As the Emperor said before, no one could imagine that the Shu people would dare to take action that went deep into the enemy's territory. Therefore, even though they passed through densely populated areas, there were not enough sergeants along the way to intercept them and wait for them to report the information. After giving it to their superiors, the Shu cavalry had already left quickly to the northwest, and there was no time to mobilize troops to pursue them.
It’s not like the Shu people haven’t encountered problems. After days of running around, even though there were 3,000 horses in advance, many of the mounts were still showing signs of fatigue. Even though the knights whipped them desperately, they had to slow down for a while. Fortunately, when passing through Qixian County, they came across a horse farm and forced more than 600 new horses here. Then they speeded up again. Along the way, they encountered villages and towns to collect grain, and detoured around cities until they reached Qishan Mountain. He held his breath and quietly entered Fanxukou along the Lishui River. He happened to pass by the Chencang defenders and entered the empty Longshang Mountains.
After crossing Longban and driving for another day, we arrived at Jieting. Going west from here is where the world calls Longyou. Looking around, the clouds and mist are overflowing. They are all dense forests, and there are solid rocks under your feet. It is hard to imagine that from now on, if you keep going thousands of miles to the west, you will become The only green corridor in the endless gravel land. Zhang Liao was very moved. He remembered the days when he followed Lu Bu here, so he recalled: "Creation is vast, things change and people change."
While camping in the street pavilion, there were crows croaking in the trees outside the emperor's tent. He was very upset, so he sent someone from the palace to ask Zhang Liao to pick up a bow and shoot. Unable to see clearly what was going on in the tree in the dark night, Zhang Liao's confidant Du Chong shot an arrow first. Suddenly seeing a big black shadow rising from the tree, Zhang Liao had already nocked an arrow, immediately raised his hand, pointed at the shadow and shot. The arrow hit the big bird's wing, and the bird spun like a wheel and fell to the ground, landing in the grass with a thud.
People ran over to pick it up and looked at it under the light. They all said they had never seen such a big crow. The emperor had always hated crows, but now he shot them to death. He felt displeased and ordered people to bury them in a hurry. When Dong Zhao heard about this, he congratulated him and said, "Everyone hates crows. Shooting them to death is like breaking the bad omen. This is a very auspicious thing!" After hearing what he said, the emperor felt a little relieved. Some.
But when we turned south the next day, a small accident happened. The yellow horse riding on Liu Yi, the second son of the emperor, stumbled and fell down the slope. Unfortunately, Liu Yi fell off the horse and broke his arm. Liu Yi was only eleven years old and was the son of Empress Fushou. He was usually the most beloved by the emperor, but now that he had fallen from his horse and had his arm broken, the emperor was extremely sad. Now Liu Yi could no longer ride a horse and could not continue running with the cavalry, so he had to send someone to foster Liu Yi in a nearby village and made an agreement with him to meet him again in Mianzhu after he recovered from his injuries.
Two days later, they passed through the narrow valley of Tianshui and temporarily lived in Nianpan Mountain, a mountainous area. When they arrived at Nianpan Mountain, the weather was still sunny. I heard from Wu Ban, who arrived earlier, that it had just rained here a while ago. Standing by the gurgling river, looking to the south, the mountain road quickly disappeared from sight, leaving only a vast expanse of green and a few golden tamarins in the mountains. The (golden monkey) squatted on the treetop and looked at the team curiously.
During the day, the officers and soldiers of the Shu Army lurked in the valley of Nianpan Mountain, disarmed their troops, rested their horses, and lay down in the dense forest to rest. God's will wiped out the situation, so Dong Zhao sent several riders out of the valley to report the news to Jia Xu. Half an hour after the messenger left, it was completely dark, and the Shu people began to take advantage of the darkness to go down the mountain. The cavalry descended the mountain, disturbing the villages along the way. Dogs barked, and there were occasional voices, but it didn't matter anymore. Soon the brigade rushed through the Nanmai Mountain, and the land was suddenly flat and open, extending from northeast to southwest. Although it is dark, you can smell the moist and fishy smell of river water, which is the smell of Western Han Dynasty water. Thirty miles further south is Qishan Fort.
After passing Nanmai Mountain, Dong Zhao sent a second group of envoys to Qishan Fort, with a total of ten riders. Shortly after the messenger left, a heavy rain fell from the sky. The rain covered up the sound of horses' hooves, but also obscured the Shu people's sight, affecting their forward speed. There is only mist in the dark night, and there is no light in the wilderness. The Shu people groped their way along the north-south road. It rained heavily on the way and they had to stop and rest for a while. At this time, the third group of messengers set out in the rain and headed straight for Qishan Mountain.
Going a little further, we were only twenty miles away from Qishan Fort. We stopped and waited for the three messengers from the front and back to return. The rain had subsided, but after waiting for about an hour, no messenger rebelled.
Dong Zhao was anxious and asked people to invite the emperor to discuss with Zhang Liao who was the pioneer. Dong Zhao and the emperor were wearing rain felts, while Zhang Liao was standing on his horse in wet military uniforms. Dong Zhao looked around at the dark night and said to Zhang Liao: "I have sent three groups of messengers, but there is no reply from Qishan. I have already smelled an ambush. Once ambushed, most people may not survive."
Zhang Liao heard what he meant and asked, "Do you want me to lead Qianqi ahead to explore the road?"
Dong Zhao nodded and said: "That's what you mean. I suspect that we sent a messenger and Jia Wenhe was arrested when the news was exposed. The Westerners closed the door and defended while passing the news to all sides. If this is the case, we will risk our lives to rush in. It’s over!”
