Jiang Fan was quite surprised when he heard Zhao Xin’s question.

Zhao Xin said before that he had never been to Xinjiang, but when he came out in the morning, he seemed to have decided to come to Gaogang under his feet. Under the leadership of two Kazakh guides who knew Chinese, the group first went straight to the Zhonggegen River, and then along the east bank, passing through a magnificent snow-capped hill called "Jangbulak" by the local Kazakhs. Then they passed through a pass and came here.

Thinking of this, Jiang Fan asked, "Your Highness, how dare you ask where is this place?"

"Shule City." Zhao Xin's voice seemed dry in the empty ruins, with a sense of dullness.

Jiang Fan was stunned and his brain started running at high speed. Suddenly, a biographies of characters in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" emerged, so he blurted out: "Geng Bozong, who is not ashamed of the great Han Dynasty?"

Zhao Xin praised: "Zi Ping is so memorable! This is the place where Geng Gong resisted the Huns a thousand years ago." After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed to the well more than ten meters away, and continued: "Don't believe it? That well is the 'Flying Spring' mentioned in Wang Wei's poem. It has been one thousand and seven hundred years!"

Jiang Fan never expected that Shule City, which is famous in history books, was actually the ruins in front of him. He walked to the well in disbelief and was about to approach and look down. The guard behind him hurriedly stepped forward and pulled him, and advised: "Chief of Staff, be careful! The wellhead slips."

At this time, a Kazakh guide leading the way walked forward and spoke in Liangzhou-style Chinese dialect: "Sir, I have been here to get water with sheep before. The water in this well is sweet!"

“How deep is it?”

The guide stretched out his arms and gestured, "How deep! Sir, look at the rope on the wheel, long!"

Jiang Fan looked at the hemp ropes on the wheel, and it was estimated that it must be at least seven or eight feet long.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Biography of Geng Yan" says that when the Xiongnu besieged Shule City, they cut off the water source of the deep ravine under the city and forced the defenders to surrender. Geng Gong then dug a well in the city, which was fifteen feet deep and could not get water. The soldiers were so thirsty that they could not bear it. They were forced to squeeze out horse manure and quench their thirst. So he reorganized his clothes and prayed devoutly to the dry well. Not long after, spring water emerged from the well, and the defenders in the city shouted "Long live". Geng Gong then asked his subordinates to sprinkle water on the top of the city to demonstrate. The Xiongnu was shocked and believed that the Han army was blessed by gods and had to retreat. But what the Xiongnu generals didn't know was that there were only 26 Han troops in the city at that time, and they could take it down with one more rush.

It seems that King Zhao is right. There are Han tiles and water wells here, and the terrain is steep. It should be Shule Ancient City.

However, what shocked Jiang Fan even more was how Zhao Xin knew about this place? He couldn't help but think of the indescribable "magic" parts of the other party again. Could it be that King Zhao learned immortal arts from the gods as vaguely legends within the North Navy?

It’s a tangle! What Jiang Fan is most reluctant to mention or think about now is this matter, which is really contrary to common sense!

As a master of Confucianism who respects the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, he never believed that there were any gods and immortals in the world, and it was not necessary to know whether there was or whether it was.

The Confucian view is that if a person truly understands the way of life, he will understand the way of life and death. It is not important to be a god or an immortal, but to save the world and peace is the most important thing. This is exactly what Confucius said about "If you don't know what people do, how can you know what ghosts do" and "If you don't know what life, how can you know how can you know how to die."

It is said that since the Song and Ming dynasties, Neo-Confucianists have never believed that there are gods in the world who ascend, inspire and take over, and change at will. Although they agree with the methods and principles of maintaining the shape and refining Qi, prolonging life, and affirming the extraordinary audio-visual, pre-information, and even the soul's shell, they always believe that it is "qi" at work.

For example, Zhu Xi believed that the energy would dissipate after a long time. The so-called immortals were just outstanding figures in a generation who were good at health preserving and gathering energy. For example, when the Han Dynasty talked about An Qisheng, no one mentioned it in the Tang Dynasty. It was replaced by Zhongli Han and Lu Dongbin. No one mentioned it in the Northern Song Dynasty. Therefore, these people only had good health preservation and longevity than ordinary people. After a long time, everything would be dissipated.

