Lu Ming

Chapter 684 Returning to the North ([-])

For the rest of the day, the convoy traveled at full speed.At nightfall, everyone finally arrived in Yi County.

Yixian County is located outside the pass of Taihang Mountain, which is the only way to the Feihuxing Ancient Road.

Although it has a long history, Yi County in this era is undoubtedly a remote and barren county seat on the seventh tier of Ming Dynasty, commonly known as Laopoxiao.

But even if they are old and young, at this point in time, the convoy cannot enter the city.Fortunately, the only non-agricultural income of the people in the county town is to receive businessmen who come and go on the mountain road, so there are still several large car shops in Guanxiang, which are enough to accommodate the convoy.

After all the tossing, carefully arranged the night duty matters, the shopkeeper Wu Da and Wu Qian Wu Captain Wu went to inspect the big kang room where the guys lived.After entering the room and announcing the news that the repairs will start tomorrow, shopkeeper Wu did not forget to tell everyone to scald their feet with hot water before going to bed.

After that, the two returned to the small courtyard they rented.

The side rooms were full of people sleeping, except for the main room. Young master Wu had already arranged a few home-cooked dishes on the table, plus a small pot of hot rice wine, waiting for the shopkeeper and the others.

After closing the door, the three of them began to fill their stomachs and eat vegetables.

This rare meal of wine and food is not easy to eat.Because of the three core people, it is necessary to discuss the next step of the team tonight.

The current dilemma is that there is too little information, so it is difficult for the person in charge to make a choice.

If it can be confirmed that there are large-scale gangs nearby that cannot be resisted, the choice of the caravan is the simplest: wait for the rescue from the hometown, or simply hide in Yixian City and lie flat, and set off after the next year. No gang will Maintain long-term combat readiness.It will take a lot of resources and energy to stand ready to fight, and a loose group like gangsters will not be able to persist until then.

However, the above conclusions are based on only two spies, and there is no more intelligence support.Therefore, this inference is very unreliable, and there are many possibilities. What if it is a small group of gangsters who fled here?

In the end, after much discussion and discussion, the three of them concluded that the caravan should hurry up and set off.

After all, it was absurd and unreasonable for a large caravan with more than 100 people to be scared away by two spies, and there was no way to explain it to the head office.

Now that you have decided to go, the preparation work is to do enough.Facing the gangsters that were likely to exist outside the city, the three of Wu's then discussed in detail until midnight before they settled on the matter.

Early the next morning, Uncle Ping, Wu Fazheng's personal servant, was called into the house from the side room.

In the house, the trio solemnly gave Uncle Ping a task: set off first, and go to Weizhou to call someone to pick him up.

This is a safe response.In any case, even if people from Weizhou come to visit for nothing, it is better than being alone and helpless at the urgent moment.

Besides, as far as the total value of this caravan is concerned, if something goes wrong, the labor lair will come to take care of it, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Being able to be arranged by the clan to be in charge of daily protection next to Master Wu, Uncle Ping is far from being as simple and ordinary as he seems.

In fact, Uncle Ping is Wu Qian's predecessor, and he served as the head of the clan's guards in his early years.Now it was mainly because he was old that he was assigned to be an idler next to Young Master Wu.

After asking the reason clearly, Uncle Ping nodded and agreed without saying a word.

For Uncle Ping today, this task is not difficult.

He is an unremarkable old man in his early forties. He only needs to prepare some daily groceries, and he can pretend to be a traveling merchant, join a caravan for a short time, and cross the Taihang Mountains to Weizhou in advance.

If there are a large number of bandits nearby who are ready to do "big business", they will turn a blind eye to scattered merchants, so as not to cause panic, leak information, and affect the overall situation.

In addition, it is different from what most people imagine.In fact, the real journey through the Taihang Mountains is relatively safe.

Shanxi is known as the mountains and rivers inside and outside. The key reason is that the north-south Taihang Mountains separate Shanxi from the Hebei Plain.

From north to south, there are eight mountain trails connecting the two places, which are the famous Taihang Eight Xings.Among them, the military capital Xing from Huailai to the capital, Feihu Xing + Puyin Xing from Weizhou to Yi County, and Jingxing from Taiyuan to Shijiazhuang are the three most important post roads.

