At the same time, on the rugged mountain road leading to Nanyang from Nanxiang County, Fu County, 340 miles east of Shangyong, two big men were walking slowly with packages on their backs.
The two men were about twenty years old, with strong bodies, but still a little stooped. One had dark and rough skin, and the other had bronze skin.
The two of them had a circle of mugwort on their heads - this is something that people in Yizhou love to wear when they go out. This thing costs almost nothing and can protect them from the sun and rain, but it is so far away. The northern boundary of Jingzhou appeared.
A wooden gourd filled with water hung on the black man's waist. As it swayed, it made a swishing sound. As he hurried on, he was still looking at the mountain topography on the left and right. His coarse clothes were covered with dust and patches. They would naturally look a little thin in winter, but fortunately it was summer.
The black man walked towards the mountain step by step with a dog beating stick, and the other one followed closely.
At this time, there was a rumble of wheels grinding the ground from behind him, and soon a flatbed single-carriage for transporting goods ran past the two of them, kicking up bursts of dust on the not-so-wide official road.
"Lord, someone is coming!"
"Um."
It turns out that the people who were dressed down and down were Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si who set off from Shangyong two days ago!
Xu Zongwen waved his hand at the car. The driver tightened the reins and reined in the horse. Then he turned his head and Xu Zongwen shouted to the man: "Hey, brother. Can you please give me two a ride?"
"Where did you come from and where are you going?" The woodcutter reined in the horse's head, stopped and turned his head to look at Xu Zongwen and asked.
Xu Zongwen looked at the horse and the bundles of firewood on the cart, and replied with a smile: "Brother, we are coming from Xincheng. We are going to Nanyang to visit relatives. It will be dark soon. We can't tell if we met you." I’m going to spend the night in the woods hunting grass and settling in my nest!”
The woodcutter glanced at the setting sun for a moment, and estimated that it was indeed getting late. He nodded: "No problem, as long as you don't dislike the old man's ruthlessness."
"That's not possible!" Xu Zongwen climbed onto the carriage before he finished speaking, and continued: "We are all ordinary people with flat heads, who can despise whom?"
"Isn't that right!" The woodcutter seemed to have something to say: "With the chaos of war these days, there is no way to live a peaceful life! Since nearly two years ago, the King of Qin recruited troops to go south to attack Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains has been in chaos, and the land of Jingxiang has also been in chaos. It’s safe, and there are refugees from the north everywhere, and the local shepherds and guards don’t dare to offend them, and there are many who fall into the trap of bandits…”
When the woodcutter saw Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si getting into the carriage, he patted the horse's neck lightly and shouted, "Drive," and the horse slowly and leisurely set off on the road. The woodcutter was about fifty, very talkative, and he never stopped talking to Xu Zongwen along the way.
It turned out that this woodcutter was also a poor man. He was from the Central Plains. He served in the army when he was young, built a bridge for Shi Zhao, married a wife and gave birth to three sons. They were all captured and died on the battlefield.
Now more than ten years have passed, and his wife has left without holding on. Last year, the Qin army was defeated and looted the local area. He could not save several huts in Nanzheng, so he could only make a living by cutting firewood.
Now, I heard that my old friend was getting rich, so I asked someone to go to Nanzheng and give him a few coins. He refused to take it. He said he would rather be a gatekeeper than accept money for no reason. He cut a load of firewood and sold it on the road. , now we are finally going to Nanyang!
The carriage arrived in Nanyang in the evening when the sun was about to set.
The official road is cut off by a steep pass ten miles west of Nanyang City. Everyone passing by must check at this pass before entering the Nanyang area.
It was almost closing time, and the soldiers who were eager to get off duty were not angry with the two people who showed up so late.
"You guys stop! Accept inspection before entering customs."
The person who spoke was a thin sergeant, who looked like he was dressed as a city defender. He put his spear sideways on the wooden corners on both sides of the pass and shouted at Xu Zongwen, Zhang Si and the woodcutter.
Seeing this, the woodcutter hurriedly stopped the carriage, pulled the brake, took out the official certificate issued by the government from his arms and handed it to the soldier. This small piece of silk had his name, general appearance, place of origin, and type of household registration written on it. , and the village seal.
The sergeant checked it over and found no flaws. He raised his head and noticed Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si standing aside.
"What do you two do? Why haven't you ever done anything wrong?"
Xu Zongwen didn't blush when he lied, and immediately replied: "Back to the official, we are winemakers from Xincheng. We met this man on the official road, so we hitched a ride."
"What's wrong with you?" After listening to Xu Zongwen's words, the sergeant walked up to him, looked at him with suspicion, and shouted loudly: "Then why didn't you do anything wrong?"
Since the Han Dynasty, the vouchers used by people to pass through Guanjin include talismans, festivals, etc., which are also called customs clearance certificates.
"Zhou Li·Di Guan·Si Guan" "Anyone who pays bribes will be passed on in a certain way." Zheng Xuan, a great scholar of the Han Dynasty, annotated: "The document has been transferred now."
Hearing this, the woodcutter interjected: "We are all poor people, please let us enter the city!"
The sergeant turned his attention to the woodcutter, looked at the station and asked doubtfully: "You are from Hanzhong, why do you want to come to Nanyang?"
The woodcutter answered honestly: "I came to join an old acquaintance in Nanyang."
The sergeant didn't seem to believe him, and asked him to stand with his hands outstretched, and then began to search him.
The woodcutter's package contained only some old clothes, dry food, an old wind tent and a hatchet.
The sergeant checked his body again and again, but found nothing except a few lice. The reluctant sergeant picked up the water hyacinth from his waist, opened the lid and shook it hard, and heard a sound of water.
