On the last day of the tenth year of the Great Calendar, in the snow, a team of more than 70 people quietly left Yanji Town and marched east along the Chihe River.

This is the advice of the Dunhuang guide to Guo Song, the Shatuo army will hardly go out in winter, spring is their active period, and the heavy snow closure of the Hexi Corridor in winter refers to Ganzhou and Liangzhou, and there is not much snow in Guazhou and Suzhou.

The winter departure is a little more difficult, but you will generally not encounter the Shatuo army.

After weighing the pros and cons, Guo Song finally decided to set off in winter.

The snow was falling, and seventy-three people carried war horses and rode camels in the bitter cold wind.

They brought more than a hundred camels, which brought them great convenience.

"Guo Changshi, when I came over, there were no herdsmen in Puchanghai, but there were a lot of deer, and the soldiers could hunt deer to supplement food."

Their guide is still the Han guide hired when he came from Dunhuang before, he was introduced by Guo Song, and the Anxi Protectorate got in touch with the Anxi Protectorate, and often went to Dunhuang to buy some supplies for the Anxi Protectorate, making a lot of money.

The wind and snow were very strong, and they basically relied on roaring to speak, Guo Song asked loudly: "Isn't Pu Changhai frozen?" How can there still be a herd of deer? ”

"There's grass under the snow near the lake, and the deer can find something to eat."

"That's good! Let's talk about it when I go to Puchanghai. ”

Ten days later, the Tang army arrived at Puchanghai, when the snow had stopped, the sun shone on the endless snow-white plains, shimmering with a magnificent luster, and in the distance by the lake, groups of red deer picked up the snow and graze.

Tang Jun suddenly became excited, and Guo Song smiled at Liang Wu: "You take fifty brothers to hunt deer!" ”

"Obey!"

Liang Wu changed to a war horse and galloped away with fifty cavalrymen, who often went out to hunt in the past six months, and practiced a clever hunting method.

They were divided into two teams, one team drove away, the other team ambushed, dozens of shots, and more than a dozen large deer fell in an instant, and the other deer herd were frightened and fled into the distance without their lives.

That night, the Tang army lit a bonfire on the shore of Puchanghai Lake, roasted venison, the venison was charred and tender, sprinkled with salt and spices, and the fragrant delicacy was fragrant, and the soldiers raised their glasses and drank milk wine, laughing and laughing.

Two days later, the Tang army arrived in the desert, and they would spend ten days crossing this great desert to reach Dunhuang.

Compared with the first visit, the Tang army was very well prepared, carrying enough water and food, and more than 100 camels, although the yellow sand was raging, the wind and sand were all over the sky, the quicksand overflowed, and the killing machine was heavy, but the Tang army was still able to walk east step by step with difficulty.

On the twentieth day of the first month of the eleventh year of the Great Calendar, this Tang army, which had gone through difficulties, finally arrived in Dunhuang.

Dunhuang County also snowed heavily, the soldiers in the Dayun Temple to rest on the fire, the abbot Zhiguang Master clasped his hands to Guo Song and said: "Amitabha, only seventy-five of the three hundred cavalry are returned, and the poor monks are willing to spend their souls for the soldiers who died in battle!" ”

Guo Song clasped his hands together and said, "Then it's troublesome master!" ”

At this time, a monk stepped forward and whispered to Master Zhiguang: "There is someone from Dunhuang City." ”

Master Zhiguang nodded and said to Guo Song: "Master Zhang and Master Cao are here, please follow me to the abbot's room." ”

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Guo Song clasped his palms in thanks, followed Master Zhiguang to the abbot's room, as soon as he entered the house, three men stood up, Guo Song knew two of them, Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng, the head of the Cao family and the Zhang family, Guo Song had already met before.

Behind them stood a young man, about twenty years old, handsome, his eyes as calm as water, he pursed his lips tightly, and looked at Guo Song with a little curiosity.

Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng looked very excited, they didn't know what year Guo Song would return to Chang'an, so they didn't pay much attention to it, but now that Guo Song is back, obviously he wants to return to Chang'an, so they can bring their news back to Chang'an.

Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "See Guo Changshi!" ”

"The two heads of the family have met again, no need to be polite, please take a seat!"

The three of them sat down, Guo Song glanced at the young man, and asked with a smile, "This is ......?"

Cao Qingyun said with a smile: "This is the dog Cao Wannian, who is a scholar." ”

Cao Qingyun glanced back at the young man and said to him, "Don't hurry up and give Guo Changshi a salute!" ”

Although Cao Wannian was a little surprised by Guo Song's youth, he still saluted Guo Song calmly, "Student Cao Wannian, see Guo Yuanjun!" ”

"You're welcome!"

Guo Song smiled at Cao Qingyun and said: "Ling Lang Ru is beautiful inside, with an elegant demeanor, and he will have a bright future in the future." ”

"Prizes! Overpraise! ”

Cao Qingyun was obviously very satisfied with his son, he stroked his beard and said, "I have a reluctant request, I don't know if Guo Changshi can agree?" ”

"Master Cao, please speak!"

