Yanshan is a natural dividing line between the two major ethnic groups of agriculture and pastoralism in ancient times. The north of the mountain is the grassland of the nomads, and the south of the mountain is the fields of the farming people. Therefore, Yanshan has become a natural line of defense for the farming people to defend against the invasion of nomads. Later, the farming empire
So they built city walls along the mountains, and built pass gates at important valley passages to facilitate entry and exit. This is the Great Wall.【】
Some of the passes on the Great Wall are very famous, such as Juyongguan, Gubeikou, Lulongsai..., but there are also some unknown ones, such as Liujiakou. Liujiakou is a mountain pass across the Yanshan Mountains, with a river
When the Great Wall passed here, a water gate was built here to facilitate the passage of river water.
Shuiguan is an arch made of bricks and stones, which can be used by pedestrians. However, the main reason for building it is to facilitate the passage of rivers. Therefore, the roads on both sides are narrow and rugged. It is not used as a commonly used passage for people and horses to enter and exit, so it is not famous. You know
There are not many people here.
Xia Xun and Saihazhi crossed Yanshan from Xifengkou. After learning from the date merchant who was accustomed to going in and out of fortresses that there was a pass here that was not mainly used for military purposes, they did not rush directly to Daning, but first
We took a detour to Liujiakou. The Liujiakou Pass sign was hung on the inside side of the pass. The two of them could not see it while standing on the hillside outside the pass, but the entire pass building could be clearly seen.
This water crossing tower is not too big. The brick watch tower is three feet long, three feet wide and about four feet high. There is a two foot high water crossing hole below the watch tower. There are knocks on the wall on the north side of the enemy tower.
There are six arrow windows and several bungalows on the walls on both sides. Saihazhi has been in the army for more than 20 years and has rich experience. With only a quick glance, he accurately told Xia Xun that the maximum number of troops stationed here would not exceed 120.
ten people.
Xia Xun said happily: "Brother Ha, how are you doing here?"
Sehazhi squinted his eyes and looked at it, then nodded and said: "The slope inside here is not steep, and there are no more than a hundred soldiers stationed at Shuiguan. Although the road is a little more difficult, it is easy to fight from the inside out, but it is difficult to fight from the outside in.
It is very difficult. Firstly, the mountain road is rugged and steep, and there are many rock walls. Secondly, the river is rushing down, and neither humans nor horses can control it."
Xia Xun nodded and said with a smile: "That's right, but it's still passable for pedestrians. The path in the grass."
Sai Hazhi said: "Well, it should be that the soldiers stationed at the customs often go down the mountain. In addition, the local mountain people should often pass the customs here. My lord, there is a town not far down the slope."
Xia Xun said: "Yes, Liujiakou, hahaha, I didn't expect that there is a cave here. The road has been cleared. Let's go down the mountain first. It's getting late today. Let's stay in the town at the foot of the mountain and hit the road again tomorrow."
Not far from the Liujiakou Pass, there is a town. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, so there are some people who are building the Great Wall. The families of the garrison soldiers have settled here one after another. The town is not big, with hundreds of households. At this moment
There were already curls of smoke rising from the roofs of some houses. Saihazhi was a pot-bellied man and had long felt hungry. When Xia Xun said this, it was exactly what he wanted, and he nodded quickly and said: "Okay, let's go down the mountain quickly!"
"
As he walked, he touched his belly and said, "It's okay if you don't say it. But now that you say it, I really feel hungry. I feel that even if you give me a cow, I can still swallow it."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a few cute giggles, and a clear girl's voice laughed and said: "Brother Kui, if you can catch me, I'll kiss you. Come on, I'm here... Oops!"
A girl ran out from behind a bush. She probably didn't expect there was anyone on the hillside. When she saw Xia Xun and Sehazhi, she exclaimed and turned around. Xia Xun and the two felt their eyes light up.
, the first thing you can see is the beautiful black eyebrows that go into the temples like swords, a pair of autumn eyes, a high bridge of the nose, and red lips. At a glance, the beautiful face has been twisted away, and then it is just a slender figure.
Elegant and beautiful back.
At this time, another man ran out from behind the bushes. He was a man with a majestic figure, bright tiger eyes, young and fierce, and quite handsome. He was holding a red fruit in his hand. He was originally smiling, but when he saw someone on the mountain, his expression changed.
After carefully looking at Xia Xun and the others, they saw that they were dressed very ordinary, with daggers on their shoulders, like two small businessmen, and their expressions softened. This man did not speak to Xia Xun and the others, but
He walked over and hugged the girl's slender waist, and said softly: "It's getting late, let's go down the mountain."
The girl nodded and smoothed her hair on her temples. Xia Xun focused his eyes and noticed that she was wearing a ring on her hand. The ring was all green and as clear as water. It should be jade. Jade jade is priceless, but
The jade is top quality.
Xia Xun's eyes fell on the girl's clothes again, a green and white Sichuan brocade dress, a blue skirt, two pieces of clothes, with some Hufu style, small lapels, a waist tied up, and a pair of feet
She was wearing deerskin boots and her back looked very noble. Xia Xun couldn't help but narrowed his eyes and whispered: "This woman is probably a nobleman of the Mongolian tribe, and she is a married woman."
At that time, native women did not have the habit of wearing rings, and only married women wore rings. However, many Hu people wore rings because it also had the function of a finger pull, used to pull strings and shoot arrows. Xia Xun
This guess was made based on the value of the ring, her habit of wearing it, and the style of her clothing.
Sai Hazhi said: "I didn't pay attention to that little girl because of my humble position. As a man, my posture and gait are very military. If I am not wrong, he should be a soldier, at least he used to be a soldier."
