Chapter 242 Four Paths of Qinling Mountains

Two months later, Liu Zhang led his troops from Luoyang via Chang'an, and finally arrived at Nanzheng City in Hanzhong County.

On the road to Hanzhong, Liu Zhang struggled for a long time.

From Guanzhong to Hanzhong, due to the barrier of the Qinling Mountains, there are only four connected roads. From east to west, they are Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road, Baoxie Road and Chencang Road.

Ziwu Road, as the name suggests, is famous for Ziwu Valley. The environment of Meridian Road is extremely bad, the road is very narrow, not only narrow but also very steep, as long as there are people blocking the road, no matter how many people you have here, you will be blocked on the road!

There are almost no roads in many places. If you are unlucky and catch up with the rain, you will almost fall into the quagmire! Liu Zhang resolutely gave up this road.

The Tangluo Road has only one advantage among the four roads, and that is the proximity! The closest road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong is the Tangluo Road, but it is even more dangerous than Ziwu Road! Ziwu Road still has a way to go, but Tangluo Road has no road in many cases. If there are few people, you can go over mountains and rivers, but if you have a large army, it will be absolutely difficult to pass!

The Tangluo Road is named after the Tang Valley and Luo Valley. Although the Luo Road has the advantage of being a short and fast route, the height of several mountains to be crossed on the way is much higher than other roads, and the road is extremely difficult and dangerous. Firstly, Liu Zhang had plenty of time, secondly, he did not want to take these risks, and thirdly, because it was almost meaningless to take the Tangluo Road, and it was difficult to use this road now or in the future, so he decisively gave up.

What troubled Liu Zhang the most was Bao Xiedao and Chen Cangdao. These two roads are very important to Liu Zhang, and they are the only way to go in the future.

Baoxie Road and Chencang Road were relatively famous in this era. At that time, Han Xinming repaired the plank road to cover Chencang secretly, which refers to Baoxie Road and Chencang Road.

The Baoxie Road enters from Xiegu, and was originally excavated manually. It was the road that Liu Bang took when he entered Hanzhong. In terms of road environment, it is obviously better than Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road, but it does not mean that it is easy to pass. It's just that it's better when comparing Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road, but it's actually very dangerous. Because it is artificially excavated, the dangerous places are almost all plank roads. Once it is destroyed by human beings, the praise ramp will be cut off directly!

The last is Chencang Road, which is the easiest of the four roads. Han Xin also took Chencang Road and finally defeated Zhang Han, and then won all the land in Guanzhong.

Between Baoxie Road and Chen Cang Road, Liu Zhang finally chose Chen Cang Road.

First of all, Chencang Road will pass by Chencang City, which will be the starting point for Han Sui to attack Guanzhong in the near future. Secondly, after entering Chencang Road from Chencang, he will pass through Dashan Pass, one of the four fortresses in Guanzhong. The most important point is that Liu Zhang wants to personally confirm whether there is a river in Chen Cangdao.

Why did Han Xin dare to lead a large army to walk along Chencang Road, and never worried about the risk of insufficient food and grass? But Zhuge Liang will be restricted by food and grass if he walks Chencang Road?

Liu Zhang knew that the main reason was the diversion of the Western Han River. So he wanted to take a real look at what Chen Cangdao was like, and also make a preparation for his future dispatch of troops to Guanzhong.

But along the way, Liu Zhang was disappointed. Let alone the West Han River, he didn’t even see the shadow of a river. Some only had Mangmang Mountain Road, and there were only lofty mountains on both sides!

After experiencing Chen Cangdao personally this time, Liu Zhang also deeply understood Zhuge Liang's difficulties! No wonder Zhuge Liang only walked Chencang Road once during the five Northern Expeditions! Not only have to go through Dasan Pass and Chencang City, but also transport food across mountains and mountains!

No matter how many emotions there are, there is no practical significance. Liu Zhang knows that from now on, the history of Sichuan and Shu will definitely change completely! Zhuge Liang will never have the ending of several times of the Northern Expedition without success, and finally died of hatred!

