After descending the mountain, we were actually still about twenty miles away from the city, but because Wei soldiers came out ten miles away, the distance seemed to be shortened all of a sudden. Although it was already dark, everyone felt more energetic, as if their hometown was right in front of them.
The city was too small to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers. Each battalion was arranged in different villages and towns, and only officials above the battalion secretary level could live in the city. Nie City usually only has 500 soldiers responsible for maintaining law and order, and the villagers from each town take turns to do so. After the Wei army entered the city, with special permission from Prince Jiu, a battalion of Wei troops was stationed around the city. One team was stationed in the city, and the remaining four teams were stationed outside the four gates of the city. Outside the four gates are mostly shops, which have been temporarily requisitioned as barracks.
Simang's big account is located in the city lord's mansion. Prince Jiu was in the west wing, leaving the main hall to Si Mang. Si Mang refused to accept the offer and decided to let the young master live in the main hall while he lived in the private school. Finally, Si Mang said: "If the master refuses, I will not dare to enter the city, but I can set up a tent in the camp." The dispute ended.
After entering the city, Prince Jiu entertained Si Mang in the main hall. Si Mang gave up the main hall to Gongzi Jiu. Gongzi Jiu shouted "Trespass" and regarded himself as the master and treated Simang as the guest. The city lord is accompanied by the prime minister, but all supplies belong to the city lord.
After the banquet, Si Mang asked: "It is not a long-term strategy to station the army in Nirvana. How should we return?"
The city lord said: "I have sent an envoy to Shangdang City on the orders of the young master. Please look for rural leaders and lead the army back to Anyi! There are many towns in Shangdang, and merchants gather together, so they will definitely get them, so don't make a mistake."
Only then did Si Mang realize that Gongzi Jiu and his party didn't know the way. They probably just made up nonsense based on hearsay. He couldn't help but feel a lot heavier. But now that the matter has come to this, it is naturally inconvenient to reveal my thoughts, so I can only force a smile and say: "Shangdang has been in business with Anyi for a long time, so he will definitely find his way!"
Young Master Jiu also laughed and said, "Yes, yes!"
Shangdang is more than two hundred miles away from Nirvana, and it often takes ten days for personnel to travel. But at the request of Gongzi Jiu, the envoy rode away. It was estimated that he would arrive in two days, but it was uncertain when the township guide would come. The messenger was dispatched immediately after the arrival of Gongzi Jiu, the day before Si Mang's arrival. Si Mang arrived at Nirvana at night. It was estimated that the envoy had just approached Shangdang and might not be able to enter the city until the next day.
After Si Mang understood the situation, he immediately left the city and visited Lord Xinling's retainers in the camp. Those retainers were nominally the guards assigned to Si Mang by Lord Xinling, but in fact they ignored Si Mang; on the contrary, Si Mang had to take care of their food and daily life. Si Mang originally wanted these disciples to leave the middle camp with Prince Jiu so that they could have some animals to ride on, but the disciples refused and claimed that they were protecting Si Mang on the order of the emperor, abandoning the master in danger and righteousness. Disagreement. Si Mang had no choice but to send a battalion of people to protect and serve them. Although these people are proud, they are not uneducated and incompetent people. Although crossing mountains and ridges is not as easy as walking on flat ground, it is not difficult. Not only do they not complain about the difficulties on the journey, but they also have many ways to deal with them. Along the way, they are the only group of people who have not reduced their numbers and are still alive and well and maintaining their fighting capacity.
In fact, when Lord Xinling was selected, he paid special attention to selecting talents with both civil and military skills. However, they relied on their talents and knowledge, set their sights above the world, and regarded the world as nothing, including Lord Xinling. If they were not polite enough, many people would ignore them. of. Lord Xinling is a noble son and has time and energy to pay homage to them; Si Mang is a leader and is too busy with daily operations, so he has no time to pay homage to them, so he can only put it aside. When they saw that Si Mang was not paying much attention to them, they felt that Si Mang was looking down on others! Only Mr. Jin and Mr. Cao had some friendship with Simang in Huayang. They both had some knowledge of military affairs and did not blame him at all.
