These people set out from Fenglingdu and walked for nearly ten days. They did not stay or rest, nor did they carry a pot to cook. When they were hungry, they took a bite of hard sesame cakes, when they were thirsty, they drank a sip of cold water, and when they were tired, they drank After a few sips of spicy soju, I felt so sleepy that I lay down on the horse and squinted for a while. The only chance I had to get off the horse and step on the ground was to poop and pee.
After nearly ten consecutive days like this, even the iron-clad people could not bear it. They had just passed the border of Ganzhou, and the faces of the young and middle-aged people were already full of fatigue.
Liu Yi, who had frosty hair and was used to walking on such windy and sandy roads, was in good spirits. He chewed on his tobacco pipe and swayed on his horse. He stared at the west with half-squinted eyes for a long time. He reined in his horse and looked back, with a hint of emotion in his voice. After seeing the vicissitudes of life, he said with a smile: "Boss Li, the Baima garrison is ahead, and there is a small post station next to it. After checking the road citation book, why not just rest in the post station."
Li Yushan urged his horse to gallop a few steps and caught up with Liu Yi. They looked to the west together, and sure enough they saw tall and low simple houses scattered across the wilderness.
Where the yellow sand rolls, a towering beacon towers, and the rising sun falls on it, making it particularly formidable.
Walking westward along the foothills of the Qilian Mountains, the road becomes more and more desolate. From the luxuriant grass to the wilderness of yellow sand, my heart becomes more and more depressed as I go.
Although the sky is still blue and the clouds are flying, the grass on the majestic mountains is becoming more and more sparse. The snow that originally only covered the top of the mountain gradually spreads to the mountainside, remaining all year round and glowing with dazzling colors. cold light.
Li Yushan looked back and saw the exhausted team moving forward slowly, and his heart sank.
We haven't even entered the boundary of Suzhou, we haven't even touched the shadow of Yumen Pass, and we have already become like this dusty, half-dead appearance. When we get out of Yumen Pass, which cannot be blown by the spring breeze, and the long and yellow sandy trade routes of the Western Regions , it takes half a year to go back and forth, how can these people survive?
It seems that you still need to relax and not rush to death blindly.
He asked in a low voice: "Brother, how long does it take to enter Suzhou after we arrive at Baimashi?"
Liu Yi squinted his eyes and took a sip of soju: "Come on, after passing Baima garrison, we will enter Suzhou territory in three or four hundred miles. It only takes three or four days."
Li Yushan thought for a moment and calculated the days. They had complete road management documents for this trip. All they had to do was walk along the official road step by step. There were bengsui stations along the way and troops were stationed at the border. It would be a lot safer and easier to walk.
Calculated in this way, there was still plenty of time. He raised his riding whip and pointed forward, looking back and shouting at the escort team: "Hurry up, we can get to the front station at noon for lunch and a rest."
When everyone heard that they could rest on the ground, they cheered up and hurriedly urged their horses forward.
Han Changmu and Yao Yao were still walking slowly, as if they hadn't had enough bumps on the horse, and they fell at the end of the team.
Han Changmu turned slightly sideways and looked at Yao Yao, who had his head wrapped tightly, like a rice dumpling, and felt deeply in his heart.
After entering the border of Liangzhou and the wind and sand gradually started to blow, he watched Yao Yao take out one thing after another like a magic trick and wrap himself up like this.
Although it looks a little strange, it does seem to have suffered less from the wind and sand.
He followed suit and wrapped himself into a rice dumpling. After wrapping himself, he found that it was indeed very comfortable.
The two rice dumplings walked slowly side by side, which looked quite funny.
Hearing Li Yushan's words, Yao Yao was stunned for a moment. She had completely read "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" written by Tang Xuanzang after he returned from Buddhist scriptures, but her impression of this white horse garrison was really vague.
She tilted her body and whispered: "Sir, is there a pass ahead?"
Before leaving, Han Changmu was fully prepared in advance. He followed Li Yushan's escort team all the way. He was always vigilant and compared with the surrounding environment. He found that Li Yushan did not make any other moves, which made him feel a little more at ease.
He nodded and said: "Yes, Baima Fortress is also a very famous pass, but it was abandoned by the previous dynasty. After Baima Fortress was reopened this dynasty, there was no major repair work. Baima Fortress gradually became less known. Now It is just a very small pass, with a small post next to it for travelers to rest."
Yao Yao pursed her dry lips. No matter how big or small the inn was, there was always a place to sit and rest.
Her bones were almost falling apart from the bumps on the horse these days.
Han Changmu glanced at Yao Yao and whispered solemnly: "We are about to enter the border of Suzhou. We have to leave the escort team before entering Suzhou City. You must be ready."
Yao Yao nodded slightly in the blanket, and his stiff lips moved slowly, leaving a bloody gash, but his voice was firm and powerful: "Okay."
The wind blew away the voices of the two people, and no one in the escort team noticed their movements.
Han Changmu glanced at Yao Yao, who was wrapped in a strange shape, and raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
Yao Yao smiled calmly.
Isn't it just cooperating to act in a scene? What's so difficult about it? She is a good actress.
