The scorching sun is in the sky, and the autumn tiger is spreading its last warmth unscrupulously.
Lu Dongzan stood by the road, sweating profusely as he watched the bloated convoy stalled on the road. The horses swung their tails and snorted listlessly, with an extremely ugly face.
The straight-line distance from Songzhou to Chang'an is actually not that far, but because of the Minshan Mountains that lie to the north of Songzhou, the mountains are steep and towering into the clouds. Many of the peaks are covered with snow in the middle years. It is definitely not possible to cross them manually, so we have to take the long way.
Follow the mountain trend and turn southeast, enter the middle of Shu, go straight to Yizhou, and then go all the way north through Jianmen and exit Jiannan Road to Chang'an.
This twist and turn is a journey of more than ten days.
Especially now that something unexpected happened...
The accompanying military attaché squatted on the ground and examined the horse manure carefully, then stood up and inspected the horse again, then walked quickly to Lu Dongzan and said: "For the information of the Prime Minister, the horse must have eaten spoiled beans, which caused diarrhea."
.”
The Tubo people were good at raising horses, and Lu Dongzan had no doubts about his judgment.
But he never expected that there would be people in the Tang Dynasty Inn who were greedy for public funds and fed spoiled beans to horses...
Looking back at the road we came from, we saw that Songzhou City had long since disappeared. Looking further forward, we saw that the road between two mountain ridges zigzagged along with a river. They all say that "the road to Shu is difficult", and we have not entered Shu yet.
, but the difficulty of the road is not much easier than climbing to the sky.
After taking a sip from the water bag and wiping the water stains on his beard, Lu Dongzan asked: "How far is it from Yizhou?"
The military attache said: "There are still seven hundred miles."
Lu Dongzan asked again: "Where is the nearest inn?"
"It's less than a hundred miles away. There are regulations for the distance of the post stations in the Tang Dynasty. Generally, one place will be set up every thirty or fifty miles. However, this is the border of the Tang Dynasty, and the roads are sparsely populated and difficult to travel, so the distance between the post stations is longer.
.”
This is also very rare. After all, in Tubo, there is not a single inn within the territory.
I don’t have the spare money to support a group of postmen who are only responsible for delivering messages and goods...
However, the military attaché quickly added: "It's okay to lead these horses around until the bad beans in their stomachs are digested and the diarrhea will be fine. But if they continue to drag and drive, it will be useless."
Lu Dongzan's razor-like eyebrows were tightly knitted, and he had already greeted the eighteen generations of ancestors of the postmen at Songzhou Station in his heart...
A hundred miles would only take half a day to march, but now that the horses are out of service, is it possible for the accompanying soldiers to hold the horses and push the carts at the same time?
I can’t reach the next station in two days!
Lu Dongzan looked up at the sun in the sky. Fortunately, the weather would not be windy or rainy in the near future, so he had to say: "Look for an open space nearby and set up camp temporarily. You and your soldiers will march quickly to the next post station and ask the post soldiers for help."
Show your credentials, identify yourself, and order him to mobilize the horses immediately, otherwise it will delay important events between the two countries, and no one can afford this responsibility!"
"Here!"
After receiving the order, the military attache quickly assigned his subordinates to find an open area. Everyone was busy setting up camp, and then hurriedly walked to the next post station.
Fortunately, they are envoys representing Tubo. Even if there are no soldiers to protect them, no one will come to attack their team, and the bandits are not stupid. If this envoy is robbed and the relationship between the two countries breaks down, even
If a war breaks out, the imperial court will definitely send a large army to annihilate it...
The military attaché and his men walked in a hurry, and it was only in the evening that they rushed to the next inn outside a small city, out of breath.
As a result, when I arrived at the inn and revealed my identity to the postman, the postman did not question it. He just spread his hands and said, "Our place is just a small inn. There are only five or six horses to deliver messages. How can we give enough?"
Go down and find so many horses?"
The military attache looked arrogant: "Then I don't care, I'm just following orders. Anyway, if the Tibetan envoys are delayed in presenting their credentials to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the relationship between the two countries deteriorates, all the responsibilities will be yours, the Tang people!"
The postman said angrily: "You melon! Your head was pinched by the door? Your own horse has diarrhea, how can you blame me for it?"
The military attache was also furious: "If the beans you supplied were not spoiled, how could our horses have diarrhea?"
