Seeing that smart men like Cao Cao had nothing to say, Fang Qifu became more confident and immediately ordered everyone to follow the plan. The army gradually left Fuyang, went south along the river, and headed straight for Muzhou.
Muzhou governed six counties, and the state capital was located in Xin'an County. Thousands of years later, the sons of the Han family gathered their might, changed the land and the sky, and dug hills into the mountains to form a lake, which is called Qiandao Lake.
As for Fangla's Laochao Bangyuan Cave, it is more than a hundred miles northwest of Xin'an County and hidden deep in the mountains.
From Fuyang County to Xin'an County, it was a journey of 240 to 50 miles, passing through Tonglu County. Lao Cao and others traveled 200 miles in three days without stopping. That evening, when they reached the foot of a ridge, Lao Cao raised his eyes and looked, oh! What a steep mountain!
But seeing that it was majestic and dangerous, shaped like a saddle, and there was a pass built on the ridge, and the tiger looked at the road below the ridge, it was really a pass that only one man could pass, and no one could open it, so he hurriedly asked Fang Qifu: "This ridge is What’s the name?”
Fang Qifu said: "Brother Song, the good teacher, learned that this mountain is called Wulong Mountain, and this ridge is called Wulong Ridge. It is the eastern gateway to Muzhou. There are many deep mountains here, and there are many mountains. If you want to go in and out of Muzhou, , Unless we take a detour from Yuezhou and cross the river to Jiande County, if we take the land route, the only good road under this mountain is feasible."
After saying that, he shook his head and read out a poem, which was "Crossing Wulong Ridge" by the now famous talented scholar Fan Jun. The poem said -
"In that year, the scales on the dragon's side are broken. It should be the wind and thunder fighting ghosts and gods.
The north-south road is dug in twists and turns, benefiting famous people as they come and go.
Qin Yun is surrounded by Chu trees, outside the blue sky, and Yuxu is surrounded by mountains and seashores.
Looking down, the Capricola City is as big as the palm of your hand, and the sound of the city's chirping is darkened by the red dust. "
While Cao Cao pretended to appreciate it, he couldn't help but be secretly alarmed: If a general is guarding such a dangerous place, it would be difficult for thousands of troops to enter, so how can I do anything about it?
Until Fang Qifu finished reciting, Lao Cao laughed deliberately and said: "Good poem, the road is so dangerous that this place is so dangerous. Haha, isn't this God's blessing for your religion? We can only hold on here firmly, and even a child and a horse can't enter Muzhou." "
Fang Qifu said proudly: "That's right! There are currently only three hundred soldiers and horses stationed at this pass. Now that Hangzhou has been lost, it has become important. When I arrive in Muzhou, I will have to send the general's elite troops to guard it. I'll wait Then we can recharge our batteries and wait until Tong Guan is exhausted from attacking, then send out a large army to fight him decisively."
Cao Cao thought about his previous thoughts and thought to himself: I underestimated Fang Qifu. He didn't know how to exhaust his troops. He just had this dangerous situation to rely on, so there was no need to waste any more effort.
Then he tested the words and said: "Although the dangerous pass is sufficient, the left envoy should not be careless. How majestic was the Xishu sword pavilion in the past? But it was attacked by Deng Ai on the Yinping trail and died."
Fang Qifu whispered: "To be honest with Brother Song, there is indeed a rugged path behind Wulong Ridge. Although few people know it, they are afraid of being discovered by the officers and soldiers. But brother is not Jiang Wei, so he must send someone to guard it carefully. .”
Cao Cao secretly remembered it in his heart and moved forward again. When he came across the ridge, he saw four generals leading hundreds of people and horses, blocking him on the way with smiles on their faces. When he saw Fang Qifu, he saluted from a distance: "Fang Qifu" Mr. Zuo, I haven’t seen you yet, and I will miss you so much.”
Fang Qifu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Brother, why are you making these false claims? Just wait and I will teach you how to recognize some earth-shattering good men."
Those few stepped forward with smiles, and Fang Qifu said: "Brother Song, these four are the four chief naval officers under the command of Shenggong. They are famously called the 'Four Dragons of Zhejiang'. This one is the 'Jade Claw Dragon', the chief officer of the capital." Gui, this is Deputy General Manager Jinlin Dragon Zhai Yuan, left deputy manager Qiao Zheng, Chongbo Dragon, and right deputy manager Xizhulong Xie Fu. If they are in the water, they all have the ability to stop a hundred people. .”
The four of them all humbly said: "Zuo Shi is not worthy of the award. My brother's little ability is not worth mentioning."
Fang Qifu introduced Cao Cao and others again. Zhejiang Silong heard that the heroes from Liangshan came thousands of miles to help and fought with great strength in every fight. He couldn't help but feel the loyalty of Cao Cao and others, and said many words of admiration.
Fang Qifu said: "It's getting late now, so I can stay overnight in his water village and it won't be too late to leave tomorrow."
Silong smiled and said: "The four of me came to greet you on the road, that's exactly what I meant."
Now he led the way forward and turned around a small road to reach the water village. Cao Cao looked around and saw that the village was backed by Wulong Mountain and faced the Fuchun River in the south. It was in the same corner as Wulong Mountain and occupied a large area. There are four to five hundred warships moored, and counting the houses, there should be more than five thousand sailors.