After visiting the gentlemen one by one and asking them about their food and drink, Si Mang withdrew. I found Mr. Jin and said, "I wanted to go to Anyi, but I ended up in Nirvana. Where is that?"
Mr. Jin, who is very knowledgeable, answered: "Nirvana, named after the water, lives in the upper reaches of Zhang River. Along the water, it is Zhao Ye. Wen Nirvana is also the place of Gao Lang, or the old residence of Zhao Gao Lang, in Huotaishan. Right; now I see that this place is on the left side of the mountain, maybe it is not the other place..." Mr. Jin quoted scriptures and introduced the allusions to Nirvana. Si Mang was not familiar with these things, so he was confused and confused. Finally, he finished listening, thanked him, and left. It was already midnight. Call the city gates to open and enter the city. Climb the tower alone and look into the distance.
The weather that had been gloomy suddenly cleared up, and the moon was bright in the sky that night, and the mountains and rivers in the distance were all hazy; the densely packed houses and fields spread out in front of us, immersed in silence, with only one or two dog barks occasionally heard.
Although Simang was also a member of the Wei family, his family was poor and he could barely make ends meet with just a few acres of thin farmland. Even if he came out to be a military officer, he would still be bribed. Since the military soldiers were returned to the royal family, only the soldiers were recruited from the people, and the officials above the soldier rate were all selected from aristocratic families. Weak generals were used to strengthen the troops, so the combat effectiveness of the military soldiers was gradually declining. Although Si Mang has not been selected as a soldier, he is still a group of officers who work hard to govern. Pay attention to military affairs on weekdays, and imitate famous ancient generals, sharing joys and sorrows with the soldiers. For more than ten years, after Ji Gong was promoted to the rank of school leader, he was hired as Xinling Lieutenant by Lord Xinling. After only one year, he was sent out to perform tasks independently. He had no team of his own, not even personal soldiers or generals. He climbed up the tower and looked far away, but he was alone. When he had questions, he had no one to discuss with him. He was like an orphan, abandoned in the wilderness, left to fend for himself. When I think about this, I feel sad in my heart.
Walked around the city wall twice. Under the hazy moonlight, although the mountains and rivers are not fully displayed, their outlines are extremely clear, as if nature has eliminated unimportant details for him, showing only the important joints. It is surrounded by mountains. Nirvana water comes down from the west mountain, flows eastward along the southern foot of the mountain, and winds southward to the east mountain: that is naturally the only passage from Nirvana to the outside world. But the mountains on all sides are not very high. It is feasible to climb over the mountains and ridges like they did during the day. It does not necessarily have to be along the foot of the mountains... Si Mang looked and thought, and he didn't realize that the east was white.
The envoy to Shangdang returned five days later, bringing with him a caravan of about a hundred people, dozens of animals, and all the goods. The envoy said: "The Shoujun ordered this salt merchant to guide him to Anyi."
The city lord reported to Gongzi Jiu, and Gongzi Jiu informed Si Mang. Si Mang, Gongzi Jiu and the city lord met these Jia Jia together.
The leader of the caravan seemed to be an expert, and he took the initiative to introduce himself: "The common people are doing business in the cities of Shangdang, not alone. They use furs and mountain treasures to buy sauce, salt, utensils and the like at the foot of the mountain. Shoujun I heard that the young master wants to go to Anyi, and since the common people are familiar with the mountain roads, I ordered him to serve! The young master has to be dispatched, so he dare not resign!"
Si Mang asked: "Where are you going to Anyi? If you don't have what you need, would you rather waste your livelihood?"
The leader said: "The land of Anyi is close to Jiechi, and its salt is sold all over the world. However, the road is far and difficult to travel, and it may not be possible to travel there in March or May. Today is the festival, and when furs and mountain treasures are on the market, their prices are high. Maybe in March and May. The land is blessed with salt and stones, and it is worth living in vain, thanks to the gift of the young master!"