"That's the case, I want the dog to go to Chang'an to study, can you let him follow Guo Changshi's team to Chang'an?"

Guo Song was silent for a while, Cao Qingyun thought that Guo Song was afraid of increasing the burden, so he hurriedly said: "I have a favor in Chang'an, and the Cao family also has a house in Chang'an, money and the like are not a problem, the key is that he can't go, so please take him there." ”

Guo Song smiled bitterly and said: "I don't hide it from the head of the Cao family, last year I led three hundred people to Anxi and Beiting, but now there are only seventy-five people left, I don't know if Zhu Xie Jinman will continue to block us in Guazhou and Suzhou, the main reason is that Ling Lang's safety cannot be guaranteed." ”

Cao Qingyun was a little embarrassed, and Zhang Feng next to him asked cautiously: "I heard that Guo Changshi has been resting in Anxi for more than half a year, could it be that Zhu Xie Jinman will wait for half a year in Guazhou and Suzhou?" ”

Guo Song shook his head and said: "I didn't say that I would definitely encounter Shatuo's elite soldiers, otherwise I wouldn't have returned to Beijing at this time, but I just said that there is a certain risk, and I can't guarantee that Ling Lang will be safe." ”

"All risks are at my own risk!"

Cao Wannian next to him suddenly spoke, he stepped forward to salute his father, "Father, this is the only chance for the child to go to Chang'an, no matter how risky it is, the child is willing to bear it." ”

"Okay!"

Cao Qingyun finally nodded in agreement, in fact, he also knew that Guo Song would not leave his son alone if he was really in danger, so he pleaded with Guo Song: "We are willing to take all the risks ourselves, and I implore Guo Changshi to help with this." ”

Guo Song nodded, he agreed, in fact, he knew in his heart that he was not the only opportunity, there were Sogdian merchants who would also go to Chang'an through the Hexi Corridor, and the Sogdian merchants had a good relationship with the Shatuo army, and it was safer to go with them, so Cao Qingyun asked his son to go to Chang'an with him, there must be another layer of deep meaning.

Guo Song doesn't say anything, this Cao Wannian looks like a good person and has a good upbringing, it is very likely that he will be the chief official of Dunhuang in the future, and it is not bad to be able to help sell personal favors.

.......

Guo Song rested in Dunhuang for three days, and on the third day, Cao Wannian rode a horse to Dayun Temple with an old servant, and without waiting for Guo Song to speak, he explained to Guo Song: "My uncle Zhong knows the terrain of the Hexi Corridor well, and he can take us on the path to avoid the patrol posts of the Shatuo people." ”

"Ling Zun is very thoughtful!"

Guo Song saluted the old man, "Then it will be troublesome for the old man to lead the way." ”

The old man hurriedly replied: "I don't know if Guo Yuanjun is going to leave during the day or march at night?" ”

"I intend to march at night and rest during the day."

"It's best this way, it's safer to walk at night except for beware of wolves."

As soon as it was dark, Guo Song immediately led the army and set off.

There are more than 1,000 miles from Dunhuang to Ganzhou, this section of the road Shatuo people deployed 15,000 troops, before there was a horse bandit who acted at night, the horse bandits had been wiped out by Guo Song and them, and it was not so fast to form it again, so Guo Song was basically nocturnal and day long, and he bet that the Shatuo army would not come out at night.

Cao Wannian's old servant really knew the way very well, he did not take Guo Song to take the official road, but walked south along the sweet spring water, and walked around a big circle to another deserted road, which made Guo Song breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, he was also worried that there were spies from the Shatuo army on the periphery of Dunhuang County, and he was waiting for him to arrive in Dunhuang, you must know that Zhu Xie Jinhai had a very high status in Shatuo, and his orders were generally not disobeyed by the general Shatuo generals, although half a year had passed, there was really no guarantee that the Shatuo people would give up hunting them.

"This road is the path of ascetics, there are no cities and villages on the road, we will walk to the foot of the Great Snow Mountain, and then go east along the Great Snow Mountain, the road is more difficult, but it is at least six hundred miles away from Jinchang County, nearly a thousand miles of desolate and uninhabited, even the Tang Army did not build a garrison city there, there are many deer herds, and there are many wolves, many monks deliberately go to this road, and most of them are buried in the wolf's belly."

"My husband seems familiar?" Guo Song asked with a smile.

"It's not very familiar, it's just a few times, if it were my son-in-law alone, I would never take him on this road, but there are many of you! Can deal with wolves. ”

Guo Song nodded, it would be a small problem if he encountered a wolf pack.

Two days later, everyone arrived at the upper reaches of Ganquan Water, the terrain here is very high, but also extremely cold, dozens of miles away in front of the Daxue Mountain, that is, Qilian Mountain, the other side of the Daxue Mountain is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there is a valley gap of more than 20 miles, Tuyuhun cavalry often kills out from this gap to harass Dunhuang City.

Walking up again, there was a large coniferous forest, and the old servant led the Tang army to the east, along the edge of the taiga to the east.