These three roads have been battlegrounds for military strategists since ancient times.In the early Ming Dynasty, the army went out of the fortress, and in the late Ming Dynasty, the Manchu and Qing dynasties entered through Mongolia to plunder, including Li Zicheng's entry into Beijing, and even countless wars involving the north in history. The three mountain trails all played an important role in it.

For such an important strategic channel, there have been military garrisons in all dynasties.

Daming also built passes on these main roads and deployed soldiers and horses to garrison them.The famous Bauhinia Pass is located at the junction of Feihuxing and Puyinxing. It is a famous natural barrier, and caravans have to pass by it afterward.

This is why the mountain road is safe: the key nodes are guarded by officers and soldiers, and they patrol on weekdays, so it is impossible to let large groups of bandits come and go.

As for waiting for three or five thieves. These days, businessmen are not vegetarians, and they gather in groups when they go out. There are fewer people, and it is not certain who will snatch who.

In addition, it is actually very difficult to rob on the steep mountain roads that are rare in the world.Both sides of the sheep intestines are either cliffs or cliffs. It is very difficult to find a place to ambush. You can't fly down from the cliffs.

What really poses a threat to the merchants are the various natural dangers brought about by the two hundred li mountain road.Fortunately, Uncle Ping traveled between the two places in the early years and was familiar with the road conditions, which was the best choice for completing the task.

After taking over the task, Uncle Ping immediately picked out a few goods that fit the status of retail investors, and then ordered someone to bring a donkey, put a wooden frame on the donkey, and tie the few goods firmly.

After preparing the goods, Uncle Ping changed into a homespun padded jacket that fit his identity, put on a half-old felt hat, and wrapped his face with a coarse cloth sand towel.

In the end, he walked out of the big cart shop alone, leading the donkey, and disappeared into the city gate that entered the county town.

The disappearance of Uncle Ping is just the beginning. The three people discussed last night to deal with more than Uncle Ping.

In the next two days, shopkeeper Wu quietly entered and left the county several times.

Yi County is the first stop on the Wu family's business route after leaving Weizhou, so there are naturally local merchants who have been dealing with them all year round to contact.

After negotiating with the next buyer, shopkeeper Wu immediately sold two trucks of relatively low-value goods.At the same time, some goods were purchased locally.

The goods bought and sold were all exchanged after dark, by means of scattered handling, and the purpose was to keep them secret.

And during this period, from time to time, one or two guards quietly left the county area without missing a trace.

After these tasks are completed, it is already the third day for the team to repair in Yi County.

On the morning of the fourth day, the Yixinlong caravan, with everything ready, set off on their way home at dawn.

There are still thirteen carriages, and there are still hundreds of people.

A caravan of such a scale set off, naturally it cannot be hidden from anyone.At this moment, inside and outside the county seat, above and below the city, countless pairs of eyes watched the convoy slowly walking along the official road in the north of the city.

Ok?What is going north?It's not right, shouldn't we go west?
The location of Yi County is just outside the pass of Taihang Mountain, parallel to Puyin Xingyi Road.

Normally, when the caravan departs from Yi County, it should head due west and enter the mountain after walking twenty or thirty miles.

The hilly and forested terrain with a sharp rise in altitude for twenty or thirty miles is a recognized dangerous area.

Next, if there is no accident, the caravan will continue to drill westward for a hundred miles along the Puyin Xing Mountain Trail, and will encounter the famous Bauhinia Pass natural barrier in Taihang Mountain.

From Zijingguan, turn to the north, and the road below is Feihuxing.Walk another hundred miles along Feihu Xing, exit Feihukou, and you will arrive at Weizhou, the terminal station.

And today's caravan's northward trip did not meet some people's expectations: If you don't enter the mountains from Yi County to the north, the next post road that passes through Taihang is the military capital Xing near the northwest of the capital.

How far is it from Yi County to Beijing?
The answer is 160 miles.

In other words, the caravan gave up the 160-mile dangerous mountain road and replaced it with a [-]-mile relatively safe official road.

"It seems that I dare not go into the mountain." Some of the eyes that watched the caravan from beginning to end revealed a look of relief at this moment.

However, things are not that simple.

On the 160-mile road from Yi County to Beijing, unless you make a big bend to the east, there are still many areas that will pass the foothills of Taihang Mountain.

In fact, to the north of the county seat is the remaining vein of the Taihang, and it is necessary to go through the mountains after a short walk.

