Chapter 333: Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Miles of the Western Extreme Road

Xue Rengui didn't sleep well.

In his dream, he was still arguing with Su Dingfang in front of Pingkangfang, and the next moment he was in an unfamiliar battlefield.

A group of Hu people came up like black water, surrounded Xue Rengui, and then the leader pointed his Hu knife at him and shouted:

"My dear, do you want a glass cup?"

So Xue Rengui suddenly woke up, sat on the bed in a daze for a while, and couldn't help laughing:

"I have never been on the battlefield, nor have I seen the Turkic barbarians..."

The second sleep was very sound.

At dawn, with the last sound of the night watch at the hour of Mao, Xue Rengui also got up in the dim room.

Two bows, one new and one old, the ceremonial sword left by his father, the silver ring carefully put into his arms, two sets of clothes, and a lucky arrow made in his spare time, this is all the family property at this time.

After carefully closing the door and saying hello to the people at the post house, Xue Rengui went out and found the northwest direction, then hurried away, intending to meet General Su first.

Kaiyuan Gate is one of the three gates on the west side of Chang'an City, located in the north.

I remember that General Su once said self-deprecatingly that after entering Kaiyuan Gate, the street on the left hand side was his responsibility to sweep.

Xue Rengui certainly didn't believe it, but considering that General Su brought wine back yesterday, he was a little worried that he might be hungover and miss the time.

However, after asking passers-by to point out the direction and reaching Kaiyuan Gate, Xue Rengui found that he had thought too much.

The two people, one big and one small, were jumping and calling his name. Who else could it be but Pei and Su?

Su Dingfang came running over and stuffed a small package into Xue Rengui's arms without saying anything:

"You have come a long way from the posthouse. Even if you have eaten some snacks, you must be hungry. Eat it while it's hot."

Xue Rengui felt warm in his heart. He took it and opened it, and saw several oil cakes and a dozen buns. He was a little embarrassed for a while:

"How can I finish it?"

"If you can't finish it, keep it. Otherwise, when you get to Liangzhou, you won't be able to eat it even if you want to." Pei Xingjian said with a smile.

Li Jing hadn't arrived yet. Xue Rengui was eating buns while looking at Kaiyuanmen, which he had never been to before. Then he saw that there were civilians working on the roadside, and it seemed that they were going to erect the stone tablet underground.

The stone tablet was facing up. Xue Rengui was tall and could read the words on the tablet by standing on tiptoe:

"The Western Road... 9,900 miles?"

As if he knew Xue Rengui's doubts, Su Dingfang took the initiative to explain:

"This is written by your majesty, and it means that our Tang will surpass the former Han Dynasty and reopen the Western Regions and conquer thousands of miles of territory."

This simple sentence made Xue Rengui's blood boil.

Open the Western Regions and conquer thousands of miles!

I will die for your majesty and realize this grand plan!

Pei Xingjian's whole body was not as tall as the Mo Dao, so he didn't think about this, but he noticed another direction:

"Is it really written by your majesty? This font... is neither like the two Wangs nor like Feibai, this..."

Of course Su Dingfang knew what was going on, it was Yan style.

Even Su Dingfang, who didn't understand calligraphy at all, could still appreciate the grief and indignation in the moment he saw the manuscript of the memorial to his nephew.

Your Majesty is good at calligraphy, and he probably practices it often in private, so he didn't use Feibai style in the end, but used this font.

However, Su Dingfang was quite emotional when he thought about it. Yan Zhenqing used his body as a pen, the prosperous century as ink, and the Anshi Rebellion as an inkstone, and finally wrote Yan style.

And this font now appears at the end of the fourth year of Zhenguan. This Tang... shouldn't go back to the old way?

This thought didn't last too long. Li Jing was wearing military uniform and riding a tall horse, followed by two teams of soldiers and ten tightly covered carriages.

"Let's go."

At this time, as the commander, Li Jing's face lost its kindness and kindness, and was full of iron-cast majesty.

Xue Rengui got a horse to travel, and was very excited.

Turning back to show off to Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian, he saw the two of them looking back frequently as if they were saying goodbye to someone.

Xue Rengui had excellent eyesight. He looked far away and saw an elderly woman waving goodbye and wiping tears with a handkerchief. There were also several guards waving in the direction of Su Dingfang.

Thinking that he was alone, Xue Rengui felt a little empty in his heart, and even the buns in his hand were not fragrant.

Looking back, he saw that the civilians on the roadside were moving quickly, slowly erecting the stone tablet with the help of a high rack.

"Nine thousand nine hundred miles..."

Xue Rengui touched the precious bow on his body, and his heart was filled with pride, which diluted the sorrow.

He squeezed his legs and urged the warhorse. Xue Rengui took a last look at Chang'an, and then chased Li Jing westward without any nostalgia.

However, when he thought of Su Dingfang saying that His Majesty wanted to surpass the Former Han Dynasty, Xue Rengui remembered Liu Bang's words about the Former Han Dynasty, and also remembered the emperor's expectations of him now.

So Xue Rengui laughed and said:

"A real man should be like this, winning fame and making achievements on horseback!"

Su Dingfang, who was riding on the same horse with Pei Xingjian, also laughed and rode to catch up.

...

In the early February of the 17th year of Jian'an, Chengdu.

Liu Bei stopped his horse by the Han River, watching the soldiers in the distance line up in a long line along the Jinniu Road, thinking of the people's retention when he left Chengdu, and Wu's tears.

He sighed softly:

"A real man should be like this."

Kong Ming also rode on a horse and stood side by side with Liu Bei. At this time, he smiled and said:

"As we are heading to Hanzhong, my lord, do you remember Emperor Gao?"

