On the 15th day of the 11th month of the winter of the 24th year of Jian'an (219 AD), in a forest next to the official road on the outskirts of Zigui City at the junction of Jing and Yi, more than a dozen sturdy soldiers were resting on the trunks of trees to drink water. There are more than a dozen war horses tied around, all silently gnawing on the little grass on the ground.

said that it was resting, but in fact, everyone did not take off their armor and did not leave their bodies, even their eyes were very vigilant.

It was already winter, and the afternoon sun was not very hot, and a cold wind blew into the woods and poured into the armor, causing them to shiver for a while.

A rough soldier muttered, "This hell weather, it's really cold." "He's a fun-loving person, and this time it's meant to start a conversation. But he was tired all the way, and no one on the side paid attention to him.

The rough man moved his buttocks again, sat down next to a thin general who was only in his twenties, and complained: "Boss, let's start from CD, along the river, through Jiangzhou, Fuling, Yubei, Wuxian, all the way to here without stopping, I dare not say that there are always 100 miles a day, more than 80 miles." I said, "Aren't you just going to pass on an edict?" It's like going to war......"

That general is none other than Lin Hang, the last character of Yulin Wei. After he heard this, he said coldly: "Why, if you can catch up with Lao Tzu this way, you can't catch up?" Among the three hundred feathers, your kid's body and bones are the most delicate! ”

He drank the last sip of water in the water bladder, got up and patted the dust on his buttocks, and said loudly: "Jiang Zuocheng said, this is the boundary of Jingzhou, which is not as peaceful as the boundary of Yizhou." Since he has sent us as outposts, the brothers must cheer up Lao Tzu, don't lose Lao Tzu's face! ”

He paused, his tone softened slightly, and continued: "Thirty miles ahead is Zigui City, I will hurry up and strive to arrive before sunset, and eat a hot meal at night, and then soak in hot water to relieve fatigue!" ”

Everyone has been on the road for more than ten days in a row, all of them are dusty, and their stomachs are already hungry, and at this moment, when they heard "hot meals" and "hot water feet", they actually gave birth to a force out of thin air, and they got up from the ground one after another. After a brief tidying up, each found his horses and continued eastward with a shout.

"Let's go! Let's eat! ”

At sunset in the evening, an hour and a half after the outpost arrived, the large army led by Jiang Wei finally arrived at Zigui City.

It is said that it is a large army, but in fact there are only 300 light horses. In fact, according to the configuration provided by Zhuge Liang that day, counting 300 knights and 500 footmen, there should be more than 800 people and 30 carts on this trip.

However, Yizhou and Jingzhou are far away from the mountains, and the news is blocked, and Jiang Weishi does not know whether Dongwu has launched a sneak attack.

He was worried, so on the second day, as soon as he was more than 100 miles away from CD City, he handed over the 500 soldiers and soldiers who were accompanying him to the commander of the army, and left Jiang Wu to supervise him.

He himself took Yulinwei and three hundred elite horsemen to march day and night, and marched east along the Shu Road.

In addition to Jufu, Shen Feng, and Lin Hang, there were also Guan Xing who walked with him. Speaking of which, Guan Xing was able to come together, but it was beyond his expectations.

Thinking that Guan Xing had just arrived in Shuzhong for only two days, it stands to reason that he should not only accompany Liu Bei on behalf of his father Guan Yu to talk about himself, but also reunite with Zhang Bao, Mi Wei and other childhood friends, and he should stay in Shuzhong for a while.

But on the day of departure, Ma Liang, who came to see him off, had a long and serious conversation with him. Jiang Wei vaguely heard sentences such as "Jun Hou's arrow wound has not healed" and "The war is tight, and it is the time to employ people". Guan Xing thought about it for a moment and decided to return to Jingzhou with Jiang Wei on the spot.

From Yizhou CD to Jingzhou Jiangling, the whole city is about 1,600 miles, although some sections of the river are navigable, but everyone is riding horses, it is inconvenient to sail, only on foot.

Jiang Wei originally wanted to follow the example of Xiahou Yuan in Hubu Longyou, and marched at a speed of 500 on 3 days and 1,000 on 6 days. However, the road to Shu is difficult, the terrain is treacherous, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "the earth collapses and the mountains are destroyed, and the ladder stone stack is not exaggerated", and many places can only allow one person to pass. There are also many forks in the road, which look like thoroughfares, but are actually dead ends, so the speed of the march will inevitably be affected.

