About a hundred miles north from Qiuci Town is the snow-capped Tianshan Mountain, which divides the Western Region into two parts like a silver-white dragon. The north is called Beiting, and the south is called Anxi. Each has a territory of thousands of miles.
The Tang Dynasty established the Protectorate in Anxi and Beiting respectively. The protector of Anxi was Guo Xin, and the protector of Beiting was named Li Yuanzhong. Compared with Anxi, the situation in Beiting was much more dangerous.
Although going to Beiting would encounter great risks, Guo Song went north without hesitation. This was his duty. No matter how difficult or dangerous it was, he had to go north.
The road across the Tianshan Mountains is extremely difficult and dangerous. It takes at least half a month to cross the hundreds of miles of Tianshan Mountains. There are two east and west roads across the Tianshan Mountains. The east side is called Yanji Road, also called Yinshan Road. Yinshan is also part of the Tianshan Mountains, and there is a road in the middle.
There is a steep mountain pass above the canyon. The Tang army once built an extremely dangerous castle in the most dangerous place, called Zhang Sancheng Shouchuo, which is currently controlled by the Shatuo people.
The other road is called the Wusun Ancient Road. This is the most convenient road through the Tianshan Mountains. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It goes north from Qiuci, crosses the Tianshan Mountains, and arrives at the Luzhou Dudu Mansion, which is today's Ili. The road is long.
It's about two hundred miles, mainly river canyons, and it only takes five to eight days to cross the Tianshan Mountains.
However, the Uighurs deployed heavy troops to the north of the Wusun Ancient Road. This was what Guo Xin was worried about, whether they could break through the Uighur army's blockade.
The guide who led the Tang army was called Basha, a Wusun native of Qiuci Kingdom. He was in his thirties, not tall, but dark and strong, and as nimble as a monkey. He followed his father on the Wusun Ancient Road since he was a child.
, knows this ancient road well and can speak fluent Chinese.
"The time you chose is very good. It happens to be a good time to cross the Wusun Ancient Trail. Now at the end of April, the ice and snow have melted, and there is not much snow left. If you had gone a month earlier, you would have been blocked by thick snow. If you had gone later, you would have been blocked by thick snow.
If you try again in September, the top of the mountain will be covered with ice and snow again. In fact, you can only cross the ancient trail for five months in a year."
"Will there be a flash flood at this time?" Guo Chongqing asked next to him.
Basha smiled and said: "It is possible, but the problem is that I have been walking this road for more than 20 years and have only encountered one flash flood, and it was in June. I don't think we should think too much about flash floods.
"
Li Ji whispered to Guo Song: "This guide is a bit unreliable! Since we have encountered flash floods, we should take precautions. How can we not consider it?"
Guo Song smiled lightly and said: "Maybe it will be troublesome to consider flash floods."
The guide's ears were very good, and after hearing Guo Song's words, he quickly explained: "Guo Changshi is absolutely right. If you want to prevent flash floods, you must pay attention to at least twenty points, and climb up the mountain to explore each point.
It will take at least two days. If you calculate it this way, you won’t be able to leave the Tianshan Mountains for two months, so generally you don’t take precautions deliberately. If you encounter a flash flood, you just need to respond faster.”
Li Ji immediately replied to him: "The precautions I am talking about do not mean going up the mountain to check, but we should make some preparations so that if a flash flood breaks out, we will have more luck in escaping."
"This is simple, just three things. First, don't camp in places where flash floods may occur; second, be vigilant at all times; third, if you encounter a flash flood, immediately abandon your horse and run to higher ground for your life."
The eyes of all the cavalry were widened, and Liang Wu said angrily: "You want us to abandon our horses and run for our lives?"
Ba Sha shrugged, spread his hands and said, "I'm just suggesting, it's up to you whether you listen or not, and the possibility of encountering a flash flood is very small, so everyone just needs to know."
Guo Song was a little unhappy and said to everyone: "This is other people's experience. It is always good to learn from it. And the guide is right. War horses will be slower when walking to higher places. When a flash flood breaks out, the chance of escape will disappear in an instant. First,
Run for your own life, and then worry about the war horses, do you hear me?"
Everyone responded in unison, "Obey!"
Everyone entered the Tianshan Mountains from the Black Rock Pass. Even though it was April, it was still very cold in the Tianshan Mountains. However, under the sunshine, they could feel the warmth. The ice and snow had melted, and the crystal clear icicles under the rocks began to melt.
The dripping water becomes a trickle, the gathering trickle becomes a stream, and the flowing water is gurgling.
On the hillside in the distance are patches of dark green forest, all of which are tall and straight pine trees, like resolute soldiers who have survived the test of severe cold.
