Feixian Pass is a very small town, with only one city gate in the southwest, and there are not many residents in it except for the merchants who come and go. Guancheng is backed by mountains and faces the Tsing Yi River Valley. The river valley is divided into two strands in front of the city, and the road is also divided into two along the river valley, one in the southwest direction, and going up is Tianquan, Luding, and Dajian Furnace (now Kangding); One turns to the north, and goes up to Lushan, Linguan, Baoxing, Xiaojin and other places. It is conceivable that at such an important pass in geography, how could Zhu Pingjin be placed in the hands of others!

Zhu Pingjin and the others entered the city gate more than ten steps away, and it was a crossroads. There is a yamen in the middle of the road facing the city gate, Gao Antai pointed to the yamen and said to Zhu Pingjin: "There are hundreds of yamen!" On the left is the inspection yamen! In the early years, there was no inspection yamen here, only one at Linguan. Seeing that there were more goods in our Tianquan and Luding areas, they were reluctant to have the fat in their mouths, so they arched over to take a bite! ”

Zhu Pingjin paid attention to the people around him, and whispered to Gao Antai: "After eating, you leave two reliable and capable subordinates in the inn, tomorrow night the caravan of the prince of this world will enter this Feixian Pass, you let them obey Mr. He's orders." In addition, you ask the entourage to leave all their weapons in the inn, and Mr. He will use them. ”

Suddenly, hearing Zhu Pingjin say this, Gao Antai didn't react a little.

Zhu Pingjin glanced at him and said, "Haven't you toasts always wanted to solve this trouble?" I'll help you solve it. Why did Mr. Gao want to retreat when things came to an end? ”

Gao Antai hurriedly denied it: "The student is thinking that if the government investigates it, ......"

Zhu Pingjin's tone was a little cold: "Does Mr. Gao want to stay out of the matter?" ”

Gao Antai understood, it turned out that Shizi had misunderstood what he meant, and hurriedly said: "Shizi, the student has no such intention!" If the prince tells him, the student is willing to stay in person. The student was just thinking, if the government tracked it down, would it notice that the prince had arrived in our heaven? ”

Zhu Pingjin breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and said with a smile: "You still have to lead the way, how can you stay?" This place is remote, and it doesn't hurt if something happens, and the state city guard will not know about it in a few days. At that time, your Tusi sent troops to fight, and said that they had successfully recaptured Guancheng. Your Gao family never thought of being an official of the hundred households and inspection envoys of this Feixian Pass? ”

Gao Antai replied: "Yes, why don't you want to?" It's just that the government has always treated us as toasts, how could they let us be officials? ”

You're toasts. Zhu Pingjin smiled secretly in his heart, but said with a smile on his lips: "If you recapture the Flying Immortal Pass, then the situation will be different." Maybe in order to save a salary, the government will let you do it. ”

Gao Antai also smiled: "Xie Shizi rewarded me with a big gift from the Gao family. If we come to be, in addition to the caravan of the prince, we will also set up a card fee! ”

Zhu Pingjin nodded affirmatively: "I want to accept it!" And you have to collect it fiercely! ”

Turn left one hundred and ten steps from the intersection and you will arrive at the high and good inn. On the way, Gao Antai faced everyone's jokes, and introduced how beautiful and gentle his good looks were, and when everyone pushed open the door of the inn and saw the real person, everyone couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

It turned out that the good friend in Gao Antai's mouth was actually a tall Tibetan girl. This woman is tall, probably about the same as Song Zhensi, the tallest in the group, and an inch taller than Gao Antai. As for the appearance, what Gao Antai said is really right, it's beautiful: the nose is high, and the phoenix eyes and cherry lips are beautiful. He wore braided hair, a long black dress, a leather waistcoat, a garu pine pendant, and a multicolored apron (Note 1). According to legend, the Jiarong Tibetan people have a beautiful ancestor of the Western Xia princess, so it has been a place where beautiful women gather since ancient times, and the aristocratic Tusi of Tibet often chooses concubines from the Jiarong Tibetans.

