The fleet sailed in Qinghai for a whole day, and at dusk, a sudden northwest wind blew on the sea, and the wind and waves rose suddenly, and black clouds drifted in from the northwest.

The waves crashed against the big ship, the mast creaked loudly, the hull shook violently, except for the Jiangdu soldiers, the Anxi army was not familiar with water warfare, and the soldiers began to be unable to support it, and they squatted in the corners and groaned in pain.

"! Put the sails down, the ship will capsize. ”

Deputy Lieutenant He Yingchuan pointed at several soldiers and scolded, his family has been sailing on the Yangtze River for generations and has superb boat driving skills.

Several soldiers were so frightened that they hurriedly put away their sails, and at this time, there was a shout from behind the ship, and a mast fell down and fell into the sea, and the ship suddenly tilted to the left, and then rebounded back, and three soldiers standing on the mast fell into the water.

Li Qingan was so anxious that he yelled, "Quick! Hurry up and save people. ”

A dozen soldiers rushed up, threw the rope into the water, and shouted to several soldiers who were struggling in the lake: "Grab the rope!" “

"Stupid! Go find a long bamboo pole. ”

"General, there are no long bamboo poles."

The situation was critical, He Yingchuan jumped into the water with the rope, and the other two soldiers with excellent water surnames also jumped down, they struggled to swim to the soldiers who fell into the water in the water, and in the churning waves, several small black dots finally grabbed the rope, and everyone on the boat worked together to pull them slowly onto the boat.

The soldiers on the ship cheered, Li Qingan wiped his cold sweat, and hurriedly ordered: "Quickly carry them into the cabin." ”

At this time, He Yingchuan pointed to the black clouds rolling up and down in the north, and said worriedly: "General, now is just the prelude to the storm, the storm will come soon, I am afraid that all the ships will capsize, we must find a way to dock immediately, otherwise, everyone will be buried in the sea." ”

"What then? We are now in the center of the sea, where is there a shore for us to rely on? ”

Li Qing'an secretly wondered, didn't we die at the hands of the Tubo people, but we had to die at the bottom of the sea?

At this moment, Zhao Lu helped the old slave Zhang Pingbo to shout at the door of the cabin: "General Li, Uncle Zhang has something to say to you." ”

Li Qing'an's spirits perked up, the old man's pale white hair seemed to be the embodiment of experience, maybe he would have something to do.

He walked up quickly and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Zhang Pingbo pointed to the black clouds rolling in the distance and said: "General, that is the Qinghai Dragon King going to sea, if it appears, all the boats on the lake will not be spared, let's hurry to the shore." ”

"I know, but we are in the middle of the lake, where can we have a shore?"

"General, there is a place to hide."

Li Qingan was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "Where can I hide?" ”

"General, three years ago, I went to sea with the master of Tubo, and I also met the Qinghai Dragon King who went to sea, I remember very clearly, at that time we hid on an island in the middle of the sea, the island is called Longju Island, which covers a large area, and we can find this island."

A place name suddenly flashed in Li Qing'an's mind, 'Haixin Mountain', yes! There is Haixin Mountain in Qinghai Lake, which is a little south of the lake.

He hurriedly turned around and shouted to He Yingchuan: "Quickly order all the ships to look for islands on the sea, be quick!" ”

"General, don't worry, it should be nearby, last time I saw the Qinghai Dragon King angry here, my master said that only in the center of the sea can I see the Dragon King go out to sea."

As soon as his voice fell, a Tang soldier on the mast pointed to the rear and shouted: "General, land!" I saw the land. ”

Li Qing'an rushed to the string of the boat, and in the southwest direction of them, sure enough, there was a faint black strip, and they had already sailed past.

"Order all ships to turn around!"

When the storm was approaching, they finally found Ryukoma Island, and the sea was already rolling in huge waves, black clouds and deserts, and fierce winds mixed with torrential rain were overwhelming.

Thirty or so large ships sailed with great difficulty into a harbor, huddled in a small harbor, like a flock of sheep huddled together in a storm and shivering.

Zhang Pingbo looked out of the window of the boat, the dark sky, sighed softly and said: "The Dragon King is out to sea, the blizzard is coming, General Li, the first heavy snow in Qinghai is coming." ”

Li Qing'an was more concerned about the situation on the island, and he asked: "Uncle Zhang, I don't know if there are people on the island?" ”

"Yes! There is a monastery that houses more than a dozen monks, and there are several Qiang families on the island who make a living from fishing. ”

"How big is this island?"

