(Today the two chapters are combined.) ）

Qin Cheng and the others met Dou Fei and Zhang Qian's brigade before they arrived in Jiuquan, as Qin Cheng expected, Dou Fei and his party did not encounter any trouble on the road, and the trade route before Jiuquan was relatively peaceful.

The two sides merged into one place and rushed to Jiuquan Lufu City together.

On the way, Qin Cheng and Dou Fei talked about the turmoil they encountered in Shuofang City, and after listening to it, Dou Fei said pointedly: "The Wuhuan three clans have never determined their own position, and for such a country, staying in the north has always been an unstable factor. ”

Zhang Qian agreed, "Although the Wuhuan clan is weak, if they make any unfavorable moves to the Han at a critical moment, it will be a big trouble, according to the ignorance of these countries now, it is difficult to ensure that they can see the situation clearly and manage their own hands." ”

Qin Cheng thought for a moment and said, "If they were smart enough, I'm afraid they would have seen the fact that when the Xiongnu perished was when they perished, would they still be so peaceful now?" ”

They couldn't figure it out, but they couldn't bear the repeated persuasion of the Huns. In my opinion, the Wuhuan clan should still be solved by thunder. Now that there is no royal court in Monan, it is just a matter of hands for the Han army to deal with the Wuhuan three clans. "Dou Fei's position is very firm, in his opinion, the Wuhuan clan has lost its due value, and if it is kept, there will be troubles, so it is better to solve it as soon as possible.

"Although the Wuhuan clan is weaker, they can also raise seventy or eighty thousand cavalry, if they really fight and have to fight quickly, the price is a bit big." Qin Cheng said, a little helpless, "At the beginning, it was for the Wuhuan three tribes to contain the Xiongnu, so that they could occupy Chahadi, but now they have become the elbow of the Han army to deal with the Xiongnu, which is really self-defeating." ”

"So what?" Dou Fei asked, "To fight or not to fight?" ”

Qin Cheng saw that Dou Fei was a little anxious, so he smiled and said, "It's not Your Majesty's decision to fight or not?" Besides, if everything needs to be solved by killing, what are we going to do in the Western Regions this time? Just send a large army over. Your Majesty is not thinking of relying on your head to get the maximum benefit at the least cost? ”

Dou Fei was a little distressed when he heard this, "According to your meaning, after the Huns are sent this time, is it possible for Your Majesty to let me go to Chakhadi again?" ”

"Those who can work harder, who made you have a brain like a national treasure?" Qin Cheng laughed twice, not without pride, "If you can solve it without the army, try not to use the army to solve it." ”

Dou Fei ignored Qin Cheng's quip, but said, "Do you think that I will be the only one to go to Chahardi at that time?" Tell you, Your Majesty will not forget you in anything now. Often, the bigger the trouble, the more unsolvable the matter, the more Your Majesty will not forget that he has a great general who can determine the country with military power and peace with culture...... Hey! ”

"Please!" Zhang Qian wailed, looking at Qin Cheng and Dou Fei lovelessly, "I'm the one who is in charge of diplomatic relations, okay?" What shame do you have for me? ”

"......" Dou Fei lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then raised his head and suddenly asked Qin Cheng with great interest: "What is that big bird in your hand?" It's quite a miracle! ”

"You say this? It's called a falcon, not a big bird. Qin Cheng suddenly became angry, as if the spear falcon in his hand was raised by himself, "Of course, if you are not educated, you can also call it a goshawk." ”

"It's a good thing, lend me a little bit of fun!" Dou Fei was quite interested.

Zhang Qian, who was ignored, had a black line, and finally couldn't help but shout: "This official will definitely not take the two of you with him on his next mission!" ”

"Haha......"

A few people talked and laughed like this along the way, and it was not boring until they arrived in Lu Fucheng.

In fact, along the way, Qincheng observed the construction of Jiuquan, and the focus was of course on the construction of military infrastructure, such as beacon towers and forts. After seeing these constructions, Qin Cheng couldn't help but sigh that Jiang was still old and spicy, Li Guang's attainments in this area had reached the peak, and even he couldn't compare.

