There are few households in the town, but there is a large enough market that is apparently dedicated to supplies to the merchants who live there. However, the market was empty, and even the men standing at the entrance of the inn were lazy, and they all looked a little surprised when they watched a large group of cars and horses drive in with dust on their heads. The guys skillfully received the merchants and quickly met Liu Ze's request.

The shopkeeper dialed the abacus, looked at Liu Ze in a little surprise and said, "This guest officer, aren't you going to Hanzhong?" ”

Liu Ze was a little strange, this palm refused to ask knowingly, there was only one way to get here, to go to Hanzhong through the Meridian Valley, there was no second way to choose, but he also politely gave a salute. "Exactly."

"It's the first time the guest officer has gone to Meridian Valley, right?"

"Not bad."

"It seems that the guest officer can't leave."

"Why is that?"

"Half a month ago, the government banned Meridian Valley and forbade anyone to pass."

"Is there such a thing?"

"It's not the thieves who made trouble, from last year to last month, there were more than a dozen robberies in a row, first only robbing people without hurting people, and then they simply killed people and sold goods, the worst is Boss Wang of the Far Currency Warehouse, 64 lives."

It seems that what Jia Laosi of Luoyang City said is not bad, and there are indeed strongmen robbing the road.

"Why don't the officers and soldiers go to encircle and suppress?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "Suppressing bandits in Qinling is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack, not to mention that I heard that the bandit leader is very strong in martial arts, and he is very good, and none of the officers and soldiers dare to send him to death, so he has to seal the Meridian Valley and prevent the merchants from passing through the matter." Guest officer, the old man still advises you to go back, see that you are young, don't throw your life away in this barren mountain and wilderness. ”

Hearing that the robber leader was strong in martial arts, Liu Ze was even more moved, and he really had the heart to compete with the robber leader, and said at the moment: "Please rest assured, the shopkeeper has not paid attention to a few robbers in the next place, and there is something important to go to Yizhou in the next place, and there is no delay, but how can the officers and soldiers guard it?" ”

"It's okay for the officers and soldiers, they only need to give a few hangs of money to pass, but the guest officer is really sure that he can deal with the bandits?" Hearing Liu Ze's words, he was not afraid of bandits, and the shopkeeper couldn't help but look at him differently.

"You can rest assured when you are old, you don't dare to do porcelain work without gold and steel diamonds."

"Diamonds?" The shopkeeper really didn't know what Liu Ze was talking about, and muttered vigorously.

Liu Ze said something that no one in this dynasty could understand, and he also laughed secretly, didn't explain again, and arched his hand: "Thank you, uncle, farewell." ”

turned around and was about to leave, but the shopkeeper hurriedly called him again: "Guest officer, your convoy can't pass through Qinling." ”

Liu Ze was stunned, and listened to the shopkeeper and said: "The Qinling Mountains are high and steep, the road is rugged and difficult to travel, and the narrowest place can only accommodate one person. ”

Liu Ze secretly shouted that it was not good, he hadn't thought about this problem, but he hadn't walked it, and he really didn't know how to deal with it, it seemed that there was still a lot of trouble. He hurriedly said, "How is that good?" ”

"It doesn't matter, our store specially rents Qin mules, which can be loaded over mountains and mountains, and the guest officers can mortgage the carriage in our store, and return the Qin mule after returning from Hanzhong to redeem it." The shopkeeper said with a smile.

When Liu Ze heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately went through the procedures for renting a mule, unloaded all the iron tools on the car, and loaded them on the back of the mule.

Zhang Fei looked at the short and small black mule and got angry, his tall and big horse changed back to these inconspicuous things, and the shopkeeper smiled and said: "Don't look at this Qin mule is inconspicuous, it is all up to you to cross this Qin Mountains." ”

It took a full hundred Qin mules to load the twenty carts of iron and ten carts of other items, and Liu Ze left the town and headed for the Meridian Valley.

At the mouth of the Meridian Valley, sure enough, there was a group of officers and soldiers stationed there, and when they saw a caravan approaching, they shouted loudly: "Listen to the merchants in front, the Meridian Valley has been forbidden to pass, if there is any disobedience, you will be killed!" ”

When Zhang Fei heard this, he was annoyed and said: "Damn, you have the ability to suppress bandits, but you don't have the ability to shout here, it's really underwhelming!" ”

Liu Ze knew that he had a fiery personality, so he stopped him and said: "Virtuous brother, don't make mistakes, if you can't bear it, you will make a big plan." He turned back to Jian Yong and said, "You can bring a few taels of gold over and ask them to be accommodating." ”

"No." Jian Yong then took five or six taels of broken gold and put them in his sleeve and stepped forward.

