In the early summer of the fifth year of Yanxing, the weather has not yet turned hot. The sea breeze from thousands of miles away from Guandong, by the time it reached Lintao, had lost even a trace of water vapor. Only the smell of the rocks on both sides of the Tao River was intertwined with the aroma of resin, slowly drifting up the river. This made a group of people and horses traveling up the Tao River Valley feel quite comfortable.
When they set off from Xiaben, there was still a chill from the melting snow in the high mountains. Every morning, there is a layer of gray and cold mist between the sky and the earth. The gentle breeze blows, which makes people's skin numb and the soles of their feet are so cold that they can't help but stamp their feet. Therefore, travelers still wear leather clothes and boots and walk on the rocks. Take a long journey. Along the way, people boiled hot water every day and let the horses drink it, but the people and animals were still shivering.
Unexpectedly, after starting from the Qiang River and arriving at Lintao on the Qiang Road, the weather gradually warmed up, and the greenery among the stone cliffs gradually flourished. Along the road, we could actually see many magnolias and red apricots in bloom, and the yellow sun hung in the sky. Gradually bring the temperature into the human body. So everyone took off their fur coats and hats and put on unlined clothes suitable for walking. Even though it was a little cool now, the right amount of coolness could keep pedestrians excited, and they walked into the deep valley on the upper reaches of Taoshuang River.
The deep valley winds up, and the so-called Tao River is now only as wide as a person. When it encounters a dense area of rocks, it turns into an endless stream at the feet, meandering like earthworms between the loess and stones. At night, the surrounding mountains are blocked by cliffs, making the stars in the sky particularly bright.
The guide's Di people said that this is Wangqu Valley. About a hundred years ago, Ma Fang, the second son of General Fubo Ma Yuan, fought with the Qiang people here and beheaded more than a thousand people. As long as you keep heading north here, over Qingshi Mountain and Lianhua Mountain, you will reach Didao. When they learned that they had arrived at Wangqu Valley, people talked about it. It was rumored that there was a sound from the sky at the end of Wangqu Valley, and all the people they could meet were noble people!
The next morning, they walked up the mountain road from the valley, and just in time to catch a gust of wind shuttling between the cliffs and rocks. The screams made little sounds like playing kites. Looking back, the Tao River was still flowing softly in the valley. It flows gently, and you can clearly see the flowing clouds on a clear sky in the four winding rivers. The sky and the earth are extremely clear. When everyone sees this scene, they all say that they have no regrets in this life.
Under the warm sunshine, a group of people led their horses over the mountain pass between the first few peaks of Qingshi Mountain. This is the Didao path opened by people for hundreds of years. Even so, the road over the mountain was extremely difficult. Their vehicles were loaded with weapons and baggage, and they were zigzagging up the loess path. Wherever the horse's hooves passed, fine pieces of loess fell, crackling on the heads of the people below. Looking from the ridge, the mountainside is filled with dust, and the swishing sound of loess sliding down can be heard in the valley, as if there is a soil rain falling halfway up the mountain.
At this time, a group of people stood on the ridge and watched the subsequent teams crossing the ridge. Although they were still out of breath, they looked very calm. Some servants in military uniforms and swordsmen gathered around, and in the middle were three warriors, all wearing light hunting attire and having no weapons other than sabers. They were obviously the leaders of this group of people. One of them was about forty years old, thin and tall, with yellowish-red skin, a long face and narrow eyes, and a carefully groomed beard hanging from his chin to his neck. Among warriors, he showed a somewhat scholarly temperament.
The two people next to him looked much younger, but they were bigger and rounder than him, with broad shoulders and broad backs. They could be described as extremely strong. What is even more eye-catching is that the horns and bows on their backs are all seven feet in size. Even for such martial people, they appear large and powerful.
It was Jia Xu, Zhang Xiu and Wang Chang.
Zhang Xiu pointed to the troops going up the mountain and said, "We haven't fought a major battle in a few years, and the march in the mountains has actually slowed down a lot."
Wang Chang replied with a smile: "It is difficult to walk on the Long Road, that's what it is. What's more, this road is rarely traveled by people, and it is also dangerous in the Long Road. If there are two hundred more people, we may not be able to make it."
Only Jia Xu didn't speak. He raised his hands to block the sun and looked far to the northeast. He saw mountains stacked on top of each other, stretching to the end of the sky. The guide stood next to him and said, "There are mountains for dozens of miles to the east, which are almost impossible to walk through. The nearest one is the Bird and Rat Cave Mountain thirty miles away. When ordinary people arrive at Didao, they walk from there." "
Jia Xu said "hmm", looked away, looked at the two young people beside him, and said: "I guess we will arrive at Didao tomorrow. We are coming from Qiang Road. Han Sui and the others are afraid that they are not prepared. Which of you?" Go and inform him."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiu immediately accepted the order and said, "Uncle Wenhe, I can go. Everyone says that Han Sui is a great hero in the world, no less powerful than Dong Gong, but I haven't seen his face yet!"
Jia Xu laughed a little when he heard this. He said: "What kind of hero or tyrant? In the final analysis, he is just a person. He can't take a few blows without armor." After laughing, he took out a piece of white jade from his chest and handed it to Zhang Xiu. , said to him: "This is the token that Han Sui gave me after he sent a message last time. If you give it to him, he will know that we have arrived. We will wait for you in front of Angu City."
Zhang Xiu accepted the jade stone and laughed and said: "Uncle Wen He is a wise man, so naturally he looks down upon him. However, Han Sui never imagined that we could come here via the Qiang Road. I'm afraid he would be so surprised and suspicious after seeing me!"
