Han Daocheng rode on his horse and listened to the low sound of the Qiqi River, flowing towards the west.

It was already the end of the month, there was no moon in the sky, and no matter how hard the stars blinked and blinked, they only sprinkled a layer of silver light, covering the earth with fantastic colors, but they could not illuminate the scenery on the ground.

The opposite side was quiet, there was no light, and there was no sound, and I don't know if the Jiatong native soldiers who patrolled back and forth during the day would be loyal to their duties at night.

"Can you wade across the river in this area?" Han Daocheng asked Li Qingcheng beside him in a deep voice.

Li Qingcheng said: "The commander can rest assured, as soon as October enters this year, there will not be much rain, and the water from Luzhou is less than in previous years, and you will definitely be able to pass it on a horse!" ”

"Is there a place where anyone can hike through?"

"That's not true! The Qianqi River is not a small stream, how can you wade on foot if you can sail all year round? ”

Han Daocheng nodded and did not speak again.

Li Qingcheng was uneasy in his heart, not knowing if his answer would satisfy the cavalry leader. But he boasted in front of Xu Ping that he had crossed Haikou, and he must let the officials and soldiers cross the river unconsciously.

Han Daocheng walked back and forth twice, estimated the terrain, called the military envoy Cao Yang over, and ordered him a few words.

"Zhizhou, let's go to the front and see."

Han Daocheng called Li Qingcheng, and the two continued to move forward along the Qiqi River.

Centered on the connection between the two state cities of Langzhou in the north and south, the two walked out of the east and west for three or four miles, and Li Qingcheng pointed out three places where they could ride horses and wade through the water, and Han Daocheng was guarded.

Returning to the center, Han Daocheng asked: "Zhizhou, where is this section of the river suitable for bridges?" ”

"Of course, the narrower the place, the more suitable. One is upstream. It's about five miles from here. However, there are boulders on both sides of the river. It is rugged and not conducive to traffic. There is also a place downstream, where two large rocks are opposite each other, forming a small narrow valley. However, the two boulders did not rise, but stretched flat into the river, and the passage on both sides of the river was unimpeded, so it should be the most suitable place to build a bridge. ”

"Okay, let's go there."

One to the neighborhood. The sound of the water was clearly heard, which was much louder than in other places, and the sound of washing over the stone walls on both sides.

Han Daocheng saw that Li Qingju was honest, but he still didn't speak, so he still called his subordinates and gave a few orders. I don't know what to say, but I still took Li Qingcheng back to the middle position.

In the middle of the night, the moon still did not rise, and the stars in the sky were noticeably more and brighter.

Han Daocheng dismounted. Standing by the river and looking at the other side of the river, I don't know what I'm thinking. Li Qingcheng didn't dare to ask casually. I had to stand honestly by his side.

In the distance, there was the sound of horses' hooves, and two kerosene lamps were in front, like the eyes of a giant dragon, winding into the Qiqi River in the night.

"The officials are here!"

Han Daocheng turned around and walked quickly towards the dragon in the dark night.

When Li Qingcheng heard Xu Ping coming, he was taken aback and followed closely behind Han Daocheng.

Welcoming Xu Ping, Han Daocheng crossed his hands and saluted: "I've seen the military envoy!" ”

When he arrived at the river, Xu Ping dismounted, looked at the Qiqi River in the dark, and asked, "How is it?" Have you chosen a place to build bridges? Is there a place where you can wade in the water? ”

"Official, there are three places to wade through the water, and I have already sent someone to investigate. As for bridging-"

Speaking of this, Han Daocheng looked at Li Qingcheng.

Li Qingcheng was well-behaved, knowing that Han Daocheng didn't want him to hear it, so he said, "I don't know what I ate for dinner today, and my stomach is a little uncomfortable." Official, you talk, I'll come when I go. ”

Xu Ping didn't raise his head, and said calmly: "You didn't eat at night, and you came here as soon as you came out of the yamen." Commander Han went on to say that since Li Zhizhou was allowed to lead the way to find a place, he was not afraid that he would know. ”

Li Qingcheng smiled awkwardly, and no one could see it clearly under the light.

With Xu Ping's words, Han Daocheng was no longer taboo: "As for building a bridge, Li Zhizhou pointed out a place more than three miles downstream from here, and the river channel was narrow. I've sent someone into the water to investigate, and I'll know when I'm back if it's going to work. The two bridge sites of his team, I think it is better to choose here, divided into two bridges on the left and right, which can ensure that two or three thousand riders can cross the river quickly. ”

Xu Ping looked at the direction of the river, then turned around to look at the coming state city, nodded and said: "This is here, Zhang Rong will bring the people who built the bridge over in a while, you have to understand the water situation first." ”

Han Daocheng promised and did not make any other moves.

Li Qingcheng didn't understand when he saw this, every time Han Daocheng ordered someone to do things just now, he must have let his subordinates with good water characteristics go to the river to see the water situation. Of course, this kind of major event cannot be decided by him with a single word.

It didn't take long for the people who went down to the river to check the water situation all gathered at the place where Xu Ping was, and reported the situation of the river and both banks one by one, which was basically the same as what Li Qingcheng said.

After listening to a few people, Li Qingcheng sighed and said to Xu Ping: "The lower officials are not dishonoring their mission, but the officials, the water conditions in these places are also clear to the people on the other side of Jiadong, I am afraid that they will take precautions." ”

Xu Ping asked the person who had just gone into the water: "Have you gone up to the opposite shore?" ”

"I've gone up and checked."

"Did you find anyone particularly defensive in those places?"

