"I never thought that I would still be able to see the Three Gorges before they were submerged!"

In mid-April, Heifu stood on a mountain twenty miles west of Yiling County, blown by the whizzing river wind, feeling a little trance, but also a little lucky, and at the same time began to feel that this trip to the county was still a little rewarding.

He didn't know that this section of the Three Gorges in later generations was not actually flooded......

"Seven hundred miles from the Three Gorges, the two sides of the river are connected with mountains, there is no place for a little, the heavy rocks are stacked, the sky is hidden from the sun, since the midnight of the pavilion, the moon is not seen"...... If I'm not mistaken, that's how the text describes it, and I can't find a better word to describe what Hefu saw.

The hill where Heifu is located is called "Xiling Gorge Mouth", which is the end point of Xiling Gorge, one of the Three Gorges, and the 700-mile Three Gorges are stacked on top of each other, and the dangerous shoals of the mighty river are densely packed here. From here to the east, the mountains on both sides of the river become small hills, and the swirling and turbulent river gradually spreads into advection.

So the local people said: the water is here and the mountain is here, so it is named "Yiling".

Yiling County is located one hundred and fifty miles west of Zhijiang County, and it is the second stop of this county Shouxing County.

Ye Junshou checked the winter wheat planted locally in Yiling as usual, and how the harvest was after using the method of composting and manure, the same was about a three-percent increase in yield. The county guard was very satisfied, and then continued to check the implementation of the water mill in the county.

Yiling is high in the west and low in the east, there are many turbulent streams, which is a good place for the implementation of water mills, and the population of this county is only more than 20,000, and there are more water mills, which can just make up for the lack of manpower.

This time, the county guard did not let Heifu accompany him, so Heifu was happy, and after spending a day checking the local military registration and determining the recruitment procedures, the official business was completed. Seeing that the county guard was still wandering around the countryside, he was itchy for a while, and in the name of going to the mouth of Xiling Gorge to inspect the waterways and pavilions, he asked a few local officials as guides to take him on a day trip to Xiling Gorge.

After taking a look at the scenery of Xiling Gorge, Heifu had to return in a hurry, and returned to Yiling County in the afternoon.

Yiling County is very small, less than half of the county seat of Anlu, most of the buildings are spread along the riverside, and at the slow flow of the river bend, there is a wharf, and at this time there are several ships from Bashu.

The White Emperor of the Dynasty, twilight to Jiangling, during which 1,200 miles, although the wind is rushed, not to the disease.

Having said that, in these years, it is a dangerous thing to go out of the Three Gorges from Bashu to Nanjun, after all, the Three Gorges are full of dangerous shoals, and if you are not an experienced old boatman, it is easy to have an accident. They had just experienced a terrifying voyage of seven or eight hundred miles, and the crew of these Bashu ships urgently needed to rest and drink a sip of local rice wine to suppress their shock.

Heifu passed by the dock on his way back to the county temple, and happened to see the long history of the county shou Teng sitting here with a few attachés, as if he was waiting for someone.

Changshi's name is Lu Dang, after seeing Heifu, Lu Dang took the initiative to get up and bow to him, Changshi is five hundred stone officials, Heifu has to return the salute, and talked with him a few words.

"Zuo Bing Cao Shi can see the scenery of Xiling Gorge?"

Since he came out of Zhijiang, Lu Dang's attitude towards Heifu suddenly became enthusiastic.

Heifu didn't dare to slack off: "I saw it, and it really deserved its reputation."

Lu Dang said with a smile: "In fact, Xiling Gorge is not the most beautiful and dangerous, the county guarded the last trip to the county, took us all the way to the west, went to Zigui, crossed Wuxia, and went to Wuxian, peeped at Qutang Gorge, that is the strange mountains and different waters, unique in the world!" ”

Heifu smiled, "I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to see this wonder this time." ”

"I'm afraid not."

Lu Dang revealed: "The county guard only went to Yiling in the west, and the day after tomorrow, he would take a boat down the river to the east, or go to Yidao, or go back to Jiangling to rest, and then take the waterway, go directly to Jingling and Zhouling, and then it will be the turn of Anlu County, the hometown of Cao Shi, the left soldier......

"I still want to go home more than wonders."

Heifu said: "When I get to Anlu, I should lead the way for the county guard and Changshi." ”

Then the two were silent for a moment, and then Lu Dang pointed to the Yiling city again, and talked about the military affairs that Heifu was interested in.

"The left soldier Cao Shi must have also seen it, from the Badi calendar to the east of the Three Gorges, even the mountains are stacked, until here, the water flow is gradually flattened, and the mountains are gradually slowed down, so Yiling is the gateway to the west of the Han River. At that time, the state of Chu built a city here to operate, and even set this place as the tomb of the king of the west, and it is said that many kings and ministers of Chu are buried in this mountain group......"

Heifu bowed: "Two years ago, when I was a pavilion chief in Anlu County, I arrested a group of tomb robbers, led by a big thief, who once dug the Chu tomb in Yiling. ”

"I remember that case too."

Lu Dang said: "However, the tombs of the former kings of Chu who were built on the outskirts of the city were burned down by Wu Anjun and General Sima Cuo more than fifty years ago. ”

It turned out that more than 50 years ago, the Qin State invaded Chu, first obtained the land of Shangyong and Hanbei, and then divided the troops into two roads, one was more familiar to Heifu, Wu Anjun Bai led tens of thousands of soldiers, went straight to Yancheng, and the lone army went deep. The reason why the king of Chu at that time was unable to mobilize enough troops to resist Bai Qi was because the other army of Qin, under the leadership of Sima Cuo, set out from Bashu and marched eastward with a naval division, attracting the main force of the Chu army......