Jia Xu frowned slightly when he heard this, and was about to reprimand Zhang Xiu, but after Zhang Xiu finished speaking, he quickly led his horse down the mountain, and soon only a small silhouette was left. He went around several corners, and even his back was very small. Quickly disappear into the mountains and forests.
Sighing, Jia Xu turned around and continued to observe the march. It was not until all four hundred people arrived at the mountain pass that they rested leisurely in the sun for an hour. Then we went all the way down and reached the foot of Lianhua Mountain, where we found an old post station in the upper reaches of Taoshui River.
The so-called old post station is actually the ruins of the original post station during the Han-Qiang war. Nowadays, only the foundation of the crumbling earth wall remains. It can be seen that it also served as a military fortress. Abandoned clay tiles can be seen everywhere on the ground inside the wall. Travelers, whether they are Han people or passing nomads, often spend the night sheltered from the wind inside the earthen walls. That night, Jia Xu and his party stayed here. On the way here, you can actually see similar ruins every step of the way. Even Lintao, Longsang, and Suoxi, the three important frontier towns a hundred years ago, are now the same and have become refuges for the Qiang people to live in when they were nomadic.
The next day, the brigade continued north from here. After crossing Lianhua Mountain, the terrain gradually opened up. The mountains on both sides sandwiched a valley in the middle, and now they slowly extended forward, entering the Angu territory.
Angu City is located to the north of the Tao River, sandwiched between Changjia Mountain and Suolin Gorge. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers. It has always been the hub of Longxi's Qiang expedition. Further north of the city, the two mountains lowered to form an area about ten miles wide. The core of the long and narrow basin that is hundreds of miles long is Didao. It is connected to Jincheng in the north and Hanyang in the east. It is the only two important roads besides Long along Jingshui River.
It was afternoon, and Angu City was already standing in the sky. The city wall is small, simple and solemn. It looks like a military fortress standing between the mountains and the Tao River. On the fields to the east of the city wall, there are walking villages and the fields extend to the river.
As they approached slightly, a dozen people came to greet them in front of the city. The leader was Han Sui's son Han Ji and Han Shize, who hurried over and saluted Jia Xu as a junior. Jia Xu saw that Han Ji was not tall, had a dark red face, and his face was extremely rough. He seemed to be in his late thirties. He wore a hood on his head, a straight-collared Hu suit, and Hu boots on his feet. His clothes were mostly covered in wind dust. It could be seen that he had obviously just gotten the news and rushed over at short notice. When he shook hands with Jia Xu, there was still sweat on his palms.
After Han Ji saw Jia Xu, he looked at the number of people in their group. Seeing that there were not too many people, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked Jia Xu, "Why don't Mr. Jia come by the Qishan Road? The Qiang Road is remote and difficult to travel. It has been almost ten years since I passed by the people. My family has been waiting for Mr. Jia in Shouyang for a long time, and thought that Mr. Jia would not come. "
Jia Xu smiled and replied: "Bafu sent Dong Cheng to seal Sanguan, and repeatedly sent scouts to spy on the news. If I passed by Qishan Road, I might not be able to cover up my tracks. Brother Han and I are discussing important matters. You can’t show off your flaws at all, and I hope Brother Han will be considerate.”
Han Ji heard about his reputation for resourcefulness, and now that he saw him, he admired him even more and kept saying that he didn't dare. Then he talked about the resting place for Jia Xu and his party tonight. Han Ji said that the city was not well prepared and they might not be allowed to enter the city, so they could only rest temporarily in a village to the east of the city. Han Ji would lead them to Didao tomorrow.
Speaking of this, Han Ji showed a look of shame on his face, apologized to Jia Xu repeatedly, and said: "If Jia Gong does not give up, I will have a banquet in the city. Jia Gong can take four or five people into the city to rest, and let me take a brief rest." Express your feelings.”
After some consideration, Jia Xu declined politely: "In the army, we should share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. I appreciate the kindness of the soldiers. It will not be too late to drink again after we arrive at Didao. What's more, in the military capital, I It’s just sleeping in the village, I’m used to it.”
But he didn't mean to end the conversation yet. After all, he was new here and he still wanted to find out some more information. He continued to ask Han Ji: "By the way, Shize, Brother Han replied to me last time and said that all the princes in Liangzhou have agreed to my proposal. Are all the princes here now?"
Han Ji was silent for a while, thinking that there was no need to hide the matter, so he told the truth truthfully: "The princes have never been united. Although they have all agreed, they still have to agree. Ma Fufeng (Ma Teng), Liang Lantian (Liang Xing) ), Zhang Wuwei (Zhang Heng) knew the general idea and had arrived a long time ago. Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Ma Wan, and Li Kan were just intimidated by the military power of the adults, so they waited all the way and only arrived two days ago. Song Shuai (Song Jian) has actually slacked off since he claimed to be the Queen of the River Head. Even though the adults have urged him in every possible way, he is still on his way."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help complaining: "The most difficult thing to deal with is the Qianghu people in Anding and the North. They were the ones who caused the chaos back then. Now that Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng have come, they are also the ones who have surrendered to Lu Bu. I'm afraid they can come as promised." Less than half. If..." Han Ji realized that his words were out of line, and quickly stopped talking and apologized to Jia Xu.
Jia Xu nodded slightly, but he didn't say anything wrong, but he could also guess what Han Ji said: If the Dido alliance fails to come to fruition this time, I'm afraid the heroes of Liangzhou will part ways.
