Chapter 237 Crossing the Qinling Mountains
Nineteen-year-old Sima!
Considering that most people enter officialdom after they reach adulthood, this is almost unthinkable.
Even though this was accomplished in front of everyone's witnesses, it was facilitated by Liu Yan's desire to usurp the throne. When everyone walked out of the Purple Palace, they still felt an indescribable trance.
However, Qiao Yan, the newly promoted Grand Marshal, was much calmer than these old ministers.
Because when Qiao Yan was granted the title of Grand Marshal, she also received the imperial edict for a hunting meeting, so she had already discussed the details of this march with Huangfu Song and Xianyu Fu.
"The garrison stationed in Chencang will not make any moves for the time being because they still have to supervise the situation in Wudu County and Hanyang County. However, in order to mobilize troops quickly, I will transfer a large number of other garrisons in Guanzhong. From now on, the defense of Guanzhong will be entrusted to you two."
Having said this, Qiao Yan bowed to Huangfu Song and Xianyu Fu without any airs of a powerful official.
What she meant was that after she sent out her troops, the garrison around Guanzhong and the patrol inside Chang'an City would be left to the two of them.
This clear expression of decentralization made Xianyu Fu, an old subordinate of Liu Yu, feel much more at ease.
But to be honest, after the previous reorganization of Chang'an City, the boundaries between the palace government offices and the civilian households were clearly divided. The identity of the people entering the city recently was also checked, and the possibility of security problems was very low. Therefore, Qiao Yan mainly explained to Huangfu Song.
"I originally wanted to finish the construction of Tongguan before the spring plowing in March. Unfortunately, because of the attack on Hanzhong, I had to transfer the personnel who were good at mountain warfare there. Only General Huangfu could lead the people to take over."
The most famous pass between Chang'an and Luoyang was originally called Hangu Pass.
This is the important fortress where Qin State came out of the Central Plains and unified the world.
However, with the erosion of the river channel over the past four hundred years, a large area of tidal flats was washed out on the northern side of Chousangyuan near Hangu Pass, and the natural checkpoint of Hangu Pass no longer exists.
If someone wanted to attack Chang'an, they could just go around the mudflats.
Even Chousangyuan itself has become less steep after years of impact, allowing people to pass through by climbing.
This means that if one wants to rely on Hangu Pass to intercept enemies coming from the east of Guanzhong, it is not enough to rely on the original Hangu Pass alone.
Therefore, after Dong Zhuo fled west to Chang'an with Liu Xie, Duan Wei, who realized this, reminded Dong Zhuo. After getting Dong Zhuo's consent, he rebuilt a checkpoint west of Hangu Pass.
Use the Loess Plateau, Yellow River, Qinling Mountains, Tong River and other terrain barriers to rebuild protection for Guanzhong.
Because of the Tong River, it is named Tongguan. 1
After Qiao Yan entered Guanzhong, he also obtained the garrison authority of this pass. Therefore, Xu You, who came to deliver food to Yuan Shao in the intention of repairing the relationship, was thrown out from here by Qiao Yan.
However, since most of Dong Zhuo's defenses were directed at Qiao Yan in the north, Tongguan, which should have been built to be more like a strong fortress,
It's a bit of a sloppy workmanship actually.
After the renovation of the Weiyang Palace, the construction of the Purple Palace and the Lingtai, and the renovation of the roads in Chang'an City, the reinforcement of Tongguan was also put on the agenda.
Unfortunately, her top priority right now is to attack Zhang Lu. At least she needs to make the position of Grand Marshal she has taken play a further role.
Huangfu Song nodded in agreement, and couldn't help but teasing at this time: "Ye Shu was already known as a governor in his early years. It turns out that he has trained his character."
No matter who holds the high position of Grand Marshal, I'm afraid that they won't be able to have such peace.
Her performance is really touching. Some people are indeed unusually calm after going through the trials and tribulations of their youth.
