The night was already deep, and Li Yu had not yet fallen asleep. He was pacing back and forth in the Qilin Hall with his hands behind his hands. From time to time, he looked at a map on the wall. It was a map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty drawn in the 21st year of Kaiyuan. On that map
In the Tang Dynasty, the territory of the Tang Dynasty was more than ten thousand miles away, extending to the far west, and the farthest garrison town reached Suiye.
Today, the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty only reached Ganzhou, which made Li Yu extremely sad. In just twenty years, the mountains and rivers of the Tang Dynasty had been completely destroyed.
But there is a bright spot in the boundless darkness, and that is Anxi. Since the Anxi army was transferred eastward to quell the Anshi Rebellion, only a few thousand people were left to guard Anxi. The Tang Dynasty basically abandoned Anxi, and Anxi was immediately invaded by Tubo and Uighurs.
Immediately afterwards, the Shatuo and Tuyuhun people also entered Anxi.
Everyone thought that Anxi had fallen, but no one expected that ten years later, news came that Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong led two armies of thousands of people to still defend Anxi and Beiting for the Tang Dynasty. It was unbearable.
Sad.
Even though the road to Anxi was extremely difficult, Li Yu still hoped that the 300-man army led by Guo Song could bring hope to the Tang army in Anxi and tell them that the Tang Dynasty had not forgotten them.
At this time, a eunuch whispered: "Your Majesty, it's late at night, please go to bed!"
Li Yu nodded, put on his fur and walked out of the Qilin Hall. He looked at the stars in the sky outside the hall and murmured to himself: "They have already set off!"
........
The expeditionary Eagle Strike Force led by Guo Song traveled westward along the Jingyuan Gorge Road and arrived at Kongtong Town five days later. The team rested overnight in Kongtong Town.
Guo Song found Li Ji and Guo Chongqing and told them: "I will go to Kongtong Mountain tonight and come back before dawn to let the brothers have a good rest."
Both of them knew that Guo Song was born in Kongtong Mountain. Guo Chongqing said, "Would you like to arrange for a brother to go up the mountain with you?"
Guo Song smiled and shook his head, "I'm not going to fight, I'm just visiting my old place and I'll be back soon."
"Okay then! Chang Shi, take care of yourself."
Guo Song said goodbye to the two of them, and soon left Kongtong Town and took a small road up the mountain. He tried his best to avoid the Taoist temples in Zixiao Temple and went directly to Cuiping Peak of Xiangshan Mountain from a familiar rocky cliff road.
Cuiping Peak has long been changed beyond recognition. The Lingji Cave collapse at the beginning of the year almost completely destroyed Cuiping Peak. The courtyard built by Zixiao Tiangong on Cuiping Peak has been swept away by the collapsed boulders, leaving only a few ruins.
There are no traces of Qingxu Palace at all, and even the big tree where Mengzi lived when he was young has disappeared.
Guo Song stood blankly on Cuiping Peak for a long time, shook his head, and turned around to go to Jingle Palace. The Huolie Master of Jingle Palace had emerged three months ago. The current abbot is the young Zhang Mingchun. He entered the martial arts conference.
Among the top twenty, he has high prestige, and several uncles also unanimously supported him as the new abbot of Jingle Palace.
Zhang Mingchun looked the same as at the beginning of the year. He was still tall and thin, and his face looked particularly mature. When he saw Guo Song, he was very surprised and quickly invited Guo Song into the inner hall.
He knew very little about Guo Song's situation. He only knew that he was wanted and was later revoked. Of course, he also knew that Guo Song was in Chang'an.
Zhang Mingchun asked Guo Song to sit down and served him a cup of wormwood tea. This is the tea drunk by the Taoist priests in Kongtong Mountain. It is bitter but sweet, and is very thirst-quenching.
"Finally I have a taste of Kongtong Mountain again!" Guo Song took a sip of tea and smiled.
"Junior brother is at Qingxu Temple in Chang'an!" Zhang Mingchun asked.
"No, I returned to secular life a long time ago and was fooling around in Chang'an. However, Senior Brother Zhang became the abbot. I would like to congratulate Senior Brother."
Zhang Mingchun waved his hand, "If you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, I have to worry about everyone's food every day. It's winter now, and everyone can only drink some fern powder and eat some dried dates. It's very miserable."
"How is the Zixiao Palace? Who is in charge now?"
"Now Master Bailu is the abbot. Master Baiju failed in the fight for the abbot. In anger, he took a group of disciples to Qingcheng Mountain. Master Bailu is much better than the former Master Baiyun. First of all, he abolished the game tribute in each Taoist temple.