Zhejiang Silong arranged accommodation for all the troops and held a banquet in honor of the leaders. During the dinner, they talked, saying that Si Xingfang and others had just passed by yesterday, and they talked about the story of several injuries without any emotion or sigh.
Fang Qifu said a few words to him, and suddenly thought of something: "The eldest prince should have passed by here a few days ago. Didn't you see him?"
The four dragons looked at each other, shook their heads and said, "I've never seen it before. Could it be that the eldest prince was in a hurry and went straight over?"
Fang Qifu frowned and felt slightly uneasy. He summoned a smart soldier, lit a lantern and went up to the ridge. The general guarding the pass called him to the water stronghold and asked him: "A few days ago, Prince Tianding returned with hundreds of horses." Muzhou, have you ever seen this group of people at Guan Guan again?"
The general shook his head repeatedly: "Envoy Zuo, the young general was ordered to guard the pass and did not dare to slack off day and night. Not to mention hundreds of people, even dozens of people, could not escape my eyes. However, these days, except for the large numbers of people passing by, You are the same team as Li Shuai yesterday."
When Fang Qifu heard this, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and the silver cup in his hand was crushed by him. He murmured: "It's a bad thing, it's a bad thing, it shouldn't be like this..."
Cao Cao knew it well. He had paid attention to Fan Rui's actions before, and Fan Rui had already found an opportunity to report. At this moment, he actually admired Xin Xingzong——
Although this person is not very capable at leading troops and fighting, he is very good at doing these things! Although there were not many people around Fang Tianding. At any rate, there were five or six hundred people, and they all had mounts. They had been silent for the past few days. Cao Cao thought that Xin Xingzong had never taken action or caught up with him. At this moment, it seemed that not only had he succeeded, but he had not even received any news. I really don’t know how this person did it.
However, there was also a look of hard thinking on his face, and he shook his head and said: "I have been waiting in Fuyang County for two days, and not a single officer or soldier knocked on the gate. Tian Ding is also protected by Li Tianyou. I think there will be no mistakes. Maybe it is In a moment of impatience, I strayed off the road, and there was no way to know.”
He was pretending to be pretentious when suddenly "Jade Claw Dragon" Cheng Gui slapped the table and exclaimed: "Speaking of the eldest prince, I remembered something. A few days ago, Qiao Zheng and I went hunting and playing, and met Princess Jinzhi. Twenty or thirty female soldiers hurried eastward. The general was curious and asked her whereabouts. The princess said that some old friend was looking for her and wanted to meet her. Did you meet her on the way? "
Cao Cao was watching the excitement and was secretly happy. When he heard this, his expression suddenly changed. He jumped up suddenly, kicked over several cases in front of him, pointed at Cheng Gui and cursed: "It's such a big thing, you should tell me when we meet, what's the matter?" Did you just think of it at this time? Now that all the troops have withdrawn, Hangzhou has become a world dominated by officers and soldiers. When a woman from Jinzhi looks east, isn't it like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth! What a 'jade-clawed dragon', I think the loaches are smarter than you!"
Along the way, he talked about loyalty and showed kindness on his face. How could he be so violent and angry?
Although Fang Qifu was also frightened by the incident about the princess, he was frightened by Lao Cao before he could react. He stared blankly at Lao Cao as he walked out and shouted: "Shi Dalang, go summon our brothers, Qi Fozi , Lend me a few hundred horses from the army, I will go rescue Jinzhi first...and my brother Tianding, you go to Muzhou to arrange defenses, see you later."
All the Liangshan brothers stood up together, and as Lao Cao rushed out, Li Kui pointed at Cheng Gui's nose before leaving and said viciously: "If Miss Fang makes a mistake, I will tell you about my 'Black Whirlwind' method!"
Not long after, people outside the camp started shouting and neighing. A general rushed into the room and reported: "Envoy Zuo, Commander Shi, the people from Liangshan have snatched all our horses..."
It turns out that under Lao Cao, only the archers and cavalrymen had horses, and the other spearmen and sword and shield bearers only had legs. Now that he was in a hurry, he naturally wanted to snatch Fang Qifu's horses. Fortunately, when these elite soldiers were training in Qingzhou, their riding skills had improved. After practicing, although you can't fight immediately, it is enough for traveling.
Fang Qifu looked at the furious general and the confused and angry Zhejiang Silong. He couldn't help but rub his nose strangely and was puzzled: Why did Song Jiang react so violently? Is this our Mingjiao princess or their Liangshan princess?
This means that Li Kui left first, otherwise he would have pointed his nose and sprayed saliva on his face: You are the only one who is called a wise general? Your Mingjiao princess is our mistress of Liangshan. Isn't it difficult to guess?
Although Fang Qifu couldn't guess it, fortunately there were still people who knew the truth. Shi Bao raised his hand with a weak expression: "Qifuzi, there is something that I haven't mentioned to you before..."
This is exactly what happened: Lao Cao was eating melon with a smile on his face, but unexpectedly his house was set on fire. Who cares about destiny? Jin Zhi's encounters should be uneventful.
(End of chapter)