Zhang Pingbo smiled slightly and said, "It's five or six miles away!" It is densely wooded, the land is fertile, there are a large number of water birds, and there are many herbs that are holy medicines for wounds, and I know them all. ”

Li Qing put it down with peace of mind and smiled gratefully: "Old man, thanks to you this time." ”

"Where! General Li rescued me from the Tibetan people, and I am grateful to General Li, and if I had been twenty years younger, I would have joined the Tang Army. ”

"Uncle Zhang, when will this bird rainstorm end?" Li Fei Yuanli was seasick, and he was lying in a corner, which was really unbearable.

"At most, it will be over in the middle of the night, General Lifei don't have to worry, but the Dragon King goes to sea, and the rainstorm comes twice, so he can't go to sea for two days, and he will talk about it when the two storms have passed."

Bai Yuanguang, who was lying in another corner, also asked worriedly: "Qilang, I'm worried that the Tubo army will go to sea to intercept us?" ”

"General Bai, don't worry!"

Zhang Pingbo said with a smile: "Although the Tubo people still have ships, they also know that the Dragon King can't go into the water when he goes to sea, at least in the near future, they don't dare to come, and when they go into the water, you have already gone ashore." ”

Li Qingan stood up and said with a smile: "Don't think nonsense, everyone, take a good rest first, and at dawn, we will go to the island." ”

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The storm stopped in the middle of the night, the sea surface returned to the calm of the peace, Li Qing'an ordered the boat to dock, everyone led the war horses, carried the wounded to the island, the whole island is a huge granite floating on the water, it is a long strip, about two miles wide, six or seven miles long, the east is high and the west is low, the surface has been weathered into soil, because a large number of seabirds inhabit, the land on the island is very fertile, the forest around the island is luxuriant, the middle terrain is flat, a large amount of pasture grass is overgrown, the northeast corner is opened up into a fertile field, the wheat waves are golden, it has reached the harvest season.

The environment on the island made Li Qing'an very satisfied, especially the large pasture, which was enough for his war horses to graze, and the soldiers cheered and rode towards the pasture, and in a short time, the pasture was full of military horses.

"General, look, that's Yinglong Temple."

Zhang Pingbo pointed to the high gang road in the distance, Li Qingan looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a golden temple on the black cliff, the temple was not big, at most a dozen rooms, and two monks were running towards this side.

After a while, the soldiers brought two old monks, and the old monks saluted Li Qing'an with his palms together: "Amitabha, welcome the general to Longju Island." ”

Li Qing'an saw that the two of them were sad, obviously insincere, so he smiled slightly and said, "May I ask the two masters, how many people are on the island?" ”

"Poor monk Fa Ming, this is my junior brother Fahai, originally there were fourteen monks in the small temple, because of the coming of the Tang and Tibetan Wars, the disciples all left the temple and went to Hexi, there are only two brothers and sisters in the temple, and there is very little food, only enough for us to eat."

"We have enough food, but there's fresh water on the island?"

"Yes! There is a hot spring behind our temple, which is endless all year round, steaming hot, enough for the army to drink. ”

"What about the other inhabitants of the island? Didn't you hear that there are still a few Qiang families? ”

"Originally, there were seven families of fishermen on the island, but when the Tang-Bo War broke out, they basically left, and only one family remained, which was the grandfather and grandson."

"Alright! I understand, Yinglong Temple is temporarily requisitioned, and I will compensate you, enough for you to rebuild the temple. ”

After speaking, Li Qingan didn't care whether the two old monks were willing or not, turned around and waved his hand and ordered: "Carry the injured brothers into the monastery and recuperate well." ”

Everyone agreed, and they worked together to carry more than 200 wounded soldiers to the monastery on the mountain, and more than 20 female guards took medicine gauze and followed them up the mountain.

The soldiers began to get busy, they carried the food, salt and all kinds of materials from the boat to the island, and set up more than a hundred tents at the foot of the mountain, and began to bury pots and cook, and the island became extremely lively.

In a tent, Li Qing'an was discussing the future arrangements with several generals, Li Qing'an quickly drew a sketch of the surroundings of Qinghai, and said to everyone: "The east bank of Qinghai is Chiling, where the Tubo heavy army is stationed, and Shanzhou, where the Tang army is stationed, is at least one hundred and fifty miles away from Qinghai, and our only chance is to leave from the valley in the northeast corner, which was originally Xihai County of the Han Dynasty, which is the intersection of Datong Mountain and Chiling, and there is a canyon about 100 miles wide, but the problem now is, I'm not sure if there is a Tibetan army stationed in Xihai County, and if there is a large army stationed, I'm afraid things will be a bit troublesome. ”

Li Fei Shouyu pondered for a moment and said: "Qilang, it will take time for the wounded soldiers to recover, if there are heavy troops from Tubo on the side of Xihai County, no one will survive after a vicious battle, so I suggest that the wounded soldiers be left on Longju Island for the time being to recuperate." ”

"Yuanguang, what do you think?" Li Qingan asked Bai Yuanguang again.

