In the early summer of the fifth year of Yanxing, the weather has not yet turned hot. The sea breeze from Guandong, thousands of miles away, has lost half of its moisture by the time it reaches Lintao. There is only the smell of the rocks on both sides of the Tao River, intertwined with the aroma of resin,
Slowly drifting up Longshang. This made a group of people and horses traveling upstream along the Tao River Valley feel quite comfortable.
When they start from the bottom,
There is still cold air from the melting snow in the high mountains. Every morning, a layer of gray and cold mist is wrapped between the sky and the earth. The gentle breeze blows, making people's skin numb, and the soles of their feet are so cold that people can't help but stamp their feet, making the journey difficult.
People still wear leather clothes and boots,
Walking for a long distance among the rocks. Along the way, people boiled hot water every day and let the horses drink it, but the people and animals were still shivering.
Who knows that starting from Qiang River?
Since the Qiang Road arrived in Lintao, the weather has gradually warmed up, and the greenery among the stone cliffs has gradually flourished. Many magnolias and red apricots can be seen in bloom along the road. The yellow sun hangs in the sky, gradually bringing warmth into the human body.
.So everyone took off their fur coats and hats and put on unlined clothes suitable for walking. Even though it was a little cool now, the right amount of coolness could keep pedestrians excited, and they walked into the deep valley on the upper reaches of Taoshuang River. p>
The deep valley meanders up, and the so-called Tao River is now only as wide as a person. When it encounters a dense area of rocks, it turns into an endless stream under the feet, meandering like earthworms between the loess and stones. At night,
The surrounding mountains and cliffs blocked the trace, making the stars in the sky particularly bright.
The guide's Di people said that this is Wangqu Valley. About a hundred years ago, Ma Fang, the second son of General Fubo Ma Yuan, fought with the Qiang people here.
There have been more than a thousand beheadings. As long as you keep going north here, over Qingshi Mountain and Lianhua Mountain, you will reach Didao. When they learned that they had arrived at Wangqu Valley, people talked about it. It was rumored that there was a sound from the sky at the end of Wangqu Valley, and they could meet
They are all noble people!
The next morning, they walked up the mountain road from the valley. They happened to catch a gust of wind shuttling between the cliffs and rocks. The screams made little sounds like playing kites. Looking back, the Tao River was still flowing softly in the valley.
It flows gently, and you can clearly see the flowing clouds on a clear day on the four-curved river. The sky and the earth are extremely clear. When everyone sees this scene, they all say that they have no regrets in this life.
Under the warm sunshine, a group of people led their horses over the mountain pass between the first few peaks of Qingshi Mountain. This is the Didao path that people have opened for hundreds of years. Even so, it is extremely difficult to climb the mountain.
,
Their horses were loaded with weapons and baggage, zigzagging up the loess path. Where the horses' hooves passed, fine loess fell, crackling on the heads of the people below. From the ridge, the mountainside was dusty.
The sound of falling loess can be heard in the valley, just like a rain of earth falling halfway up the mountain.
At this time, there was a group of people standing on the ridge, watching the follow-up team crossing the ridge. Although they were still panting, their expressions were very calm. Some servants in military uniforms and cutting knives gathered around, and in the middle were three warriors, all wearing light hunting suits.
He was dressed in uniform and had no weapons except a sword. He was obviously the leader of this group of people. One of them was about forty years old, thin and tall, with yellow-red skin, a long face and narrow eyes, and a carefully groomed beard hanging from his chin to his neck.
Among warriors, there is a bit of literati temperament.
The two people next to him appeared to be much younger, but they were taller than him, with wider shoulders and backs. They were extremely strong. What was even more eye-catching was that the horns and bows behind them were both seven feet in size. Even at their height,
It also looks big and powerful when it comes to people like Kong Wu.
It was Jia Xu, Zhang Xiu, and Wang Chang.
Zhang Xiu pointed to the troops going up the mountain and said: "We haven't fought a major battle in several years, and the march in the mountains has actually slowed down a lot."
Wang Chang replied with a smile: "It's difficult to walk on the Long Road. That's what it is. What's more, this road is rarely traveled by people. It is also dangerous in the Long Road. If there are two hundred more people, we may not be able to make it."<
/p>
Only Jia Xu did not speak. He raised his hands to block the sun and looked far to the northeast. He saw mountains stacked on top of each other, extending to the end of the sky. The guide stood next to him and said: "Go east for tens of miles.
They are all huge mountains, almost impossible to walk through. The nearest one is Bird and Rat Tongcun Mountain, which is thirty miles away. When ordinary people arrive at Didao, they walk from there."
Jia Xu said "hmm", looked away, looked at the two young people beside him, and said: "I guess we will arrive at Didao tomorrow. We came from Qiang Dao. Han Sui and the others are afraid that they are not prepared. Which of you?"
Go and inform him."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiu immediately accepted the order and said, "Uncle Wenhe, I can go. Everyone says that Han Sui is a great hero in the world, not inferior to Dong Gong, but I have never seen his face!"
Jia Xu laughed a little when he heard this. He said: "What kind of hero? After all, he is just a person. He can't take a few blows without armor." After laughing, he took out a piece of white jade from his chest and handed it to Zhang Xiu.
, said to him: "This is the token that Han Sui gave me after he sent a message last time. If you give it to him, he will know that we have arrived. We will wait for you in front of Angu City."
Zhang Xiu accepted the jade stone and laughed and said: "Uncle Wen He is a wise man, so naturally he looks down upon him. However, Han Sui never imagined that we could come here on the Qiang Road. I am afraid that after seeing me, he would be so surprised and suspicious!"<
/p>
Jia Xu frowned slightly when he heard this, and was about to reprimand Zhang Xiu, but after Zhang Xiu finished speaking, he quickly led his horse down the mountain, and soon only a small figure was left. He went around several corners, and even his back was very small.
