The golden setting sun lengthened the figure walking in the wind and sand, and the early coldness could not bring a trace of moisture.
Ying Zheng sat on a sand dune and looked at the setting sun, seemingly thoughtful.
That direction is where the center of the desert is.
"Uncle Thumb, do you think this sand millstone has any magic power?"
Thumb also looked in that direction and sighed: "Maybe, if there is no magic power, how can it rotate and how can it expand."
"Maybe it's not magic." Ying Zheng said solemnly, "Maybe it has life, or it follows certain rules."
Thumb shook his head and said: "No matter what it is, we can't compete with it. Human beings are too insignificant in front of nature."
"Nature is also man-made." Ying Zheng's eyes brightened, "It should not be out of human control."
I remember that Pangu led the protoss to completely transform the planet. Only then did we have vast oceans, towering mountains, fresh air and gentle sunshine.
Of course, for ordinary people, those are just empty legends, because the technical level is too far away from that level, so no one will believe that it is true.
But Ying Zheng was different. As the direct heir of the Tiancheng lineage, he knew the history of human development very clearly, so he did not believe that the planet transformed by the gods would not be able to curb its shortcomings.
But these things, as ordinary people's thumbs, certainly don't know what they are about.
"Uncle Thumb, my original idea was to go to the center of the Sand Mill." Ying Zheng said, "But now it seems that even if I go there, I won't be able to find any clues. On the contrary, there will be dangers." .”
Thumb said: "My lord, please don't put yourself in danger. Since we can't stop it from spreading, we can just move it away."
"You don't have to go to the center of the desert, but I want to visit your forbidden area again."
Thumbs up and eyebrows moved: "It's easy to go to the forbidden area. We originally planned to go there, but what does that have to do with this desert?"
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "I'll go ask the mountain god. Maybe he can do something."
He won't tell Thumb that what he is looking for is Taotie. As the guardian beast here, maybe Taotie really knows what to do.
But Thumb believed it was true and said: "Then we should go and discuss it carefully with the mountain god. Even if we move away, we can't watch this desert swallow up the entire Western Region."
"That's right." Ying Zheng responded, "It wouldn't be good if it spread to Da Qin one day."
After chatting for a while, the light gradually dimmed, and the two of them turned around and ran back to the army with the guards behind them.
The team repaired overnight and continued on their way the next day.
After leaving the desert and entering the exquisite territory, patches of snowflakes were floating in the sky. Although it was very sporadic, it still looked like winter.
On this day, we finally entered Jingjue City, and the people lined the streets to welcome the triumphant army.
Although there was no actual battle between the Jingjue Army this time, fortunately there were no casualties in the army.
What the people most want to see is not necessarily military achievements, but often the safe return of their loved ones.
When they learned that King Qin had returned together, the people were even more excited and rushed to tell each other.
Of course, Ying Zheng would not miss this opportunity to win people's hearts. He ordered the Huben army to distribute the spoils obtained in Yuezhi to the people one after another, and publicly announced that the Yuezhi country was destroyed, the Hexi Corridor was stable from now on, and the trade roads were unprecedentedly smooth.
This move also hinted to the elite civilians that the road to move eastward had been smoothed and they could move forward unimpeded.
Returning to the palace, Wu Chan quickly settled the little princess. The temperature had dropped in the past few days. She had been worried that the child would catch cold, so she stayed by her side.
"You really shouldn't have brought her out." Ying Zheng said pitifully, "In other words, you shouldn't have come out either. It would be nice to watch the child in the palace."
"Aren't I worried about you?" Wu Chan said, "Besides, the child can't live without me now, so I took her out."
"Fortunately, my little princess is in strong health and didn't suffer from the cold." Ying Zheng said, "Otherwise, the gain would not be worth the loss."
Wu Chan looked at the little princess, then at Ying Zheng, and said slowly: "Husband, I have been waiting for you to come back and give her a name."
Ying Zheng thought for a while and said: "This time I am here to help the whole Jingjue clan migrate, why not call her..."
"How about telling her to migrate eastward?"
Migrating eastward?
Yingdong migration?
Why does it feel so strange?
Although Wu Chan felt a little awkward, he still obeyed: "Okay, let's call it eastward migration."
(Later, the royal family surnamed Ying went into hiding. Ying Dongxi reversed his name and followed Xu Fu to an island in the east, where he actually created another civilization. This is a story later)
When Ying Zheng saw that the little princess seemed to be asleep, he pulled Wu Chan aside and said softly: "When we were in the desert, I mentioned to Uncle Thumb that I wanted to visit the mountain god in your forbidden area again and ask if there was anyone there. There is no way to clean up the desert."
"Didn't you ask me about it last time you went there?" Wu Chan asked.
"The question I asked last time was not detailed." Ying Zheng said, "We have moved away this time, and we may never come back again. Regardless of whether there is any way, I have to pay a visit and take a look at the ancestors you made. Mausoleum.”
Wu Chan nodded and said: "That's true. The god doesn't allow us to worship. It just so happens that you can take our place."
"But you have to prepare more beef, sheep and cooked dried meat for me." Ying Zheng smiled, "I promised the gods last time, and I will bring more styles to it next time."
"Approximately how much will it take?"
"The more the better," Ying Zheng said, "It has a huge appetite, so you might as well prepare more and save it for it to enjoy in the future. Besides, those old and weak livestock are not suitable for long-distance migration, so why not just make them for it No matter how much food you use, I will make up for it when you return to Daqin."
Wu Chan knew that what he said was reasonable. Such a large-scale long-distance migration would not be well taken care of by the people, let alone the livestock. Even the strong cattle and sheep would be as thin as razor blades when they arrived in Qin. .