Lu Dang said: "I heard that at that time, General Sima Cuo led 30,000 soldiers from Bashu, with dozens of large ships and hundreds of small boats, starting from Wenshan and floating down the river. The city of Ba County, Jiangzhou, to Chu Yingdu, which is now Jiangling, has more than 1,300 miles. Although there are many miles, the water flow is fast, and you can travel more than 300 miles a day without the effort of cattle and horses. ”

"The army set out from Bajun City, and within two days arrived at the western border of Chu State. As soon as the pass was broken, Wuxian and Zigui to the east all surrendered without a fight, and Qianzhong and Wujun of Chu returned to Qin, and this Yiling could not be defended. ”

"At that time, Wu Anjun broke through Yancheng, so he passed through Jingmen and came to Yiling to meet General Sima Cuo. With the grain of Bashu, the soldiers who broke through the Chu State were fed with a feast, and the Yiling was burned to intimidate the king of Chu. After that, the sailor also invaded east to Jingling, and the sound of the golden drum was heard in the palace of Lantai, and the king of Chu Xiang was really like a bird with a frightened bow, and fled with the nobles of the clan to abandon Yingdong. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Dang couldn't help but laugh at the timidity and incompetence of King Chu Xiang, and the goddess of Wushan, who made King Chu Xiang haunted by his dreams, was lost under the crossbow of the Qin army's big ship, but he could only look west in a hurry.

Heifu suddenly felt that the history of the Chu State in the Warring States Period was really a bit similar to the Song Dynasty in later generations, maybe in the eyes of Xiang Yan, Dou Ran, Zhong Liyi and others, the humiliation of Yan Ying was probably similar to the shame of Jingkang in the eyes of the Song people.

At the same time, Heifu couldn't help but admire Sima Cuo, and said: "I heard that General Sima Cuo was as early as King Huiwen, and Qin was based on Bashu, so that the upstream momentum could coerce the Chu State, which is really far-sighted!" ”

Although this general was born unfortunately, he was overshadowed by the brilliant achievements of Bai Qi, a junior, and his fame was not so great. But if it is said that Bai Qi is better than tactical troops, then Sima Cuo is better than strategy, whether it is to advocate the annexation of Bashu, or to send troops from Bashu to attack Chu, it shows that he has a unique vision.

If Bashu was not Qindi, Heifu only felt that he would not be able to sleep peacefully all night in Jiangling City.

"Therefore, Yiling is critical, the country's borders, if you lose it, you will not damage a city, and the whole county will be worried."

Lu Dang still looked worried, Heifu knew that as a long history, he was responsible for checking and filling in the omissions for the county guard, and he was now emphasizing the importance of Yiling several times, and there must be a reason for his worry.

So Heifu pretended to be relaxed and said: "Now Bashu is already the county of Qin, although I have also heard that there have been several rebellions of the marquis of Shu, but since Li Bingjun guarded the governance, the place is peaceful, and there is water conservancy irrigation, there is excess grain transported every year, and Yiling is also well armed, is the long history too worried?" ”

"Although the external troubles are peaceful, there are many internal worries......"

Lu Dangyan's words stopped here, he really had something in his heart.

Before Heifu could ask a question, the little official next to him, who had been looking at the river, suddenly shouted: "Changshi, the ship is coming!" ”

Heifu and Lu Dang looked up the river together, but saw a large wooden boat with a deep draft slowly sailing out of the mouth of the Xiling Gorge in the distance, and the oarsmen rowed desperately in the opposite direction, so that the boat gradually slowed down, and finally at the bend of the river, they leaned on the Yiling wharf, and the sailors on the boat let out a burst of cheers.

Heifu can see that Lu Dang Changshi is waiting for someone! The man should be in this boat.

"What kind of character can make the long history of the Nanjun county guard come and wait in person?" Heifu couldn't help but be curious.

At this time, he also saw clearly that on the big wooden boat, the pattern of a white tiger was painted with lacquer, and the crew members who came down from the ship had different hairstyles and clothes, most of them were barbarians with animal skins wrapped around their waists and naked upper bodies, with their hair or vertebrae or shaved naked, leaving only a handful of heads left......

As they approached, Heifu saw the willow-leaf swords hanging from their waists.

The identity of this group of people was immediately revealed: Ba people!

This is an ancient tribe, in addition to Ba County, there are now many Ba people in Yidao, Yiling, Sister Gui and Wu County in the west of Nan County. Heifu also occasionally saw a few in Gangneung Castle, and the Ba people were brave, often as loyal samurai, and looked after the homes of the local nobles.

However, the one who was surrounded by a group of Ba people and stars holding the moon and walking towards this side was a young man dressed as a Qin person. Look at him about the same age as Heifu, but he is already wearing a veneer crown, as if he is a doctor!

Could it be that Ludang is waiting for, this is the person?

Heifu's question was soon revealed, and Lu Dang explained to him in a low voice: "This person's name is Ba Zhong, and he is the son of Ba Widow Qing, and at noon today, he sent a small boat to tell him, saying that there is something important to see the county guard, so the county guard asked me to wait for him here......

As he spoke, the young man seemed to understand the etiquette of the Qin State very well, and he looked at Lu Dang and Heifu from a distance.

"I'm a barbarian, how dare I bother the officials to wait?"

Lu Dang immediately bowed to the young man and saluted: "This is the order of the county guard, and the king is also the doctor of the king's own title, so it should be so." ”

"The son of the widow Kiyoshi?"

Heifu also reacted at this time, looked at the young man, and suddenly understood why this son was so valued.

"It turned out to be the son of the biggest mine boss in the Qin Kingdom!"