After the Chongyang of Oak Forest Slope, we walked on this Qin-Han Chi Road extending from the Jiuyuan Counties in the north for nearly 30 days.

Finally, on the last day of October of that year, we crossed a long bridge on the Weishui River, and Chang'an City was already close at hand.

Since I can remember, I have been indissoluble with the word "Chang'an".

Grandma Murong Qionglin's maiden home "Chang'an Fang", my family's Kunlun Mountain Tangchi Villa "Chang'an Yue", and the third brother Yi Chang'an.

But now when I finally saw the gray-brown city wall of the ancient city of Chang'an, it became a little strange.

Our horse team did not go straight into the city as expected, but went west along the lane on the south bank of Weishui.

Two hours later, the horse team turned around and entered the high mountains and dense forests to the southwest on the edge of a large river called "Fengshui".

Qin Chong told me that the mountain people in front of us are called "Zhongnan Mountain", and the boundless dense forest we are walking through is called "Shanglin Yuan", which is the hunting place of the royal family in spring and autumn in the previous dynasty, just like the Kunlun hunting ground in Khotan.

It's a pity that since the end of the Han Dynasty, the kings have no intention of taking care of it, and this place has long become a place for ordinary people to hunt for mulberry and mulberry.

Along the way, we encountered many hunting villages and courtyards of scribes and merchants located in remote mountains, and the barking sound of Shiba Inu was heard in our ears from time to time.

In addition, I heard Qin Chong say that the destination of this trip is called "Yizhai", which was bought by my grandfather from a hunter ten years ago.

After some renovation and expansion, it can accommodate a team of 100 people like us, and live in it for a long time.

Yizhai has an old man to take care of it all the year round, and every time my caravan arrives in Chang'an, it will rest there for a period of time, and it is very convenient to live and eat.

I didn't expect my grandfather to put such a belongings in Chang'an, thousands of miles away, which surprised me.

All the family members in Khotan, including my grandmother, may not have heard of our family having such an industry.

Of course, these are all business matters for grandpa, and he must have his own reasons for doing so.

The team walked on the rugged mountain road for more than two hours, and the sky gradually became dark, and the sky was full of clouds and winds, and it looked like it was about to snow.

After turning a mountain beam, the front suddenly opened up, and in the canyon between the two peaks, a mountain stream gurgled by.

On the stone slope on the bank of the stream, a mountain courtyard surrounded by green trees appeared in front of everyone, which was quite similar to the "Chang'an Moon" in the Kunlun Mountains of our family, and Yizhai arrived.

The old man and the men in the village heard the sound of the horses' hooves, and they had already greeted them happily, took the horses and goods in our hands, and welcomed everyone into the village like relatives.

After entering the walled courtyard, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a different world inside.

The whole canyon is bounded by a tall walled wall, completely separated from the mountains and forests outside.

Countless years of erosion and erosion of mountain streams have formed a flat land with a radius of 1,000 steps in the cliff valley.

Although it is early winter, the grass is still green on the beach, and dozens of loose cattle and sheep are leisurely grazing on the grass.

What a fairy abode! But when the men unloaded their horses and moved them into the storehouse, they left the horses to graze themselves.

Such a closed place, surrounded by mountains on three sides, did not need to be supervised by a shepherd.

On the cliff wall of the high platform between the mountains, there are dozens of caves carved out by the mountain, which is very similar to the grottoes on Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang County, Hexi.

However, each hole has been installed with wooden doors and windows, and Qin Chong said that it is the storehouse in the village and the place where we rest at night.

The four of them have a cave, and the soft and warm wool futon has already been prepared.

Finally, there is no need to roll the carriage and horse shop on the side of the road, the kind of dirty and hard chase shop makes people's hearts frightened!

Uncle Su specially arranged Qin Chong, Sha Mihan, Guo Helmet Liu and me in a room, and after entering the cave and putting down our bags, several of us guys jumped up happily.

In front of the kiln house, a Han dwelling with stone and wood structure, herringbone roof ridge and stone tile roof is built against the mountain, which is the canteen and meeting place of the entire Yi village.

In the woods beneath the high platform, the shacks made of rubble should have been the shelter of cows, horses and cattle.

"Young master, there are a few perennial hot springs in the back mountain! We'll go over and wash up in a moment! Change your clothes inside and out! ”

Qin Chong sat on top of the stone kang, vigorously took off his already dirty and stiff autumn shirt, and scratched his head vigorously.

Then I remembered that we hadn't bathed for nearly a month since we entered Hedong.

"Where is the hot spring? Let's go! Don't let the other guys take their seats first! ”

The smell of fishy smell all over my body may have been infected by Qin Chong, and I suddenly felt as if there were countless small insects biting and crawling on my body, itching unbearably.

"Don't worry, young master, there is hot water all over there, and there is also a place for the hundred and ten people to take a bath!"

The pot helmet Liu had already taken off into a stick and stood there wearing a cotton robe and said with a shaky smile.

"Every time we come over, we have to stay here for more than two months, and we won't go east to Luoyang until after the Shangyuan Festival in next spring. Young master, this time you want to take us to have a good play in Chang'an City! ”

Shamihan shook his foul-smelling boots, and was fascinated by the days ahead.

"Why do you want to stay so long? I originally planned to go to Luoyang before Chinese New Year's Eve to meet my second brother and third brother! ”

The caravan was going to stay in Chang'an for more than two months, which I didn't expect.

