Taiheiki

Chapter 130: Over the Mountain
Wei Cong laughed. He liked this about Diwudeng. Although he was a little rude and impulsive, he never backed down in the face of difficulties and kept moving forward courageously. Could he ask for more from a subordinate?
"If that's the case, then I'll leave it to you!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "Go and check the 500 men right now and set off tomorrow morning. Remember, bypass Nanye County and go directly to capture Hengpu Pass. Choose soldiers who are accustomed to walking on mountain roads!"

"Yes!" Diwu Deng responded, bowed to Wei Cong, and left the tent. Wei Cong let out a long sigh. According to the plan, he would depart two days later than Diwu Deng. This way, by the time he arrived at Nanye County, he would be crossing Dayu Mountain. This way, there would be no need to worry about the defenders of Hengpu Pass getting the news in advance. Of course, there was a hidden danger. If he delayed too long in Nanye County, the vanguard troops that had captured Hengpu Pass would be isolated and helpless. Ultimately, the success of the entire plan depended on the execution capabilities of the various military units and luck. He hoped that luck would be on his side this time.

At three o'clock the next day, Diwudeng, commanding a vanguard of fifteen boats, departed Ganxian County and headed south. Following the route Wei Cong had mapped out, they would reach the Dayuling Mountains, which straddle the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces. There, they would follow the footsteps of the Qin army's southward advance centuries earlier, crossing the ancient Wujing Road and entering Lingnan. For the sake of secrecy, no one in the barracks knew of this, save Wei Cong and Diwudeng.

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General's tent, military meeting.

"My dear, where are we going on the fifth morning?" Liu Jiu asked in a low voice.

"We're going to take Nanye County!" Wei Cong replied nonchalantly, "The troops there are weak, so we can just send Diwu Deng there!"

"Oh, oh!" Liu Jiu lowered his head and nodded awkwardly. He glanced cautiously at Huang Ping beside him. Huang Ping coughed and said, "Sir, Nanye County does have a small population, but it is still well-protected by city walls. I'm afraid the few hundred men Diwu Deng brought with him wouldn't be enough to handle it!"

"He won't resort to force right away!" Wei Cong said, "He just needs to intimidate us. We'll only arrive two days later than him anyway!"

"Two days?" Liu Jiu was shocked. "So soon?"

"That's right, so you guys need to hurry!" The smile on Wei Cong's face disappeared. "You should all understand that speed is of the essence in war. Anyway, I'm going to weigh anchor and set off in two days. Leave the rest to Zhu An. His supply fleet should be arriving in a few days anyway!"

"As you command!" Huang Ping and Liu Jiu exchanged glances, then reluctantly replied. Indeed, according to the plan, Zhu Zhi would depart two weeks after the main army, carrying the new weapons and armor forged in the camp, catching up with the large group that had departed two weeks earlier. The problem was that even if the route was by water, pirates were bound to be numerous at this time, and Zhu Zhi might not be able to safely deliver all the goods. Naturally, he couldn't say this in front of Wei Cong.

"Okay, both of you go and keep an eye on it. Time is limited and we can't delay any longer!" Wei Cong waved his hand and ordered them to leave.

"Here!"

The two men left the tent and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Liu Jiu lowered his voice and said, "Old Huang, do you think things will really go as smoothly as you said?"

"Who knows? We can only adapt to the situation!" Huang Ping sighed. "No more talking. Let's all go about our own business! Otherwise, if he comes out and sees us talking here, he will definitely be unhappy!"

"Well! Goodbye then!" Liu Jiu bowed and came to the open space on both sides of the road behind the camp gate. It was usually where the allied forces camped. When there were no allied forces, it would be empty, and sometimes some miscellaneous items would be piled up. Liu Jiu ordered the newly recruited soldiers to be placed here and then distributed to the various garrisons to replenish the troops. Liu Jiu heard someone shouting and cursing from a distance, and hurriedly quickened his pace and ran over. He shouted from a distance: "What are you doing? What are you doing? This is the military. Every move you make is subject to military punishment. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

When Liu Jiu got closer, he saw more than two hundred new recruits on the open space on the left side of the camp. More than a hundred of them were gathered in a group, each holding a sword at their waist, glaring fiercely at the soldiers coming around them, like a group of trapped beasts fighting desperately.

"What's going on? What are you doing? Put down your weapons!" Liu Jiu shouted.