Qiao Yan replied, "General Huangfu is not entirely right. When one is in a high position, one will feel both happy and fearful. But in the current situation, if I become anxious and proud because of my position as a Grand Marshal, it will only give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of me. It is better to treat the Grand Marshal before the rank of General of the Cavalry as no different from my current position and do my job according to the principle of doing my job well."
Huangfu Song smiled and said, "Then let me see how you, the Grand Marshal, will command the great general Liu Yan."
If the road to Hanzhong was not mostly mountainous, especially the special mountain terrain of Qinling Mountains, Huangfu Song would have wanted to go along.
But both he and Lu Zhi had passed their prime, so it was not appropriate to do this now.
Qiao Yan was obviously well aware of the special nature of this march.
Even if they had the advantage of taking the initiative and Liu Yan had no time to react, it could not change one fact—
The road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong is not easy.
So for this march, she brought along two teams in Guanzhong that were experts in mountain warfare.
One is Yao Chang's Qiang army, and the other is the Black Mountain Army led by Chu Yan.
In Qiao Yan's original plan, these two teams were supposed to assist Cheng Yu in expanding towards Hongnong and Henan Yin.
But after some adjustments in priorities, they decided that the most appropriate place for them was to accompany Qiao Yan into the battle of Hanzhong.
The other army that marched towards Hanzhong with Qiao Yan was the army led by Zhao Yun.
This army originally patrolled the line from Chencang to Chang'an and was responsible for the various passes leading to Yizhou.
But after the hunting plan was formulated, it meant that she could replace defense with offense, and Zhao Yun should naturally march with her.
Later, when deciding on the military advisor to accompany the army, Qiao Yan gave up on bringing Guo Jia along, and instead let him stay in Chang'an to cooperate with Cheng Yu in dealing with the situations in Jingzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou.
Xi Zhicai stayed in Bingzhou to ensure that there was no breakthrough in the direction of Jizhou and Liangzhou.
After completing his plan for Yizhou, Li Ru needed to disappear for a while, so he returned to Shangjun to keep company with the "traitor" Jia Xu.
Yang Xiu was still working as a messenger in Suiyuan City.
This way, there are only two people left to take with you.
Xun You and Xu Shu.
"I intend to let Yuanzhi go to Wudu County and guard the exit from Wudu to Hanzhong Mianyang." Qiao Yan made arrangements after returning to the Grand Marshal's Mansion.
After Qiao Yan was promoted, Xi Zhicai was transferred from the governor of Bingzhou to the position of Beijia, exercising the power of the governor. Guo Jia was transferred from the original Yunzhong and Xihe counties to the chief secretary of the Grand Marshal's Mansion. At this time, he sat in the first seat below Qiao Yan, watching her make a blocking mark on the map in front of her.
But this obviously does not mean to form a two-sided encirclement in the direction of Hanzhong.
Because Guo Jia had heard Qiao Yan's next sentence, "Let Yuan Zhi decide how many troops to station at the various passes in Wudu County. I only need to ensure that one goal can be achieved, so that Zhang Lu can flow to the Guanghan vassal state south of Wudu County when necessary."
Guo Jia took a sip of the hot tea in his hand and replied, "Your Excellency is going to use the strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf."
Qiao Yan smiled meaningfully: "Not entirely, I have some other ideas, but there is no rush for now. After all, the goal of this hunt is not to capture all of Zhang Lu's Tianshi Dao in one fell swoop, it is enough to disperse his followers in Hanzhong."
She did not tell the whole story, and Guo Jia did not ask any further questions.
When the most important goal, that is, obtaining the position of Grand Marshal, has been achieved, everything else is relatively secondary.
Guo Jia simply asked, "That's fine, but since you have made such an arrangement for Yuan Zhi, are you going to take Gong Da with you?"
The uncle and nephew of the Xun family, the uncle receives a salary in the court and serves as a Shizhong, while the nephew became a military officer in the General of Cavalry's Mansion after Qiao Yan opened his own mansion as a General of Cavalry, and now he has been successfully promoted to a military officer in the Grand Marshal's Mansion.
