Ban Chao, the word Zhongsheng. A native of Pingling County, Fufeng County (now Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province). The youngest son of the famous military strategist and diplomat in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the historian Ban Biao, his eldest brother Ban Gu and younger sister Ban Zhao are also famous historians. However, at this time, Ban Chao was still not famous, and there were no earth-shattering achievements, and it was not surprising that a small Hou Chang Gu Dexin in Dunhuang had not heard of him.

Gu Dexin pondered for a long time, with a look of disdain on his face, and said to himself: "I haven't heard of this person, I'm afraid that the son of a certain noble family came here to stuff the gilding, it's okay, after resting for so long, everyone should also take care of it, and it's a good thing to straighten out military discipline......" He stretched out his hand and patted Liu Qifu, and said, "Thank you, brother, for reminding me!" I have received this love, hehe, in short, I will be careful, I will not let this new chief treat Lao Tzu as a human being. I'll have you a drink another day! ”

Liu Qifu said mysteriously: "Old Gu, brother, can remind you, don't underestimate this chief, let me tell you, this chief has only been here for a month, and he has almost cleaned up a few masters who are greedy for military salaries in Dunhuang, and he has cut off a few heads to establish authority, and it is useless for anyone to intercede." Don't look at him as polite as a reader, he kills people without frowning his eyebrows. Hehe, this is a ruthless character! A few days ago, the Lieutenant of Hexi came to patrol the border, and the follower talked about this class superclass, and I overheard an ear. He said that the hussar general Dongping Wang once gave this class of super an evaluation, which is very interesting! ”

When Gu Dexin heard this, he immediately became interested in gossip and asked, "What is the evaluation?" ”

Liu Qifu shook his head and said: "The king of Dongping said: This son gave birth to a swallow jaw and a tiger's neck, flew and ate meat, and this is a marquis. ”

Gu Dexin smiled and said, "Hehe, this prince's evaluation is high enough." A certain family has only heard of the founding of the Han Dynasty, except for Zhang Qian and Fu Jiezi, who made meritorious contributions to foreign lands in order to obtain the title of marquis, they have not heard of anyone else. How does it sound a little flattering. ”

Liu Qifu also smiled: "Isn't it! There have been a lot of scholars who have talked big over the years, except for Zhang Qian and Fu Jiezi, I haven't heard of anyone who really dares to go west out of Yangguan, and those who go to the Western Regions to make contributions are also a trickster. ”

Goodixin said: "Don't spread the word everywhere and cause yourself to be killed. The new official has three fires in office, don't let this chief treat you as a human being. ”

Liu Qifu said: "Aren't we brothers? I don't bother to remind others. Who can tell all the nonsense above! In short, you just have to be careful. ”

After a delay at the gate of the city, all the prisoners were registered, and Goodixin led the people into the city.

Li Tong and Wan Fu walked at the back of the line, and followed towards the city gate. The south gate of Dunhuang is not very wide, only three zhang wide. However, Li Tong noticed that the two ends of this city gate are still rare to build horse faces, and there are two confronting tulou oars on both sides to guard the city gate, although there is no moat, but there is a deep ditch around the city wall, and the ditch is densely packed with pointed wooden piles, looking at the seepage. The city walls of Dunhuang are all made of adobe rammed rams, the height can be more than one zhang, not very high, a cluster of withered yellow red willows stands in the east and west of the corner of the outer wall of the city, under the reflection of the glow of the west sky, like a group of flames, adding a little warm color to this military town outside the Saiwai in winter.

After entering the city, Li Tong noticed that the Dunhuang city was not too big, and it was better to say that it was a large military camp than a city. In addition to a few houses on both sides of the main street, there are also a few shops, all of which are soldiers in military uniforms. The group of them came in without attracting too much attention, and they were doing their own thing. It seems that the people here have become more surprised.

Two thousand years ago, the east and west corners of Dunhuang City were very large military camps, but the Chinese army was located on the high ground in the north, Gu Dexin took the prisoners to the west of the military camp, left the east city gate and walked about a mile, Li Tong looked up, it was almost dusk at this moment, the sunset was like a huge firebird, the west sky was reflected red, gradually, the firebird burned out, only a piece of crystal red gems remained, inlaid in the clouds shaped like ashes, the light of the gems became lighter and lighter, the red receded, from gray to black, The distant walls were finally hidden in the vast twilight.

