Chapter 8 Chapter VIII Determine the route

Longying said: "Why did Tubo send troops to help Ashina Zhongjie?" Feng Guoting said: "When I heard the word Tubo, I hurriedly investigated the root cause, but Zong Chuke didn't elaborate, only said that Tubo rebelled and the king of Tubo was killed in a court struggle, but the real situation is not clear. " Long Ying suddenly fell into the abyss, and lost his voice: "What?" Wan Renyu understood his mood and said, "We must change our schedule and go to Tubo immediately." Feng Guoting said: "Although the itinerary has fallen into the enemy's calculation, there is no other choice."

Long Ying immediately regained his composure, and said: "No! Go straight to Tubo, wait like a moth to the flame, and you will be slaughtered before you reach Tubo. We will still follow the original route and go south after reaching Puchanghai, trying to cross Altun Mountain. Enter Tubo." Wan Renyu said: "This is an expedient measure." Turning to Feng Guoting, he asked, "What kind of person does Zong Chuke think Suoge is?" Feng Guoting said: "Suoge has strategies and strategies, and has great ambitions. His younger brother Zhenu is brave and good at fighting, with a force of 200,000. Now Suoge's tooth tent is set up in Suiye City, called Daya; Gongyue City in the Yili River Basin is Xiaoya. If it weren’t for the powerful Turkic people, Suoge would have gone out to attack and plunder, but now he is only focusing on plundering, so as to strengthen his strength.”

Long Ying pondered: "So, Suoge should be like Sun Wanrong, a thorn in Turkic Mochuu's eye. Could Tubo's attack on Suoge have something to do with Mochuu?" Feng Guoting said: "If your guess is correct, the civil strife in Tubo is also directly related to Mochuu." Wan Renyu said: "Mo Chuai can deploy the Dajiang Alliance in our place, of course, we can also use the same strategy against Tubo." At this time, the food came, but the three of them lost their mood and didn't know what to eat. The feeling that everything was under control disappeared without a trace.

Longying smiled wryly and said: "I really wish I could fly to the plateau immediately with two wings." As long as the two of them think about the uncertainty of Hengkong Muye and Meixiu Nafu's life and death, they can understand his mood at this time. Longying stood up abruptly and said, "Let's go tonight!" The two stared at him blankly. Longying sat down again.Dejectedly said: "Just pretend I didn't say it!" Those who have never been to the Western Regions will know the dangers of the mountains and rivers and the difficulties of the roads only if they have experienced the situation.The three of Longying bid farewell to Chang'an, and headed northwest according to the plan, traveling day and night, without any surprises and dangers along the way. In the end, they had forgotten the enemy who might be watching.

Except for the first few days on the road, Long Ying's fluctuating emotions calmed down and became as calm as ice and snow.The magic seed is playing its due role. They crossed the Yellow River, passed through Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang, and exited the customs into a semi-desert area. The weather turned hot, and they camped by a big river to rest.Thousands of miles of emptiness, except for the sparse trees that accompany them, there is no trace of people. Xue'er and the six horses gathered on the river beach to drink water and graze, while they sat on the rocks beside the bank and shared dry food.

Far to the left horizon.There are endless high mountains and steep mountains, with snow-capped peaks hidden, and endless flat land on the right.The sun hangs high in the sky, turning the various colors of the desert.Melted into the blinding white light, the distant scenery became blurred. Wan Renyu pointed to the mountain range to the south and said, "If I remember correctly, the white dot protruding from the mountain range should be the Great Snow Mountain. The peak is covered with snow all the year round, and no one can climb it. Behind the mountain is the Tibetan plateau." .” Long Ying sighed, that feeling of being unattainable.uncomfortable.

Feng Guoting said: "Only when we get out of the customs will we understand how stupid we are. As long as the enemy knows that we are going to Tubo, they can stop us on the way we must pass. The most unfavorable thing is that until now We still haven't figured out the route to the plateau. We have to ask people." Wan Renyu gazed at the endless and dangerous mountains and snowy mountains in the south, and said with a wry smile: "Because our original intention was to go to Kucha first, we suddenly changed our itinerary, we didn't think carefully, and we lost ground. The smarter thing is to change the route. Entering Tubo from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River will be much more secure."

Sighing, he continued: "Now we are surrounded by mountains and deserts, but compared to Taklamakan, other deserts are just child's play." Feng Guoting looked west and said, "What's ahead?" Wan Renyu said: "It was more than ten years ago that I went to Qiemo City. At that time, my mind was focused on the practice of Dao of the Sword, and my memory is very vague. However, if my memory is correct, I will reach Puchanghai in this direction. The prairie area, and the big river in front of you is called the Shule River, the southwest is the Kumtag Desert, and the southern end of the desert is the Altun Mountains. Hey! I remember someone said that there is a canyon in the Altun Mountains, which can pass through the Altun Mountains , arrived in Qinghai."

Feng Guoting rejoiced and said: "This is how we are saved. Hei Chi Changzhi once defeated the Tubo people in Qinghai, so we know that there must be a road between Qinghai and Tubo that a large number of soldiers can pass through." Wan Renyu pondered, "But I'm afraid that the horses won't be able to endure the desert. The poisonous heat of the desert will quickly drain the moisture in their bodies. It will be difficult for them to exert force, and the hot sand will also make them unable to bear it." Dragon Eagle glanced at the Kumtag Desert at the limit of the sky, and said, "Where do these mountains end?"

