Tibet

After nearly half a month of long journey, Li Ye and his party arrived in Dunhuang, Shazhou

Dunhuang County is an important branch of the Silk Road. The southern route of the Silk Road can continue along the Gobi Desert in the southwest direction into Anxi, and then along the Chihe River to Qiuci and Shule.

The other route is the northern route of the Silk Road, which enters Yizhou from Xingxingxia, passes through Beiting, and then exits from Yili Valley to Atami.

Li Ye chose Shazhou Road. He wanted to go to Qiuci first to meet Gao Xianzhi. The real purpose of Li Ye coming to Anxi was to participate in the Talas War, not the so-called travel. He naturally wanted to have a good relationship with the participating parties in the Talas War. .

The Shazhou of the Tang Dynasty occupies a very vast area, with Dunhuang County in its northeast corner. Its territory extends westward to the Tulun Desert, also known as the Taklimakan Desert. The Shazhou territory also extends to southern Xinjiang, making today's Mo County and Ruoqiang County are included, and most of the land is vast desert and Gobi Desert.

This was also the most difficult journey since Li Ye's journey to the west. It would take him half a month to get out of Shazhou. The only supply point was Puleihai, which is today's Lop Nur.

There were two Sogdian caravans in front of them. There were thousands of camels alone. The camel caravan was as far as the eye could see. It was very spectacular.

The yellow sand road was long, and strong winds blew, flying sand and rocks. Stones as big as thumbs were mixed in the strong wind, and crackled and hit the cavalry.

The war horses neighed and raised their front hooves high, while the camels walked slowly.

Li Ye raised his head and found that the entire sky had turned dim. Is this a sandstorm coming?

The guide ran past and shouted: "The sandstorm is coming. It's a very violent sandstorm. Let the camels and horses lie down, and everyone stick to the camels!"

The soldiers pulled the horses and camels down one after another, and covered the horses' eyes with cloths. The originally anxious horses gradually became quiet.

The soldiers clung to the camels, secretly praying for safety.

It was still noon at this time, but the surroundings were already pitch dark, with dust covering the sky, and the only sound that could be heard was a devilish whistling sound, which was extremely terrifying.

The sandstorm lasted for five hours. When the sky gradually cleared, it was already late at night.

The soldiers slowly stood up and brushed away the thick dust from their bodies. Many soldiers and horses were almost submerged, and the horses also struggled to get up. Li Ye ordered the captains of each team to count his men. Is there anyone in trouble?

Fortunately, although the sandstorm was terrifying, there were no casualties, and both the horses and camels were safe.

Everyone ate dry food and water, fed their horses, and rested for half an hour. As the departure horn of the Sogdian caravan sounded in the distance, the Tang army also set off.

Li Ye sat on the back of a strong two-humped camel. The tall camel spread its long legs and walked slowly. His body also rose and fell. Li Ye stared up at the stars blankly.

The sky seemed to have been washed, and the stars were shining brightly. The stars in the sky were like gems on the blue velvet cloth, and a Milky Way stretched across the sky like a jade belt.

Li Ye no longer considered the philosophical issues of where he came from and where he was going back. He was just attracted by the spectacular and beautiful starry sky and felt a kind of human loneliness and insignificance.

In fact, all the soldiers were looking up at the stars. No one spoke. They were all shocked by the magnificent starry sky. A long meteor streaked across the night sky above their heads, causing the merchants and soldiers to exclaim.

But there is also a beautiful scene. More than 30 Hu Ji are also sitting on camels, nestling in the arms of Tang soldiers, looking up at the stars in fascination.

It’s a long story.

Ten days later, the team arrived at Puleihai. Puleihai is Lop Nur. Lop Nur in the Tang Dynasty had sufficient water. Chihe River and Qiemo River flowed into it. It was an endless freshwater ocean. On the water, various water birds were soaring and singing. On the shore There are large forests of Populus euphratica and reeds. With water, everything becomes full of life.

There is a garrison and post station in Pulei, where hundreds of soldiers are stationed. The post station is a transfer point for sending letters, which is equivalent to a post office.

