Chapter 732 Boil the eagle and deviate from the road

  The two armies of the Han Dynasty, the north and the south, the main force led by Wei Yan, rushed all the way, trying to capture Yuzhong in the shortest possible time.

   But Feng Yong is much more relaxed.

  Stayed for a day while passing by Didao.

   Longxi County Chief Shi Mayong, who was originally stationed in Guguan, was sent by Longxi prefect Chen Shi to replace Liu Hun in Daxiaguan long before Feng Yong's arrival.

   Entering July in Longxi, it is already the hottest time of the year.

   Fortunately, when they were in Longxi, the army was all marching along the Taoshui River, so they would not be too tired.

  However, some people jumped into the water sweating profusely because of disobedience, and then fell ill the next day.

  Most of these patients are tiger infantry soldiers, and a small number are new recruits who joined the Huqiang school Weifu last year.

   Following Feng Junhou for the past few years, the veterans all know that every rule in the army is useful, and they will not violate it.

  When Feng Yong led the army to Guguan, Liu Hun was waiting there early.

  The weather was too hot, Liu Hun didn't wear a helmet, his hair was tied up, and he didn't hide his defect of only one ear.

   It is also possible that the Hu people don't care about these.

  Because there are still a few scars on his face, which he scratched himself when he took the oath.

  Carrying a long horse spear, he walked behind Feng Yong, and saluted: "I have seen you."

  Jiang Wei, Zhang Yi, and Ju Fu learned from the soldiers who fell ill and caught a cold a few days ago because they tried to cool off. Every time they set up camp, they stepped up inspections.

  Gongsun Zheng and the people in the staff department must constantly revise the combat plan and marching plan based on the scouting ahead.

  So beside Taoshui, Feng Yong was the only one sitting on the Hu bed, admiring the afterglow of the setting sun.

   "Oh, Polu is here!"

  Feng Yong turned his head and greeted, "Come and sit."

   "Thank you Junhou."

  Liu Hun inserted the horse lance into the ground, walked over and sat on the bed next to Feng Yong, upright and straight.

  Feng Yong watched Taoshui gurgling by, and asked after a while, "How is the situation over there?"

   "Hui Junhou, the leader of the rebellious army once sent an envoy to Daxia County, saying that he was willing to surrender to the big man, but his head was beheaded by the last general, and his followers sent his head back."

   Liu Hun replied immediately.

   "The leader of the rebellious army?"

  Feng Yong narrowed his eyes slightly.

   "Exactly. When the rebels besieged Didao, they used the slogan of Heshou Ping Hanwang. After they were driven to Yanhan by the princes, they were trapped in a corner of Longxi."

   "When the rebels were in panic and chaos, the descendants of Song Jian really took the opportunity to stand up, and now they are the co-lords of the rebels."

   Liu Hun looked at Feng Yong with admiration.

  Feng Yongwei's squinted eyes quickly returned to normal, and he asked, "Where's the bald hair department in Baishi City? Has it been withdrawn yet?"

   "It has been withdrawn."

  When Liu Hun said this, he couldn't help but tilt his head slightly.

   Looking from his direction, he could only see a small part of Feng Langjun's side face, but couldn't see Feng Langjun's expression at all.

  Three months ago, Feng Langjun planned to kill Han Qiu, who led the army from Heguan, and then returned directly to Pingxiang. When the bald department of Baishi City learned about it, they immediately panicked.

   Bald Tianli personally brought a thousand good horses, a thousand cows and three thousand sheep to present to Ping Xiang.

   I just heard that Feng Langjun not only did not meet Bald Tianli, but also planned to send someone to drive him away.

   Later, Li Ping knelt outside Xiangcheng for a day and a night when he was bald, and Mrs. Junhou couldn't bear it, and finally pleaded with Feng Langjun.

  Feng Langjun then allowed them to take out 30,000 livestock in exchange for woolen cloth and some grain.

  After the bald hair department exchanged supplies, they began to return north to Xihai Ranch.

  It is inconvenient to travel between Daxia County and Pingxiang, so Liu Hun can only mechanically execute Feng Yong's original order, but he can't figure out why he did it.

  At this moment, there were only two people by the water, so Liu Hun finally couldn't help but asked one more question out of curiosity.

   "Your Majesty, no matter whether we ask the Bald Hair Department to help us or accept the surrender of the rebellious Hu, we will be able to pacify Yuanhan in one fell swoop and completely pacify Longxi."

   "But the last general looks at the princes, and seems to intend to indulge these barbarians. Why?"

  Feng Yong smiled slightly, stood up, and looked towards the top of the mountain. The sun had completely dropped to the horizon, and only a few golden rays of light could be seen behind the mountain.

   "Polu, you have lived in the grassland since childhood, have you ever survived an eagle?"

   Liu Hun hurriedly stood up, "Hui Junhou, although the last general lived in the grassland when he was young, the tribe has been passed down from the father to the master, and has declined."

   "The villain is not a direct son, how could he have the opportunity to do such a thing on weekdays?"