"Captain!" Qian Wen came forward and said, "This group of new recruits are sticking together and refuse to be separated into different teams, so—"

"What? You refuse to break up? You still dare to cause trouble at this critical moment, you are really rebellious!" Liu Jiu was furious when he heard this: "Qian Wen, do you eat for free? Why don't you disperse this group and arrest the leader and behead him in public!"

"Captain!" Qian Wen said with a wry smile, "The accents of these people seem a bit off! They're not the local Yuzhang accent!"

"Isn't it a Yuzhang accent?" Liu Jiu glanced at Qian Wen suspiciously, then took two steps forward and asked the group of new recruits, "Is there anyone who can come out and talk?"

The crowd was in commotion for a moment, and then a young man stepped out of the crowd: "Ask anything you want!"

Liu Jiu frowned. It wasn't a Yuzhang accent, but rather a Hebei accent. Whether it was Youzhou or Jizhou, he wasn't sure. "Where are you from?"

"From Zhuo County, Youzhou!"

"People from Zhuo County, Youzhou?" Liu Jiu was stunned. Why did a group of people from Zhuo County come to recruit soldiers from Gan County? Isn't this a ghost?
"Why are people from Youzhou's Zhuo County coming to Gan County?"

"Gan County Magistrate Liu Fen is from Zhuo County, Youzhou. We are his retainers and guests, and we came to Gan County with him!"

"Are you the county magistrate's guests? Then why were you sent here?"

After the other party explained the whole story, even Liu Jiu, whose heart had long been tempered by experience, couldn't help but sigh inwardly that these guys were truly unlucky. They had originally been a group of knights who followed their eldest brother south to enjoy the good life, but then their eldest brother was inexplicably hit by a poisoned crossbow and fell unconscious. Power was seized by the county magistrate, and his entire group was also packaged as cannon fodder. It could only be said that fate played tricks on them.

"What about your county magistrate?" Liu Jiu asked. "He's still in the city, and I don't know if he's alive or dead!" Liu An replied dejectedly. He hadn't recovered from the shock of the whole incident. He said to Liu Jiu, "We've come south to follow my uncle, and we're committed to living and dying together. Could you please, Captain, please show some mercy and let a dozen of us go back to look after my uncle? I'll spare the others even if I die!" He bowed deeply.

"This..." Liu Jiu was stunned, then smiled bitterly and said, "I don't have the final say on this matter. I need to report it to the captain and let him decide. Wait for me first."

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"There's such a strange thing!" Wei Cong couldn't help but laugh after listening to Liu Jiu's report: "A group of Youzhou wanderers arrived in Gan County and were sold to us by the county magistrate! Haha, but this also has something to do with me. After all, it was me who sent Wu Ze who shot the county magistrate!"

"Yes, what a coincidence!" Liu Jiu sighed, "Then what should we do? Should we agree to their request?"

"Leave some men back to Gan County to guard the county magistrate who was shot by a poisoned arrow?" Wei Cong laughed. "How is that possible? Besides, it's useless to agree to them! The county magistrate and the county magistrate have already fallen out after this incident. The reason he sold these people to us was to make it easier to kill the county magistrate. Even if a dozen people were left behind, they would just die with the county magistrate. What's the point?"

"That's right!" Liu Jiu also realized: "So the county magistrate is dead?"

"He's definitely dead!" Wei Cong laughed. "If I were the county magistrate, I would never allow the county magistrate to live. Otherwise, everything he did would become ironclad evidence to kill them."

"Captain is right!" Liu Jiu looked at Wei Cong with admiration: "Then I will go back and tell these guys!"

"You don't have to be the bad guy!" Wei Cong shook his head. "When you go back, tell those guys that the army has its own laws. How could we let a dozen people go? How about this? Write a letter to the city and ask the county magistrate to hand over the county magistrate. Since we're going by water anyway, we can stay on the same boat with them and let them take care of it themselves!"

"That's a good idea!" Liu Jiu punched his fist: "Then I'll tell them this!"

"Go! Also, since they are knights from Youzhou, they most likely have horses. Have the county magistrate send out the horses these people usually ride. We'll need them later!"

"Yes!" Liu Jiu responded and went out excitedly. Wei Cong looked at his subordinates' backs and couldn't help but smile. If his guess was correct, the Gan County Magistrate would most likely not hand over a living county magistrate. But it didn't matter. Anyway, he didn't have to do the evil himself.

