The wealthy guests from all the halls in Caobang bowed to Jiang Shuo one by one and left. Ye Qingyao naturally followed Jiang Shuo. Among the heroes from all walks of life in Caobang, Henan, only Wang Qiyao refused to leave. He said that Puzhou Grandpa has enough manpower. He was not the only one missing, Jiang Shuo also loved his talent as a marksman. This time he was able to break through the city gate and get out of the city, thanks to Wang Qiyao's marksmanship, so he did not drive him away and kept him by his side.
Hun Weiming was originally going to go to the west with Jiang Shuo, but Jiang Shuo said that if the water transportation was not smooth this year, it would further solidify the Cao Gang's excuse for rebellion. Even if it was difficult, it was still necessary to ensure smooth water transportation. Now the only top four leader in the entire Cao Gang was Brother Hun. There was only one person left with great achievements, so he was asked to stay in the Central Plains to take charge of the overall situation. The key to water transportation was Tongji Canal, so Hun Weiming also said goodbye and went to Bianzhou.
Xie Yansheng is from Jingzhao Prefecture, so he will definitely not be able to return to this house. However, he has many residences in the counties around Chang'an. He invited Jiang Shuo to live in the villa on Niushou Mountain in Hu County, between Zhongnan Mountain and Chang'an, Xijing. Although the villa is not as good as Wang Wei's Wangchuan Villa, it is comfortable and peaceful, but Jiang Shuo is not in the mood to enjoy the scenery at the moment.
After staying there for five days, news came out from the city that Xijing had been closed for three days, but no rebels and accomplices were found in the city. Now things have returned to normal, Xie Yansheng sent people to retrieve the horses from Chunming Gate's inner residence.
The old yellow horse has been well fed these past few days, but the thousand-mile horse doesn't like life in a stable. Seeing Jiang Shuo again, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and knew that he could gallop around the mountains and rivers again. I couldn't hold it any longer and immediately set off for Kongtong Mountain.
When Xie Yanshengdao was causing trouble in the capital, many officers and soldiers had seen Jiang Shuo. It was still too dangerous to go out now, so it was better to hide for a while. Jiang Shuo did not want to wait any longer. Ye Qingyao said that it was not difficult to set off now, he only needed to disguise himself.
When going to Kongtong Mountain to rescue people, horses are indispensable when returning to the Central Plains. Ye Qingyao suggested that it be better to dress up as a caravan and select twenty or thirty horses to act as pack horses. The goods on them are naturally hidden from others. They look bulging, but in fact They are all light things.
Ye Qingyao blackened Jiang Shuo and Wang Qiyao's faces, glued on their beards, put on black robes with white edges, and black wide-brimmed bamboo hats, pretending to be Nanzhao merchants. The reason why he pretended to be Nanzhao people was because he was traveling west There are many Hu people on the road, and none of them understand the Hu language. If you pretend to be a Hu merchant and meet other Hu merchants to talk, it will be easy to reveal your secret if you can't answer the answer. Therefore, pretending to be a Nanzhao merchant, which is extremely rare in the pass, is not easy to be seen through, and Nanzhao Bai is white. The barbarians speak Chinese, their appearance is similar to that of the Han people but slightly darker, and they are easy to change.
He also asked Jing Kuanren to pretend to be an old servant, and Ye Qingyao himself to disguise himself as a man and pretend to be Jiang Shuo's servant. Xie Yansheng sent ten gang members to pretend to be handymen. Such a small-scale "Nanzhao" The "caravan" has been formed.
Ye Qingyaodao, Wang Qiyao, and Jing Kuanren each picked a horse as a mount. Jiang Shuo still rode the old yellow horse, and the other servants also rode their own horses. They said goodbye to Xie Yansheng and headed all the way to Pingliang Kongtong Mountain.
Ye Qingyao knew the roads in Guanzhong quite well. She led everyone to go north for sixty miles, crossed the Wei River in the south of Xianyang City, the old capital of Qin State, then turned west and bypassed Jincheng County, and walked another sixty miles. A small earthen fortress blocked the road.
This small city has low walls, watchtowers at four corners, and only two east and west gates. The post road enters from the east and exits from the west gate, passing straight through the city.
