Gao Fei left the army with Zhao Yun, Lu Heng, Liao Hua and 50 other personal followers. After walking slowly for less than 30 miles to the west, he heard more than ten riders coming quickly from behind. The leader Gao Fei saw it very much.
He looked familiar, and after thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized that he was actually the captain of Lu Zhi's personal soldiers.
The captain of Lu Zhi's personal soldiers rushed up quickly. Gao Fei asked people to stop by the roadside. After exchanging a few words, he realized that their purpose of coming was to deliver gold to Gao Fei. When Lu Zhi was taken away by the prison car,
He told his own soldier captain to return the thousand kilograms of gold that the imperial court awarded to Gao Fei. He was really a good man.
After the captain of the guard sent the gold, he said goodbye. Gao Fei handed the gold to Lu Heng for safekeeping and continued on his way with his people.
That night the group arrived in Neihuang and rested for the night at a post station in the city. It was already mid-August and the weather was gradually getting cooler. The autumn nights were also chilly. Gao Fei and the others were still wearing the summer military uniforms of the army.
It was a bit thin. Gao Fei asked Lu Heng to take the money to buy some autumn clothes from a clothing store in the city and give them to his subordinates to wear. However, the clothes of the officers and soldiers were not thrown away, but were worn outside.
It's a very good idea to wear official and military clothes and stay at the inns wherever you go without spending any money.
After a simple night's rest and breakfast the next day, everyone continued on their way to the west, planning to go to Hanoi County first, cross the Yellow River in the south of Hanoi, and then turn west and enter Sanfu. This is a well-known geography.
The route laid out by the knowledgeable Lu Heng.
A group of people walked on the empty plains of Hebei. They could see desolate land and abandoned villages everywhere. Seeing the desolate scene along the way, Gao Fei felt a little pity for the people of this era. The Yellow Turban Rebellion had a serious impact on Hebei.
The population of various counties has dropped sharply. Even if the Yellow Turbans are pacified, it will be difficult to restore the former prosperity within two or three years.
When it was almost noon, Gao Fei ordered everyone to stop by the roadside to rest, and then distributed the dry food purchased last night to everyone. The group of people leaned against the small woods on the roadside to rest briefly.
"Master Hou, I bought this specially for Mr. Hou last night. Please taste it!" Fei An's nose stopped bleeding, but the black scars could still be clearly seen on his nose. He held a jar in his arms.
The wine was handed to Gao Fei with a smile.
Wine was a good thing in ancient times. In that era when the alcohol content was not very high, it was equivalent to modern drinks. It was the most common and thirst-quenching thing. Gao Fei took the jar of wine and said to Fei An: "Your
Is your nose okay?”
Fei An said happily: "Thank you, Lord Marquis, for worrying about me. It's nothing serious."
Gao Fei said: "In the future, you should learn from Lu Heng in how you speak and act. Don't always be irritable. If you continue like this, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to trust you again."
Fei An leaned forward and said, "I will remember the Marquis's teachings and I will not let anything like this happen again in the future."
Gao Fei looked around for a week and saw that everyone else had a jar of wine in their hands. The carriage parked on the roadside was loaded with dry food and wine, as well as all his family property. Thinking of the escorts in the world, it was nothing more than that. He smiled
He smiled, pointed at the drinks in everyone's hands and said to Fei An: "You did a good job this time. Everyone has drinks in their hands. It's nothing special. You should use your brain more in the future."
"promise!"
"Okay, you go and have a drink too."
Gao Fei was afraid that everyone would get drunk after drinking too much, so he shouted loudly: "It's okay to have a sip or two, but don't drink too much. If you get drunk, I will leave you to feed the wolves!"
After hearing this, everyone laughed heartily and understood what Gao Fei meant. They just drank a few sips, ate some dry food, and then started on the road.
After repeating this process for several days, the group arrived at Hanoi County, arrived at the Yellow River, crossed the Yellow River by boat, and then rode westward through Hongnong County into the Sanfu Land in Guanzhong.
The majestic Guanzhong, eight hundred miles of Qinchuan, and four passes blocked its path. Gao Fei led everyone to go west, admiring the beautiful scenery of Guanzhong along the way, and silently remembered the topography and landforms he passed in his heart.
For him, although he doesn't like staying in Guanzhong, sooner or later he will bring his army to fight back. By then, his travel experiences will bring him great convenience.
Being a Chen Cang Ling may not be a bad thing, Gao Fei thought silently in his heart again.
On the first day of September, Gao Fei's journey finally came to an end. He arrived at Chencang with fifty of his followers. Chencang was under the jurisdiction of You Fufeng, one of the three assistants. In ancient times, there was a story about Han Xin building a plank road and crossing Chencang secretly.
, Chencang is also the gateway to Sanfu from the east, and its geographical location is very important.
Outside Chencang City, Gao Fei led fifty riders to stop on the road outside the city gate. Looking up at the city towers and walls of Chencang, everyone's hearts were cast with a shadow. In order to comfort himself along the way, Gao Fei tried his best to comfort himself.
He advocated the benefits of Chencang and often told allusions about Chencang to his subordinates. However, when they actually saw this city that everyone had been fascinated by for a long time, everyone had a gloomy face and could not say a word.
"Haha, it's a little better than I thought." Gao Fei used Ah Q's spirit to comfort himself and laughed silly.
Lu Heng looked unhappy. He rode up to Gao Fei and asked softly: "Master Hou, is this Chen Cang? It's completely different from what I expected."
