After going down the mountain, there were actually more than twenty miles away from the city, but because the Wei soldiers were ten miles away, the distance seemed to be shortened all of a sudden. Although it was already hazy at night, everyone's spirits were doubled, as if their hometown was in front of them.

The city was too small to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers. The battalions were arranged in different townships, and only officials above the battalion commander were allowed to live in the city. In peacetime, only 500 soldiers were responsible for maintaining law and order, and the villagers of each city took turns to serve the position. After the Wei army was stationed, with the special permission of Gongzi Ji, a battalion of Wei troops was stationed around the city, one of which was stationed in the city, and the remaining four teams were stationed outside the four gates of the city. Outside the four gates, there are mostly shops, which were temporarily requisitioned as barracks.

Si Mang's big tent was set up in the city lord's mansion. Gongzi was in the west wing, and the main hall was left to Si Mang. Si Mang insisted that he would not accept it, and he would let Gongzi blame him for the main hall, and he would live in the school. In the end, Si Mang said: "If the prince does not allow it, the minister will not dare to enter the city, but it is okay to set up a tent in the camp." The dispute ended.

After entering the city, Gongzi entertained Si Mang in the main hall. Si Mang gave the main hall to Gongzi, and Gongzi shouted "transgression", so he regarded himself as the main and took Si Mang as a guest. The city lord is accompanied by the prime minister under the blame of the prince, but everything that should be supplied is the city lord's things.

After the banquet, Si Mang asked: "The army is stationed in Nirvana, and it is not a long-term strategy, what way should it be returned?" ”

The city lord said: "The minister is ordered by the prince to send an envoy to Shangdang City, please look for the township guide, and lead the army to return to Anyi!" There are many people in the party, and the businessmen will get their people, and don't make mistakes. ”

Only then did Si Mang know that Gongzi and his entourage didn't know the road, probably just the usual hearsay, and the nonsense came out, and his mood couldn't help but be a lot heavier. But the matter has come to this point, so it is naturally inconvenient to reveal his thoughts, so he has to force a smile and say: "Shangdang and Anyi have been doing business for a long time, and they will get their way!" ”

Childe also laughed and said: "Yes, yes!" ”

Shangdang is more than 200 miles away from Nirvana, and it often takes ten days for personnel to come and go. But at the request of Gongzi, the messenger rode away, and it is estimated that he will arrive in two days, but it is uncertain when the village guide will come. The envoy was sent as soon as Gongzi arrived, the day before Si Mang's arrival. Si Mang arrived in Nirvana at night, and it was estimated that the envoy had just approached Shangdang, and he might not be able to enter the city until the next day.

After Si Mang understood the situation, he immediately went out of the city and went to the camp to visit the disciples of Xinling Jun. Those disciples were nominally the guards sent to Si Mang by Xinling Jun, but in fact, they didn't care about Si Mang; On the contrary, Si Mang also has to take care of their diet and daily life. Si Mang originally wanted these doormen to leave with the middle camp with Gongzi, so that some cattle could ride, but the doormen insisted on not allowing it, claiming that they were ordered by the king to protect Si Mang, and abandoned the lord in danger, which was not in line with righteousness. Si Mang had no choice but to send a battalion of people to protect and wait for them. Although these people are proud, they are not uneducated and incompetent, and although it is not as smooth as walking on the ground, it is not difficult to climb over the mountains; Not only did Yu Tu complain about the difficulties, but there were many ways to deal with them. Along the way, they are the only group of people who have not lost their personnel, and who are still alive and maintaining their combat effectiveness.

In fact, when Xinling Jun was selected, he still paid special attention to the selection of those talents who were both civil and military; It's just that they rely on their own talents, their eyes are above the top, and they regard the world as nothing, including Xinlingjun, if the etiquette is not counted, many people don't care about it. Xinlingjun is a noble son, and he has the time and energy to talk to them; Si Mang is leading the troops, and he can't be busy with the camp every day, so where he has time to talk to them, he can only put it on the shelf. They saw that Si Mang didn't pay much attention to themselves, but they felt that Si Mang looked down on people! Only Mr. Jin and Mr. Cao Er have some friendship with Si Mang in Huayang, and they are both slightly familiar with military affairs, so they are not a little to blame.

