"And then you took out other people's cubs and named them Ganluo, right?" Xu asked with a big smile. In his eyes, although Li Xu is wooden and has little knowledge, he can be regarded as a young talent. When he was young and dared to go up the mountain alone to fight wolves, he was also worthy of his own friendship with this courage.

"Well, they say the little wolf is a scourge, so I call it Ganluo!" Li Xu nodded, his face a little gloomy. On the night he got the wolf cub, his father ordered him to drop out of school to evade military service, and all his original ideas about life were overturned. Until now, when I think about these things, I still feel faintly regretful in my heart.

"Name a beast Ganro, it's yours!" Xu laughed and raised his eyebrows, "Come on, do this." For my brother, I admire your courage, two years ago, I said that I chased and killed a lone wolf, and I never went out! ”

"Where is the pursuit, I was almost eaten by it!" Li Xu was a little embarrassed to be praised, took a sip of wine, and said. Looking at Xu Dayan's puzzled look, he had to briefly describe how he met the wolf, how he was almost killed by the "treasure bow" that was "worth three hanging dollars", how he shot the she-wolf with his eyes closed, and how he chased the little wolf with blood.

Listening to him finish his words word for word, Xu Dayan thought for a while and reminded: "Brother Zhong Jianxian, your bow may really be worth three yuan." According to the length and strength you said, it should be our Da Sui's riding bow, a good thing that you can't see on the market at all. ”

"After hearing what you said about the horse lance, I thought so too. May I ask Brother Xu, is there any difference between this riding bow and a stepping bow? Li Xu nodded and asked. He had always had a love-hate relationship with his uncle's bow that had been good and bad. Transfer it to someone else, and I am very reluctant to do so. Keep it for yourself, but I don't know when Uncle Gong lost his temper and gave his life in vain.

"The riding bow is short, but the strength is not necessarily weaker than the foot bow." Xu Dayan slapped the small table in front of him and sang the secret of bow management in a low voice. "Winter treatment of the bow stem, spring treatment of the corner, summer treatment of tendons, autumn of all materials, cold repair appearance, wine steaming, fire section, clamping, hand tearing, slow smelting. Silk knots, dry glue, lacquered, stringed, re-tamed...... This is something Li Xu has never heard of, his eyes widened, like a toddler who craves food, desperately absorbing the nutrients in the song.

"The art of riding and archery originated from King Zhao Wuling. But the method of controlling the bow is a unique skill that has been passed down for hundreds of years in my Central Plains. Making a good bow is the same as making a good lance, and it requires the selection of materials, glue, etc., and each step is said to be very strict. It usually takes four years to get a good bow, and in my Great Sui year, in order to conquer the south, I gathered the archers of the country, but I only made more than 10,000 such good bows. Later, the new emperor ascended the throne and used all the money for fun, and the good bows and craftsmen were extinct. Hehe, your bow, don't say three hangs, sell it to the infantry captain, and he will be willing to pay for thirteen hangs! ”

"Poof!" Li Xu didn't swallow a sip of wine, and choked out all at once. Thirteen hanging ?!! Thirteen thousand dollars?!! Grandma, this is a big number that he has never heard of when he is so old. With so much money, it is enough to open a shop, so why bother to go back and forth and suffer.

As he was calculating, he heard Xu Dayan say: "However, when fighting, the generals all wear heavy armor, and it is difficult to really hurt the other party with a bow." That's why Luo Gong can weigh many arrows without dying. If it weren't for the iron armor of my Great Sui, if you don't have many arrows, one arrow will be shot through!"

"That's nature, Brother Xu knows how to ride and shoot!" Li Xu picked up his wine glass and humbly asked for advice.

"Not so clear! When I was learning to bow with a bow, Master always said that if you shoot a few more times, you will naturally become familiar with your hands. I don't have that much time to shoot archery, and when I think about it, people ride war horses and wear heavy armor, and they are not so easy to be shot by me! Xu shook his head, offering a disappointing answer.

Seeing that the sky was already dark, Xu Dayan took out more than a dozen copper coins and settled the account. followed Li Xuxiang back to Liu Laozhuang. Autumn is high, and it is ten minutes of the full moon, and the ground is very bright. You don't need to light up the lights to see the person on the other side.