It is only natural for him to follow Qiao Yan into battle as a military advisor.
But that's not the whole reason.
"Yes, take Gongda with you." Qiao Yan replied, "I discussed with him the route to enter Hanzhong a few days ago, and he and I agreed to take the Luogu Road."
Qiao Yan pointed to the path on the map that was sandwiched between Xiegu Road and Ziwu Valley. 2
This important road between Guanzhong and Hanzhong starts at Luogu and ends at Tanggu. It has not yet become a widely used route for north-south transportation.
This is because this road not only connects two river valleys, but also includes a series of valleys and valleys such as the Blackwater River Valley and the Clearwater River Valley. It is composed of a series of winding roads.
Luo Valley at the beginning and Tang Valley at the end only occupy less than one-fifth of the length of this route.
But there is an advantage to taking this path.
Although the route has many turns, its entire length is only 440 miles, which is 200 miles shorter than Ziwu Valley.
Compared with the Xiegu Road, the vigilance from Hanzhong direction is bound to be much less.
Qiao Yan added: "Gongda is good at making strange plans. This time, the battle of Hanzhong will start with a strange strategy, which is in line with his principles. But this will make the journey more difficult."
Xun You, who was sitting next to Guo Jia, shook his head and did not think it was hard work.
If a battle had to be retreated due to terrain conditions, he would not have to be a military advisor. He could have just followed Xun Shuang to study.
He just reminded: "This is not hard work, but you should bring more military doctors with you this time. I heard people from Guanzhong and Yizhou talking about the Luogu Road. They all said that there are many green snakes in the valley, which can injure people within a dozen steps. Your Majesty is already a Grand Marshal, with great achievements and high position, so don't make mistakes in this matter."
Qiao Yan replied: "Of course we cannot take this lightly. I have sent more military doctors from Bingzhou. They should arrive before the army reorganizes and sets out."
Qiao Yan did not dare to slack off at all when it came to the poisonous snakes and insects in the high mountains and deep valleys.
Even though she only planned to reach Hanzhong this time and had no intention of heading further south in Yizhou, she could not act carelessly while traveling through the deep mountains across the Qinling Mountains.
Even though she had already used the 9 attribute points brought by the strategist achievement [Support the lord to ascend the throne] on the night of the first day of the first lunar month because she supported Liu Yu to ascend the throne, 4 of them were spent on intelligence, maxing out the value, and the remaining 5 points were spent on luck, bringing the value to 106. She didn't dare to guarantee that this luck value could even avoid mosquito bites.
This is probably not the right way to open this thing.
Compared to her extremely high luck, Qiao Yan felt that her counselor system was relatively more useful, or the three-dimensional map that was activated as early as when she obtained the first 100 counselor points.
When traveling in the Qinling Mountains, this thing is obviously more practical.
At least when it comes to crossing the mountain between the two river valleys, she will have an advantage over others.
Five days after she was conferred the title of Grand Marshal, the army set out from Chang'an and headed towards Luoyu on Luogu Road.
The process of enthroning the Grand Marshal was held in the Purple Palace and the people of Chang'an could not see it.
But now that the army was setting off, they could see that among the elite troops that were setting out from Chang'an to meet with the Guanzhong garrison in Luoyu, the commander-in-chief on horseback was particularly eye-catching.
This is the youngest Sima!
Qiao Yan looked at the people who were watching their journey.
Compared with the day in January when she watched the emperor go to the Mingtang to offer sacrifices to heaven, she didn't know whether it was because winter was approaching and the temperature in Guanzhong had risen a lot, making people want to go out for a walk, or because with the orderly construction of Chang'an after Liu Yu ascended the throne, more and more people from the surrounding areas poured into Chang'an, making her feel as if she was watching a parade of the top scholar.
This incident happened outside the city of Chang'an.