Si Mang said: "The march of the army is not like that of merchants. Orders and prohibitions must not be violated. But what about military laws?"
The man shrank his neck in fright and said: "My lord, please check it out. We are all good citizens, and we don't dare to make jokes in the army!"
Si Mang also vaguely heard that Anyi is a place that produces salt. After asking a few more questions and seeing that there were no flaws in what they said, he ordered them to be taken down to rest for a day and set off the next day. The caravan dispersed, but they did not rest. Instead, they traveled around the countryside and bought mountain goods. They were busy for most of the day.
After resting in Nirvana for nearly ten days, most of the laggards caught up, and most of those with injuries recovered. After reorganizing each battalion, the marching sequence was arranged: one battalion of the front army opened the way, followed by five battalions; five battalions of the front army and five battalions of the rear army, each with their animals; four battalions of the rear army were responsible for the reception. The reason why each ministry arranges a maximum of five battalions is because there are mountain roads along the way and there is usually not enough open space for the army to set up camp. Setting up five battalions can maintain mobility. Si Mang still arranged for Xin Lingcheng to be in charge of the 10th Battalion of the Chinese Army. This time he personally led the 6th Battalion of the Front Army to clear the way for the entire army. Prince Jiu was still in the central army, and all the disciples naturally followed Si Mang into the front army. Each department sets off an hour apart.
Under the leadership of the caravan, the team went directly to Nanshan. As the leader spoke, he explained to Si Mang: "But after passing this mountain, we will reach Tongtan, a large city where we can garrison troops!"
Prince Jiu was still in the army in order to be able to travel on horseback. The retainer was still responsible for contacting the former army. The retainer said: "Tongtan is about eighty miles away from Nie, which is also Han County."
Si Mang said: "If you go to Tongtan, you still have to rely on Yan!"
The retainer said: "Ling Tongtan is very kind to the young master, so I have no other words to say."
The leader continued: "From Tongdan to the west, there is the Jieshui River. Go down more than three hundred miles along the Jieshui River to Duanshi. From Duanshi, go down the mountain for a hundred or so miles, and you will reach Yicheng. Continue for hundreds of miles. Yuli, even Anyi!"
Si Mang sighed after hearing this: "The Jishui River on the Anyi Road still travels six to seven hundred miles to Tongtan. The cities in Shangdang are each hundreds of miles apart. The round trip for businessmen is no less than a thousand miles. How much time does it take?"
The leader smiled bitterly and said: "Young Master pities the common people, but they only rely on this for food and clothing, so I have no choice but to do it! If you practice this way, you will go back and forth three times a year. However, most of the common people go to Yicheng to do business. Ruopingyang, Ruo Anyi does it occasionally."
Si Mang asked: "Where does Yicheng belong now?"
The retainer said: "His order is like a Korean!"
Simang said: "There are so many Hancheng!"
The retainer said: "Pingyang, the old capital of Han, is the homeland of Jin. Yicheng is the land of Tang, and was granted the title by Uncle Tang, the Marquis of Jin. Uncle Quwo granted Quwo fifty miles to the west. There is Xinjiang in the west, also It is also the capital of Jin. This is also the land of Han. There is Xiangling in the north, so it is also the city of Wei. "
The retainers said that Xiangling was the old city of Wei, which was a mockery of the Wei State for dedicating all its territory in Hedong to the Qin State. Now Xiangling has become the land of Qin. But Si Mang didn't seem to know anything about this. He looked confused and had a teachable attitude, which actually made the retainers feel embarrassed.
After crossing the Nanshan Mountain, it turned out to be flat land. After each camp came down from the mountain, they rested and shot. The retainers rushed ahead to communicate with Tongtian City. When Si Mang looked back, the front of the Chinese army had already appeared on the mountain.
