Jiang Shuo followed Dugu Xiang's words and untied the baggage he was carrying and gave it to Li Zhuer. Li Zhuer thanked her softly, took it with both hands, put it behind her back, jumped up on the peach blossoms and scolded her, sat behind Dugu Xiang, and turned her head. He said to Jiang Shuo: "Yiwulu Mountain is located in Huaiyuan Town, a thousand miles southeast of here. If you want to go south, you have to pass through the Yan army's camp. It will cause problems, so it's better to take a detour. Let's go north to cross the weak road first." After falling into the water, then go all the way east to the ancient city of Fuyu and then turn south. You won't run into the Yan army if you take this road, but you will have to travel five hundred miles more."
Jiang Shuo said: "Grandpa's injury cannot be delayed. It is better to risk passing through the Yan army camp. We only have four people and two cavalry, and we may not be discovered."
Li Zhuer said: "You don't have to worry about the normal drag down the river. If you encounter Liu Yao, it will be troublesome if you fight. Although the detour is five hundred miles longer, it is mostly smooth on the plains by the river. Compared with going directly to the east, It's a lot easier to walk through the mountains and forests. These two harnesses are good horses for a thousand miles, and it only takes half a day to travel the north road."
Dugu Wen stood in front of Jiang Shuo and said, "Xiao Nizi is right, let's take the north road."
Jiang Shuo said, "Okay, sister Zhu'er, then I'll ask you to show me the way."
Li Zhuer nodded and pointed the direction. The four people and two horses walked north for an hour or two and arrived at the bank of the weak Luoshui River. The summer flood had not yet begun and the river was not very deep. The four people found a sandbank and crossed the river. After falling into the water, we arrived at the north bank. As expected, the road was slightly flatter than the south bank. Jiang Shuo and Xiang'er let the hay, jade-topped yellow and peach blossoms spur the two horses to gallop.
After driving for three hundred miles like this, it was already dark. Li Zhuer said: "Further ahead is the prairie. Although there are no Yan army camps here, there will be patrol posts. It is too dangerous to pass by during the day. Let's go on the starry night. Cross this grassland!"
Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang were concerned about Dugu Wen's injury, and after hearing Li Zhuer say that they were traveling on a starry night, they were naturally willing to do so. It was a moonlit night with few stars, but the grassland was open and there were no obstacles. The two horses were still galloping very fast on the grassland. The three of them had extraordinary internal strength. They closed their eyes and adjusted their breaths on the horses without feeling very tired. Dugu Wen then Under the comfort of Jiang Shuo's internal energy, he leaned against Jiang Shuo and fell asleep.
After another five hundred miles of galloping all night, at dawn, another large river appeared in the south, converging with Weilaishui. Looking south from the intersection of the two rivers, there was an endless sea of grass. Li Zhuer said: "This water It is named Tuhuzhen, also known as Xiliao River."
Jiang Shuo said, "Then let's just go south?"
Li Zhuer said: "To the south here is a vast prairie thousands of miles away, which is called the land of "Huo'er Shen". "Huo'er Shen" means archer, because this grassland is the most suitable for archers to practice shooting. The Khitan people Most of the sharpshooters come from this grassland, and the archers of the Tulu tribe under Hang Han are Huoershen. "
Dugu Xiang said: "The reason why archers appear in Huo'er Shen's land is because there is nowhere for prey to hide and it is suitable for practicing archery. If we go south, won't we also become the prey of Yan's army? It seems we have to go east." ?」
Li Zhuer said with a smile: "Sister Xiang'er is really smart as ice and snow. It is difficult to hide in the Huoer Shen grassland when the grass is lush. What's more, the grass has just sprouted now. The Yan army's scouts can spot our whereabouts from several miles away. Let's move forward. Travel another four hundred miles and spend the night in Buyeo Old Town tonight."
Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang both nodded in agreement, but the two horses were too tired after galloping all day and night, so everyone dismounted and slowed down their horses to rest their legs. Jiang Shuo hugged Dugu Wen across his chest and pressed his hand on the governor's pulse on his back. The big acupuncture points are still being filled with internal energy. These two horses are really great horses. They stop and go, drink water and eat grass. After about half an hour, they become energetic again. The two horses also know that their master is in a hurry, and they keep barking. , urging everyone to get on their horses, so everyone got on their horses again and started again.