  Feng Yong nodded, "I forgot about this. Then do you know how to boil an eagle?"

   "This villain has heard about it. The wild eagle is arrogant and unruly, violent and ferocious. After being captured, it is not allowed to sleep for several days and nights, and then it is starved, its eyes are covered, its wings are tied, and its wildness..."

  The more Liu Hun spoke, the more slowly he spoke, and finally he stopped, looking at Feng Yong with both surprise and fear, "Your Majesty..."

  Feng Yong nodded and smiled calmly, "In this world, not only are eagles flying in the sky. In fact, there are also people on the ground called eagle dogs."

   "It doesn't matter if the hawks are unwilling to obey at first, as long as they are slowly ground like boiling eagles, their wildness will always be worn away, and then they can help us hunt."

  On a day in July, when the sun just set, the heat had not yet dissipated, but Liu Hun only felt a sudden chill on his back.

   "Polu!"

  Feng Yong said suddenly.

   "The villain is here!"

  Liu Hun immediately tensed up subconsciously and stood up straight.

   Only Feng Yong's voice could be heard leisurely, "You have not been with me for a short time, you should know my temper."

   "As a person, I am actually very soft-hearted. For my own people, I treat him wholeheartedly."

   "It's just that I can't tolerate those enemies who want to fight me wholeheartedly, right?"

   A drop of cold sweat dripped down Liu Hun's forehead, "Yes... yes!"

   "So this boiled eagle, do you understand what I mean?"

"understood!"

  Feng Yong nodded in satisfaction and looked at the green smoke rising up. He didn't know if it was fog or the smoke from the fire in the army.

   "Let's go, back to camp."

   "No!"

  Liu Hun pulled up his horse and followed Feng Yong, just like when he was always beside Feng Yong.

  After leaving Longxi, the army began to break away from the banks of the Taoshui River and turned to the north.

  The road gradually became rough, and it was obvious that the terrain was constantly rising.

  When the army finally turned over a mountain, Feng Yong finally couldn't help uttering a word: Cao!

  I saw a continuous mountain range so abruptly across in front of my eyes. Compared with it, the mountain in front was like a hill.

   What's more terrible is that this mountain range runs from east to west.

  Look east, there is no end, look west, there is still no end!

   It just stood in the way of the army.

   "Bring me a map."

  Feng Yong gave an order.

   Staff officer Zhang Yuan immediately spread out the map and sent it to Feng Yong.

   "Li Jian!"

   "Your Majesty, the villain is here."

  Li Jian hurried to Feng Yong's side.

   "Where is this mountain on the map? How long is it? Where does it end?"

  Feng Yong pointed to the mountains in front of him.

   "Hui Junhou, this mountain is close to the south of Jincheng, as long as you climb over this mountain, you can go to the city of Jincheng."

   "To the north of Jincheng is a big river. This mountain and river enclose Jincheng. The east and west ends of the mountain are all big rivers."

   While talking, Li Jian gestured on the map.

  Feng Yong stretched out his hand and said, "Pen!"

  Took the pen that someone handed over, found a big rock with a high point, put the map on it, and then sketched according to Li Jian's description.

   After drawing the rough map, everyone took a deep breath.

   "No wonder it's impenetrable!"

  Feng Yong looked at the terrain and murmured.

  The main vein on the west side of this mountain range extends to the Yellow River, tightly protecting the south and west sides of Jincheng.

   In addition, Jincheng rests its head on the big river, that is to say, it only needs to guard against enemies coming from the east.

  If you want to reach Jincheng, the best way is to follow the Yellow River from the east.

  There are the remaining veins of this mountain range and the narrow pass formed by the Yellow River.

   Feng Yong just looked to the east, then looked at this mountain range, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

  Because he stood here, he could only see the continuous high mountains to the east, covering the sky and the sun, and there was no way for hunters and woodcutters.

  Furthermore, I heard from Li Jian that if you go east, you have to go to the avenue from Longxi through Yuzhong before you come out of the mountains.

   Feng Yong's face darkened when he heard this.

  If this is the case, wouldn’t it be more convenient for me to go to Yuzhong with Mr. Wei at the beginning?

  What's the point of leading an army on Didao?

   In order to make a big circle?

  If I really dare to lead the army into the mountains to the east, at least half of the chances will be lost, and the number of people who can get out of the mountains is estimated to be only 50%.

   Then I remembered that Li Jian said that if you enter from the east, you have to pass through a pass.

  Feng Yong immediately gave up the idea of ​​going east.

   "Are you sure you can climb over this mountain?"

  Feng Yong looked at the mountain range in front of him to the north again, and he muttered in his heart.

   This one seems to be taller than the mountains to the east.

   "Hui Junhou, this road is actually a side road."

  Li Jian explained, "In the past, when the Han Dynasty was in its heyday, you could go to Di Dao to pass through Huanghan, and after crossing the big river, you could go to Xiping by going to Huangshui."

   "Then from Xiping, you can go to a narrow mouth in Qilian Mountains, and from there you can reach Zhangye."