Zhang Liao thought about it for a while and explained Dong Zhao leniently: "It is indeed the case, but there is no need to think so bad. Maybe it was just because it was dark and rainy, so they moved very slowly and found it difficult to recover. And now we are caught by surprise. We have come this far, as long as we can send His Majesty to Hanzhong, what is there to hesitate about?"
After that, Zhang Liao ordered a thousand soldiers and horses, ate some dry food, abandoned his auxiliary horses, put on light armor and weapons, and galloped southward. Soon, the sound of rushing water from Han River came. The rain also stopped, and there were thick clouds hanging down from the sky. The moon did not show its head, but it illuminated the clouds brightly. With this glimmer of light, the north-south avenue in front of Qishan Fort comes into view.
Going south from here is the Qishan Road, which is extremely famous in later generations. Among all the Shu roads, the Qishan Road is the smoothest and most convenient. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, it has been the main trade route between Qin and Shu. It can lead directly to the Qiang Di grassland to the north and Yangping Pass to the south. It is the only important road for Bashu to fight for Longshang. When Kui Xiao resisted Liu Xiu on the right side of Longshang, Gongsun Shu sent troops to rescue him from this road.
Zhang Liao led thousands of cavalry to the pass, and it was late at night. Through the dim moonlight in the clouds, the shadows of the surrounding steep mountains are faintly visible. After the heavy rain, the mist spread along the river and flooded the valley mouth. When it was dark and foggy, I couldn't see where the city gate was. I could only hear the faint sound of watchmen beating on the city.
According to the agreement, if Jia Xu returns the envoy and disobeys the order, the east gate will be opened to welcome the Shu people into the fort. But after waiting for a long time, there was still no movement in the city. After a while, the sound of horse hooves gradually came from the fog. Without knowing the direction of the incoming person, the officers and soldiers of the Shu army were all wearing armor and holding swords, waiting quietly beside their horses. There was no fire either, and a group of people gradually walked out of the fog to the west. These people all dismounted and held the reins so as not to make too much noise. When he got closer, he recognized the messenger from before.
At this time, the moonlight came out, and the wall and the road in front of the pass could be seen clearly. Under the guidance of the messenger, the Shu people were surprised to find that under the towering mountain fortress, it turned out that the city gate was ajar. This is exactly the communication signal agreed by the emperor and Jia Xu in the letter. After the moonlight came, people in the city who were looking for reinforcements also discovered them. So someone raised a torch on the city and waved it back and forth to welcome them into the city.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Liao stood up immediately, pulled out the sword on the ground, sent an envoy to report to Dong Zhao, and ordered the soldiers to put on their armor, mount their horses and enter the city. However, a close aide was still frightened when he heard the cries of killing in the city, and tried to dissuade him: "The situation in the city is unknown. It is better to send a group of people to investigate first. It will not be too late for the group to enter the city again." Zhang Liao did not listen, but said to him: "Envoy Dong Your place is the main team, I will be the small team entering the city."
He then led the knights to gallop into the city. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw several people standing at the door wearing armor and sabers, and they all bowed to them in greeting. The person in charge said: "Commissioner Jia is above, please lead the general to the city." Zhang Liao did not hesitate and rushed into the city gate with hundreds of cavalry.
Qishan Fort is essentially a military fortress built around a mountain. It does not have any civilian facilities. When entering, there is a narrow path for only five people to enter and exit side by side, surrounding the mountain. The sound of swords becomes more obvious as you go higher. When he climbed the first city wall, he saw more than ten people coming from the front, and he immediately dismounted to greet them. The person in charge was dressed in military uniform and had a heroic figure, but his face looked extremely tired and old. It was Jia Xu.
Jia Xu and Zhang Liao are old acquaintances, so there is not much narration here. Jia Xu directly asked: "How long will it take for His Majesty to arrive?" Zhang Liao asked: "Why is there chaos in the city?"
Jia Xu was speechless after hearing this, but a confidant on the side explained: "We have received the letter from the messenger a long time ago. We opened the city gate early, but no army arrived. After midnight, the deputy general Gu Chen in the city knew about it and came to get it. When you set up a military division, the two sides are fighting in the city. You have arrived just in time. There are four thousand men and horses in the city, half on both sides. No one can do anything to the other, and they are about to send reinforcements!"
Zhang Liao looked toward the west of the city, and sure enough he saw a few torches shining. It seemed that Gu Chen didn't know the news of the Shu people's arrival and was still killing them below. Zhang Liao then said, "The team will be here soon. Don't worry, Mr. Wen. I will take off the heads of such children in a moment!" Then without waiting for Jia Xu to say anything, he went straight to the battlefield.
About half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves outside the city surged like the waves of a river. This was the arrival of a large force of the Shu army. Jia Xu hurried down to the city to greet him. Dong Zhao led hundreds of trusted knights to the city and occupied the high fortress, leaving only Jia Xu and the emperor alone at the city gate.
Jia Xu looked at the emperor's weathered face and couldn't help but sigh. The emperor saw disappointment and uneasiness in his eyes, and he also knew what Jia Xu was thinking. Jia Xu had always thought that going south to Shuzhong was definitely not a wise move, and this time was no exception. Therefore, the emperor could only remain silent. When Jia Xu saw this, he secretly lamented that fate was playing tricks on people, but he sighed and said with a smile: "Your Majesty and I have a beginning and an end, so I can die without regrets."