I ran like this for two hours, rested for half an hour, and traveled another four hundred miles in one day. I saw a large city appearing on the north bank of the weak water. This ancient city was not small in size. It was different from the Central Plains fortress. The city wall was round, and the city wall was not It is made of rammed earth, but a wooden palisade wall.
Dugu Xiang saw from a distance that there were black-armored guards guarding the city gate, and he couldn't help but worry: "What kind of city is this? Is it the Yan army guarding the city?"
Jiang Shuo had excellent eyesight. Leaving Li Xu, he could clearly see the clothes of the guards and the flags on the city from a distance. He shook his head and said, "It's not the dress of Yan Jun, and the flags are not Chinese characters. I can't understand them."
Li Zhuer said: "This city is the old city of Fuyu. This is the eastern edge of the grassland. We will spend the night in the city tonight and go south tomorrow. After another thousand miles, we will reach Huaiyuan Town."
Jiang Shuo said: "I heard that the people in the north are not good at building cities. How can there be such a big city here?"
Li Zhuer said: "When the ancient Fuyu Kingdom was at its most powerful, it was said to be an area of two thousand miles. There were four tribes in total. The west was Donghu, the ancestor of our Khitan people, the north was Sushen, the east was Haoqi, and the south was the Shang tribe. The tribe is the descendant of the merchants who went north to Liaodong after the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty. They are Han people and naturally built cities."
Jiang Shuo said: "I didn't expect Fuyu to be a big country in the north, but this city seems to be very different from the Han system, but what's going on?"
Li Zhuer said: "More than three hundred years ago, when Goguryeo rose, it continued to encroach on the land of Buyeo. About two hundred and fifty years ago, the royal city of Buyeo was finally conquered by Goguryeo. Since then, Buyeo has destroyed the country. The Han system established at that time The city wall was naturally destroyed, and this wooden fence was rebuilt during the Goguryeo period."
Dugu Wen sighed: "I heard that Fuyu was founded in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, but it was destroyed in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It lasted for 600 years, but it lasted longer than Zuo of the Han Dynasty..."
While talking, they arrived at the gate of the city. Li Zhuer took out a copy of the public examination and handed it to the guard at the gate. The guard was very arrogant, but after seeing the public examination, he handed it back respectfully with both hands and let everyone enter the city. He didn't know what Li Zhuer was doing. Everything that comes from anywhere can be verified, and it can be passed through the border city without any hindrance.
After entering the city, in order to save the strength of the two horses, Li Zhuer, Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang dismounted and walked, leaving Dugu Wen lying on his yellow back with a jade top of hay. Jiang Shuo still held Dugu Wen's wrist with one hand, not daring to lose energy. After a pause, Li Zhuer seemed to be quite familiar with this city. After entering the city, he did not enter the center of the city, but led everyone along the city wall and walked around the city.
Dugu Xiang pointed forward and said, "Hey, what is this?"
Everyone looked in the direction of her finger, but they saw a rammed earth fortress. The wooden gate wall was less than one foot high, much lower than the Central Plains city wall. The earth fortress was more than two feet high, and it was square, similar to the wooden gate wall. Very different.
Li Zhuer said abruptly: "Let's go up to the earthen fort and have a look."
Jiang Shuo wondered: "Grandpa is not feeling well, but now is not the time to wait and look far away, it is better to find an inn to rest first."
Li Zhuer didn't reply and had already got in through the doorway under the earthen castle.
Dugu Wen said to Jiang Shuo, "It's okay. I've been lying on the horse for two days and one night. Shuo'er, please let me stretch my muscles."
So Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang tied their two horses under the fort. It was daytime and there were many people. Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang did not dare to use their shocking light skills and jumped directly onto the earth fort. They helped Dugu Wen on the left and the right. He also followed Li Zhuer into the fort and climbed the wooden ladder to the top.
