To the west of Gouluo Salt Pond, close to the salt farm established by Yeli Yasi, there is a warehouse area.
The reservoir area was newly built in the past two years. It covers an area of nearly three acres. The perimeter was originally fenced. At the end of last year, it began to be raised and thickened. New buildings and courtyards for long-term residence were also built in the reservoir area. ,
However, the speed of expansion has never caught up with the increase in the flow of people. Every time a large-scale caravan comes here, the houses and courtyards will be full, and every courtyard will be full of people and lively. The businessmen who had free time chatted and laughed with each other, while the people who worked hard to make money carried bags of salt or other goods back and forth, shouting and shouting.
There are almost no Mongolians in the reservoir area. On the outside, behind the fence and wall, there are several Mongolian man-made arrow towers. Mongolians with furs wrapped around their waists often climbed up to the arrow tower and looked down eagerly, but the merchants didn't particularly care. qδ.net
After Genghis Khan's Western Expedition, the Mongols did not launch any large-scale southward raids. However, on the edge of the grassland, small conflicts between the Mongolian army and the Zhou army broke out from time to time, and each suffered losses. Over time, a special order was formed outside of the fighting. Businessmen followed the order to make money without worrying about danger.
I really want to talk about danger...
A larger team arrived yesterday, and several businessmen were wandering around the reservoir area happily. They noticed that the ground they stepped on had obvious traces of fire burning. Under the black ash, they could often see rotten leather armor, broken iron leaves, and even things that looked like broken human bones. Many warehouses were obviously built against the damaged city walls.
It can be seen that this place was once a battlefield of fierce fighting, but fortunately everything has passed. At least for the past two years, the prairie edges have been generally safe.
"More than three hundred years ago, the Khitan people opened an ancient salt road on the grassland to trade green salt from the grassland salt ponds. The source of the green salt was mainly Eji Nur, thousands of miles away in the north, and the salt transportation team south We walked through the sandy land, collected local lake salt at Gouluo, then went down the dam and entered the Central Plains."
A Central Plains vendor stood beside half an earth wall, patting the rammed earth with great satisfaction and said to his companion:
"Salt Road is an important source of wealth for the Liao Kingdom, so the Liao Kingdom chose a strategic location on the west bank of Gouluo and established the Gouluo Salt Division. Later, the rise of Jin Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda once fought a battle with the Liao army here. , Xiao Gui, the prince-in-law of the Liao Kingdom, was captured alive. Therefore, the land had both the terrain of a fortress and the benefit of salt ponds. The Kingdom of Jin not only continued the salt division here, but also set up a market to trade with the northern grassland peoples. , is under the unified jurisdiction of Changzhou. This Changzhou city is where we are now, and the place where our Emperor Zhou was born is Changzhou!"
In fact, these words have been said by people all the way north, and most of the listeners have heard them several times. Those who are interested also discussed them along the way, and the ears of others are almost calloused. But being in the vast wilderness, looking at the broken walls and the marks of knife and ax chisels on the walls, and thinking about the hard work of this journey, the feeling is different.
Immediately, some people were in awe, and some looked around to see if there was any place to salute, and asked: "Your Majesty often said that he was born in Wushapu, Changzhou. Is Wushapu here?"
The merchant shook his head: "This is only my second time here. As you can see, all the old buildings in Changzhou have been razed to the ground. The residents who were here back then were all killed and taken away... I I really don’t know this.”
Everyone sighed in disappointment.
The founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty was still short, but the monarchs and ministers in the court paid great attention to providing the people with a chance to recuperate and recuperate. During this period, the economy of various places was gradually not as depressed as it was in the early years, and the relationship with the Southern Song Dynasty was not as tense as it was during the reign of Jin Dynasty. As a result, life for merchants generally became easier.
And because this newly rising country's martial arts was so strong that it had the momentum to overwhelm the Black Tartars, everyone's business slowly spread to the grasslands. Everyone felt that the future was very promising, and they were all very interested in that legendary man. The young emperor respected him very much.
