"The river is as big as an elephant, and pedestrians are not on it;

The pond is as big as a horse, and the pond cannot be lowered. The water is as big as a turtle, and the boat in the pond is absolute,

The pond is as big as a turtle, and the pond cannot be peeped into,"

Li Daoyuan of the Southern Dynasty recorded his proverb in his "Notes on the Book of Water":

- I'm the dividing line -

"This is the first Kuimen in Jiangtian. It's really a place where the birds are at the top.,The place where the boat is desperate.。。 ”

Kuizhou, in the famous Qutang Gorge, Wang Chongba, the right general of the Taiping Navy, also looked at the steep and strange gorge and mountains in the distance on the big boat of the water wheel, and couldn't help but sigh.

Originally, in the dilapidated and withered Xiazhou and Guizhouzhou, which were almost inhabited, the river surface was still open and cheerful, and the gentle mountain slope was like a bird's wing, but when it arrived here, it suddenly shrank to a certain extreme, and it was as steep and steep as a choked throat.

Between the Chijia Mountain on the left and the Baiyan Mountain on the right, the two banks are like cutting, and the rock wall is towering. Under the bright sunshine, Chijia Mountain is slightly red, Baiyan Mountain is gray-white, facing each other across the river, one is red, one is wrapped in plain, it can be described as a wonder.

The river is surging and rushing in the cliff, looking up at the blue sky, the clouds and the sky are a line, the water in the gorge is deep and rapid, the waves are turbulent, rushing and roaring, which is thrilling. On the white and blue mountain wall and the foot, there are a large number of traces left by the rising water line of the past dynasties.

The narrowest part of the river is less than 100 feet, as if it is the gateway of a great river born to split out of the mountains; Therefore, it is called Kuimen, taking the righteousness of Kuizhou, and it is the throat of Bashu; It is together with the Jianmen Pass on the northern land, and it has the reputation of "dangerous sword pavilion, male Mo Ruokui" since ancient times.

The canyon is as narrow as a corridor, and the cliffs on both sides are steep like city walls, and there are looming plank roads, hanging coffins and large and small inscriptions left by celebrities and scholars in the past dynasties. Du Fu once had a poem: "All the waters will be ten thousand, and Qutang will fight for one door." ”

On the mountain wall at the west entrance of Qutang Gorge is where the famous Qutang Pass is located. Seki Castle itself is not tall and looks inconspicuous, but the road on the cliff is where the main point is, on one side is the river flowing under the deep gorge cliff, and on the other side is the steep slope and peaks that overlap and rise.

There is only a narrow ancient road that winds up along the Chijia mountain wall and the edge of the mountain, passing through the pass to the west of Kuizhou, the White Emperor City of Fengjie. What's more critical is the natural danger of sailing on the river - the muddy pile, also commonly known as the swallowtail stone, which is the first danger in the middle of the Gorge River.

is the so-called "White Emperor City side foot turmoil, Qutang May who dares to pass." ("Jingzhou Song" Li Bai) is now in August and September, not the most suitable season for boating with the largest water potential, and most of the large and small stones washed by the river are like mushrooms, just like clusters on the water.

And in the cracks of the rocks, which are several feet wide, there are still many fragments of blackened shipwrecks that are decayed and rotten, which are the favorite remnants left by the victims of the adventure boats on the river over the years; Between the river wind and the torrential waves, it was like the souls of the unjust souls of the past generations whimpering loudly during their wandering.

However, on the surface of the river, which is relatively stable, there are several strangely shaped flatbed boats, which are slowly moving upstream, slowly upstream, towards this piece of muddy pile known as the desperate place of boats.

There were also thick long rods and hooks sticking out of the bow; In this way, in the midst of the rolling water, it approached the boulder between the swirls of the river little by little; This also attracted the attention of the looming defenders above the fortress.

"It's so weird."

"It's weird, it's weird."

"These big board boats don't have sail lines, they don't have oars, and they don't have anyone to pull the fiber, so how do they swim up on their own?"

"What's going on? What's the move of the downstream thief army? ”

Qin Shigong, who was left behind in Qutang Pass, came out of the crowd and raised his hand to look.

"Don't care how much he has, cheer me up, and take care of the defense. Artillery stones, wood, arrows, as long as the Xiajiang thief army dares to come, he will be told to die as many as he wants. ”

Born in the Jingnan Army, he was ordered to stay in the local area, just to guard against the possible pursuit of these Hunan thieves; For this reason, Song Hao did not hesitate to lose his honor in front of the hall and neglect his heart, and executed the original general who was known as a meritorious person from a local background.

