At the same time, on the rugged mountain road leading to Nanyang from Nanxiang County, Fu County, 340 miles east of Shangyong, two big men were walking slowly with packages on their backs.

The two men were about twenty years old, with strong bodies, but still a little stooped. One had dark and rough skin, and the other had bronze skin.

The heads of the two of them were tied with a circle of mugwort - this is something that people in Yizhou love to wear when they go out. This thing costs almost nothing and can protect them from both the sun and the rain, but it is so far away.

The northern boundary of Jingzhou appeared.

A wooden gourd filled with water hung on the black man's waist, making a squeaking sound as it swayed. As he hurried on, he was still looking at the mountainous terrain. His coarse cloth clothes were full of dust and patches, which would naturally make him look like he was in winter.

It's a little thin, but luckily it's summer.

The black man walked towards the mountain step by step with a dog beating stick, and the other one followed closely.

At this time, there was a rumble of wheels grinding the ground from behind him, and soon a flatbed single-carriage for transporting goods ran past the two of them, kicking up bursts of dust on the not-so-wide official road.

"Lord, someone is coming!"

"Um."

It turns out that those who were dressed down and down were Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si who set out from Shangyong two days ago!

Xu Zongwen waved at the car, and the driver tightened the reins to rein in the horse. Then he turned his head and Xu Zongwen shouted to the man: "Hey, brother, can you please give me a ride?"

"Where did you come from and where are you going?" The woodcutter reined in the horse's head, stopped and turned his head to look at Xu Zongwen and asked.

Xu Zongwen looked at the horse and the bundles of firewood on the cart, and replied with a smile: "Brother, we are coming from Xincheng, and we are going to Nanyang to visit relatives. It will be dark soon. Could it be that we met you? We can't tell.

I’m going to spend the night in the woods hunting grass and settling in my nest!”

The woodcutter glanced at the setting sun for a moment and estimated that it was indeed getting late. He nodded: "No problem, as long as you don't dislike the old man's rags."

"That's not possible!" Xu Zongwen climbed onto the carriage before he finished speaking, and continued: "We are all ordinary people with flat heads, who can despise whom?"

"Isn't that right!" The woodcutter seemed to have something to say: "With the chaos of war these days, it is impossible to live a peaceful life! Since nearly two years ago, the King of Qin recruited troops to go south to attack Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains has been in chaos, and the land of Jingxiang has also been in chaos.

It’s safe, and there are refugees from the north everywhere, and the local shepherds and guards don’t dare to offend them, and there are many who fall into the trap of bandits…”

When the woodcutter saw Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si getting into the carriage, he patted the horse's neck lightly and shouted, "Drive," and the horse slowly and leisurely set off on the road. The woodcutter was about fifty, very talkative, and he kept talking to Xu Zongwen along the way.

It turned out that this woodcutter was also a poor man. He was from the Central Plains. When he was young, he served in the army and built a bridge for Shi Zhao. He married a wife and gave birth to three sons. They were all captured and killed one after another on the battlefield.

Now more than ten years have passed, and my wife has left without holding on. Last year, the Qin army was defeated and looted the local area. He could not save several huts in Nanzheng, so he could only make a living by cutting firewood.

Now, I heard that my old friend was getting rich, so I asked someone to go to Nanzheng and give him a few coins. He refused to take it, saying that he would rather be a gatekeeper than accepting money for no reason. He cut a load of firewood and sold it on the road.

, now we are finally going to Nanyang!

The carriage arrived in Nanyang in the evening when the sun was about to set.

The official road is cut off by a steep pass ten miles west of Nanyang City. Everyone passing by must check at this pass before entering the Nanyang area.

It was almost closing time, and the soldiers who were eager to get off duty were not angry with the two people who showed up so late.

"You guys stop! Accept inspection before entering customs."

The speaker was a thin sergeant who looked like he was a city defender. He put his spear sideways on the wooden corners on both sides of the pass and shouted at Xu Zongwen, Zhang Si and the woodcutter.

Upon seeing this, the woodcutter hurriedly stopped the carriage, pulled the brake, took out the official certificate issued by the government from his arms and handed it to the soldier. This small piece of silk had his name, general appearance, place of origin, and type of household registration written on it.

, and the village seal.

The sergeant checked it over and found no flaws. He raised his head and noticed Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si standing aside.

"What do you two do? Why haven't you ever done anything?"

Xu Zongwen didn't blush when he lied, and immediately replied: "Going back to Mr. Guan, we are winemakers from Xincheng. We met this man on the official road, so we hitched a ride."

"What's wrong with you?" After hearing Xu Zongwen's words, the sergeant walked up to him, looked at him with suspicion, and shouted loudly: "Then why didn't you do anything wrong?"

Since the Han Dynasty, people have used certificates to pass through Guanjin, including talismans and festivals, etc., which are also called customs clearance certificates.

"Zhou Li·Di Guan·Si Guan" "Anyone who has received bribes will be passed on in due course." Zheng Xuan, a great scholar of the Han Dynasty, annotated: "The document has been transferred now."

Hearing this, the woodcutter interjected: "We are all poor people, please let us enter the city!"

The sergeant turned his attention to the woodcutter, looked at the station and asked doubtfully: "You are from Hanzhong, why do you want to come to Nanyang?"

The woodcutter answered honestly: "I came to join an old acquaintance in Nanyang."

The sergeant didn't seem to believe him, so he asked him to stand with his hands stretched out, and then began to search him.

The woodcutter's package contained only some old clothes, dry food, an old wind tent and a hatchet.

