Chapter 2 Leaving the Fortress (Third Shang) After leaving Jixian and heading north, the official road gradually became dilapidated and there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the roadside. In the grass on both sides, colorful pheasants and panicked hares kept running out, every day
At this time, some people in the caravan were chasing after them happily with bows and arrows. However, everyone's shooting skills were really poor. After chasing half the mountain, the hare and pheasant had already disappeared, so they had to rush back to the group empty-handed.
Come
When setting up camp in Miyun County, Sun Jiu, Zhang San, Du Scaru and others had another argument. The shouting lasted for half the night, and it didn't subside until Chou. When we set off the next day, there were four more men in the team who had aggressive faces.
The burly man
Then Zhang Sange, the deputy leader of the caravan, announced to everyone that these four people were swordsmen hired for the caravan and were responsible for escorting everyone to the Xiren tribe at the source of Wulie River. The price everyone had to pay was, two people per person.
Ten dollars, good meat, no limit on free money. As soon as he finished speaking, someone jumped up and said that it was too expensive to hire a swordsman. When walking this road in the spring, there was also a team of five or sixty people, and each person only had to pay
For sixteen dollars you can hire someone who is very good at wielding a knife with both hands.
"The Shuangdao Liu you mentioned and his brothers were killed in Black Rock Ridge. What happened at the beginning of this month was that more than 60 traders who hired him were arrested and more than 20 of them had one ear cut off each.
Use it as a token for your companions to take back to raise ransom for their families!" Du Scaran, who had always been stingy, suddenly changed his temper and threatened with a trembling face.
After everyone heard this, the backs of their necks exploded, so they had to reluctantly take out twenty copper coins and hand them to Brother Zhang. They must ensure the rules on the pipeline, negotiate the price when setting off, and pay when they arrive. If they encounter bandits on the road,
Therefore, the caravan suffered losses, and all losses would be deducted from the swordsmen's remuneration. If the caravan did not suffer losses, even if all the swordsmen died in the battle, the leader of the caravan would still have to send the copper coins to the swordsmen with nothing.
In the hands of the guests’ family members, even if the swordsman’s family lives thousands of miles away
After passing Yanle, the official road completely disappeared and turned into a path made by traders with their feet. It was as thick as a sheep intestine and could not even accommodate two riders walking side by side. The surrounding mountains became steeper and steeper, with huge rock fortresses.
, almost crowded on the roadside, and the other side of the road often turns into an invisible valley with green, yellow, red, gold, and various colors of leaves blocking people's sight, preventing you from exploring the bottom.
What is hidden? I can only hear the sound of gurgling water and the whimpering of the mountain wind blowing through the branches.
The mountains are one after another, endless. People and livestock are slowly starting to become numb. They can't tell whether they are going uphill or downhill. Even big and strong animals like blue and white mules have to straighten their necks.
, moving forward in small steps is said to be uphill, but the surrounding towering mountains tell you that your position is descending little by little.
People became nervous and stopped talking. Even the stupid sand grouse (Note 1) ran past clucking and shaking its fat butt. No one had the intention to chase Sun Jiu, Zhang San, Wang Mazi, etc.*
*Hudu stared, and his rough big hand refused to leave the handle of the knife for a moment. The four swordsmen who worked hard to eat were divided into two groups. Three people walked at the front of the caravan, and the one with the largest frame carried the
Decorate the door-wide sword at the end of the caravan
Among the entire team, only Xu Dayan and Li Xu were calm and composed. They had never been out of the fortress. They didn’t know how dangerous the road was, but they just found it exciting and exciting. Of all the roads they had traveled in their lives, this was the most exciting and exciting one.
In addition, Li Xu also noticed that the trees on the mountain are different from those in his hometown. Most of the trees in his hometown have broad leaves. At this time in autumn, they will turn yellow little by little and then fall down like flying snow. However, the trees in the mountains have broad leaves.
Therefore, there are mostly thin coniferous pine trees, followed by cypress trees. Only at the foot of the mountain or in the valley can you see poplar, willow, jujube and wild apricot trees. The higher you go up the hillside, the more pine trees dominate the world.
The color is constantly changing. It turns yellow at the bottom, turns red halfway up the mountain, then starts to turn green and black upwards. When the black becomes too dark to be thicker, it suddenly becomes lighter and becomes grayish blue. That is the rock.
The inherent color is so high that there are no trees anymore, only huge stones, standing in the wind, reading all the vicissitudes of ancient and modern times.
"Look, the Great Wall!" Xu Dayan suddenly shouted from behind. Li Xu was so frightened that he almost fell off his horse and turned his head sideways. Following the opponent's finger, he looked into the distance and saw an earth-yellow giant dragon stretching for thousands of miles.
, the mountains on the left stretch up and down the mountain, and the giant dragon also stretches endlessly. The ninety-thousand-mile long wind blows the giant dragon's body into twists and turns, but the dragon's head is still raised proudly in the pure blue sky.
