Yanshan is a natural dividing line between the two major ethnic groups of agriculture and animal husbandry in ancient times, the north of the mountain is the grassland of the nomads, and the south of the mountain is the field of the farming people, so Yanshan has become the natural defense line of the farming people to defend against the invasion of the nomads.
Some of the passes on the Great Wall are very famous, such as Juyong Pass, Gubeikou, Lulongsai, and some are unknown, such as Liujiakou.
Liujiakou is a mountain channel across Yanshan, there is a river passing through here, so when the Great Wall passes here, a water pass is built here to facilitate the river water to pass.
The water pass is an arch made of brick and stone, which can be used by pedestrians, but because the main reason for the construction of this place is to facilitate the passage of the river, the roads on both sides are narrow and rugged, and it is not used as a common passage for people and horses to enter and exit, so it is not famous, and not many people know about it.
Xia Xun and Sai Hazhi crossed Yanshan from the mouth of Xifeng, and after hearing from the jujube dealers who were accustomed to stuffing and entering the fortress that there was a pass here that was not much for military purposes, they did not rush directly to Daning, but first detoured to Liujiakou, the sign of Liujiakou Pass was hung on the side of the pass, and the two of them could not see it when they stood on the slope outside the pass, but the entire pass building could be seen very clearly.
This water-crossing building is not too big, the brick-built enemy building is three zhang long, three zhang wide, about four zhang high, the enemy building is equipped with a two-zhang high water crossing hole below, there are six arrow windows on the north side of the city wall on the enemy platform, there are several shops on the city wall on both sides, Sai Hazhi has been in the army for more than 20 years, he has rich experience, he only glanced at it in a hurry, and accurately told Xia Xun that the garrison here will not exceed 120 people at most.
Xia Xun said happily: "Brother Ha, what do you think about here?"
Saihazhi squinted his eyes and looked at it, nodded and said: "The inner slope here is not steep, and the garrison of Shuiguan is no more than a hundred, although the road is difficult to walk, but it is easy to fight from the inside out, but it is difficult to fight from the outside in, one is that the mountain road is rugged and steep, and the rock walls are lined with trees, and the other is that the river is rushing down, whether it is a person or a horse, it is not very many." ” Xia Xun nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, but you can still be pedestrians, you look at the path in the grass." ” Saihazhi said: "Well, it should be that the soldiers stationed in the customs often go down the mountain, and the local mountain people should also often clear the customs here."
Look, my lord, isn't there a town not far down this slope?
” Xia Xun said: "Yes, Liujiakou, hahaha, I can't think of a hole here, the road has been figured out, let's go down the mountain first, it's getting late today, let's go to the town under the mountain to live temporarily, and then go on the road tomorrow." ” Not far from Liujiakoushui Pass, it is a town, here is close to the mountains and rivers, so there are some people who maintain the Great Wall, the families of the soldiers have settled here one after another, the town is not big, one hundred and ten households, at this moment there are already some people on the roof of the house to float up the curling smoke.
Saihazhi is a big-bellied man, he has long felt hungry, and when he heard Xia Xun say this, he quickly nodded and said, "Cheng, let's hurry down the mountain" He touched his belly as he walked and said, "It's okay if you don't say it, you really feel hungry when you say this, I feel that now it's just a cow for me, and I can swallow it." ” As soon as the words fell, I heard a few coquettish laughter from Gege, and a crisp girl's voice smiled: "Brother Kui, if you can catch up with someone, I'll kiss you, come on, I'm here hey" A girl ran out from behind a bush, thinking that she didn't expect that there were people on this hillside, as soon as she saw Xia Xun and Saihazhi, she turned around with an exclamation, Xia Xun and the two of them only felt that their eyes were bright, and their eyes were black and beautiful like swords into their temples, a pair of autumn eyes, a high nose bridge, and ruddy lips.
At this time, a person ran out from behind the bushes, majestic, tiger-eyed, young and fierce, born quite handsome, he held a red fruit in his hand, originally full of smiles, at a glance saw someone on the mountain, couldn't help but change color, vigilantly looked at Xia Xun and the two, saw that the two were dressed very ordinary, and there were blankets on their shoulders, like two small merchants, their expressions eased down, this person did not talk to Xia Xun and them, just walked over and wrapped around the girl's slender waist, and said softly: "It's not early, let's go down the mountain." ” The girl nodded, and combed her sideburns, Xia Xun stared at her, and noticed that she was wearing a ring on her hand, the ring was green and clear like water, it should be jade, jade is priceless, but it is the best in jade.
Xia Xun's eyes fell on the girl's clothes again, a collar of onion and white Shu brocade, a blue skirt, two pieces of clothes, with some Hu Fu style, small lapels, a brute waist tied, a pair of deerskin boots on her feet, just looking at the back is also extravagant, Xia Xun's eyes couldn't help narrowing, and whispered: "This woman is likely to be a Mongolian tribal noble, and she is a married woman." ” At that time, women in the Central Plains did not have the habit of wearing rings, and only married women wore rings, but there were many people who wore rings among the Hu people, because it also had the function of wrenching fingers, which was used to buckle the strings and shoot arrows.
Xia Xun made such a guess from the preciousness of the ring and the habit of wearing the ring, as well as the style of her clothing.