Jian Yong stepped forward and said, "May I ask you, military masters, why is this Meridian Valley forbidden to pass?" ”

There are a total of five people at Gukou Station, and the leader is a commander, and he said impatiently: "Taibailing bandits are rampant, killing countless people, for the safety of passing pedestrians, Jing Zhaoyin has an order, Meridian Valley is forbidden for anyone to pass, and it will be opened after the bandits are cleared." ”

"When will I be able to pass?"

The Wu Chang glared and said, "You ask me, who do I ask?" Get out of here, or you'll be convicted of being a gangster. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, we really have something important to go to Yizhou, let's make it convenient." As he spoke, Jian Yong took out the five or six taels of broken gold from his sleeve and handed it to the Wu Commander. "It's a small meaning, it's not a tribute, please be accommodating."

The commander of the army swept the gold in his hand, and his tense face also showed a little sneer, and the salary of a soldier in the Eastern Han Dynasty was only two or three hundred yuan a month, and the five or six thousand yuan was equivalent to two years' military salary. "Okay, I read that you have something urgent to do, so you have the right to let you go, but if you encounter robbers, you don't blame the soldier for not reminding you." With a wave of his hand, the four soldiers flashed and made way for him.

Jian Yong said: "I'm tired." "Turn around and wave your hand. Liu Ze saw it and immediately ordered the mule team to advance towards the valley.

The hardships and difficulties of the Meridian Valley are by no means vain, and before they have gone for miles, the road has become rugged and bumpy, and only one person and one mule can pass through the narrow place.

Zhang Fei was still angry about what happened just now: "These five rabbit cubs, it's better to let me go over and have a full fist, and make sure who makes them obediently give way." ”

Liu Ze and Jian Yong looked at each other and smiled, and Liu Ze said, "Brother Xian, if you want to fight, the opportunity will come soon." He instructed the men to distribute dozens of ring-headed big knives, one for each person, the mule team was lined up, Zhang Fei was in the front, and after he broke it, Jian Yong, who did not know martial arts, was sandwiched in the middle, and Liu Ze also specially arranged two men with better martial arts to protect him. He ordered all Qin mules to be connected from end to end, and not to be separated.

When staying overnight, find a spacious place, all Qin mules are tied in one place, in a circle, all the men are divided into two shifts, the first half of the night is led by Zhang Fei to patrol, and the second half of the night is responsible for Liu Ze is responsible for the sentry. With such a dispatch, Zhang Fei and Jian Yong saw it and admired it.

After two days, there was nothing to do, and I saw that Taibai Ridge had passed, and I did not see any robbers. Not only robbers, but not even a single figure has ever been seen. Liu Ze was a little lonely, thinking that it was not because the government banned the Meridian Valley, the gang of robbers had no business and went elsewhere, after all, the robbers also had to eat, there was no one here, they couldn't grab gold and silver property, and the robbers couldn't survive.

While pondering, suddenly there was a faint shouting in front of him, followed by the sound of Jingo, and the long, straight mule team also became agitated. After a while, the guy in front ran over and reported to him that there were robbers in front of him, and the bandit leader had already fought with Zhang Fei. Liu Ze was busy ordering more than a dozen guys from the rear team to gather and protect the rear team in case the robbers sneaked up from the back, and he immediately rushed to the front to support Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei and the bandit leader have fought for more than 30 rounds, but they don't know the winner. Liu Ze looked at the bandit leader, with a strong body, a leopard head and eyes, and a dark face, which was somewhat similar to Zhang Fei, and he used a pair of iron halberds in his hand, dancing with a whirring wind. Liu Ze couldn't help but be amazed, with Zhang Fei's martial arts, there are definitely not too many people who can fight with him in the Three Kingdoms without defeat, although Zhang Fei is not yet an adult, and has not used his sword to sword the eight snake spears, but the martial arts of the bandit leader are indeed exquisite, and the double halberd makes it quite powerful, and I can't imagine that there are such heroes among the nameless grass robbers in the wilderness.

Liu Ze pulled the sword in his hand, stopped with a shout, flew forward, stabbed out a sword, and separated the two.

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Black-faced thief, what's the matter, don't accept it!" ”

When the bandit leader saw that he had another helper, his face became more and more gloomy, and he said: "Black charcoal, if you are a good man, we will fight it alone, or just now, whoever loses will call grandpa." ”

Zhang Fei shouted: "Okay! Come on, come on, you and I will fight for another hundred rounds! As he spoke, he was about to pick up the knife.

Liu Ze stopped him, hugged his fists and said: "In Liu Ze, Xiazhuo County, passing through the treasure land, dare to ask the hero's surname?" ”