In ancient times, it was not as easy as modern times to get from Laoshan in Qingzhou to Pengcheng in Xuzhou, buying a plane or train ticket to get there in a few hours. The straight-line distance between Laoshan and Pengcheng is about 360 kilometers, and considering the ancient road conditions, if you take the land route, it will probably take an extra 100 kilometers.

Because the speed of the vehicle has a lot to do with the road conditions, ideally, the speed of a horse-drawn carriage with a horse is about 10 to 15 kilometers per hour, regardless of other factors. In this way, from Laoshan to Xuzhou, under normal circumstances, even if you take a carriage, it will take at least 30 hours, which means that it will take more than a day for a carriage to travel day and night.

But under normal circumstances, it is impossible for either people or carriages to travel continuously, so eating, drinking, and sleeping must be solved, right?

And Wei Shuo couldn't go to Xuzhou with an empty carriage, the carriage must have been filled with salt. In this way, a wagon with goods can travel at most five to eighty miles a day. In this way, a trip to Xuzhou will take a month just to spend on the road. If you add the things that need to be done, Wei Shuo's trip to Xuzhou this time will be delayed for at least nearly two months.

This is the first time Wei Shuo has left the Laoshan base camp for a long time, so many things have to be arranged properly.

"Lord, why don't I go to Xuzhou with you?"

"I said, Ziwen, how did you become a mother-in-law? Let you stay because you have a quick mind, you should know very well that I don't know how many people are coveting our Laoshan in secret, although Brother Zhang is reliable, but he is loyal, and he can't deal with the hidden arrows shot by outsiders. If I didn't have you to stay, I really wouldn't be at ease to go to Xuzhou. ”

Since Wei Shuo made the decision to go to Xuzhou in person, many people on Laoshan Mountain took the initiative to follow him south, including Zhu Wen.

"But I am also the person who knows Xuzhou best on Laoshan Mountain, and going to Xuzhou will definitely help the president!"

"Hehe, Ziwen, of course it will help you to go to Xuzhou with me, but don't forget, Laoshan is our foundation right now! Everything on Laoshan cannot afford any mistakes, and only by handing it over to you and Brother Zhang can I rest assured that I can go to Xuzhou. ”

After some painstaking persuasion, Zhu Wen's idea of going to Xuzhou was finally dispelled. If possible, Wei Shuo certainly hoped that Zhu Wen would go to Xuzhou with him, but as he said just now, Laoshan was his foundation.

"Then who is the president going to take to Pengcheng this time?"

"This time I went to Xuzhou, I plan to only take Erlang to go, and select a hundred members from the escort team to serve as escorts, but in this way, it will take a long time on the way. Alas, it would be nice if we had a ship, starting directly from Qingdao Port, we could go directly to the coast of Xuzhou. ”

Feeling very sorry that he couldn't go to Xuzhou Weishuo by sea and land, he thought for a while and said: "Ziwen, although I have to leave for a while, you can't relax your requirements for yourself. In particular, the infrastructure construction work of Qingdao Port must be accelerated, and efforts must be made to do a good job in the basic work within this month. ”

"Don't worry, president, I'll keep an eye on this matter in the future." Zhu Wen nodded solemnly and promised: "I will definitely be optimistic about our Laoshan for the president, and I will never allow anyone to destroy the president's plan." ”

The next day, before dawn, Sister-in-law Zhang took the woman to pack up the prepared dry food and filled the water hyacinth with boiling cold water. Today's Laoshan has long been different from what it used to be, some time ago in order to facilitate the transportation of refined salt, Wei Shuo bought five carriages, this trip to Xuzhou he will take the carriages away, after all, five thousand catties of salt, if it all depends on people to carry the burden is too heavy.

After breakfast, the car set off for the morning light. Everyone sent it out, and finally, Zhang Dalang handed a small package to Wei Shuo and whispered: "Brother Wei, the change used on the road has been put in the carriage in front." There are a few gold leaves in it, which are kept for critical moments, so you should put them away carefully. ”

Wei Shuo nodded and took the package and carried it on his back, "Brother Zhang, after I leave, Laoshan will be handed over to you, if there is anything you can discuss with Mr. Zhu, if someone from the Wang Dongjia and the government goes up the mountain, you don't have to pay attention to them, just push everything on me." ”

The first car at the beginning was in charge of Zhang Erlang, and the last one at the back of the palace was in charge of a young man named Li Gouzi, and the other three carriages were in the middle. The car didn't have too much on it, and it was only five stones of refined salt. Except for Wei Shuo, who enjoyed the treatment of riding in a carriage, the others could only follow.

