Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 2447
The scorching sun was in the sky, and Qiu Hu recklessly swayed the last warmth.

Lu Dongzan stood by the road, sweating profusely as he watched the bloated convoy stalled on the road, the horses listlessly wagging their tails and snorting, with an extremely ugly face.

From Songzhou to Chang'an, the straight-line distance is actually not far, but because the Minshan Mountains in the north of Songzhou are steep and towering into the clouds, and many peaks are covered with snow in the middle of their ages, which cannot be crossed by manpower. Follow the mountain trend and turn to the southeast, enter Shuzhong, reach Yizhou, and then go north all the way through Jianmen and Jiannan Road to Chang'an.

This twists and turns is a journey of more than ten days.

Especially now that there is another accident...

The accompanying military officer squatted on the ground to inspect the horse manure carefully, got up and inspected the horse again, and then walked quickly to Lu Dongzan, and said: "My lord, the horse must have eaten spoiled beans, which caused diarrhea. .”

Tubo people are good at raising horses, and Lu Dongzan has no doubts about his judgment.

It's just that he never expected that in the dignified Datang Station, there are people who are greedy for Mr. Mo's money and feed the horses with spoiled beans...

Looking back at the way we came from, we can see that Songzhou City is nowhere to be seen. Looking forward, the road sandwiched between two mountain ridges twists and turns along with a river. It is said that "the road to Shu is difficult", and we have not yet entered the land of Shu. , but the difficulty of the road is not much easier than climbing to the sky.

After taking a sip from the water bag and wiping the water stains on his beard, Lu Dongzan asked, "How far is it to Yizhou?"

The military officer said: "There are still seven hundred miles."

Lu Dongzan asked again: "Where is the nearest station?"

"In less than a hundred miles, there are regulations on the distance between the post stations in the Tang Dynasty. Generally, one will be set up within thirty or fifty miles. However, this place is the border of the Tang Dynasty, and the roads are sparsely populated, so the distance between post stations should be longer. .”

This is also very rare, after all, in Tubo, there is no place to find a station within the territory.

I don’t have that spare money to support a group of postmen who are only responsible for delivering news and goods...

However, the military officer immediately added: "These horses are fine for walking. When the bad beans in their stomachs are digested, diarrhea will be fine, but if they continue to drag and drive, it will be useless."

Lu Dongzan frowned tightly with a pair of blade-like eyebrows, and he had already greeted the eighteen generations of the ancestors of the postmen at the Songzhou post station in his heart...

For a hundred miles, it would take half a day to march, but now that the horses can't be used, is it possible that the accompanying soldiers can lead the horses and push the carts at the same time?
I can't reach the next station in two days!
Lu Dongzan looked up at the sun in the sky, but luckily he saw that there would be no wind and rain in the near future, so he could only say: "Look for an open place nearby, and set up your tent temporarily. Show your credentials to show your identity, and order him to dispatch the horses immediately, otherwise the important event between the two countries will be delayed, and no one can afford this responsibility!"

"Here!"

The military officer got the order, and quickly assigned his subordinates to find an open place. Everyone was busy setting up their tents, and then hurriedly walked to the next station.

Fortunately, they are envoys representing Tubo. Even if there are no soldiers and guards, there is no fear that someone will attack their team. The bandits are not stupid. If war starts, the imperial court will definitely send a large army to destroy it...

The military officer led the people along the way in a hurry, and it was late in the evening before he rushed to the next post station outside a small city, out of breath.

As a result, when we arrived at the post station and revealed our identity to the post postman, the post postman did not question it, but spread his hands, saying: "Our place is just a small post station, and there are only five or six horses for delivering news. How can we provide enough horses?" Go down and find so many horses?"

The military officer said arrogantly: "Then I don't care, I'm just following orders. Anyway, if the Tubo envoys are delayed in presenting the letter of credence to the Emperor of Tang, and the relationship between the two countries deteriorates, all the responsibility is your Tang people!"

The postman said angrily: "You idiot! Your head is caught by the door? Your own horses are loose, how can you blame me for it?"

The military officer was also angry: "If the beans you supplied hadn't gone bad, how could our horses have diarrhea?"

