On the last day of the tenth year of the Dali calendar, a team of more than seventy people quietly left Yanji Town and headed east along the Chihe River in the snow.
This is the advice given by the Dunhuang guide to Guo Song. The Shatuo Army hardly goes out in winter. Spring is their active period. In addition, heavy snowfall in the Hexi Corridor in winter means road closures in Ganzhou, Liangzhou, Guazhou and Suzhou.
Not much.
It's a little more difficult to set out in winter, but generally you won't encounter the Shatuo Army.
After weighing the pros and cons, Guo Song finally decided to set off in winter.
It was snowing heavily, and seventy-three people, carrying war horses and riding camels, were galloping in the biting cold wind.
They brought more than a hundred camels, which brought them great convenience.
"Guo Changshi, when I came here, there were no herdsmen in Puchanghai, but there were a lot of deer. The soldiers could hunt deer to supplement their food supply."
Their guide was still the Han guide they hired when they came from Dunhuang. He was introduced by Guo Song and established a relationship with the Anxi Protectorate. He often went to Dunhuang to buy some supplies for the Anxi Protectorate and made a lot of money.
The wind and snow were so heavy that they mostly talked by shouting. Guo Song asked loudly: "Isn't Puchanghai frozen? How come there are still deer herds?"
"There is grass under the snow near the lake, so the deer can find something to eat."
"Okay! Let's talk about it after we go to Puchanghai."
The team traveled all the way eastward. Ten days later, the Tang army arrived at Puchanghai. By this time, the snow had stopped. The sun shone on the endless white snow plain, shining with a magnificent luster. On the distant lakeside, a group of red deer peeled away the snow.
, eating grass leisurely.
The Tang army suddenly became excited. Guo Song smiled at Liang Wu and said, "Take fifty brothers to hunt deer!"
"Follow the order!"
Liang Wu changed his horse and galloped away with fifty cavalry. They had often gone hunting in the past six months and had developed a skillful hunting technique.
They divided their troops into two teams, one to drive and the other to ambush. They fired dozens of guns and killed more than a dozen big deer in an instant. The rest of the deer were frightened and fled away lifelessly.
That night, the Tang army lit a bonfire by the Puchanghai Lake and grilled the venison. The venison was roasted until it was brown and tender, and sprinkled with salt and spices. The fragrant and delicious food was fragrant. The soldiers raised their glasses and drank milk wine, laughing and laughing.
Two days later, the Tang army arrived in the desert. It would take them ten days to cross the desert and reach Dunhuang.
Compared with the first time they came, the Tang army was very well prepared, carrying enough water and food, as well as more than a hundred camels. Although the yellow sand was raging, the wind and sand were all over the sky, the quicksand was overflowing, and there were many murderous intentions, the Tang army was still able to survive.
Walking eastward step by step.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month of the eleventh year of the Dali calendar, the Tang army finally arrived at Dunhuang.
It also snowed heavily in Dunhuang County. The soldiers were warming up and resting in Dayun Temple. Master Zhiguang, the abbot, put his hands together and said to Guo Song: "Amitabha, only seventy-five of the three hundred cavalry have returned. The poor monk is willing to save the souls of the soldiers who died in the battle."
!”
Guo Song clasped his hands and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Master!"
At this time, a monk stepped forward and whispered to Master Zhiguang: "There are people coming from Dunhuang City."
Master Zhiguang nodded and said to Guo Song: "Donor Zhang and Donor Cao are here. Please follow me to the abbot's room."
"Thank you for your hard work, Master!"
Guo Song clasped his hands in thanks and followed Master Zhiguang to the abbot's room. As soon as he entered the room, three men stood up. Guo Song knew two of them, Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng, the heads of the Cao family and Zhang family. Guo Song had already
Seen it before.
Behind them stood a young man, about twenty years old, with handsome appearance and calm eyes. He pursed his lips tightly and looked at Guo Song curiously.
Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng seemed very excited. Before, they didn't know when Guo Song returned to Chang'an, so they didn't pay much attention to it. But now that Guo Song is back, he is obviously going back to Chang'an, so they can bring their news back to Chang'an.
.
Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "See Guo Changshi!"
"The two heads of the family meet again, no need to be polite, please take a seat!"
The three of them sat down. Guo Song glanced at the young man and asked with a smile: "This is..."
Cao Qingyun smiled and said: "This is Cao Wannian, the dog son, and he is a scholar."
Cao Qingyun looked back at the young man and said to him: "Hurry up and give Guo Changshi a present!"
Although Cao Wannian was a little surprised at Guo Song's youth, he still saluted Guo Song calmly, "Student Cao Wannian, please see Guo Envoy!"
"You are Welcome!"
Guo Song smiled at Cao Qingyun and said, "Your Majesty is a scholar at heart and has an elegant demeanor. He will have a bright future."
"I am over-flattered!"
Cao Qingyun was obviously very satisfied with his son. He stroked his beard and said, "I have an unkind request. I wonder if Guo Changshi can agree to it?"
"Master Cao, please tell me!"
