On 29 August, at the foot of the mountain in Ya'an, a troop of more than 30,000 people set out from here, and the Ninth Division, which was ordered to enter Tibet, purchased more than 30,000 bags of tea bags from the tea merchants in Ya'an, and purchased nearly 40,000 mules and horses from the horse gang in a half-strong and half-high-price manner, and at the same time, at the same time, at a "high salary" of six yuan a month, nearly 12,000 "horse-footed" who had been running on the Sichuan-Tibet tea ceremony for many years and hundreds of horse-pot heads who led the way. There is also Ma Jiaozi's understanding of the tea horse ceremony. Nearly 40,000 mules and horses, carrying 30,000 bags of tea in stock, enough supplies and ammunition for 30,000 people for a month, set out from Ya'an in four groups and began to march towards Tibetan Province.

From Sichuan to Tibetan Province, it has traveled more than 2,400 kilometers, passing through more than a dozen snow-capped mountains of more than 4,500 meters and dozens of large Xiaoice rivers, passing through uninhabited primeval forests and swampy grasslands where murderous opportunities are hidden. There are almost no roads, no houses to live in, not enough food, and especially not enough oxygen...... The most fundamental danger of marching into Tibetan provinces, difficulties and tests, is the challenge of life and survival to the limits of life and survival by harsh natural conditions.

At the beginning of October, the land of the Central Plains was still verdant, but Tibet was already a cold and desolate winter scene. The white-haired wind that passed through the snow-capped mountains rode down from the heights, freezing the swamp's bare muddy water into a hard shell, like the scabs of abscesses, scattered in the water, large or small, stretching out to the boundless end.

The crimson clouds moved slowly on the vast sky, sometimes sprinkling the freezing rain and mist, and sometimes removing the fine salt-like snow particles, and the wind swept the freezing rain, blowing and beating the reeds, pipes, grasses, and white grass were lying on the "scab" and shivering.

Even if there is no wind and no snow, there is not much sunshine here, the humid and hot air wrapped in the southeast river and the cold wind of the north of Sichuan converge here, and it is the whole fog, diffuse, covering the endless water and grass swamps, small trees, high ports, hills, ponds, quagmires, criss-cross and slowly rolling rivers...... All embraced in its veil of mystery. It's so humid that even the birds don't bother to fly. As long as a person walks through such a fog for an hour, all the clothes will be as if they have been soaked in water, sticky and wet all over the body, and cold to the bone.

In this rain-like fog, the bells of horses echoed, and the soldiers, who were still soaked in rain and fog despite their raincoats, carried guns, two hundred rounds of ammunition, six grenades, and bags of dry food that had been eaten for ten days, and the dry food bags were no longer the rice they had worn when they set out from Ya'an, but had already become barley wheat bought in Qamdo.

The soldiers carrying heavy supplies on their backs gasped and struggled to walk along the road that was not a road, and some soldiers still had thick bamboo pipes hanging from their backpacks, which were the ashes of their comrades, and altitude sickness and landslides had already claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers.

Wang Chengzhi, who was driving the mule, could clearly see that the dark faces of those soldiers were a little purple, and like all the horses' feet, Wang Chengzhi was also from a poor background, and he was forced to embark on the road of driving horses for his livelihood, because walking the tea horse road was not only difficult and abnormal, but also very dangerous. But now, seeing these soldiers gritting their teeth and insisting on marching there, Wang Chengzhi didn't feel a taste in his heart, although he had long been accustomed to the hard work on the tea horse road, but it was really the first time he had encountered such a desperate group of people.

In the past, when the Qing army entered Tibet, it was the same as the caravan of the tea horse road, entering Tibet in March and April, not entering Tibet at this time now, and when the Qing army entered Tibet, they were eager to divide the day's road into ten days, where they were desperate here.

"Brothers, work hard!"

On a boulder, an officer shouted loudly panting, and under the boulder there was a soldier writing slogans.

"Drive out the British, recover Tibetan Province!"

As a horse's foot, this year, Wang Chengzhi, like in previous years, also entered Tibet once, but before entering Lhasa, he gave the tea bricks to the contractors in Tibet.

