Chapter 170: The peak protrudes

The light in the county yamen and Li Qing's room was a little dim. Although it was hot outside, the room was extremely cool. Large wooden basins were placed at all corners of the room, and gray-white ice was filled with. This was done by Li Qing using the ice making technology of his old master a few days ago. This cheap and practical way of spending summer was launched and became popular throughout Shazhou. Some merchants with a keen sense of smell immediately opened an ice drink shop, just like Li Qing was in Langzhong.

Li Qing sat on the chair, gently pinching the joint on his index finger. His eyes were calm and there was a smile on his lips. Behind him, more than a dozen personal soldiers pressed their hands on the handle of the knife, staring vigilantly at people ten feet away, especially Wu Xingsu, with a fire in his eyes. He keenly felt that the arrow on his back was shot by this person. Ten feet away, Li Fei Shouyu was curiously looking at the ice in the basin. Although the snow peak was covered with snow, it could be transported to Shazhou without melting. What could he do? He was full of questions.

Seeing that he was staring at the ice for a long time and was puzzled, Li Qing couldn't help but smile and said, "That's just a trick of carving insects. If General Lifei is interested, he will try to put saltpeter in the water and he will know."

Li Fei Shouyu straightened his waist and laughed, "The governor has been awarded, Shouyu is just a bandit leader, and he can't be called a general."

After stopping, he said implicitly: "I have to rush back today. My brother and I made an appointment. If I don't go back today, he will lead the army to come in from the gap in Dunhuang and pick me up."

Li Qing smiled faintly, "Brother Shouyu said it very seriously. Since the person has come, there is no need to keep the gap. I have ordered it to start filling it up. I am afraid that my brother will not be able to enter even if he wants to."

Li Fei Shouyu's face changed slightly, and he said anxiously: "What the eunuch said just now, wouldn't he count on the things he took last time to exchange for my mother?"

"That naturally counts!"

Li Qing sneered, "But that's just for your mother, what about you? Since Brother Shouyu is here to visit Shazhou, how can I not fulfill my friendship with the landlords? Stay at Brother Shouyu for a few more days."

Li Fei Shouyu stood up and said angrily: "Governor, the two countries will fight against each other and come to envoys. Is this your way of treating guests?"

"Bold!" Wu Xingsu behind Li Qing shouted angrily. The brothers beside him drew their long swords and surrounded Li Fei Shouyu, and the cold blade pointed at him.

Li Qing did not say a word or stop him, but just looked at him quietly. They were not a country, nor was he a guest. Just as he said, a bandit leader. After a long stalemate, Li Fei Shouyu finally sighed and said, "The governor first came to Shazhou. My hospitality method is not much better. Well, then you can offer a price!"

Li Qing waved his hand immediately, and the guards retreated behind him, then smiled and said, "Sit down! Please sit down! Brother Shouyu can say this, which shows his openness."

He took an empty cup, poured a cup of ice tea, and handed it to the short table in front of him. Then he returned to his seat and smiled and said, "It's the conditions! There are only two, Brother Shouyu can choose one of them."

Li Fei Shouyu suddenly realized that Li Qing was afraid that Li Qing would capture his mother just for bait, not to exchange for the robbed supplies. It seemed that now was his real purpose. He took a long breath and said in a deep voice: "The Governor might as well speak out."

Li Qing nodded and said with a serious expression: "The first choice is that you submit to the court and do not blame the past for the past."

"etc!"

Li Fei Shouyu stopped Li Qing's words and said, "Let us submit to the court. Is it true that it means the governor, the governor, or it is really the court's intention?"

"It's what I mean at the moment, but I will plead with the court for you."

Li Fei Shouyu lowered his head and was silent, with a difficult and complicated look in his eyes. Suddenly, he looked up and said, "What is the second condition?"

Li Qing stared at his eyes tightly and said word by word: "The second one is to add another 30,000 guan to redeem Brother Shouyu."

"Thirty thousand guan!" Li Fei Shouyu shouted in disbelief: "From the beginning of the year to now, we have only accumulated more than 30,000 guan. Governor Li is too unwilling."

Li Qing suddenly relaxed all over and smiled on the chair, but looked at the roof and said, "Of course, both parties can accept business. Then I will give in. At least 20,000 yuan. We will pay the money with one hand and let others with the other."

