"Your Highness, General Zhong asked us to take you back to Luo City in Chen State before he left. Should we go back the same way we came, or should we get some more stones to take back to Tianmen Mountain?" Chen Xiaomu had just commanded the soldiers to move Tianmen Mountain. After more than a thousand kilograms of stones were loaded onto the carriage, Lu Yi ran over to ask for instructions.
"Go to Tianquan County. Go to the soldiers and ask if there is anyone from Tianquan. If there is, bring him to see me. We must rush to Tianquan County before the princess!"
Lu Yi was shocked when he heard this, "But, Your Highness, General Zhong told us before he left...!"
"Captain Lu, please remember, there is no word "but" in my army, there is only "yes", do you understand? The princess has entrusted you to me, you are now my subordinates, and you must resolutely carry out my orders. , otherwise military law will be engaged!"
"Yes, Your Highness, I promise to carry out your order!" Lu Yi knelt down on one knee and saluted with clasped fists! "
Chen Xiaomu quickly stretched out his hand to help Lu Yi, who was kneeling in front of him, "Hey, I forgot to tell you. It doesn't have to be so troublesome to salute in the future. Kneeling down and getting up again is cumbersome and time-consuming. If there is a sneak attack by the enemy on the battlefield, Opportunity."
"Your Highness, what should we do? This is how we salute from our ancestors!" Lu Yi asked in confusion.
"Well, let me teach you a new salute style now, just watch it!" After saying that, Chen Xiaomu stood upright, then raised his right hand, with the fingers together and straightened, the palm facing down, slightly turned out, and the middle finger slightly leaning on the temple. , eyes fixed on Lu Yi standing in front of him, a beautiful modern military salute was completed neatly!
Lu Yi was immediately surprised when he saw it, "Your Highness, did you invent this? It's so simple, solemn and beautiful, and it's not disrespectful to etiquette!"
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said: "Stop flattering, practice hard now, and then teach other soldiers. From now on in my army, I don't want to see subordinates kneeling down to their superiors again, otherwise I will take advantage of you!" Oh, by the way," Chen Xiaomu patted his bald head, "There is another very important aspect of this etiquette. No matter how big the official position of the other party is, even if he is the current emperor, after the other party salutes him, he can also use the same military salute to his subordinates. Return the gift to show respect for your subordinates! "
Lu Yi rubbed his hands in embarrassment, "Isn't this bad?" If I want to salute His Highness, His Highness will have to give me a salute in return. This little kid really can't afford it! "
Chen Xiao raised his face and said seriously: "Returning gifts is a must. No one is exempted, including me. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Lu Yi followed Chen Xiaomu's example, stood at attention, and gave Chen Xiaomu a military salute in a decent manner! Chen Xiaomu naturally stood at attention and gave a standard military salute!
"Your Highness, I feel much more comfortable kneeling down than before!" Lu Yi said with a smile.
Chen Xiaomu nodded, "As long as you know, hurry up and execute the order, we will set off immediately.
"Yes," Lu Yi performed a modern military salute and turned around to teach other soldiers.
The local soldiers in Tianquan were not found, but Lu Yi found a veteran from Linghe County, a neighboring county to Tianquan, for Chen Xiaomu. According to this veteran named Li Gui, there is no shortcut from Tianmen Mountain to Tianquan County unless you directly Cross the Daling River, otherwise you have to walk more than fifty miles to bypass a small town called Fuling Town at the junction of Linghe County and Tianquan County!
"Can we go directly to the Daling River and find a ferry now?" Chen Xiaomu asked.
Li Gui quickly waved his hand, "Your Highness, you must not do it. The Daling River is already fast-flowing, and almost no one dares to ferry on this river. What's more, the weather is very cold now. According to the villain's estimation, the river has already frozen! "
"Oh, look, it's so cold now. Can the ice on the Daling River bear the weight of us?"
"I did walk through it when I was single, but now that there are all these horses and vehicles, I'm afraid I won't be able to pass. Besides, it's extremely slippery for a single person to walk on, let alone these horses and vehicles!"
Chen Xiaomu said to Lu Yi and Wang Wu who were standing next to him: "Immediately form the team and go straight to the Daling River. No matter what, people can get there first!"
"Yes, Your Highness." Lu Yi and Wang Wu hurriedly gave Chen Xiaomu a new military salute, then turned around and led the team towards the Daling River.
Tianmen Mountain is only more than ten miles away from the Daling River. In less than half an hour, this small team of fifty people arrived at the Daling River! The wide ice surface of the Daling River reflected dazzling light under the sunlight. Chen Xiaomu visually measured the width of the ice surface of the Daling River. It was estimated that it was about two miles away. There was a large iceberg standing not far from where they were standing. A crystal clear iceberg more than ten meters high!
"What is that?" Chen Xiaomu asked Li Gui, who was standing next to him, pointing to the iceberg.
