The long road was long, and with a creaking sound, a carriage came slowly.
The driver was a strong man, wearing a rusty helmet and broken armor, and carrying a wooden sword. In such weather, hot sweat poured down his face, but he remained upright, his body stretched like a bow.
"Dad, how long do we have until we get to Chang'an? Tie'er is already hungry."
"Come on, come on."
"After walking for so long, you must have taken the wrong path again."
"What do you mean? I've never been to Chang'an. It was the woodcutter who pointed us to the wrong path, okay?"
"Oh, I don't know what evil I did in my last life, so I had the bad luck to be with you. I have to eat or not, and have clothes to wear. Oh, it would be fine if I didn't marry you. If I don't marry you, I won't be able to give birth to iron.
Son, if I don’t give birth to Tie’er…”
"Okay, you bitch, are you bothered? It'll be fine once you get to Chang'an. This time the court will transfer me to Beijing, and life will be easier in the future."
"Hmph, you are the reincarnation of a broom star, and I will be unlucky for the rest of my life."
Niu Sanjin, the guard of Yunshui Pass in the northwest. One hundred and twenty years ago, when Dawu founded the country, he divided the heroes. The ancestor of Niu Sanjin once led Taizu's horse, so he was granted the title of Yunshuiguan, and he was hereditary.
For generations, ancestors have guarded this place. When it was passed down to Niu Sanjin, it was already the fifth generation.
One hundred and twenty years, the vicissitudes of life have been enough to change a lot of things. Yunshuiguan is not a very important place. Originally, there were only a thousand soldiers guarding this place. Times have changed, some of them died and some fled, and now there are only seven or eight left.
Households.
Rather than saying that Niu Sanjin is the guard of Yunshuiguan, it is better to say that he is the head of Yunshui Village. The Rong people often invade the border, but rarely come to Yunshuiguan. The main reason is that this place is too poor.
The Rong tribe has forgotten that there are still people here. The key is that not only the Rong tribe has forgotten them, but the empire has also forgotten them.
Niu Sanjin's ancestors herded sheep and farmed every day, and their life was miserable. Sometimes Niu Sanjin would wonder whether he was still a military general of the empire.
Until last year, the Rong tribe invaded on a large scale and pushed the empire underground. After the war was over, the court always wanted to find out which city was broken by the Rong tribe and whose generals had merit.
Finally, the imperial court found the archives of Yunshuiguan from the pile of yellowed old papers. Everyone was surprised to find that despite the total collapse of the northwest front line, there was still Yunshuiguan without a single soldier. The key is that there was nothing good.
Damn it, the Rong people didn't care about them at all.
Emperor Ming held the files in his hands and cried bitterly. He guarded Yunshuiguan for generations. He did not need food or money for many years. Of course, no one would give him money if he asked for it. He worked hard and had no regrets. He was really the backbone of the empire.
Our ancestors just knew how to look at people.
There are too many benefits, you can't get three kilograms of cattle, and the military achievements are evenly divided among several major forces. This time the court is about to hold the martial arts examination, so let this person be the examiner. Anyway, he does not belong to any faction.
So when the imperial edict from the imperial court reached Yunshuiguan, Niu Sanjin was a little confused, but thinking about it, this should be a good thing. So he took his wife and children and put on the armor that his ancestors had worn for a hundred years. What would he do if he didn't have weapons? He cut off the handle.
Let's use the wooden sword as a weapon. The capital is under the emperor's feet, so we can't lose our dignity.
"Xiao Niu, when you go to the capital this time, you must behave well and don't lose the face of our Yunshuiguan."
"Tell His Majesty Emperor Wu for me that I, the old king, have been thinking of him."
"Uncle, His Majesty Emperor Wu has passed away for a long time."
"Xiao Niu, you are the hope of our whole village. Don't be embarrassed and have a good future in Chang'an."
So, the whole village's hope, Niu Sanjin, drove the carriage, taking his wife and children, as well as herbs, jade, animal skins and other things to be collected in Chang'an City, wearing a rusty helmet and broken armor, and carrying a wooden knife, along the way.
After a tiring journey, we headed to Chang'an to pursue our future.
"Bah!"
We were approaching Chang'an City when a group of men and horses suddenly jumped out on the road, holding steel knives and covering their heads with black cloth. The leader shouted.
"Hey, I built this mountain and planted this tree. If I want to live from now on, I will leave the money to buy the road. Half of the teeth will be broken. I will kill them and not bury them."
The woman in the car was startled and hugged her child tightly: "Dad, did we encounter a robber? Oh, I knew I shouldn't have married you in the first place. If I hadn't married you..."
"Don't panic, I'm here." Niu Sanjin jumped out of the car: "You strong men, do you know who I am? I dare to rob even the military attache of the empire. Yeah, yeah, give me a knife."
With a clang... sorry, there was no clang, Niu Sanjin pulled out his wooden knife and pointed it at the strongman.
This group of strongmen were naturally disguised by Cheng Dalei and others. Seeing this scene, Cheng Dalei and others were stunned.
I have seen poor people, but I have never seen such poor people. They can't even get a set of equipment. Shouldn't being an official be so miserable?
"Are you three pounds of cattle?"
"Humph, now that you know my name, why don't you leave quickly?"
"Seriously?"
"I don't want to change my name or surname in my profession. I am the one who has three pounds of cattle from Yunshuiguan."
"Tie it up, tie it up."
Cheng Dalei waved his hand, only to hear a tinkling sound in his ears, and the three-pound cow shouted.
"Hey, give me a whirlwind chop."
"Look at my Autumn Wind Knife."
"Hey, let me go, let me go!"
Not long after, the three members of Niu Sanjin's family were tied up like rice dumplings, and his men searched for the official seals on his body.
Cheng Dalei held his official certificate while looking at Niu Sanjin's appearance.
"Square face with purple face, wide mouth and long beard." Cheng Dalei curled his lips: "You don't look like that. You obviously have a yellow face. Where did you get the purple face? You can't be a faker, right?"
"That's my grandfather's official certificate." Niu Sanjin roared angrily: "Who dares to impersonate me, Lao Niu, in this big world? Come at me whatever you want, let go of my wife and children."
The archives management of imperial officials is actually very backward. Sometimes they are impersonated and no one knows about it, and this kind of thing can be said to be endless.
"Take it away, take it away."
Everyone worked together to put the three people into sacks and quietly transport them to the underground city and put them under house arrest.
Cheng Dalei took off Niu Sanjin's broken and rusty helmet, grabbed the wooden knife, and transformed into Niu Sanjin, who represented the hope of the whole village.
There is no need to completely dress up like Niu Sanjin and Qiao Chuan. No one in Chang'an City has seen him anyway. The main purpose of Cheng Dalei's disguise is to avoid being recognized by others.
After Qiao Chuan changed his disguise, Cheng Dalei put on his knife, took Xu Shenji and Xu Ling'er, and drove the carriage to the government to report. One of them pretended to be an old slave, and the other pretended to be a maid. Anyway, Chang'an City is so big, no one can recognize them.
.
Cheng Dalei didn't know that as soon as he arrived at the yamen where the examiners were reporting, someone pointed at him and shouted loudly.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to be so poor and still be able to take care of a servant."