In addition, there is a small town next to the fort and the inn, with about a hundred households. Almost every house has a shop, an inn, a tavern, a brothel and a di shop. These are the four. What is a di shop? It is a place to replenish supplies, providing water, dry food, fodder and medicine.

After resting for two days in the small town of Pulehai, the team set off again, but this time it was better. The team walked along the north bank of the Chihe River. The Red River is the Tarim River, but it is a seasonal river and has very little water in autumn and winter. , there is sufficient water in spring and summer to supplement the flow of Puleihai.

There were two Sogdian caravans traveling with the Tang Army. They were actually afraid of the horse bandits along the way, so they traveled exclusively with the Tang Army. They also provided a lot of conveniences to the Tang Army soldiers, mainly medicines. They had been trekking on the Silk Road for many years. There are some medicines for treating travel sickness, which are very miraculous and can be said to be effective once applied.

These two Sogdian caravans are very large, one is from Kang State, and the other is from Xiaoshi State. Among them, the caravan from Xiaoshi State is followed by more than thirty Hu Ji who have returned to China. They all came to the Tang Dynasty to make a living in their teens. , Selling liquor for ten years, I made a lot of money. Everyone is in their twenties, and they can't stay. At this time, they can only return to their motherland to get married.

The existence of these charming orchids adds a lot of color and vitality to the boring journey.

These Hu Ji came to the Tang Army every day to chat and laugh, and even stayed with the Tang Army soldiers while escaping from sandstorms. Over time, some kind of emotional cremation naturally burst out.

Even Li Ye could see that these thirty or so Hu Ji were very scheming. They actually came to find a home among the soldiers of the Tang Army, and they seemed to have found them. It is estimated that after this trip, they will not return home.

"General Li, please help them!"

The person talking to Li Ye was the leader of the Little Shiguo caravan, named Slytherin. This name reminded Li Ye of Voldemort in his previous life.

Slytherin is about fifty years old. He has been walking the Silk Road since he was twenty and has been walking for thirty years. The deep wrinkles on his face are filled with the wisdom of the years.

"Their fate will not be very good after they return. All the money they earned in the Tang Dynasty will be given to their parents, who will marry their brothers, and then they will wait like animals for men to choose their wives. With luck, their parents will They would be given a little dowry, but if they were unlucky, they would get nothing. After they got married, their fate would be very miserable, and some husbands would even sell them to the Persians. Hey! I shed tears just talking about it."

Li Ye nodded and smiled: "I won't interfere. As long as they are consensual, I will help them find a temporary home when they arrive in Qiuci."

Li Ye suddenly thought of An Lu who took away his first kiss, and wondered how she was doing in An Guo?

After a month and a half of long journey, Li Ye finally arrived at Kucha City, which is the largest military town among the four towns in Anxi and the seat of Anxi Jiedufu.

The Anxi Army has 24,000 people, but it controls the territory of Anxi and thousands of miles west of Congling. On the one hand, it is related to the fetter system of the Tang Dynasty, and on the other hand, it is also because the Anxi Army is powerful in combat. It is commonplace to win with a small number and a large number. .

Qiuci City belongs to the Kingdom of Qiuci, and is home to local people of all ethnic groups and the families of Tang Army soldiers. Although the imperial court launched the "Long March Athletes Movement" from the Kaiyuan period, providing generous land and tax conditions, and encouraging Han people to immigrate to the Western Regions, it is true that Tens of thousands of households from the Central Plains also moved westward, but they were mainly concentrated in the three states of Beiting, Tingzhou, Xizhou and Yizhou.

There are also some immigrants from Anxi in the south, mainly soldiers' families, but most of the soldiers' families are still in the Central Plains. However, this has been taken seriously by the court, and a steady stream of soldiers' families are migrating to Anxi to settle down.

At present, Anxi Jiedu Mansion is inside the city, but the camp of more than 10,000 Tang troops is outside the city.

Li Ye and his entourage walked into the noisy and lively city of Qiuci, and the exotic customs suddenly hit their faces.