After the smooth handover of military affairs and government affairs in the Western Regions, Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan went all the way east to concentrate on building a post station.

The place to the east of Luntai, mostly the place where the wind and sand eroded, it is really not easy to find a place to build a post station, a few oases are very rare, and it is absolutely impossible to break ground on the oasis.

Seeing some bare stone mountains, Zuo Sanxiang drew his sword and scratched the stone wall a few times, and found that the stone wall had been eroded by the wind and sand and was not hard enough.

"Jing Chuan, you said that we dug a cave in the mountain to make a post station, is it better than transporting wood from the wheel?"

"Zuo Shuai is witty, in fact, in this kind of windy and sandy place, it is difficult to maintain a post station built with wood! I think the wood brought this time can be used to build a shelter in a place between two boulders that can block the wind, and then dig a cave nearby, so the combination is more efficient! ”

The third phase on the left asked his subordinates to try with hammers and chisels for a day, and finally found three stone walls suitable for excavation, and brought a hundred people to take turns to dig day and night.

After digging for a month and a half, three caves three feet deep and two zhang wide were finally dug out before the wind and snow came, and the excavated stones were mixed with the silt in the nearby oasis under the command of Liu Jingchuan to build an earthen wall outside the cave to block the wind.

According to Liu Jingchuan's vision, these wooden sheds built by combining earthen walls can be used as stables for raising horses.

Outside the three caves, huts were also built with wood against the mountain, and the urgently needed food and bedding were transferred to the caves, and the rest of the supplies were stacked in the sheds.

Looking at this humble post station, Zuo Sanxiang looked back and forth, "There are only twelve people and fifteen horses left here, and the rest of the people will return to Luntai City, and then follow the example of digging a post station here after the beginning of spring!" ”

"Doesn't Zuo Shuai give this place a name?"

Liu Jingchuan asked Zuo Sanxiang to give the name of this first post station, and Zuo Sanxiang looked at the oasis not far away, "Well, this place is a rare blessed land, so it's called Fulinyi!" ”

"Very good, Zuo Shuai has drilled three wells along the oasis here, and the merchants along the way will rest here, so that the brothers stationed here will not be afraid of lack of supplies!"

"I only hope that after I leave, these post stations can be used more on the trade routes! The imperial court can no longer raise taxes! ”

Looking at the sunset in the west, which was extraordinarily huge, and there were countless golden rays of light reflected on the oasis, Liu Jingchuan once again instructed the soldiers who stayed behind to continue to dig some deep pits in the cave in the past few days to store water, so as not to freeze the well water when the snow fell.

After the first post station was repaired, the hundreds of people who participated in the construction had gained experience, and after returning to Luntai City, they each told others about the construction of the Fulin Station.

The crowd was very happy, and finally there was a place to rest on the way home, and the thousands of tombs outside the city were soon covered with snow.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan went out of the city to worship at the tombs of those fallen soldiers in a wooden cart made in imitation of the method of wet poisoners.

When the other soldiers in the city got the news, they also followed out in wooden carts, and in the wind and snow, they were like a long snake winding from the east gate to the cemetery.

The dead soldiers were buried outside the east gate, in order to bring them closer to their hometown, and it was impossible to transport the bodies of so many people back to Luoyang.

The tombs in the heavy snow are connected one after another, like steamed buns in a steamer, and the simple stone tablets erected in front of the tombs are densely packed like pai gow on the table.

Regarding these thousands of stone tablets, some people once said that it was unnecessary, but the third person on the left asked instead, "If it is you who die, your descendants will not be able to find the grave when they come to worship in the future."

Are you willing? ”

"There is a brother named Niu Zheng who died in my arms, and his wish is that in the future, there will be descendants to put roast chicken and shochu in front of his grave to worship!" Liu Jingchuan said at the time

On this day, Liu Jingchuan brought a roasted browned pheasant and a pot of wine mixed with water.

"Brother Niu Zheng, brother I'm leaving here, it's too poor here, there's no way, this pheasant was caught in the poplar forest a few days ago, there's no way to get the wine, I'll bring you half a pot of wine that has been hidden for two years!"

Even though it was a wine mixed with water, it still had a strong aroma when poured on the ground.

I couldn't help but run over and kneel on the ground to drink the snow water that had been poured with wine, and Liu Jingchuan didn't stop it, "Brother Niu Zheng, these brothers have also been holding back for a long time, don't mind, if you don't drink alcohol, you will knock on their heads at night and give them a headache for three days!" ”

"I drank it with a headache! Bro, we haven't had a drink in over a year! I want to die! ”

Zuo Sanxiang looked at the soldiers who were lying on the ground eating snow water, and suddenly burst into tears: "Brothers, I, Zuo Sanxiang, have treated you badly, those who died in battle can only stay here and can't return to their hometowns, and those who are alive can't even drink wine!" I can't stand you on the left! ”

While speaking, Zuo Sanxiang knelt down in the snow, and the soldiers hurriedly helped him, "Zuo Shuai, what do you say?" After being a soldier for so many years, I often hear people say that there are generals who love soldiers like sons and eat and live with soldiers, and I have seen you! You yourself are covered with messy bedding, where are we embarrassed to ask in front of you! ”

"Zuo Shuai, it's worth it to be able to follow a general like you in this life! The battle is enjoyable, and people live like a person! ”

"Zuo Shuai, don't blame yourself, this land in the Western Regions, if you are not poor or hard, then it will not be our turn!"