I visited all the gentlemen one by one and asked them if they were eating well, and Si Mang withdrew. found Mr. Jin and said, "I want to go to Anyi, but I enter Nirvana." Where is it? ”

Mr. Jin is also very knowledgeable, and replied: "Nirvana, in the name of water, lives in the upper reaches of Zhangshui. Going down the river, that is, Zhao Ye. Wenne is also the land of the old Gao wolf, or the old house of Zhao Gao wolf, on the right side of Huo Tai Mountain; Now I see that this place is on the left side of the mountain, or it is not there......" Mr. Jin quoted the scriptures and introduced the allusions to Nirvana. Si Mang was not familiar with these things, and he was ignorant when he heard them, but it was easy to listen to them, thanked him, and said goodbye, it was already midnight. Tell the gates of the city and enter into the midst of the city. Climb the tower alone and look into the distance.

The weather that has been gloomy suddenly cleared, and the moon was in the sky that night, and the distant mountains and rivers were hazy; The dense dwellings and pastoral fields spread out in front of you, immersed in silence, with only the occasional dog barking or two.

Although Si Mang is also Wei, his family is poor, and he barely survives with only a few acres of thin fields. When he came out to be a military officer, he still bribed. Since the soldiers were taken over to the royal family, only the soldiers were recruited from the people, and the officials above the rank of soldiers were selected from the family, and the weak generals led the strong soldiers, so the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was declining day by day. Although Si Mang has not been selected by the military guards, he is still a group of hard-working officers. Pay attention to the military on weekdays, and also learn from the appearance of ancient famous generals, and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. For more than ten years, after accumulating merit and being promoted to the school rate, he was hired by Xinling Jun as Xinling Lieutenant. After a year, he was sent out to carry out the mission independently. He has neither his own team, nor even his own soldiers and generals, and he is just alone when he climbs the tower and overlooks the distance; When there is doubt, there is no one to discuss. He was like an orphan, abandoned in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself. When I thought of this, I was saddened.

Walked around the city walls twice. Under the hazy moonlight, although the mountains and rivers are not all beautiful, the outlines are extraordinarily clear, as if nature has eliminated unimportant details for him, showing only major joints. It is surrounded by mountains. Nirvana descends from the western mountain, flows eastward along the southern foothills, and winds its way south to the eastern mountain: it is, of course, the only passage to the outside world. But the mountains on all sides are not very high, and it is possible to climb the mountains and mountains as they do during the day, but it is not necessary to follow the foot of the mountain...... Si Mang looked at it and thought at the same time, but he didn't realize that the east was white.

The envoy to Shangdang returned five days later, bringing with him a caravan of about 100 men and dozens of cattle, all with their goods. The messenger said, "The king ordered this salt merchant to guide him to Anyi." ”

The city lord reported the son, and the son reported to Si Mang. Si Mang, Gongzi and the city lord met with this group of Jia Jia.

The leader of the caravan seemed to be an expert, and took the initiative to introduce himself: "Shu and other merchants are in the cities of Shangdang, and they are not alone. It is a genus of fur and mountain delicacies, and sauce, salt, and utensils are procured at the foot of the mountain. Shoujun heard that the prince wanted to go to Anyi, and he was familiar with the mountain roads such as Shu, so he ordered the service! Childe waited but was sent, and he didn't dare to resign! ”

Si Mang asked, "Where are you going to Anyi?" If you don't have a need, would you rather lose your livelihood? ”