Why are they desperately on the road, in order to drive out the foreign devils.

I hope I can live to earn that money!

Thinking to himself, Wang Chengzhi glanced at the mule beside him, according to the official army, to catch up with this horse, in addition to the monthly salary, they can also share another mule for the horse foot, that is, this mule, so that Wang Chengzhi and many horse feet chose this life-and-death job without hesitation, everyone knows what it means to catch the Tibetan road in July.

Life and death are not only testing the officers and soldiers of the Ninth Division entering Tibet, but also testing these horses and feet, and testing those who lead the way, but they who have already passed Gyantse have no way to retreat, so they can only move forward and march towards Lhasa.

"Crossing the snow-capped mountains, worshipping the gods and burning incense......"

With the shouting of a horse pot, the troops who were originally marching forward at a rapid pace, the caravan stopped, even the ninth division must abide by the rules of entering the Tibetan caravan, and the rule of burning incense on the top of the mountain when crossing the snow-capped mountain is the rule of the caravan, in their words, this place into Tibet is a mountain that respects the gods, and those who do not worship the gods will be punished by the gods.

"After this snow-capped mountain, it's a flat river!"

Staring at the snow-capped mountain in front of him, Shao Zhenwu Chong said to Li Shaojie, this Li Shaojie is tying the cowhide eye mask to his eyes, which is made by those horse pots, and after wearing it, he can only look at a small slit with his eyes, saying that it can prevent snow blindness.

"Then we'll be close to Lhasa, hopefully...... I hope the British will wait for us! ”

Li Shaojie muttered in his heart, and at this time, the military monks had already begun to chant the scriptures, and the horse pot prayed in front of the incense platform like a big god, whether it was a soldier or an officer or a horse's feet, they all knelt down and bowed, along the way they have crossed more than a dozen snow-capped mountains, each time there is no danger in the past, I hope this time...... God willing!

Praying in his heart, Li Shaojie, who felt panicked due to altitude sickness and panting, prayed in his heart, and then there was another whip, and the troops were about to cross the mountain, and after crossing the mountain, it was close to Lhasa.

In the past few months, both adults and children at Bunge Manor have been very concerned about the chanting of mantras in the temple.

The Great Khenpo Tashi, according to the instructions of the Kasha, is presiding over the recitation of mantras in Bang Ji Monastery. At first, it was to resist the British from entering Tibet Province and defend Tibetan Province to pray for blessings, and now it is also for Tibetan blessings, although news from Lhasa said that the British had occupied Lhasa, but before the British occupied Lhasa, [***] had withdrawn to Qinghai in the direction of Tanggula.

That is, the big copper trumpet and small copper trumpet in the temple of Prayer Funa kept blowing, the big drum and small drum kept beating, the silver bell kept shaking, and the cymbals kept coming from the dull sound. The sound of the lama chanting mantras, sometimes loud, sometimes small, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, sometimes like a group of wolves howling, sometimes like a group of mice being chased by cats barking, and from time to time mixed with the terrible sound of suona made of the girl's leg bones, the atmosphere in the manor is more tense and terrifying...... As the Great Khenpo, although Tashi wore a robe and held Buddhist beads in his hand, he knew nothing about scriptures, and all the "canons" and "precepts" were not binding on him, even if he was cruel or lustful, this Gasha's orders must always be obeyed. Usually he lives at home, and only goes to the monastery when he has something to do. Now he presides over the chanting of mantras, and he spends all day in the monastery, busy like peas on a hot pot, jumping around, but no matter how busy he is, he knows what matters now.

Tashi hurriedly called the butler, Tsering Dorjee.

"Inquire clearly, do you know that the Han army has never passed from us. When will the Han army come to us? ”

The reason why he is so concerned is very simple, in order to prevent the British from coming, when Tashi was transporting his family's things to Qamdo, Tsering Dorjee heard from the people in Gaxia Mansion that the Han army in Sichuan had entered Tibet, and they were going to enter Tibet to fight those British who did not respect Buddhism, so he naturally cared about those Han troops, and if they entered Tibet, he would not have to flee to Qamdu.

