunde laughed and ran out of the city gate, followed by many officers and soldiers. Seeing how embarrassed these people were, he quickly stopped laughing and saluted, "Young general Shunde, see you.
Passing the King of Qin, Marquis Xiao! It’s been really hard for you two to travel thousands of miles for me, please go to the city and take a rest!”
Li Shimin and Xiao Han also rearranged their appearance at this time, raised their hands and returned the greeting: "General, your words are serious! General, he fought for the Tang Dynasty, and we dare not say how hard it is!"
This is a very formal exchange. Changsun Shunde, Xiao Han and Li Shimin are not allowed to go out of their way. The others do not have enough status, so they can only follow along and bow.
After saying this, Changsun Shunde affectionately pulled Li Shimin and Xiao Han towards the city. As for their horses, someone had already taken over for them.
Xiazhou City is very big! I don’t know how much bigger than Sanyuan County. The blue-gray city wall is extremely mottled. Even the city gate is covered with marks of slashing and axe. There is even a large burnt black area.
As soon as one looks at it, one can tell how fierce a battle it has experienced.
Xiao Han looked around the city, while Changsun Shunde was busy explaining the situation here to Li Shimin in detail.
"King Qin, you came just in time! They just besieged this city a few days ago. However, Xiazhou City is easy to defend and difficult to attack. They besieged it for some days, but saw that it was of little use, so they had no choice but to retreat."
"Oh?" Li Shimin stopped and asked Sun Shunde, "Why did they withdraw their troops so easily? Is it because there were too many casualties?"
Changsun Shunde shook his head: "That's not true. They didn't know why at first. They only besieged but not attacked. Later, they organized a few small sieges, but they didn't have much fighting power and were easily dispersed by us.
.”
"Is it easy?" Li Shimin was even more confused, "Is their combat effectiveness so low? It's impossible. If so, how did they occupy Luoyang?"
Changsun Shunde chuckled, pointed to the east, and said to Li Shimin: "It is not correct to say that they are cowards! Wang Shichong has General Longxiang and several other generals under his command, they are really powerful! In total, our side
No one can compete with him! But he never expected that Wang Shichong was suspicious by nature and always had doubts about these surrendered generals. Whenever he attacked, he would always arrange people around him to hijack those fierce generals, so these days, they fought
I can’t even understand the beating!”
"Is there such a thing?" Li Shimin laughed, then he felt relieved and continued to walk forward. He saw that Xiao Han had already walked ahead.
Xiao Han didn't notice that Li Shimin and Changsun Shunde were standing behind him. He still walked forward along the city's main road with his legs crossed. He had been riding horses for the past two days, and even walking felt so happy!
But after he was happy, he suddenly discovered that there were many soldiers lying loosely on the side of the road, basking in the sun, looking weak.
"This is Tang Bing too? What's wrong with them?!"
Xiao Lizi, who was following behind, also noticed this. He only took one glance and felt the anger in his heart rising up!
Under his command, even the lowest-level auxiliary soldiers would not dare to be so lazy!
Changsun Shunde saw Li Shimin's gloomy face, but he could only smile bitterly: "King Qin, what you see is a person suffering from a strange disease..."
"Sick?" Li Shimin muttered, raised his legs and walked towards a person leaning against the wall.
Except for being listless, the man looked just like any other person. He didn't look like he was sick.
"You said he was a patient?" Li Shimin's tone suddenly became much more serious, and he looked at Changsun Shunde with suspicion.
He had already made up his mind. If this was a lie fabricated by Changsun Shunde! Even if the two were old friends, he would not hesitate to remove him from his post and investigate!
Changsun Shunde faced Li Shimin's eyes calmly. In fact, when this strange disease first appeared, he didn't believe it at all! For this reason, he also dealt with several people who got sick first, and waited until more and more people with the same symptoms appeared.
Only then did he believe that this was a strange disease that he had never seen before, and he hurriedly wrote a letter asking for help.
An old man dressed as a military doctor accompanying him stood up, cupped his hands in front of Li Shimin, and said, "King Qin, these are the sick people! The general has been working almost day and night on this matter, looking for people everywhere to treat the sick. But there is no one."
People can cure this disease, and no one even knows the origin of this strange disease!
I only know that people suffering from this strange disease are no different from ordinary people in the early stage, but their strength gradually disappears after getting sick. They cannot hold weapons, let alone work, and can only lie lazily on the side."
"Really? There is still this disease?" Li Shimin was dubious when he heard what the old military doctor said about having a nose and a face. At first, he thought these people were pretending to be sick to escape. But when he heard what he said, it didn't seem like it.
I can only focus on Xiao Han, hoping that Xiao Han, who can often create miracles, can give an answer.