The two of them tied up their horses, and before they could catch their breath, they heard someone say in a strange way: "The two heroes are back, do you see General Luo?" Did he give you some copper coins to thank you for your courage in the afternoon! ”

Li Xu looked up and saw Sun Jiu, Zhang San, Wang Mazi and several other older businessmen looking at him in the moonlight, looking at the situation, everyone had been waiting in the courtyard for a long time.

Just as he was pondering how to answer, Xu Dayan stepped forward and said first: "General Luo is such a person, how can he pay attention to this little matter." It's just that the infantry captain under his account praised me for waiting for righteousness, and I have been eating and drinking until now. He also promised that if the caravan had something to do in Zhuozhou, Yuyang, and Anle in the future, he would report his name! As he spoke, while others were not paying attention, he gently kicked Li Xu's calf with his back heel.

"Yes, it's the foot captain who is enthusiastic, and the two of us can't walk away from being pulled, so, so it's too late to come back!" Li Xu, who had never lied, stammered, and in his chest, he felt that a deer was jumping all the time.

"Hmm!" Zhang San, the deputy leader of the caravan who wanted to have a seizure, lost his temper, and scolded with a blue face: "The businessman welcomes the Quartet with a smile, when will it be our turn to report the injustice." Once you get to the ground of other people's houses....... "Halfway through the scolding, think about it is still the boundary of Zhuozhou, and if you offend the government, there is no good fruit to eat." He spat thick phlegm on the ground, stomped a few times with straw sandals, and walked away.

Wang Er Mazi saw that the deputy leader stopped talking, and he also ran out of words. During the day, he, Lao Du and others saw with their own eyes that the captain surnamed Bu sent Xu and Li out of the city with a smile. Although this person is only a six-rank captain, but in various places in the border area, the captain of the Tiger Ben Iron Cavalry is more majestic than the head of a county. In case he loses face with the Tiger Ben Iron Ride, he will not want to pass through Zhuozhou again in the future.

"Be careful in the future, and leave the idle things you can alone. Once you let the two Hu people hurt you, I can't explain to the people in your family! Seeing that his companions had walked away, Sun Jiu shook his head and sighed to advise. Looking at the reddened faces of the two teenagers, he lowered his voice a little and said, "They lost money in the afternoon gambling, and they were not happy. So you two don't mess with them. The traders who were rescued by you in the afternoon were from Yangzhou, and they came to the door and sent you two large pieces of Suzhou silk as a thank you gift. I've stuffed you under the covers, so take it alive! It should be worth a lot of money! ”

"Thank you, Uncle Nine!" Li Xu and Xu Dayan saluted at the same time. The temperament of the caravan leader Sun Jiu is completely different from that of several other old rivers and lakes, open-minded, generous, and knows how to cherish the younger generation.

"Go to bed early, wake up early tomorrow!" Sun Jiu smiled kindly and turned to leave.

A sudden turmoil disappeared without a trace with Xu Dayan's calm response, and the two teenagers stuck out their tongues opposite each other and followed Sun Jiu to their respective bedrooms.

The so-called bedrooms are just two large rooms facing each other. In each room, two wooden planks were laid opposite each other, and straw was laid on top for the merchants to rest. Although it is a bit simple, this is already a high-end private room compared to sleeping in the wilderness. So at this time in the house, there were already snoring sounds one after another.

Li Xu tiptoed into the house, and found his bunk according to Sun Jiu's prior instructions. The quilt roll has been unfolded, and judging from the neat creases at the corners, it was Uncle Jiu's own help. Li Xu was grateful, nodded vigorously at the figure outside the window, and reached out to touch his bed.

A soft sensation like warm water immediately slid down his fingertips to his chest. It is high-quality Suzhou silk, no wonder several old traders who have lost money in gambling are looking red. Li Xu picked up the silk surface by the moonlight shining in from the window, and saw the cloud-like color of the blue sky. This is the favorite color of a large family of readers, Xu Dayan wears such a one, and Zhang Xiaowu also has a similar straight jacket, but he is reluctant to wear it all the time, and he only wears it on important days to show off.

Thinking about what happened during the day, Li Xu couldn't sleep. The appearance of the captain riding a horse and holding a lance was imprinted in his mind like a knife carving, and as soon as he closed his eyes, his heart was full of the image of that heroic man. Compared with this clear heroic image, the appearance of General Luo, who was admired by the infantry captain, was a little blurred. Although General Luo is a big hero, his story is exciting.