Quickly disappear into the mountains and forests.
Sighing, Jia Xu turned around and continued to observe the march. It was not until all four hundred people arrived at the mountain pass that they rested leisurely in the sun for an hour. Then they went all the way down and arrived at the foot of Lianhua Mountain, where they discovered a stretch of water in the upper reaches of Taoshui River.
Chujiu Inn.
The so-called old post station is actually the ruins of the original post station during the Han-Qiang War. Today, only the crumbling earth wall remains. It can be seen that it also served as a military fortress. On the ground inside the wall, abandoned terracotta tiles are everywhere
It can be seen that travelers, whether they are Han people or passing nomads, often spend the night sheltered from the wind in the earthen wall. That night, Jia Xu and his party stayed here. On the way here, you can actually see similar ones every time you walk.
The ruins, even the three important frontier towns of Lintao, Longsang, and Suoxi a hundred years ago, are now the same, and they have become refuges for the Qiang people to live in when they were nomadic.
The next day, the brigade continued north from here. After crossing Lianhua Mountain, the terrain gradually opened up. The mountains on both sides sandwiched a river valley in the middle. At this moment, they also slowly extended forward, and now they entered the Angu territory.<
/p>
Angu City is located to the north of the Tao River, sandwiched between Changjia Mountain and Suolin Gorge. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers. It has always been the hub of Longxi's Qiang expedition. Further north of the city, two mountains lowered to form a block about ten miles wide.
The core of the narrow basin that is hundreds of miles long is Didao. It is connected to Jincheng to the north and Hanyang to the east. It is the only two important roads besides the Long along the Jingshui River.
It's afternoon, and Angu City is already standing in the sky. The city wall is not big, simple and solemn, and it looks like a military fortress standing between the mountains and the Tao River. On the wilderness to the east of the city wall, there are walking villages, and the fields extend to the river. p>
As they approached slightly, a dozen people came to greet them in front of the city. The leader was Han Ji, the son of Han Sui, and Han Shize, who hurried over and saluted Jia Xu as a junior. Jia Xu saw that Han Ji was not tall, and was black and red.
His face was extremely rough, and he seemed to be in his late thirties. He wore a hood, a straight-collared Hu suit, and Hu boots. His clothes were mostly stained with dust. It was obvious that he had just received the news not long ago.
, who came over at short notice, when he shook hands with Jia Xu, there was still sweat on his palms.
After Han Ji saw Jia Xu, he looked at the number of people in their group. Seeing that there were not too many people, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked Jia Xu, "Why don't Mr. Jia come by the Qishan Road? The Qiang Road is remote and difficult to travel.
It has been almost ten years since I passed by the people. My family has been waiting in Shouyang for a long time for Mr. Jia to arrive, and thought that Mr. Jia would not come."
Jia Xu smiled and replied: "The Bafu sent Dong Cheng to seal off Sanguan, and repeatedly sent scouts to spy on the news. If I passed through Qishan Road, I'm afraid it would be difficult to cover up my tracks. Brother Han and I are discussing important matters.
You can’t show off your flaws at all, and I hope Brother Han will be considerate.”
Han Ji heard about his reputation for resourcefulness, and now that he saw him, he was even more impressed. He kept saying that he didn't dare. Then he talked about where Jia Xu and his party would rest tonight. Han Ji said that the city was not well prepared, so I'm afraid they couldn't let them in.
After entering the city, they could only rest temporarily in the village to the east of the city. Han Ji would lead them to Didao tomorrow.
Speaking of this, Han Ji showed a look of shame on his face, apologized to Jia Xu repeatedly, and said: "If Jia Gong does not give up, I will have a banquet in the city. Jia Gong can take four or five people into the city to rest, and let me take a brief rest."
Express your feelings."
After some consideration, Jia Xu declined politely: "In the army, we should share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. I appreciate the kindness of the soldiers. It will not be too late to drink again after we arrive at Didao. What's more, in the military capital, I
It’s just sleeping in the village, I’ve long been used to it.”
However, he didn't mean to end the conversation. After all, he was new here and he still wanted to inquire about some more information. He continued to ask Han Ji: "By the way, Shize, Brother Han replied to me last time about my proposal, Liangzhou
All the princes have agreed, are all the princes here now?"
Han Ji was silent for a while, thinking that there was no need to hide the matter, so he told the truth: "The princes have never been united. Although they have all agreed, they still have to agree with each other. Ma Fufeng (Ma Teng), Liang Lantian (Liang Xing)
), Zhang Wuwei (Zhang Heng) knew the general idea and had arrived a long time ago. Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Ma Wan, and Li Kan were just intimidated by the military power of the adults, so they dilly-dallyed all the way and only arrived two days ago. Song Shuai
(Song Jian) has actually slacked off since he claimed to be the Queen of the River Head. Even though the adults are urging him in every possible way, he is still on his way."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help complaining: "The most difficult thing is to stabilize the situation. Those Qiang and Hu people in the north were the ones who caused the chaos back then. Now that Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng have come, they are the ones who surrendered to Lu Bu. I'm afraid they can come as promised."
Less than half. If..." Han Ji realized that his words were out of line, and quickly stopped talking and apologized to Jia Xu.
Jia Xu nodded slightly, but he didn't say anything wrong, but he could also guess what Han Ji said: If the Dido Alliance fails to come to fruition this time, I'm afraid the heroes of Liangzhou will part ways.