Yibin was called Yandao County in ancient times, Qin Shili County, Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasty set up Rongzhou in Yandao County for ten years, Song Zhenghe changed its name to Xuzhou in four years, and Xuzhou was promoted to Xuzhou Road in the eighteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty. The pen "fun" pavilion www.biquge.info to the Ming Dynasty Hongwu six years, Xuzhou Road was renamed Xuzhou Mansion, the government and the county governance are in Yibin, to the apocalypse seven years, it has been more than 200 years.

The southwest winter is wet and cold, rainy, cold and sunny. There is no official road from Fushun to Yibin, you need to go out of Dengjingguan Xiaohe Street, pass Xinxing, Doushan, Daguan, Huangsha, Gaodian, Jinping to Yibin, the total length is more than 100 miles, the road is rugged, mostly in the hilly and mountainous areas. The world is not quiet, and pedestrians mostly travel with caravans, or caravans.

Winters in Sichuan still maintain a somber green. The branches and leaves that sprout and grow in spring and summer experience the autumn day of slaughter, and when it comes to winter, the goose yellow and tender green, and the bean mung bean green are gradually frozen in the frost and cold rain, and solidify into crow green and green. In the rolling hills, a white line of road winds along the mountain, and below the mountain road, there are many streams wandering in the valley, and the gloomy sky splashes a layer of misty ink on the heaven and earth.

When the sky was still bright, the crisp sound of horses' hooves broke the calm. In the morning mist that filled the mountains, a line of pedestrians gradually appeared. Most of them were on foot, only three or two on horseback, and a few large chariots were guarded in the middle of the procession, and twenty or so were all sturdy and capable men, with swords and guns, and a few of them carrying strange-looking muskets on their backs.

The "Da Ming Law" has "private possession of prohibited military weapons, all civilian private people, vests, brands, torches, artillery flags, belts, etc., should be banned military weapons, one cane eighty each, plus one class, private maker plus private crime one degree, each crime stop one hundred and three thousand miles, not complete, and not all of them, and do not talk about Xu Ling's official service." However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the government-run workshops were in ruins, the quality of military weapons was poor, and the shadow of war had never been removed from the country, so the government almost acquiesced to the private manufacture of weapons and even purchased muskets from the people.

The southwest is not peaceful since the rebellion of luxury, people everywhere are ready to move, mountain bandits gather in the mountains and roar back and forth, the officers and soldiers are cowardly and useless, the military orders of the guards are abolished, the battalions are mostly in Liaodong, and the soldiers are not credible, the people in the southwest are fierce, there are people in the east of Sichuan in Wanli who privately make muskets, and they are in Yungui, and it has almost become an open secret in the year of the Apocalypse.

Li Yongzhong rode in the middle of the procession, his hands clasped in his sleeves and his eyes closed. He is familiar with this road, along Xuzhou to Mahu Station, Nixi Station, Manyi Station can go straight to Yunnan, and take Nanxi to Luzhou, and then transfer to the post, Jiangmen, Yong'an, Chishui, Pushi can enter Guizhou. From the age of twelve or thirteen to the present four or five years, from March to October, he traveled three or four times in any given year.

The mountain road was narrow, and they had to pull it all the way, but for the Li family's guards, they could walk to Yibin with their eyes closed. Before getting up early and setting out, he instructed two alert and dexterous servants to act as scouts to explore the way for the team, and ordered them to go down and unsheath their knives and guns, and to load their guns, so that they must be cautious.

Some people think that Ho Tai is too careful, but Ho Tai has his own reason. He lowered his face and reprimanded: "In today's world, how many people can live honestly?" There may be a few more villages nearby, but they are far away, and even on the official road, there are mountain bandits and strongmen who block the way! You are beaten with iron, how many pounds of nails can you make? I always thought that after fighting a few thieves, I would be able to run rampant in the world!? Let me tell you, there are no more than 1200 people in a stockade? How many of us count? ”

These words really woke everyone up. Some old people remembered that at the beginning of the year, there was a caravan robbed in Zhaohua Town, not far from Fushun, and a group of more than a dozen people only ran out of a teenage boy, reported to the government, and the fast class officials entered the attack together with the archers of the inspection department, and they were defeated and returned, and finally the southern guard sent troops to be exterminated, but people who knew the inside story said that the officers and soldiers only found a few old, weak, sick and disabled people in the old nest of mountain bandits, and the young and strong ones were not caught. Zhao Huazhen is only a few dozen miles away from Fushun, and it is still unknown where this group of bandits went.