The postman was eloquent, and retorted: "Your ancestors are stern! Is it possible that you are panting because you have eyeballs? If you give you spoiled beans, you will eat them, but if you are given poison, will you eat them or not?"

The military officer was furious. Tubo is adjacent to the Songzhou area, and the Tubo people have dealt with many soldiers and people in Sichuan and Shu. Naturally, they can understand the curse words. Ling Yesi: "It's our Tubo people's fault that you Tang people withheld beans?"

The postman was not afraid, and pushed the military officer away: "Did your turtle eye see that I withheld beans?"

The two sides came and went, neither of them was convinced, and the cronies around them held them tightly, not daring to let them fight together.

Postmen did not dare to mess around, and the laws of the Tang Dynasty were strict. If they really fought with foreign envoys and delayed national affairs, they might be exiled for three thousand miles; Datang has fought several battles, and in their eyes, the heavenly kingdom is in awe enough to dare not make mistakes.

After arguing for a while, the two sides gradually calmed down, and the military officer asked: "Anyway, you postmen have to find a way for me."

The postman also knew his responsibility. If the Tubo envoys delayed their journey due to transportation within his jurisdiction, it must be his fault.

But he is stubborn in his bones, how can he be soft on the Tubo people?
"I can help you buy horses in nearby counties, but you have to pay for it!"

The military officer also knew that it was impossible to make the postman back down, so he could only hold back his anger: "Then hurry up, the sooner the better!"

The postman rolled his eyes: "I don't think it will be sooner, but the county has a curfew at this time, and I can't get in or out. I can only wait until tomorrow morning."

The military officer was furious. He heard that Chang'an had to impose a curfew because of its large population. You, a small town with a population of less than [-], has a curfew?
But anger is anger, and people have to bow their heads under the eaves, so they can only hold back their anger and sleep in the post all night.

Fortunately, although the postmen had bad tempers, they were not bad-tempered. After a meal, the Tubo soldiers had a round belly, and they slept soundly in the spacious posthouse at night.

Early the next morning, just after dawn, the military officer knocked on the door to wake up the postmen, and they went to the county together.

There is a small livestock market in the county seat. There are not many horses, but there are quite a few donkeys. If you can barely get together, you can still make up enough animals for the mission.

The postman was also bad. As soon as he entered the livestock market, he pulled his neck and said: "Everyone listened, now the Tubo envoys are going to Chang'an to meet His Majesty, and the horses that draw the carts are sick and need a large number of livestock. !Warning you, it is not easy for people to travel thousands of miles to Datang, the two countries are separated by a strip of water, you sons of bitches, you can't let me raise the price!"

When the cattle dealers heard this, their eyes lit up!

The postman said to the military officer: "Hey, this place is the livestock market. You can discuss what livestock you need. If the price is high or low, you can go to the market as you go. I don't care!"

The military officer thought that you just want to take care of it, so we don't worry about it. Who knows if your kid will quote us a sky-high price?
However, the postman was able to warn these dealers not to raise prices on the spot as soon as he came up. He said that it was not bad, and the favor was accepted, so he said kindly: "Thank you!"

The postman laughed: "You're welcome, you're welcome."

The military attache led people into the market and saw many animals tied up. He went up to touch the fur and look at the teeth. He was not very satisfied, but there was nothing he could do now, so he asked a donkey dealer: "Your donkey How much is the donkey?"

The businessman turned his face towards the military officer, but glanced at the postman, hesitantly said: "Three...thirty rounds?"

The military officer's eyes almost popped out: "How much?!"

The businessman had been staring at the expression of the postman, and he reported a number indiscriminately. Seeing the postman's eyes looking up at the sky, he didn't even look at this side, and suddenly he was determined: "Thirty guan! Hey, look at this end." The donkey is only three years old, the fur, the teeth, tsk tsk, absolutely worth it!"

The military officer was so angry that his nose was about to smoke, and he said angrily: "You think I have never seen a donkey? In Tubo, the price of a high-quality war horse is only [-] guan. How dare you ask for [-] guan for a donkey?" ? Are you crazy about money? It's unreasonable!"

(End of this chapter)