In the past, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, once said that an official should serve as the Prefect of the Guards. Now the Prefect of the Guards is still the emperor's entourage, but I don't know if the people of Chang'an, if they really want to be glorious, should they go to the Prefect of the Guards or serve under her Grand Marshal's Mansion.
On the one hand, this made her realize that her eight years of hard work and struggle for the position of Grand Marshal were by no means in vain. On the other hand, it also reminded her that if this situation continued, no matter whether she was pushed by the current situation when she took over the position of Grand Marshal, she would still be quickly pushed into a situation of opposition to the Han imperial power.
She must find a way to ease the conflict within half a year at the latest.
But what she probably hadn't expected was that among this crowd, in addition to ordinary people, there were also a few special people.
"Qiao family of Liang State?" Cheng Yu couldn't help but look surprised when he received the news sent by Guo Jia from the Grand Marshal's Mansion.
There has been no news from Qiao Yan's family for a long time.
When Qiao Yan led the troops to quell the rebellion in Chang'an, they did not make any movement. In the nearly half a year that followed, they remained in a state where Qiao Yan did not ask them and they did not respond.
Even Yuan Shao, who was in a hostile relationship with them, had had contact with Chang'an once before... No, if Tian Feng is included, it would be two contacts.
Yangzhou, which was in the most remote place, even sent Zhou Yu to make a deal with Qiao Yan.
During this half year, it was more than enough to travel from Jiaozhou to Chang'an, not to mention from Yanzhou to the neighboring Sili.
It was hard for Cheng Yu not to wonder whether this family was detained because they had set up trouble for Cao Cao during his pacification of Yanzhou, or whether they were accidentally killed by bandits passing through the border.
Don't blame him for having such malicious speculations. After all, this family is so tactless!
At most, we can rule out the Qiao sisters who came to Qiao Yan for help a long time ago.
Due to the issue of official handover, when this news was sent to Cheng Yu's office, Xun Yu happened to be there, and he saw an expression on Cheng Yu's face that was hard to tell whether it was helplessness or disgust.
"Has something happened?" The messenger was wearing the uniform of Qiao Yan's subordinates, so it was not difficult for Xun Yu to identify him.
Qiao Yan had just left Chang'an, so it was obviously impossible that she had missed any message before leaving. Therefore, Xun Yu subconsciously thought of the war situation in Youzhou first.
But looking at what Cheng Yu was holding in his hand, it didn't look like a military newspaper. It looked more like a note written on a piece of paper. It shouldn't be something important.
Cheng Yu replied: "It's okay, you are just a clown with no judgment at all."
When he replied, he read two lines below and saw what Guo Jia had written on it: the people of Liang State Qiao claimed that they came to congratulate the prince on becoming the Grand Marshal.
"..." Cheng Yu endured it again and again, but still muttered in a low voice: "What a group of shameless people!"
Who are they trying to fool with this excuse?
It has only been five days since you were conferred the title of Grand Marshal.
Considering the distance from Chang'an to Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to the Qiao family of Liang State, it would take more than four days for this news to reach their ears. Even if they arrived at the fastest speed, it would take at least three days. There was no way they could make a round trip in five days.
It is obvious that they have been struggling until now after receiving the news of Liu Yu's ascension to the throne, and finally decided that they can no longer just keep their troops in Yanzhou.
Regardless of whether Qiao Yan's style of doing things will lead to a reckoning of their entire family one day, since she has now achieved the merit of supporting the emperor, they should come and show their goodwill to her anyway.
Maybe you can even gain some benefits from this in the Chang'an court.
As luck would have it, when they arrived in Chang'an, they happened to see Qiao Yan leading her troops on a journey, and learned that she had already taken the position of Grand Marshal.
Seeing this scene, their previous hesitation was completely forgotten.
The benefits that the Grand Sima, who is second only to the emperor and above everyone else, can bring to a family are far more than the so-called potential hidden dangers!
