The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

Tao Liao was the last to get on the carriage in front. The two soldiers driving the carriage shouted"Drive!" each, waving their horse whips and driving the carriage, and left the open space in front of the tent one after another and started on the road. From the clearing to the north-south highway when coming from the west, it is just a stone's throw away. After arriving at the North-South Avenue, two carriages headed north. The two soldiers driving the cart flicked their whips again, and with a cry of"Drive!", the four horses began to run.

After walking for a while, Tao Liao opened the door curtain and looked back. The two Murong brothers, Xiao Hua and Xiao Cao, were still looking north on the avenue. Tao Liao waved for them to go back, and the Murong brothers, Xiao Hua and Xiao Cao also waved their hands until they couldn't see each other.

Thirteen people in two carriages were traveling along this winding north-south road. About an hour later, there was a fork in the road ahead. Should we go west, north or east? Tao Liao took out the route map given by Murong Shan and saw that he should turn west to go to Jicheng. Tao Liao said:"Let's continue going west!"

After listening to Tao Liao's words, two soldiers got off the carriage and replaced the two soldiers who had just driven the carriage. The two soldiers whipped their horses and the carriage turned to the west. Compared with the north-south highway just now, the road to the west is a little narrower and a little bumpy. After walking for about a meal, a sparkling river flowing north to south appeared in front of us. The river is about fifty steps wide, and there is a stone bridge that has been in disrepair for a long time. Although the stone bridge looks a little damaged, pedestrians and carriages can pass through without any problems. Two carriages and two horses behind the carriage carefully crossed the stone bridge, and there was another fork in the road ahead. This is a crossroads, one road continues to the west, and the other two roads go south and north. According to the road map, we should continue heading west. It was already dark by this time, and the scenery in the distance could no longer be seen clearly. Tao Liao said:"It will get dark soon, let's find a place to rest!"

"Mr. Tao, do you see a mountain range in front of you?!"The soldier driving the carriage in front stopped the carriage and said. Tao Liao opened the door curtain, looked up and said,"Yes, this mountain range stretching from north to south is full of lush vegetation and looks full of life! But it's getting dark now, and when we reach the foot of the mountain, we can't see clearly the way in and out of the mountain. We don't know the situation of the mountains either. Maybe this mountain range, which is not very high, stretches for dozens of miles from north to south, or even hundreds of miles. Everyone, as the saying goes, 'There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain'. We came along the road, the roads should be connected. Maybe there are people living in the mountains, so we rush to the foot of the mountains to find a place to stay for one night."

The carriage arrived at the foot of the mountain. Looking around under the not-so-bright moonlight, I found that there were more trees and vegetation near the foot of the mountain. Two followers, Cheng Hui and Wu Fu, got out of the car first. Everyone, including Tao Liao, They also got off the carriage one after another.

"Is there a house there? But it looks different from our house in Jiangnan. Cheng Hui pointed to a building not far away. Tao Liao looked in the direction Cheng Hui pointed and said with a smile,"Isn't that right? We have a place to stay tonight!""

The group of people all walked towards this building. When they got there, they saw that it was a stone house built with strips of stone. The stone house seemed to have two rooms in the east and west, and each room had a wooden door opening to the south. The stone house was surrounded by There are more than a dozen tall pine trees growing on the path ahead. The two soldiers driving the cart unloaded the two horses from the cart and tied them to the pine trees so that the two horses could have a good rest. The two auxiliary horses, There were also soldiers who were untied from the back of the carriage and tied to the pine tree. Birds of a feather flock together and people divide into groups. The four horses must have been tired and hungry. Seeing the grass on the ground, the four horses also became excited and lowered their heads to eat the grass on the ground. Grass. Tao Liao took everyone to the west door of the stone house and knocked on the door. There was no movement inside. So Tao Liao asked the soldiers to look around the stone house, but no one was found. Tao Liao pushed the wooden door on the west , the wooden door was not stuck from the inside and was easily pushed open.

"Chef Bai, please light the fire first and see if there are any candles."Tao Liao said to a cook next to him. Before the tall chef named Bai could light the fire, the short, dark-skinned chef lit the fire first. Everyone came inside and observed the room with the faint light. Tao Liao said with a smile:"Chef He is still very quick!"

"nice! On the north wall, there happened to be a candlestick burning pine oil, with pine oil still inside."Chef He said, lighting the candlestick. The stone house became brighter, and everyone saw some bows, arrows and swords hanging on the wooden wedges on the wall. Looking down at the ground, there were some hammers, axes and swords piled in the corners of the wall. Chisel. Comparing the two stone houses in the east and west, the stone house in the west is twice as big as the one in the east. Although some simple roofs are not very high, the stone houses are quite spacious inside. There is a small door connecting the two stone houses. Tao Liao is on both sides. I walked around the stone houses and couldn't help but be overjoyed. In the middle of each stone house, there was a stone table. On the stone table were some pottery plates and bowls. Around the stone table were round stone benches carved from stone. The stone table in the west room is slightly larger, and the stone table in the east room is slightly smaller. There are ten stone benches placed around the stone table in the west. There are six stone benches placed around the smaller stone table in the east. Tao Liao said:"God is really helping me! When we came here, there was no store in front of Buba Village and behind, and we were worried about having no place to spend the night! Fortunately, there is a stone house here, there is water in the water tank in the northwest corner, and there is a wooden bed to sleep on. Everyone immediately brought in our food and drinks to fill our stomachs first. Cheng Hui, Wu Fu, you two come with me to the east room. We will study tomorrow's route and related matters, as well as our next plan."

The tall follower Cheng Hui agreed first, and the short follower Wu Fu also agreed and came over. Tao Liao, Cheng Hui, and Wu Fu came from the west room to the east room, and the three of them sat down around the stone table. The soldiers began Busy, carrying food, drink, and other necessary things from the carriage inside. After a while, roasted whole lamb, soy sauce beef, etc. were placed on the big stone table, and two soldiers then brought over a wooden barrel of mare's milk.. Chef Bai went to the water tank to scoop a ladle of water, came back and opened the lid of the wooden bucket, began to wash the pottery bowls and plates, and then scooped mare's milk into the pottery bowls on the two stone tables. Chef He picked it from the wall He took a knife and began to cut these delicacies such as roasted whole lamb and beef. The two soldiers first took the divided food to the stone table on the east side, and then Chef Bai followed.

"Mr. Tao, we are ready to eat, you can chat while eating too!"Chef Bai said. Tao Liao looked at Chef Bai, then at the stone table to the west and said,"Okay, everyone, let's start eating! We walked for several hours in a row, hungry for food and thirsty for water, and stayed overnight at dawn, which was just as it should be. Eat well, sleep well, and set off early tomorrow."