A letter floating in life is like a piece of paper floating in the waves, but a faraway message only frightens a bird in a cage." [Sending a message to a friend]
Liangzhou, Zhangye County.
Along the Hexi Corridor and gradually deeper into the northwest, there are towering mountains along the way. The sky is blue and clean, and the tops of the mountains are covered with snow, just like the waves in the sea. The flat ground between the mountains is covered with low-lying shrubs and short grass.
There are wild sheep grazing leisurely among the sharp gravels. It is winter, and strong winds blow almost every day in Jiuquan County, blowing into people's faces like knives. Before dark, a strong wind often blows, even the gravel on the ground
The sand and gravel will be carried by the wind, wearing away all the objects that are blocking it.
Yan Qian had lived in the inland plains for a long time and rarely saw such majestic and vast scenes. Although he was amazed, he still felt deeply uncomfortable with this desolate world. He led his tired mount on the desolate and dilapidated ancient road and talked to himself.
He said softly: "It is said that all things are born with nature. How can people not be open-minded, straightforward and brave when born in a place like this?" Maybe he felt very boring alone on the long road. As soon as he finished speaking, he faced the loess and the wind again.
Said: "I heard that if you go a hundred miles further into Shannan, it will be a place of permanent freezing and bitter cold. Fortunately, this trip is not to go there, otherwise when will you be able to return home?"
As early as a few months ago, Yan Gan joined the embroidery team headed by Zhang Ren at the recommendation of Li Yi, and traveled thousands of miles to the four counties of Hexi Province. They were separated for some reason along the way, and Yan Gan went to Jiuquan alone to trek through mountains and rivers.
After three days of journey, he finally passed through the deserted ancient road, crossed a mountain pass, and saw the weak water at the bottom of the mountain. Although this is not the source of the weak water, it is also the most upstream section. The water is cold and clear, carrying people far away.
The cool smell of snow on the mountains.
He was feeling thirsty and was about to go to the river to grab some water when he suddenly heard one, no, two sounds of water. Yan Gan turned around and saw two people, one big and one small, standing by the river.
He was drowning in the water on the high ground, and he was very angry, but he saw the five or six-year-old boy shaking the water column from side to side, and said proudly: "Look, I am farther away than you this time."
"Why do you always like to compete with others?" The man with his back to Yan Qian gave a very disdainful 'tsk', as if he didn't like the child's tricks, and he lifted his pants, which were not suitable for him.
The long sleeves of the toga are slovenly.
"What are you pretending to be! You're the only one who said that after losing!" The child shouted arrogantly. Seeing that he was about to turn around, he said anxiously: "Wait for me, I'm not done yet!"
"Wish you justice?" Yan Qian heard the other person's voice, and now saw the man's appearance clearly, and he was even more sure: "Why are you here?"
This person is none other than Zhu Gongdao, the heroic hero who shared hardships with Yan Qian, Li Yi and others in Hedong. Since the end of the Battle of Hedong, Zhu Gongdao saved the Zhu family in Hedong and left everything behind to wander around. Over the years, it has been difficult to find his trace.
It turned out that he had come to a remote place like Yongliang. When Zhu Gongdao heard someone calling him, he was stunned for a moment. After seeing who it was, he quickly smiled again: "Yan Gongzhong? Okay, at the end of the world."
You can actually meet old friends at the end of the world.”
"Who is it?" Just when Yan Qian was about to ask him, the child anxiously picked up his pants and ran over. The child was not very old, but he looked at Yan Qian arrogantly with his hands on his hips. If it weren't for his dark skin and the clothes he wore,
With similar loose robes, Yan Qian almost thought it was someone's young master.
"When did you have a son?" Yan Gan estimated the child's age and said in surprise: "That year, you had a son as soon as you left Hedong?"
"Bah! Who is his son?" The kid glared at Yan Gan and said rudely: "I am his eldest brother!"
Yan Qian did not answer, he raised his eyes and looked at Zhu Gongdao doubtfully, and then at the child. Zhu Gongdao was also very honest and did not take advantage of the child. He spread his hands and said, "How can I have a child like Mu Monkey? This is me.
I picked it up from a pit. I remember that last year I traveled to Bingzhou, saw the Great Wall in Yanmen County, and then went to Mayi. This kid was picking up excrement in a pit to eat. It rarely rained in Shuobei that day.
It was cold and dark. I saw how pitiful he was, so I picked him up and took him with me."
"You're talking nonsense!" The child's face turned red with anger, and his two little eyes seemed to be shooting out of fire: "I just fell down at that time, who cares about you pulling me! Now you actually insult me in front of others.
, I have to teach you a lesson!" As he said that, he reached into his waist with his little hand, pulled out a smooth, foot-long wooden stick like a sword, and stabbed Zhu Gongdao in the waist.