When he arrived in Lu Fucheng, Li Guang, who had received the notice earlier, took the time to entertain Qin Cheng and others, and after a dust-washing banquet, it was time to talk about business again.

"This time the student has come with a copy of His Majesty's will." Li Guang is now the county guard of Jiuquan, and Qin Cheng, as the general of the Great Sima, is naturally not good at claiming to be a subordinate in front of Li Guang, which is a bit chaotic, so he simply called himself a student, "Please also ask the old general to prepare to receive orders." ”

Seeing Qin Cheng's smile, Li Guang knew that this order must be a good thing, so he happily changed into court clothes, cleaned up inside and out, and then prepared to receive the order.

"Hexi is thousands of miles, the land is vast and abundant, there are many affairs, and now it is facing the frontier of the Xiongnu and the Western Regions, the military situation is complicated, and it is inconvenient to act without a commander. I am glad to hear that Li Guangqin, the commander of Jiuquan County, has been diligent in military and political affairs, and the construction of border cities has been fruitful in recent years, and I now have specially ordered Li Guang to be the commander of Hexi, and he is in charge of the military of the four counties of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang in Hexi. "Qin Cheng handed over the appointment to Li Guang, which can be regarded as finishing most of the business.

Li Guang was very excited to receive the appointment, and now that Li Guang is old, he is naturally very happy about Liu Che's attention.

There is still half of the business, after Li Guang excitedly accepted the appointment, Qin Cheng smiled and informed Li Guangdao: "Now there is still a matter that the student needs to inform the old general, this time the student and Dou Fei and others sent an envoy to the Western Regions, in order to make it convenient, His Majesty appointed the student as the commander of the Kansai region, to control the military affairs of the Kansai, but there is no tiger charm to mobilize the Kansai Han army." ”

The so-called Kansai not only includes Hexi, but also the Western Regions, although there is no army in the Western Regions that can mobilize Qincheng, but in this way, it is clear that Qincheng has the absolute right to speak in the military affairs of Kansai.

The excitement on Li Guangyan's face immediately faded most of it, and he actually showed some childish jealousy, "Speaking of which, Your Majesty is still partial, you are the old man's student, but Your Majesty always lets you press the old man." There is no Tiger Talisman to be able to transfer troops, this kind of thing has never happened in the past. ”

"Didn't Wei Qing do it once before?" Qin Cheng said with a smile, "Besides, although the name of this Guanxi commander is well-known, the actual number of Han cavalry that can be mobilized is no more than 30,000, which is not much different from my hussar army." ”

"When I return to Jiuquan, in addition to announcing His Majesty's appointment of the old general, I still have one more business to do." Qin Cheng continued, "Your Majesty asked the students to come and see the construction of the border city. ”

"You are the Great Sima General, and you are the commander of the Guan system, so naturally you have the final say in this matter!" Although Li Guang pretended to have a straight face, he said.

"Haha!"

said that he came to check the construction of the border city, but in fact, Qin Cheng could not stay in Lufu City for much time, mainly to have a bottom on the construction of the border city in Jiuquan, so that he could know more about the advance and retreat when acting in the Western Regions.

The next day, Qin Cheng inspected the military construction of Lü Fucheng under the guidance of Li Guang, and did not stop for a whole day.

At night, Qin Cheng had time to hand over the Spear Falcon to Li Guang and asked him to try to contact Le Yi through the Spear Falcon.

After Li Guang heard Qin Cheng finish talking about the role of the spear falcon, he was also very excited, as a veteran in the army, how could he not understand the importance of the spear falcon?

