Tibet

If there is no difference between the previous Dunhuang City and the inland county town, then Qiuci City is completely an ancient city in the Western Regions. There are dense buildings everywhere, mainly bungalows. The streets are very wide, with various shops on both sides, selling goods from Various goods from the Central Plains and the West.

Speaking a language that no one understands, the streets are full of barbarians, and of course there are Han people.

"Zhang Shan!"

Li Ye turned around and shouted, and a brigade commander about thirty years old ran over. He was in charge of logistics and had twenty soldiers under him. He was responsible for the team's food, drink, accommodation, and food replenishment along the way.

"Is your humble position here?"

Li Ye asked in a low voice: "Those thirty or so Hu Ji really refuse to leave?"

Zhang Shan nodded with a wry smile, "They all exchanged tokens."

The exchange of tokens is equivalent to an engagement. Li Ye is really helpless. If it were during a war, this situation would never be allowed to happen, but it is not a war now, and he has no military position. These three hundred soldiers are only protecting him when he goes to the West to investigate. Complete The tasks assigned by the emperor cannot be handled according to usual military discipline.

Soldiers are also ordinary people, with emotions and desires, and the need to start a family. He must handle this matter well, otherwise he will lose military morale.

Li Ye immediately ordered Zhang Shandao: "First find two inns to settle everyone down, and then ask about the local house prices!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Zhang Shan quickly took several of his men to find an inn separately. Soon, they found a large inn that could accommodate hundreds of them and hundreds of camels and war horses.

Seeing that there were no other guests in the inn, Li Ye simply asked Zhang Shan to book the inn, and the thirty-five Hu Ji found two separate courtyards for them to stay in.

After Li Ye settled the sergeant, he took two of his men to Jiedu Mansion in Anxi and arrived in front of the military office. There were more than a dozen soldiers standing guard at the gate of the military office. It was a coincidence that a slightly disabled man limped out of the military office. The official Li Ye recognized at a glance was Chang Shi Feng Changqing.

Li Ye was overjoyed and shouted quickly: "Feng Changshi!"

When Feng Changqing saw Li Ye, he was startled at first, then recognized him. He was surprised and delighted and stepped forward and said, "Master Li, why did you come to Anxi?"

Li Ye turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and saluted: "My younger brother has been ordered by the Emperor to investigate the situation in Dashi!"

After saying that, he took out the emperor's gold medal and gave it a look to Feng Changqing. Feng Changqing narrowed his eyes slightly, patted Li Ye on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Thank you for the hard journey, little brother, let's go to the military office to talk in detail!"

Li Ye asked his soldiers to wait outside, and he followed Feng Changqing into the military office.

The military office also has the characteristics of the Western Regions. The courtyard is full of shelves and planted with fruits and grapes. The two of them sat in the lobby. Feng Changqing asked the soldiers to serve tea and brought two plates of freshly picked grapes.

"This kind of grape is very expensive in Chang'an. It costs dozens of yuan per pound. We have it all over the streets and every household grows it. But the grapes in Jiedu Mansion are recognized as the best. Let me try it."

Li Ye tasted two. It was indeed sweet and mellow, with a long aftertaste. Li Ye immediately praised: "Not bad! Not bad! The taste is very good."

He looked around again and asked, "Shuai Gao isn't here?"

"He went to Shule to supervise the supply of grain and fodder. It may take some time before he can come back?"

"Are you going to fight again?" Li Ye immediately caught the meaning of Feng Changqing's words.

Feng Changqing nodded, "I'm going to attack the Kingdom of Chu. It's a coincidence that I'm here. I'm going to lead my army to Shule in two days."

Li Ye said apologetically: "I have something to ask Brother Feng for help first!"

"You said, as long as you don't let me go back to Chang'an, everything will be easy."

"I brought three hundred Hexi troops here, but we encountered some trouble on the way."

Li Ye then told the story about the thirty or so Hu Ji he met on the road. He felt really ashamed and said, "I was not strict in governing, and this embarrassing thing happened."

Feng Changqing laughed and said: "This is a good thing! What are the most precious resources of our Anxi Army? Water, food and women. With women, soldiers can stay at ease for a long time. What did I do in Chang'an last year? Bring polo Team competition is one thing, but actually I also want to recruit some women to come to Anxi."

"Is it easy to arrange them?"

Feng Changqing smiled and said: "The most indispensable thing in Anxi is land and houses. We have a family community with hundreds of empty houses, which can be solved in one sentence."