Seha Zhi said: "I didn't pay attention to that little girl, I look at this man, his posture and gait are quite military, if I am not mistaken, he should be a person in the army, at least he was a person in the army." ” Xia Xun smiled: "It's none of my business, hang high."
Let's go, let's go down the mountain, find a place to rest, and rush to Daning tomorrow.
On the way down the mountain, they saw that the man and woman had arrived at the bottom of the mountain, and there was a car waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain, the woman got into the car, and the man got on a white horse.
Xia Xun and the two followed the car from a distance, and when they arrived in the town, they wanted to go to the inn to stay, only to find that this town was a little remote and there were not many merchants and travelers, so there was no inn in the town.
The two inquired about the shopkeeper of the liquor shop in the town, and learned that there were families in this area because the owner did not often live in the local area, so the family members who stayed behind often rented out the house to earn some extra money, so they inquired all the way.
When the two of them arrived at the door, they saw a carriage going around the side door, thinking that the owner of the carriage got off the car at the main gate and entered, because the main entrance had stone steps, so the carriage had to rush into the courtyard through the side door.
The small villages and towns outside this pass are mostly ox carts and donkey carts, even if there are carriages, there are few long-box passenger carriages that can be used for long distances, this long-box carriage is exactly the same as the carriage that Xia Xun saw when he was halfway up the mountainside, Xia Xun couldn't help but think: "It can't be so coincidental, could it be that the couple also borrowed this kind of carriage to live here."
The two of them stood in front of the door, and an old man who was about to close the door saw it, so he waved his hand unhappily: "Go, go, what are you doing in front of my house?"
Xia Xun retracted his gaze, crossed his hands and smiled: "Uncle, our two brothers are passing by here, seeing that it is getting late, and we want to find a family to spend the night, and ask the uncle to make it convenient." ” When the old man heard this, his expression softened, and he waved his hand and said, "Go to someone else's house and ask, my house does not live with outsiders." ” Saihazhi was a little puzzled when he heard this, and said loudly: "How can this be, I heard the old man who sells wine at the entrance of the town say that your house is often rented to guests, why do you suddenly stop doing business, and we don't pay you money." ” The old man's face tightened, he looked back, then hurried down the steps, and said hurriedly: "Whisper, you two foreign guests don't understand the reason, the old man is here to help the master take care of the house, and occasionally make extra money, these days happen to happen to the master to come and live, how can the old man invite foreign guests to go to the door, see the old locust tree, the people under the tree also have vacant rooms to rent, go quickly, don't make trouble with the old man." ” Xia Xun and the others heard that the master was coming, and they didn't do business, so they had to turn around and walk away, but Xia Xun opened his eyes, and suddenly saw a family member in the courtyard leading a horse with an unsaddled sheath, and was lazily pulling across the courtyard, the horse was very miraculous, the whole body was snow-white, there was no miscellaneous hair, and the ground was a good horse, Xia Xun's heart moved, and asked casually: "Uncle, your master has built a house here, why don't you live here, is it a perennial business outside" The old man glared at him contemptuously, and reprimanded: "Tubaozi, you are in business, so I will tell you that my master is also in business, my master is an official, that is, Liu Kui, the chief flag officer of Liujiakou Pass on the mountain, is usually guarding the military camp, naturally there is no time to live, you go quickly, don't let my master know."
Xia Xun couldn't help but shake his head secretly when he heard this: "This general banner is up and down this mountain, almost equivalent to the emperor here, and it is certain that he has power."
But a general banner of the Lu, although it is easy to buy such a yard, it is difficult to buy such a suit for his woman, and I don't know how much soldier blood he drank and how much empty salary he ate to make so much money.
Xia Xun sighed and thanked the old man, and then went to the old locust tree under his guidance, that family really has a house to rent, but unfortunately there is only one, Xia Xun knows that the power of Sehazhi's snoring is amazing, usually they live separately, and now there is no way to live in the same room, the two asked the family for some food, eat and drink enough to sleep, Saihazhi's head snorted as soon as he touched the pillow, Xia Xun pulled two strips of cloth to plug his ears, and tossed and turned for a long time, and then fell asleep.
Early the next morning, the two left here to Daning, leaving the town only half a day away to meet a small tribe, Saihazhi pulled out two gold leaves from the soles of his boots, negotiated with the leader of the tribe for half a day, and changed two horses to come back, this trip is much faster, Xia Xun calculated the horse journey, only one day and one night of effort, you can rush from Liujiakou to Daning City.
Although Daning City is the residence of the vassal king, but because it is located outside the Saiwai, it is far less than Xia Xun has been to several cities, compared to Qingzhou City are too short, the city wall also has few bricks and stones, most of them are loess bases, only the city tower, the position of the door hole is made of bricks and stones, and there are soldiers guarding the city gate, checking the herdsmen, the people, and collecting taxes into the city, Xia Xun and Saihazhi dismounted, as the crowd was patiently waiting to enter the city, suddenly a carriage galloped by, rolling up dust all the way.
Xia Xun covered his mouth and nose, turned his head to look to the side, and saw several knights guarding a long carriage, straight to the city gate, at a glance, only to feel that the carriage and horses and entourage were a little familiar, Xia Xun couldn't help but move in his heart: "It won't be so coincidental."
To be continued: