Sikong Lang said: "There must be no robbers on this road. You, the Lotus Gang, will walk in front tomorrow. Most of the patrolling cavalry from Qi State will observe the caravan before asking questions. I will be at the end of the team to answer questions conveniently."
"No problem!" We have come this far. Of course Guo Wen won't care about anything anymore, but he is very angry in his heart. This road is the most dangerous and painful part of the road tomorrow, but the Yan Gang has a large number of people.
I can only accept my fate.
During the night watch, Guo Wen found He Qizhou again and said:
"Tomorrow we will stay one night at Zhennanguan, which is controlled by the Zhou Dynasty. It is said to be a checkpoint, but it is actually similar to a small town. Then the day after tomorrow, we will send people to Zhenbeiguan in Nanqi to negotiate prices and inspect the goods. Similarly, there will be people in Nanqi.
Come to Zhenbeiguan to see the goods. After the two parties agree on the price, they will trade in the open space between the two passes, so that no one is afraid that the other party will hack the goods.
I will take you and your wife to Zhenbeiguan, and after you have negotiated with the people in Nanqi, you can continue your journey south, and our fate is basically over."
"Thank you, Gang Leader, but no one can say for sure about fate. If we are destined in the future, we can still continue to discuss some mutually beneficial business." He Qizhou said.
Guo asked: "To be honest, sometimes I think you look like a shepherd with brute force, but most of the time I think you look a bit like Helian Changying. Do you think it's strange? Don't laugh at me. Maybe I'm too scared."
It’s because of her.”
"The gang leader is joking, I'm just a hard-working coolie," He Qizhou replied. In fact, he really felt that he was a bit like Helian Changying when he was ruthless.
The last fifty miles of road leading to the border pass were almost all walked at the bottom of the valley. He Qizhou finally understood why Sikong Lang let the Lotus Gang go in front. Because the valley bottom is narrow, if there is loess peeling off the mountain walls on both sides, it will often block the road.
At this time, the guards who opened the way needed to use shovels to clear the way out. Although He Qizhou was still at the end of the Lotus Gang's team, he stepped forward to help several times.
The Salt Gang does not completely let go. When there is too much accumulation, they will send people to help. From time to time, sand and dust will fall from the top of the hills on both sides. In the middle of winter, the soil is no more than stones, so in the
When walking, there are always several people responsible for looking up at the sky and paying attention to dangers in the sky.
The earthen mountain walls on both sides of the canyon are almost vertical. Looking up, the sky is curved like a big blue river hanging in the sky. It took most of the day to complete the fifty-mile deep trench road, and there were more than ten encounters in total.
The cavalry who came back for questioning, most of them were Qi's scouts.
Because the transaction place is at the end of the road, and the other end leads to the Zhou Dynasty, this road is almost always used by Zhou people, and there are few traces of Qi people.
It is actually difficult to see the situation at the bottom of the valley clearly from the top of the hill that is more than a hundred feet high. At most, the number of people, horses and trucks can be counted. All the questions are answered by the second brother. The only question is who is at the bottom of the valley? What does it do?
What kind of goods were loaded? The name of Sikong Lang of the Yan Gang seemed to be very popular. When I heard that he was personally leading the team, the superiors didn't say anything more.
He Qizhou couldn't see the so-called beacons on the top of the hills and the huge piles of earth and rocks at intervals at the bottom of the valley. However, seeing how intensive the patrolling cavalry were, he thought there were some. If anyone really wanted to send troops from here, it would really be a problem.
They are looking for death. As long as they block the deep ditch end by end, even if they just shovel the earth, they can bury the entire army alive.
In the last few miles, you can finally see a medium-sized stone mountain standing in the southeast, dotted at the end of the Lotus Gang. He Qizhou, who is at the head of the Salt Gang, heard the conversation between the fourth and fifth brothers led by the Salt Gang.
I couldn't help but find it quite funny.
"Southern Qi gained an additional three hundred miles of land just by relying on this broken stone mountain." Jiang Li said bitterly.
"Fourth brother is right, but if we take Zhenbeiguan, we will have to go to Yuguan to trade. Then we have to walk hundreds of miles. It's not worth it." Fifth brother said with a smile.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can Zhenbeiguan be so easy to fight! We are about to enter the city. Fourth child, you and I should go first to settle the relationship. Fifth child, you watch the convoy." The second brother rushed from behind.
came, interrupting the conversation between the two.
He Qizhou thought to himself that Jiang Li knew that his identity had been exposed, but he still pretended to be decent. He was indeed capable of staying in the Northern Zhou Dynasty for more than ten years. It was not clear whether the fifth brother knew the identity of the fourth brother, but the second brother was definitely
You know, his acting skills are also extremely good, and there is no trace of unnaturalness at all.
Regarding the second brother's statement that "even if Luoyang is captured, Zhenbeiguan cannot be captured", Guo Wen once said that Zhenbeiguan of Qi State is two hundred miles away from their Great Wall. It is a small city outside Guxuan Pass.
Behind the mountain in the southeast, the east-west hill is no more than a hundred feet high and no more than ten miles long. The side facing the north is a knife-like cliff, while the side facing the south is a gentle slope connected to the loess.