In the end, things have come to this point. To some extent, everyone is already playing famous brands. In this barbaric and cruel age, is there really a safe way?

However, in the end, the Yixinlong motorcade left the county without hesitation and headed north.

Not long after the convoy set off, several figures that seemed to exist and disappeared also disappeared.Some other figures—here specifically referring to the riding duo of the previous caravan, but once again appeared on the official road like ghosts and ghosts, and swaggered after them.

————————————————————————

The tail that appeared behind him was as expected by the shopkeeper.

At this moment, shopkeeper Wu was riding a rough horse, ignoring the tail behind him, and just kept yelling loudly at the team to speed up.

Most of the people in the caravan received orders to divert routes before they set off.At the moment, people more or less feel a certain tension.However, the rules of the big business firm are strict, even though the staff has suspicions, they can only keep their doubts in their stomachs right now.

After a few days of repairs, the entire team's condition was restored to full health, and the action was very fast.

Although the road under our feet became more and more undulating, and the surrounding scenery changed from plains to hills, pine forests and rocky mountains, at about noon, the convoy still ran for nearly [-] or [-] miles and arrived at Shiqi Ridge.

Shiqi Ridge is a section of Taihang branch that is more than [-] miles long and belongs to karst landform.

As the caravan traveled along the way, clumps of black sharp pinnacles gradually appeared on the left side, like a piece of upside-down triangular iron nails, continuously extending forward, which is why Shiqi Ridge got its name.

Shopkeeper Wu, who was sitting on the horse, set up a pergola with his hands, looked at the nearby stone ridges, and then at the nameless river on the right.

Finally, he turned his head and glanced at the two small black dots in the distance behind him, then rode his horse to the head of the team, and shouted: "The pine forest ahead is sharp, carefully fetch water from the river to drink for the horses!"

The sweaty guys immediately relaxed when they heard this.Panting heavily, they drove the cart into the pine forest ahead.

Needless to say, the next actions were already extremely proficient: fetching water from the river to drink horses, lighting a fire and roasting dry food.

The wild pine forest where everyone hides is backed by the stone ridge, and the area is not large, so it will only be able to hide the convoy.

But just as the convoy entered the pine forest, shopkeeper Wu, who had entered the forest first, had already joined Wu Qian, the leader of the guards who had already been waiting in the forest.

After meeting, ignoring the other guards behind Wu Qian, shopkeeper Wu anxiously grabbed Wu Qian's forearm: "Is it possible?"

"It works!"

"Okay, take me to see!"

"This way!"

The next moment, the mystery was revealed: in the deepest part of the pine forest, where it meets the stone ridge, a passage was exposed.

This is a natural mountain gap, very narrow, and it will be able to pass a carriage. It is located between the two stone ridges.

The original passageway was blocked by naturally stacked black flaky stones.Now, the stones have been removed in advance by Wu Qian, who had set out secretly before, revealing a winding path leading behind the stone ridge.

At this time, shopkeeper Wu, who was under great pressure, finally showed a smile on his face: "Hehe, I didn't expect that the 'Golden Toad Road' we walked once in 15 years, and this time we will repeat the same mistakes."

"We were all buddies back then."

Looking at the passage in front of him, Wu Qian also sighed with emotion: "This bandit, really thinks that my Wu family in Weizhou only has a foundation outside the mouth? Hmph, when it's free, we have to kill a few gangsters to vent our anger."

"Well, don't talk about it, there are urgent things to do."

This "Golden Toad Road", which is only known to the senior members of the Wu family, is about seven or eight miles long, and it was accidentally discovered by the Wu family when they were doing business.Over the years, the Golden Toad Road has been rarely used, so the secret can be preserved.

This secret mountain path is actually only separated by a stone mountain from the official road outside, leading to the direction of Yixian County.

In other words, if you follow the secret road, the convoy will eventually return to the way it came from.

Now, everything is clear: the Yixinlong caravan did not intend to go to the capital, which is more than a hundred miles away.The ultimate goal of the golden cicada escaping its shell is to walk the Puyinxing Mountain Road, pass the Feihu Trail, and return directly to Weizhou.

Just having a secret path is not enough.There is still a lot of work to be done if the golden cicada wants to escape from its shell.

