The morning rain in Weicheng is lightly dusty, and the guest house is green and the willows are new. I urge you to drink another glass of wine. There is no old friend in Yangguan in the west. Although I have little exposure to poetry, this popular song "Yangguan Sandie" was written by Wang Xun.
It left a very deep impression in his heart. He had heard this poem more than once on different occasions. It seemed that as long as there was a farewell banquet and the singers were not invited to sing a song called Yangguan Santie, there would be no sign of farewell. It was just that
In Wang Xun's mind, he had never connected Yangguan in the poem with the light gray dot in the yellow sand in the distance, let alone thought that Yangguan City in the poem was located in such a desolate place.
"Let's go! If you want to go to Anxi, my place is the only way to go!" Seeing that Wang Xun was still confused, Gao Shi slapped him in the face and turned the horse's head with a laugh.
"Alas! Alas!" Wang Xun was finally convinced that he was not dreaming. He turned around and ordered loudly to the brothers behind him who were also surprised. "Work harder. Let's go to Yangguancheng to rest today. Eat and drink enough."
Let’s continue our journey tomorrow!”
"Oh, okay. Captain Wang, please go ahead and leave it to us!" Fang Ziteng breathed a long sigh of relief and agreed happily. Finally, there was no need to be suspicious anymore. The guard of Yangguan City turned out to be Captain Wang.
After leaving this city, he completely left Ge Shuhan's territory. Even if he and Yang Guozhong were so good that they wished they could hug each other on the same bed, they couldn't do anything to them!
"Let's go, everyone, work harder, there will be hot water tonight!" Lao Zhou, Lao Zheng and a group of Feilong guards who were worried along the way looked at each other, with relaxed smiles on their faces.
.After all, Mr. Wang Xiaohou has deep roots, and he can meet acquaintances even in such a far place.
The so-called Yangguan City was actually just a slightly larger military garrison fortress. Because there was a large river made of melted snow passing through the fort, it gradually evolved into a key point for crossing the desert and the Gobi Desert. During the Kaiyuan Period,
, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty and the Turkic wolf riders fought here, and the blood once dyed the Ganquan River outside the city into the color of flames. In order to reserve enough supplies for the frontline soldiers, this pass was expanded and repaired many times, and finally it became
A fortress on the Silk Road alongside Yumen Pass.
In the third year of Tianbao, Wang Zhongsi, the Jiedu envoy of Shuofang, destroyed the Hou Turks and swept the caves. The tens of thousands of miles of grassland between Juyanhai and Xiaohai were regained into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. The military mission of Yangguan City was also ended at the same time.
Gradually, it turned into a stop for business travelers and travelers to replenish food and fresh water. Later, because this business road was too close to the oasis at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, desert bandits and Tibetan bandits were constantly harassed along the way. The business travelers would rather make a big detour in the north than easily
Without daring to leave, Yangguan City became more and more deserted day by day. (Note 1)
A few months ago, following the order of Ge Shuhan, the military governor of Hexi Province, Gao Shi came here to take charge. With his extraordinary skills and many years of business contacts, he tried every means to renovate the city walls, warehouses, barracks and provide rental accommodation for passers-by.
The buildings and inns have given the entire Yangguan City a completely new look.
Sand bandits and Tibetan bandits hiding nearby heard that the newly arrived Yangguan City guard was a poet, and thought they could take advantage of them. They got together and went to the valley outside the city to harvest grass. Unexpectedly, they kicked the iron plate and were killed by Gao Shi.
He personally led five hundred Hexi elites to a massive defeat in the field battle. They were chased from Yangguan City to the depths of the desert. If the autumn snow had not fallen suddenly, almost the entire army would have been wiped out.
Since then, the sand bandits and Tibetan bandits no longer dared to rub the tiger's beard in Gao Shi. The trade route from Suzhou to Yangguan City was open again. Pedestrians found that the soldiers in this city were much more kind to others than those in Yumen Pass, and the city gate tax revenue
It is also more fair. One word spreads to ten, and ten spreads to hundreds. In just a few months, the flow of people from Yumenguan was divided into less than half, and Yangguan City regained its vitality.
Wang Xun was of course not clear about the twists and turns of this new arrival. Walking side by side with Gao Shi, he only felt that everything he saw was very fresh. Neat and clean streets, well-proportioned houses, narrow but bustling markets. Although they didn’t look like
Chang'an City is as grand as Chang'an City, but not as depressing and dull as Chang'an City. It looks like a young man who has just walked out of the countryside. His clothes are full of patches, but his face and forehead are full of sunshine.
Along the way, people kept running up to bow to Gao Shi, either for the soldiers patrolling the city in full robes, or for the Tiele shepherds with felt hats on their heads, or for the food vendors who were wrapped in cloth from head to toe. A few of them did not know where they came from.
The foreign barbarians actually knelt on the roadside and reached out to touch the tips of Gao Shi's boots. The guards around them did not move them away, and allowed them to quietly get out of the way after fulfilling their wishes.
"Brother Gao is really good at it. In just a few months, you can actually make the people here admire you so much!" Wang Xun looked curious and couldn't help but blurt out words of admiration.