Wan Renyu said: "There is no end. The Altun Mountains are next to the Qilian Mountains, and then the Kunlun Mountains. Tubo is the plateau behind these continuous mountains." Longying said dejectedly: "My mother! I should have asked Hengkong Muye how to get to Tubo." Feng Guoting said: "It seems that we have to venture across the desert to find the mountain road into Qinghai, which is better than going in the direction of Taklamakan." Looking up at the condor hovering high in the sky, he said with emotion: "It would be nice if I could become it." Wan Renyu smiled wryly and said, "If we go to the battlefield, we are committing a big taboo in military affairs, which means demoralization and loss of fighting spirit."

Feng Guoting said: "When you think that no matter how hard you try, it will still be futile in the end, it's hard to work hard." Longying agreed in his heart, in fact, he was tortured terribly by the uncertain life and death of Hengkong Muye and Meixiu Nafu.According to common sense, Hengkong Muye is the number one expert in Tubo, if the enemy launches a attack, he must be the target and bear the brunt of it, it is indeed a disaster. Longying said in a deep voice: "They should not be dead, otherwise they should come to me to entrust dreams." Wan Renyu said: "Telling it to you makes me shudder." Feng Guoting said: "I believe in this kind of spiritual response." He added: "On the night before departure, I went out to inquire about the route from the north to Tubo, although no one could provide the exact route, but I collected a lot of data about our fights with the Tubo people, which can be used for our deliberation and reference. " He also said: "Most of the wars took place in Qinghai Lake or in Sichuan and Sichuan, but one of them was the Tubo general Ge Erqinling who led 400,000 Tubo soldiers to capture the four towns of Anxi. West State. What does that teach us?" The Anxi Protectorate is located in Kucha. Long Ying cheered up and said: "Let's talk about it in detail." Feng Guoting said: "At that time, Qinling was stationed on the land of Tuyuhun not long after the country was subjugated, and our dynasty took Xue Rengui as the general manager of the Luosuo road march, leading 50,000 troops to fight back against the Tubo army, passing through Shanzhou to Dafeichuan in Hunan, Qinghai , was finally defeated by Qinling." Long Ying clapped his legs and said: "Don't guess, there must be a way to Qinghai after crossing the Kumtag Desert. It is much easier to go from Qinghai to Tubo." Feng Guoting asked Wan Renyu, "How did you go to Tubo?" Wan Renyu said: "At first, I only thought about how to get to Qiuci. It would be easy to find a guy who knows the Western Regions like the back of Huang Yuanwu. Fortunately, I did work hard on the route out of the Western Regions. As long as I reach the south of the Taklamakan Khotan, which is also the largest oasis in the region, can find a shortcut across the Kunlun Mountains and lead to Tubo. Alas! No one can guide us. Let’s go to Puchanghai first and find the local residents who graze , Ask clearly. In the desert without indicators, the difference is a thousand miles away. The three of us may survive, but the horse will definitely not go with us." Feng Guoting said: "Aren't you afraid of being exposed?" Wan Renyu sighed: "There is no other choice, so why take this risk." Longying said: "Just do it like this." After the sun went down, the three set out from camp. The light blue tone of the desert replaced the dazzling white light, the temperature dropped sharply, and there was a biting cold wind blowing from time to time.The terrain along the way is constantly changing, most of which are gravel-covered wilderness, with sudden undulating rocks, black stones, or large sand dunes like plump breasts. Feng Guoting said: "Which areas did Princess Wencheng pass through when she entered Tibet?" Wan Renyu smiled wryly and said, "It's indeed a good question. I only hate that I focused on asking about the four towns of Anxi and ignored the others." Feng Guoting said happily: "I do have some memories. I also started from the Western Capital, crossed the Yellow River by the desert, entered Qinghai, passed through Gushan, Ledu, and Xining, and climbed Riyue Mountain. There is still a long way to go. , crossed the Bayan Har Mountains, and finally crossed the Tanggula Mountains to reach the plateau of the Tubo people.” Longying laughed dumbly and said: "It is very likely that we have avoided the interception and killing of Dajiang Lian and the mysterious people. They must think that we can't wait to follow the old road of Princess Wencheng to go to Tubo because they learned of the national change in Tubo, so When I was talking to my younger brother that day, I looked confident. Little did we know that we were all focused on dealing with Faming’s sneak attack, and we didn’t receive the news of the Tubo court coup until the last night in Chang’an. Now we have lost our way fool." Wan Renyu said: "In this kind of region, luck is more important than anything else." Amidst talking and laughing, the three continued their journey. All of a sudden, yesterday's disappointment was swept away. Long Ying thought of another thing, that is, did Wu Zhao know about the Tubo coup?It stands to reason that if such a big event happened, Zong Chuke or Wu Youyi must immediately report to Wu Zhao and let her make a decision.It was reasonable for Wu Youyi not to mention a word when he saw him, because he didn't know that he would go to Tubo.But if Wu Zhao conceals this matter, it will harm him.After thinking about it, it didn't make sense. It was more likely that Wu Chengsi, who was in charge of foreign affairs, deliberately suppressed this important news and reported it to Wu Zhao after he left Chang'an. Even if Wu Zhao wanted to inform them, he couldn't do it. However, Wu Chengsi's move helped them, allowing them to avoid the enemy's calculations.