The night wind was whistling, and Qin Xiao said: "It is not suitable to stay here for a long time, Duwei, let's go to Jiayuguan first." ”

"Are you going to Kyoto?" Han Yunong immediately understood.

Qin Xiao nodded and said, "At the moment, the only way to do this is to rush to Kyoto as soon as possible and report the rebellion in Xiling to the imperial court." ”

Han Yunong bowed slightly, and without saying much, several people urged the horse to go east.

By dawn, it was already a hundred miles away from Turtle City.

On the way to Jiayuguan, Qin Xiao explained in more detail what happened in Fan County, mentioning Dapeng's assassination of the general, Yuwen Chengchao's expression was gloomy, but Han Yunong understood: "Eldest prince, you have tried your best to do everything you should do. People's hearts are separated from their stomachs, and the Fan Zi period has been laid out many years ago, and you are also a victim, so you don't have to blame yourself. Since the general handed over the Tiger Wing Sword to you, he believes that you will definitely be able to help the imperial court recover Xiling. ”

Han Yunong originally wanted to rush to Woye Town quickly to send a message to the Changsheng Army, and learned that Qin Xiao had already sent three night crows to go, praised Qin Xiao for doing it properly, and decided to follow Qin Xiao into Beijing with Du Hongsheng.

The two of them entered Beijing together, and Qin Xiao was even more happy.

"Yes, eldest prince, in order to save the general, you fought with your life, brave and strategic, which is really admirable." Du Hongsheng sighed: "No matter who it is, I won't blame you for this matter." ”

Yuwen Chengchao was comforted by these two people, and his heart was a little calmer.

Jiayuguan is known as the first Xiongguan of the Tang Dynasty, is a moat in the east of Xiling, there are 29 piers in the pass, criss-cross and crisscross, look at each other, exchange information, each pier is equipped with post camels, post horses, food and lodging, accumulated salary, iron shop, carpenter shop and many other needs, in addition each pier platform has a certain number of defenders.

From the top of the wall, you can clearly see the Qilian Mountains.

Du Hongsheng was originally an official sent by the imperial court and was quite familiar with Kyoto, while Han Yunong was a veteran who had followed the general for many years, and his connections in Beijing were definitely not comparable to Qin Xiao and Yuwen Chengchao.

The four of them worked non-stop, and finally arrived at Jiayuguan on this day.

Qin Xiao has never seen Jiayuguan in his life, only heard that Jiayuguan is the first Xiongguan, and today he knows that this Xiongguan is more majestic and strong than he thinks.

He suddenly understood why Datang had focused on southern Xinjiang all these years, but ignored Xiling.

The largest pier platform, in the dangerous place of exiting the customs, is the sword pier, is the heart of Jiayuguan, there are the inner city, the outer city, Luocheng, the urn city, the moat and the north and south wings of the boulder city wall, there are three lines of defense inside and outside, the canyon passes through the mountain, the dangerous slope is forced to pass, it is easy to defend and not easy to attack, it can also be said that it is the throat of the western part of the Tang Dynasty.

There are 3,000 gentlemen of Jiandun, and they are heavily guarded.

The defenders of Jiayuguan have obviously received the news of the change in Xiling, after all, the turtle city was captured by the rebels, and it is impossible for this side to know nothing, because the heavy pass gate has been closed, and the defenders at the head of the city are waiting for it.

On the way, several people were afraid that wearing the armor of the Deathwing Cavalry would be misunderstood by the defenders of the pass, so they discarded the armor early in the morning.

Even if the Vedas really captured Xiling, but if they want to go east, it will be even more difficult, and this moat between Xiling and the Tang Dynasty is not boasting of blocking 100,000 iron horsemen.

As long as there is this pass in hand, even if Xiling is bloody and bloody, it will not be able to spread to the pass.

Although the head of the city is extremely high, Han Yunong is full of anger and his voice is down

It is to make the guards above hear clearly.