Wang Shouren, who was most talked about by later generations, had no practical experience of the art of gods. Before, he learned the so-called "art of immortals" with Taoists, but he believed that such things should not be discussed easily. Someone once wrote three letters to ask him about the matter of gods, but Wang Yangming refused to answer. In the end, he was forced to ask for nothing, and only said that it was possible to live for 1,500 years like Guangchengzi, but the innate component is relatively large and not forced by humans. As for the spells rumored by the folk, Wang Yangming said that they were all magical magic and illusions.

Is Zhao Xin's ability a illusion? Jiang Fan thinks it is obviously not, but a living person went to the Tianshan Mountains and Gobi Desert after two days from the beach thousands of miles away. This is completely inexplicable! You can't think about it anymore, the more you think about it, the more you get a headache!

On the other side, Fan Tong asked Zhao Xin curiously: "Who is Geng Gong?"

Zhao Xin smiled and said, "Xiao Fan, have you never heard of the story of Shule, the Thirteenth General of the Eastern Han Dynasty?"

Fan Tong shook his head in confusion and said, "I just knew Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Guang. By the way! And Ban Dingyuan."

Zhao Xin then briefly talked about Geng Gong's deeds to Fan Tong. He actually looked at it from the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, and it was Wang Zhong who asked him to read it. Wang Zhong said that you must master the first four histories when taking the scholars. Then, if you are fine, you can take a look.

Fan Tong was amazed at the ears. He really didn't expect that in addition to Ban Chao, there was such a "magic Cras" character in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Jiang Fan, who was standing by, listened silently to Zhao Xin's story, and then recited Wang Wei's song "The Journey of the Veteran". His tone was a little desolate, but more of it was a sad but not hurtful hero, which made Zhao and Fan excited.

"At the time of fifteen or twenty, the young man took Hu horses and cavalry on foot. He shot and killed the white-necked tiger in Zhongshan, and was willing to count the yellow thunder in Ye! He fought for three thousand miles and was once a million troops with one sword. The Han soldiers were as fast as thunder, and the enemy cavalry collapsed and feared the thorns. Wei Qing was undefeated by heaven, and Li Guang had no achievements in his fate... The vast ancient trees were connected to the alleys, and the deserted cold mountains faced the empty wall. He vowed to let Shule out the flying spring, not like Yingchuan's empty wine..."

Time went back more than half an hour ago, behind a rock one kilometer southwest of Zhao Xin and others, three guys wearing sheepskin coats and exposed gray wool quietly shrank their heads back.

"Why are there North Pirates here? Alin Bao, are you a spy of North Pirates?!"

Although the sun was very strong at noon, the temperature was almost ten degrees below zero because of the shade here. Seeing two vanguards staring at him with ferocious faces and his right hand also penetrated into his arms, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Alin Bao's back spine.

"Two brothers, listen to me, this... no one comes to this place normally, so my master made an appointment to meet here. How did the North Sea Pirates come? I really don't know! I, Alin Bao, swear to the sky in the name of my ancestors, if there is a lie, the sky will thunder and lightning!"

Hearing that he was talking so heavily, the two forward soldiers looked at each other and couldn't say anything else. One of them said in a muffled voice: "What's the matter back and explain to Lord Ba! Retreat!"

When the three difficult-to-distinguish white figures retreated westward and disappeared into the dense forest, and a mile away from the edge of a pine forest where they were hiding, two Uyghurs, who were also wearing sheepskin coats, were quietly retreating. When they left the forest, walked out of the valley and walked out several miles southeastward, climbed over a hill, and came to another large pine forest, they soon heard the noise of horses neighing, most of them spoke Uyghurs.

The two quickly walked through more than a dozen tents, ignored the greetings of those familiar people, and went straight to a large felt tent with a gorgeous appearance. They knelt on one knee when a middle-aged man wearing a black armor and a red robe with a round face and a deep nose. One of them began to speak Brabra.

While listening, the middle-aged man stroked the two raised mustaches on his mouth with his fingers. However, his face soon changed color. He raised his hand to interrupt his subordinate who was reporting. He said in Mongolian to a middle-aged man wearing a blue Taoist robe and a hooded man sitting in the main seat: "Sir, there are a group of North Sea soldiers coming from Shichengzi!"

"What!" The Taoist priest, known as the adult, changed his face and suddenly rose from the horse. The reason why he chose Shichengzi and Alinbao to meet was because the terrain there was steep and located at the foot of Tianshan Mountain. No one came in winter.

Needless to say, this guy in Taoist costume is naturally Alinbao's master, the first-class guard of the Qing Dynasty, the former leader of the Balikun and the promotion. As for the man wearing armor, they are the subordinates of the King of Hui, Xiaslin, who has been stationed in the Yiwu area. The Uyghur people in front of him and outside the tent are all cavalrymen under the Yiwei camp of the King of Hui's Mansion, with a total of more than 80 people.