Fortunately, Guan Xing has just walked through this road, so he is very familiar with it, and it is very rare to make mistakes in judging the path, and the place where he stays all the way is also clear. Under his guidance, a group of 300 horsemen traveled lightly and simply, and hurried day and night without stopping, and finally arrived at the junction of Jing and Yi after 15 days.

After leaving the boundary of Yizhou, for the sake of safety, Jiang Wei sent more than ten horsemen from Lin Hangling's headquarters as a horse to take the first step. Finally, at sunset on the evening of November 15, Kankan rushed to Zigui City.

Zigui is Qu Yuan's hometown, and the Shang Dynasty was the place where he returned to the country; The Western Zhou Dynasty was the state of Kuizi; In the late Warring States period, it was called homecoming; The Han Dynasty placed Zigui County. Although it is a small county seat, it is bordered by Yizhou Badong in the west, Jingzhou Yidao and Yiling County in the east, surrounded by mountains in the north, and only one mountain road can lead to Fangling and Shangyong two counties, and to the south can reach the place where the Wuxi barbarians gather. It can be said that it is an important channel to communicate Jing and Yierzhou, and to connect the east and west, and the Shu Han court also stationed more than 1,000 soldiers here, led by the county magistrate and county lieutenant.

The county magistrate of Zigui is called Zhan Yan, who got a message from Lin Hang in the afternoon, and ordered someone to prepare hot water and hot meals in the city early, while he led the county lieutenant Chen Feng, and Wen Bu, Deng Kai, and others, representatives of the wealthy clans in the city, to greet him outside the city.

When Jiang Wei and his party arrived, the two sides naturally inevitably exchanged pleasantries. During the small talk, Jiang Wei noticed that although everyone had smiles on their faces, they were smiling very reluctantly, and even a few people showed unconcealed melancholy, which couldn't help but make him a little anxious.

Seeing that it was not early, Zhan Yan hurriedly invited everyone into the city.

Although Zigui is a small city, 300 troops and horses can be arranged, and the soldiers are properly entertained. Jiang Wei, Guan Xing, Jufu, Shen Feng, and Lin Hang were arranged to attend the banquet at the county office.

After everyone was seated, Jiang Wei asked straight to the point: "County Magistrate Zhan, this general was ordered by the king of Hanzhong to rush to the former general's army to preach comfort, do you know how the battle in Jingxiang was?" Where is Guan Junhou now? ”

Zhan Yan hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Please forgive the officials for not knowing." ”

Jiang Wei frowned and said, "Isn't there any official correspondence between Jiangling City and this place on weekdays?" ”

Zhan Yan paused for a moment and said, "Don't hide it from General Jiang, on weekdays, someone from Jiangling City will come to Zigui for business every three or five days." Either the army sent people to collect grain, or messengers sent to Yizhou with urgent official documents, and stayed here to stay and shoot. Strange to say, it has been ten days since the last wave of messengers left, and the lower officials have not seen the messengers. ”

He paused for a moment, and then said, "What's even more incredible is that in the past ten days, even business travelers have no way to pass half of it. Xia Guan has served in Zigui for three years and has never encountered such a situation. ”

Jiang Wei asked, "Have you ever sent spies out to find out the news?" ”

County Lieutenant Chen Feng took over the conversation and replied, "Why not?" A few days ago, the lowly officials sent a group of fast horses every morning and evening to inquire about the news, but strange to say, these people never turned back, as if they had disappeared out of thin air. In the past few days, I don't dare to shoot people anymore. ”

When Jiang Wei heard this, his brows furrowed even tighter, almost twisted into a Sichuan character.

Zhan Yan's face was worried, and he said: "The people in the city have been panicking these days...... Thankfully, the general finally came to take charge. In this way, even if the war in Xiangfan has changed......"

Before he finished speaking, he only heard a "bang", Guan Xing's face turned red, and he angrily slapped the case, and angrily reprimanded: "Nonsense! My father has been on the battlefield for many years, how can the situation of the war change! After saying this, he vigorously kicked over the table and walked away.

Everyone in the audience looked at each other in astonishment.