When he arrived at the pass, Han Yunong urged him to step forward and shouted loudly towards the city: "I am Han Yunong, please speak to General Zhang." ”

On the way, Han Yunong had already said that Zhang Rang, the guard general of Jiandun, had a lot of connections with General Hei Yu, and he was also a loyal and brave general.

The head of the city was silent for a moment, and soon someone said, "You wait." ”

After waiting for a long time, I finally saw a general arrive at the battlements, and glanced at it condescendingly, Han Yunong had already waved his hand and said, "General Zhang, I am Han Yunong." ”

"Who is Han Yunong?" The guards at the head of the city rushed down and said, "General Zhang has an order to block the pass, and no one is allowed to enter the pass." ”

"I am reporting the military situation to General Zhang, 100,000 urgent, if you miss the military situation, can you afford it?" Han Yunong said sharply.

"Brother Han, I haven't seen you for many years, but it's always good?" Zhang Rang had already come down from above, and said with a smile: "By the way, the general is out of the customs, how are you doing recently?" A few months ago, when the general left the country, he stayed here for one night, and I had a long talk with the general all night, and I benefited a lot. ”

Han Yunong also bowed his hand and said, "General Zhang, can you find a place to talk?" ”

"It turned out to be Brother Han." The guard Zhang Rang finally saw it clearly, and ordered his subordinates to open the gate of care, and let a few people enter the customs, Qin Xiao and a few people just entered with their front feet, and the defenders quickly closed the city gate, Qin Xiao saw it in his eyes, but his heart was a little cold.

Jiayu Pass is closed, no one is allowed to enter, if there is a war in Wutuo, the people enter the pass to hide, I am afraid that the gate will not be easily opened.

There is a fire inside, and it is as warm as spring.

Han Yunong didn't talk nonsense, he roughly said what happened in Xiling, and asked Yuwen Chengchao, who had experienced it personally, to add some more, Zhang Rang was still smiling at first, and when Han Yunong finished speaking, his face was already iron-blue, and he smashed his fist on the table, and said angrily: "What a bullshit prince, it must be that the Xiling family casually found a puppet to make a banner." They actually killed General Black Feather, I ..... I will not spare them. ”

Zhang Rang hurriedly said: "Please!" ”

In the thick wall of Jiayu Pass, there are many dwellings, and the defenders of the pass can live in them, Zhang Rang has a spacious dwelling, invites a few people to go in, and sees a few people in the dust, so that people can prepare wine and food to send over.

Zhang Rang knew that he was speechless, and said to Yuwen Chengchao: "Eldest son, I am a rough man, and I have no mouth to hide, you are not surprised." ”

"Don't dare." Yuwen Chengchao said: "However, Li Huo has soldiers and horses in his hands, and the Xiling family does not dare to disobey in order to protect themselves, and most of the Xiling family still have to be controlled by them." Now that Xiling has almost fallen into their hands, if the imperial court attacks quickly before they gain a firm foothold, they will be able to get twice the result with half the effort, if it is delayed for too long, they will sit firmly in Xiling, and then want to requisition, it will not be easy. ”

Qin Xiao saw that Zhang Rang's anger came from his bones, and his heart was a little calm, knowing that Zhang Rang's attitude already represented the attitude of most people in the military, as long as the military was angry, as soon as the imperial court's will arrived, it would inevitably be like a tiger.

"General Zhang, not all of the Xiling family are following the rebellion." Han Yunong immediately said: "The Yuwen family is loyal to the imperial court, and this Yuwen eldest prince was desperate to protect the general at that time. ”

Zhang Rang's body was shocked, and he immediately asked, "Li Tuo took refuge in the Wutuo people?" ”

"It's just our guess." Qin Xiao said: "Outside Kunlun Pass, thousands of Wutuo iron horsemen have been gathered, but they have not acted rashly. ”

Zhang Rang said: "The eldest prince, with all due respect, although Xiling has a vast land, it has a small population, and it is not difficult for the Tang army to solve that group of rebels." ”

"General Zhang, the Xiling rebels may be easy to deal with, but the Wutuo Iron Cavalry is much stronger than that group of rebels." Qin Xiao finally said: "We suspect that Li Tuo has the backing of the Wutuo people, and they have even secretly reached some kind of agreement. ”