The leader said, "The land of Anyi is close to the pond, and its salt travels in the world." But the road is far away, or it is not possible to walk in March and May. Today is its festival, when the fur and mountain delicacies are also traveling, its price is high. Or get a few stones of salt in its place, which is not worthwhile, all thanks to the son! ”

Si Mang said: "The trip of the army is also not better than the businessman, the order is forbidden, and it cannot be violated, what is the military law!" ”

The man shrank his neck in fright and said, "Childe Mingcha." They are all good people, and they don't dare to joke in the army! ”

Si Mang also vaguely heard that Anyi is a place where salt is produced. After asking a few more questions, and seeing that there were no flaws in what he said, he ordered him to take him down for a day of rest and set off the next day. The caravan dispersed, but did not rest, but went to the countryside, buying mountain goods, and was busy for most of the day.

After resting in Nirvana for nearly ten days, most of the stragglers caught up, and most of the injured and sick were healed. After the battalions were put in order, the marching sequence was arranged: the first battalion of the front army opened the road, and the fifth battalion followed; five battalions in the front and five battalions in the rear of the Chinese army, each with livestock; The fourth battalion in the rear is to undertake the work of containment. The reason why each division has a maximum of five battalions is because there are mountain roads along the way, and there is usually not enough open space for the army to set up camp. Five battalions can be kept mobile. Si Mang still arranged for Xinling Cheng to be in charge of the 10th battalion of the Chinese army, and he personally led the 6th battalion of the front army this time to open the way for the whole army. Gongzi is still in the Chinese army, and Zhumen Ke naturally followed Si Mang into the front army. The divisions departed an hour apart.

Led by the caravan, the team went directly to Nanshan. The leader explained to Si Mang as he spoke: "But after this mountain, it will be Tongba, and Dayi can also garrison troops!" ”

Gongzi is still in the Chinese army, in order to be able to ride a horse. In the former army, it was the retainer who was in charge of contact. The retainer said: "Tonglu is about eighty miles away from Nirvana, and Yihan County is also. ”

Si Mang said: "If you go to the copper slur, you still have to rely on it!" ”

The retainer said: "The bronze order and the son are very good, and there is nothing else to say." ”

The leader continued: "From the copper to the west, there is water. More than 300 miles down the river, as for Duanshi. Yu Duan's descended from the mountain for hundreds of miles, and it was a wing city. More than 100 miles, and even Anyi! ”

Si Mang sighed when he heard this: "Anyi Dao is still six or seven hundred miles away from the water, and even Tongba, and the cities of Shangdang are hundreds of miles apart, and the business travels back and forth, which is not less than a thousand miles, and how long does it take to take time?" ”

The leader smiled bitterly and said: "The prince is merciful, but he has to rely on this for food and clothing!" If you talk about doing this way, you will go back and forth three times a year. Ranshu and other merchants, more than Yicheng stopped, if Pingyang, Ruo'an Yi will be occasional. ”

Si Mang said: "Where does Yicheng belong now? “

The retainer said: "It orders the Jews and Han people too!" “

Si Mang said: "There are so many Han Cheng! “

The retainer said: "Pingyang, the old capital of Han, is the birthplace of Jin." The one who is in the winged city, so the Tang land, the marquis of Jin and Uncle Tang are also sealed. Uncle Quwo sealed Quwo, which is fifty miles west of the wing. There is Xinjiang in the west, and it is also the capital of Jin. This is all Korean. There is Xiangling in the north, so Wei Yi also. “

The retainers said that Xiangling was the old Wei Yi, and they were mocking the Wei State for dedicating all their territory in Hedong to the Qin State, and now Xiangling has become the land of Qin. But Si Mang didn't seem to know anything about it, he looked ignorant, and he had a teachable attitude, which made the retainers embarrassed.

After turning over the South Mountain, it was indeed a flat land. After the battalions descended the mountain, they rested and sharpened, and the retainers rushed to the front to communicate with the city of Tongba. When Si Mang looked back, the front of the Chinese army had already appeared on the mountain.