Zhang Shou took Principal Wang back, and was able to resolve the matter of detaining officials on the first trip to negotiate with Shao Xi, which was a happy thing for Zhang Shou.
As for Jingyuan's mission to enter Southern Zhao, as Shao Xi said, it might be delayed for a day or two. He had to help Tao Qingyun repair the governor's mansion before leaving. After all, he was the one who caused the trouble.
Tao Qingyun persuaded Shao Xi several times, saying that you have paid the money and found the people. It's time to get down to business. You can just leave the matter of repairing the house to yourself. But Shao Xi was so determined that he would not leave until at least the main hall was repaired. Tao Qingyun kept blaming himself, saying that his house collapsed and delayed the mission.
Two days later, the main hall of the Sheriff's Mansion was finally repaired. Tao Qingyun begged his grandfather to sue his grandmother, and finally got Shao Xi to agree to lead the delegation to Southern Zhao. Before leaving, Tao Qingyun wanted to return the bead to Shao Xi, but Shao Xi shoved it back and told him that he could sell the bead and use the money he got in exchange for whatever he wanted, and he could help whoever he wanted. who.
Tao Qingyun couldn't resist him, so he had to accept it, and sent someone to the market to buy an exquisite box. He put the red tiger bite silver knife inside and gave it to Shao Xi, which was considered as his own contribution.
Shao Xi asked Tao Qingyun to repair the house, and when he came back from his mission to Nan Zhao, he would no longer stay in the post house, but live directly in the governor's house. This made Tao Qingyun very happy, and told Shao Xi that he would do the best That room was left to him.
After saying goodbye to each other, Shao Xi followed the delegation and left Nanshui County for Nanzhao Kingdom.
Shao Xi didn't have to worry about the mission at all. Xu Maocheng took care of all the daily affairs. Shao Xi and Lao Wu rode horses and walked slowly in the queue, looking at the scenery. Zhang Shou followed and kept introducing the characteristics and allusions of various scenery to Shao Xi. It was obvious that he was very aware of being a tour guide.
The land of Nanling is rugged and difficult to travel. Even the official road is much more difficult to walk than the Central Plains. Therefore, the entire mission and the reception group are not moving very fast. However, Shao Xi is not in a hurry anyway and just takes it as a Go out and enjoy the mountains and rivers.
Shao Xi is not in a hurry, but Zhang Shou is! If he brought the delegation to the capital as early as possible, he would hand over the mission as soon as possible, and avoid long nights and nightmares about establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. But now the traveling speed is really slow, so he kept urging the reception group in front to speed up and lead the delegation quickly.
Another reason why Zhang Shou was anxious was that he guessed that Fu Zuoliang would definitely arrange for people to block the mission along the way, and might even send someone to assassinate Shao Xi, thereby provoking conflicts between the two countries and creating a hostile situation. Although Shao Xi said that no one in Southern Zhao could kill him, the attack on the mission was not a trivial matter! The impact on both countries would be extremely bad, so he had been thinking of rushing back to the capital to avoid being so worried along the way.
But the problem is, he didn't consider that the mission had been delayed at the border for so many days. Even he had been out for a few days. If they really wanted to attack the mission, they would have already arrived at the ambush. You can just go faster. It's just a matter of getting to the ambush site earlier. If an attack is going to happen, no matter how fast we go, it's basically unavoidable.
As a result, Shao Xi, the person involved, was calm and unhurried along the way. On the contrary, the person responsible for leading the way was always on tenterhooks and cautious. He would be extremely nervous if there was any slight disturbance. A typical example of "the emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is in a hurry." .
When Zhang Shou rushed from the capital to the border, he traveled lightly, and it took him three days to arrive. Now, this large group of people has been wandering like this for three days, and they have only covered less than half of the distance. This is terrible. Zhang Shou was so anxious.
Seeing that he was about to reach the most dangerous Jiakou Valley ahead, he became even more nervous.
The reason why the Jiakou Valley is called Jiakou is precisely because the exits on both sides of the valley are narrow and the middle is wide. After entering the valley, if the exits on both sides are blocked, it will be difficult for people in the valley to break out of the valley, so this This is the most suitable place for an ambush.
What Zhang Shou is most worried about is that Fu Zuoliang will send someone to set up an ambush here and raid the mission to assassinate Shao Xi.
The most terrible thing was that just as we were about to reach the Jiakou Valley, the sky turned dark again. If you don't go into the valley, you're afraid of delaying your trip, but it will get dark before you can go far into the valley, so you have to spend the night in the valley. Wouldn't this be more dangerous? This made Zhang Shou confused for a while, not knowing what to do.
The team stopped at the mouth of the valley and mooted for a long time. Finally, Shao Xi became impatient and gave an order. The whole team entered the mouth of the valley and headed towards the middle of the valley.
Zhang Shou couldn't resist Shao Xi and had no choice but to agree to enter the valley, but repeatedly reminded the reception group and the mission's guards to strengthen their defenses and be ready to respond to emergencies at any time to avoid losses to the mission.
"Master Shao, this Jiakou Valley is the most suitable place to set up an ambush and raid. Why do you still want to send your delegation into such a dangerous place? You know, we can only spend the night in the valley after dark."