, and unified the ranks of Taoist priests. I am now an alchemist, recognized by the imperial court. It is just a name, and I cannot eat any royal food. However, the term "wild Taoism" has been completely abolished, and everyone has officially changed to heretics."
"Where is the Heavenly Palace? Do you need to rebuild it?"
Zhang Chunming shook his head, "The imperial court didn't have the money to rebuild it for them, so it has been turned into a square now. However, your name is still taboo among the Zixiao family. No one dares to mention your name. If you can't avoid it, just call it that Fire Demon."
"
Guo Song burst out laughing, he had become the devil of the Zixiao family.
At this time, Zhang Chunming took out a wooden box and handed it to Guo Song, "You left this with me, take it back!"
Guo Song nodded. He came to Kongtong Mountain just to get this box. He opened the box and found a small stone slab inside. It had been broken into several pieces. When put together, it was the image of a girl. Next to it were carved three figures of Guo Weiwei.
Character.
This was the name of his daughter in his previous life, and the stone statue was also his biggest nostalgia in his previous life. His eyes were slightly sad, and he closed the box and put it in his arms.
"Then I'll take my leave. Senior Brother Zhang has time to visit Chang'an Qingxu Palace. Now Qingxu Palace has changed a lot, and it can be ranked among the top five in Chang'an."
"Speaking of which, I must go and have a look."
Zhang Mingchun sent Guo Song out of the door and watched him go down the mountain. When Zhang Mingchun returned to the living room, he unexpectedly found two ingots of fifty taels of silver on the table. He was stunned for a moment.
.........
Before dawn the next day, the Western Expeditionary Army set out again. They passed through Yuanzhou and arrived at Huining three days later. Huining County is an important crossing of the Yellow River, but by this time the Yellow River was frozen, so there was no need to take a ferry, and horses could be taken directly.
Cross the Yellow River.
But if you walk on the ice, even if the soldiers can withstand the huge cold air on the ice, their horses cannot.
Li Ji had rich experience. He ordered the soldiers: "Take out the old sheepskin and wrap the belly of the war horse, and wrap the horse's hooves with linen."
"Captain, do we want to keep warm?" a brigade commander asked.
"You don't need to keep warm, you can still swim naked in the Yellow River twice."
Everyone burst out laughing. They had all gone through the cruel baptism of the glacier, and crossing the Yellow River was really not a problem for them.
The soldiers wrapped the horse's belly with sheepskin and wrapped the horse's hooves with thick linen cloth. The group led the horse to the other side of the Yellow River.
When he was approaching the other side of the Yellow River, Guo Song saw a large food shed on the bank, with smoke rising from the kitchen stove, and business had already begun.
He then smiled at the soldiers and said: "There is a big canteen ahead. Let's go have a good meal and drink openly before setting off!"
The soldiers immediately cheered. This was the first time since the formation of the expeditionary force. Chang Shi had never been so generous. Everyone sped up and trotted towards the food tent, thinking about barbecue and wine.
Guo Chongqing asked Guo Songdao in surprise: "Are we celebrating something today?"
Guo Song shook his head, "You are confused too. I just remembered that today is the New Year, the first day of the first lunar month."
Guo Chongqing was stunned. He scratched his head. Today was actually the first day of the first lunar month. He didn't realize it at all.
"Let's go! Let's have a drink and celebrate the arrival of the new year."
Everyone speeded up and ran towards the other side...
The team traveled westward and arrived at Zhangye City on the tenth day of the first lunar month.
Since the Shatuo Army's commander Zhu Xieweiming died in Baiting four years ago, the Shatuo Army withdrew from Ganzhou. The Tang Army actually controlled Liangzhou and Ganzhou in the Hexi Corridor, and Zhangye was also the last member of the Western Expedition.
Supply station.
In Zhangye City, Guo Song met Zhao Tengjiao, the governor of Ganzhou.
After not seeing each other for two years, Zhao Tengjiao was really happy and praised Guo Song fiercely.
"I knew you weren't willing to be a Taoist priest, huh! Admit it now, you brat! At first you were dissatisfied that the official position I gave you was too small, right?"
"I really wanted to go back and settle the master at the beginning. It wasn't because I disliked being a junior official. When I got to this point, I didn't expect that Brother Zhao would stop worrying about it."
"Haha! It's too late for me to be happy for you. How can I care about this? Besides, without your arrow, could I have become the governor of Ganzhou? Needless to say, rest for a few days and let me entertain you well, and then go again
It’s not too late to set off.”
Guo Song shook his head, "I really can't rest. I have to leave early tomorrow morning. Brother Zhao, tell me that the situation in Anxi is real."
Zhao Tengjiao repeatedly asked Guo Song to stay, but Guo Song refused, so Zhao Tengjiao had no choice but to tell Guo Song in detail about the current situation in Anxi.