Because Qin Cheng was going to leave Lu Fucheng with everyone and rush to the Western Regions the next day, Li Guangsui told Qin Cheng about the harassment of the Dunhuang Hun cavalry on the caravan, "The small cavalry team is no more than a hundred, and the big ones can sometimes reach a thousand, they kill people and goods, and their behavior is no different from that of robbers and bandits, or even more cruel than bandits and robbers, because after they loot the caravan, there will not be a single living mouth!" ”

"For this matter, the students have a way to solve the caravan's dilemma a little." After listening to it, Qin Cheng thought about it and said, in fact, this matter has been thinking about it for a long time on the way here, "It is to work hard for the old general." ”

"As a soldier, there is no hard work, you just need to say the way, and the old man promises to do it for you!" Li Guangdao, "The old man has long hated these bandit-like Huns, and he can't wait to eat their flesh and skin!" ”

"So, old general, listen to the students slowly......"

................................

When Qin Cheng and the others left Lü Fucheng, the caravan had been greatly strengthened, and the goods seemed to have at least doubled, and the heavy cavalry was also clothed with a layer of cloth in addition to the iron armor, and the helmet was also decorated, and the armor draped on the horse was also collected on the horse's back. In short, if you don't look closely, it's hard for outsiders to see that it's a well-armed heavy cavalry, and they'll just think it's an ordinary caravan guard.

Entering the Western Regions, Qin Cheng and the others originally planned to pretend to be merchants, but they only showed their identities in the territory of the Western Regions, which had the effect of covering up their identities. As for the change in the costume of the heavy cavalry, Qin Cheng said that this was to match the identity of the caravan, and it was also to not scare the countries of the Western Regions.

"General, don't look at the small countries of the Western Regions, in fact, the equipment of the army is not bad, especially Shanshan, the sergeants are all in armor and well-equipped, and the long swords are all made of stainless steel, which is extremely sharp." Zhang Qian retorted after listening to Qin Cheng's explanation.

"What's the use of just equipping it?" Qin Cheng didn't think so, but after speaking, he asked cautiously: "What do you think of the strength of the armies of the Western Regions?" ”

"I have been to the Western Regions twice, but I have also seen a lot of troops, and I have also seen them fighting. According to my personal opinion, the armies of the Western Regions countries naturally cannot be compared with the armies of our Han Dynasty. "Zhang Qian is very confident and confident.

"Of course." Qin Cheng was also very proud, and as he spoke, he ignored the previous question of Zhang Qian's questioning of Qin Cheng's concealment of the heavy cavalry.

Everyone said goodbye to Li Guang, left Lufu City, and went all the way west again.

After Jiuquan, stepping into the territory of Dunhuang, the biggest feature of the surrounding scenery change is that it is more and more desolate, although the desolation of Dunhuang at this time is not as powerful as that of later generations, but compared with the Central Plains at this time, the difference is still compared with later generations. And the farther west you go, the less crowded it becomes.

Prior to this, there were basically no cities in Dunhuang - the Huns had never had a tradition of building cities, so this made Qin Cheng and others have some difficulties in food supply, although they were very well prepared when they left Lü Fu, but the food standard inevitably dropped very much.

Qin Cheng and other people from the military are okay, Dou Fei and Zhang Qian are also okay, the former has been living in embarrassment for decades, and the requirements for food can be as low as being limited to the stomach, Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions is not the first time, and he can adapt to it.

The real discomfort was actually Icher and the people of the caravan. Because the caravan was an official caravan formed temporarily, it had basically never been to the Western Regions before.

Yi Xue'er even wanted to go to the forest to hunt some animals to improve her diet several times, but was stopped by Qin Cheng.

The resting place was an open field, three or five miles from the deep forest, where the caravan's goods were laid together, and the heavily mounted sergeants dismounted and sat around the fires of almost the same size—except for those on duty.