There is a natural gap in the middle of the hill, which is no more than ten feet wide. After being drilled by the Qi State, a stone wall ten feet high and more than two feet thick was built, which has become the north gate of Zhenbeiguan.
If you want to break into the fortress built by man, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky.
He Qizhou asked Guo Wen why he couldn't go around from both sides?
Guo Wen smiled and replied that the roads for dozens of miles on both sides were full of ravines like the ones he had just walked through, and even if they crossed over, it would still be such a hilly terrain. The Zhou Dynasty's cavalry would not be able to enter at all, and even if they bypassed a few infantry, they would not be able to get in.
The city cannot be attacked, not to mention that food, ordnance, siege equipment, etc. cannot be transported in. If you go around, you will just die. Unless you are a master like Huotang.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to attack the hinterland of Qi State from here. Moreover, Qi State has built a horse road to the south of Zhenbeiguan. The road is relatively easy to travel and can travel relatively quickly. If something happens, it will also facilitate reinforcements from the rear.
He Qizhou has developed a habit these days when he walks at the end of the team. He observes the ruts of the Yan Gang convoy. After more than ten days, he concluded that the ruts of six of the eight new vehicles that came in to transport grain and grass were relatively different.
The ruts for the carriage transporting salt are slightly deeper by one or two minutes, which is most obvious in the desert. The tracks for the other two vehicles are a few minutes shallower.
You must know that a salt truck contains nearly two thousand kilograms of salt, and those trucks carrying grain and grass are actually heavier than the salt! What is even more strange is that except for the last truck, the other seven trucks have ruts more than ten meters deep.
The weather has almost not changed, because the roads we travel on are all loess roads, so it's easy to compare. In other words, the Yan Gang only used the food and grass in one car, and nothing else was touched.
Regarding this issue, He Qizhou also took the opportunity to ask the fourth brother. The fourth brother said that Sikong Lang told them privately that part of the food and grass in the car was to honor the officers and soldiers of Zhennanguan. Although he didn't believe it, he didn't have the chance to look at it. The car keys belonged to the second brother.
In safekeeping.
Now is the last day to reach the destination. Since He Qizhou was pulled into the middle of the team, he never had the chance to see the changes in the ruts. He felt a little itchy in his heart. After seeing his second brother entering the city, he dismounted and walked to the side of the road to find a place to take shelter from the wind.
, as if to relieve himself.
"Fifth Brother, I'm going to pee too!" Zhai Biao was a little excited as he was approaching the finish line and wanted to find a chance to chat with Qi Zhou again.
"The lazy ass is grinding!" Fifth Brother snorted and continued to move forward with the team without even looking at it.
"Brother Deren, it's finally here. Don't laugh at me for being cowardly. I was really scared to death when the groups of soldiers were running across the top. If any guy gets distracted and unloads the earth and rocks,
Our trip was in vain." Zhai Biao stood beside He Qizhou and said as he moved.
He Qizhou deliberately slowed down his movements, peed for a long time, and said: "What are you afraid of? Didn't you bring a shovel? In the worst case, you can just dig it out."
"I heard from my second brother that there are rolling logs under those piles of earth and rocks. As long as you cut off the ropes tied to them, tens of thousands of kilograms of earth and rocks will fall down in the blink of an eye. When they fall, they will also bring down the mountains on both sides.
Soil, he saw with his own eyes once, the Qi people used this method to bury half a team of heavy armored cavalry alive. The pile of soil was as high as seven or eight feet. When it was dug out, not a single one of the dozens of people was alive!"
"That should be the time of war. If there are always people doing this, who would dare to come here to do business." After Qi Zhou finished, he slowly walked towards his snow dragon horse parked on the side of the road, but he looked at a person with his peripheral vision.
The Yangang vehicles that slowly passed by were told that the ruts had not changed much.
"Brother Deren, I heard that you are going to the south tomorrow. I have been holding back some words. If I don't say it, I think there will be no chance."
"Brother Biao, what's wrong with you? If you have anything to say, just say it!"
Zhai Biao said: "Probably because I have been with you for a long time, I have actually discovered that you are not a Pangu person. I am very familiar with the way they eat, talk and even ride horses. For example, the Pangu people are not very good at using chopsticks. You
Although he has been imitating, he may be more at ease with me, and sometimes he forgets to imitate when he sees no one else."
He Qizhou didn't expect that this silly Biaozi could actually be smart. After using chopsticks for more than ten years, he would sometimes pick up the food naturally. He was even more relaxed when he was with Zhai Biao. He really didn't expect that he still showed his flaws.
After glancing at Zhai Biao, he said, "Continue."
"I guess you are probably from Qi. Don't worry, I know you are a good person. The De family's willingness to spend all their wealth to help you is the best proof. I don't know if the second brother, fourth brother, and fifth brother have any
I noticed it, but I found several times that the fourth brother would say bad things about you when his back was turned to you, and the second brother and the fifth brother often mentioned you, so you must be careful and go back as soon as possible!"
"Thank you, be careful yourself, and find a way to quit the Salt Gang when you have the chance. A kind-hearted person like you can't fight against them." He Qizhou whispered gratefully, knowing clearly that Jiang Li was actually saying bad things about him.