"That's it. I want Quanzi to go to Chang'an Imperial College to study. Can you let him follow Guo Changshi's team to Chang'an?"
Guo Song was silent for a while. Cao Qingyun thought that Guo Song was afraid of increasing the burden, so he quickly said: "I have favors in Chang'an, and the Cao family also has a house in Chang'an. Money and the like are not a problem. The key is that he can't go, so I asked Chang Shi to take care of him."
he goes."
Guo Song smiled bitterly and said: "I won't hide it from the Cao family. Last year, I led 300 people to Anxi and Beiting, but now there are only 75 people left. I don't know if Zhu Xie Jinman will be here in Gua."
Zhouzhou and Suzhou continue to block us, mainly because they cannot guarantee the safety of your son."
Cao Qingyun was a little embarrassed. Zhang Feng next to him asked cautiously: "I heard that Guo Changshi rested in Anxi for more than half a year. Could it be that Zhu Xie Jinman will still wait in Guazhou and Suzhou for half a year?"
Guo Song shook his head and said, "I'm not saying that I will definitely encounter Shatuo's elite soldiers, otherwise I wouldn't have returned to Beijing at this time. I just said that there are certain risks, and I can't guarantee that your son will be safe."
"I bear all risks myself!"
Next to him, Cao Wannian suddenly spoke. He stepped forward and saluted his father, "Father, this is my only chance to go to Chang'an. No matter how risky it is, I am willing to bear it."
"All right!"
Cao Qingyun finally nodded in agreement. In fact, he also knew that Guo Song would not leave his son alone if he was really in danger, so he begged Guo Song: "We are willing to take all risks ourselves, and I beg Guo Changshi to help us.
"
Guo Song nodded and agreed. In fact, he knew in his heart that he was not the only opportunity. There were Sogdian businessmen who would also go to Chang'an through the Hexi Corridor. Moreover, the Sogdian businessmen had a good relationship with the Shatuo army, so it would be safer to go with them.
,Therefore, Cao Qingyun must have another deeper meaning when he asked his son to go to Chang'an with him.
Guo Song didn't say anything. This Cao Wannian seemed to be a nice person and well-educated. It was very likely that he would be the chief official of Dunhuang in the future. It would be nice to be able to help him and sell him a favor.
.......
Guo Song rested in Dunhuang for three days. On the third day, Cao Wannian led an old servant to Dayun Temple on horseback. Before Guo Song could speak, he explained to Guo Song: "My loyal uncle is very familiar with the terrain of the Hexi Corridor.
He knows everything, and he can lead us on a small path to avoid the Shatuo people's patrol posts."
"Your Majesty, you are very considerate!"
Guo Song saluted the old man and said, "Then I'll ask you to lead the way."
The old man quickly returned the greeting and said, "I wonder if Commander Guo is going to leave during the day or to march at night?"
"I plan to march at night and rest during the day."
"It's best this way. Apart from watching out for wolves, everything else is relatively safe when walking at night."
As soon as it got dark, Guo Song immediately led his army and set off.
It is more than a thousand miles from Dunhuang to Ganzhou. In this section, the Shatuo people deployed 15,000 troops. There was also a group of horse bandits that specialized in operating at night. The horse bandits have been completely wiped out by Guo Song and others. They are going to do it again.
It was not that fast to set up, so Guo Song basically marched at night and stayed in the day. He bet that Shatuo's army would not come out at night.
Cao Wannian's old servant really knew the road very well. He did not take Guo Song along the official road, but walked south along the sweet spring water, making a big circle and taking another inaccessible desert road. This made Guo Song sigh in relief.
He was actually worried that there were spies from the Shatuo Army outside Dunhuang County, and they were waiting for him to arrive in Dunhuang. You must know that Zhu Xiejinhai had a very high status in Shatuo, and most Shatuo generals would not dare to disobey his orders, even though half a year had passed.
, there is really no guarantee that the Shatuo people will give up hunting them.
"This road is a spiritual path taken by ascetics. There are no cities or villages on the road. We will go to the foot of the Snow Mountain, and then walk eastward along the Snow Mountain. The road is difficult, but it is at least 600 miles away from Jinchang County.
, nearly a thousand miles of desolate land, and even the Tang army did not build a city to guard it. There were many deer and wolves, so many monks deliberately walked this way, and most of them died in the belly of the wolves."
"I seem to be very familiar with you?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
"I can't say I'm very familiar with it. I've just walked it a few times. If my son was alone, I would never take him on this road. But there are many of you! You can deal with wolves."
Guo Song nodded, it would be a small problem if he encountered a pack of wolves.
Two days later, everyone arrived at the upper reaches of Ganquanshui. The terrain here is very high and extremely cold. A few dozen miles ahead is the Snowy Mountains, also known as the Qilian Mountains. On the other side of the Snowy Mountains is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. There is a valley gap of more than 20 miles.
, Tuyuhun cavalry often came out from this gap to harass Dunhuang City.
Going further up, there is a large coniferous forest. The old servant led Tang Jun to turn east and go east along the edge of the coniferous forest.