The reason why the people who Huiwang were mixed with the dog and the rising brevity was that the North Navy shot two Burkes in Hami and tore the faces with the Hami powerful people represented by Huiwang's mansion. The problem is that although the powerful people were angry, they also knew that turning against each other directly was like an egg hitting a stone.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the situation and increase in Hami appeared from the incense crowd.

He set up a line through the Iwu area's Imam and Dataiji Ermot. He quickly reached an agreement on finding an opportunity to assassinate senior officers of the Northern Navy. However, the cunning Ermot also has the conditions, that is, the identity of the Yiwei Camp cavalry must not be exposed, and to the outside world, they can only be said to be a righteous citizen.

Although he was passionate and righteous in the blood letter he promoted to Shang An, he wanted to use the creditor of the Northern Navy to exchange for the court's grace of not killing. He was the first-class guard personally appointed by Qianlong, and his ancestors had a general Shengjing, so he would never surrender. It would be fine if he really wanted to die in battle when he was defending the city, but he was rescued by Alin Bao and others.

He continued to ask, "How many people have come to the North Pirates?"

Xia Silin then asked the two kneeling whistles a few times, then nodded, and then said, "About thirty rides, no more than forty."

He Sheng said in surprise: "That's the only one! They both read it right?"

Xia Silin said conceitably: "With the Lord, the two of them in the Biaoxia Sect have great eyesight and will never be mistaken. There is another thing. They said that when they were on the verge, in addition to the North Sea soldiers, they also found a few guys with strange whereabouts and went west. Do you see if it was..."

He Sheng was stunned, frowned and thought for a while, and then said affirmatively: "It's probably Alinbao brought people here! Today is the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month. I made an appointment with him to meet on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. I didn't expect him to arrive so soon!"

Xia Silin said: "Sir, since there are not many soldiers from the Beihai, why don't you destroy this group of thieves? It's more than 60 miles away from Jingyuan City, with barren mountains and wilderness, and the roads are difficult to walk, and the opportunity is rare."

He Shang's erection pondered for a moment and knew that the other party was right. You should know that Qing and Beihai Town have fought for so many years, and they have never had the result of being able to eliminate and behead more than 30 people at once. Not to mention thirty, being able to behead ten people at once is a great achievement.

Although the North Navy's fast guns are powerful, there are more than 80 cavalrymen and more than 20 bird guns on his side. As long as you choose a position to ambush on the other party's way back in advance and catch them off guard, you will still have a great chance of winning.

Thinking of this, He Sheng took out a map drawn on the sheepskin from his arms. Xia Silin also called several of his subordinates and began to make arrangements in full swing.

At the same time, in a leeward valley five miles southwest of Shichengzi, the assistant leader Baqina looked ferocious and kicked Alinbao over to the ground with his foot. The geese-ling knife in his hand was pulled out, pointing at the other party and said angrily: "More than 20 people follow you to sleep in Gongning City and run here for hundreds of miles. It's so easy? I agreed to meet up with the pride. You said you are not a spy from the North Sea Pirates, so what do you think! Where is he now?!"

Alinbao struggled to stand up, with several forward soldiers standing around him, holding the knife handle with malicious intentions. With just one word from Baqina, he could kill him immediately.

He also took the initiative and said without fear: "Master Ba, please swear to the sky that you will never surrender to the thief, otherwise I will die without a burial place! The time I made an appointment with my master was on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. It was only two days away. He must have not arrived yet. Let's wait patiently. I don't understand why those pirates from North China came to Shichengzi. I also saw it when I was surveillance with these two brothers. They didn't seem to be camping here, maybe everyone has left now."

When Baqina heard the other party say this, he hesitated. He was not stupid either. If Alin had surrendered to the enemy, his more than 20 people would have been rounded up by others halfway.

At this time, one of the two leaders rushed to approach and said, "Sir, there are only more than 30 pirates in North China. Do you think you want to fight?"

"What to fight?" Baqina waved his hand and said, "It is the only way to join the terrain of this area. We are not familiar with the terrain of this area. We have to act rashly in a hurry, and the outcome is unpredictable. Before we set off, we forgot about it. If we want to do it, we must hit it with one blow, and then escape thousands of miles away. We will send two people to see it. If there is any situation, one person will stare at it, and the other person will immediately repay it!"
Chapter completed!