Jiang Shuo wondered: "This small earth city does not look like a city, nor does it look like a town. It's really strange."
Ye Qingyao said: "This is Mawei Station."
Naturally, the "caravan" can't move fast because of the large number of people. It was already lunch time when we arrived here early in the morning. Ye Qingyao said: "We will stop and stay here. Tomorrow we will go to Yong County to stay overnight, and then go to Long County." After entering the mountains, we can reach Pingliang in three to five days.
Xie Yansheng had already forged a complete set of formalities for them. When they passed the city gate, the chief guard guarding the city took a few more glances. Jiang Shuo felt nervous, but Ye Qingyao understood it and stuffed a string of Kaiyuan Tongbao into the chief guard. In his hand, Shi Chang immediately smiled and waved to let him go.
Everyone pretended to be businessmen, so the official post was naturally not accessible, but Mawei Post was quite bustling and lively. On both sides of the official road, countless Nilu business inns were built around the official post. Everyone randomly found a Di shop, which was the front restaurant. After staying in the hotel, Ye Qingyao came forward and asked for five rooms. The Cangtou servants lived in one large room, and the four of them each lived in a single room.
He ordered two more tables of wine and food, and a large table of wine and food for the ten servants, and sent it to him.
They went to eat in their big house, and the other table of food and wine was sent to the outside. Jiang Shuo and the other four found a seat facing the street and sat down.
While waiting for the food to be served, Jiang Shuo saw that most of the people on the street were businessmen, including many Hu people with green eyes and curly beards. He asked Ye Qingyao, "Sister Qingyao, why are there so many Hu people in the shops here?" Merchant?"
Ye Qingyao said: "The name of this place is Maweiyi, which belongs to Jincheng County. This place is a hillside that is high in the north and low in the south. There is a dense masson pine forest on the slope, so it was originally called Maweipo."
Wang Qiyao looked around and said, "You can see that it's high in the north and low in the south, but I can't see the pine forest."
Ye Qingyao smiled and said, "Yao Lang, don't worry, just listen to me."
Wang Qiyao is already in his early twenties, older than Jiang Shuo and Ye Qingyao, but he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child and has just come out of the mountains, so he has a simple mind and is even more restless than Jiang Shuo. He heard Ye Qingyao say this , scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.
Ye Qingyao continued: "In ancient times, there were indeed dense pine forests here, and bandits often appeared there, making the people restless day and night. During the Taiyuan period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the imperial court sent a military attache named Ma Wei to act here, but Ma Wei had limited troops. , the pine forests are dense and dense, so previous officials have made progress in arresting bandits. Ma Wei came up with the strategy of "fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness". While building a castle to protect the place, he cut down and burned the surrounding pine forests, leaving the bandits with nowhere to escape. Finally, he Troops were sent to encircle and suppress the bandits, and since then the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment. In order to commemorate Mawei and his deeds, the locals renamed Maweipo Maweipo."
Jiang Shuo and Wang Qiyao said "Oh" at the same time, and Wang Qiyao asked again: "The small earth city outside was probably built by Mawei back then. How did it become what it is today?"
Ye Qingyao said: "The Tucheng built in the Jin Dynasty has probably been destroyed long ago, but the current Tucheng was built during the Jinglong period of the Tang Dynasty and served as the seat of the newly established Jincheng County."
Wang Qiyao said: "I haven't seen the county government, and as a county town, this place is a bit too small."
Ye Qingyao smiled and said: "Yao Lang, you are too stubborn. You are the eldest among the three of us, but you are also the most impatient."
Wang Qiyao smiled sheepishly, and Jiang Shuo laughed loudly after hearing this. He heard the words "monkey temperament", but thought that Dugu Wen also said the same thing about Xiang'er. That day Dugu Wen went to chase Xiang'er, and he also I don’t know if I caught up with her, but I haven’t heard from Xiang’er since. I don’t know what happened to her. Thinking of this, I can’t help but look at the street in a daze.