The postman was very articulate and sarcastically retorted: "Your ancestor is Banban! Could it be that your turtle has eyes because he is panting? You will eat the spoiled beans if they are given to you, but will you take the poison if they are given to you?"
The military attache was furious. Tubo was adjacent to the Songzhou area, and the Tubo people had many contacts with soldiers and civilians from Sichuan and Sichuan. Naturally they understood the curse words, so they stepped forward and grabbed the post soldier's collar, his eyes glaring.
Ling Yesi said: "You Tang people are stealing beans, but it's our Tubo people's fault?"
The postman was not afraid and pushed the military attache away: "Did your turtle eye see me stealing the beans?"
The two sides went back and forth, but no one was convinced, and their cronies around them held them tightly, not daring to let them fight in one place.
The postmen did not dare to act recklessly, and the laws of the Tang Dynasty were strict. If they seriously fought with foreign envoys and delayed national affairs, they might be exiled for three thousand miles; the military attachés did not dare to seriously beat people. Although Tibet has unified the plateau, it has not
The Tang Dynasty had fought several wars, and in their eyes, the Celestial Kingdom was in awe enough that they did not dare to make mistakes.
After arguing for a while, both sides gradually calmed down, and the military attache asked: "Anyway, you postmen have to find a way for me."
The postman also knew his responsibility. If the Tibetan envoy delayed his trip due to transportation problems within his jurisdiction, it must be his fault.
But he is so stubborn at heart, how can he be soft to the Tibetan people?
"I can help you buy horses from nearby counties, but you have to pay for it!"
The military attache also knew that it was impossible to get the postman to give in, so he could only hold back his anger and said: "Then hurry up, the sooner the better!"
The postman rolled his eyes: "We can't hurry up even if we want to. At this time, the county town has already imposed a curfew. We can't go in or out. We can only wait until tomorrow morning."
The military attache was very angry. He heard that Chang'an had to impose a curfew because of its large population. You, a rabbit who doesn't poop in a mountainous area, would you like to impose a curfew on a small town with a population of less than 1,000?
But anger is anger, and people have to lower their heads under the eaves. They can only hold back their anger and sleep in the inn for one night.
Fortunately, although the post soldiers were bad-tempered, they had good spirits. After eating a meal, the Tubo soldiers had round bellies, and they had a good sleep in the spacious post house at night.
Early the next morning, at dawn, the military attache knocked on the door to wake up the postman, and they headed to the county seat together.
There is a small livestock market in the county town. There are not many horses, but there are quite a few donkeys. With just a few scrapes, we can still get enough livestock for the mission.
The postman was also a bad person. As soon as he entered the livestock market, he pulled his neck and said: "Everyone has listened. Now the Tibetan envoy is going to Chang'an to meet His Majesty. On his way here, the horses that are harnessing the carriage are sick and they need a huge number of livestock."
! I’m warning you, it’s not easy for people to come all the way to the Tang Dynasty. The two countries are separated by a narrow strip of water. You little bastards can’t just sit there and raise the price!”
When the cattle dealers heard this, their eyes suddenly brightened!
The postman said to the military attache: "Now, this is the livestock market. You can negotiate for yourself what animals you need. The price is high and the price is low. I don't care!"
The military attache said that you just want to take care of it, but we don't trust it. Who knows if your kid will quote us a sky-high price?
However, the postman was able to warn these import dealers not to raise prices on the spot as soon as he came up. He said it was not bad. This favor was accepted, so he said kindly: "Thank you!"
The postman laughed: "You're welcome, you're welcome."
The military attache led people into the market and saw that many animals were tied up. He touched the fur of one and looked at the teeth of the other. He was not very satisfied, but there was nothing he could do now, so he asked a donkey seller: "You donkey
How much does a donkey cost?”
The dealer's face was directed at the military attache, but his eyes were scanning the postman, and he hesitated and said: "Three...thirty strings?"
The military attache's eyes nearly popped out: "How much?!"
The dealer had been staring at the postman's expression, and he randomly quoted a number. When he saw the postman looking at the sky and not even looking here, he suddenly decided in his heart: "Thirty guans! Hey, look at this end."
The donkey is only three years old. This fur and teeth are absolutely worth it!"
The military attache was so angry that his nose was almost smoking, and said angrily: "You think I have never seen a donkey? In Tubo, the price of a high-quality war horse is only twenty guan, but you dare to ask for 30 guan for a donkey?"
?Are you crazy about money? This is simply unreasonable!"