Chapter 54: Hangu Pass

When I got up in the morning, Zhang Zhimu admired Lu Chengxiang too much. This Lu Chengxiang is a pure businessman, and everything in the bandit camp must be taken away. The fences, including which wooden poles, were removed. The next step is to tear down the wooden sheds. Zhang Zhimu said forget it, just keep it here, once there are people passing by, you can also take shelter from the wind and rain when you come here. Lu Chengxiang gave up. After a while, Liu Yun came over again and said that these were ignited. Zhang Zhimu said: "You didn't burn enough in Wild Boar Ridge, right?" Although these things were stolen by bandits, they were also created by the working people through bloody and sweaty labor, and as long as they did not pose a danger to everyone, there was no need to destroy them. In the future, when we encounter such things, we must also adhere to this principle. ”

Lu Chengxiang and Liu Yun specially prepared a carriage for Zhang Zhimu, with a lot of straw under the car and several layers of mattresses. For those women, Lu Chengxiang also prepared a carriage. Unexpectedly, Yang Yulin also said that she was tired of riding, and she also got into Zhang Zhimu's car. Zhang Zhimu originally wanted to lie down, but now he was embarrassed. The women of this era are particular about whether men and women are intimate or not. But Yang Yulin didn't care about this, and Zhang Zhimu couldn't help it.

The caravan began to move in the direction of Hangu Pass again.

After walking a short distance, you will enter the valley, with mountains on both sides, and the road is in the valley. Lin Xinmin said to Zhang Zhimu: "There are more than 30 miles to Hangu Pass, listen to the innkeeper of Hangu Pass, here to Hangu Pass is a part of the Hangu Ancient Road, is the only east-west passage in this area, there are winding roads at the bottom of the valley to communicate, rugged and narrow, the empty valley is deep, people walk in it, such as into the letter, both sides of the pass, the cliff is steep, the terrain is treacherous. It is said in ancient books that Hangu Pass Road 'cars do not divide tracks, horses do not saddle', and 'a mud pill and east seal Hangu'. There are mountains on both sides of the road, and it is really a matter of one man. ”

Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng both looked up to both sides. The huge caravan, the personnel rarely spoke, and they were all shocked by the majestic momentum of the two mountains and a valley.

Zhang Zhimu said to Chen Yufeng: "Uncle Chen, you said that with this valley road, if you fortify it layer by layer, do you still need Hangu Pass?" Chen Yufeng said: "It is no problem to fortify for a short time, but if you guard it for a long time, it is still not possible to have no source of water supply." Relying on the fortification of Hangu Pass, this place can play a role. Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, Chen Yufeng could see the problem at a glance, it seems that such a problem is not his strength, so if he has no common sense in the future, he should say less.

Although it is only more than 30 miles away, the road is not very good, and the carriage cannot go fast, but fortunately, there is nothing to do along the way. After noon, I saw the towering figure of Hanguguan from afar, and people suddenly became relaxed. When Zhang Zhimu said that he would rest for a day in Hanguguan tomorrow and continue to hurry the day after tomorrow. When everyone heard this, they were even more jubilant.

Inside and outside Hangu Pass, there was no inn that could accommodate so many people and horses, but an inn could arrange people, saying that they could help rent a compound and arrange horses and goods. Zhang Zhimu followed the advice of Lu Chengxiang and Liu Yun, and arranged it by them. He instructed them to divide up some of the men to take care of the horses and goods, and then go back to the inn to wash up. The inn is outside the West Gate of Hangu Guan, so that everyone will not enter the city first. Zhang Zhimu instructed Lu Chengxiang to understand the market first, don't talk about business, prices will soar tomorrow. Lu Chengxiang was puzzled. I thought to myself, I'm not as good as you when I do anything else, but when I am in business, I still think that I am better than Zhang Zhimu, how do you know that prices will soar tomorrow. Zhang Zhimu knew that they would have questions, so he didn't explain too much. I want to go and visit the garrison first, but there is no reason to enter, it would be good if I asked the Tongguan garrison Ningde to bring a letter. Thinking about it again, the officials don't know me, but they all know money, so I will see him in the name of Ningde, and then there will be a way.

Hearing that the garrison of Hangu Pass was called Li Jing, Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng led Yang Yulin, took Ningde's road guide, came to the west gate of Hangu Pass, and told the guards that they wanted to see the garrison. Zhang Zhimu and others came to the door of the garrison and said to the soldiers: "We brought a message from Tongguan to garrison Ningde to visit the garrison." ”