You must know that the local 800 officers and soldiers relied on this natural danger to block tens of thousands of thieves who followed the river, and finally collapsed along the Xiajiang Road. Now he has more than 2,000 soldiers and horses.

And in the vibration of the dull collision and knocking in the river, Song Deyi, the water ghost team who is known as the first-class water in the Taiping Water Army and is wearing a rubber water jacket of Eucommia, also woke up in a state of anxiety. In an instant he climbed up with swift movements, swaying and trembling from side to side and taking the bow pole;

I saw that he looked like a vigorous ape, and because of the long pole and his feet used hand and foot to pass through the mist of the river water evaporating, the water splashed and fell, and finally carried a thick rope on his back, and landed steadily on the edge of the boulder that was very smooth by the river.

But not all of the other poles that came up to the bow of the ship were as smooth as he was to the top of the boulder; Soon someone was hit by the stirring waves, and slid down holding the wet long pole.

Although someone climbed the edge of the blue-black pile, because of the sudden change in height dislocation, he slipped down, fell into the vortex next to the boulder, and disappeared in the ripples.

By the time he was dragged onto the boat from the river by the leash he was tied to his body again, he was already unconscious. In the end, he was able to stand on the boulder pile like Song Deyi, and there were only two other people left.

Then they kept cooperating with each other with their hands and feet, and with the tools they had brought, and with ropes, and iron cones, they struck several stainless steel hooks vigorously, and embedded them deeply into the top of the boulder; The connection was reinforced with a thick iron ring dragged from the other end of the ship.

Because the top of the stone was so slippery, some people kept falling to the ground under the force, but they quickly got up and continued to work; It wasn't until the hooks and poles were fixed that more and more people crawled over one after another, holding all kinds of tools, and joined them in the fierce labor of sweating and raining.

Until the sky was dark, the defenders on Qutang Pass still watched inexplicably, and Jiang Xin continued to take turns on the top of the stone to fight the dim light of the night battle; After going back and forth the next day, when Qin Shigong was called over again, he found that Jiangshang was already in a different situation.

In the middle of the three waterways, the rocks in the middle of the three waterways revealed more waterline as the water level receded. But on the gray and blackened stone top, it seemed to be like a giant beast with shackles and saddles, and at some point there were two more thick chains that crossed the river and were pulled diagonally to the shore.

"Could it be that these thieves want to build a bridge over the river and fly across?"

Qin Shigong couldn't help but come to a conclusion that he felt was quite ridiculous. You must know that the water is large every year and it is also a suitable time for boating, and the rocks here are to be submerged under water.

On the third and fourth days, however, it was a similar situation, and once again the defenders became a little sluggish and bored, and they even fired several times at the river with crossbows brought from the castle as a kind of deterrent.

The only change was that as the river receded further, the strange ships of the thieves were hung with rope ladders and wooden frames for climbing on the edge of the rocks. Also, because of the fog in the river that had not yet faded, a strange ship accidentally crashed into the edge of the rocks and almost capsized.

However, as Jiang Xin's fire became more and more distinct at night, Qin Shigong, as a suffocation envoy, became more and more uneasy in his heart, and the originally sparse brows became more and more tightly locked, and there was no good color on the left and right.

He definitely did not believe that in this dry period, the thieves had spent a lot of effort to rely on this rock, just to build a few cableways between the mountain walls on both sides of the river to facilitate the crossing of the river. Could it be that he wanted to think of ancient stories and build a barrage at the upstream point of the exit of Shu, so as to prevent the ship from going down in Shu?

The next two days began to rain heavily; And the strange boats working on the river and the firelight at night, with the result of disappearing, made him feel a little more comfortable. Finally, he ordered the disbandment of the people and equipment that were issued and assembled in the White Emperor City of Ziyang Mountain, a few miles away.

On the seventh day, when the river was clear again, it was covered and shrouded in fog all over the mountains and gorges. And the Seki Castle, which also seems to be floating in the fog, is as magnificent as the heavenly castle.

Foggy days like this often last for a day or two to a few days, which also means that the enemy on the river can't continue to do anything.

It's just that Qin Shigong, who was covered in wet and dew after a routine tour of the city, was called out by the noisy movements of the soldiers just before he could change out of his robe and dry it with a carbon bucket.

"You said you heard thunder"

Qin Shigong looked at the old man in front of him with a suspicious face, his face was dry and wrinkled, and he still had puffy eyes.