The sergeant checked his body again and again, but found nothing except a few lice. The reluctant sergeant picked up the water hyacinth from his waist, opened the lid and shook it vigorously, and heard a sound of water.

The identity of the woodcutter was confirmed, and then the sergeant focused his attention on Xu Zongwen again.

"Okay, it's your turn! Show me the evidence that proves your identity as a winemaker, otherwise you will be a workman of the Qin people!"

At this moment, a tall man, eight feet tall and wearing black light armor, came from Nanyang Pass. The dozen followers around him were all strong and well-equipped. They were obviously officers of more than 50 soldiers.

.

The big man in black light armor, with his first sword on his waist and crotch, shouted: "Er Gouzi, what are you doing? Get off work quickly and let's go drinking. Today Colonel Qin found a lot of good wine from the cellar of the Prefect's Mansion. General Zhuge's

Guard Jia Si and I are old acquaintances, and he brought two altars to us."

"That's the best Sangluo wine!" After that, the sergeant who started the conversation left without looking back.

As soon as Xu Zongwen heard the mulberry wine, he remembered the mellow fragrance and licked his chapped lips unconsciously!

"The color is as tender as nectar, and the fragrance is as fresh as nectar." Xu Zongwen recited a wine poem with his eyes closed, as if the mulberry wine was already in front of him, and the aroma of the wine was lingering around him.

"Do you really know how to drink?" At this time, Sergeant Ergou looked at Xu Zongwen with suspicion.

"Sangluojiu should be collected on the 9th day of the ninth lunar month before the sun rises, and nine buckets of water should be collected, and nine buckets of rice should be soaked in it. On that day, nine buckets of rice should be cooked as a feed. The next bucket of rice should be poured into an empty urn, and the soup and hot fermentation should be cooked in the cauldron.

, let the water upstream of the feeder be more than an inch deep and then it will stop..."

Xu Zongwen knows the recipe of Sangluo Wine by heart, but I don’t know whether he really understands it or just makes up nonsense.

"You are really a winemaker!" Ergouzi looked at his colleagues, and most of his doubts were relieved.

These days, there are so many things that have not gone wrong, especially since the Battle of Feishui between the Qin and Jin Dynasties, there have been many exchanges between the two countries. Refugees went south, and barbarians also went south. It is really difficult to tell whether there is any detailed work, all based on

The mouth guarding the pass has the final say!

"Wait a minute, even if you are a winemaker, you can't enter the city without a guide or a famous assassin!" Another sergeant was so arrogant that his nostrils were pointing to the sky. He glanced at Xu Zongwen and the others with contempt, and stepped forward to stop them from entering.

Xu Zongwen and his wife.

"Are you deliberately making things difficult?" Xu Zongwen was a little unhappy and his tone was a little impatient.

Seeing that Xu Zongwen not only had no intention of taking out money to buy a way, but also stepped forward with his neck stiffened, the sergeant named Ergou felt a little weak in his legs.

For some reason, he always felt that the man in front of him was very imposing, and he spoke very arrogantly, and he never flattered the defenders at all. He seemed to have the confidence behind him, giving people an unfathomable feeling!

"What's wrong?" The big man in black light armor behind saw the two of them not moving, and then confronted Xu Zongwen and others, and walked over alone to find out.

Ergou was speechless, but his colleague's words were very harsh: "Captain Zhang, these people call themselves winemakers, but they have nothing wrong with them. I suspect that they are the Qin people pretending to be craftsmen, trying to deceive them into entering the country!"

Xu Zongwen didn't say anything, but Ergou interjected: "Captain Zhang, I think they are really winemakers. They don't seem to be craftsmen. This one can also make Sangluo wine!"

Ergou pointed at Xu Zongwen and explained from the side that he actually wanted to help Xu Zongwen.

"Who said that? Ergouzi, did they stuff you with money, so you spoke for them?" Ergou's colleagues chapter was just to embarrass Xu Zongwen. He said that he would not be allowed to enter the customs, and even framed him.

Get up with your own people.

Ergouzi cried out that he was wronged. Although there were some small traders going to and from Nanyang on weekdays, the guards would accept bribes overtly or covertly, euphemistically calling them passing money.

But Ergou was never like this. He was born in a poor family, but he was determined to be a good soldier who protected his home and his hometown, and never harmed the people of Nanyang! Later, the Qin State was defeated, and Nanyang changed hands not long ago, and he followed the captain to surrender.

Zhuge Kan.

The bearded man was obviously looking for trouble. Seeing that the two dogs didn't move away, he immediately rounded his arms and shouted at the two dogs with a big mouth.

According to his violent strength, Ergou would have lost half his life even if he was not afraid of death.

"Crack!"

But at this moment, a thick and well-proportioned, young but powerful arm grabbed his wrist with great precision.

Immediately, a young voice sounded calmly: "Bold! Do you know who is standing in front of you?"

Just as the big man in black light armor opened his mouth to curse, another team of gangsters from behind the city gate rushed to the gate. The leader was the young man who grabbed Ergou's wrist.

Xu Zongwen covered his face with his hands. He knew from the young man's words that he was sent by Zhuge Kan.

"Okay, take us to see your Colonel Qin quickly. Don't reveal a single word about the matter here, otherwise!" Xu Zongwen didn't want to say the rest. There was no point in inflicting these threats and threats on his own people.

The sergeants guarding the city gate still wanted to stop him. At this time, Zhang Si took out a token to conquer the Beida General. The young man also took out Zhuge Kan's handwriting from his tattered sleeve. Then, under the stunned gaze of the sergeants guarding the gate and the woodcutter,

, Xu Zongwen was able to enter the city in a big way.
Chapter completed!