As soon as the garrison heard it, the Tongguan garrison brought a message, so come in. Zhang Zhimu saw the garrison Li Jing Shili and said: "The Xiurong merchant and the Huwei Dart Bureau have met the garrison. When the garrison heard the words of the Tiger Dart Bureau, his eyes were round, and he said: "Oh, you are the heroes of the Tiger Wei Dart Bureau who fought the five warships of the thieves!" Take a seat, we've got Pegasus here. It is said that you have completely eliminated the bandits in the upper reaches of Tongguan, and it is really a blessing to be able to meet the heroes who eliminate harm for the people and share the worries of the emperor today. Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, this Daming's information system is still working very well, and the news has reached here so quickly, so it is even better. He arched his hand and said: "My lord has won the prize, this time we passed by here, one is to bring the greetings of Lord Ningde, and the other is to meet the garrison adult, by the way, I also inform the adult, there is a group of thieves who rob the road thirty or forty miles away from this Hangu Pass, which has been destroyed by us, I think this should be a matter under the jurisdiction of the adult." With that, Zhang Zhimu handed over the banner of the gang of robbers to Li Jing. The garrison Li Jing's face turned red when he heard this, and he said: "Oh, this is also great news, we are the soldiers and horses who have to deal with the thieves in front, and there are thieves in the back, and the trade route has been interrupted. Now, all the heroes have done a great thing for the people and the Ming Dynasty. I will immediately report to the imperial court that the heroes of the Tiger Dart Bureau have made new achievements." Zhang Zhimu said: "My lord, by all means, we are some businessmen in a dart game, and for the sake of safety, we don't want to be too public." I hope that adults will understand, if adults can understand, just say that the adults sent troops to exterminate this gang of evil bandits, and remove harm for the people, how about it? Of course, the garrison Li Jing was happy when he heard it, in this way, the credit will be his own. He said, "If you say so, then you will not be publicized." It would be nice if all the darts in the world could share the emperor's worries like this to you. Zhang Zhimu said: "We came in a hurry, prepare a little courtesy, please be smiling." As he spoke, Zhang Zhimu handed over an ingot of ten taels of gold. The guard said: "You are too polite, I am an official in the same dynasty as Lord Ningde, it can let you come to me with a message, that is, let me have something to do, give me some care." And you have also cleared out the bandits, and it stands to reason that I should reward you, but I will not hide it from you, the court has not sounded on time for some days, and a few days ago, the brothers who were killed and injured in the battle with the thieves have not yet been compensated, so they cannot reward you. Zhang Zhimu said: "My lord's heart, we have received it, and we will often come to this letter Guguan in the future, and it is inevitable that we will trouble my lord." Of course, Li Jing was full of promises, and said: "This is the first time you have come to this Hanguguan, I will take you to take a good look at this Hanguguan, ordinary people can't get up." Of course, Zhang Zhimu and the others were very happy, so they followed Li Jing to the upper floor of Hangu Guancheng, and Li Jing personally pointed out the four scenic spots in this Guancheng for the three of them, and led a few people to visit Danfeng Tower.

Li Jing said: "Hangu Pass is named because it is in the valley and is as dangerous as a letter. From the east to the mountain, west to Tongjin, known as Hangu, known as natural insurance. The pass is located in a deep and dangerous valley, the terrain is dangerous, and the narrow place can only accommodate a carriage to pass, the so-called 'car is not on the track, and the horse is not on the bridle'. Moreover, due to the undulating hills and hills of this section of the Yellow River Basin, blocked by Zhongtiao Mountain and Kunshan Mountain, the bottom of the Hanguan Valley has become the only east-west flat passage in the nearby area, and it has naturally become a military stronghold. If you talk about Hangu Pass in detail, it will be three days and three nights. Brother Zhang Xian will stay here for a few more days, take a good look around the landscape, here, all the places, there is no defense for you, you can take a good look. To be honest, it's a pleasure to be able to visit here in a hundred years of life. Business matters are too busy in this life, don't miss the good times of life. "It seems that the garrison Li Jing is not just because he received gold, but he really appreciates these people, otherwise he can't be so compromised. Zhang Zhimu quipped: "It seems that Lord Garrison is not only a pillar of the country, but also a man of temperament!" ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that it was not possible for anyone to climb the gate to take a good look, especially now that it was wartime.

This Hangu Pass is an irregular rectangle, which is made by ramming. The east city wall is 540 zhang long, the west city wall is 390 zhang long, and the south city wall is 54 zhang long.

When bidding farewell to Li Jing and leaving the city, the guard thought to himself, thanks to the fact that he didn't make it difficult when he entered the city, and the garrison could personally accompany the people who went to the city, so when he saw Zhang Zhimu and others, he nodded straightly, and the more so, Zhang Zhimu also took out some copper coins and gave him and said, "Buy some wine to drink." The defenders were so happy that their mouths were slapped. Out of the city gate, Zhang Zhimu said to Yang Yulin: "The garrison said, 'The story of Hangu Pass can't be told in three days, and I want to say that the story from ancient times to the present day can't be told in three days.'" Do you know? ”

"Lao Tzu, who doesn't know, he is the patriarch of Taoism." Yang Yulin said. "Then do you know that Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" is sprinkled with 5,000 words, and it was written here?" "Really? I don't know. We need to take a good look at this place. Yang Yulin said.

Chen Yufeng said: "This is a real Taoist holy land. There are so many stories here. ”

"Tell me about it." Yang Yulin was very interested.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Have you heard the story of the rooster and the dog thief? ”

"I've heard of the curse of chickens and dogs." Yang Yulin replied.

"It was a big mistake, it's a very famous story. It is said that during the Warring States Period, the King of Qin wanted to kill Meng Yanjun, but he was afraid of being scolded, so he temporarily imprisoned Meng Yanjun. King Qin's younger brother Jingyangjun wanted to save Meng Weijun, so he went to ask for a concubine of King Qin. This concubine put forward a condition, she wanted the white fox fur clothes that Meng Weijun had given to the King of Qin. There was no way, find someone to enter the treasury of King Qin from the dog cave, and the night watchman heard a movement, so that person learned to bark and deceived the night watchman, so he stole the white fox fur clothes and gave them to the concubine. This concubine helped to get the customs documents, and Meng Weijun and his entourage hurriedly fled to Hangu Pass, which happened to be the middle of the night, and the regulations at that time were "chicken crow switch, sunset retreat". But the pursuers were coming, and the situation was critical. At this time, one of them had an idea, standing on the mound to learn the rooster crow, and the roosters around him also crowed, and the officials who took the door heard the rooster crow, how dare they slack off, and hurriedly opened and closed the door, and Meng Weijun and his gang hurried out of this Hangu Pass. By the time the pursuers arrived here, Meng Weijun had already run away. This is the story of the rooster and the dog thief. ”