The transportation media of the Ming Dynasty were still extremely underdeveloped. Except for Gao Antai and his entourage, Song Zhensi and Zhu Pingjin's guards had never seen Tibetans, let alone Tibetan beauties. Even if this Tibetan girl is naturally generous, she is a little embarrassed to see a group of rough men glaring at her. When Gao Antai introduced Zhu Pingjin to her in Tibetan, the girl was even more at a loss. She didn't know whether to salute the noble young prince with the etiquette of the Han family or the collector's house. Seeing this, Zhu Pingjin hurriedly said that it was okay to ask Cao Sanbao to fetch a brocade and give it to her. When the girl had taken the present, she immediately called Abba with joy and ran upstairs with it in her hands.

The inn opened quickly, and it seemed that Gao Antai had already arranged it, and he had stewed the beef a long time ago. The crowd was tired and hungry, so they divided their priorities and immediately feasted. The girl was quite capable, and when Zhu Pingjin and the others were eating, she fed the horses barley and water. Zhu Pingjin and his entourage ate and did not stay much. Gao Antai left people and weapons according to Zhu Pingjin's instructions, and gave a few words of advice to his good friend, and hurriedly rode a horse to catch up with the team.

In addition to the Feixian Pass, the mountain road ahead is even more difficult. Roads haunt the banks of large rivers, and they must be crossed by bridges from time to time. The so-called bridge here is often a wooden row made of several logs nailed with an iron grasp, and hung by a rope made of thick rattan. Below the wooden rafts is a river valley dozens of feet deep, and there is white foam stirred up by the rapids hitting the boulders. Because of the scarcity of merchants in recent years, the wooden rafts and thick vines are stained green with thick moss. In the cold winter wind of the river valley, the ice slag contained in the moss glows white, which makes people shudder. Everyone had to dismount and carefully walk over the swaying wooden rafts. Although Cao Sanbao's face turned pale with fright, he still did not forget his duty and firmly held Zhu Pingjin's hand across the bridge.

The group passed through four or five villages along the way, and it was already dark. The road ahead seemed endless, and Gao Antai seemed to be tired, so he propped his palms on horseback and shouted to the guards: "The black mountain in front is called Wenbi Mountain!" Bypassing Wenbi Mountain, it is the official village of our Gao family! ”

He was roaring, and the two horses in front of him galloped forward. The man on horseback shouted as he ran: "But the third prince is back?" ”

Gao Antai hurriedly straightened up when he heard this, and shouted, "It's Lao Tzu!" Hurry up and go back and tell the eldest brother and the second brother that the prince has arrived! When the two heard the reply, they immediately turned their horses' heads and responded: "The eldest master and the second master have already gone out of the village to greet them, just behind the mountain in front!" ”

When the group heard this, they couldn't help but get excited. They quickly turned around a mountain bag, and they were amazed by what they saw. Not far ahead, I saw a fire dragon stretching for miles, with no end in sight. The dragon jumped and swam forward like a spirit swimming out of the mountains.

Zhu Pingjin knew that this was the team that Tianquan Tusi's family came out to greet him. It's not a small show, he thought to himself. This place is vast and sparsely populated, but the mobilization ability of the Tusi family cannot be underestimated! This Shu Shizi is really a big man here, and he deserves such a grand deal from the Tusi family!

On both sides of the road, hundreds of Tusi soldiers lined up neatly, and the pine torches held high in their hands crackled, adding a festive liveliness and warmth to the dark and cold valley.

Gao Antai's eldest brother, the hereditary general Wude and Tianquan's six-way envoy Gao Jitai, is a middle-aged man in his thirties. He is not tall and has a dark complexion, but he is very strong, and he is a little similar to Gao Antai's appearance. Perhaps in order to confirm his identity, he specially wore the five-grade military uniform issued by the imperial court today. It's just that the pair of big gold rings hanging on the ears match the new tufts of official robes and black yarn, which looks very funny. The official rank set in the early years of the Ming Dynasty was the military high and the low literature, and the lowest official position among the military attaches was to test 100 households and be pacified, and it was also the "six grades of Juezhi". Gao Jitai's general Wude is scattered, but he is equivalent to a thousand households in the guard, and he is not a high-ranking officer.