Bai Yuanguang said with a smile: "I agree with Shouyu's idea, just now I asked the old monk, the ships of the Tubo army only passed by the island once at the beginning of the year, and they did not go to the island, seeing that winter is coming, they will not come, temporarily leave the wounded soldiers on the island, and wait for us to make a decision after we have explored the situation in Haixi County." ”

Li Qingan's eyes fell on Li Fei Yuanli again, and Li Fei Yuanli's head shook like a rattle, "Don't ask me Lao Li, I just obey the orders to fight." ”

"Alright, now I'll talk about my thoughts."

Li Qing'an pointed to the surroundings of Qinghai and said: "Our current position is behind Chiling, north of Dafeichuan, if this island becomes a springboard for the Tang army's advance, then we are equivalent to inserting a knife in the back of Chiling, and it is like using a knife against Dafeichuan's abdomen, which will become an extremely important surprise army." ”

"Does Shichiro mean to occupy Ryukoma Island permanently?"

"Yes!"

Li Qing'an nodded affirmatively and said: "At least the base of our Anxi archers, I want to build a castle here, and as soon as the storm stops, I will go to Shanzhou and make this suggestion to Marshal Geshu." ”

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At noon, the second storm in Qinghai came, the sea was stormy, the sky was dark like ink, suddenly lightning and thunder, the sky and the earth were dark, as if entering the night, the huge waves were surging, the wind was howling, and the storm swept in.

The Tang army was ready, they drove all the horses to the bottom of the cliff, and the tent was set up close to the cliff again, there was a mountain blockage, and it was little affected by the storm, and the soldiers sat in the tent, listening to the roar of the Qinghai Dragon King outside, and everyone's hearts were very nervous, as if the end was coming......

But the next morning, Qinghai was completely restored to tranquility, the wind was beautiful, and the blue water was like a huge jewel, and there was no edge in sight.

Li Qing'an walked to the seaside, admiring the blue water, flocks of seagulls hovering above his head, in later generations, he once came to Qinghai Lake, at that time, Qinghai Lake, far smaller than now, the water is not so clear and transparent.

Li Qing'an stretched his waist, deeply breathed in the fresh and sea-like cool breeze, he suddenly had a thought, looked around, there was no one, he quickly took off his clothes, put them on the reef, and pressed the clothes with a stone to prevent the seagulls from taking them away.

"Mermaids, I'm coming!"

He jumped out of a graceful posture in the air, and threw himself into the clear blue sea naked, the sea water was cold and biting, stimulating Li Qingan to the point of almost cramping, he struggled to paddle in the water with his hands and feet, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he rushed out of the water.

He wiped the water from his face, and then he found that he had dived twenty feet away, and he plunged into the water again, and swam in the sea with a beautiful freestyle, laughing heartily.

．．．．．．．

I don't know how long he swam, he was a little tired, so he floated on his back to the sky, Ren Haibo slowly pushed him back, the sun shone on his dark skin, warm and extraordinarily warm.

Suddenly, he heard the voices of two women, "Sanniang, here, there is a reef here, it's very convenient!" ”

Li Qing'an was excited, a stream of salty water choked into his nose, he dived into the water at once, through the sparkling water, he faintly saw two women walking towards this side with basins.

"Cui'er, here it is!"

Li Qing'an heard their voices, one named Shi Sanniang and the other named Miao Cuier, both little women in their early twenties, they squatted down and poured the contents of the basin into the water.

Li Qingan couldn't hold it back, he hurriedly turned around under the water, hid behind a reef, and slowly surfaced, he couldn't help but secretly complain, the two women squatted next to the reef where he put his clothes to wash the gauze.

'What to do?' Sneak by? ’

'No! Li Qing'an immediately denied this idea, the water was too clear, it would be seen by them, the dignified Zhonglang General would swim in the sea with his bare buttocks, it would be too embarrassing to spread it, Li Qing'an felt inappropriate after countless thoughts, and he was at a loss for what to do in the sea.

"Look how clear the water is!"

"Yes! The water reminds me of washing clothes in the creek at the entrance of the village. ”

"Sanniang, don't you really plan to go back?"