In front of everyone's eyes, there is a dilapidated city. The city towers are in disrepair for a long time, and the black paint on the pillars has fallen off. The city walls are even more dilapidated, with potholes like a hornet's nest visible, and broken bricks piled up on the walls.
Wa, it's just like going through a war.
"Don't you know the characters? Isn't it written on the city wall?" Gao Fei pointed to the half-peeled characters on the city wall, and the three characters "Chencang City" could still be vaguely seen.
Lu Heng said nothing. When he saw the city in front of him and thought about the impregnable Chencang that Gao Fei had boasted about along the way, they were completely two different concepts.
"Now that it's here, let's make peace with it. Let's enter the city!" Gao Fei smiled bitterly, thinking about the Liangzhou rebellion that was about to happen. He originally wanted to use Chencang's solid city defense to resist, so as to gain certain credit. But now it looks like
When I arrived at a city like this, I felt a little more confident.
The gate of Chencang City was open, and there were no gate guards standing at the gate. A few people slowly drove out of the city. When they passed by Gao Fei and others, they all looked at them with strange eyes. Everything
They are all so strange.
Everyone rushed into the city and saw that the city was deserted. There were many collapsed houses near the city gate. There was a thick layer of rubble piled near the broken walls. It seemed that it had been abandoned for a long time. There was only one very straight road in the city.
At a glance from the street, you can see the city gate wide open on the west side. A few people enter and exit Chencang from the west gate.
Gao Fei led everyone along the road and rode to the not-so-wide street. After walking less than two miles, he saw several intact but ancient houses inhabited by ordinary people. Gao Fei and others suddenly visited
It immediately attracted people to watch, and dozens of people poured out from both sides of the street. Most of the people were skinny and elderly people. They staggered and rushed to watch the arrival of this group of strangers.
After walking for almost five miles, a crossroads appeared in front of everyone. Gao Fei looked around and saw a relatively wide road heading north. A county government office also came into view. The gate of the county government office was
It was wide open, and there were no guards at the door. The city of Chencang was deathly silent, without any life.
"Master Marquis, this city is really small. The total length from east to west is only ten miles, and the branch road from north to south is only six or seven miles. How can this place accommodate a thousand households?" Zhao Yun was not very satisfied with Chen Cang, so he couldn't bear it.
Just say it out loud.
Gao Fei said "hmm" and said nothing more, driving his horse towards the county government office.
When he arrived at the gate of the county government office, Gao Fei got off his horse and took a look inside. He didn't see anyone. He didn't care about it and said to the followers behind him: "Get off your horses and move all the things in. This will be the place from now on."
Our temporary home.”
After finishing speaking, Gao Fei strode into the county government office. Not long after walking inside, he heard noisy sounds coming from a closed room in the east wing. He turned around and walked straight over.
, I opened the door first and saw more than ten government officials in official uniforms sitting around on a straw mat in the room, shouting "big, small" and other words loudly, actually gathering people to gamble.
.
"Who is the leader here?" Although Gao Fei opened the door, he shouted loudly without attracting anyone's attention.
The noisy sound in the room suddenly stopped. More than a dozen disheveled government servants turned their heads in the same direction. They saw a stranger wearing a helmet and armor standing outside the door. They looked at it from top to bottom and then
After hurriedly adjusting their clothes, they all stood up and said in unison: "I've seen you, sir!"
"Who is the leader here?" Gao Fei repeated again, with a bit of severity in his words.
A little man with a yellow face and muscles took a step forward, glanced at Gao Fei sideways, and replied: "Master Qi, I... I am..."
"Are you a county captain?"
The little man waved his hands hurriedly and said: "No, no, I am not a county captain, and the county captain does not live in the city!"
"This is our Marquis, the newly appointed Duxiang Marquis by the imperial court, Chen Cangling, why don't you hurry up and pay homage to the Marquis?" Lu Heng came over from behind Gao Fei, took a look at everything in the room, and said loudly.
The officials in the room hurriedly bowed their hands and said: "Greetings to the Marquis!"
Gao Fei said: "Where is your county captain?"
The little yamen servant replied: "The county captain married a concubine today and didn't come."
"Not coming? Then come with me. I want to know more about Chen Cang's situation." After Gao Fei finished speaking, he turned around and left.
Gao Fei took the little man to the county government hall and asked, "What's your name?"
"Reply to the Marquis, little man Ma Jiu."
"Ma Jiu, let me ask you, how many households are there in Chencang?"
"Returning to the Marquis, there are a thousand households within an eighty-mile radius of Chencang. The imperial court has sent a notice. From now on, Chencang will be the Marquis's residence, and the thousand households will also be the Marquis's subjects.
"
After hearing this, Gao Fei thought to himself: "Damn, this poor place is still in Sanfu, why not let me go to Liaodong, at least there are rich mineral resources. It seems that my Marquis's Mansion can only be located in this county.
It’s the government office.”
He continued to ask about Chencang's situation, and Ma Jiu also answered them one by one. After listening, he realized that Chencang was often attacked by Qiang people in the past, and the county magistrate who was transferred would leave after less than a month.
There was no money in the treasury, and no one repaired the city walls. The people also fled eastward. Only these thousand households were forced to migrate from Hongnong County by the imperial court. Fortunately, the Qiang people in the past two years
Without rebellion, the borders of Liangzhou would be peaceful.
After asking, Gao Fei sent Ma Jiu away. He was very tired after working hard for so many days. He immediately asked his followers and government servants to help clean the backyard of the county government office and some rooms, and then ordered Pei Yuanshao to light a fire to cook, and then took charge as he pleased.