After turning back and forth a few times, Li Xu still couldn't sleep. knew that he was destined to have no chance with Ma Lance in his life, and he didn't have the opportunity to do a six-rank martial arts job at such a young age like a foot captain. When chatting with Xu Dayan during the day, he learned that even if he joined the army, it was difficult for ordinary soldiers to get ahead. The children of the family are harder than themselves, their martial arts skills are higher than their own, and they naturally rise faster than themselves. The children of small families like themselves are usually only qualified to carry baggage, or to carry firewood and grass to fill the trenches during the siege. After death, there will be no horse leather shroud, but a random burial, and within a few days, the belly of a wild wolf and vulture will be cheapened.

Thinking of the wild wolf, Li Xu thought of Ganluo who was placed in a corner of the stable. This master is not liked by everyone, and Ganluo is estimated to have no one to take care of him. Climbed down from the bunk, and then Moonlight took out a large piece of jerky from his bag, and Li Xu crept into the moonlight.

The moonlight poured like water on the yard full of donkey feces and horse dung, and the whole ground seemed to be stained with a layer of frost, soft and beautiful. It was very quiet in the four fields, and occasionally the cricket cries came from the corner of the yard, astringently, as if the throat was blown by the autumn wind. Li Xu remembered that before he left, his uncle always coughed. I don't know how his throat is now, if he has eaten the herbs he dug up and is better. Mother, in such moonlight, she should sit in the yard and step on the loom by the moonlight. My mother, who had been weaving linen for three days, seemed to rarely wear new clothes, and in my memory, every piece of her dress was patched.

After only a few days away from home, Li Xu found that he was already very, very homesick. The joy of wandering before leaving is gone, and what is hidden in the depths of my heart at this moment is only the deep longing for my parents. However, he can't go back to that home in a short time, and the conscription is imminent, according to Xu Dayan's analysis, once the government is in a hurry, the children of any family will be forced. If you want to use money to buy off the relationship, you have to see if the old man can keep the official hat on his head first.

A little light caught his attention, it was the small room that the master had opened for the caravan leader. In the entire caravan, only Sun Jiu was qualified to live. Think about the old man one? Taking care of himself, Li Xu slipped back to the house, grabbed the piece of Su silk, and touched it towards Sun Jiu's bedroom.

The moment he stepped into the courtyard again, he heard several noises rushing out of the window of Sun Jiu's room.

"You always protected him, and today he dares to meddle in the affairs of the Turks. Out of the plug, he dares to meddle in other people's affairs, and once he causes trouble for the caravan, everyone will go bankrupt! This is Uncle Zhang's voice, sharp and anxious. In plain life, he always smiled and called Li Xu to help him do things.

"Yes, Brother Jiu. That kid is not a material for trading at all, and he has no eyesight, and his temper is stubborn. Everything has to be taught, and it's easy to cause trouble. With him, there will definitely be countless troubles in the future! It was Wang Mazi who said this, and Li Xu clearly remembered the disgusting yellow teeth in his mouth when he spoke.

"And the little wolf, which is getting bigger and bigger. Brother Jiu, you have to have an idea. Everyone trusts you, but you can't let him mess around. We can't afford to mess with the surname Xu, Li Damu is a guy who can't kick a fart with three feet, are we still afraid of him? "It was Du Scar who said this. Li Xu knew that from the first day he left home, this person had been talking about the food he ate at an inn, and he had paid twice the price of eating at another house. But that day, Li Xu clearly remembered that the meeting gift this person gave him was only a blank coin, and half a corner was missing on it.

In an instant, the invisible moonlight in the sky turned into tangible cold water, pouring directly on Li Xu. He felt that his whole body was cold and cold, and his flesh and blood were frozen in one place. This is the "friend" who patted his chest in front of his parents and said that he would take care of his safety all the way. This is the elder who once touched his head and had a loving face. They were going to drive themselves away for the sake of a possible danger, and last night, when they were helping them to feed their animals, they said it was a blessing to take them with them!

What you see with your own eyes may not be the truth. What you hear with your own ears is not necessarily the truth. Li Xu remembered Old Master Yang's parting words, and a flame slowly ignited in his eyes.

"Have you made enough trouble, are you going to stand at the head of Xu Qi's bed and tell him this in person!" Sun Jiu's voice slowly came out through the coarse paper window. Not tall, but firm and powerful. Li Xu saw Uncle Nine stand up, and the light cast his figure on the paper window, looking as majestic as a mountain.