Ye Qingyao noticed the change in his expression and knew that he was missing Xiang'er again. He felt a little pain in his heart, but he pretended not to notice and continued to say to Wang Qiyao: "This place was just a small county town with not many people. Later. The Western Region of the Tang Dynasty was stable, and Hu merchants came in droves. This place lived in the middle of Chang'an, Xijing, and Guoxian County at the exit of Longshan. Therefore, Hu merchants often rested here, and officials traveling to the Western Regions often rested their horses here."
At this time, the waiter brought several plates of side dishes and a pot of sake. Although Wang Qiyao was older, he poured wine for Jiang Shuo and others diligently. Ye Qingyao took a sip to moisten his throat and continued, "As time goes by, the hotel is getting bigger and bigger. There were more and more tourists and business shops in the surrounding area, and Maweipo became more and more lively. In the second year of Zhide, the imperial court simply moved Jincheng County out, and this small town became an entire Mawei Station."
Wang Qiyao exclaimed: "The prosperity of the Silk Road has turned into a prosperous small town."
Jiang Shuo was in a daze, not listening carefully to what Ye Qingyao said. Suddenly he saw a little beggar walking up to him, shaking a broken bowl in front of Jiang Shuo, and said, "You are so pitiful, little man. Give me something as a reward."
Jiang Shuo was frowning and thinking about something, and didn't respond to the little beggar for a moment. The shopkeeper just said that Jiang Shuo was tired of the little beggar, so he rushed out of the shop to chase the little beggar away and said: "Go, go, go...where did you come from, little beggar?" ! Don’t beg here and disturb the gentleman’s enjoyment.”
The little beggar seemed to have been hungry for several days. He was swaying and unsteady when he came. The waiter stretched out his hand to push the little beggar, and he fell down immediately. The earthenware bowl in his hand was shattered. He struggled for a long time and could not get up. , still shouting to Jiang Shuo: "Okay, okay, okay..."
The shopkeeper was still angry, so he went up to fight and shouted angrily: "Get out of here, little flower boy!"
Jiang Shuo came to his senses, stood up, grabbed his forearm, and said, "Don't hit anyone!"
What kind of power was contained in his fingertips. With a pinch, the shop assistant's arm
The pain in my bones was excruciating, and I begged for mercy repeatedly: "Oh yo yo... let me go, uncle, let me go, it hurts me so much..."
Jiang Shuo knew that he had struck too hard, so he quickly let go and crossed his arms to the waiter: "Brother, I'm sorry. I didn't know the severity of my strike. Please forgive me."
The shopkeeper saw that Jiang Shuo was so aggressive yet so polite. He didn't know what he was doing. He was also dressed like a Nanzhao businessman. The servant is too busy, please help yourself, please..." Then he rubbed his forearms and went back to the store.
Jiang Shuo picked up the little beggar and said, "Brother, are you okay?"
At this moment, the little beggar dusted himself off and stood up, shouting: "I'm hungry..."
Jiang Shuo turned around quickly and saw a plate of fat chicken on the table. He took it over and handed it to the little beggar, saying, "Brother, this is for you to eat."
The little beggar took it, put it on the ground, pointed to the table and said, "I want to eat from the basin."
"Water Basin" means water basin mutton, which evolved from "Sheep Fragrance" in the Zhou Dynasty, and was also called "Mountain Boiled Lamb" in the Tang Dynasty. Jiang Shuo was not from Guan Nei, so he didn't know what a "water basin" was, but he heard Wang Qiyao laugh and say, "Hey... Xiao Huazi actually knows how to heighten the height of mutton and eat it well."
Only then did Jiang Shuo know that what Xiao Huazi wanted was the large pot of mutton soaked in milky white soup on the table. He was generous and generous, and did not think twice about the little beggar's request. He brought it over and placed it in front of Xiao Huazi. Said: "Brother, eat."
The shopkeeper said distressedly: "Oh, uncle, you are too spoiled to this little beauty."
Instead of thanking him, the little beggar glared at him and said, "You have a big beard, how come you don't understand anything? You must eat crescent moon cakes from the water basin."
Jiang Shuo saw that there was indeed a small bamboo basket on the table, with several sesame cakes piled inside. He smiled and said, "I'm sorry for being ignorant." Then he took out the bamboo basket and handed it to him.