Xia Xun smiled and said: "It's none of your business, just hang up. Let's go down the mountain and find a place to rest. We'll rush to Daning tomorrow."
As they were going down the mountain, they saw a man and a woman arriving at the bottom of the mountain. There was a car waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain. The woman got on the car, and the man got on a white horse. In addition, there were also drivers. The few people accompanying them were indeed very wealthy.
The person’s style.
Xia Xun and the two followed the car from a distance. When they arrived in the town, they wanted to find an inn to stay. Only then did they realize that this small town was a bit remote and there were not many businessmen and tourists, so there was no inn in the town. The two of them found it.
I asked the shopkeeper of a wine shop in the town and found out that there was a family here because the owner did not often live in the local area, so the family members who stayed behind often rented out the courtyard to make some extra money, so I inquired all the way there.
The house and courtyard of that family are quite large in the local area, but compared with the large houses in many places in the pass, it is still much cruder. When the two of them arrived in front of the door, they saw a carriage going around the side door. They thought it was the owner of the carriage.
Get off the car at the main entrance and enter. Because there are stone steps at the main entrance, the carriage has to be driven into the courtyard from the side entrance.
Most of the small villages and towns outside the pass have ox-carts and donkey-carts. Even if there are horse-drawn carriages, there are few long-carriage passenger carriages that can travel long distances. This long-carriage carriage is exactly the same as the carriage Xia Xun saw just now on the mountainside. Xia Xun couldn't help but think: "It can't be such a coincidence. Could it be that that couple also lives here?"
The two of them stood in front of the door and poked their heads in the air. An old man inside who was about to close the door arrived and waved his head displeasedly: "Go, go, what are you doing in front of my house?"
Xia Xun withdrew his gaze, crossed his hands and said with a smile: "Uncle, we two brothers were passing by here. Seeing that it was getting late, we wanted to find someone to stay at, so please help me."
After hearing this, the old man's expression softened, and he waved his hand and said, "Go to other people's houses and ask. My house is not for foreigners."
Sehazhi was a little puzzled when he heard this, and said loudly: "How could this be so? I heard from the old man selling wine at the entrance of the town that your house was often rented to guests, so why did you suddenly stop doing business? It's not like we didn't I’ll pay you money.”
The old man's face tightened, he turned back, and rushed down the steps, saying hurriedly: "Keep your voice down! You two foreign guests are really ignorant. The old man is here to help the host and occasionally make extra money. These days It just so happens that the master comes to stay, how can the old man invite foreigners to come to the house again? Go, go, have you reached that old locust tree? There are also vacant rooms for rent under that tree, so hurry up and leave, don't cause trouble with the old man."
Xia Xun and the other two heard that their master was coming and did not want to do business, so they had no choice but to turn around and walk away. However, in the blink of an eye, Xia Xun suddenly saw a family member in the courtyard leading an unsaddled horse and lazily leading it across. In the courtyard, the horse was very handsome. It was all white and there was no stray hair. It was a good horse. Xia Xun's heart moved and he asked casually: "Uncle, your master built a house here, why doesn't he live here?" Well, could it be that he has been away doing business all year round?"
The old man glared at him contemptuously and scolded: "Bumpkin, you are a businessman, do you think my master is also a businessman? Let me tell you, my master is an official, the general guard of the Liujiakou Pass on the mountain. Mr. Liu Kui, the flag officer, usually guards the military camp, so naturally he has no time to come and live here. You should leave quickly and don’t let my master know!"
Xia Xun couldn't help but shook his head secretly after hearing this: "The chief bannerman is almost the same as the local emperor here. He is powerful and powerful. But the salary of a general bannerman, even if he buys such a courtyard, It's easy, but it's hard to buy such an outfit for his woman. I don't know how much soldier's blood he drank and how much free money he ate to earn so much money. Lao Zhu has been greedy all his life, and his horns are so small. There are still swarms of snakes and rats!”
Xia Xun sighed and thanked the old man, and then walked to the house under the old locust tree he pointed out. Indeed, that house had a house for rent, but it was a pity that there was only one room. Xia Xun knew that Saiha Zhihulu was there. The power is amazing. They usually live separately, but now they have no choice but to live in the same room. The two of them asked for some food from that person to eat and drink enough to go to bed. Sehazhi started snoring as soon as his head touched the pillow, and Xia Xun was confused. He stuffed his ears with two pieces of cloth and tossed and turned for a long time before falling into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, the two left here and headed for Daning. Only half a day's journey away from the town, they met a small tribe. Saihazhi took out two gold leaves from the soles of his boots, negotiated with the tribe leader for a long time, and exchanged two gold leaves. Now that the horse is back, the journey will be much faster. Xia Xun calculated the distance and could reach Daning City from Liujiakou in just one day and one night.
Although Daning City was the residence of the vassal king, because it was located outside the fortress, it was far inferior to the several cities that Xia Xun had visited. Compared with Qingzhou City, it was a bit smaller. There were few bricks and stones in the city walls, and most of them were made of loess.
Only the city tower and the doorway were made of masonry. There were also soldiers guarding the city gate to check the herdsmen and people entering the city and collect taxes. Xia Xun and Saihazhi got off their horses and followed the crowd patiently waiting to enter the city.
The carriage passed by, kicking up dust along the way.
Xia Xun covered his mouth and nose, turned his head and glanced to the side. He saw a few knights protecting a long carriage, heading towards the city gate. At a glance, he felt that the carriage, horses and entourage looked familiar. Xia Xun couldn't help but
My heart skipped a beat: "It can't be such a coincidence, right?"
: I caught a cold. I struggled for a long time before I got up. I was slightly injured and could not get out of the line of fire. I resolutely completed the task. Well... I will lie down for a while and then code the next chapter to be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come (
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