Han Changmu held the letter and narrowed his eyes.
The fifth beacon is built on the east side of the post road, at the head of Moheyan moraine. From the fifth beacon to the north is Moheyan moraine.
I didn't expect that I would have such an opportunity due to my smooth actions.
He put away the letter very solemnly and held it in his hand. His calm expression was as calm as before, but he said with a little more gratitude: "Thank you, Mr. County Magistrate. I will take my leave now. I will definitely come and bother you when I have the opportunity."
When the county magistrate saw that the long history of Prince Han was so young and promising, and had a chivalrous heart, he had already started to make friends. Seeing that Han Changmu did not reject his kindness, he was considered to be on a high level, so he was happy He smiled and said, "That's natural. When the adults return, they must come to Changle to stay for a few more days."
After chatting for a few more words, Han Changmu bowed his hands and rode out of the city.
The sky is gradually getting brighter, and the morning glow is all over the high blue sky, as bright as satin, and dazzling.
After leaving Changle County, the road became more desolate and less green.
Riding on a horse and looking into the distance, all you can see is the rolling desolate hills. The rapid ups and downs of the horse's hooves bring up a choking flow of yellow gravel.
The road that Han Changmu and his party are taking now deviates from the Yiwu Road, bypasses Shifeng, and runs through the depths of Mohe Yanqi, leading to Yiwu. From Mohe Yanqi, there is Gaochang State, which is more than Walk along the Yiwu Road in an orderly manner and pass Shifeng to check the road citation documents. It will be much faster.
It's just that this road called Dahai Dao is very dangerous. Ordinary caravans will not choose this road. Not to mention that Mohe Yanqi is extremely windy and sandy, which often covers Da Da Da Dao. It is just the suffering of extreme drought and no water. It's not something that ordinary people can resist.
There are many people who get lost in Moheyan Moraine and die due to lack of water.
Therefore, this road, except for those who would take urgent orders from the army, was used by caravans who were willing to take extraordinary risks to smuggle prohibited goods. They had no choice but to take this road to avoid Yiwu Shifeng.
Those walking on this road are all experienced soldiers and guides who are familiar with this place.
Naturally, Han Changmu and his party did not need to deliberately avoid Shiyi, but they stopped at Xinjingyi and Guangxianyi. With the seal of Prince Han's Palace, the garrison did not do more interrogations, and even served them good wine and food to greet them.
It's just that they had something on their minds and didn't care about eating and drinking. They carefully searched for traces of the baggage train, not even a single clue was missed, but in the end they found nothing.
In desperation, Meng Suige released Fei Nu again and re-identified the route. Only then did he realize that the baggage train had completely avoided these two stations and deviated from Yiwu Road to Haidao Road.
Naturally, Han Changmu and his party could only deviate from Yiwu Road and follow Fei Nu into the yellow sand.
There is endless yellow sand under your feet, and the scorching sun is above your head.
The horse's hooves trampled over the yellowed bones that had been exposed to the sun, making a thumping sound.
After climbing over the broken rock field, we still saw endless barren hills, even the splendens dotted among them were withered and yellow.
The wind was extremely strong, whining, rolling up yellow sand and gravel, whistling in the air.
Han Changmu and his party traveled during the day and stayed in the desert at night. They were already dusty.
At dawn, while the chill was still lingering and the hot sunshine had not yet set, the group rushed to the edge of Moheyan Moraine.
Han Changmu and Helian Wenyuan dismounted from their horses and stood side by side on the high platform where the loess had accumulated.
The high platform was covered with yellow sand, and the fine yellow sand covered the uppers of the leather boots.
We haven't reached the real Mohe Yanqi yet, we just touched the edge, but it is already inaccessible.
Han Changmu took a sip of water but did not swallow it. He let the water stay in his mouth for a while before swallowing it slowly.
After Meng Suige counted all the water and food, he hurriedly walked to Han Changmu and whispered: "Master, we don't have much water and sesame cakes, so we can only last one day."
Han Changmu frowned slightly, his eyes were solemn, and he turned to ask Helian Wenyuan: "What do you think, Brother Helian?"
Helian Wenyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, as if his eyes were stung by the fine yellow-orange sand, and said cautiously: "In Mohe Yanqi, it often takes six or seven days to walk to get water supplies, and besides, we have to go there It's easy to lose your way when looking for people or a convoy. We don't have much water and food right now, and we can't hold on until we find the next water source." He paused slightly and said, "In Mohe Yanqi today, although there is not much water and food during the day, It’s too hot, but it’s extremely cold at night, so we can only travel during the day, and as soon as it gets dark, we have to find shelter to rest, otherwise we’ll easily freeze to death.”
Han Changmu nodded. In this case, he couldn't rush into Mohe Yanqi. He thought for a moment and said thoughtfully: "I remember that the fifth beacon has a water source."
Helian Wenyuan nodded and said: "Yes, Yiwu Dao and Shifeng all have post stations and water sources for caravans to stop and get water. It's just that the inspections are very strict."
"It doesn't matter, how far is the fifth beacon from here?" Han Changmu said.
Helian Wenyuan checked the direction and pointed to the northeast: "According to this, it's only half a day's journey."