Liu Bei nodded and said with emotion:

"Emperor Gao took control of Bashu and Hanzhong, and also controlled the Three Qin Dynasties. Finally, he surrounded his troops and laid down his troops at Gaixia, achieving unparalleled achievements."

"Hanzhong is the birthplace of the Han Dynasty. It is like my hometown. Now I feel timid when approaching it."

Kong Ming could understand this feeling, so he nodded and chose to talk about something else:

"The virtues of this Golden Ox Path have been broadened and strengthened, and now all the soldiers have leggings, so they can walk really fast."

Speaking of which, Liu Bei had a smile on his face and nodded.

He still remembered this. After taking over the Chengdu treasury, Kong Ming took out most of the materials and made the best use of them.

Among them was a batch of iron in stock. Kong Ming suggested that it be made into tools and carried by the Yide army. When crossing the Golden Bull Road, a group of soldiers were left behind to slowly build the road.

After all, no matter whether Hanzhong could be successfully conquered at that time, there would definitely be a lot of round trips between Chengdu and Hanzhong.

Considering that the younger generation said that after pacifying Yizhou, they sent troops to Hanzhong and marched for half a year, Liu Bei agreed with his pen.

Now I have really benefited a lot.

"But after my lord arrives in Hanzhong, Cao Cao will take action."

Liu Bei was silent for a moment and said leisurely:

"Hey, Cao Cao is afraid that I will seize Hanzhong, and he is afraid that Yan and Han will prosper."

"Of course, if there is no popular support, Hanzhong will be dead."

"If we win the hearts of the people, what's the problem if we don't have Hanzhong?"

The smile on Kong Ming's face became even bigger, he shook his feather fan and said:

"In this case, we should restore stability to the Three Qin Dynasties and cure the corruption in Guanzhong."

Hearing Kong Ming talk about this, Liu Bei sighed and didn't want to think about what kind of mess Guanzhong was in now.

On this small high platform, he once again looked at the soldiers who were talking, laughing and looking relaxed. Liu Bei pulled the reins of his horse and turned around and said:

"Let's go, it's still three to five days from Hanzhong."

In the end, Liu Bei did not hesitate much and appointed Zhang Song as the governor of Chengdu.

Liu Ba took over Kong Ming's responsibilities in the workshop and Xiao Tai School, and became even busier.

Although Zhang Song's ability is dazzling, the most important thing when choosing a governor is reliability.

Although he didn't want to think so, Liu Bei also knew clearly that Zhang Song was a lonely minister in Yizhou.

The reason for this is also very simple: the instrument is not up to standard, and in the inspection system, instrument is one of the most important things.

Knowledge can be increased through reading, and conversation can be improved through practice, but there is really nothing that can be done about this unpopular short figure with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks.

Therefore, Zhang Song was extremely grateful for Liu Bei's trust.

Another problem lies with Zhang Song's elder brother Zhang Su.

Unlike Zhang Song, who had a negative appearance score, Zhang Su was born with a majestic appearance and a majestic face even though he was born from the same mother.

Therefore, when Liu Yan and Liu Zhang were in charge of Yizhou, Zhang Su's official career was quite smooth, and Zhang Song was considered to have benefited from his elder brother.

After Liu Bei took over Yizhou, it was Zhang Sushi's turn to take advantage of his younger brother.

After all, in comparison, although Zhang Su is handsome and tall, his talents are really mediocre, far from Zhang Song.

Last year, Liu Bei's expedition to Nanzhong was not only to pacify Nanzhong, but also with the intention of knocking on the mountain to shock the tiger. As a result, Zhang Su was unexpectedly shocked in Chengdu.

According to the intelligence obtained by Wu Yi after capturing Cuan in Nanzhong, the surnames in Nanzhong and Bajun both sent the news to Chengdu, and Chengdu officials forwarded it to Changyu in the residence of General Zhenwei in Jiangling.

One of the officials responsible for liaison in Chengdu was Zhang Su, who was not reused by Liu Bei.

And what happened next was a matter of course. Zhang Su used his official position to pay for his crime and was stripped of his body.

Finally, when Liu Bei officially left Chengdu, Zhang Song bowed down on the Wanli Bridge and swore with tears in his eyes that he would protect Yizhou for Duke Xuande.

Recalling this incident, Liu Bei also sighed a lot.

The brothers of the Zhang family are talented but not good-looking, and good looks are not good enough. One wants to rebel against the old master and welcome the new master, while the other wants to betray the new master and welcome the old master.

Shaking his head to put these old things away for the time being, Liu Bei forced himself to think more about Hanzhong.

Otherwise, if you recall Chengdu, you will inevitably think of the wife and children in Chengdu and the Wu daughter who has not yet had time to explain clearly...

Knocking on his head, Liu Bei forced these thoughts to temporarily clear his mind, and turned to ask the military advisor:

"When does Kong Ming think that Guanzhong Xiahou Yuan will take the initiative to attack?"

Kong Ming already knew this:

"It could be mid-February at the earliest, or just a few days at the earliest."

"If Cao's thieves move, they will first launch a massive and fierce attack in Guanzhong to cover up people's ears."

"When all eyes are focused on this moment, we will attack Jingzhou again."

Nodding, Liu Bei also agreed with this judgment and logically derived the solution:

"Yun Chang and Yuan Zhi, if you don't lose, you will win."

"And when we wait in Guanzhong, we only need to defeat Xiahou and conquer Chang'an. Regardless of whether we win Tongguan or not, we will definitely win!"

When Kong Ming and Liu Bei led the troops on the Golden Bull Road, soldiers on the watchtower in Wuzhangyuan shouted gold warnings, shouting at the top of their lungs:

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"