After the Buddha's Birthday, the Persian caravan from the city-state of Herat packed up their camels and resumed their journey to the East.

None of the Han guys we brought back from Chang'an went back with them, and all of them stayed in the Western Regions.

The story is like this, a few years ago, I heard that I was going to send them back to Chang'an, Qin Chong and Guo Helmet persuaded me many times that these people should be left behind, and my caravan could not be disbanded.

It is not easy to bring a caravan together, and once it is disbanded, it will be difficult to revive it in the future.

Back then, Grandpa, Uncle Su and the guys in their generation were either old or returning to their hometowns, and there were not many left.

These guys selected by Brother Sikong Lie for me are all heroes of the rivers and lakes, all of whom are young and young and have few family members, so it's a pity to let them go back like this.

Moreover, after many run-ins on the way back from Chang'an, everyone has formed a life-and-death friendship with each other, and the deployment is very smooth.

Because I want to do my best as a son of man for my own selfishness, leaving these Han brothers in the middle of the way, ruining the future of their lives, is not the way of a gentleman.

Therefore, after discussing with my wife Ku Zhina, my mother and Duo'er, I decided to keep the caravan and let Qin Chong and Liu Zhen'er take care of it.

These two old fellows were born and died with me, and both made trading their business their profession in this life.

Now entrusting the two of them with full authority to take care of the caravan can be regarded as fulfilling their long-cherished wish of life, and they have followed me for so many years in vain.

In early summer, the green ridge ice field is full of greenery, and after night in the west, the winding mountain road leading to Puli country is already in front of you.

The end point of the trade was Fulousha, which reconnected the silk and spice trade between Tianzhu and the East.

Duo'er and Su Feng and I stood on our horses and waved goodbye to my caravan.

"Qin Chong, Liu Zhen'er, you and I know all the difficulties of business! As the leader of the caravan, all the lives of the brothers are in the hands of the two of you, and peace is the most important thing! In the golden autumn of August, I set up a banquet at the Qingfengze Inn, waiting for your triumphant return! ”

"Please rest assured, young lady! Qin Chong is willing to be the second Uncle Su! Never disappoint the cultivation of the young master! ”

Qin Chong said goodbye to us on the horse, a short black coat, carrying a Persian long sword, the style of the chivalrous warriors of the rivers and lakes is even more than before.

"Miss Young Master, go back! Sitting at the home of Qingfeng Ze, waiting for the gold and cashier! Hahaha! Su Feng Xian nephew! You are the elder brother, treat my family Ingima better on weekdays, and don't allow others to bully her! ”

When he left Khotan ten years ago, the wife of the Pot Helmet brothers, Umrange Bu, was pregnant.

After returning last year, his eldest daughter Ingima, who was already a beautiful girl in the year of the golden hairpin.

Cheng Ri followed behind my son Sufeng and Qin Chong's little baby Qin An, just like Duo'er and me back then.

The pot helmet is also not confused, and naturally regards the little girl as the pearl in the palm of his hand.

This time he re-took the business road, and the most uneasy thing for him was the daughter in the family, so he had the previous entrustment.

Su Feng and my son seem to have a bit of intergenerational inheritance, much like Yi Fengnian's father who he has never met, amorous and shy, with a little less male steel.

This kid was very embarrassed after listening to his uncle's support.

didn't answer, only saluted on the horse, which was regarded as taking over Uncle Helmet's trust.

Aunt Duo'er on the side couldn't help laughing, and slapped her nephew's back with the horsewhip in her hand, giggling, and immediately dissipated the sadness of parting.

"Qin Chong, Liu Zhen'er, you two remember! My Yi's caravan travels all over the world, one is inheritance, two is faith, and three is the common people in the world! Always put the word "profit" at the end! You two lead the caravan through the nations, don't break the way of the merchants! ”

Although he considered himself a failed caravan leader, he never forgot the teaching that "a merchant is benevolent and faithful".