"Nope! There are people patrolling on the other side of the river, but there are only three or five people on the other side of the river, and the defense is not tight. If we bring a sharp edge, it will not be difficult for them to turn out! ”

Xu Ping nodded and said to Li Qingcheng: "Li Zhizhou is too worried, I see that Jiatong on the other side didn't expect that we would cross the river tonight, and he didn't strengthen his precautions." ”

"Crossing the river tonight?"

Li Qingcheng was taken aback, he thought that today was just to make preparations and choose a good place. If the army wants to cross the river, it will have to build a bridge, although the Qiqi River is not wide, it is also twenty or thirty zhang wide, how can this bridge be erected overnight?

But then again, Li Qingcheng thinks like this, and the people there must also think like this, if Xu Ping can really build the bridge overnight, it will be really unexpected.

In the middle of the night, a crescent moon finally rose shyly and timidly in the east. The crescent moon looked delicate, but the light suddenly overwhelmed the stars.

The crescent moon climbed to the top of the mountain, and the moonlight shone on the river. From time to time, the water waves flashed with silver light.

At this point. The cold is already heavy. Li Qingcheng shrunk his body, looked at the river, and then looked at the people around him, and couldn't figure out how he could build a bridge at dawn with these people's hands.

Suddenly, Li Qingcheng felt the ground trembling slightly under his feet, and he was startled, and as soon as he turned around and looked up, he saw a large black shadow coming here from the direction of the state city.

Xu Ping looked at the sky. He said: "Tan Hu came at the right time, I hope everything goes well!" ”

The ground trembled more and more, and there was a rumbling sound in his ears, and when he got closer, Li Qingcheng realized that the black shadow was a large group of ox carts.

When he arrived at the shore, Tan Hu ordered people to stop, and saluted in front of Xu Ping: "Official, the second commander of the bridge road for the cane sugar service has arrived, please give the military order!" ”

"And let them prepare!" Xu Ping waved his hand, "Commander Han." Then you send people with good water ability to the opposite shore to get rid of the soldiers patrolling Jiatong. You'll have two more men under you. Wade across the river from the upstream and downstream, and hold on to the opposite bank, so that the bridge commander can concentrate on building the bridge. ”

Han Daocheng turned around and dispatched his subordinates as promised.

The bridge road is the special number of the Song army's chamber army, which refers to the chamber army that repairs overseas Chinese and paves the road, and all the state capitals located on the traffic arteries have been set up, and the township soldiers of the sugar cane business also use this number.

The commander of the bridge road who came got the military order, divided into two groups, one left and one right, and got busy on the shore.

Where there are conditions, there will be no more than one bridge. The military situation waits for no one, and there is no room for any accidents, and the two bridges can back up each other to deal with all kinds of unexpected accidents.

Li Qingcheng saw a group of soldiers unloading the oxen pulling the cart from the cart, and did not let them leave, but took pieces of wooden components from the cart and put them together on the shore. It didn't take much time to put together a huge runner, and by the way, the cow was put on and changed to the power to pull the wheel.

The huge ox cart was pushed to the shore and plugged with wedges, and the tarpaulin covering it was lifted.

It turned out that there were huge bamboo rows on the car, about two feet in one piece, neatly arranged on the car.

Li Qingcheng looked at it, but he couldn't see the reason, because of his identity, he couldn't ask others, so he had to be a stuffy gourd, and when the time came, it would be revealed.

After about an hour, people from the upstream and downstream came to report, that is, the other side of the river was properly cooked.

Xu Ping looked up and saw that the crescent moon in the sky had reached mid-air. It is estimated that there will be more than half an hour before dawn, and he said to Tan Hu: "Let's start!" ”

Tan Hu got the order, ran to order the bridge commanders on both sides, and came back to resume his life.

Xu Ping said again: "Send someone back to inform the commanders who are going to march into Jiatong, prepare immediately, cross the river as soon as it is dawn, and have breakfast after beating Jiatong!" ”

Tan Hu promised, ordered a few personal soldiers, brought Xu Ping's tokens, and went separately to inform the ministries.

Li Qingcheng stood on the side, keeping an eye on the bridge command. I saw them swing their whips and drive the oxen along, and the huge wooden wheel began to turn slowly. As the wooden wheels turned, the bamboo rafts on the ox cart were pulled by ropes and stretched out into the river.

The bamboo raft stretched to the end and snapped to the shore, and it was strange to say that it was still stretched flat like that, and it was not planted. The second bamboo row continued to stretch along the top of the previous one, and at the end it was still on top of the previous one.

As the oxen pull the wooden wheels and rotate continuously, the bamboo rafts stretch out to the river one by one, and it will not be long before there is no end in sight. It wasn't until there was a loud bird on the opposite side that it stopped, and a soldier commanding the bridge flew up the narrow pontoon bridge, and I don't know what to do, and the bridge quickly stabilized.

One was erected, and the soldiers moved to the ox cart, next to the first and second lanes, and then tied the two together, and began to set up the third one.

In this way, one by one, it stretched down, and by the time it was more than a dozen, a wide bridge had appeared on the Qiqi River. One left and one right, two bridges have been formed.

Of course Li Qingcheng couldn't figure it out, this was the experience Xu Ping learned from his previous life, this kind of temporary bridge looks simple, but the price is not small, and these people have been trained for a long time to deal with it.

Of course, the temporary bridge is not durable, but Xu Ping does not need to be durable, as long as it can be used for one or twenty days, he has other ways to make up for it.

The two bridges were erected, and only then did the east reveal a touch of fish belly white, and the crescent moon in the sky became too faint to be seen.

At this time, thousands of people and horses surged from outside the city of Beilangzhou, rushing to the bridge that had just been built. (To be continued.) )