Zhu Gongdao quickly stretched out his hands to cover the soft flesh around his waist, and jumped to the side with ease. The child refused to let go, and chased after him, using a stick to strike him with sword skills.
Yan Qian watched the two people fighting and observed carefully, and found that the child was not similar to Zhu Gongdao except for his clothes. Although Zhu Gongdao was sometimes frivolous, he had a steady temperament, but this boy looked like
He has lost his upbringing, suffered a lot, and is fierce to everyone he talks to. However, he looked at the boy shaking his thin arms and thought to himself, 'This boy's swordsmanship is quite decent.'
He stretched out his hand to stop the tired boy and asked, "What's your name?"
"His name is Han Chong, Gongzhong, just call him Chongzi." Zhu Gongdao said calmly.
"My name is Han Long!" Han Long glared at Zhu Gongdao angrily, and seemed to want to jump up and hit him with a wooden stick, but unfortunately he had been walked out of strength by the opponent just now. He inserted the wooden stick back into his belt,
He clasped his fists to Yan Gan seriously and said, "I am from Yanmen in Bingzhou. From now on, I will be like Ju Meng, Tian Zhong, and Guo Xie, and be a Renxia known to the world."
"You have taught him bad things." Yan Gan shook his head and said to Zhu Gongdao angrily: "This child is smart. It would be great if he could read scriptures. What's the point of kidnapping him to practice swordsmanship and become a knight-errant?"
Han Long didn't hear this complaint. He suddenly saw Yan Qian's mount sitting by the river drinking water. He ran over excitedly and looked around.
Zhu Gongdao then approached and said softly to Yan Qian: "Since the collapse of the Southern Xiongnu and their household registration by the imperial court, the Xianbei, Wuhuan and other tribes have gathered in various places to the north and west of Bingzhou. There are many Xianbei tribes in Yanmen County.
Before the eunuch Jin Gong went there, there were plunders across the Great Wall almost every year. Han Long's family was so poor. He was originally captured by the Xianbei people as a slave. After the eunuch Jin Gong arrived at Yanmen, he used cloth to
The tea leaves were replaced by a group of Han people from the Xianbei people. Originally, they only wanted young people, but the Xianbei people were cunning and used Han Long as a child. In the end, they had no home and no need for him in their fields, so they wandered around."
Yan Qian remembered that the 'prefect Jin Gong' the other party referred to was Jin Shang, the prefect of Yanmen. This man was once a servant of Huangmen next to the emperor, and after the famous minister Jin Rixi. With the help of Jingzhao Sanxiu's reputation and his ancestors' Han and Huns
As soon as Jin Shangfu took office, he treated the Xianbei people with kindness and power. He used redemption to take back a large number of Han people from the Xianbei people, and allowed these Han people to reclaim wasteland for farming. Soon, the depressed Yanmen County regained its vitality. Although he
He was not strong enough to break the situation where there were many Hu and few Han, and he was unable to control the whole county of Yanmen. However, with the foundation and example he had set in Yanmen, it gave Prefect Zhou Shang the opportunity to continue to advance northward.
, will determine the conditions for Xiangjun to be admitted again.
"I didn't expect that with the benevolence and sensitivity of the Jin family, his subordinates would be so negligent." Yan Qian had heard of Jin Shang's reputation as a ruler when he was visiting the orphans of the Guo family in Bingzhou, but he did not expect that behind those seemingly glorious political achievements, there was still such a thing.
An omission, he couldn't help but sigh.
"It's not his fault. What can he do if he says it at this time? The Xianbei people refused to admit it and sent troops to subdue them. The imperial court took advantage of the situation and destroyed the weakest Southern Xiongnu. They were already the gods, and all the Xianbei tribes responded with one attack.
If you want to use troops..." Zhu Gongdao sighed softly and said slowly: "We have to wait a long time."
Yan Qian became more and more aware of the difficulty here. If he was powerful, why would Jin Shang pay for the person to be redeemed after the other party had robbed him?
"So Han Long is an active and naughty boy by nature, so I would never let him study. I saw that he was in good health, so I simply taught him a few tricks. In the future, whether he is a knight or a soldier, he will have a skill at his disposal.
." Zhu Gongdao, like a father, has planned his son's future. These words naturally aroused Yan Qian's subtle and inquiring eyes. After he finished speaking calmly, he sighed softly and said: "By the way, I
I haven’t asked you yet, how did you come to Zhangye?”
"I'm here to find someone." Yan Qian stretched out his hand and waved to Han Long, who was at the water's edge, and motioned for him to bring the horse that had drunk enough water: "Jiuquan Yang Aruo, you should recognize him?"
"The East Market is interested in Yang Aruo, and the West City is interested in Yang Aruo." Zhu Gongdao said softly, with a flash of light in his eyes. After asking for Yan Qian's consent, he bent down and picked up Han Long on the horse's back, holding the horse by the hand.