The best way is to sell all the ones that are still breathing, and then take the money to Daqin to buy new ones.
At this time, the great elder Jingjue asked for an audience.
During the days when Wu Chan was on the expedition, all the fine political affairs were left to the Great Elder. Although he was usually in charge of the government affairs, now that Wu Chan was back, he had to report some of the government affairs.
After talking about a few less important state affairs, the elder took out a letter of credence and said that it was a letter of credence sent by Dawan Kingdom.
Wu Chan unfolded it and saw that there were indeed some strange words on it.
Of course, Ying Zheng didn't recognize these words, so he had to wait until Wu Chan finished reading them before he asked.
"The letter says that the caravan that went to Dawan last time informed them of your coming to Jingjue," Wu Chan said. "They are coming to Jingjue to see you together with the Persian envoy."
"Persia?" Ying Zheng asked in surprise, "Could it be Persia that is farther west than Dawan?"
"Exactly." Wu Chan nodded and said, "Persia and Dawan have always been on good terms. It must be that after your goods were shipped to Dawan, Persia took a fancy to them, so they wanted to come and discuss things with you."
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "It's really possible. When will they arrive? If they don't come until next year, I can't wait for them."
Wu Chan said: "The letter said that they will set off immediately. I think they should be on the way already. It should be less than a month's journey from Dawan to here."
"Did they say what goods they brought?"
Wu Chan shook his head: "I didn't say I brought any goods, I just said I brought some gold and silver."
"That's not bad." Ying Zheng said with a smile, "Then I will immediately ask the King of Western Qiang to transport the goods from Jiayuguan." When he came out, he brought a lot of goods, all of which he wanted to sell to the Western Regions, but when he came out When they arrived at Jiayuguan, they encountered a war, so he asked Xu Wan to hide the goods in the pass.
Xu Wan was afraid that Jiayuguan would fall, so when he mobilized the Suzhou garrison, he transported the goods back to Suzhou.
"By the way, what do those Persians look like?" Ying Zheng asked curiously, "Do they also have two eyes and one mouth?"
Wu Chan chuckled: "Look at what you said, is it possible that they can still have three heads and six arms? But I have only seen them once. The people there are all straight, broad-mouthed, and their hair is quite thick."
Ying Zheng was too lazy to think about it. He turned around and said to the elder: "Thank you, elder, spend some money to buy more cattle and sheep. I will worship the mountain god in a few days. It's best to make some dried meat, meat cakes and the like. I will let Meng Tian give you the money you spent later."
Before the Great Elder could answer, Wu Chan said: "What kind of money do you want to raise? It's better to spend all the treasury so as not to carry it to Da Qin. Besides, don't you want to resupply me when you get to Qin?"
The Great Elder laughed and said, "My king is right. Your Majesty, let's keep the money for now. In the future, when we get to Da Qin, we will spend more than this on us."
Ying Zheng said bitterly, saying that if he didn't have any financial resources, he really wouldn't be able to support his mother's family, which cost hundreds of thousands.
"By the way, it's best to send someone to greet the envoys from Dawan and Persia. It also shows that we are polite." Ying Zheng said, "The most important thing is to find out their true and false intentions in advance."
"That's no problem." The great elder agreed happily, and then he seemed to think of something and asked, "By the way, my lord, I heard from Thumb that you brought back ten ice Gu seed worms, is it true?"
When Thumb came back to move reinforcements a few days ago, he mentioned it to the great elder, and then followed Wu Chan and led the army to Loulan for rescue.
But he didn't expect the elder to be quick-talking, and the matter had already been spread.
Ying Zheng nodded and said: "I brought back a litter and gave it to Thumb when we were in Lishan. He must have already placed it."
The Great Elder laughed loudly and said: "That's good, that's good! I don't think any kid would agree to migrate in order to serve the ice Gu seed insect."
Ying Zheng: "..."
The great elder laughed and left.
Seeing how happy he was, Ying Zheng asked suspiciously: "Is the icegu seed insect really that important to you?"
Wu Chan rolled his eyes at him and said, "Didn't I tell you earlier that the Ice Gu is the totem of our Guidong Clan and our belief. With them, we can be called the Ghost Hands of the Guidong Clan. Not to mention seed bugs.”
"If it's really that important to you, I'll get you another basket." He joked.
Wu Chan blinked and said, "Can you really still find it? I want to go with you too."
"That will have to wait until we get back."
In the next few days, the elite court began to buy a large number of cattle and sheep from the people, and then sold most of them to neighboring countries such as Loulan, Khotan, and Qiemo.
Some of the remaining ones were slaughtered according to Ying Zheng's instructions, and the bones and internal organs were cooked to make smoked sauce, and the refined meat was made into dried meat.
Those that were not slaughtered were fed until they were fat.
Ying Zheng was not idle either and went to the Jing Jue Ancestral Tomb twice.
This ancestral mausoleum is very similar to King Wu's mausoleum, which is less than 30% the size, and there are not so many complicated mechanisms in it. It can be said that it saves as much as possible.
But it is small, but its structure is not ambiguous at all. Although it did not take too long to build, it is also strong and durable.
It seemed that the nine-story demon tower that Wu Chan talked about was finally completed, and one of her worries was confirmed.
On this day, Wu Chan connected hundreds of cattle and sheep end to end with hemp ropes, and sent ten carriages filled with meat to escort Ying Zheng to the outskirts of the forbidden area.
Ying Zheng looked at these cattle, sheep and carriages, and smiled bitterly in his heart: This feast prepared for Taotie is really sumptuous, it is the blood and sweat of so many people!
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