The caravan got up from the middle of the caravan and walked for a few hours, and now it was past noon, He Tai looked at the sky, lightly clamped the horse's belly, and trotted to Li Yongzhong's side a few times, seeing that the other party seemed to be asleep, he complained first: "Just ask the master to ride in the carriage, and I want to ride a horse to grind my buttocks." Then he said: "Do you want the big guy to stop and take a break before leaving?" ”

"The carriage shook so much that it hurt my head." After Li Yongzhong closed his eyes and finished talking to He Tai, he opened his eyes slowly, looked around, and nodded first: "Very yes." It's all on the road, and there's no need to skimp on that little bit of light, I remember that there is a tea shop in front of me, so let's stop and eat there. Then he asked, "How far have we come?" ”

"The sun sets early in winter, from yesterday to today, but I have walked fifty miles, and if I light a torch tonight and walk again, I will be able to reach Doushan tomorrow morning." He Tai silently calculated in his heart for a while: "According to our journey, two days at the earliest and three days at the latest, we will be able to reach Yibin." ”

Li Yongzhong let go of the reins and let the Dian horse walk by himself, he stared at the gloomy sky, suddenly smiled, turned his head and said to He Tai: "Walking this way, I remember the first time I followed the steward to Guizhou to make salt." ”

He Tai also laughed when he heard this, his face was upright, and he was a serious and serious personality, it was really rare to see him smile, but what Li Yongzhong said was also a memory that he would never forget.

While thinking about the past in his memory, he talked and laughed with Li Yongzhong: "At that time, I was scared like something along the way, sleeping on the road at night, and encountering heavy rain, drenching myself into a soup chicken, and starting to heat up, it was really embarrassing." ”

"I see that you are stubborn, obviously you are almost confused, and you have to resist hard, and you refuse to go to the horse," Li Yongzhong was also very embarrassed when he said this, he coughed and sighed: "You said that you are embarrassed, I am not much better, I was almost caught by the mountain bandits, but if it really fell into their hands at that time, I am afraid that the grass on the grave is now tall." ”

While the two men were still talking, the scout in front of them returned. He squeezed to He Tai's side with a sweat, clasped his fists and saluted, and said breathlessly: "What's the matter, it doesn't seem right ahead!" ”

He Tai didn't say much, and since the saddle untied the bamboo tube used as a kettle, handed it to him, and said, "You drink saliva first and slow down." Then he passed the word: "Send the word to the front and back, stop the line!" Seeing that the people and cars stopped, he asked carefully: "You tell me well, what's going on?" You went out with two people, why did you come back by yourself? ”

The guard who reported the news was called Zhang Zong, he was selected as the guard of the Li Mansion three years ago, and now he is also an old man in the guard, following the Li family's horse team to Guizhou, Yunnan to transport salt, and his face did not change in the face of dozens of Yiren blocking the road and shouting, he is the most calm and reliable person, his words, He Tai and Li Yongzhong are quite trusting.

Zhang Zong breathed a sigh of relief, and replied in an orderly manner: "Li Quan is still in place, and I will come back to report the news." Steward, the front is not right, everyone is familiar with the road, who knows that we went over, saw a few big stones blocking the road, Li Quan and I looked at it, it should be a rockfall on the mountain, if you want to go the same way, you must go to the mountain. He said a lot in one breath, really said that his mouth was dry, and he picked up the bamboo tube and poured two mouthfuls of water, wiped the water stains with his sleeves horizontally, and then continued to say: "We don't dare to make claims, so Li Quan asked me to come back and talk back to the steward and Zhong Guan'er." ”

He Tai pondered for a moment and said, "You pass on my words, ask someone to ride a horse to deliver a message to Li Quan, he stays where he is, and we will arrive in a while." ”

Zhang Zong lowered his hand and said yes, and didn't say much, He Tai saw him walk to the front and whispered a few words to his companion, the man nodded, led the mount and turned over the horse, whistled and left, only then retracted his gaze with satisfaction, and happened to meet Li Yongzhong with a satisfied face, he smiled and quipped: "Brother Zhong'er, what are you laughing at?" "It's rare to use the very intimate name of childhood.

Li Yongzhong looked at his milk brother, but also said cheerfully and generously: "I'm happy that I finally have someone available." ”

He Tai smiled, he looked left and right, everyone was busy with their own business, and there was no one who was idle walking around talking, so he lowered his voice and said to Li Yongzhong: "Don't talk about the mud-like guards, I have walked in Yungui over the years, even Liangguang, and I am known as an elite battalion, where can I compare to the ...... we have carefully trained?" ”

Li Yongzhong patted him on the shoulder as if approving, with a smile on his face, and lightly spit out two words from his mouth: "Be cautious." ”

The arm on the shoulder seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and He Tai's eyelids jumped, regretting that he had carried away and almost lost his words. At the moment, he restrained his expression and bowed his head and said, "Hero, I lost my temper." ”

"Don't worry, I know you're happy for me." After comforting the milk brother, Li Yongzhong turned over and dismounted, and Wutong, who was following him, immediately took the reins of the horse cleverly and led the horse to the side.

There is a large open space near the mountain road, which is dug up and filled in little by little by the horse caravans, which is used as a rest, and sometimes in case you miss the camp. The coachman drove the carriage to one place, and although he did not dare to let go of the reins and let the horse relax, he still put a bag around the horse's neck, and the southwest horses were expensive, and they did not dare to be negligent.

The well-trained guards took the time to drink water and rest, and some of them took out dry food and ate silently - they already knew the strangeness ahead, if there was an ambush, no matter how good they were, they would only have twenty men, and it would be a bad battle.

"We have been working hard for so many years, step by step, isn't it just for the current situation?" Li Yongzhong said leisurely: "But it's not time to relax yet. Atai, you know my ambition, but I don't know if this world can tolerate us. ”