After entering the secret passage in person, shopkeeper Wu returned to the camp after exploring a short distance.Immediately, he assigned five men to wrap their hands and feet with thick cloth, bring a rake, and go into the secret road to clean up the gravel along the way, so as not to pierce the horse's feet later.

Next, the tarpaulins were lifted from the two carriages that had previously been short-sold.

At first glance, these two vehicles are also covered with tarpaulins to cover the square cargo underneath, which is no different from other vehicles.However, when the tarpaulin is lifted, apart from a few empty boxes for modeling, there is only a spare frame and a small pocket left.

The spare frame is actually two wheels and the connecting shaft in the middle.

Under the order of the shopkeeper, the guys quickly hung the spare frame to the back of the carriage.In this way, two carriages are equivalent to changing from four wheels to six wheels.

Then throw a few big rocks on the car, pretending to be the weight of the cargo.

After everything was ready, Wu Qian reached out and grabbed a handful from his car pocket.What he took out was a triangular barbed wire specially used to deal with cavalry.

Looking at the fineness of the barbed wire, Wu Qian nodded with satisfaction, and then said to the guards around him: "Just these two small pockets, I have already searched the county seat of Yixian County, there is not much more, you look at the dangerous place and look at it again." sprinkle."

"know!"

After the confession, Wu Qian and the shopkeeper looked at each other. After receiving affirmative glances, he whistled and signaled the surrounding team members: "Brothers, go out and take a look around to see if there are any mice."

Before Wu Qian finished speaking, more than [-] cavalry guards got on their horses and drew out their weapons one after another. Amidst the sound of shouting, they fanned out of the pine forest.

This is a tactical action called battlefield cover.Its purpose is to prevent possible battlefield reconnaissance by the enemy.

The current position of the caravan is actually very difficult to be observed: the small pine forest blocks the peripheral view, the opposite is a clear and flat river bank, and behind it is a group of sharp rocky mountains, no one can climb up.

But the so-called battlefield cover is to be foolproof and create an absolutely safe blind spot on the battlefield in a short period of time.

The guards who fanned out began to search the front and sides.

At this point in the plan, it can be said that the Yixinlong Caravan has taken the initiative strategically.

The gangster was really led by the nose this time.The large army that was ambushing at the mountain pass of Yi County did not expect that the caravan would suddenly change its route, so it was left behind. It must be heading here.

But when the bandit troop rushed over, the caravan turned around and returned through the secret passage, playing tricks on the gangsters.

A quarter of an hour later, news came from the front and surrounding areas: there was no one around, no gang spies.

Only there was no news from behind.This is because Wu Qian did not send anyone to find out where he came from—everyone knew that there were two spies following him a mile behind.

After learning that the front was safe, Wu Qian got on the horse himself this time, drew out his knife, and led the monk and the dumb warriors, and headed straight for the way they came with a murderous look.

Not long after, about as long as Guan Gong warmed up a glass of wine, Captain Wu came back.

Returning with him is the head of the spy Huang Xu'er.

"Happy!" Throwing the head on the frame with a "gudong", Wu Qian laughed loudly: "I saved a living, and went back to report to his king."

"Well." Shopkeeper Xiang Wu saw that everything was in the plan, so he hurriedly arranged the next step: "In that case, you can wait and set off. Remember that there is no need to save horsepower on the way, and the stones and nails will be scattered!"

"Don't worry, shopkeeper!"

The team members driving the "six-wheeled carts" flicked the reins and drove the horses slowly out of the pine forest.

These two cars, and the accompanying two and four horses, are the decoy convoy.They will leave deceptive wheel footprints along the way, and will cast barbed wire in dangerous areas and throw stones to delay pursuers.

After watching the bait convoy go away, shopkeeper Wu came back to his senses, looked around at all the rest of the forest, his face gradually became vicious, and he said word by word: "Give me a bite, a horse's hoof, and a bit." Set it up."

"Whoever dares to speak out on the road below is a spy, don't blame me for being cruel!"

The guys immediately became trembling when they heard the words, and they all worked hard to clean up.

It didn't take long for all the luggage of the convoy to be cleaned up, the hoofs of the mules and horses were wrapped in thick cloth, and the bridles were put on their mouths.

Next, eleven trucks filed into the secret passage.Wu Qian and the others who stayed outside, held branches and wiped away the traces of the convoy entering the secret road.

