There was a big boat parked on the river on the opposite bank, carrying the flag of Liaozhou patrolling the river. Gao Chengxiang and the others shouted at the top of their voices for a long time before the big boat sailed to the center of the river, "What are you doing?" A man from the boat asked.

Lu Xiaoyu explained his identity and intention, but the other party said, "No, Lord Li Zhien, the governor of Liaozhou, has an order: because there is a military situation on the front line of the Songmo Governor's Mansion, it is strictly forbidden for irrelevant people to cross the border in Yingzhou and Liaozhou, so you should go back as soon as possible." ”

A herding team shouted, "There is a military situation in the Song Desert, you don't go to the north to be vigilant, but come to the east to set up a card, and the bridge is also demolished, is it that our Longxing Ranch is also unrelated?" ”

The other person replied, "Who knows if you are real or not?" ”

Lu Xiaoyu shouted, "We are ordered by the chief pastor of the Tang Dynasty and the Zhongshu Ling Gao to escort Jin Huanming, the guard of the Iron Urn City, to Chang'an, and we must arrive before the 23rd, haven't you received an order from the Ministry of War?" ”

The other party replied, "Even if there is an order from the military headquarters, how can it come down to the head of one of our soldiers." ”

Lu Xiaoyu shouted, "Then don't you come over quickly!" ”

The other party said, "You are really interesting, if a random person says that he is looking for us to take care of things, and our person in charge will come over, so will our people in charge still eat and sleep?" ”

When we had to communicate again, the other party had already sailed the boat back.

Lu Xiaoyu said, "Brothers, it seems that something must have gone wrong, since the chief pastor has a flying pigeon order for us to take people, and he is the head of the military department, how can the military department not be linked?" ”

Gao Chengxiang said, "The hateful little soldier is slack, and he is too lazy to run errands when it is cold." ”

Lu Xiaoyu felt that there was something abnormal about the Tang camp opposite, even if the military order of the military department was not conveyed to everyone, it was impossible for any sergeant patrolling the river not to know the attire of the Tang Ranch. And he should always immediately report to the higher level what he is not sure of.

But looking at the other party's posture, after the big boat was brought to the opposite shore, no one showed their heads again, and no one got off the boat and landed on the shore.

He was worried that it was not what Tang Bing said, that they did not receive an order, but that there was precisely an order, and even the crossing of the border by the personnel of the Tang Ranch was also prohibited.

"It's going to get dark soon, and when the snow stops, it gets colder," he said. We can't freeze, go two of us into the forest and cut some dry branches, and we'll make a fire by the river, and wait. ”

One of the guards asked, "What if the other side keeps ignoring us?" ”

Lu Xiaoyu has no choice for the time being! Unable to cross the river, they could only stare dryly.

Tomorrow is the twelfth day of November, and they are only allowed to delay until the fourteenth day at the longest, and even if they cross the river, they will have to run to death.

"Lao Tzu can't wait stupidly, what kind of way to get over, on the 23rd, Jin Huanming's head can't be sent to Chang'an, and the head of this pastoral supervisor has to be sent to make up the number!"

Two herdsmen rode to the woods not far away, and after a while they dragged two bundles of firewood, and they found a leeward place by the river and lit a fire.

Jin Huanming was afraid and desperate on the road, regretting his original arrow. Maybe I didn't owe so much at the time, so I didn't make this trip.

These people in the ranch did not hide the purpose of this trip from him at all, and when they talked about the orders of the chief pastor of Chang'an, Lord Gao, they took a bite of "Jin Huanming's head" and did not hide it from him at all.

These people let him live, and they were by no means moved by any compassion, but made up their minds to let him run over by himself, so that the tall man could verify his identity on the spot and show that he was correct.

For this thought, the people of the ranch did not hesitate to worry more about him along the way, providing him with food and drink, and beware of him escaping.

When the wood-cutting team returned, they told Lu that there was a piece of dried bamboo in the forest.

Lu Xiaoyu went to see it in person, and came back and ordered, "We are divided into two shifts, one to watch Jin Huanming, and the other to cut bamboo!" Anyway, there was nothing to do at night, a group of people slept to recuperate, and a group of people watched this kid and set up a bamboo raft. ”

Jin Huanming said, "Lord Lu, why are you so troubled, maybe at dawn, Tang Ying will come to the boat to pick you up." ”

Lu Xiaoyu snorted, "That's the best, but the chief pastor has said before that the most worthless thing when worrying about things is this 'maybe'!" The 'maybe' in advance means that your kid is a little confused, and the 'maybe' afterwards means that your kid is regretting it. ”

Jin Huanming said secretly, "Lao Tzu's intestines are all repentant!" ”

On the way from the pasture, there were actually two or three heavy snowfalls, and the snow that fell first melted during the day and froze at night, and when the snow fell, some sections of the road were covered with a solid and smooth layer of ice under the floating snow. People walked up and slid three times in one step, not to mention the galloping horses.