"Your Highness, that is the mouth of the Daling River. Every year after winter, there will be some ice drifting upstream of the Daling River, and this section of the Daling River mouth is particularly narrow. As the weather gets colder, the ice will drift in. There will be more and more, and eventually they will all be crowded at the mouth of the river, eventually forming this ice wall more than ten meters high."
"Let's go take a look." After Chen Xiaomu said that, he took the lead and walked towards the towering ice wall. Lu Yi and Wang Wu, who were standing behind him, also quickly followed.
The group of people approached the iceberg and took a closer look. As Li Gui said, the entire iceberg was made up of icebergs of different sizes. When they lay on the iceberg, they could even hear the subtle sound of running water under the iceberg.
"After crossing the river, how far will it be to Tianquan County?" Chen Xiaomu asked Li Gui, who was following him.
"Your Highness, it's only more than thirty miles!"
"Okay" Chen Xiaomu nodded, "Captain Lu, go find five soldiers and ask them to dig a two-meter-square deep hole here. Ask them to be careful not to hit the water!" Chen Xiaomu ordered again. Lu Yi followed him.
"Yes, my subordinates will do it immediately!"
"Let's go back too!" Chen Xiaomu said to Wang Wu and Li Gui after seeing Lu Yi's hurried away figure.
Back at the ferry port, Chen Xiaomu asked Wang Wu to organize the soldiers to cut a lot of dead grass, and then asked the soldiers to wrap the dead grass around the horses' hooves and the wheels of the carriage, and evenly distribute the stones, grain and grass on the carriage to each vehicle, each one Soldiers should carry as many as they can! In this way, the weight on the carriage was suddenly reduced a lot. After repeated inspections and tests, Chen Xiaomu and his small team finally crossed the Daling River on the ice of the Daling River without any danger.
After crossing the Daling River, the sky darkened. In the winter in the north, it always gets dark very early. The group walked along a dirt road in the dark for about five or six miles. Wang Wu, who was assigned by Chen Xiaomu to be the vanguard, then Ran back in a hurry!
"Your Highness, we can't go any further. We've found the Chu army's camp ahead!"
Chen Xiaomu was startled, and hurriedly reined in his mount and asked, "How far is it?"
"Less than twenty miles away!"
"Let's go and have a look!" Chen Xiaomu pulled the reins of the horse, and the horse that sat down raised its hooves and started to trot.
Under the guidance of Wang Wu and Li Gui, Chen Xiaomu walked into a forest very close to the Chu army camp. The scene in front of him made him take a deep breath. Not far away, a large number of densely packed tents were placed next to each other. One, like the stars in the sky, and the neighing of war horses could be heard from time to time. In the center of the tent was a small city outline, with dozens of fires burning on each side, reflecting the bright sky and earth. During the day, the city outline seen at this time is like a small boat swaying in the wind and rain in the sea!
Returning to his camp, Chen Xiaomu summoned Li Gui and asked straight away, on the way here, General Zhong heard that there are hot springs everywhere in Tianquan County. Why didn't I see any? "
Li Gui was stunned when he was asked, "Your Highness, do you want to take a bath?"
Chen Xiaomu nodded slightly.
"There is a warm pool not far from here, but the water is too hot and the smell is unpleasant. Every year, people get poisoned by the pool. The best warm pools are all in Tianquan County. There are people who specialize in running them. A good warm pool is in a town called Tianshui Town on the other side of Tuling Mountain, which is more than 20 miles away from here. Do you think you want me to take Your Highness there?"
Chen Xiaomu waved his hand, "That's not necessary, but General Zhong said that Tianquan is also rich in black oil. I wonder if this is true?"
Li Gui was a little confused: "Your Highness, the black oil you asked about does exist, because every year many people use it to warm themselves and get poisoned, and they are all covered up by the government. It is not far from the poisonous heating pool I just told you about. There is an oil pit far away, but now I’m afraid it has also been built with stones by the government!”
Chen Xiaomu was overjoyed and slapped his thigh, "Great, how far is it from here? Let's go and see now!"
Li Gui hurriedly stretched out his hands to stop Chen Xiaomu, "Your Highness, it's not far away, but these things are poisonous. If Your Highness had a bad thing in the past, the villain's head might not be saved!"
Chen Xiaomu smiled and patted Li Gui on the shoulder, "Li Gui, you don't know, you have made a great contribution this time, I want to reward you well, take me to see it quickly!"
"Your Highness, why don't you wait until daybreak? Look at this dark place. I only heard about the location from others and have never actually been there! It is only about twenty miles away from the Chu army's camp. There are scouts from the Chu army moving around, it would be bad if we shine a bright light to lure them over!"
Although Chen Xiaomu was very anxious, Li Gui's words were not unreasonable, so he had to give up his thoughts temporarily and wait until dawn!