The white horse garrison looks very close, but it's really not that close when walking, which makes people more and more desperate as they walk.
Yao Yao sighed.
The legendary saying that looking at plum trees to quench thirst depends on the distance of the plum tree. If you look at the mountain like this, even if you boast that the plums are only in the sky, it will not work.
When the group of people saw the white horse garrison in the morning, they began to urge the horses forward. From the excitement at first, urging the horses to run fast, and then the discouragement, they slowly and leisurely walked until noon, when the sun was shining brightly, almost making people almost sunburnt. It was only when there was smoke that we entered the Baima garrison.
The Baima garrison is indeed not big, with twenty garrison troops stationed all year round. Half of the garrison are Han Chinese and half are Hu people. The garrison leader is a Han Chinese in his forties, with a weathered face.
Seeing Li Yushan and his group approaching, they walked to the pass with their hands behind their backs.
Liu Yi hurriedly saluted the fire chief and said with a smile: "Master, thank you for your hard work, Master."
The fire chief smiled kindly and said: "This is a bad season, why are you wandering off again? You are celebrating the New Year on the road."
Liu Yi said with a smile: "Thanks to the imperial court, the Yumen has been reopened, and the Yiwu Road is smooth and easy to walk. The old man has to walk a few more times, hoping to quit working soon and enjoy the blessings of children and grandchildren at home."
The fire chief smiled and waved at the garrison, and several people came forward to inspect the goods and customs documents.
Although they knew that there was something strange in the box, the people in the escort team looked calm and composed, as if they knew that these garrison troops could not find anything at all.
This was indeed the case along the way. After passing several passes, nothing amiss was detected.
Han Changmu was very surprised. If Yao Yao's nose hadn't worked so well, he could smell that the contents in the box were indeed the defective batch and had not been replaced. He would have almost thought that the box had been tampered with again without him knowing it. His hands and feet were broken, and his bag was dropped.
It seems that if the methods of the Weiyuan Escort Bureau are not extremely clever, then the garrison troops along the way have colluded with the Zhou family.
At this time of the year, there were not many caravans taking the Western Region trade route, and most of them were returning. The Guan ultimatum was quickly checked, and it took only a while for the horse to take a breath before the fire chief waved his hand and let the escort team go. Enter the inn.
The Baima garrison is not big, and the post station is even smaller. The dark yellow soil wall surrounds a two-entry courtyard. The front is a wine shop for travelers to eat and drink, and the back is an inn for people to rest and stay. It can be regarded as a post station.
Seeing a large group of people coming in, the owner of the store smiled happily and greeted them with a smile. The owner was a tall Hu man with a high nose, deep eyes, slightly bald hair, and he spoke Chinese very fluently.
The Hexi area was originally the homeland of the Hu people. Since the previous dynasty, the imperial court had attached great importance to the large land in Hexi. After several campaigns, it finally took over the Hexi area, stationed troops and farmland, and moved a large number of poor Han people and sinners to open up wasteland here.
In his previous life, Yao Yao read a book that mentioned this ancient practice called "mixing sand."
A large number of Han people were moved to the homeland of the Hu people. After a hundred years of mixed living, the Hu people's bloodline was gradually assimilated by the Han people.
What is assimilated is often not just blood, but also living habits, customs and language.
Losing your bloodline is not terrible, but losing your inheritance is the most terrible thing.
In this way, handfuls of sand are mixed in, and the children of the barbarians and Han people grow up one after another.
The barbarians in the Hexi area are no longer the primitive, barbaric and warlike barbarians they used to be.
And the Han people in the Hexi area are no longer the weak, weak and bully Han people they used to be.
Perhaps this is the charm of seeking common ground while reserving differences.
Over the past hundred years, some of these foreigners and Han people joined the army at the age of twenty and fought on the border for decades to earn military honors and military pay. Some traveled through the vast desert to earn the meager funds.
Yao Yao sighed, the world is difficult, and all he earns is life-saving money.
And I am not the same.
She clamped the horse's belly and urged the horse into the post station.
After entering the narrow courtyard gate, my eyes suddenly opened up. Dozens of Populus euphratica trees in the corner had long withered branches, but they still remained standing. At the foot of the dry trees, a few clusters of slender wild grasses sprouted out.
The yellow mud on the walls peeled off, and the ground was covered with yellow mud and sand. There was only a little bit of green at the base of the trees and the roots of the walls, which looked very desolate.
Yao Yao tied the horse next to the trunk of the poplar tree. She was so tired that her bones were almost falling apart from the bumps on the horse's back. She didn't care to see if the ground was clean. She sat down against the wall and took a breath. .
A fire was lit in the yard early, and a large black iron pot was set up. The flames were bright red, and the iron pot was licked, making a crackling sound.
This iron pot has been aged, and the oil and smoke stains have seeped into the pot.
Han Changmu tied the horse, slowly walked to Yao Yao and sat down, and asked indifferently: "I think you ride the horse very well."
The tone was very meaningful, and combined with the faint smile on the corner of his lips, it made Yao Yao shudder.
"..."
Why is this man thinking about clichés all the time? It's outrageous how conscientious he is. Yao Yao doesn't know what to say.