So before parting, he solemnly nagged the two brothers who led the team away.

"Hey!"

Qin Chong and Guo Helmet restrained their smiles, and stood up to me to take the burden of a thousand catties.

Then the men turned their horses' heads and said goodbye in this verdant mountain.

Dugu Yuanyi is still in my academy, and he is the enlightened teacher of Su Feng, Qin An and Yingjima.

There are also a group of children from the three clans of Wangcheng Weichi, Murong and Lu, plus the Inca girl who has just entered the school, a total of more than 20 little children study here all year round.

The academy, which had been silent for a long time, was lively again, and the sound of daily school children chanting began to sound loudly in the poplar forest by the breeze.

The charm of the sons and hundreds of families of Han makes the hearts of those who hear it full of gratitude and warmth.

According to Kuzhina, Master Dugu once returned to Chang'an Han with a foreign caravan.

After settling down with his wife and children over there, he resolutely followed the westbound caravan back to Qingfengze, and never went back since.

His return gave my desperate mother and my wife great comfort.

Mr. loyalty, faithfulness, benevolence and the spirit of the scholar are especially precious in this troubled era, although they are not exchanged!

Therefore, after returning to Qingfengze Home, I treated my husband as a teacher and student every day, accompanied him to drink and play, and told him what I saw and heard on the way to business.

The speaker had no intention of listening, and a year later, Master Dugu privately compiled the book "Ten Records of Mountains and Seas" according to what I said.

Among them, the descriptions of the products and folk customs of the Southern Wilderness Sea Kingdom, Tianzhu and Fusang are vivid, as if Mr. had personally experienced them.

Dugu Master is really a god and a man!

Two months later, my caravan was loaded with all kinds of spices from Tianzhu Kingdom, such as sandalwood, Suhe, and ambergris, and returned safely from Fulousha, and also brought back the latest information about my cousin's family in Langdong, Samarkand.

Uncle Lang Dong is still alive and well, and he is still running the ancestral business of sandalwood incense, which is very gratifying.

From then on, my caravan went to Tianzhu for only one business, which was the barter trade with the Langdong family's silk for spices.

The generational fate of the two families in the East and the West born of business is connected again in my hands.

After a short rest in Qingfengze's homeland, Qin Chong and Liu Zhen'er led the caravan to the north in a hurry.

And when he returned from Jiankang again, it was the deep winter of the sixth year of Yixi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In addition to bringing back 10,000 horses of silk, Qin Chong also brought back a few pieces of good or bad news.

Grandfather Wei Chi Biao passed away seven years ago, when Chang'an, Wuwei's second brother and their families were by his side.

It is said that my grandfather left peacefully and did not leave too many regrets.

The third brother of Chang'an has married Liu Lian'er, the tenth sister of the Liu Mansion in Xiapi, and later accepted the call of the old master Zou of Luoyi Academy, and led his wife and children back to Luoyi to inherit the Confucian mantle of Mr.

Xiapi Liufu had lost power in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Yi Wuwei, the second brother who was originally promoted to the commander of Donghai County, was implicated by this and was demoted to Sima of Yongchang County.

Dragging his family to a remote place to take up his post is equivalent to exile, and he has not been seen since.

Later, I learned that Yongchang County was the jurisdiction of Ningzhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, bordering Yizhou in the north, Tuyuhun Khanate in the east, and Jiaozhi County in the south.

I don't know if the second brother is sinking over there, if he can use what he has learned in his life to benefit one party and educate the barbarian natives, it can be regarded as living up to his life's ambition!

Although the death of her grandfather was expected, as the only daughter, her mother was still very sad.

regretted letting my grandfather go to Jiankang, and their father and daughter didn't see each other before they died.

After crying out to the heavens and the earth, my mother locked herself in the Buddhist hall and burned incense and prayed for the blessing of my grandfather's ghost, and no one gave it in.