Tsering Dorjee bent over, stuck out his tongue, pretended to be respectful, and didn't even dare to make a rude sound.

Seeing him like that, Tashi was very annoyed and asked anxiously.

"Haven't heard yet? I don't know what's the use of asking you to waste."

Tsering Dorjee had already expected that Tashi would have to ask about this matter today, and he had already found out. The reason why he didn't say it right away was because he wanted the master to be anxious for a while, and after the master was anxious, he would say it again, so that he could show his ability more and win the favor of the master.

He rolled his eyes, peeked at Tashi's face, and felt that if he didn't answer, the old man would really lose his temper, and it would be difficult to do it then. So he whispered:

"Master, I've heard that the Han army that entered Tibet this time is probably not the same as in the past......"

"Why is it different?"

Tashi asked in a gruff voice, but his ears hardened.

"Master, you know, this Han land has changed, and the Han army that came over this time is no longer the Qing army, but the Guangfu army!"

After hearing this, Tashi frowned, paused for another moment, and asked, "The Liberation Army?" As long as it's the Han army, I just hope they can stop the British! ”

"Master, I don't know if this Guangfu army can stop the British, but since they can take over the world, they should be stronger than the soldiers led by the minister in Tibet, but the minions are worried, this is ...... with Tai."

"I don't care what grievances they have against the Han people, the banner people, and the Mongols, as long as they can stop the British, don't let them stand here."

Tashi stared at Tsering Dorjee and waved his hand impatiently and said. As far as he is concerned, as long as he can block the British and prevent the British from hitting him, as for the flag people and the Han people, that is their business.

Thinking to himself, Tashi waved his hand and said:

"I still have to stay in the temple these days to pray, you prepare the food, yak, butter tea of the labor army at home, as long as the Han army goes to Lhasa, we will definitely go here, we can't stay slow down this group of military masters, if they come, you come to the temple again, understand?"

"Yes! Master! ”

After responding, Tsering Dorjee invited Zha Yun out of the monastery, and Tashi was still there reciting scriptures that he did not understand.

On the Golden Helmet Mountain, Tashi's slave Bianba was driving back to herd his livestock. With a few shouts, he drove a large herd of cattle grazing in the mountains and forests to one place. But instead of immediately driving the animals down the mountain, he let them continue to eat the seeded autumn grass leisurely. This kind of grass livestock loves to eat, and it is easy to fat, this winter will come to the sky, so let this animal eat more quickly.

Even though the animals belong to their owners, he has affection for them, because he is with them in the morning and twilight. He treats them as his companions. In his opinion, his fate was the same as that of these animals, and even worse than that of animals, because the stewards of the feed of the animals always gave enough and did not dare to withhold them; But the daily ration of the house slaves was only two bowls of moldy tsamba, and they were often withheld. If there is a difference, it is that these animals are the non-speaking slaves of the Tashi family, while they themselves are the talking animals of the Tashi family.

He felt more comfortable and happy to stay in the silence of the mountains and forests with these companions than to return to the manor. Because the heart-pounding insults and whips are not heard. He was happy to be away from that place for a minute and a second, but in fact, he couldn't leave it - where could he go without leaving this place? In the past ten years, has he walked less places? Where is where he settles down to make a living?!

The horses on the hillside did not know the mood of the herdsmen at this time, and only cared about grazing freely. From time to time, several horses chased and fought with each other; Some of the horses seemed to have eaten enough, and shook their manes triumphantly, and raised their heads to neigh, so startled that the birds perched on the trees spread their wings and flew high.

At this time, Nazhen, a girl who went up the mountain to collect firewood, walked towards Bianba. As soon as he saw her, he walked towards Na Zhen in high spirits.

"Why didn't you work in the fields today?"

"How can you not go? In the past few days, the old man has driven us down to the ground with a leather whip every day. Abba has not come back to the Tibetan army, there is no firewood at home, just now the little housekeeper went home to drink barley wine, Grandma asked me to take advantage of this time, hurry up to carry firewood. ”

Listen to Na Jin's words. Bian Ba hurriedly said.