"Experience has taught us that unfamiliar forests are dangerous, so it's better not to go in." Qin Cheng once again grabbed Yi Xue'er, who wanted to go into the forest to hunt, and said earnestly: "Forbearance, forbearance is over, isn't it just that you don't eat hot meat for two days?" Come on, here's jerky. ”

"It's just a forest, except for jackals, tigers and leopards, what can be dangerous?" Yi Xue'er sniffed, today she has made up her mind to pay attention to improving her food, it stands to reason that women generally don't eat much meat, and it's already rare not to hate it, but Yi Xue'er has obviously inherited the fine tradition of the grassland people's extreme craving for meat, and usually eats more than Qin Cheng, "Besides, these jerky are really hard to eat!" Before it gets dark, I'll come as soon as I go. ”

"Jackals, tigers and leopards are dangerous to ordinary people, but they are really not dangerous to you, you are much more dangerous than them." Qin Cheng blurted out, and after speaking, seeing Yi Xue'er's face darken, he hurriedly changed his words: "What I'm afraid of is that there are people in the forest, although those people may be your fellow clansmen, but they may not be?" Besides, you see that you are such a big girl, how bad is it to break into the deep forest alone? History has shown that you don't have good luck in the woods. ”

"Where is the historical experience?" Icher was a little frustrated.

"For example, when you were in the upper valley many years ago, you were caught in the trap of a beast in the woods, didn't you? If you hadn't happened to run into General Ben, you would have become the belly of a black blind man, and you might have already walked around in someone's belly, and then 'turned into spring mud to protect flowers'. Qin Cheng was tight.

"What are you talking about? Also, don't mention that to me! Ixher rubbed her hair, looking infinitely distressed, "If you hadn't chased and killed, would I have run into the forest and been caught by that broken clip?" ”

"Hey!" Qin Cheng immediately stopped, "If I hadn't saved you at that time, would you still be able to blow your beard and stare at me now?" ”

"You ......" Yi Xue'er shook her hand angrily, walked away indignantly, and did not forget to threaten at the end, "Don't let me eat meat!" Hmph, you have to be careful at night, don't wake up tomorrow morning to find that a piece of meat is missing! ”

"......" Qin Cheng couldn't help but shudder, shook his head, and sighed sadly: "Women who love meat are terrible......"

.........................

While Qin Cheng and Yi Xue'er were arguing over the question of whether to eat meat or not, somewhere in a low place more than twenty miles away from them, a large group of people were sitting around several fires and bored. Looking at its scale, I am afraid that there are no less than 1,000 people.

It's a desolate place, and it's not normal to have one or two people in it—because it's most likely a wild man. And thousands of people get together and do nothing, which is even more weird.

It didn't take much to look closely to see that these men were all armed with long knives and dressed in leather armor, and around them there were thousands of sturdy horses grazing with their heads down. Perhaps the grass here tastes good, and the horses raise their heads from time to time to snort.

"It's getting dark, and today is nothing!" Next to the largest fire, a man with a strange braid said with some annoyance, "It's been almost half a month, and I haven't seen half a figure here. ”

"I just don't know if other people are in the same situation as us, if they gain a lot, and we return empty-handed, we will definitely be laughed at when we go back." A man next to the pigtailed man said, "In my opinion, we should go some distance further east, lest a caravan appear and be preempted by others." ”

"The centurion is right!" The pigtailed man agreed, "Early tomorrow morning, let's go east for a distance, if we can't meet anyone again, let's just go to the forest and hunt a wild boar and bring it back, so it's better than going home empty-handed!" ”

"The commander is wise!" The centurion, who had just spoken, said immediately.

"Captain Ben has always been wise!" The pigtail man shook off his long braid, which made him feel special, and said proudly.

"Yes, yes!" The centurion held back the awkwardness and nausea in his heart, and said.

"There's a spy back." Someone pointed to a cavalry road running by.

"Ask him if he's found anything, and if not, they'll be able to sleep!" The pigtail man said.

"Report! Commander of a thousand people, a caravan was found twenty miles away, and judging by its number, there were about seven or eight hundred, and there were hundreds of carts of goods! The spy said excitedly.

"What?" The pigtailed man immediately stood up, "A hundred carts of goods? ”

"Yes!"

"Haha!" The pigtailed man laughed proudly and rampantly, his waist almost bent to the ground, "I just said that under the wise leadership of this commander, there is absolutely no reason to go home empty-handed!" This time I finally met the fat sheep, haha! ”

After laughing, the commander's gaze became fierce, he waved his hand arrogantly, and flicked his whip that he thought was dashing,