Early the next morning, the army restarted and moved south along Lushui.

It was the turn of spring and summer, and it was the time of high incidence of epidemics. In order to prevent the outbreak of the epidemic, Jiang Weiyan ordered the whole army not to drink raw water, and ordered Huo Yi to prepare a decoction to strengthen the body and dispel the plague for the soldiers to take in the morning and evening. Despite this, dozens of soldiers still vomited and diarrhea, showing symptoms of not adapting to the water and soil.

Rumors gradually rose in the army, saying that the plague was coming, and the people were panicked for a while, and their morale plummeted, causing Jiang Wei and the generals to worry.

But at the same time, Jiang Wei also observed that although the people who were walking in the army also got hot water, they did not like to drink hot water, and when they were thirsty and tired, they would bow a handful of raw water and drink it straight to quench their thirst.

He shared this matter with the generals, but the generals only said that the people drank blood, and there was no doubt about the body and the beast.

Jiang Wei didn't think so, and after careful observation, he found that the Suo people often collected leaves from a tree that was three feet tall, with slightly hairy branches and white pubescence on the top buds, and put them in their mouths to chew.

Curious, he summoned Li Qiucheng and asked, "What is this?" ”

Li Qiucheng replied: "This tree was originally discovered by the Pu people, so we call it Pu Shu, there are many wild species in the mountains, and the fathers and elders in the clan have passed it on by word of mouth, chewing more leaves on this tree, you can get rid of diseases and strengthen your body, and you will not have plague." ”

As he spoke, he pulled out a handful of leaves from his bosom, apparently hiding quite a few.

Jiang Wei took it and observed it carefully, but saw that its leaves were as thin as leathery, oval, and the leaf surface was brownish-green, slightly shiny, and covered with pubescence. He put the leaves into his mouth and bit them lightly a few times, only to feel a fresh fragrance of plants mixed with astringency, the aroma is sharp and long-lasting, and the taste is strong.

"How can this taste be so familiar?" Jiang Wei frowned and thought about it, and silently took two more sips.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "This is not ...... Isn't this the taste of Pu'er tea? ”

It turned out that although he had drunk Pu'er in his previous life, the tea leaves were all pressed into cakes, so he had never seen fresh tea leaves, and at first glance, he was completely unrecognizable.

However, Pu'er tea is fragrant and astringent, and the fragrance is unique in the world, so you can know it by tasting it.

It is rumored that Pu'er tea relieves food and relieves greasyness, but unexpectedly it also has the effect of repelling insects and avoiding diseases, which is unexpected.

He immediately ordered the soldiers to pick wild Pu'er tea leaves, cook them into a tea soup, and drink them to the soldiers who were not accustomed to water and soil. After two days of drinking, the soldiers with diarrhea gradually recovered, and their morale was restored.

******

The army traveled south along Lushui for two days, and a wide river joined it.

Li Qiucheng introduced: "This one is humble water, and the source of humble water is Gaoding's old nest beautiful aunt." ”

Under his guidance, the army immediately turned west and traced the humble water. The more west you go, the more you see the undulating mountains and rivers. But because of the guide who is familiar with the terrain, although the path is narrow, the road is much smoother, and there is no pause.

After four days of galloping, passing through the winding deep mountains and old forests, the army finally entered a basin.

Jiang Wei ordered the army to hide in the forest and led the generals to the high places to investigate. Looking back and forth, I saw that this place is surrounded by mountains on all sides, the terrain in the middle is gradually flattened, the plains are longitudinal and horizontal, the rice seeds are green, and obviously there are many people living here.

Li Qiucheng said: "This is Meigu, there are seven mountains and eighteen villages within a radius of 100 miles on the left, there are tens of thousands of people living in Yi, Gao Ding is the leader of the Yi people here, and there is a big village in the middle, which is his old nest." ”

As he spoke, he drew a circle on the ground with a brush from a tree branch, marking the location of each village one by one.

Seeing this, Jiang Wei slowly bowed his head, and said in his heart: "The top priority must be to find out the truth of Yiren, if the main force of Gaoding is really not there, you can let go of your hands and feet to do a big job." ”

Thinking of this, he stretched out his hand to beckon Huo Yi and instructed: "Lao Fu Shao first disguised himself as a man and went out to investigate with Li Qishuai." ”

In his opinion, the sudden appearance of two people is not alarming.

Huo Yi immediately changed his outfit with a servant and led Li Qiucheng to leave quietly.

After about half a day's work, the two of them hurriedly turned around. Jiang Wei greeted the generals and wanted to greet them.

I saw that Huo Yi's face was happy, regardless of his panting, he said excitedly:

"Elder brother, the younger brother first inspected the rice fields at the foot of the mountain, and saw that most of the fields were women working, and there was almost no trace of young and strong; The younger brother and Li Qishuai disguised themselves as people passing by here, knocked on a stockade and pretended to beg for saliva to drink, and saw that the stockade was empty, only women and children were old and weak. The younger brother visited three villages in a row, and the situation was like this, thinking that the thieves in Gaoding gathered all the young and strong in order to attack Qiongdu, and this time it was the emptiness of the nest! ”

After a pause, his expression suddenly froze, and he clenched his fists and asked for his life: "The little brother is willing to lead the soldiers and horses of the headquarters and uproot all the villages here one by one!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Wei and Zhao Guang also geared up and asked for orders to lead the troops to attack the city.

"Good!"

Jiang Wei praised fiercely, and pointed to the circle drawn by Li Qiucheng: "Everyone, please step forward!" ”

When the generals were surrounded, he used the handle of the knife as a stick, clicked the circle, and resolutely said: "Gao Ding took advantage of the nest to hide, and the imperial army did not dare to go deeper, so he has been in trouble for many years. Today, taking advantage of the absence of his main force, the general planned to break through these eighteen large and small camps within two days, so as to force Gao Ding to return to help and fight to the death with our army——"

After a pause, his face suddenly became solemn: "The generals listen to the order!" ”

All the generals stood up and shouted: "The last general! ”

Jiang Wei drew a semicircle on the ground and ordered: "Shao Xian (Huo Yi character) - you lead the Chinese army with a thousand soldiers and horses, ambush on the north side of the foothills, just wait for me to send a signal, you can sweep the nine camps on the north side of the basin one by one, after the capture, these villages will be set on fire, and after the matter is completed, you will gather in the big village in the center of the basin, the time limit is two days, there must be no mistake!" ”

"The last general commands!" Huo Yi rubbed his hands and responded loudly.

"Zhao Guang - you lead the soldiers and horses of the headquarters, and after hearing the signal, cut off the eight camps on the south side of the basin, which is also limited to two days, may it be done?"

"It will be burned to the ground!" Zhao Guang also clenched his fists and gave orders, looking full of confidence.

A few days ago, Huo Yi and Zhao Guang saw that Zhang Wei had broken thousands of people, and the momentum and majesty were soaring and indispensable. That scene naturally made the eyes of these two young generals hot, and they couldn't wait for a big war to express their ambition to serve the country.

Jiang Wei looked at the two of them in his eyes and bowed slightly. In his opinion, if these seventeen cottages are regarded as a whole, then the key lies in the big village located on the small hill in the middle of the basin, and the sixteen villages in the foothills of the north and south of the basin are only used for the purpose of Yi people's residence, and the guards are lax and the regulations are incomplete.