A touch of undetectable Li Wei's eyes suddenly flashed in Li Fei Shouyu's eyes, and he nodded slowly and said, "Okay! I promised this condition. I will not obey the first condition. I will send someone back to notify my brother and ask him to prepare money and goods, and then deliver it under the snowy mountain."

Li Qing hit his palms and said decisively: "A word is certain, just as you said, we will trade tomorrow, but we will just let you down first today."

After Li Fei Shouyu was taken down, Li Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, drawing every detail of his action in his mind. He suddenly turned around and said to Wu Xingsu: "Please invite two generals Li Siye and Tian Zhen, and say I have something to discuss with you."

Tian Zhen was the actual highest general of Doulu Army before Li Qing was appointed as the governor of Shazhou. He was from Chengdu County. He was a Guoyi Commander. He was nearly forty years old. He was tall and mighty. He was good at using a Modao. He was originally the commander of the Longyou Army. He had been through many battles. Because of his integrity, Huangfu Weiming was disliked and was demoted to Doulu Army. However, he was deeply attracted by Li Qing and promoted him and Li Siye as his deputy general.

About a quarter of an hour later, Tian Zhen and Li Siye hurried from the military camp to Li Qing's official office. Both of them were Mo Dao Generals. Although they first met, they felt sympathy. When they entered the room, they were like two black towers, they immediately blocked the front door from wind and rain.

The two of them bowed to Li Qing at the same time, "See the Governor!"

Li Qing smiled and waved his hand, "No need to be polite, please sit down, two generals!"

Si Bi quickly put snow mud on the two big men in a big bowl. Li Qing made a gesture of invitation and smiled: "Taste it! This is my fortune."

Tian Zhen looked at Xue Ni for a long time and suddenly said in surprise: "Is the governor Li Dongzhu of Wangjiang Restaurant in Chengdu?"

Li Qing was surprised, "How did General Tian know?"

Tian Zhen laughed loudly, "I am from Chengdu, why didn't I know? That year, I happened to go home to visit my relatives, so I know."

Li Qing smiled happily and said, "That's true, he is not an outsider."

After a glance, Li Siye was staring at Xue Ni in a daze, and couldn't help but smile and said, "I guess this is the first time Siye eats it. I am the authentic Li Ji Xue Ni, and even the emperor can't eat it."

After a moment, the two of them ate the snow mud like a wind and clouds. They were so excited that they wielded their mouths. Si Bi came up to take away the empty bowl. Li Qing gave Wu Xingsu a wink. Immediately, a few personal soldiers carefully carried a large wooden platform. Li Qing smiled and said, "I have eaten the things, it's time to talk about the serious business."

The second general stood up at the same time, looking at the big wooden platform, with a serious expression. He saw mud and stones piled up the mountains and rivers on the wooden platform. Tian Zhen pointed to a city made of wood and said in surprise: "Is this Dunhuang County? And this," he pointed to a small crescent-shaped pool in a bay and shouted excitedly, "This is the Crescent Spring!" His eyes moved down, his eyes becoming more and more surprised, and he exclaimed: "There are even Ganquan Water and the Daxue Mountains on it."

He suddenly looked up at Li Qing, his eyes full of admiration, "Governor, I have seen such a map for the first time in my life, but did the Governor invent it?"

Li Qing smiled but didn't answer. This was naturally a sand table. He ordered people to make it in ten days, but it was still quite crude and had no accuracy. He could only barely use it. Seeing Li Siye pondering and silent, he asked with a smile: "Do Siye know?"

Li Siye nodded, but shook his head again, "I only heard that Han Ma Yuan had a 'grape mountain of rice', but I had never seen anything. Did the governor get the revelation from there?"

Li Qing was stunned. This sand table was a common thing in later generations. He really didn't know that Ma Yuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty used it. He couldn't help but smile embarrassedly and said, "I'll ask the two generals to come here to discuss the matter of combating the bandits."

Li Siye and Tian Zhen looked at each other and couldn't help but say in surprise: "Don't the governor want to exchange peace with him?"

Li Qing shook his head and sneered, "My original intention of arresting them was to attract them to annihilate them in one fell swoop, but they proposed an exchange. If I was right, they actually had no intention of exchanging. They just exchanged people first and then took back the money and goods. Otherwise, why should Li Fei Shouyu come in person? It was just to numb me."