The route has long been discussed, first of all, everyone went all the way west, first through the two counties of Changguang and Chengyang in Qingzhou, and then turned around and went south, and they could reach the Donghai Kingdom in Xuzhou, and Pengcheng, the seat of Xuzhou governance, was located in the Pengcheng State in the southwest of the Donghai Kingdom. Along the way, everyone stayed overnight, and the convoy could travel about 80 miles a day.

At first, everyone was very vigilant, but fortunately, now the territory of Qingxu and Xu is safe, and nothing happened. When staying overnight at night, the team tries to avoid sleeping in the wilderness, and specializes in finding a larger inn to play the top. The carriages were parked in the courtyard of the shop, and the guards took turns guarding them every day.

More than 100 people plus five carriages were still very attractive to outsiders, but it was only because of the deterrence of bows and arrows and spears in the hands of the members of the escort that the harassment of ordinary petty thieves was dispelled.

On this day, everyone successfully arrived in Ju County, Chengyang County. While resting in the inn, Wei Shuo specially called everyone together for a meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, further south, we will be out of Qingzhou. In the old days, it was often said that there were bandits near the state border. So for some time to come, I want the convoy to be on increased alert. ”

"Brother Wei, you can leave it to me. It's good if those bandits don't come, and if someone eats the bear's heart and leopard gall, our escort team will definitely not let the other party have a good time. Zhang Erlang was eager to try, he couldn't wait to test the combat effectiveness of the escort team.

On the morning of the second day, Wei Shuo woke everyone up before dawn, got into the car after breakfast, and left. In the evening, Wei Shuo and his entourage arrived at the Qingxu border. Everyone ate some dry food on the side of the road, and prepared to rest for a while before entering Xuzhou. Wei Shuo wiped the sweat from his forehead, took out the rudimentary map drawn by Zhu Wen with his hands, and looked at it.

"Brother Wei, is it Xuzhou in front?" Zhang Dalang asked while eating dry food.

Wei Shuo nodded and said: "Well, further ahead is Zhuqi County in the East China Sea of Xuzhou, we must arrive before dark, otherwise we will have to sleep in the wilderness." Tell everyone to hurry up and eat and rest, and we have to hurry later. ”

Not far from Qingzhou, there was a small mountain pass, and from a distance, they saw a person standing on the hillside, this person was carrying a big knife in his hand, and he was not a good person at first glance. Zhang Erlang, who was at the head, immediately waved his hand when he saw it, and stopped the car with a handlebar. Unexpectedly, the other party took the initiative to retreat after observing for a while, Zhang Erlang didn't dare to be careless, and hurriedly came to discuss with Wei Shuo.

After listening to Zhang Erlang's report, Wei Shuo said thoughtfully: "It seems that someone is really eyeing us, and the one just now is just a pathfinder." Hehe, no matter which way the gods are, as long as they dare to fight our ideas, let him have no return. ”

Zhang Erlang said hesitantly: "Anyway, the brothers' hands have long been a little itchy, and now it would be better if someone took the initiative to find the door." ”

"Erlang, you go and tell to get ready, the real test is coming."

After eating and drinking, everyone got into the car and hit the road again. Before leaving, Wei Shuo gave everyone the answer. Tell everyone that there are a group of robbers eyeing the convoy, and there will be a fight next, I hope everyone is mentally prepared.

After listening to Wei Shuo's words, everyone raised their spirits and moved forward all the way, and they didn't dare to slack off. Half an hour later, the convoy came to a place called Jiagu Mountain. As the name suggests, Jiagu Mountain is a valley between two mountains, with steep stone walls on both sides of the valley, about ten zhang high, and only two carriages can be walked side by side in the middle.

The crowd cautiously walked into the valley, each of the convoys concentrating on spear in hand. As soon as the convoy turned a corner, it saw a big tree ten feet away in front of it, blocking the way for the convoy to move forward.

At the same time, with a 'whoosh', an arrow shot into the sky. After a whistling, more than fifty people with knives and guns flashed in front of them, completely filling the canyon in front of them. Wei Shuo hurriedly stopped the convoy, looked at the rabble opposite, and said to Zhang Erlang with a smile: "Our deal is here, let everyone get ready." ”