It has been raining for 5 days in a row, and the surrounding wilderness is already white, only some tall dead tree trunks are still standing against the wind and snow, and everything else seems to have been annihilated by the snow.

The wilderness covered in snow was silent except for the whirring sound of the wind and snow, and the silence made people feel that the end had come. At least, that's what Uncle Ma thinks now.

Ma Shumou and his entourage of 5 people had just walked more than ten miles west from Yumen Pass when they encountered the first heavy snowstorm in the Hexi Corridor this year. The original patch of yellow sand and the occasional sandstorms that obscure the sky and the sun are long gone. But the temperature plummeted from a terrifying blizzard that forced them to stop at the old inn in the middle of the desert.

The inn is called "Dragon Gate", and the entire inn is made of stones. The inn is divided into two floors, the ground floor is the lobby where the merchants eat and drink, and the second floor is full of more than ten rooms of different sizes. In one of the large rooms, several people were sitting around drinking and eating meat, and from time to time there was the sound of wine glasses clashing and muffled conversations. Snowflakes and cold winds squeezed in through the cracks in the doors and windows, whining in the wind, and the candles on the few lampstands on the dining table swayed from side to side in the wind, flickering and flickering in an effort not to be extinguished.

"Brother Ma, this Longmen Inn will go more than two hundred miles to the west to reach Shanshan Country in the Western Regions, and there is no inn to rest on the way. If the weather is good, even if you are walking in the snow, it will not be a big problem. I just don't know when this storm will stop? How long will I have to stay here? ”

"Brother He, I'll wait for what I have come, don't think about it so much first, and wait for the snow to stop, just wait here to recuperate. This mare's milk wine still has some flavor, hehe! ”

"Brother He, this is the place where you must pass through to enter and exit the Western Regions, the merchants coming and going in this inn are the most concentrated, although there are fewer merchants in the middle of winter, but there are always some, I don't know what happened to Brother Tang Niu?"

"Brother Dong Xian, don't worry, my Tang Niu brother is the most familiar with this line, as long as it is a merchant passing by this line, there is nothing he doesn't know about the things carried by the carts and horses. It's you, the glass~" He Yong was about to continue, but suddenly saw Dong Ke make a silent gesture with his fingers. Immediately, there was a series of footsteps outside the door, and the sound of stepping on the wooden floor slabs was clanging.

"Big brother, it's my cow." Outside the door, the voice of Tang Niu, who went out to inquire about the news, came softly. This Tang Niu is a very experienced officer of the Military Intelligence Department on this line of the Hexi Corridor, and he is also the most elite intelligence officer under He Yong.

Another He Yong who was waiting at the door hurriedly opened the door and let Tang Niu enter the house. He looked out of the door alertly, and after seeing nothing abnormal, he closed the door again. He was still at the door, listening to the movement outside.

"Cow, how's it going? Is there any news of that thing? He Yong beckoned Tang Niu to sit down and hurriedly asked.

"Hehe~ Don't worry, the younger brother has already found out, even the running staff of this inn know the origin of that thing. It's just that the good deeds of Shanshan came here to rest and recuperate, and there was no cover-up. ”

"Oh? Let's go into more detail. He Yong asked suspiciously.

"Big brother, the younger brother found out that this thing was made by the Shanshan Kingdom in front of him, and it was an earthwork made by a group of remnants of the original Loulan Country who didn't know where to get it. In order to allow the more than 100 widows and young people in Loulan to continue their bloodline, they exchanged this party for a place to live on the shore of Shanshan Lake. Now the manufacturing workshop is on the edge of the lake, but there are hundreds of soldiers from Shanshan Country to take care of it, and it is not easy to get close! ”

"In this way, the place of origin is not far away." Dong Ke interjected.

"Although it is not far, it is not a place where the trade route passes, and in addition to the Western Turkic patrol cavalry, there are also Shanshan cavalry patrolling back and forth. I can't wait for the past, even if I get closer. ”

After listening to Tang Niu's words, everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Everyone knows that his line is the companion of the Great Sui merchant travel, driving dozens of camels full of goods, leaving the Western Regions trade route without leaving, but going to the northwest of the Size Lake, isn't it suspicious? Even if he was not surrounded by the Turkic cavalry, he would be captured alive by the Shanshan cavalry.

"Then I'll go to the mud city of Shanshan Kingdom first, where to find some relationships, and go to the Loulan remnant tribe of Luze Lake with a reasonable and legal identity." Ma Shumou had already understood, so he proposed.

"Hmm~ Brother Ma's words are reasonable. It just so happened that He had a reliable foothold in Shanshanguo, and he also knew several wealthy businessmen in Shanshanguo, so he could take this path. He Yong's eyes suddenly lit up and said.

"Brother Tang, when do you think this snowstorm can stop?" Ma Shumou asked again.