He guessed Han Changmu's thoughts and thought carefully: "Xu Xiangli, the garrison officer of the Fifth Beacon, is an extremely difficult and straight-tempered man, and is very difficult to talk to. When the caravans go to the Fifth Beacon, they are often made difficult."
Han Changmu let out a sigh, thinking that the magistrate of Changle County was a very gentle and harmonious person. How could such a person become close friends with such a difficult person?
He thought for a while and said calmly: "Oh, he always makes things difficult for the caravan. Is he trying to extort money?"
Helian Wenyuan shook his head: "It would be better if he wanted money. He doesn't want money. You know, sir, that caravans travel for months at a time. You don't know what kind of accidents will happen on the way. What kind of goods are they carrying?" People and animals may not be consistent with the Lu Yin documents. For other Fengsui garrison officers, most of them can match up, but this Xu garrison officer is not the case. He will not let anyone go if they don't match up at all. ."
Han Changmu smiled: "This is a selfless person."
Helian Wenyuan said with emotion: "Yes, the imperial court knows people and makes good use of them. Such people should indeed be reused. Hexi has always been barren. This trade road not only enriched the wealthy businessmen, but also supported the small traders and horse guards." , if all the garrison officers in Shifengli were like him, the high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen would have other methods, but the common people would be the worst off. It was tantamount to losing their way of life. I don’t know how many families had to sell their children. Girl, how many people will not survive the winter and will starve to death and freeze to death."
Yes, along the way, with the seal of Prince Han's Palace, no one investigated them closely.
Han Changmu was speechless for a moment, then thought of something.
When the water is extremely clear, there are no fish; when people observe it, there are no disciples.
He paused and said, "It doesn't matter. We have a letter from the Changle County Magistrate. I think the unkind Officer Xu will not embarrass us too much. Besides, we have all the road certificates and documents, so there is nothing to embarrass us." of."
Helian Wenyuan nodded, thinking that with the seal of Prince Han's Palace, Xu Xiangli was indeed nothing to be afraid of.
Yao Yao reined in her horse and stood up, the wind lifted her coat, revealing her dry and cracked lips.
Looking into the distance, one can see desolation, not a single human habitation, only a few skinny black scorpions piercing through the bones, and the faint traces dragged on the yellow sand were instantly blown away by the wind.
She suddenly thought of a ghost blowing a lantern, and Hu Bayi and his group were looking for the ancient city in the vast desert, which was as desolate and dead as now.
Just as he was thinking about these endless things, Gu Chen urged his horse over, looked at Yao Yao who was wrapped up tightly, and said with his tongue: "Ah Yao, why are you wrapped up so tightly? There's not even a trace of a person here. If you can’t scare anyone, are you afraid of scaring ghost shadows?”
Yao Yao glanced at Gu Chen, lifted up his coat, put his hands beside his face to compare, and chuckled: "Look, my hands are still as white as my face, but yours will be different. Wait. Once you enter Mohe Yanqi, you will turn into a mess."
Gu Chen's expression suddenly changed. He actually took out a small bronze mirror about the size of a palm from his waist and looked at it. He gritted his back teeth and screamed: "A Yao, you, you, you, why didn't you follow me earlier?" Say it. Ah, ah, ah.”
"..." Yao Yao was startled.
The movement was too big, and the reaction was too intense.
Gu Chen grabbed Yao Yao's arm and shouted eagerly: "Ah Yao, Ah Yao, can I, can I change back?"
Yao Yao frowned: "Maybe, yes."
"Okay, right?" Gu Chen stumbled, his face turned into a frighteningly ugly color, and he was about to cry without tears and said: "I have such a good skin, Ah Yao, you have ruined it."
Yao Yao had a dark look on his face.
Could it be that this is the kind of person in the legend. If you tell him that he can't make a fortune, he doesn't care at all. But if you tell him that he can't become beautiful and will continue to be ugly, he will go crazy with worry.
She struggled to collect her thoughts and said with fascination in her smile: "Gu Shenxian, do you know that there once was an extremely beautiful man in Chang'an City, known as Bai Gu. His handsome appearance was enough to make Pan An angry to death, and there was also a man named Bai Gu. His nickname was Bai Gu, who was mistaken for life at first sight, but later, he forcibly tanned himself, which made him not only handsome, but also tough and extraordinarily masculine."
Gu Chen frowned, feeling that Yao Yao was always talking nonsense in his serious manner, and refused to believe her easily. He questioned: "You didn't even snatch such a handsome man back, are you lying to me?"
"..." Yao Yao took a breath and looked at each other speechlessly.
What does it mean to talk like a chicken with a duck? This is it.
Don't stop her, she will beat him to death.
When the two of them were debating whether their face was dark or white, Wang Xian strolled over, patted the yellow sand all over his body, and said with a smile: "A Yao, Lao Gu, what are you two talking about? You are talking so lively. "
Gu Chen carefully told Wang Xian what Yao Yao had just said word for word, and then asked: "You are the most familiar person in Chang'an City, but have you ever heard of a man named Bai Gu?" Beautiful man."
Bai Gu is Yao Yao's favorite star Louis Koo in her previous life. She often compares her with the handsome man in this life. After comparing, she feels that her idol is the best, and it is better to just be Bai Gu's little girl. Fan girl is fine.