When Wanfu saw this beautiful scenery, he was immediately stunned, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "It's so beautiful! ”

Li Tong looked sideways and saw Wan Fuwu staring at himself, and said with a smile: "Little Liuzi, what is this?" When you get to Luntai, you will find that the scenery there is even more beautiful. In the future, we will stay in the Western Regions every day, and we brothers are afraid that it will be difficult to return to the Central Plains in this life, and there will be a time when you have seen enough. Wan Fu hurriedly walked a few steps to follow, and said, "Big brother, I heard that when we arrive in Dunhuang, we will have to re-break up and reorganize to various obstacles. After the reorganization, we can be considered soldiers, right? Li Tong let out a thoughtful "um".

Wanfu lowered his head and did not say a word. Seeing this, Li Tong smiled and asked, "Little Liuzi, what are you thinking about?" ”

Wan Fu said: "Big brother, you said that after the reorganization, will Chief Hou disassemble the two of us?" ”

"Alright, don't think about it." Li Tong smiled, "Don't worry! I'll take care of it. ”

The team finally walked to the military camp in Xicheng, at this moment Dunhuang City has been shrouded in boundless night, the military camp is dark and dreary and can not be described, only a few dim lights flickering in the meantime, making people feel more empty and lonely. As he got closer, the outline of this military camp gradually appeared, and Li Tong felt that this military camp was like a dock fort in the city, with only twenty zhang square around and a corner gate on the south side.

Goodxin dismounted, and two sergeants inside opened the door and greeted him. The two of them took Gu Dexin's horse and said with a smile on their faces: "Chief Hou, this is only four months, but it really tires you, right?" Don't you know, a few days ago, there was a god-killing chief above, and he was very strict! These days, the brothers are hanging with a heart. When you come back, we can put our hearts in our stomachs. ”

Gu Dexin scolded with a smile: "You two bastards, you were born with a clever mouth, you haven't seen you for a few months, and you are good at sycophancy!" Is the meal ready? The two said: "It's already done, and we have prepared wine for Hou Chang." Gu Dexin said "um", and said casually: "You two make arrangements, take your men, and lead these thieves to eat first." He turned back and shouted at the team: "You all listen to me, these two are surnamed Gao and the other is Chen, what is the chief, in the future, you just listen to their arrangements." After saying that, he went to take care of himself.

Chen Gao's two sergeants led the people into the barracks with more than 20 sergeants, and all of them were divided into teams of 30 people and arranged into several rows of large earthen houses in the west. Coincidentally, it's not that the enemies don't get together, Li Tong, Wanfu and Hu Laosan are arranged in the same team, and everyone will live in the same big earthen house these days, which makes Li Tongxin a little tired, and it also sounds the alarm. Walking into the big house, there was a thick smoke and fire, and there was a sergeant in it who was adding firewood to the furnace, because of the smoke to the tears and snot, he couldn't stop bowing his head and cursing, and when he saw everyone coming in, he just looked up, and still did his job. On the west side of the room was a square table with two large wooden basins filled with steaming corn.

Not long after, Chen Shichang came to the big house where Li Tong was with more than 30 bronze utensils with open mouths, bulging bellies, round bottoms, and long handles at one end. You have to keep it safe, and use it to cook when you march and fight in the future, patrol at night, and knock on him to warn if you see anything unusual. Ming'er tied the rope and hung it on her waist, don't lose it...... His grandmother's was not allowed to squeeze or speak, so they all rolled over there to line up to get food, and they didn't have anything to eat when their mother was arguing. ”

Li Tong and Wan Fu received the meal, and Wan Fu saw that the corn rice was also thinly covered with a layer of tempeh sauce, so he couldn't help but make a grimace at Li Tong, and said happily: "Brother Li, this rice is still ready, alas, it has been so long, but it can be regarded as a mouthful of hot rice." ”

Hearing this, Li Tong showed a reluctant smile, he was really tired of the pig-like diet in this era for half a year since he traveled to this time and space, and every time he ate at the beginning, he had to muster up the courage to swallow it. The first impression of this world was that he was hungry, and he had not eaten enough in the six months since he came to this world. Fortunately, the foundation of this body is good, and I will try my best to catch game meat to supplement nutrition along the way, otherwise it will collapse early.