Zhang Rang clenched his fists and sneered: "Back then, the Wutuo people burned, killed and looted in Xiling, which was a shame for us to be soldiers, and I really looked forward to killing them on the battlefield." Wutuo once groveled to Datang, and I, Datang, have always treated them well, I didn't think of their wolf ambitions, fed them, and in turn bit us, such jackals, don't teach them well, and don't know the military might of Datang. After thinking about it, he said, "I will immediately send someone to Kyoto to report this matter." ”

Han Yunong said: "That's fine, a few of us are also going to Kyoto." ”

Zhang Rang's face became solemn, and Han Yunong said: "We guess that Li Huo is wary of the imperial court

will quickly send troops out of the customs, so an agreement was reached with the Vedos, and the Vedas secretly sent troops, that is, they were preparing to quietly enter Xiling and prepare to ambush the Tang army. But that's just speculation, we don't know what their true intentions are. ”

"In that case, I will not keep you." Zhang Rang called his subordinates in, instructed to prepare the dry food and water needed for the way, and said: "I got a report a few days ago that Turtle City was captured by the rebels, but I don't know what the specific situation is. Since there is really a rebellion, and the imperial court learns about it, it will naturally transfer troops to quell the rebellion, and the general's revenge must be avenged. ”

Yuwen Chengchao said: "I hope so! ”

"Don't be in a hurry, I'll send a fast horse to report it, and you can rest here for a day before you set off." Zhang Rang said: "I'll send someone to Xiling in disguise to investigate the situation over there." ”

Han Yunong said: "It is naturally indispensable to send people out of the customs to inquire about the military situation, but we must also go to Kyoto as soon as possible, and we can't delay." ”

Entering Jiayuguan, it is the territory of Yongzhou, and it takes about ten days to pass through Yongzhou quickly, and after arriving at Tongguan, you can enter the Gyeonggi area within a few days by going down the Luoshui River.

The other three are fine, with excellent physique, but Du Hongsheng is just a civil official, with long distances and bumps, but his body is also difficult to withstand, but fortunately, Han Yunong understands Du Hongsheng's body, and will find a place to rest at night, and set off before dawn every day.

Zhang Rang glanced at Yuwen Chengchao, a trace of dissatisfaction crossed his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

After a few people ate a hot meal, after eating and drinking, they took the dry food and water prepared by Zhang Rang, and did not stop, leaving Jiayuguan and galloping in the direction of Kyoto.

Han Yunong saw that Du Hongsheng's face was pale, his eyes were gloomy, and cold sweat was oozing from his head, he stretched out his hand to probe his brain, only to feel like a fire, and frowned: "The adult is sick, he can't go anymore, he must find a doctor to see him first." ”

Starting from Turtle City, it was bumpy for more than ten days, although he would find a place to recover his strength at night, but Du Hongsheng finally couldn't support such an intense rush.

So for seven or eight consecutive days, I saw that I was about to arrive at Tongguan, at dusk this day, Du Hongsheng suddenly rolled off the horse's back, the three of them were surprised, hurriedly stopped the horse, Du Hongsheng struggled to get up, waved his hand and said: "It's okay, let's ..... Let's keep going. As soon as the words fell, his body went limp, and he sat down again.

"No, I can hold it." Du Hongsheng was afraid of delaying the trip of several people, shook his head and said: "You don't have to worry about me, you really can't go, you go to Kyoto first." ”

Qin Xiao looked around, saw that there seemed to be a village in the southeast corner, and said, "Duwei, there is a family over there, let's go over and let Lord Du rest for one night, and see if he can recover some tomorrow." If you can go after a night's rest, let's continue to walk tomorrow, it's really not possible, we will ask if there is a county seat nearby, and send Lord Du over to settle down. ”

"That's fine." Han Yunong nodded, and together with Yuwen Chengchao, he helped Du Hongsheng up, and did not get on the horse, but led the horse to the village not far away.