The first time I saw my grandma so sad when I was so old, my heart was broken.

knelt alone outside the door of the Buddha hall and spent two long days and two nights with my grandmother.

When Grandma came out again, her amnesiac demons committed again.

This time, she forgot all the things of the world and her relatives, including me, the eldest son she cared about the most in her life.

Cheng Tian shouted that he wanted to go back to the old house of Yu Chi in the royal city, and when he saw people, he said that her father Yu Chi Biao was waiting for her to go back to cook.

Perhaps the happiest time in my grandmother's life was the time when she lived with her grandfather in Khotanese before marrying into our Yi Mansion.

Now she has forgotten all the years of suffering, waiting, and suffering, and the long river of memories has returned to the past through the gate of time and space, stopping in the most worry-free and happiest time.

From then on, Duo'er and I took turns to accompany my mother every day, and we didn't dare to leave for a moment.

racked his brains to make Grandma happy, talked to her, and talked about the past in the royal city of Khotan.

Accompany her back to the old house of Yuchi every day, weaving all kinds of stories to fool grandma.

For example, my grandfather was appointed by the king of Khotan to inspect the border passes, and my grandfather was still training recruited recruits, and so on.

Anyway, his grandfather Chi Biao was formerly the head of the forbidden army in Khotan, and some of them were countless officials, and the king's order was indispensable.

Blame all the reasons why you can't see your grandfather to these unwarranted royal messengers, and you can fool the poor grandma over.

Like a lost lamb in Paradise Lost, my mother stumbled and happily walked through her last years.

In the late autumn of the ninth year of Yixi of the Great Jin Dynasty, the life of Mrs. Khotan, the mother of the family, finally came to an end.

When she was dying, Grandma was completely awake as if she had returned to the light, and recognized all the adults and babies who were with her.

"Jincheng, my son, grandma is leaving, your grandfather and grandfather are already waiting outside the door for their mother."

Grandma took my and Duo'er's hands and panted.

Duo'er instantly collapsed when she heard this, and cried out like a heartbreak.

"Girl, don't be sad. Grandma is content in this life, with children like you. ”

Grandma smiled kindly, I could feel that Grandma's soft palms were slowly getting cold, and the past was like a knife cutting in my heart.

"My son! There are two more things to explain for your mother, you have to write them down! ”

Grandma's breathing became rapid again, and her eyes lost their brilliance.

"Grandma, you say, Jincheng will do it!"

I grabbed my grandmother's arm fiercely, for fear that she would leave suddenly.

Mother's kindness has not been repaid in this life, and she is about to die, and it hurts to the bone!

"The eldest son and eldest grandson take business as a business, which is the rule passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors of the Yi family in Jincheng.

"Jincheng has written it down!"

I pulled Su Feng and bowed my head in front of my grandmother's couch and took over my mother's first will.

"Give me a name, the world knows that she is the princess of the Ronglu Kingdom in the past, and she has no blood relatives with our Yi family."

Duo'er has been crying sadly, crying for her grandmother who is about to die, and sad for herself who will be lonely and helpless in her brother-in-law's house in the future.

After listening to Grandma's last words, she cried even more.

"Jincheng understands, Jincheng does it."

"Kuzhina, daughter-in-law!"

Grandma called out to my wife with all her last strength, and closed her eyes peacefully in her arms.

This is a kind of entrustment, entrusting the three children and grandchildren who are most loved in this life to the eldest daughter-in-law of the housekeeper, and asking her to treat us well.

The mother, Mrs. Khotan, was gone, but her compassion and her chivalry remained in the world forever, on this ancient trade route connecting the east and the west.

It was from this day that I really realized that I had grown up.

is no longer a young man in fresh clothes and angry horses, nor is he a high-roller who is wanton in the rivers and lakes.

The loving mother is gone, and there is only a way back in this life.

(End of chapter)

Shang and Buddha