The two of them looked for a corner and were about to squat down to eat, when they suddenly heard the old man Hu shouting: "We have walked such a long way, our bodies and bones are tired, today is the first meal we ate before joining the army, why should we also make up for it, why don't we even have a piece of mutton!" With such a little corn, you can't eat enough at all......" Chen Shichang was furious when he heard this, picked up a wooden spoon and threw it like Hu Laosan, and scolded in his mouth: "your grandma, a prisoner on the border dares to pick fat and thin!" It's not your turn to call the shots, if you don't eat, get out of the way. ”

Hu Laosan's neck tendons were swollen, and he stood up with a "Teng", Ma Wu and Hou Shang also put down the dishes and chopsticks, as if they were going to stand up and fight, and several sergeants who were busy working by the stove also put down the work in their hands with unkind expressions and surrounded them. Seeing that something was wrong, Hu Laosan glanced at it hatefully, and squatted angrily. The chief surnamed Chen snorted and said disdainfully: "Cowardice, I know that you don't have a fucking seed." Lao Tzu tells you, no matter what kind of heroes you used to be, when you arrive at this military camp, you have to be coiled by a dragon, and you have to lie down for Lao Tzu if you are a tiger. If you want to erect a pole here, you're still very tender......"

Wan Fu saw that Hu Laosan was scolded, but he didn't say a word, and he felt very happy in his heart, and he ate the rice in the bowl with a "pop and pop" sound, and he ate it clean in a blink of an eye. After eating, several sergeants each led a dozen people to the house to rest.

Li Tong and Wan Fu lived in the barracks on the east side, there was only a big kang in the house, and more than a dozen people were squeezed to sleep head to head, foot by foot, and it was difficult to even turn around, but everyone was tired and didn't care. Li Tong and Wanfu shared a quilt and got into the quilt, but Wanfu was very used to it and soon fell asleep. Li Tong couldn't stand the strange smell. The quilt emits bursts of stench, which is a mixture of foot odor and body odor, which makes people smell sick. Li Tong has been a clean person all his life, and he really can't bear it. But at this time, people are under the eaves, and no matter what kind of hero you are, you have to bow your head. After plucking up the courage for a long time, Li Tong gritted his teeth and lay down, covered his nose, and barely fell asleep.

This night, in a daze, Li Tong would dream from time to time that he had fallen from a high place, and woke up several times a night, but in the blink of an eye he fell asleep again, over and over again, it was a kind of torture.

Early the next morning, before dawn, several sergeants rushed into the barracks, and they woke up the people with rattan sticks, and scolded them to go to the courtyard to line up for training. Everyone slept soundly, was disturbed by a good dream, a hundred unhappy in their hearts, lying in the warm quilt, rubbing and reluctant to get up, that Chen Shichang scolded, the whip in the sergeant's hand was pulled down like raindrops, and everyone got up in a mess and followed out. On the playground outside the barracks, the north wind was blowing non-stop, and everyone shrank their heads and shoulders and shivered from the cold, jumping and shushing, but they still couldn't withstand the cold weather.

Under the whip, it took a lot of time, and more than eight hundred prisoners barely formed a phalanx. The playground is very large, more than 800 people are standing here, the playground still seems very empty, after Chen Shichang and Gao Shichang and others let everyone form a team, I saw a few people coming out of a hut near the playground, and walking in front was a tall middle-aged man, he was wearing iron armor, with a red cloak behind him, and he was a senior officer at a glance. Among the people who accompanied him were several low-ranking officers, one of whom was none other than Hou Chang Gu Dexin.