Many people said on the way that if they could see the relics of the emperor's days in the army, they would pay homage to them no matter what to get blessings and nobility.
It is a pity that the entire northern Xinjiang defense line was completely destroyed during the previous invasions of the Mongols. On today’s grasslands, whether soldiers or
Officials, merchants, and farmers were all novices who had slowly moved northward in the past two years, hoping to reap benefits. Almost all of the old people who had been stationed on the border under the rule of the Jin Kingdom had become ghosts under the sword of the Mongols. There was not a single living person who knew the scale of the business and could answer the merchants' questions.
Someone speculated: "Our convoy passed through the valley a few days ago and saw broken walls and ruins lying across the mountains. Is that Usha Castle?"
"It looks like it to me. The ruins are huge in scale. They don't look like ordinary fortresses. They look like tigers and dragons looming over them... That's nine out of ten."
A young man was walking past them. Wen Ting shook his head and said, "That's not Wusha Castle, it's Wuyue Camp. Wusha Castle is to the north of the salt pond. You go around the salt pond and walk another seventy meters to the north. Here, only when you see Daheiqu Mountain can you see Wusha Castle."
Everyone turned around and saw that the young man looked very familiar. Everyone had seen each other during this trip.
The young man is about thirteen or fourteen years old. He is of medium build and looks quite well-proportioned. His clothes are very ordinary, but he has a rather delicate sword hanging on his waist, and there is a jade stone on the tassel of the sword.
A merchant couldn't help but laugh and said: "You are a little kid, you are doing business with your parents, right? What do you know about the old things in Northern Xinjiang? Don't talk nonsense here..."
Another person suddenly noticed that although this young man looked elegant, he had obvious scars and calluses on his hands, indicating that he had really practiced swordsmanship or archery and riding, or that he had come from a poor life.
After the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, thousands of low-level soldiers from the old days became the backbone of the new dynasty's honorable ministers. This young man was probably the nephew of an officer, so he should not be offended.
He also thought that on the caravan's way to Yanchi, several teams of cars were joining the caravan one after another. It was at that time that the young man joined the caravan. Those vehicles were all heavily loaded, but they did not look like businessmen's vehicles. The companions who accompanied the vehicles were all very heroic, and it was obvious that they had practiced martial arts and killed people.
Hey, there might be noble people from Dazhou in this queue... The water here is deep. He quickly tugged at his companion's robe to tell him to shut up.
This young man has a good temper and is not angry when he sees the two merchants looking down on him.
But he seemed to be a little stubborn about the place Wusha Castle. Seeing that the merchants didn't believe it, he casually took the sword and drew a few strokes on the sandy ground with its sheath: "This is the salt pond, this is the Changzhou Forecasting Field we are in." The old site, this is Wuyue Camp to the southwest, and this is Wusha Castle to the northwest. To go to Wusha Castle, you have to walk along this road... the distance is still far away!"
After saying that, he turned around and looked at his companion: "Ado, did I draw correctly?"
The one called "A Duo" is a young man dressed as a Bohai native. The young man frowned and looked at the drawing, took out his knife, and made a few strokes in the lower right corner: "I only know that if I keep walking like this, I will reach Xuandezhou. Well, I have only walked this section, and I have never been further north. "
The young man smiled and said, "I have been there, and this picture is definitely correct. On the way to Usha Castle, I can walk back and forth more than a dozen times with my eyes closed..."
A Duo nodded, then shook his head: "We have to wait until Zhao Xuan finishes his work before we can go."
Zhao Xuan!
The merchants suddenly became nervous. The name Zhao Xuan is very familiar to merchants. The general responsible for commanding the various border defense departments stationed at Jinshan was called Zhao Xuan. When businessmen saw him every day, they would start nodding and bowing after dozens of steps.
But this young man called Zhao Xuan's name so casually... Where did they come from? Why did General Zhao Xuan and Zhao come here? What does the old man want to do?