"I heard that the yellow-haired foreign devils occupied Lhasa and drove the living Buddha out of the Brala Palace, and the lord asked us to pack up our things day and night, and packed them again, some things were transported to Qamdo, some things were hidden in the monastery, and some were buried in the ground. Today I was asked to drive the cattle back, saying that they were going to carry things. In the past few days, we have been so busy that the soles of our children's feet are almost worn out, and we have not been able to send bundles of firewood to Grandma. ”

Najin nodded and said.

"Grandma also knows that you are very busy, and I am worried that it will exhaust you!"

When she saw that Bianba's Tibetan robe was torn one by one, and the flesh on his shoulders and thighs was exposed, she sat down with Bianba, took a needle and thread from her cuffs, and sewed the patches on his shoulders a few times. She knew that Bian Ba only had this one piece of clothing, and she couldn't take it home and mend it for him.

Whenever Bianba's clothes were torn, Nazhen's grandmother Tsering Wangmu called Bianba to their house, first let Uncle Renqing sleep, and then let Bianba put on his Tibetan robe.

When it was almost dawn, Nazhen's brother Daojie took the clothes to the stable of Tashi's house, and then took Abba's clothes home. In order to help Bian Ba mend his clothes, the four members of Nazhen's family often have to be busy all night, which makes him very unhappy.

"I've heard people say that this time the Han army is afraid that it will not enter Tibet! The sky in Sichuan has changed, and the emperor has also changed, if the yellow-haired foreign devil comes from Lhasa to call us, I really don't know what to do! ”

Bian Ba's face was sad, when the master fled to Qamdo with his family, but they wanted to stay here, just in the heart of the trouble, he saw that there seemed to be some movement on the ridge, a dozen horses ran towards this side, a sad horse team, Bian Ba took out the waist knife from his waist, protecting Na Zhen behind him, the horse team with guns on his back was dressed differently from the Han people he was used to seeing in the past, but the leader seemed to be a "Ladu".

The horse team stopped when he was still two or three hundred meters away, and then the leading Ladu rode his horse and ran towards this side, and the people got closer and closer, and when Bian Ba saw the people clearly, his face showed some joy, and he hurriedly inserted the knife back into the scabbard.

"Who should I be, it turned out to be Brother Bianba!"

When Boogile, who was riding on a horse, spoke, he took out a tea brick from his horse bag and threw it to Bianba, which is the rule of the horse racing gang on the tea horse road, and the first person he saw should leave some tea.

"Big Brother Boogie!"

Bian Ba, who took the tea brick, looked at the people on the horse, and his face, which was blackened by the highland wind, was full of doubts.

"The person who came with you is ......"

"The Han army from Sichuan, the Han army who came to fight the British devils!"

The horse Buji Le was originally a Tibetan, he was born as a slave like Bianba, but his life was better, and he saved a dying horse gang Ladu, and later Na Ladu ransomed him with three taels of silver, and later under his begging, Buji Le became a horse's foot, more than ten years down, not only for his grandmother, sister ransomed, but also a six-headed mule pony gang.

Bian Ba's eyes widened, and he looked at the dozen or so officers and soldiers with foreign guns on their backs in surprise, are they the Han army? Only a dozen of them?

"Bianba, hurry up and ride on the horse, tell your housekeeper Tsering Dorjee, let him inform Master Zaji, just say that the Ninth Division of the Liberation Army has arrived, let Master Zaji greet him, this brigade is still behind, the brigade of the mountains, tell your master Zaji who is slamming the door, this time the Liberation Army, don't work the army, eat and give Xianyang a rate!"

As he spoke, Boogie Le glanced at Na Zhen, who was standing on Bianba's side, and pressed down his side and whispered in Bianba's ear.

"Bianba, if you want to marry Nazhen, just come and lead the way for the Liberation Army! Six oceans a month! ”

Hearing this, Bianba's eyes lit up, but then they darkened.

"No matter how much you earn, it's not for the master! I'm going to tell the lord to ......."

(To be continued)