"Brother Ma, the younger brother will be able to see the wind and snow tomorrow, and at most it will be sunny the day after tomorrow."

"Good! Just prepare tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I will rush to the mud city, this ghost place has been trapped for a few days, not to mention women, not even a she-wolf can be seen. He Yong said.

"Huh! Brother He is thinking about the good looks of the mud city? Shanshan beauty is famous. Dong Ke said with a smile.

Everyone laughed.

He Yong also said with a smile: "I was really told by Brother Dong Xian, He really has a female companion in that city, but it is not a woman from the Western Regions, but a capable hundred households under a certain hand." She runs a brothel in the city of mud, and she is going to contact the officials of Shanshan Kingdom. If the brothers want to be accompanied by Shanshan and beautiful women, she will have a lot there. ”

"Good! Come, everybody drink. When they had laughed, they all sat down around and toasted each other.

Sure enough, as Tang Niu said, the next day, the wind and snow in the Hexi Corridor stopped. A bright sun appeared in the sky, shooting a white glow towards the frozen expanse. The light shone on the snow, refracting an extremely dazzling white light, which made people unable to open their eyes. A total of 26 people, including Ma Shumou, who were sitting on camels, drove more than 40 camels loaded with goods to walk with difficulty in the snowfield nearly two feet deep, all the way to the west.

In the middle of winter, it is very rare for the Great Sui caravans to travel to the Western Regions, and even if the anthracite produced in Hedong County of the Great Sui is quite profitable in this season, there are few Great Sui caravans selling coal to the west. Along the way, I only met two or three merchants from the Western Regions who were heading to the Great Sui, and the scale was far less than that of this camel caravan.

At this time, because the Western Turks and the Great Sui had their respective armies, the cavalry patrolling the border on both sides also treated each other's caravans well, especially the large caravans such as Ma Shumou, which trafficked coal. Generally, if you encounter it, you will be released after just a few simple questions. Therefore, the biggest trouble that Ma Shumou and others encountered on the way to Shanshanguo Mud City was the snow and dazzling snow on the road.

In the short 200 miles of snow, the camel team took 5 days to stop and go. In the meantime, they all slept in the wilderness, and they were miserable. Finally, in the afternoon of this day, in the light snow, the group finally walked into the mud city of Shanshanguo.

He Yong's female hundred households stationed in the city of mud were named Shangguan Ling'er, who ran one of the largest brothel in the city, and it was also the best place to listen to the information of the Turks and Shanshan. This brothel has four kinds of livelihoods: green buildings, inns, casinos and restaurants, and it is a place for the upper class bureaucrats in Shanshan in the city to gather friends and drink and look for flowers and willows; It is also the largest business inn in the city. The boys in the running hall are also the meticulous work of the trained military intelligence department. All kinds of intelligence information from the Turkic state were transmitted to the Great Sui through here.

This female shopkeeper, Shangguan Ling'er, is extremely beautiful and bewitching, she is a mixed-race beauty with half Western Regions blood, and she has been running this brothel for two years. In the past two years, she has also met many wealthy businessmen and officials in Shanshanguo in the Western Regions, which is also a talisman for her hidden identity. Half a month ago, this Shangguan Ling'er got a flying pigeon from her boss He Yong, asking her to prepare to receive important people from the Great Sui to inspect the mud, and today I finally met the senior official of the Great Sui who was accompanied by her boss, but this senior official of the Great Sui is really not good-looking.

Shangguan Ling'er instructed his subordinates to settle everyone in a relatively secluded single-family building in the backyard, and then put out a table of good wine and food to wash the dust for the few people who visited. After three rounds of drinking, he got back to business. He Yong made it clear to Shangguan Ling'er the intention of this trip and made arrangements.

"Shangguan Baihu, this official is here to accompany Minister Ma to visit the glass bottle. That exquisite bottle has been exchanged for at least a million taels of silver from my Great Sui, and this trip is to explore the method of making this bottle, if my Great Sui can also make this thing, there will be no more outflow of my wealth. If you don't get the production skills, you can kidnap one of its technicians and go back. Today, it has been discovered that the bottle making workshop is on the shore of Size Lake, and the craftsman is a remnant of the original Loulan Kingdom. Do you have a way for me and a few others to go to Size Lake and go to the glass workshop to investigate? ”

"It is not difficult for He Jian to make this matter, there are often high-ranking officials of Shanshanguo here who come here for recreation, and then they only need to make a scene. We just need to do this~~~. "Shangguan Ling'er has a lot of ways to find out the news, and there are also many high-ranking officials in Shanshan who are familiar with her, and it is not difficult for her to get a pass from these high-ranking officials to inspect the glass bottle workshop. Just make a show and make these high-ranking officials profitable. At that moment, he whispered his thoughts to everyone. He Yong, Ma Shumou and others couldn't help but applaud after hearing this, and loudly praised this beautiful woman.