The officers walked up to the review stand, and after standing still on the stage, the tall middle-aged officer walked in front of the team with steps, with a grim look on his face, Li Tongyuan thought that this person was Ban Chao, but he didn't expect that he was unexpected as soon as he spoke. I heard the man say, "I don't know who you used to be, how much prestige you had, and how much decency you had, and I don't want to know; I don't care what sins I have committed or how many evils I have done, and I don't care about them. Now that it is on the side plug, everything in the past has been written off. From now on, you will be the soldiers of my Han Dynasty, a member of the Western Expeditionary Army. Since you are a soldier, you must look like a soldier. Look at you, you can't even stand this cold, what are you talking about going into battle to kill the enemy! Put your hands out of your cuffs for me, puff your chest up for me, and stand up! ”

Speaking of this, Geng Gong stepped along the edge of the review stand again, and saw that the people below were all straightened and concave, and their eyes were not squinting, so he nodded with satisfaction and continued: "This official is Sima Geng Gong of the First Route Army of the Western Expedition, and in the future, all of you will be incorporated into our army. You will be trained in the Dunhuang military camp for several months by all the commanders, and from today onwards, the commanders of each squad will give you a lecture on military law, and you must keep in mind every article and paragraph of military law, which is related to your life and death in the future. If anyone doesn't take military law as a thing and thinks it's a joke, just try it once and see if it's your head or your officer's knife......"

Hearing Geng Gong's name, Li Tong's brain in the audience was suddenly confused, and what Geng Gong said behind him couldn't be heard clearly. For most Chinese, the name Geng Gong is unfamiliar. But for people living in Xinjiang, there are very few people who don't know the name. The story of Geng Gong and Shule City can be said to be a household name in Xinjiang. It was precisely because of his deeds that Li Tong finally figured out the era he was in and the situation of the entire Western Regions. This is really lucky, because of the appearance of Geng Gong, Li Tong is well aware of many major events that will take place in the Western Regions and the court in the next few decades, which is a huge advantage.

At this moment, Geng Gong, who was standing on the stage, could never have dreamed that there was a teenager in this team of prisoners who would be full of expectations for the future because of him.

——————

From the fifteenth year of Yongping, that is, from 72 A.D., Geng Bing, the commander of the horses, constantly wrote to Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, requesting to launch a war against the Northern Xiongnu, completely solve the hidden dangers from the northwest, and restore the trade road to the Western world established since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

After ten years of governance, the production and development of the Han Dynasty, the population also increased from 21 million to more than 37 million when Emperor Guangwu, the financial revenue increased, and the national strength became stronger and stronger. After the matter of sending troops was decided, Geng Bing proposed that he should first attack Baishan (that is, Tianshan) and control Yiwulu (Hami), where the army of the king of Nanhuyan was stationed, and defeated him, which was equivalent to breaking the left arm of the Huns. After that, he broke the chariot division and sent envoys to each other with the Wusun countries, which was equivalent to cutting off the right arm of the Huns. Having lost his left and right arms, he could launch a frontal attack on the Xiongnu and win the final victory. After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Zhuang decided to adopt Geng Bing's suggestion.

In the winter of the fifteenth year of Yongping, Emperor Liu Zhuang issued an edict to recall Dou Gu, who was familiar with the situation of the border fortress and had made great contributions in quelling the Xiqiang rebellion, and sealed Dou Gu as the commander of Fengche. As soon as Dou Gu returned to the capital Luoyang, he thought of Ban Chao, who was implicated and dismissed by his cousin Dou Mu, and came to visit Ban Chao's house.

"Brother, the day has come for you to show off your talents." Dou Gu said, "The emperor has made up his mind to fundamentally eliminate the hidden danger of the Xiongnu, and is deploying troops to prepare for a vigorous counterattack." I want you to go out with me to fight, should you? Ban Chao rubbed his hands, and without saying a word, he agreed: "I am depressed at home, if my brother can use my little brother, I will go all out to serve my brother." ”

"Okay, I plan to let you serve as a fake Sima (that is, acting Sima) by my side first, and then be rewarded after your meritorious service."

"When are we leaving?"

"Not out of this month. When the time comes, he will first lead the troops to Liangzhou, where he will train in Tuntian. I estimate that I will be recruited out of the Sai, and it will be a few years to go, and I will definitely not be able to come back in the short term, so I must settle down my family affairs before leaving. ”

"I obey the dispatch of my brother, not only do I have to serve by myself, but I also want my eldest son Banxiong to go with me and go on the expedition together."