Tian Zhen's lips moved and she said in a low voice: "Just doing this will probably damage the reputation of the governor."

Li Qing patted his shoulder and thanked him: "I know General Tian is worried about my reputation. It's okay. After destroying the bandits, he picked out one or two hundred people who were extremely guilty. He cut his head in public on Hexi Road. I'm afraid that by then I will become a Buddha in thousands of families."

"I agree with the governor's idea. I must not be ruthless to these bandits."

Li Siye next to him said in a deep voice: "I wonder what the governor has plans?"

Li Qing smiled slightly and pointed at the mountain at the edge of the sand table with his index finger and said, "This mountain is called Qingyang Mountain, located upstream of Ganquan Water, about 80 miles southeast of Daxue Mountain. The scouts I sent judged that the bandit's nest was in this mountain. After a while, Li Fei Shouyu will send someone back to report the message. I have asked Bai Xiaode to send his scout team to follow him. Once it is confirmed,"

Speaking of this, Li Qing pulled up the 'Qingyang Mountain' and sneered coldly: "They want to steal my money and food, so I will take his nest. If they come to save him, I will catch him off guard."

There were about fifty scout teams sent by Bai Xiaode, and the leader was a captain, named Duan, about twenty-six or seven years old. His eyes were sharp, his nose was as sharp as a knife, and his lips were slightly raised. He was originally fair and delicate skin became dark and rough in the long yellow sand of the Western Regions, but he seemed confident and strong.

He was originally a literati. Two years ago, he was a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, but he joined the army and went to Anxi to join the army and served the country. Speaking of this, I believe that anyone familiar with the history of the Tang Dynasty guessed who he was. I don’t play the mystery. This person is Duan Xiushi, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty.

Duan Xiushi, whose courtesy name was Chenggong, joined the army when he was young and went to Anxi to join the army. During the Anshi Rebellion, he made great contributions many times, was awarded the title of Governor of Jingzhou and was named Prince Zhangye. Later, he took charge of the military and political affairs of the northwest for four years and became famous. Tubo was frightened and did not dare to invade the territory.

But at this time, he had just joined the army for two years. He obeyed the order under Bai Xiaode's tent. He was appointed as the scout lieutenant because he understood Tubo language. This time he accompanied the army to support Shazhou, and he was one of the three thousand soldiers.

At noon, he received an order from Bai Xiaode, asking him to lead his team to follow the bandit leader and report the news. Fifty people monitored one person. This was not difficult, just follow him from a distance.

Daxue Mountain is a hundred miles away from Shazhou. It is actually the remnant of the Qilian Mountains. It is also the boundary between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. After passing Daxue Mountains, it enters the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The altitude gradually rises. The mountains extend thousands of miles southwards. The snow-covered on countless peaks are covered with snow all year round. However, the melting snow at the low altitude brings a lot of water, continuously replenishing lakes and rivers, and the sweet spring water flowing to Shazhou is also generated.

In the third year of Longshuo in Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, after Tuyuhun (now eastern Qinghai) was destroyed by Tubo, the forces of Tubo suddenly pushed to the Helong area. The Tang and Tubo took the Qilian Mountains as the boundary in the Hexi Corridor, which spanned thousands of miles and was a natural barrier to prevent Tubo's invasion, but its two holes in the south and north were the two ports of Tubo's march.

To the south, the Tang Dynasty established the Longyou Jiedu Prefecture, and Chen's army prevented Tubo from breaking into Longyou and threatened Chang'an. However, in the 29th year of Kaiyuan, after Tubo captured the strategic land of Shibao City (now Xining), the Tang Dynasty was on the defensive position in Longyou;

To the north, bypassing the Daxue Mountains, Shazhou, the gateway to the Western Regions, appeared first in front of you. The capture of Shazhou was also cut off the connection between the Western Regions and the Central Plains. The importance of its geographical location can be imagined.

After passing the Daxue Mountain, he entered Tubo. Duan Xiushi led his men to hide all the way, moving very slowly, and walked eighty miles southeast. At this time, the person who reported the news was almost dark. Sure enough, the person who reported the news looked around the road for a while and went up Qingyang Mountain from a small path.

Duan Xiushi's tall body flashed from behind a huge rock. He nodded silently and quickly drew the place where the informant went up the mountain with charcoal on a piece of white paper.