As soon as Gao Jitai saw Zhu Pingjin wearing a small golden crown with eight beams, he didn't wait for Zhu Pingjin to dismount, and immediately stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed on the mountain road full of stones, saying that the lower officials greeted the prince and did enough etiquette. Zhu Pingjin jumped off the horse, personally helped Gao Jitai up, and talked to him affectionately. Gao Jitai led Zhu Pingjin and introduced Yang Zhiming, the deputy envoy of Tianquan Liufan, his second brother Gao Dengtai, and the generals Xu Hanqing, Gao Junxi, Jiang Qifeng, and others (Note 2). Yang Zhiming is an old man in his fifties, and the years and wind and frost have left deep marks on his face. Gao Dengtai is a different look, dressed as a scholar of the Han family, tall and handsome, and his face does not have the plateau red that people here are common. Seeing that Zhu Pingjin noticed his clothes, Gao Dengtai decently explained that he had lived with his grandmother in CD Mansion since he was a child, and he had studied at CD Mansion School (now CD Stone Chamber Middle School).

"Is it famous, sir?" Zhu Pingjin asked.

Gao Jitai proudly replied on behalf of the second brother: "My brother is the master of my Gao family!" ”

"Why doesn't that gentleman go out of office and serve the country?" Zhu Pingjin asked with another surprised expression.

This time, it was Gao Antai who came out to fight: "It's not because our family is toast!" ”

"Mr. is a talented learner, and he can't serve the court, it's a pity! If Mr. is interested, this son should be used by the country! Zhu Pingjin sighed and wrote a large blank check.

That Gao Dengtai did not have much false humility, but just thanked him: "The student is willing to follow the son of the world, help the poor in peace, and benefit one party." ”

Zhu Pingjin was greatly satisfied with Gao Dengtai's statement, and said three good words in a row. Zhu Pingjin introduced Song Zhensi and other his attachés to the Gao Yang family, and then he got back on the horse and was surrounded by everyone and ran towards the Tianquan Tusi official village.

The Gao family's Tusi official village was built on a flat and gentle slope, and the walls were densely packed with torches. The village is not big, the wall is not high, and it is built with countless pieces of stone. Outside the wall, there are scattered large houses where the people live. Outside, the people knelt beside the road, and an old man with a gray beard knelt straight in the middle of the road, his hands above his head, and a white silk on his shoulder. Zhu Pingjin knew that this was the people who wanted to offer Hada, which represented good luck, so he jumped off the horse. Gao Jitai took Hada from the old man's hand and hung it respectfully around Zhu Pingjian's neck. Zhu Pingjin did not expect that this ordinary act immediately caused bursts of cheers from the people on the side of the road. Just like the starting gun of the carnival, the whole day inside and outside the Tusi official village suddenly entered the rhythm of the national carnival. There were bonfires everywhere, singing and dancing everywhere. The thousand-year-old village is full of songs and laughter.

Zhu Pingjin and others entered the official village, and the Gao family immediately started a banquet. In addition to the food, there was also barley wine brewed in Luding and Dajian furnaces. Since Zhu Pingjin was reborn, he was worried that his body was not yet mature, so he rarely drank alcohol. Tonight, under the enthusiasm of the Gao Yang family, they also made an exception and drank a whole bowl.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhu Pingjin touched the sides of his thighs, where it was hot and painful. He thought to himself that he could rest well tonight, and then slowly fell drunk on the table.

Note 1: THE WOMEN'S CLOTHING IN THE QIAOQI AREA OF THE JIARONG TIBETAN PEOPLE HAS TRACES OF THE QIANG PEOPLE, AND THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES WITH OTHER JIARONG TIBETANS, SUCH AS THE LEATHER VEST.

Note 2: Gao Jitai, Gao Dengtai, Yang Zhiming, Xu Hanqing and others have all left their names in the long history. In the Shu Rebellion at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Tianquan was one of the few places in Sichuan that successfully resisted Zhang Xianzhong, and also exported a lot of grain to the mainland, saving many people, and contributing greatly to the Shu people.