Shao Xi looked up at the cliffs on both sides of the canyon and asked meaningfully: "Master Zhang, are you afraid that we will encounter a night attack here?"
Zhang Shou nodded quickly and replied: "That's right! The terrain here is dangerous, which is suitable for ambushes and sneak attacks. Now we have got in by ourselves. If we rest here after dark, it will be difficult to break out if we are attacked. Isn't this natural? Throw yourself into a trap?”
"Master Zhang, do you think that even if we wait until daytime tomorrow to enter this valley, if someone is ambushing us, they will give up the attack on us and let us pass because it is daytime?"
Zhang Shou replied without thinking: "Of course not. Since we have set up an ambush here, they will attack us whenever we pass by. But if we pass by here during the day, we can quickly pass through the valley without having to If you stay here, you might pass by. Now if you stay here overnight for too long, wouldn't it be even more dangerous?"
Shao Xi smiled bitterly and shook his head. He suddenly realized that Zhang Shou was sometimes very naive and thought about things very simply.
"If someone is determined to launch a sneak attack on us here, we will be attacked no matter when we pass by. Maybe the people ambushing on both sides of the cliff have been lying here for two or three days. This is different from us passing by during the day. It doesn't matter if the night passes from now on. As long as we come in, they will take action. Since we are going to meet sooner or later, why should we delay it until tomorrow?"
Lao Wu interjected and asked: "Since you already think there is an ambush on both sides of the cliff, why do you still let the envoys enter the valley and spend the night here?"
Shao Xi asked playfully: "Old Wu, do you think it is easier to sabotage this mission, attack the mission or assassinate me, and have a greater chance of success?"
"You still need to ask? Of course it's an attack on the mission! In order to assassinate you, I have to find you first. After I find you, I have to be able to beat you. If I can beat you, I have to be able to catch up with you. Isn't this a nonsense question? "
"Isn't this the end? So attacking the mission is the main task, and assassinating me is just the icing on the cake. So since we are going to attack the mission, even if it is not here, it will definitely happen before we arrive at Yongchuan City. Now here It is the most suitable place to take action. They know it and we also know that instead of being caught off guard in a place we did not expect, wouldn't it be better to wait for them to take action in this place where we are mentally prepared? This is just like back then. We catch turtle doves the same way. They want to eat our bait, and if we want to catch them, then we have to put the bait in a place where they and we can see it, and then we wait for them to eat it. It’s easy to catch them.”
Old Wu and Zhang Shou opened their eyes wide at the same time, looked at Shao Xi with surprise, and asked in unison: "Are you going to put yourself and the envoy here as bait for them to eat?"
Zhang Shou followed up and asked, "Master Shao, are you still planning to catch them?"
Shao Xi smiled mysteriously and said something they had never heard before.
"I wonder if you have ever heard of such a saying? The best hunters often appear in the form of prey."
Not to mention Zhang Shou, even Lao Wu had never heard of such a sentence. He was very puzzled that he had raised this child for so many years and never taught him this thing! Where did he learn this from? Why do you feel like this kid is more like an old fox than yourself?
"Master, what are you going to do?"
"Wait until dark! After dark, let the guards of the mission disperse quietly and lurk secretly under the cliff. When someone slides down the cliff, ask them to hide and don't show their heads. Remind the guards of the reception group to do their best. We will wait for the sneak attack to approach. When they approach the station, we will make dumplings in reverse and attack from both sides. As for the people who may come in from the valley entrance on both sides, we estimate that we have almost solved them by the time we arrive. Lao Wu, you lead the team Break forward and I'll hold off the rear. As soon as they get out of the gorge in front, we'll block them in the valley."
Old Wu and Zhang Shou were both dumbfounded. You weren't waiting for someone to sneak up on you. Did you plan to sneak up on them from the beginning?
Pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger was really played by this old man!
But when they thought about it, Shao Xi was right. Rather than passively defending, it is better to take the initiative and directly defeat the opponent, so as to avoid trouble along the way. So the two agreed to Shao Xi's plan and arranged for someone to inform them. According to Shao Xi, the guards of the mission quietly dispersed after dark, while the guards of the reception team continued to be on guard, ready to deal with possible sneak attacks at any time. .
Needless to say, the guards of the mission, after leaving Jing Yuan Kingdom, Shao Xi's words were like imperial edicts, and they obeyed absolutely and unconditionally. As for the guards of the reception group, they were originally affiliated with the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Shou was the minister of the Ministry of Rites, so naturally he obeyed their orders.
The large group of people moved slowly. When it got dark, the guards in the group began to spread out bit by bit to avoid attracting attention to the collective actions of many people.
Before they were completely dispersed, the team was still moving forward slowly in the dark. After everyone was dispersed as planned, the team of the delegation and the reception team stopped in the middle of the canyon and lit a bonfire on the spot. Set up camp and act like you're staying there for the night.
The bait had been dropped, and the people on the cliffs on both sides of the valley looked at the piles of bonfires lit in the center of the valley, and they all believed that what was in front of them was their prey. What they don't know is that they are also prey to the man sitting by the campfire, but they just don't know it.
Shao Xi smiled and said to Lao Wu: "You have never caught such a big turtle dove, right?"
Some people died, but not completely...