"Well done!" Dou Gu gave a thumbs up and boasted, "A good man has ambitions in all directions, and I conclude that if you take your son to the battlefield with you, the future must be great." ”

After a year of preparation, in the sixteenth year of Yongping (73 AD), the ice and snow had just melted, and the migrating birds had not yet set off to return to their hometowns, and the Han army gathered from all over the place, and some could not wait to embark on the road through the Hexi Corridor. The army of 40,000 marched in the northwest direction, but divided into four routes. The first route was Fengche Commander Dou Gu as the commander-in-chief. He led the garrisons of Jiuquan, Dunhuang, and Zhangye and the Hu warriors of the Lushuiqiang tribe, a total of 12,000 people, and set out from Jiuquan. Geng Gong, the cousin of Geng Bing, the commander of the horses, was arranged on the first road as the marching Sima and his subordinates, and served under the command of the commander-in-chief, Fengche Commander Dou Gu, together with Ban Chao.

Geng Bing, the commander of the horses, was the commander-in-chief of the second road. Geng Bing once asked Geng Gong if he wanted to join his combat unit, Geng Gong thought about it and said, or not. Geng Gong and Geng Bing are together, if they have any ideas, they can tell him directly, and it will be easier to do things. But in this way, even if Geng Gong makes any achievements, others will inevitably say that he has received Geng Bing's help and care.

In this way, two months before Li Tong was exiled to the borderland, two groups led by Dou Gu and Geng Bing also set out from Luoyang for a night trip, eating and drinking snow, and urgently marched to Liangzhou, which was 3,500 miles away from Luoyang. In the severe winter season, the weather is cold and frozen, and along the way, not to mention the tiredness and hardship, it is only said that there are more than ten or hundreds of people who freeze to death every day; There are countless who have frozen their fingers and feet. On December 15, the fifteenth year of Yongping, the two armies of Dou and Geng came to Wuwei, the location of the Liangzhou Thorn History, at the same time.

According to the action plan formulated by Liu Zhuang, before attacking the Xiongnu in the north, it was necessary to train troops in Tuntian; The men and horses led by Geng Bing and Qin Peng were stationed in Wuwei, and the men and horses led by Dou Gu and Geng Zhong had to travel more than 1,000 miles west and stationed in Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang. Because the soldiers were exhausted from the long journey for several days, Dou Gu's men and horses stayed in Wuwei for two days, and the officers and soldiers led by Dou Gu and Geng Zhong left Wuwei and traveled 700 miles west to reach Zhangye. After arriving in Zhangye, the troops were divided into three routes, one led by Geng Zhong to continue westward and stationed in Jiuquan, 500 miles away, and the other led by Sima Genggong to Dunhuang. After careful consideration, Dou Gu finally decided to keep Ban Chao by his side and stationed in Zhangye with another team. Within a few days of people from all walks of life setting up camp, the day of military training was about to begin. In view of the characteristics of the Northern Xiongnu who are good at riding and shooting, the key item of daily training is to fight on horseback. Naturally, drawing a bow and archery, fists and feet, martial arts, crawling and even car battles are indispensable. Although Ban Chao, who temporarily served as the deputy lieutenant of the Western Regions, is a fake Sima, he is also the same as Sima Geng Gong, and will lead a team of men and horses alone, and Ban Chao, who arrived in advance, will return to Zhangye to train troops after the arrival of Geng Gong's troops. The soldiers who remained in Zhangye were specifically in charge of him.

After Geng Gong's speech on the stage, the squads began to study military law under the leadership of the chief. Chen Shichang, whose real name is Chen Lian, is a native of Wuwei and a veteran who has been in the army for more than 20 years. After reorganizing the team, Chen Lianshi began to recite the military law one by one.

The military law of the Han Dynasty is lengthy and cumbersome, but this illiterate Chen Shichang is born with a good memory, and he talks at length and eloquently without the slightest hindrance. In Li Tong's ears, although the military law of the Han Dynasty was strict, the rewards were light and the punishments were heavy, and everyone was shocked and forgot the cold. What comes into the ears are bloody words such as 80 rods for those who fight for merit and Europe, abandonment of the city for cowards in battle, and beheading of those who fail to serve in the army. After finishing the military law, Chen Lian cleared his throat and continued: "Don't think that you can go into battle to kill the enemy when you become a soldier, it's still far away, and now you can train honestly here for a few months......

Chen Shi babbled for another half an hour, knowing that his beard was covered with ice beads before he stopped. Everyone froze, and when he announced his disbandment, everyone was relieved and hurried back to the barracks to roast the fire......

(To be continued)