In the face of such a chaotic situation, they should not have any timid thoughts at all, but should seek the benefits that they can get directly as soon as possible!
With this idea in mind, several people who came to Chang'an went to the Grand Marshal's mansion without hesitation, claiming that they came to congratulate Qiao Yan on his promotion.
Guo Jia welcomed the few people in with a forced smile, then turned around and sent a text message to Cheng Yu.
The message said that the prince was not here at the moment, and because she was about to go to Hanzhong to consider the war, it would not be a good idea for her to be tied up in such a trivial matter. It would be better for the two of them to make a temporary decision in advance.
If these people were of the same level as the relatives of Cao Cao, the governor of Yanzhou, or Sun Ce, the governor of Yangzhou, it might not be a bad thing that they finally chose to come and serve at this time.
Qiao Yan was in a high position, so he needed more help.
But judging from the current situation, these people have not realized that after Qiao Mao and Qiao Rui died one after another, they can only rely on Qiao Yan if they want to rise. This shows their shallow vision and short-sightedness. After Guo Jia communicated with them for a few sentences, it was confirmed that they also lacked ability.
From this perspective, it is perfectly normal that Qiao Xuan, who was in the position of Grand Marshal at the time, did not do anything to pave the way for his clansmen.
So Guo Jia asked Cheng Yu if he could first tell them that the prince was away on the expedition and it was not appropriate to disturb them, and when the prince came back, he could advise her not to entrust these people with important tasks.
Normally they shouldn't say anything about such family matters.
But those of them who were truly considered to be Qiao Yan's trusted advisers all knew Qiao Yan's ambitions, and they also knew clearly that the path she was taking was a dangerous one that could lead to her being crushed to pieces at any time. Even her plan to seize the position of Grand Marshal had to be carried out in such a roundabout way, so how could she leave herself with so many weaknesses?
In the battle to pacify the world, judging from Qiao Yan's current performance, it is very unlikely that she will make low-level mistakes, but when it comes to family affairs, there will always be smart people who make mistakes.
No matter how Guo Jia thought about it, he felt it was necessary to give a few reminders.
But Cheng Yu had already had a conversation with Qiao Yan about this issue when they were still in Liangzhou.
Cheng Yu asked Qiao Yan at that time, if the Qiao family of Liang State came to add icing on the cake, what arrangements would the prince make for them.
Qiao Yan replied that even when she was in Liang and Bing states, this group of people could not realize her future, so it was impossible for these people to add icing on the cake and they could only come to take advantage of her.
If such a situation really occurs, it is easy to solve.
Her grandfather Qiao Xuan had already given a standard operation.
For those who are capable in the family, she can ensure that they will not be suppressed by the unspoken rules of other people's interpersonal relationships, and can carve out a place for themselves with their own abilities.
If they are incapable and unwilling to learn, then just let them fend for themselves!
Furthermore, would a person who fights only for the Han Dynasty and the world appear to have evil intentions, or would a person who promotes his family while fighting for the Han Dynasty appear to have ulterior motives?
When Emperor Ling of Han was still alive, she was a lone minister.
Then when the lone minister can no longer stand on her own, she might as well be a lone person!
A person who has very little connection with the family, even the relatives who come to her for help will turn to intelligence work and disappear. Who would doubt that she has the ambition to conquer the world!
In today's environment where family ties are extremely important, her behavior is rare.
Even when Wang Mang was "humble and had not yet usurped the throne", he still had his own family power.
In this way, Qiao's incompetence and short-sightedness may actually be a kind of accomplishment for her.
Cheng Yu knew Qiao Yan's conclusion, but he couldn't help but feel sad when he heard that someone from the Qiao family had arrived.
This news also means that she will rely entirely on the support of her confidants, without any family support, to reach the final step.
He glanced at Xun Yu, and thought that in the current situation, the decision made by Qiao Yan was even more appropriate, and the anger that had risen up before turned into calmness at this moment.