"I understand what you're forcing me to do. I, Sun Jiu, also said this sentence today, and now in Jixian County, I am not the only caravan ready to leave. Whoever plans to dismantle the fire and join other caravans, don't get up tomorrow morning, and I, Sun Jiu, will never stop me. But whoever wants to throw Xu Qi down, there is no door. I'll say it again, everyone. Tonight, you shout casually, out of Zhuozhou, if anyone has a crooked mind about Xuzi, don't blame me Sun Jiu for not treating him as a friend! With that, he untied something from his waist and slammed it heavily on the table.

Zhang San, Du Scar, Wang Mazi and others were all shocked. No one thought that Sun Jiu would get angry with a few old partners for a little hairy child. A few people muttered, not daring to say more. Seeing that everyone was unconvinced, Sun Jiu stroked the short knife and sat down, and said in a low voice: "That kid is a little reckless, but he is not bad-hearted." One? On the other, he didn't help any of you? He has never been far away, and he has been taught everything. But did he use you to teach a second time? Don't you feel ashamed of a child who has read books, is warm-hearted, and knows warmth and coldness? I also know that you are bullying his father Li Mao to be honest, but brother, let's not just focus on the present. There is an old saying, don't bully young people into being poor......."

Li Xu wiped the tears on his face, held the cold Su silk, and slowly retreated. He didn't want to listen to it anymore, maybe the world was like this, he could step on horse manure or pick up mushrooms. Nothing is born perfect, and it won't be that all people appreciate you and understand your efforts.

That night, Li Xu had a dream. In the dream, he saw himself riding a horse and holding a lance, charging and killing on the field. And around the battlefield, countless unfamiliar or familiar faces were cheering loudly.

Man is not an animal and does not need blood. When he woke up, he firmly remembered the words of General Luo Yi.

Out of Jixian County to the north, the official road gradually became dilapidated. There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the side of the road, and in the grass on either side, colorful pheasants and panicked hares ran out, and every now and then someone in the caravan was giggling after them with bows and arrows. It's just that everyone's archery skills are really poor, and after chasing half of the mountain, the hare and pheasant have already run away without a trace, so they have to rush back to the team empty-handed.

When camping in Miyun County, Sun Jiu had another dispute with Zhang San, Du Scarqi and others. The shouting continued for a little in the middle of the night, and did not subside until the ugliness subsided. When they left the next day, there were four more big men with meaty faces in the team.

Then Zhang Sange, the deputy leader of the caravan, announced to everyone that these four people were swordsmen hired for the caravan, and they were responsible for escorting everyone to the Xi tribe at the source of the Wulie water. And the price that everyone needs to pay is twenty dollars per person, and there is no limit to good meat and white money. As soon as he finished speaking, someone jumped up, saying that the swordsman was too expensive to hire, and that when he walked this road in the spring, the same team of fifty or sixty people, each of whom could hire a superb hand who could wield a knife with both hands, only paid sixteen dollars each.

"The double-knife Liu and his brothers you are talking about are folded in Blackstone Ridge, what happened at the beginning of this month. More than 60 of the more than 60 traders who hired him were arrested, and each of them had one ear cut off as a token for his companions to take back and raise ransom for their families! Du, who had always been stingy, suddenly changed his temper and threatened with the scar on his face trembling.

When everyone heard this, the back of their necks exploded. If there is money left over from the ransom at home, who will be a merchant who is inferior to this cow and horse. Only two of the two dozen or so companions awaited their fate, or they were torn apart by the angry bandits. Either you are lucky enough to join the bandits, and finally die in the conquest of the government or an inexplicable fire. None of the people had the courage to sacrifice their lives and money, so they had to take out twenty copper coins and hand them over to Zhang Sange for safekeeping. The rules on the road, when you set off, you will say the price, and when you arrive at the place, you will pay. If? encountered bandits, so the caravan suffered losses, all losses were deducted from the swordsman's pay. If the caravan had not suffered losses, even if all the swordsmen had been killed, the leader of the caravan would have to deliver the copper coins to the swordsmen's families, even if the swordsman's family lived thousands of miles away.