"I don't want to go back, my home is gone, and my child is dead, maybe one day the Tubo people will call me and arrest me again, so it's better to go to Anxi with them, and find a man I like in the army to marry in the future."

"If you want to marry, marry Lao Li!"

Li Fei Yuanli was in charge of inspecting the island, just now he accidentally found two women, and couldn't help the recurrence of the old disease, he walked over with a smile, the two women quickly stood up, smiled and gave him a salute and said, "General Li Fei!" ”

"Huh! You're washing gauze! ”

Li Fei Yuanli suddenly covered his stomach, "Ouch! It hurts me to death. ”

"General Lifei, where are you in pain?"

Li Fei Yuanli pointed to his lower abdomen and said in pain: "I was actually hit by an arrow, because I didn't shoot it, so I didn't take it to heart, but just now, I found that the wound was suppurated." ”

"Ahh It's been a few days. ”

Shi Sanniang hurriedly said: "Let me see, where is the wound?" ”

"Here."

Li Fei Yuanli unbuttoned his trouser belt, he suddenly grabbed Shi Sanniang's hand, stuffed it into the crotch of his pants, and laughed: "Did you touch the wound?" ”

Shi Sanniang's face was flushed with shame, she pulled out her hand and spat him, grabbed the wooden basin again, and splashed the water in the basin at him.

"Sanniang, this General Lifei, so unserious!" Miao Cuier said a little indignantly.

"Forget it, he likes it like this, people are not bad."

Shi Sanniang sighed, and when she turned around and saw the clothes on the reef, she couldn't help but be surprised: "Huh! Whose clothes are this. ”

She picked it up and looked around, but she didn't see anyone, Miao Cuier smiled: "Maybe that guy just now wanted to wash it for you and forgot it here." ”

"Hmmm! This dress is indeed a little unclean, so I'll wash him! ”

Saying that she put her clothes in the basin and was about to scoop up water, Li Qingan was in a hurry, he couldn't care about losing face anymore, and shouted in a low voice: "Don't wash!" That's my clothes. ”

The two women froze, they followed the sound to find it, only to find Li Qing'an hiding behind the reef, and the two couldn't help shouting: "General Li! ”

"Shhhh Don't shout, give me your clothes. ”

"Yes!" Shi Sanniang hurriedly handed the clothes to Li Qing'an, Li Qing'an stretched out his hand to take them, and said a little embarrassed: "You two, can you avoid it first and let me get dressed." ”

The two women understood, and their faces suddenly turned red, "General Li, you actually..."

They hurriedly put down the basin and walked away.

Li Qingan came out of the water, and he didn't care about drying his body, so he put his clothes on his body wet and made it take a long time to tidy them up.

He coughed heavily and smiled into the distance: "I'm fine, come here!" ”

The two women slowly poked their heads out from behind the reef, and when they saw that he was already dressed, they came out, Shi Sanniang was embarrassed and said, "General, we didn't know you were in the water just now, I'm sorry." ”

Li Qingan laughed dryly, "It's nothing, I haven't taken a bath for more than a month, and the old mud on my body is at least thirty pounds, so I will hide here and take a bath, by the way, that Li Fei Yuanli, I will definitely teach him a good lesson." ”

"General Li, no need, he didn't actually do anything bad, just joking with us."

"Hmmm! That kid is this German surname, he likes to flirt with women, but he has no evil thoughts, who dares to bully you in the future, just tell me. ”

"Thank you, General Li, everyone is very good to us, no one bullies us."

"That's good, you guys are busy! I'll go first. ”

Li Qing'an smiled and nodded, turned around and left, turned a corner, and came to a beach, suddenly, he heard a cheer, only to see a large group of naked soldiers rushing towards the sea, the soldiers looked at Li Qing'an suddenly, and they were so frightened that they stopped at once.

"General, we ....."

Li Qingan waved his hand and smiled: "Go!" Take a good shower. ”

The soldiers cheered and rushed into the sea, like a flock of bare-bottomed ducks fluttering in the water, Li Qingan couldn't help but shake his head, and scolded himself with a smile: "Damn, they can be free, why can't Lao Tzu?" ”

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Note 1: Qinghai Lake was called Qinghai in the Tang Dynasty, which is the concept of the sea.

Note 2: Although the garrison of Haixin Mountain is absurd, it is a historical fact, at the beginning of the eighth year of Tianbao, Ge Shuhan built Yinglong Fort on Longju Island (that is, Haixin Mountain), with a garrison of 2,000 people, and this book is built by Li Qingan on Longju Island.

(To be continued)