Rein, walking side by side with Yan Qian: "Who in Yongliang doesn't know this man? Why are you looking for him? Could it be that... you are 'coming here on orders' again?"
After saying that, Zhu Gongdao chuckled and continued: "That's right, Han Sui raised his troops to rebel, and the powerful people in the four counties of Hexi responded. For example, the powerful Huang family in Jiuquan was restrained too much by the prefect Xu Gong, so they raised troops to kill him, and the rest of the Wuwei Yan family
, the rebellion situation in Zhangye and other places is roughly the same. This is just like the rebellion of the powerful people in Hedong back then, but you and others left long ago, why are you here now? And you are the only one? "
Yan Gan and others had actually arrived in Hexi a long time ago, but had stayed in Wuwei in accordance with the arrangements given to Bao Chu and others when Jia Xu left. Except for a few named powerful people, no one else had contact with them. According to the current situation
It seems that what they want to do is not to prevent the powerful rebels of the four counties or Han Sui to seize Hexi, but to try to destroy them one by one after the powerful rebels of the four counties raise their troops. So in these days, he has seen too much
Many people died as a result. Many of these people were innocent common people, as well as county magistrates who were loyal to the country, but they did not know until their death that they could have avoided all this with the help of Yan Gan and others.
"Everything is for the final victory." Zhang Ren, the leader of the trip, warned sternly: "Not to mention whether these things will be leaked, they are known to Han Sui; but it is you who informed the guards.
, Ling, with their ability, can they really take precautions? Do they know which powerful family will rebel? If they don't know, wouldn't every family be suspected, and eventually everyone will rebel? In the end, there is no helper in Hexi. This war talks
Why repeat? Gongzhong, I think you will be a person who does great things in the future, and you must always understand the court's painstaking efforts."
Why didn't Yan Qian understand the court's painstaking efforts? Especially after personally experiencing the Hedong Rebellion, he understood the court, or the emperor's thoughts better than anyone around him. He sat back and watched the chaos when he knew it would happen, and he always focused on breaking things up when things happened.
Dali, as if there was a better smooth road, he had to use his own flesh and blood to find a way through the thorns. In this regard, sometimes he couldn't help but think, if Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, had earlier
If Wei Gu and Fan Xian, the leaders who were planning to rebel, were killed and the people were shocked, then the dozens of powerful families in Hedong and tens of thousands of common people would not have to die?
But when he returned to Hedong from Bingzhou, he witnessed with his own eyes how powerful Hedong County was, without occupying Tianze and Yurou Township. Hedong County only relied on the government and the common people to form a peaceful scene. Perhaps the best way to rebuild after breaking down is to tear down and start again.
The real way to cure Taiping? Just like treating a sore, you have to dig out the roots and then apply medicine and bandage, not just squeeze out the pus.
"Everyone else is elsewhere." Yan Qian was brought back to his senses by Zhu Gongdao. Although he did not treat the other party as an outsider, he also knew that there were many secrets that he could not tell.
Yan Qian suddenly felt very quiet. He turned around and found that Han Long had already fallen asleep on the horse. A thin little hand habitually grabbed the wooden stick at his waist, and his saliva pulled the thin thread from his waist.
The water flowed out from the corner of his mouth and dripped on the brown horse's mane. Zhu Gongdao walked slower and walked the horse to a flatter road, so as not to wake Han Long from his back. He no longer asked in detail, but said
: "I didn't expect that even though I have traveled so far, I would have to travel with you to talk about this important matter of the imperial court. It seems that if I really want to avoid it, I have to go to the Western Regions."
"Then you have to run farther." Yan Qian said jokingly. With the current emperor's ambitions, how can the small hometown of thirteen states satisfy him? Not to mention Xianbei, Wuhuan, the Western Regions and even more in the future
From a distance, he might even be seen on the territory of the Han Dynasty.
Zhu Gongdao laughed dumbly. After all, he seemed to be a fugitive being hunted. Unfortunately, he was accustomed to being careless by nature and did not want to make contributions and shine on his family. Otherwise, how could he be just a white man when he encountered opportunities like Yan Qian several times?
? After he and Yan Qian laughed a few times, they calmed down and said, "I have been in Zhangye longer than you. I heard that Lord Xu Mansion of Jiuquan was attacked and killed by the Huang family and other powerful men. Yang Aruo claimed to be against thieves and talked with famous people in the county.
Pang Pang asked for help everywhere but failed, and was arrested by Huang Ang and others. In the end, Yang Aruo and others had no choice but to escape among the Qiang and Di tribes with whom they were close..."
"Do you know his whereabouts?" Yan Qian suddenly asked, his heart tightening.
"You have almost found it." Zhu Gongdao moved his long sleeves, which were as wide as cattail leaf fans. He did not feel cold in the cold wind: "I have traveled in the four counties of Hexi for a long time, and I have seen many heroes.