According to Jin Huanming's estimate, let alone arriving in Chang'an 23 days ago, there will be no five or six days, and none of them will be able to catch up with Yalushui.

Jin Huanming didn't know that Lu Xiaoyu used to be the captain of the Tianshan Ranch Pastoral Care Team. Horses have long been prepared for special hoofs for running on sandy ground, rocky terrain and, of course, ice.

These guys ran along the mirror-like avenue as usual, and it took less than a day to get here from the pasture.

After the bamboo was chopped, these people first moved the fire to a place, swept away the ashes in the original place with branches, spread the blanket they brought with them on the ground, and the four of them sandwiched Jin Huanming in the middle, covered it with another blanket, and lay down to rest.

Jin Huanming didn't expect any chance to escape at night, and the shepherd team locked his two feet and necks tightly together with iron chains.

If he didn't even have the certainty of escaping, Jin Huanming would not act blindly and attract the other party's tighter guarding. He would rather lie in this hot place and think about it, take a posture of resignation and wait for the opportunity.

The other three cut the bamboo with their swords by the fire, and put aside what they could use, and threw the branches and branches that could not be used directly into the fire.

Jin Huanming found that their movements were very sharp, and the knives were also fast, and they only made a slight sound when trimming the bamboo. Instead, when those leftovers are thrown into the fire, there is a "crackling" explosion.

In the midst of such a sound, Jin Huanming's legs under the blanket moved, and the chain that locked his feet made several sounds.

Gao Chengxiang, who was cutting bamboo, immediately turned his face to look at it, and asked in a low voice, "You kid is not honest, what are you messing with!" ”

Jin Huanming hated this person to death, and later he learned that this person was the captain of the herding team of Longxing Ranch. Seeing the other party ask, Jin Huanming laughed twice and said, "Captain Gao, I'm worried...... What do you use to tie them? ”

He also saw that the men also set out with a large reel of cables, but they certainly could not be used to tie rafts. Then he realized that his worries were unfounded.

It turned out that these people had cut wild vines from the woods.

At first, Jin Huanming smiled secretly, and didn't look at what season it was, Fujiko didn't have enough tenacity, he half-squinted his eyes, and wanted to see the jokes of these people.

The herding team plucked the saddle of a horse, beat the vines inch by inch with copper stirrups on a large rock, and then took the beaten vines to soak in the water, which was done slowly but methodically.

In the middle of the night, Jin Huanming felt the blanket under him slowly get cool, and the sleeping herding team got up, rolled up the blanket on the ground, and moved the fire to this side.

The new fire site was paved according to the original method, and a few people who had been working before lay down to rest, still squeezing Jin Huanming in the middle, and those who had rested got up to work.

Lu Xiaoyu poked Gao Chengxiang's big iron gun into the ground, stood next to him and held the barrel of the gun, and two people grabbed the soaked wild vine, pulling and twisting the barrel of the gun back and forth on the ground.

Jin Huanming wanted to see what they made the bamboo raft into in the end, but he saw that the length of the bamboo cut out was enough to choke a horse after making a raft.

The Tang camp patrol boat on the opposite side was moored by the river, with a lantern on the high pole at the bow. In the middle of the night, a man came out of the cabin and stood at the bow of the boat to relieve himself in the river.

He saw the bonfire on the other side of the shore blazing and the figures shaking, so he ran back to the cabin, and after a while, a total of four people were pulled out, standing on the boat and pointing this way, "Do you want to report to Governor Li?" ”

"Cut! Such a small raft can't even pull a horse, and it has to be dawn to report. With that, the four yawned and returned to sleep in the capsule.

Early in the morning of the 12th, when Jin Huanming woke up. The raft is ready.

……

Li Zhien, the governor of Liaozhou, was 33 years old, a native of Tuyuhun, who fled to Lingzhou with his father at a young age, and was able to ride a horse and shoot arrows at the age of 15.

Li Shi discovered this seedling when he was a Turkic, ordered him to join the army, and quickly promoted him from a small colonel, and served as the governor of Liaozhou in 20 years.

The orders of Li Shi, the squire of the military department, he will carry out to the letter.

Yesterday evening, when Lu Xiaoyu and Gao Chengxiang arrived at the riverside, Li Zhien did not know, and no one reported it to him, until early in the morning, when someone outside the governor's mansion reported that someone in Longxing Ranch asked to see him, Li Zhien was actually startled.