He picked up his pen and wrote a short message to inform Guo Jia to send these people to the nearby post station first, and ask them to leave directly on the grounds that military secrets were involved in the Grand Marshal's Mansion. He would explain the matter to Guo Jia after finishing today's work.
After writing this, he signaled Xun Yu to go with him to Tiantun, Chang'an.
Xun Yu is currently assisting the three ministers in handling the affairs of the outer court, mainly assisting Lu Zhi. He is in charge of the military settlements in the fields, which overlaps with the duties of Cheng Yu, the Minister of Agriculture.
Spring ploughing is approaching, so we need to get things done as soon as possible.
Considering that the population of Chang'an would only increase and not decrease, relying solely on Bingzhou's support for agricultural tool production would incur too much expenditure on transportation for Qiao Yan. Therefore, the iron smelting business in Chang'an has been gradually restored.
Of course, these iron officials who are now making farm tools can actually switch to producing weapons at any time.
Cheng Yu had a steady face that looked like an old farmer in the field, and he talked freely when Xun Yu asked him questions related to this matter. Xun Yu couldn't help but feel that no matter whether Qiao Yan had any selfish motives or not, the person she recommended to the position of Minister of Agriculture was indeed the most suitable candidate.
But Xun Yu never thought that Cheng Yu was now thinking about -
The prince only has these subordinates!
They should have been more dedicated in usurping the Han Dynasty.
Qiao Yan didn't know yet, but because of the visit from the Liang State Qiao clan members, Cheng Yu almost labeled her as beautiful, strong and miserable, and even made up his mind to work harder to help her usurp the throne.
She had now entered the Qinling Mountains from Luoyu.
The northern slope of the Qinling Mountains is even more majestic and magnificent than the southern slope. In mid-to-late February, the snow on the high mountains has not yet completely melted, but has turned into mountain streams in the lower areas.
The waters in these river valleys in the north flow northward into the Wei River, while those in the south flow into the Han River, maintaining part of the lifeblood of these two rivers.
Zhao Yun, Chu Yan and Yao Chang, who were not accompanying her on the first expedition, reorganized their troops. With Chu Yan in the front, Zhao Yun in the middle and Yao Chang in the rear, they formed a long line that flowed into Luogu Road.
The total number of 10,000 troops was much smaller than the earlier attacks on Liangzhou and Chang'an, but in places like Luogu Road, there were areas where the carrying capacity of the plank roads was weak. Rather than having a large number of people, it was safer to have a small number of people.
What's more, Hanzhong is a river valley basin, which can be cut off from other parts of Yizhou. It does not take a lot of force to attack this place, as long as we can control the favorable situation.
In Qiao Yan's hand at this moment was a map that recorded the imperial army's entry into Hanzhong to pacify the Bandun Man in the early years. The route on the Luogu Road was clearly marked on this map, but the drawing format was really something that she couldn't understand.
Fortunately, when she was not there in person, the merchants from Yizhou who had received her instructions had already drawn up another route map.
Now it is equivalent to three maps taking care of each other.
But even with the existence of such a powerful weapon, it is not an easy task to cross the Qinling Mountains through this route. No wonder there is a saying that "the railings are winding and the dangerous plans are endless."
It really is a scene where spring has not yet arrived in the Luo Valley.
Qiao Yan looked up at the mountains in the distance, feeling emotional.
While expressing her emotion, she couldn't help but feel fortunate that the troops she had were much more adaptable to such an environment than ordinary people.
With cotton-padded clothes to keep warm and food that can be transported by sailing carts, the difficulties they faced in crossing the Qinling Mountains were much smaller than those faced by ordinary troops.
Between several river valleys, there are mountain ridges with an altitude of about two thousand meters. For the well-trained Black Mountain Army and the Qiang people who were once in even worse conditions, they were not insurmountable barriers.
Relatively speaking, the cavalry team led by Zhao Yun was in trouble.