The mission has been completed, and another quarter of an hour has passed. It is estimated that the man has entered the depths of Qingyang Mountain and can no longer see them. Duan Xiushi waved his hand and led his men to leave Qingyang Mountain and run back along the turbulent Ganquan water.

The sun has already set, the sky is dim and yellow. In the sky, a bright white cloud belt gradually begins to become dark, and the water on the ground begins to turn cold and condense. The woods behind them are filled with fog. The banks of the sweet spring water are shrouded in hazy mist. The air is fresh and cold. The clear moon slowly rises to the western sky and casts black shadows on the rocks.

After running for about ten miles, Ganquanshui slowly calmed down with his wife's sneer.

"Stop everyone!"

Duan Xiushi raised his hand and said, "Eat some dry food and drink the horse, rest for a while before leaving."

This is the smoothest place of the water flow. Everyone jumped off their horses and stepped on their horse boots into the cold river water. People and horses drank sweet water together, just like a group of people who lived in the wasteland for a long time and suffered from thirst, drinking nectar and jade liquid in big gulps.

Suddenly, a scout screamed, "Personnel Duan, come and see!"

Duan Xiushi heard the sound and saw a few piles of horse manure next to a rock in the half-light and half dark twilight. But he saw countless footprints next to the horse manure. He was shocked and picked up a stick and picked it up to the horse manure. It was still fresh, no more than an hour at most, and the footprints were the same. In other words, an hour ago, a group of horse riders passed by here.

"who are they?"

Duan Xiushi straightened up and was worried. Could it be a horse bandit? It shouldn't be. The horse bandits generally don't follow this path, and should keep walking northward and cross the snowy mountain.

He searched left and right again, and suddenly he saw a string of clear footprints coming ashore and disappeared in the grass fifty steps away. In the grass, he seemed to have seen something faintly, but the fog was heavy and he couldn't see clearly.

"Come with me!"

He shouted softly, ran ashore quickly, rushed into the grass in a few steps. He stopped suddenly, his pupils shrank sharply, and in the grass was quietly lying a leather boot with an iron palm. The boots had been worn by stones. This was the boots that Tubo people often wore, or rather, the military boots of a Tubo soldier.

A thought arose from Duan Xiushi's mind, "Tubo scout! Did he discover the Tubo army scout?"

He immediately made a decision and handed over the picture of Qingyang Mountain to the two brothers, and instructed: "You go back now and hand over this picture to General Bai, and tell him that we may have found the scouts of the Tubo army, but we are not sure, so we need to chase and confirm."

The two soldiers agreed, took the drawings, ran on their horses, and ran towards Shazhou. Duan Xiushi saw them walking away, waved his hand gently, led everyone across the river, and chased them along the horse's hoof prints. Night had already fallen, and they were alone in the vast world, gradually disappearing into the thick night fog.

The night passed by the horse galloping, Duan Xiushi led a group of Tang troops standing in small positions on a flat round hill. They watched the dawn appear slowly. The sky was clear and cloudless. The sun came out, the sun was faint, but very clear. The wind had turned to the east, the fog was blown away, and the surroundings were vast, and the desolate earth was bathed in the bleak cold light.

The horse hoof print disappeared in this area. With intuition, Duan Xiushi felt that the target they were chasing was nearby. His sharp eyes were swimming around. He saw the river from the distant mountains, and then turned from the river to the forest. Suddenly he found a black shadow in the distant shade moving rapidly. The direction was towards them. As he got closer and closer, Duan Xiushi stood up from the kickstand and built a pergola above his bright eyes with his long slender hands. He saw clearly that what he saw was not a shadow or a black spot, but a group of horse riders, with a large number of people, about forty or fifty riders. The tip of the spear was shining in the morning light, as if the twinkling little stars were discussed in the sky.

It was already a hundred steps, and it was indeed the Tubo army. Not only did they not slow down, they held up their swords and spears, shouted and rushed towards themselves, and they were also scouts. But Duan Xiushi suddenly remembered a rule of the Tubo army, "After scouts, there must be a brigade," he immediately realized, is the Tubo army coming? Are they going to attack Shazhou? Sweat began to appear on his forehead. His underwear was already wet.

"No! Go back and report quickly."

But it seemed too late, and forty or fifty cavalry rushed out from behind him, and there were as many as hundreds of cavalry together, twice as many as theirs. They wanted to kill themselves to silence them, so it must be!
Chapter completed!