Being able to have Wang Xun, a layman, praise him face to face, Gao Shi felt more comfortable listening to it than receiving a lot of praise from his colleagues. He did not pretend to be humble and responded with a smile, "What means is needed! Walking on silk
On the ancient road, life is the first priority. If I can protect the peace of a place, they will naturally thank me sincerely. If one day I am defeated by bandits in the desert, they will be the first to throw stones at me.
.”
"Ah! Then they are so heartless!" Wang Xun was amused by Gao Shi's frank words. He used to drink and talk poetry with Gao Shi, and he admired him, but he never felt that he was so easy to get close to. But
Today, what he came into contact with was a strange man with both civil and military skills, instead of the great poet who was slightly arrogant and sophisticated.
While they were talking, the two of them had already reached the guard envoy's office in the center of the city. A guard had already come forward to hold the horses' heads for them. Gao Shi swung the stirrup off the saddle and jumped off his mount, looked back, and suggested with a smile, "
There is a barracks in the southwest corner of the city. Your people may wish to rest there first. Dry food and hot water are readily available in the kitchen. I will arrange for a few brothers to take care of them and make sure they are not treated lightly. As for you
Boy, just sleep in my yamen today, I haven’t heard any news from Chang’an for a long time, let’s have a good drink tonight!”
"But it's arranged by Brother Gao!" Wang Xun thought for a while and handed over his hand in thanks, "There is also a team of soldiers sent by General Geshu. Thanks to them for taking care of everything along the way. If it is convenient for Brother Gao..."
"Let's live in the barracks together." Gao Shi waved his hand very grandly. When he went out of the city to meet Wang Xun, he had already seen the escort team. The levels of the two sides were too different, so there was no need to pay too much attention to the latter.
After spending some time, he said, "After you set off tomorrow morning, I will arrange for them to go back and do business!"
"Thank you, Brother Gao!" Wang Xun handed over his hand again. Just as he was about to turn around and say a few polite words to the escorts to express his gratitude, the captain of the Hexi Army named Gu, who was leading the team, took the initiative to chase after Gao.
Shi Zhi handed over his hands carelessly and said, "Gao Canjun, a certain family is so polite!"
"Gurutu? Why is it you?" Gao Shi's eyebrows jumped up instantly, and he asked in a low voice. Soon, his face returned to calm, he shook his head, and continued to smile: "Since you are here, then...
Come in and have a drink together. We haven’t seen each other for a while!”
"Don't bother me. The certain family escorted them here under the orders of Marshal Ge Shu. Since everyone has entered the border safely, there is nothing wrong with the certain family. The certain family will go back and hand over the order to the commander. Gao Canjun, you
Take care of yourself!" Lieutenant Gu, who was leading the escort team, squinted his eyes, as if he had something to do with Gao Shi, and emphasized the words "Geshu Dashuai" very hard.
"Then I'll send you off so far!" Gao Shi's eyebrows jumped up again, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife.
This is not the high-ranking **** who played swords and sang songs in Wang Xun's memory. If there was a sword in his hand at this moment, Wang Xun believed that the other party would even put it directly on the neck of the captain named Gu. Although the latter was tall and thick,
, but may not be the enemy of Gao Shi.
This gap in momentum is far beyond what human power can make up for. Under Gao Shi's angry gaze, Colonel Gu took half a step back and murmured in defense: "A certain family, a certain family also serves..."
"Go back and do the work! Just ask Gao to pick up the person for you!" Gao Shi shrugged and slowly put away his anger.
Colonel Gu didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore, he hugged everyone and turned to leave. When his figure was far away, Wang Xun, who vaguely felt something was wrong in his heart, hesitated for a moment and asked Gao Shi in a low voice.
: "Brother Gao, what does Captain Gu do? Why is he so ignorant?"
"He's a Turkic bastard!" Gao Shi spat on the ground with disdain on his face. "You can ignore him. These guys are so virtuous, so they can't bear to be treated favorably by others!"
"Oh!" Wang Xun frowned and nodded, "No wonder he was very taciturn along the way. It turns out he doesn't speak Chinese very well! Why would the Anxi Army use Turks? Aren't they afraid that they will remain evil?"
"General Geshu is also a Turk!" Gao Shi smiled and shook his head slightly. Lest he cause other colleagues to misunderstand, he quickly added, "But General Geshu is loyal to the Tang Dynasty. Among the Turks, most of them are
Some of them are good, but only a few of them are ignorant. This guy named Gu is one of them! He and I have never dealt with each other, so I get angry when I see him!"
"I don't like him either. However, I still have to thank him for leading the troops to escort me along the way!" Wang Xun spread his brows and smiled with sunshine on his face.
If I remember correctly, Gao Shi's previous position was that of Ge Shuhan's private retainer. But now, he is wearing a fourth-grade military robe. Whether it is the former or the latter, his status is far behind.
More prominent than a school captain. There is a saying that there is no need for jade to touch tiles. Isn't it too petty for Gao Shi, who holds an important position, to argue with an ordinary school captain?
Unless the person named Gu was not a school captain at all. Or... Wang Xun didn't dare to think about it anymore. He followed Gao Shi and slowly walked into the Yangguan Town Guardian Yamen.
The door creaked shut tightly. The autumn sunshine shone on the brass door knocker, reflecting bits of gold.