"And more than that. If the town owner doesn't believe it, you can ask everyone. ”

The somewhat obscene old man hurriedly swore an oath.

However, Qin Shigong looked at the sky that was gloomy and cloudy, but it didn't look like it was going to rain at all, and he became more and more suspicious.

"Aren't you obsessed with sleeping for a while? The town owner who alarmed the Rili Rong machine for this, can you afford to be guilty? ”

A general reprimanded the exit who looked at the words.

At this time, from the riverside at the lower end of the city to the platform, there was a low sound again.

"It looks like it's thundering again."

"We heard you right."

"This time it seems to be closer."

Qin Shigong's face couldn't help but change slightly, because he also heard a series of faint rumors similar to thunder, and whispered to the left and right:

"Bring me the armor and put it on me."

Then more shouts rang out.

"The fog in the gorge seems to be dissipating."

"The fog is getting lighter."

"Thunder Again"

"This time the thunder is closer."

"How can there be thunder on the mountain."

At this time, as the fog gradually dissipated, the outline of the river shaped like a green jasper belt was gradually revealed. Qin Shigong was already faintly uncomfortable in his heart, as if he had overlooked some key.

At this moment, someone shouted again.

"Dovetail stone. Dovetail stone. ”

"The swallowtail stone on the river is gone."

"Could it be that the river is long?"

"It's not Changshui, the riverbank is still there, but the swallowtail stone is gone."

"Could it be that the thieves have a demon law, and they used the fog as a cover to move this huge thing in the river elsewhere."

"What nonsense, we have the protection of the White Emperor here, and the Lord of Shu Han has appeared, how can we let the thief."

At this time, Qin Shigong was also stunned by what Jiang Shang revealed, and he was not even in the mood to reprimand and stop them; Because, where the rocks in the river were originally located, not only the cross-river chains and strange ships have disappeared, but even the boulders themselves seem to have disappeared without a trace.

Only the green water that flows through it remains, but if you look closely; You will also find that in the clear and clear river, there are still many remnants of faint underwater rocks, which drag the river out of a winding waterline that is not very obvious.

Could it be that the strange ships of those thieves really have a magical spell to shatter this boulder in the river, and even carry it elsewhere? At this moment, even Qin Shigong was a little confused and suspicious, thinking about whether he needed to go to the White Emperor's Temple to pay respects and pray.

Then, again, there was a terrible sound of cymbals, accompanied by sporadic screams, and then quickly and abruptly stopped.

"The thieves have touched the city."

At the same time, on the other side of the Qutangguan city wall, the fog that had dissipated was revealed, and it was a group of Taiping soldiers with short soldiers and crossbows in their hands.

They were as light and agile as apes on the mountain walls on both sides, using ropes and hooks as auxiliary means, pushing and dragging each other up to the not very high wall, and constantly lowering the guards behind the posts and bunkers one by one with very good medicine arrows.

Behind them, more sparkling soldiers were like cyan dragons, pushing simple ladders and iron awl rams, rushing along the ancient riverside road.

In the distance, the mountains and forests on the inner side of the road have been cleared and filled in a large open space, and behind those objects that resemble large carts, a series of thunderous sounds burst out from here.

Then it became the sound of various buildings behind the castle, splashing and cracking one after another in the neighing and screaming of people and horses.

And on the inner platform of the wall, Zhou Ben, a general who jumped down like a divine soldier descending from the sky, stepped on several corpses, held the corpse of a general whose head was broken alive in his hand, and roared loudly at the defenders who scattered in panic with his left hand

"Who else, who else will send them to death."

- I'm the dividing line -

Thousands of miles away.

The military horses led by Wang Xingkong also officially stepped into the pass full of blood, scorching and the smell of fireworks. I saw abandonment all over the ground, and some naked corpses, just lying on the side of the road without concealment.

And when passing through the spontaneous formation of the market in the Guannai, you can also hear the noisy shouts in it, and from time to time you can see groups of men, women and children who are dragged and escorted out; After one of the men was singled out, he was tied and pushed down on the side of the road and beheaded.

"These are all the remnants of the old dynasty and their families who resisted the righteous master. I don't know how many brothers were killed or wounded; It's really not enough to calm the anger in the army if you don't kill. ”

The Righteous Military Academy, which led the way for him, took the initiative to explain. It's just a corner of silk clothes exposed under his armor, which somewhat affects the corresponding persuasiveness