Below the pine trees is the alpine grassland. You can see a herd of deer by the stream. When they see the stranger coming, they immediately run up the hillside in fear. A hundred hunting soldiers were immediately overjoyed. They urged their horses to gallop up, drew their bows and released their weapons.
With arrows, more than thirty fat deer were shot down in the blink of an eye, winning applause from the soldiers.
Each of them only brought five days of dry food and had to hunt all the way to supplement their meat.
After walking along the valley for more than forty miles, the sky gradually darkened, and the howling of wild wolves could be heard faintly in the distance.
Guo Song asked the guide: "Where can I camp nearby?"
The guide pointed to the front and said: "There is an open space ahead by the river where you can camp!"
Everyone speeded up, and before long, an open grassland appeared in front of them, which was indeed an ideal camping ground. The soldiers got off their horses one after another.
One group of soldiers went up the mountain to cut wood for burning, another group of soldiers went to the river to wash and skin the prey, and Li Ji sent a dozen soldiers to guard the surrounding area.
"There will be no Shatuo people here!"
The guide Ba Sha said to Li Ji: "The main purpose here is to prevent wolves. Wild wolves are the biggest threat to merchants. It is recommended that the soldiers not disperse or go too far, otherwise it will be very dangerous."
Guo Song reminded Li Jidao: "Listen to the guide's advice!"
"Follow the order!"
Li Ji rearranged the security and sent 20 soldiers, in groups of ten, to guard the north and south.
Soon, three bonfires burned, and the soldiers grilled the venison on the fire. For a while, the smell of meat was overflowing, and there was laughter and laughter. Maybe it was because of the bonfires. There were wild wolves howling in the distance, but they never came.
Harassment.
Beside a bonfire, a dozen soldiers were eating meat and laughing.
"Boss Tang, what are you looking at?" a soldier asked them.
The fire chief's name is Tang Dalang. He is the oldest soldier in the entire army, and everyone calls him Boss Tang.
Tang Dalang was holding a piece of jade and squinting his eyes to look at it carefully. He asked with confusion on his face: "What do you think is so good about this piece of jade?"
"How did we know that Chang Shi is here? Ask him."
At this time, Guo Song happened to come over. Seeing a group of soldiers looking at him eagerly, he smiled and said, "Is there any problem?"
Tang Dalang scratched his head and said, "I'm looking at the jade, but I just don't understand what's so good about it?"
"I'll teach you!"
Guo Song sat down cross-legged, took the jade in his hand, looked at it in the light of the fire, and said in surprise: "This jade of yours is mutton-fat jade! How did you choose it?"
Tang Dalang said embarrassedly: "I just thought it was whiter than other jade, very smooth, and there were no cracks on it. It looked quite beautiful, so I chose it."
The soldiers gathered around one after another, and Guo Song said with a smile: "This is the principle of choosing jade. Even people who don't understand think it looks good, so it must be a good thing."
He said to the soldiers: "First of all, choose white. It is as white and greasy as mutton fat, which is mutton fat jade. Secondly, it is relatively complete, without many cracks. Then when you look at the sun, you find that there are no impurities in it. On your hand
When you play with it, it is extremely delicate and mature. Generally, white jade has various skin colors. Remember, red skin and white flesh are the best ones."
The soldiers took out their jade and looked at it carefully. Tang Dalang scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Chang Shi, how much is this jade of mine worth?"
Guo Song weighed it for a moment and said with a smile: "This piece of jade of yours weighs three taels. It is a top-quality mutton-fat jade. Go back to Chang'an and sell it to a jewelry store. Don't sell it if it's less than 500 guan."
Everyone exclaimed, and Liang Wu couldn't help but ask: "If it is so valuable, why do people in Khotan say it is not valuable?"
Guo Song glared at him and said, "Let me ask you, your Lingzhou fruits are rotting in the fields and no one wants them, but they can be sold at a good price after being transported to the capital. Why do you think it is?"
Liang Wu understood and said sheepishly: "I know, it's only valuable if someone buys it."
"That's the problem. The road to Chang'an is blocked. The beautiful jade from Anxi cannot be transported out, and it can't be used as food, so of course it is worthless. In the future, when trade routes become smoother, merchants will come to Khotan to collect jade. At that time, this jade
It’s valuable, do you understand?”
That night, the soldiers began to appraise the jade one after another. Someone kept shouting excitedly that he also had mutton-fat jade.
Guo Song smiled and said nothing, it was just ordinary white jade, how could there be so much mutton-fat jade.
Early the next morning, after a night's rest, the Tang army was full of energy and began to set off out of the valley.
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