Frozen like a huge mirror, the western shore of Lake Sizawa is densely covered with dozens of nests, each of which is a family. These dimples are built around a huge furnace, the furnace burns day and night, with the baking of this furnace, and every dimple around it is not cold, and it is not covered by heavy snow within 100 meters, which also makes this place seem popular.

In the blazing hearth lay a hundred and ten cauldrons, which were being scorched by the fire. Outside the hearth, a dozen shirtless men were constantly adding black charcoal to the hearth, and in stark contrast to these sweating people, the kiln was surrounded by a circle of Shanshan soldiers shivering from the cold.

In a nest where people come and go frequently, countless candles are lit even in broad daylight, reflecting the nest very brightly. On a huge table, densely packed with more than a hundred freshly made glasses and delicate goblets; A middle-aged man with a full beard was picking up the cups one by one, examining them carefully by the light, nodding his head from time to time.

"Mr. Mu, can this batch of products be marketed?" A man who looked like an official in Shanshan asked softly about the man known as "Mu".

"Hmm~ It's really a batch of better quality than a batch! The walls are as thin as cicada wings, crystal clear and free of impurities. Listed? Does Lord Gro's treasures still need to be listed? Shipped to a big country in the east, the Great Sui Emperor is afraid that he will have to exchange a big city, right? The man surnamed Mu said without raising his head.

"Huh! What Mr. Mu said was. This batch of treasures is not sold, and even those who pay tribute to the Turkic court are not enough! It is also advisable for Mr. to step up supervision and production. The Shanshan official named Ge Luo hurriedly said with a smiling face. Who told Mr. Mu that the treasure in his hand is a hundred times more precious than gold!

"Lord Gro, now that the output is saturated, the firing cycle of this thing is long, and the process is complicated, so there is no room for sloppiness. Besides, there is not much coal used for firing, and after this furnace, the blast furnace has to be shut down, when the coal arrives, and when it starts again. Mr. Mu put down the goblet in his hand and said unhurriedly.

"Also, please ask Mr. Gro to come over next time and bring the promised grain, we agreed in the negotiations."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Mu, the grain is already on the way over, and if it weren't for the heavy wind and snow, it would have arrived a long time ago. Please Mr. be sure to ensure the quality of this furnace glass cup, as for the coal required~ Xia Guan will find a way to solve it as soon as possible, the fire of this blast furnace cannot be extinguished. It's not too early, and the next official takes his leave. ”

"Please!" Mr. Mu got up and politely sent the high-ranking official of Shanshanguo out.

Looking at the high-ranking official of Shanshanguo who was gradually moving away, Mr. Mu's face was complicated. If you shave off his black and white beard, you can see that this person has the appearance of a standard Han Chinese.

After leaving the heavily guarded glazed product workshop, Gro asked his staff in the carriage who had returned to the city with him, "Why hasn't the anthracite coal purchased from the Great Sui Kingdom been shipped back yet?" It's been a long time. ”

"My lord, now my caravan from Shanshanguo to the Sui Kingdom in the East is all exchanged for coal when it returns, but during this time, the wind and snow along the road are too big, the snow on the road is knee-thick, and the caravan is all blocked in inns everywhere to avoid the wind and snow, even if you want to, you can't get up quickly!"

"This damn snow! The order was sent to confiscate all the coal left in the homes of the people in the city, and first used it to ensure the need for coal here. ”

"Your Excellency! In this freezing season, how can the people's homes be without coal? I'm afraid this will provoke a civil uprising! ”

"Alas~ Let's go back to the city!" Gro sighed, and there was nothing he could do in the face of the lack of coal. Others can use the wind and snow as an excuse, but he can't. He made an oath before the king of Shanshan.

After returning to the mud city, Gro hastily finished dinner and returned to the study to think alone. If this coal problem is not solved, he will not want to sleep well for a day.

"Master, I heard that a team of Great Sui merchants came to the city this afternoon, and dozens of camels pulled up high-quality coal, and the people in the city are now waiting for this batch of coal to be sold!" Master Fuzhong entered the door and whispered that the most sought-after commodity in this season is anthracite for winter. Not only are the people in urgent need, but also in their own homes.

"Oh? How much coal is there? Gro was suddenly touched by the most sensitive nerve, and hurriedly asked.

"Not to mention nearly 50,000 catties! Fuzhong is hoarding 5,000 catties to survive the winter. ”

"Humph! No one can touch this batch of coal. Where do Sui merchants stay? ”

"Master, do you still need to ask? are all resting in the "heaven and earth" brothel of Shangguan Nizi! ”

"Good! Master Ma went to the "heaven and earth" with his official. Hehe! I was trying to sleep and came to the pillow, a good thing! Hehe~" As he spoke, Gro raised his feet and walked out, and his steps became much lighter.