This earthen fort is the commanding heights of the city, but there is no soldier guarding it. At this moment, hundreds of thousands of Yan troops and the Khitan people in Songmo are fighting fiercely hundreds of miles away, but the weapons here are loose, and there is no tense atmosphere of war. There is a peaceful, peaceful atmosphere. Lively peaceful scene.
Climbing the earthen fortress and looking north, you can have a panoramic view of the entire city. This city is indeed different from Zhongyuan City. There are no lanes to separate it. Looking around, you can see that residential buildings and businesses are lined up in rows, and it is chaotic. But because of this, it seems that It is very lively, full of fireworks, and the streets are wide and crowded with business travelers. It is hard to imagine that there is such a prosperous metropolis in Northland.
Dugu asked Nian Xu, "Looking at the scale, I'm afraid there are no less than 100,000 households."
Looking to the south, I saw a broken earth wall extending from the south of the earth fort. Looking from the rammed earth platform below, this earth wall was probably as high as a person, but now it is only about three or four feet tall. This earthen wall is very long, rising straight to the bank of the Weilaishui River. There are also earthen forts and earthen walls on the other side of the river, meandering intermittently towards the south until they submerge into the sea of grass on the horizon with no end in sight.
Jiang Shuo said: "This earthen fortress is very complete, and in terms of shape, it is quite different from other buildings in Fuyu City. It looks like... but looks like..."
Dugu Xiang was the first to say: "It looks like a small Great Wall."
Li Zhuer nodded and said: "This earthen fortress and earthen wall were built by the Goguryeo people. After the destruction of Fuyu, this area was occupied by Goguryeo and was renamed Buyeofu. The Goguryeo people ruled here for more than two hundred years. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, , Goguryeo and the Central Plains were at odds with each other, and the two sides continued to conquer. The Goguryeo people built a thousand-mile earth fortress along the Daliao River, starting from the sea in the south, and reaching Buyeo Prefecture in the north, which was called the Goguryeo Thousand-mile Great Wall."
Duguwen shook his head and said, "The King of Goguryeo
How stupid. The Great Wall of Han Dynasty was much grander and taller than this earthen fortress. It could not stop the northerners from invading south. How could this small earthen fortress Great Wall defend against the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty? "
Li Zhuer said: "The old man is right. In the first year of the General Chapter, the Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo. Fuyu Prefecture belonged to the Hebei Province of the Tang Dynasty, but now it is under the jurisdiction of the Bohai Governor's Office."
Dugu Xiang asked, "What's going on with the Bohai Governor?"
Li Zhuer said: "This is about today's saint. In the first year of Kaiyuan, Sumo Mohe, a descendant of the Sushen tribe in the north, Da Zuorong, the leader of the Zhen Kingdom, occupied the hometown of Fuyu. At this time, the saint first ascended to the great treasure, and the country was not yet stable. Therefore, the frontier residents were mainly Huairen, and Da Zuorong was granted the title of "King of Bohai County" and the governor of Huhan Prefecture. From then on, "Zhen Kingdom" was renamed "Bohai Kingdom", and its capital was Fuyu Prefecture. "
Dugu Xiang said: "Ah? The first year of Kaiyuan was twenty or thirty years ago...Brother Shuo, how many years ago?"
Jiang Shuo said: "Thirty-two years." He thought, more than thirty years ago, it was the time when Beimingzi was born. Is this another coincidence?
Li Zhuer continued: "Fuyu Prefecture has Fuzhou and Xianzhou under its jurisdiction. Although Bohai Kingdom later moved its capital to Aodong City, Fuyu Prefecture is still the largest city in Bohai Kingdom, with a population of nearly 500,000. This is also the place where Pinglu and An Lushan is an important border trade town in the Bohai Kingdom. Anlushan relies heavily on the border trade here, and is very respectful to the King of Bohai. Therefore, this place is not affected by the war at all, and it is a peaceful scene of singing and dancing."
While they were talking, another person climbed onto the earthen fort and crossed his hands to Li Zhuer and said, "Miss Zhuer, you have finally arrived."