  Feng Yong heard this, his heart moved, and he blurted out: "Silk Road?"

  From Chang’an to Liangzhou, what is it if it’s not the Silk Road?

  Li Jian looked at Feng Yong in a daze, not understanding what this meant.

  Feng Yong suppressed his beating heart forcibly, and asked, "From Guanzhong to Liangzhou, don't you always go to Jincheng? Why have I never heard of this road?"

  Li Jian smiled and said, "The route we take now is of course going through Jincheng. But before that, there are actually three ways to go to Liangzhou."

  Three?

  Feng Yong swallowed, and looked at Li Jian.

  Seeing Feng Yong's expression, Li Jian knew that he was very interested, so he described them in detail.

   "Actually, the earliest way to go to Liangzhou is to go northward from Sixian County, pass Xiaoguan, and then cross the river in Zuli, and you can directly reach Guzang, Zhiguzang, Wuwei County."

   "This road is the most northern, so it is called the North Road. It's just that it is relatively desolate, so after the South Road was opened, it gradually became deserted."

   "The South Road is what the villain just said. It passes through Di Dao, passes through Xiping, and takes the Qilian Mountain Pass to Zhangye."

   "Because the South Road is more prosperous along the way, after it is opened, the world will take this road more."

   "It's just that the south road has to be detoured far away. After the Jincheng is completed, it will be shorter to cross the river there, so everyone will go there now."

   "Because Jincheng is located between Didao and Zuli, it is called the middle road."

   "Later, the Qiang and Hu rebelled, and the south road was blocked, so few people know about it now." Speaking of this, Li Jian sighed, "But our Li family is rooted in Didao."

   "The south road is impassable. Our Li family's caravan has to go to Nan'an first, and then to Jincheng. It takes time and effort to go around the boss, and it is very inconvenient."

   "So in order to find a convenient way to Jincheng, our Li family tried to climb over this mountain."

   Speaking of this, Li Jian smiled wryly and shook his head, "It's just that this road is high and dangerous, and it is difficult to transport bulk goods."

   "Additionally, in the past hundred years in Longxi, the Qianghu rebellion has continued, and our Li family in Longxi has long since declined, and it is no longer as prosperous as it used to be."

  He did not hide his secret in front of Feng Yong.

  After listening to his words, Feng Yong could quite understand the plight of the Li family in Longxi.

  It's like opening a store in a busy street with a lot of traffic.

   Then one day, the front of this street was blocked, the street became deserted, and no one came by the front door, so naturally they had to find another way out.

  He took the pen pensively, and connected the points of Didao, Yanhan, Xiping, and Zhangye into a line, his eyes became dark, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

   After a long time, Feng Yong raised his head and took a serious look at the mountain range, and found that the hills in this area were indeed lower than those on both sides in the distance.

   If you want to climb over this mountain range, this is indeed the most suitable location.

   "Above, will someone be ambushing?"

  Feng Yong asked a question.

  Li Jian hesitated for a moment, and said somewhat uncertainly, "Probably not. Because this place is not too close to Jincheng, and it's not easy to get here from Jincheng."

   "After crossing this mountain, what dangers are there?"

  Feng Yong asked again.

   Li Jian replied, "Crossing the top of the mountain, you can see a stream of water. If you follow the water to the north, you can reach the Dahe (Yellow River). In terms of danger, there is nothing better than the valley entrance when you leave the mountain. The terrain is the most steep."

  Feng Yong nodded, turned around, and told Zhang Yuandao, "Go, pass on my order, today I will rest at the bottom of the mountain overnight, and tomorrow I will start climbing the mountain."

  Usually, it might not be easy for a large army to cross this mountain range. The food, grass and supplies alone are enough to make people stop here.

  But your own army is different from others.

   The logistical pressure was not great, and the engineering battalion did not follow.

  The soldiers in the army, there are Nanyi, there are Qianghu, they are all people who are good at walking mountain roads, plus daily training, there is no need to worry too much.

  The tiger infantry army led by Jiang Wei is also elite, and there are many Qiang and Yi people, so there should be no problem.

  The only thing to worry about is the cavalry army led by Liu Hun.

  Thinking of this, Feng Yong asked Liu Hun to be called over, and ordered: "Tomorrow I will lead the army first, Jiang Wei will lead the tiger infantry in the middle, and you will lead the cavalry to follow."

   "If the cavalry can pass this mountain, they will pass. If they can't, you should turn around and ask Taishou Chen to send more food and grass. At the same time, they will patrol the food road to prevent Cao's bandits from crossing the river from Taoshui to the east."

  Since hearing Li Jian talk about the South Silk Road, Feng Yong has been a little worried.

  Although this road has been blocked for a long time, who knows if Cao thief on the opposite side knows?

   In case there is another famous general in Liangzhou who I don't know, he will attack his food road from the flank by surprise, and even cut off his back.

   At that time, seven or eight thousand of my own people will be trapped in the mountains, unable to advance or retreat, so I won’t be suffocated to death?

  (end of this chapter)