But the followers who followed Zhao Yun and were stationed in Chang'an, some of whom were even trained during his early years in Bingzhou, showed extraordinary discipline.
Qiao Yan looked towards Zhao Yun and saw him leading his horse at the front of the cavalry, testing the endurance of the plank road.
The high mountains, huge rivers and deep dense forests in the background set off the team slowly moving forward among the mountains, turning into a black line dotted between the mountains.
This is clearly different from the experience of marching within Liangzhou.
It is hard to imagine that by the Tang Dynasty, this place had become prosperous with a post office every five miles and a pavilion every ten miles.
But it was precisely this kind of difficulty of the journey that made Zhang Lu, Zhang Xiu and others in Hanzhong never think that they would choose to take this path that has not been fully opened up to launch a surprise attack on Hanzhong!
After they had been traveling for seven days, they arrived at Bali Pass. Then they passed Guanlingliang and arrived at Tanggukou not far from Baicaoyi.
That is the southernmost end of Luogu Road.
Although it was not yet dark and they could still walk a little further, Qiao Yan immediately ordered everyone to stop and rest, and wait until they were fully refreshed tomorrow before crossing the ridge ahead.
No wonder she made this decision.
When everyone set up camp on the spot, the fatigue from walking was clearly visible. They only recovered after they took out some dry food and ate half full.
The only ones who could still appear somewhat cheerful at this time were probably the few Yizhou guides in the team.
One of them was the youngest, and probably because he was about to return home, he started talking about some legends about the southern end of Luogu Road.
It is said that on the Ma Daoliang that they passed this morning, there is a large stone more than one person tall, called the Pot-Supporting Stone, named after Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu who set up a pot to cook during his march here. The curved ridge on the east side of the ridge is called Mangling, because a python assisted Liu Xiu in the battle but missed the opportunity and turned into a snake here out of shame.
Qiao Yan propped up his chin and listened to this legend. Then he heard Xun You beside him pounding his leg and saying, "It seems that Emperor Guangwu did not record walking along this road. At least, there is no existing record of him doing so."
Seeing that the young man was stunned by Xun You's interruption, Qiao Yan smiled and said, "If they didn't pass by, then they didn't pass by. If the people of Yizhou passed by under the Python Ridge and went up the Ma Daoliang, according to the legend of Emperor Guangwu here, their luck would be better than usual, and they would reach the north end of the Luogu Road without encountering snakes and insects, and successfully enter the Guanzhong area, which is not a bad thing."
After all, he is the son of destiny and the great fire mage.
Xun You was a little helpless, "Your Excellency also believes in this thing called luck?"
This really sounds a bit childish.
He thought that someone like Qiao Yan, who liked to speak with strength, would not believe in the so-called illusory luck.
But just as he finished speaking, he saw a shadow flash past him in the dark. Qiao Yan did not move, but the shadow still passed by him, and then -
It plunged headfirst into the pot of boiling water in front of them.
Xun You subconsciously stepped back a few steps to avoid being splashed by the boiling water, and then he saw that there was a snake struggling in the pot of boiling water.
Xun You: “…”
Qiao Yan blinked his eyes and said, "Yeah, I've always had good luck."
Xun You was still silent when Qiao Yan asked, "Come to think of it, this shouldn't be imitating the snake of Python Ridge to help us attack Zhang Lu, right?"
This... shouldn't be the case.
This strange sign was considered a good omen to the soldiers who were about to arrive in Hanzhong.
Even though they were not able to eat a meal of snake soup, it did not prevent them from having a story that they talked about with relish on their last night in Qinling Mountains.
Even a poisonous snake can fall into a trap, so can Zhang Lu!
At dusk on the second day, Chenggu County, west of the southern exit of Luogu Road, welcomed a group of surprise troops who came from the sky.
After just three hours of siege, Qiao Yan was already sitting in the county government of Chenggu County.
What surprised her a little was that she met a person of special identity here.
Madam Lu of Tianshi Dao.
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