"What are you doing, the current situation of the Song Desert is unknown, the situation is grim, you actually, you just let people over."

In was a 20-year-old Longxing Ranch ranger who had no horses or weapons, and crossed the river on a bamboo raft to deliver a letter from the Governor of Liaozhou.

This letter was written long before departure, briefly explaining the tasks of Longxingmu's trip, and was stamped with the big seal of Longxing Ranch.

Li Zhien invited the shepherd team to sit and served hot tea, but the young man stood and did not serve tea, just waiting to listen to his reply.

The governor of Liaozhou turned the letter over, turned it around, read it two or three times, pouted, and said to the shepherd guards with a pout, "Ah! It's not going to be easy! ”

The shepherds said, "Lord Governor, what's so hard about this?" You put the boat over and take us across the river! ”

Li Zhien said, "This is not what the governor of Pontus meant, but the military order is like a mountain, Liaozhou has just received an order from the Ministry of War, because there is a large military situation in the Song Desert, and it is forbidden for idle people to cross the border. Therefore, Lu Mujian's requirements, I am afraid that Liaozhou will not be able to meet them! ”

The shepherd team said, "Chief Pastoral Supervisor Gao and Shang Shuling Feige have ordered us to send the head of Jin Huanming, the guard of the Goryeo Iron Urn City, to Chang'an before the 23rd of this month. ”

"But we arrived yesterday evening, and no one took care of us," he said. If he stops moving on the Liaozhou border and misses the deadline of the chief pastor, is the governor not afraid that the chief pastor will be investigated? ”

Li Zhien asked in surprise, "Oh my God! With just one of your pastures, you really caught the defenders of Iron Urn City? It's not easy, it's not easy! ”

The herding team said, "Jin Huanming is on the other side of the river, and we can't delay any longer, otherwise we won't be able to get to Chang'an before the 23rd." ”

Li Zhien asked, this is strange, according to the experience of the governor of Pontus, to take the opponent's main general in the enemy city, you have to go through a bloody battle and break through its city, but ...... How do you do it with a single ranch? Brother, can you tell us about it?

But the shepherds did not speak, and looked at him with some incomprehension.

The matter was so urgent, and the letter from Pastoral Supervisor Lu was also delivered, but the Metropolitan Governor did not order to receive people as soon as possible, but chose to say what was not important.

Li Zhien had no choice but to say, "Is this...... Little brother, do you know, at present, I have only received an order from the Ministry of War, prohibiting idle people and other cross-border people, and did not say that people from Longxing Ranch can be exceptional. ”

"But Lord Dudu, you have already read the official letter from the Pastoral Supervisor of Longxing, are we idle people?"

"That's not counting, it's just that since Shang Shuling is also the main military department, he must have nodded his head at this prohibition order. Then this thing is a bit rough, why not add more? ”

The young man's nose was slightly red, and seeing that Li Zhien didn't speak, he didn't understand what was wrong.

After Li Zhien pondered for a while, he suddenly said, "This official understands, and the words that I want to give away people from the pasture are just a joke of your chief pastor, otherwise there would never be such an omission!" According to this official's point of view, Master Li, the squire of the military department, led the Tang army to just take the division, and it is really not suitable to have a dirty relationship with Goryeo again at this juncture, perhaps Shang Shuling also realized that his words were a little hasty, so there was no follow-up order. The official suggested that you go back first, first, to tell you Lu Mu Jian in detail what the official meant, and second, you had better fly the pigeon to Chang'an, ask the chief pastor what to do, and then ......"

But the shepherds didn't wait for him to finish, and turned away without saying a word.

Li Zhien snorted heavily in his nose and picked up the teacup. He has made it very clear, so what if he doesn't let them cross the river?

Even if the matter of sending people to Longxing Ranch is delayed, there is nothing to do in Liaozhou, could it be that the official document written in black and white and covered with the big seal of the Yamen of the Ministry of War still has to make way for things covered with the seal of a ranch?

In the private letter he just received, Li Shi also analyzed the consequences of this matter very clearly, as long as it is delayed until the fifteenth, and the Yingzhou in the back is delayed for half a day, then the high cowhide will be blown out.

Lord Shilang also cheered up his old subordinate and said, "It's only Gao Jun's own negligence, and Liaozhou strictly enforces the ban on military affairs, what can be wrong?" ”

Soon, his soldiers came to report to him, saying that the people who saw Longxing Ranch across the river had escorted Jin Huanming away, and it was estimated that he had returned to the ranch.

Li Zhien sneered, "At this level, how to do the pastoral supervisor of Long Xingmu!" ”

He had just finished his tea when someone came again.

It was a soldier from Yingzhou who came, and the governor Zhang Tong sent him to Liaozhou to contact.