Finally, when the guys re-stacked the stones blocking the road, Wu Qian was the last one to jump off the stone pile.

From this moment on, the convoy began to slowly return to the way it came along an isolated mountain gap.

And just an hour after the convoy entered the "Golden Toad Road", an echo gradually came from the silent stone ridge.

Further on, one could clearly hear the sound of horseshoes and noisy human voices on the official road separated by a mountain.

The bandits are here.

"Stop the horse, silence!"

The next moment, Wu Qian jumped onto the roof of the car and drew out his knife, making a gesture of a complete stop.

In fact, Wu Qian didn't need to signal, the guys had already stopped the vehicle - after passing the amplified back and forth between Shiling, the sounds made by the gangsters seemed to be right next to them, making the people hiding in the dark shudder.

The gangsters come and go quickly.Probably because of impatience and anger, the sound of horseshoes came one after another, accompanied by a large number of dense footsteps and chaotic human voices, whizzing away.

After about half a cup of tea, the secret passage became silent again.

At this moment, the caravan, with their hearts on their throats, finally took a breath and began to pull their horses forward.

After the greatest danger has passed, the next itinerary can be said to be uneventful.Except for the speed reduction due to clearing the mountain road, there were no other accidents.

In this way, in the afternoon, the convoy quietly got out of the secret road and appeared on a forest slope away from the official road.

From the position in front of the caravan, you can clearly see the county town of Yi County in the front left.

In other words, as long as you continue to walk along the foothills to the right, you will be able to enter the Taihang Pass.

Shopkeeper Wu then ordered the guards to go out to explore the road, while the convoy repaired on the spot.

After a cup of tea, the convoy set off again.In the evening, facing the last rays of the setting sun, the convoy arrived at the Taihang Pass smoothly and entered the gate of Wuhuodun.

The imperial court set up multiple checkpoints at the Taihang pass.

These levels vary in size and function.

The Wuhuodun where Yixinlong's convoy moved in temporarily was not a Guancheng used to garrison troops, but a large square pier that was usually responsible for calling the police and delivering beacon news.

Wuhuodun is located at the entrance of the mountain, and there are still seventeen or eight miles of mountain roads away from the checkpoint where officers and soldiers are actually stationed.

In the pier, there are ten people who should be registered and eight people are actually stationed below Ma Youbu, the chief official.

Theoretically, it is impossible for a professional military outpost like Wuhuodun to receive caravans.However, the Wu family has been doing business in various places for many years, so it is naturally supported by its deep network of contacts.

This time, Ma Youbu, the chief official in charge of guarding Wuhuodun, saw that it was an acquaintance of Yi Xinlong calling for the door, so he immediately ordered the door to be opened to welcome the guests in.

The small Wuhuodun suddenly rushed in with a hundred and ten people, more than a dozen carts plus mules and horses, so it was naturally overcrowded.

So it was not until the stars gradually came out and the moon was on the branches that the caravan finally settled down.

Even so, the amount of reserved water used to drink so many people and animals is also urgent.But after dark, the door could not be opened as a rule, so I had to hang people in a basket and go to a nearby river to fetch water.

Standing on the high wall of the pier, shopkeeper Wu twisted his short beard under his chin, and finally showed a trace of color on his face: this time he strategized, attacked east and west, mobilized a large group of enemies far away, and survived unscathed The caravan can be described as consummated.

Wu Fazheng, who was also standing on the wall with his hands behind his back in the shape of admiring the moon, seemed to see through the shopkeeper Wu's thoughts at this moment: "Uncle Nine, you should be the first in this battle!"

The wrinkles on Shopkeeper Wu's face disappeared: "Hehe, the second young master was joking. We haven't escaped danger yet, and it depends on how far the gangsters are led."

"Ten to ten will not be able to make it back," Captain Wu Qian, who was silent on the side, interrupted at this moment.

Although shopkeeper Wu is humble, everyone knows that the gangster will definitely not be able to return before the convoy enters the main checkpoint tomorrow morning. Also turn back and start searching carefully along the road.

After going back and forth, the gangsters searched the dozens of hundreds of miles away, and the caravan must have reached the Bauhinia Pass.

However, Lu Xun said that if a real warrior pretends to be aggressive, he probably should not leave.

At this moment, the trio of caravan leaders suddenly widened their eyes and looked forward with a dull expression.

(End of this chapter)