"Zuo Shuai, don't worry, after next year's corn and wheat harvest, our military rations will have a surplus, and we will find a way to make our own wine at that time!" This is the inheritance that you and Lord Liu left us! ”

"Brothers, before I leave, I will tell the new Lord Liu Zhong your thoughts and requirements, he has more ways than me, I believe he will definitely let you have enough wine to drink and meat to eat every day!"

"Zuo Shuai is appeasing us, we understand it, and we are not embarrassed by the new Dadu Protector, this wine and meat are available, and we can live without us! Don't make a wish, if most of them can't be protected by then, won't it chill the hearts of the brothers! ”

"Zuo Shuai won't say it casually, brothers, I, Liu Jingchuan, have dealt with this Dadu Hu, and I heard him say some ideas, as long as you listen to him, you can't eat and drink wine and meat!"

Seeing that Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan said this, these soldiers were not good at talking anymore, so they each kowtowed to the grave of their good brother and walked back.

Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan were the last to leave, looking at the more than 1,000 tombs, Zuo Sanxiang shouted, "There are heroic souls in the northwest!" The Great Liang Expedition to the Western Army is mighty! The heroic spirit of the soldiers! ”

Then a continuous roar erupted from the team that left in front, resounding throughout the east of the city.

"Respectfully, in this situation, what do you feel, someone in Zuo feels that he is too sorry for them not to leave a poem for his brothers!"

"Zuo Shuai, both civil and military, of course you are doing it yourself, I Liu Jingchuan is confident that I am a good hand at transporting grain and farming, this poetry, no. In this situation, I only think that some people will never go back, and those who don't want to go back will have to go back. There are also people who want to go back but still want to stay, this life is so impermanent! ”

"Okay, that's what I want from you, I was excited for a while

, I forgot all the drafts in my head, and as soon as you say so, I have it. ”

"Zuo Shuai is only eight buckets high, what is the value of writing poetry, listen to it!"

"Inspiration is very important in this poem. I took advantage of the snow to do it! Listen, write it down for me, lest I go back and forget it!" ”

Before Liu Jingchuan could reply, Zuo Sanxiang blurted out and sang aloud

"The East Village Tian Shehan, the West Expedition has not been returned"

"Try to see in the wind and snow, strong men are fighting a hundred battles"

"The prancing horse hits Loulan, and a thousand rides ride through the Tianshan Mountain"

"Break the enemy fairy village, Luntai is stained with blood"

"Mo Dao's journey is miserable, and Ili has a legacy"

"Tuntian is self-sufficient, and Fulin builds a post station"

"Han Shi left three phases, there are tens of millions of words"

"Parting across yin and yang, where are the tears drying?"

After the poem was finished, Liu Jingchuan cried, and the first few soldiers who stayed behind to wait for them also cried.

Then, Liu Jingchuan cried and shouted the poem, and the soldiers in front also chanted it.

Outside the eastern city, cries and poems were intertwined, attracting Liu Zhong and Chao Lun to put on their cloaks and come to the city to see.

I saw thousands of soldiers crying and chanting in the wind and snow, with the sound of the north wind whistling, which was particularly tragic.

"What a strong man! If it weren't for Zuo Shuai's civil and military skills, there would be no such effect! ”

"They are all brothers and sisters, people are not plants and trees, how can they be ruthless, worship the soldiers who died in battle, they are not worshipping themselves! The dead are long gone, and the living should spare their lives! Some are siblings, some are fellow villagers, and after returning to their hometowns in the future, the family of the deceased will ask about it, which is even more of an ordeal. ”

"Let's go down and fetch them, they are also capable, and they can come up with a plank cart that can glide on this snow, and the horses can pull it along!" Terrific! ”

The two took their own soldiers out of the city to greet the three soldiers of Zuo Sanxiang, and when the soldiers saw Liu Zhong and Chao Lun coming out, they still continued to chant and cry.

Liu Zhong and Chao Lun were waiting by the city gate, looking at the soldiers passing by, but they didn't know what to say.

When Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan returned to the city gate, Liu Zhong and Chao Lun already had a layer of snow on their bodies.

Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan hurriedly wiped the snow off their clothes, "You don't have to pay so much attention to etiquette, on such a cold day, it would be bad if you froze out of typhoid fever!" ”

"When I was in the military department, I only heard about comradeship, and today I saw the real kung fu, this horse leather shroud is also a great sadness, Zuo Shuai sincerely wrote a poem, and the soldiers were shocked when they heard the words, so they chanted for a long time, and this article of Zuo Shuai should be passed down through the ages!"

"Zuo Shuai is both civil and military, and the younger brother is not as good as in case, and the pressure on this body is much greater!"

Liu Jingchuan shook Liu Zhong's hand, "Dadu Hu, worship the brothers today, I used the last half pot of wine, Zuo Shuai also made a wish to everyone, in the future, everyone will have wine in your hands!" ”

"Zuo Shuai's hospitality, the little brother can only repay it after returning to the dynasty in the future!"

"Wherever you say, go back, when the two months of wind and snow pass, Jing Chuan and I will leave! It's a pity that there is no wine, otherwise I would have had a good drink with the two of you in these two months! ”

On Chinese New Year's Eve of this year, Zuo Sanxiang and Liu Jingchuan took out some beef and sheep bones with skin and meat that they had collected for a long time, and asked the men of each battalion to double the amount of corn and wheat rice, and wrapped a few coins for each person with the silk cloth brought by Liu Zhong.

On that day, the wind and snow ceased surprisingly, the bonfires on the city walls continued all night, and the people did not drink, but gathered together to sing the tunes of their hometown.