Below, on top of the mountains
"That is the Great Wall built by General Meng and his troops. It borders the sea in the east and Qilian in the west. It is more than 10,000 miles from the Qin and Han Dynasties to now. It has been standing for more than a thousand years!" Xu Dayan pointed to the Great Wall and admired in a low voice.
In the face of this most magnificent project in history, he put away his pride and did not say any more rhetoric that he could do better. All his words revealed were admiration from the bottom of his heart.
"But his temple has long since lost its incense!" Li Xu lamented: Captain Bu, General Luo, King Wei, and the builders of the Great Wall. Along the way, he saw and heard too many heroic deeds, each of which was more powerful than the others.
The book describes it vividly, but the situation of the heroes does not seem to be very good. General Miaoluo was guarding the border for the imperial court, and at the same time he had to guard against impeachment within the imperial court. His Royal Highness King Wei died violently in the second year after sweeping through the Turkic tribes. It is said that he was the murderer of Tai
According to Xu Dayan, King Wei was raised by the late emperor and his favorite half-brother. When the late emperor was still alive, he had the intention of passing on the throne to his brothers. The general Meng who built the Great Wall was
His experience seemed to be even worse. His life ending was recorded in four words in the history books: death and annihilation of his clan.
"With such a long-distance Great Wall, how can he need the incense in the world?" Xu Da looked at the watchtower in the distance with admiration on his face. If anything can be called an unparalleled achievement, the Great Wall in front of him can be counted as one of them for more than a thousand years.
There are countless tribes on the grassland. Before each tribe goes south, it must first face this artificial barrier.
"People behind, hurry up and cross the Great Wall by Baoqiu River. We are out of the blockade!" Sun Jiu's shout came from far away from the front, interrupting the discussion between the two brothers.
The vendors agreed one after another, and like a long snake, they slowly accelerated their movement on such a treacherous mountain road. It would be cheaper to finish the dangerous mountain road earlier. Many places are extremely dangerous. If a bandit suddenly pokes his head out, everyone will have to surrender obediently.
share
Reality is always at odds with people's deception. The exit Sun Jiu mentioned is just northeast of Yanle. After a thousand years of vicissitudes of life, Baoqiu water changed its direction at some point, turning from north to south, turning an unknown part of the Great Wall.
After two sections of Guankou Chong were established in the Sui Dynasty, there was no time to rebuild the fortress and no troops were stationed here. Therefore, this gap in the city became an ideal choice for caravans to avoid paying filial piety to the government.
In fact, when this gap is not far away from Yanle in a straight line, the Sui Dynasty that really left left this gap, which is equivalent to truly entering Yanshan.
Yanshan Wanli
The mountain is higher, the road is narrower, and the road is steeper. People have to jump off the back of the animal, pull the reins and pull hard in front. When encountering a sudden steep slope, the animal becomes the master, and people need to support its buttocks with their shoulders.
move forward
In just one day, the thick-soled shoes that Li Xu had just put on when he left home were worn out, and his toes were stained with blood blisters. The front end of the shoe poked out, and the heels were also open. Every time he took a step, the front and back of his feet were all at the same time.
There was an excruciating pain. I don’t know how many layers of calluses had formed on my shoulders. When I pressed the animal’s butt, I completely lost all feeling. My thighs and chest were all sticky with sweat, which combined with the dust in the wind and stuck to my skin.
, every time it moves, it emits a sour smell that can make flies faint.
Xu Dayan's situation seems to be slightly better than his. His expensive robe has long been hung up by branches and turned into a cassock. The delicate brown shorts he wears close to his body are also hung with holes everywhere. When the wind blows, the white inside is exposed, but
A pair of fast boots specially designed for mountain climbing with dirty skin is also inseparable from the shoes on Li Xu's feet. They have "garlic cloves" on the front and eggplant on the back.
Li Xu knew that at this time, he was no longer different from Wang Mazi and others, just as dirty and haggard. Thinking that this kind of life would be with him for a long time, he shuddered all over, thinking that his father had lived like this for so many years.
In the days since then, I have never cried out in pain in front of myself and my mother. Deep in my heart, I have realized what it means to have a father's love like a mountain.
"I must make money!" Li Xu pushed the mount's butt hard and secretly vowed that such days must end as soon as possible, for his own future and for the sake of his parents.
"If God wants to entrust this person with a great responsibility, he must first torture his mind, strain his body, starve his body and skin, mess up what he does, and gain what he cannot do!" In front of the mount, Xu Dayan muttered and hung the reins on the horse.
On his shoulders, he was so tired from pushing hard, but he did not regret his choice at all. Before leaving home, his father originally told him that the Xu family could bribe the government to let him avoid military service, or even buy a refugee and pretend to be a soldier.
He went to join the army, but he refused. In other words, he wanted to seize this opportunity to go outside and see. Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Only by seeing can you connect what you have learned with the outside world.
Only in this way can we have the opportunity to revitalize the entire family and leave our own names in the vast history, such as King Yang Shuang of Wei, General Meng Tian, and General Luo Yi.
The young man slowly moved forward, moving forward, his feet crossing Wanliguan Mountain