Just as Wei Cong guessed, the Gan County Magistrate handed over the mounts and weapons of Liu Fen and the group of knights at the request of Liu Jiu, but Liu Fen was in very bad condition and died at noon the next day after leaving the city. In grief and anger, Liu An and his companions chose a burial place for his uncle on the high ground beside the Gan River, and then followed the fleet on the journey to Nanye County.

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"Let the soldiers get off the boat! The water is too shallow ahead and we can't sail!" Looking at the sailor waving his arms who was measuring the water depth on the exploratory boat in front, Diwu Deng sighed in disappointment.

Because it was late autumn, the Tao River was much shallower than usual. From the boat, one could see a long stretch of pebbled shallows along the shore. During the heavy spring and summer rains, these shallows would have been water. Going further would have put the boat in danger of running aground and sinking into the muddy riverbed. As the boat approached the shore, soldiers disembarked, unloaded the baggage, and then towed the boat ashore, padding the bottom with stones to prevent it from rotting. At dawn the next day, Diwu Deng led his five hundred men and continued toward the Wujing Ancient Road.

Due to the construction of roads, railways and other transportation methods in modern times, the Wujing Ancient Road has been abandoned since the founding of New China. However, in the second century AD, this mountain road was still the fastest and most convenient road from Lingnan to the Central Plains (although the road via Xiangjiang River - Lingqu Canal - Lijiang River is a waterway, it has a big detour and is not as good as Ganjiang River - Wujing Ancient Road - Beijiang River which is almost a straight line and has a shorter distance).

Especially before Zhang Jiuling, ordered to forge a path through the Meiling Mountains during the Tang Dynasty, this mountain road served as the only land route connecting the Lingnan and Yuzhang water systems. On the fifth ascent, he occasionally saw villages along the road, pavilions and wells for rest, and even discovered a mountain temple. He entered the temple corridor, reverently knelt before the mountain god, and made an alms of 100 coins before leading his soldiers on their journey.

To avoid unnecessary unrest, the five hundred men led by Diwu Deng disguised themselves as night watchmen on a rotational garrison mission to Lingnan, a common practice at the time. This even evoked the sympathy of some roadside residents and passing merchants: everyone knew that soldiers sent to these smoky, malaria-ridden lands were hard-pressed, often away for two or three years, sometimes as long as four or five. For every hundred men, if only fifty returned alive, they were considered lucky. Some residents even offered them dried fruits and cakes—a treat for these hard-working men, about to leave their homeland, to finally have a taste of home.
As the position rose, the road up the mountain became more rugged and steep, and the villages and pavilions on both sides of the road gradually disappeared. In order to carry supplies and weapons, this advance team had 100 donkeys and mules in addition to 500 people. The sound of horseshoes hitting the stone slabs could be heard from far away.

On the fifth ascent, pale lichens covered the rocks on either side of the path, gently swaying green mosses. According to Wei Langjun, Zhao Tuo and the Qin soldiers entered Lingnan through this path and established a stronghold there. Not only did they escape the brutal civil war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, but they also passed on their lineage and established a kingdom here. I was now following in their footsteps. Could I possibly do the same?

"Stone fort, Captain, do you see it? There is a stone fort ahead!"

Diwu Deng hurried forward. On the right side of the mountain path, there was a chest-high wall of rubble. Inside this ring wall, there was a ruined area of about two acres square. Judging from the foundation and the broken walls, it must have been a fortress. Diwu Deng climbed over the ring wall and found a well under a large tree. He looked inside and saw that there was still water.

"Captain!" Deputy Li Qun whispered, "We're almost at the top of the mountain. Judging by the distance, we should be able to cross the mountain today! Let the soldiers rest for a while, drink some water, and eat something! The fortifications here are ready."

"Hmm!" Diwu Deng looked around and confirmed that there were no traces of people. "Send someone to explore the surroundings first. Don't just jump into the trap!"

Li Qun responded and immediately sent his men to investigate the surroundings. Once he was sure there were no problems, he allowed the soldiers to rest inside the wall. He said to Li Qun, "Just rest for a while, eat something, and we must get down the mountain before dark!"

"Yes!" Li Qun responded, and went to direct the soldiers to set up camp according to their divisions. Someone drew well water and brought it over. Diwu Deng took a sip. It was very clear and refreshing, and his spirits lifted. "This well water is good. Why is no one living here?"

(End of this chapter)