Liu Zhang led his troops out of Chencang Road smoothly, the end of Chencang Road intersected with Jinniu Road, and then arrived at Yangping Pass, the last pass in the Hanzhong Plain.

At this time, Yangping Pass was still the ancient Yangping Pass, not the Yangping Pass of the Shu Han period. Yangping Pass was built on Zoumaling, so it could guard Chencang Road and Jinniu Road at the same time, thus facing the pressure from Guanzhong and Bashu at the same time.

After passing Yangping Pass, there will be no danger to defend, and you can go straight to the Hanzhong Plain, thus directly reaching Nanzheng City.

When Liu Zhang led his troops to Nanzheng City, Su Gu, the prefect of Hanzhong, had already greeted him at the gate of the city, and Liu Zhang had already dispatched a fast horse to inform him.

"Is the prefect Su in front?"

Liu Zhang sat on the horse and looked at the middle-aged scribe who was the leader.

"It's Su Gu, may I ask if the general is in person?"

Liu Zhang got off his horse, walked up to Su Gu and bowed his hands in salute.

"I'm troubled by Prefect Su to welcome you here, thank you!"

Su Gu was well aware of Liu Zhang's status, so he didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly bowed to salute.

"The latter general is too polite, Su Gu is terrified!"

Without further hesitation, Liu Zhang took out the imperial decree in his hand.

"Prefect Su, accept the order."

Su Gu didn't hesitate at all, and the whole group knelt down on the ground.

"The prefect of Hanzhong will be replaced by the later general Liu Zhang from now on. The former prefect of Hanzhong Su Gu can return to Beijing for another important use. This is my honor!"

"Chen Su Gu, take the decree and thank you!"

Su Gu kowtowed to the imperial decree in Liu Zhang's hand again, and then stood up to accept the imperial decree.

"Prefect Su, it's not that Liu Zhang intends to be the prefect of Hanzhong. It's because the situation in Liangzhou is corrupt, and the imperial court has no spare power to fight against it, so I was asked to guard this place."

Su Gu didn't expect that Liu Zhang would explain something to this little guy like himself, and a look of panic appeared on his face.

"The latter general is too polite. Su Gu is a mediocre person. He has no kindness to the 300,000 soldiers and civilians in Hanzhong County. He has long felt guilty! This time, the latter general can take over as the prefect of Hanzhong. It is really a blessing for the soldiers and civilians of Hanzhong!"

"Prefect Su is polite. The people in Hanzhong can live and work in peace and contentment, all thanks to Prefect Su!"

After all, he replaced someone else's position, so Liu Zhang still needs to be polite.

In fact, Liu Zhang doesn't need to be polite to Su Gu, on the contrary, Su Gu should thank Liu Zhang well! If Su Gu is still in Hanzhong, in a few years, Zhang Lu will go north from Yizhou, and then kill Su Gu and lead Hanzhong prefect.

Liu Zhang is equivalent to saving Su Gu's life! Of course, Liu Zhang would not tell Su Gu about these things, and Su Gu would not believe him, and would think that Liu Zhang took the opportunity to blackmail him!

"General Emeritus, the county guard's mansion has prepared a banquet specially for the latter general!"

Liu Zhang nodded with a smile, with a look of gratitude on his face.

"Wouldn't it cost Governor Su a lot of money! Liu Zhang is really grateful!"

Liu Zhang was so polite that even Su Gu felt embarrassed.

"The latter general really lives up to his reputation. Both his talent and his character are admirable!"

"This banquet, as well as various officials and families from Hanzhong County, are specially for welcoming the general!"

Su Gu's words aroused the interest of Liu Zhang, the officials and aristocratic families of Hanzhong County. These he really needs to know.

Most officials still have to use these people. After all, there are only four scribes under Liu Zhang, and they cannot all be sent out to be county magistrates.

The second is the aristocratic family. The aristocratic family will always be the target of Liu Zhang to win over and guard against. He also wants to see what kind of aristocratic family in Hanzhong.

"Gongda, Wenhe, and Elai, the three of you will go to the banquet with me, and the rest of you will go to settle down first!"

After giving the order, Liu Zhang took three people under his command and followed Su Gu to the county guard's mansion.

(end of this chapter)