Li Ye was overjoyed, "In this case, I can lead my army to Shule with peace of mind and follow Chang Shi."

Feng Changqing smiled slightly and said, "Weren't you ordered to have a big meal?"

Li Ye waved his hand, "The emperor gave me two years, which is enough. I have my own arrangements. I participated in the battle to regain Juyanhai before, and now I want to fight side by side with the Anxi Army."

Li Ye brought 300 elite soldiers from Hexi, and Feng Changqing certainly wanted them. He immediately said: "I will arrange a house for your men now!"

The Tang Army family gathering area is located in the northeast corner, accounting for 20% of the entire Qiuci City. More than a thousand families of soldiers live here. For safety reasons, a high wall was built around the military family gathering area, and soldiers stood guard before entering the gate. You need a pass.

Living in harmony does not mean living in harmony. Han Chinese and Anxi Hu people live together and have different income levels, beliefs, living habits and customs, which will definitely produce various conflicts. In many cases, small conflicts will lead to big conflicts.

In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts, military families had a special place to live. The locals called this city within the city Tangcheng.

Of course, there are still many Han and Hu people living together outside Tangcheng, but they have nothing to do with the military family members. They come to Anxi to make a living on their own. However, they also receive a lot of care in terms of taxation and land, and they rent military land. , tax-free, and the remaining food after paying the rent can provide enough food and clothing.

There are also many Han people whose families were sent to live in Anxi after being convicted. They account for a lot of people. Hundreds of families move there every year. They are also Han people who migrated westward. For example, Feng Changqing followed his convicted grandfather from Hedong since he was a child. Puzhou was sent to Anxi.

Feng Changqing allocated fifteen small courtyards to Li Ye, and gave these orchids access cards to let them settle down with the soldiers. That night, Li Ye held a simple collective wedding for thirty-five soldiers. Kissed.

The person with the highest position here is Ding Sheng. Ding Sheng found a girl from the Xiaoshi Kingdom with the most docile and honest personality to become his wife. Li Ye understood Ding Sheng's mood very well. He wanted to build a new home as soon as possible and take over his daughter. , according to Ding Sheng, his brother-in-law's family is relatively snobbish, and only took in his daughter for the sake of money, and he never really loved the child.

Of course, Li Ye is also impatient. Feng Changqing will lead his army to set off early the day after tomorrow. He must arrange for the soldiers' families as soon as possible.

That night, amidst laughter and laughter, the soldiers entered the bridal chamber with their respective women in their arms and spent their wonderful bridal night with candles and candles.

Early the next morning, the soldiers went to the streets together to purchase items and property. Li Ye gave each married soldier five taels of gold as settlement allowance.

Li Ye took An Taixuan and Pei Xiu out of the city to visit Qiuci. They will set off with the army early tomorrow morning, and today is their only day off.

The young man accompanying Li Ye on the visit was Feng Changqing's son Feng Cheng. He was only sixteen years old, but he looked very stable and mature. The oldest among them was Pei Xiu, who was only twenty years old, and An Taixuan was even younger. , only seventeen years old.

The four of them rode up to a high place. Feng Cheng pointed at the endless farmland in the distance with his riding whip and said: "These farmlands are our military fields, with more than 3,000 hectares. We also dig canals and divert water from the Kucha River for irrigation. My father said , the farmland here is better than that in the Central Plains. You don’t have to rely on the sky for food. There is sufficient water and sunlight. The wheat grown here can have a good harvest every year, with a yield of 400 jins per mu. I heard that the wheat yield in the Central Plains is only more than 100 jins per mu.”

Feng Cheng has never left Anxi. He is full of yearning for both the Central Plains and Chang'an.

Li Ye smiled and asked: "The farmland here is all military farmland, but what about the locals?"

"The locals are livestock farmers, raising sheep and cattle. They own the endless pastures to the west. In fact, we still have a lot of land. Large tracts of land to the east can be cultivated, but the manpower is limited."

Li Ye nodded, turned back and pointed at the majestic snow-capped mountains to the north and asked with a smile: "Is this the Tianshan Mountains?"

"That's right. Kucha City is at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. The melting water of the Tianshan Mountains has brought oases. Where there are oases, there are cities and populations. In fact, all oases are at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, starting from the Yanqi Kingdom in the east. Going all the way to the west, there are more than a dozen small countries.”

"Let's go to the military camp and have a look!"

"follow me!"

Feng Cheng turned his horse's head and led the three of them towards the military camp to the north.