After Yanle, the official road disappeared completely. The road beneath his feet became a path that the traders had trodden on, so thick and thin that it could not even accommodate two horses in parallel. The surrounding mountains are also getting steeper, and the huge rocks are almost crowded on the side of the road. On the other side of the road, there is often a valley with no bottom in sight, green, yellow, red, gold, and all kinds of leaves obscuring people's vision, so that you can't find out what is hidden below, only the sound of gurgling water and the whimper of the mountain wind blowing through the branches.

Mountains, one after the other, endlessly. People and livestock are slowly starting to go numb, unable to tell if they are going uphill or downhill. Let's say it's downhill, even a big animal like a blue and white mule has to straighten its neck and move forward in small steps. It's uphill, but the towering mountains around you tell you that your position is descending a little bit.

The people got nervous and stopped talking, and even the stupid sandgrouse ran by the clucking and shaking fat butts at their feet, and no one had the heart to chase after them anymore. Sun Jiu, Zhang San, Wang Mazi and other old rivers and lakes all stared, and their rough big hands refused to leave the handle of the knife for a moment. The four swordsmen who were working hard to eat were divided into two groups, three of them walking at the front of the caravan, and one of the largest skeletons carrying a large knife with a wide door plate at the end of the caravan.

In the entire team, only Xu Dayan and Li Xu were calm. Neither of them has ever been out of the plug, don't know? How dangerous it is. I just feel stimulated and excited. Of all the roads he has walked in his life, this is the most exciting. In addition to being excited, Li Xu also noticed that the trees on the mountain were different from those in his hometown. Most of the trees in my hometown have broad leaves, and at this time of autumn, they turn yellow little by little, and then fall like snow. The trees in the mountains are mostly thin coniferous pines, followed by cypresses, and poplars, willows, dates, and wild apricot trees can only be seen at the foot of the mountain or in the valleys. So the color of the mountain is changing all the time, yellowing at the bottom, reddening halfway up the mountainside, then turning green and black, and when the black is so thick that it can't be thicker, it suddenly becomes lighter and becomes grayish-blue. It was the inherent color of the rock, so high that there were no trees anymore, only huge stones, standing in the wind, reading the vicissitudes of the past and the present.

"Look, the Great Wall!" Xu Dayan suddenly shouted from behind, so frightened that Li Xu almost didn't get off the horse. Turning his head sideways, he followed the other party's finger and looked into the distance, only to see an earthy yellow, stretching for thousands of miles, lying across the mountain range on the left. The mountains stretch endlessly, the dragon, also stretches, the ninety thousand miles of wind blows the dragon's body twists and turns, the dragon's head is still proudly raised, under the pure blue sky, the top of the mountains.

"It was the Great Wall built by General Meng and his troops, bordering the sea in the east and Qilian in the west, more than 10,000 miles. From the Qin and Han dynasties to the present, it has stood for more than a thousand years! Xu Dayan pointed to the Great Wall and praised in a low voice. In the face of this most magnificent project in history, he put away his pride and did not say anything more about what he could have done better. The words are full of admiration from the heart.

"But his temple has long been cut off from incense!" Li Xu said with emotion. Captain Bu, General Luo, King Wei, builder of the Great Wall, this? He has seen and heard too many heroic deeds. Each one is more vivid than the book describes. But the heroes' situation doesn't seem to be good. On the one hand, General Luo defended the imperial court, and on the other hand, he had to guard against impeachment within the imperial court. His Royal Highness King Wei died violently in the second year after sweeping through the Turkic tribes, and it is said that he killed too many people and encountered ghosts. But according to Xu Dayan, King Wei is the most beloved half-brother raised by the emperor. When the first emperor was alive, he once had the intention of passing on the throne to his brothers. And the general Meng who built the Great Wall seems to have suffered even more miserably, and the history books record the ending of his life in four words, death, and annihilation.

"With such a Great Wall, where does he still need incense in the world?" Xu looked at the enemy tower in the distance, his face full of admiration. If there is anything that can be called immortal deeds, the Great Wall in front of you is one of them. For more than 1,000 years, countless tribes on the grassland have changed, and each tribe must first face this artificial barrier before going south.

"Hurry up, cross the Great Wall from the Baoqiu water, and we'll be out of the jam!" Sun Jiu's shout came from the front from afar, interrupting the discussion of the two brothers.

The vendors agreed one after another, and like a long snake, they slowly increased their speed. With such a treacherous mountain road, it can end early and be cheaper. Many places are dangerous, and if a bandit suddenly pokes his head out, everyone can only obediently raise their hands and surrender.

Yanshan is thousands of miles.