The identity of the woodcutter was confirmed, and then the sergeant focused his attention on Xu Zongwen again.
"Okay, it's your turn! Show me the evidence that proves your identity as a winemaker, otherwise you will be a workman of the Qin people!"
At this moment, a tall man, eight feet tall, wearing black light armor, came from Nanyang Pass. The dozen followers around him were all strong and well-equipped, and they were obviously officers of more than 50 soldiers. .
The big man in black armor had his first sword on his waist and crotch, and shouted: "Er Gouzi, what are you doing? Get off work quickly and let's go drink. Today Colonel Qin found a lot of good wine from the cellar of the Prefect's Mansion. General Zhuge's Guard Jia Si and I are old acquaintances, and he brought two altars to us."
"That's the best Sangluo wine!" After that, the first sergeant left without looking back.
As soon as Xu Zongwen heard the mulberry wine, he remembered the mellow fragrance and licked his chapped lips unconsciously!
"The color is as tender as nectar, and the fragrance is as fresh as nectar." Xu Zongwen closed his eyes and recited a wine poem, as if the mulberry wine was already in front of him, and the aroma of the wine was lingering around him.
"Do you really know how to drink?" At this time, Sergeant Ergou looked at Xu Zongwen with suspicion.
"Sangluojiu should be collected on the 9th day of the ninth lunar month before the sun rises. Nine buckets of water should be collected and poured into nine buckets of rice. On that day, nine buckets of rice should be cooked as a feed. The lower bucket should be poured into an empty urn, and the soup and hot fermentation should be cooked in the cauldron. , let the water upstream of the feeder be more than an inch deep and stop..."
Xu Zongwen knew the recipe of Sangluo Wine by heart, but he didn't know whether he really understood it or just made it up casually.
"You are really a winemaker!" Ergouzi looked at his colleagues, and most of his doubts were relieved.
These days, there are so many things that have not gone wrong, especially since the Battle of Feishui in Qin and Jin Dynasties, there have been many exchanges between the two countries. Refugees went south, and barbarians also went south. It is really difficult to tell whether there is any detailed work, all based on The mouth guarding the pass has the final say!
"Wait a minute, even if you are a winemaker, you can't enter the city without a guide or a famous assassin!" The other sergeant was extremely arrogant, with his nostrils pointing to the sky. He glanced at Xu Zongwen and the others with contempt, and stepped forward to stop him from entering. Xu Zongwen and two others.
"Are you deliberately making things difficult?" Xu Zongwen was a little unhappy and his tone was a little impatient.
Seeing that Xu Zongwen not only had no intention of taking out money to buy a way, but also stepped forward with his neck stiffened, the sergeant named Ergou felt a little weak in his legs.
For some reason, he always felt that the man in front of him was very imposing, and his angry words were full of energy. He didn't even show any flattery to the defenders. He seemed to have the confidence behind him, giving people an unfathomable feeling!
"What's wrong?" Seeing that the two men were not moving, the man in black light armor behind him started to confront Xu Zongwen and others again, and came over alone to find out.
Ergou was speechless, but his colleague's words were very harsh: "Captain Zhang, these people call themselves winemakers, but they have nothing wrong with them. I suspect that they are the Qin people pretending to be craftsmen, trying to deceive them into entering the country!"
Xu Zongwen didn't say anything, but Ergou interjected: "Captain Zhang, I think they are really winemakers. It doesn't look like they are craftsmen. This one can also make Sangluo wine!"
Ergou pointed at Xu Zongwen and explained from the side that he actually wanted to help Xu Zongwen.
"Who said that? Ergouzi, did they stuff you with money, so you spoke for them?" Ergou's colleagues chapter was just to embarrass Xu Zongwen, why did he not let Xu Zongwen enter the customs, and even framed him? Got one of his own.
Ergouzi cried out that he was wronged. Although there were some small traders going to and from Nanyang on weekdays, the guards would accept bribes overtly or covertly, euphemistically calling them passing money.
But Ergou has never been like this. He was born in a poor family, but he determined to be a good soldier who protects his home and his hometown. He has never harmed the people of Nanyang! Later, the Qin State was defeated, and Nanyang changed its owner not long ago. He followed the leader and surrendered to Zhuge Kan.
This bearded man was obviously looking for trouble. Seeing that Er Gou didn't move away, he immediately rounded his arms and shouted at Er Gou with a big mouth.
According to his violent strength, Ergou would have to lose half his life even if he was not afraid of death.
"Snapped!"
But at this moment, a thick and well-proportioned, young but powerful arm grabbed his wrist with great precision.
Immediately, a young voice sounded calmly: "Bold! Do you know who is standing in front of you?"
Just as the big man in black light armor was about to curse, another team of gangsters from behind the city gate rushed to the gate. The leader was the young man who grabbed Ergou's wrist.
Xu Zongwen covered his face with his hands. He knew from the young man's words that he was sent by Zhuge Kan.
"Okay, take us to see your Captain Qin quickly. Don't reveal a single word about this, otherwise!" Xu Zongwen didn't want to say the rest. There was no point in inflicting these threats on his own people.
The sergeants guarding the city gate still wanted to stop him. At this time, Zhang Si took out a token to conquer the North, and the young man also took out Zhuge Kan's handwriting from his tattered sleeve. Then, under the stunned gaze of the sergeants guarding the gate and the woodcutter, , Xu Zongwen was able to enter the city in a big way.
The big man in black light armor was stunned for a long time, and he slowly muttered a few words: "It's over! It's over! It's over--it's over!"
