After a long sleep, when dawn came up again, the morning breeze in southern Sichuan had already made the trees roar.
The autumn harvest has just passed. If we continue to delay, I am afraid that when winter comes, the matter of paving the official road will become more difficult.
After waking up Si Hu, who was still talking in his sleep, and taking five hundred more people and enough dry food, Xu Mu began to follow the river at the foot of the Anling Mountains to explore.
Unable to ride horses, the group could only tread carefully to avoid disturbing the animals.
"Wu Bao, where does this river lead to?"
Hearing Xu Mu's voice, a middle-aged man with a beard walked over cautiously.
"Lord, it should be a stream that leads into the mountains."
Wu Bao was originally an old hunter, and later he followed Dou Tong to fight. This time he went into the mountains. As a marching captain, Wu Bao was well versed in the mountains and forests, and was undoubtedly a good choice as a guide.
You know, the Anling Mountains are extremely dangerous because they are inaccessible. In the past, even if people like Meng Huo climbed up the mountain, they would only dare to walk along the mountain path. But even so, they still encountered a pack of mountain wolves.
"Old people say that Anling Mountain has always been dangerous. When I was young, I loved hunting and rarely set foot on Anling Mountain." Wu Bao said as he raised the road cutter and removed the snakes and insects hiding in the thorn bushes.
They dispersed one after another.
"At that time, I heard someone say that there is an old god in Anling Mountain. If you meet him, he will give you something. I also gathered six or seven heroes to try to get rich, but I didn't see anything."
Xu Mu did not answer. In his heart, the most important thing was to find a suitable place to dig a cave. Of course, it was a cave hidden in the mountain, which could be used as a tunnel and paved an official road after being dug.
If Anling Mountain were all made of thick rock walls, this thought would have to be given up. If it cannot be drilled through, even in future generations, it is estimated that it will be a big project. At that time, we can only use a large number of civilians to do it.
It took two or three years to carve out the mountain steps.
"Wu Bao, follow the river and knock on the mountain wall with your knife."
Wu Bao was startled. Although he didn't understand what Xu Mu wanted to do, he quickly followed it. Along the way, there was only the sound of knocking on the mountain.
"My lord, we see the waterfall rushing down. Do we want to go up the mountain?"
"Need not."
The significance of carving a mountain lies under the foot of the mountain. It is not impossible to carve a tunnel halfway up the mountain, but the cost is too high.
The long procession of more than three hundred people suddenly stopped.
"Wu Bao, let the brothers take a rest and eat some solid food."
Xu Mu raised his head and looked around at the surrounding mountains. To be honest, he didn't know what he was thinking, but he was just trying to do a good thing that would benefit the state and the people based on some insights brought by later generations.
"Lord, why did it rain suddenly?"
Xu Mu, who was observing, suddenly felt excited when he heard Wu Bao's words.
"Si Hu, go get the chisel."
Si Hu, who was chewing dry food, hurriedly swallowed the steamed buns whole. He ran to the back with the baggage box and pulled out a chisel.
Xu Mu stared intently. It was not raining, but the stream had actually diverted. This diverted water probably flowed into the mountain and then seeped out along the grass hanging on the rock wall.
"Si Hu, dig this way."
Not only Si Hu, but also people like Wu Bao also finished eating their dry food, picked up chisels, and worked hard with Si Hu to dig into the mountain wall.
It's a pity that even at dusk, there was no harvest.
"Brother Mu, could you have read it wrong?" Si Hu was a little discouraged.
"I must have seen it wrong..." Xu Mu rubbed his head. But he did not give up and asked Si Hu and Wu Bao to continue digging to the side fifty steps away.
It was getting dark, and I was afraid that the mountain wolves would come around, so I had to hold a torch and leave more than a hundred people to patrol.
Throughout the night, at least three wrong places were chiseled. At the fourth place, as Si Hu kept chattering, the hammer finally hit the chisel and made a small opening as big as a palm.
When Sihu opened up the gravel, a cool breeze blew out from the small opening.
Xu Mu looked overjoyed. Although he was not sure whether this hidden cave could be used as a tunnel, there was finally hope.
"Chisel, keep chiseling!"
Wu Bao and others also became energetic again, and in less than an hour, a hole two people wide was dug out.
"Take the knife." Xu Mu said calmly.
Hidden caves like this are very likely to be the habitat of tigers and leopards. Moreover, after all, no one has been there, so no one knows what kind of disaster will happen.
Only a hundred men were left to guard outside. The remaining two hundred heroes followed Xu Mu's orders and drew the long swords from their waists.
"Slow down."
Xu Mu took out the fire seal, tried it, and found that the air was still circulating, so he waved his hand and let the two hundred people slowly enter the cave.
This cave, as Xu Mu expected, should be a karst cave, eroded by an underground river.
"Brother Mu, is this weird freezing thing? Could it be a mountain ghost?"
Wu Bao and others looked a little unnatural when they heard Si Hu's words.
The ancients worshiped nature, and many people believed what they heard about mountain ghosts. When the Shu Bridge was first built, heroes like Dou Tong, who had fought many battles, were no exception.
"Si Hu, if you keep talking nonsense, I will slap you." Xu Mu glared.
Si Hu hurriedly shrank his head, not daring to talk nonsense anymore.
Sighing, he comforted Wu Bao and others. Xu Mu then raised his head seriously and observed the situation in the cave. He didn't have the fantasy of "entering the cave to find adventure". Not to mention martial arts secrets, there was an iron mine, silver mine, and saltpeter mine.
He is already very satisfied.
Unfortunately, nothing happened except the cool breeze and the flow of the underground river.
After walking for about an hour, Wu Bao cautiously spoke.
"Lord, this cave is not big, and the walls on both sides cannot be reached."
The fewer holes there are, the more laborious it will be to dig.
Xu Mu frowned and visually measured the distance. As Wu Bao said, the cave was not only long and narrow, but also spanned a short distance.
"Wu Bao, go out in ten groups to explore and see if there are any hidden holes."
The underground river was still extending, and Xu Mu only felt that there might be other passages in the cave.
…
A few days passed, under the Anling Mountains.
"How many days has it been?" Dou Tong's voice was anxious.
"My lord has been gone for seven days."
"If I had known this, if I had known this, I should have stopped him. If anything happens to my lord, I, Dou Tong, will use all my troops to cut down this damn mountain range!"
"Does Dou Tong move mountains?" At this time, a familiar voice came over.
Dou Tong looked back, couldn't help it anymore, and ran over screaming.
Xu Mu, whose robe was covered in mud and dust, looked at Dou Tong running over and smiled happily. This time, he really made the right bet.
Next, he would choose a place to dig into the mountain and let the workers dig through the mountain walls on both sides as quickly as possible. Of course, this was a big project. Even after searching in the cave for several days, he searched every place and dug out the mountain.
It is still difficult to build a tunnel.
A snake-shaped winding tunnel suddenly appeared in Xu Mu's mind. According to his estimate, it would take more than half a year to dig out mountains and lay trestles to penetrate the entire tunnel, using 30,000 civilians.
However, before that, the transportation of materials between the two states, as well as the rush of troops for reinforcements, had to be based on waterways for the time being. This chapter has been completed!