"Young master, look, this batch of Dawan Divine Horses we brought must be conditioned and fed here in Yizhai for at least half a month before they can grow fat, and they can also be sold at a good price in the horse market in Chang'an City! We have to sell at least half of the jade artifacts here, so that we can have enough capital to go south to buy silk. Although it is all the business of regular customers, it takes at least a month from shipment to payment. After November, the north of Huaishui is already icy and snowy! It is inconvenient to go on the road again. ”

Undressing and covering his mouth, Qin Chong paused for a moment and continued: "So every time, we will go south from Chang'an after the Shangyuan Festival, and arrive in Jiankang It is the spring of March in the south of the Yangtze River!" ”

"Jiankang has the semicolon of our "Chang'an Fang", and there is no time interval for jade payment. In addition, when we set off from Chang'an, the master will repair the book to the silk merchants in Jiankang, and when we arrive there, the silk silk that needs to be purchased has already been prepared! Liu stomped his feet coldly.

The wind in the mountains was blowing more and more fiercely, and I shivered from the cold when I took off my dirty clothes.

"Quick! Let's go! Let's go to the soup pool and wash and talk! ”

When the four of us sifted through chaff and hurried to the soup pool at the bottom of the valley, Grandpa, Grandpa, and the rest of the guys were already there.

The hot soup pool is steaming, and people sit or lie down in the water, enjoying this rare leisure time in the midst of business travel.

My grandfather even brought a jar of Chang'an sake, and drank it with my grandfather, Uncle Su, and a few old guys!

These old men! It's so enjoyable!

At some point, the wind stopped, and the snow like goose feathers flew in the sky.

Khotan is located in the south, I only know the thousand-year-old glaciers on the Kunlun Mountains, and I have never seen real snowflakes, and I was simply intoxicated at that moment.

I can't help but think of the beautiful smiling faces of Yamika and Kuzhina like angels.

It's a pity that the pool is full of red striped old and young masters, and they really live up to this snowy night!

"Qin Chong, you said that grandpa would repair books to Jiankang's merchants, did you go through the Los Angeles Post Office? Or is it an official's stagecoach? ”

Suddenly, I remembered the woman from the Los Angeles Post Office on the way, and our agreement.

"Pot helmet, old man! We've got something to do this winter! Ha ha! Qin Chong didn't answer me, but shouted in ecstasy.

"What's the good thing?" "What's the good thing?"

Pot Helmet Liu and Sha Mihan asked in unison, and the surrounding guys also gathered curiously.

I hurriedly let out a warning boo to prevent them from continuing their unbridled nonsense, and the grandfather in the distance had already seen the movement on our side.

The four of us also quieted down as if we had discussed it.

In fact, the guys have already tacitly known that there is a postpost daughter named Shangguan Yanxi in Chang'an City who is waiting for their young master!

After returning from the soup pool and changing into cotton clothes, the meal in the dining hall was already ready.

In order to prevent the wind and cold, the old man asked the man to add a sufficient amount of pepper and ginger slices to the milky and greasy mutton soup.

Everyone drank a large bowl of spicy and delicious pepper mutton soup, and immediately sweated profusely, and the cold in their bodies was swept away.

The diet of the Han region is very different from that of the Western Regions, with stew, steaming, and frying as the main food, and there are few smoked and barbecued things.

The guys in Yizhai considered that we are all from the Western Regions, so the meat corn has been improved a little from the original method, and it really has a unique flavor to eat.

The sticky corn cakes, paired with delicious fat sheep stew and mellow Lao Qin wine, are simply the most true and pure delicacy in the world!

After being drunk and full, everyone returned to the kiln, without any trouble, poured on the kang and fell asleep soundly.

If there is a mountain god here, he will also flee to the sound of our earth-shaking snoring.

On the second day, after getting up early for dinner, my grandfather invited us to climb the mountain and look at the snow scene of Chang'an City.

Standing on the high place of Zhongnan Mountain and looking north, the broad and majestic Beidou-shaped outline of Chang'an City is particularly clear in the ice and snow.

Weishui surrounds the city, the three long bridges on the river are arranged from east to west, and you can faintly see the cars and horses entering and leaving the city are slowly passing through the bridge deck.

Weiyang Palace, Changle Palace, and Jianzhang Palace are still standing and not falling despite the vicissitudes of life, and have become the three most conspicuous landmarks in the ancient city.

There are also the West City and the East Market, the city gates around the city wall, the street offices in the city, the Jingwei Bashui that passes through the city, and so on.

Compared with the royal city of Khotan, which is the hometown of Khotan, and the imperial capital of Chang'an under the mountain, it is simply an inconspicuous village.

"Grandpa, where is the west city of Chang'an?" I asked, pointing to the imperial city below the mountain.

"In the northwest corner of the city wall, at the intersection of Yongmen Street and Hengmen Street! Jincheng, you see, when we came, the long bridge was called Weishui West Bridge, after crossing the bridge, walk northeast along the river bank, and pass by the first city gate on the way to enter, which is the West Market! I'll take you there in a few days to do some trading. Grandpa put up a pergola and pointed to the city under the mountain and patiently introduced.

Today, he wore a fox fur hood, a mink robe covered with black satin, cashmere anti-freeze boots, and a long sword scabbard with a pestle.

is completely like a rich businessman, and the sloppy old man on the way before is like two people.

"My grandson understands." I replied happily.

Grandpa may not know that the Chang'an helm of the Los Angeles Post Post is on the street of Xishi.

The woman named Shangguan Yanxi should still be in Chang'an!