The red flag fluttered, and a Qin horse galloped in.

The young man stood behind Grandpa, looking at this mighty Qin cavalry with a look of admiration, they rode tall war horses, with iron armor on their bodies, iron helmets on their heads, spears in their hands, horizontal knives at their waists, bows and arrows, and melee blunt weapons such as whips and hammers on their backs.

All of them are fierce and brave, and his blood is boiling when he sees it.

It's a pity that he doesn't have enough conditions, he can't be a government soldier, and he doesn't have the same strong body as these attendants.

"Phew!"

The team stopped in front of the caravan.

"Folks, where did this come from and where is it going?" The knight at the head said very politely.

The leader of the caravan stepped forward with a smile and bowed his hand.

"The waiter is hard, we are businessmen from Chang'an, and we will go to Kangguo together, there are customs clearance and tax clearance documents here, and the procedures are complete, not a smuggling caravan, please take a look."

Immediately, the knight checked it and nodded back.

"I see, you have worked hard from afar, we are the patrol cavalry stationed on the Silk Road, and I am the team is Xiao Jin. The imperial court set up post forts along the three Silk Roads in the south, middle and north of the Western Regions, with a post station every 20 miles, a beacon fort pier in 50 miles, and a military fort in 100 miles. We're in charge of guarding the Silk Road, protecting the passing merchants, and just as we're coming back from patrolling, we'll take you to the front of the Fort of Change, where you can rest and resupply before moving on. ”

"It turned out to be Team Xiao, disrespectful and disrespectful." As he spoke, the leader of the caravan pulled out a small bag of money, but it contained silver.

"What does that mean?"

"Honoring the servants." The leader of the caravan said with a smile, he was the leader of the caravan who was temporarily selected, and he was also the largest merchant in the caravan, and the money was actually shared equally among the people in the caravan at the end, which was also a point on the road, and the old rules were indispensable.

But this time, the fierce Xiao Team's face darkened, "What do you think of us court servants?" Could it be extortion? Put these away, the soldiers of Daqin are not interested in this set, this time it will be regarded as if you don't understand the rules, and next time, you will be punished for the crime of bribing soldiers. ”

The leader of the caravan carefully looked at the team's expression, and then peeked at the other soldiers, and found that they were indeed not too little, so he immediately put away a few dry laughs.

"I didn't expect the waiters to be so honest, it's because the little old man doesn't understand the rules."

"If it's all right, come with us, and we'll escort you for a ride. After leaving the boundaries of our three counties of Anxi, the further west you go, the less peaceful it becomes, and there are still many horse thieves and robbers here, you have so many goods, you have to be careful. ”

Although a small group of guards was also hired in the caravan, in the eyes of Xiao Teamzheng, these caravan guards who were only equipped with horizontal swords and short bows were really vulnerable.

The leader smiled and nodded, and hurriedly said thank you.

Then he turned around and asked him to fetch some food and something to deliver.

"No need, we all have dry food and water bags, we have our own, and we can't eat and take the things of your caravan, this is the rule."

"You can't say it's a bribe to eat something, can you?"

Team Xiao was still shaking his head.

When everyone saw this, they secretly admired it in their hearts, and had to drive the camel team on the road again.

The sound of camel bells was accompanied by the iron-clad sound of the Qin army's attendants.

The young man followed Grandpa's side and said adoringly, "They are really good." ”

"That's because the emperor is good, they are the emperor's soldiers, of course." The old man is old, he travels south and north to sell goods, and he has seen many soldiers, whether it is the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty or the soldiers of the Western Turks, or the soldiers of the famous side during the Sui Rebellion, there is indeed no one who can compare with the soldiers of this Great Qin.

"Speaking of which, when the Sui Dynasty was strong in the past, the government soldiers were also carefully selected, all of them were children of good families, and most of them were the sons of powerful landlords, and their military discipline was not bad, but compared with today's waiters, it is still far worse, in the final analysis, or our Son of Heaven values these waiters more, and gives higher honors, and is willing to give practical things.

With the patrol cavalry with them, the next dozens of miles were very easy.

In the distance, in the afterglow of the setting sun, I saw an earthen fort on the side of the road.

"That is the Badger Fort, after this fort, less than a hundred miles ahead, is the great city of Qiuzi Badger City. It is getting late to-day, so you can camp outside our fort for the night. Because of the regulations of the military government, you cannot be taken in overnight in the military fort, I hope you will forgive me, but you can fetch water. ”

Everyone was busy, it was enough to rest outside the military fort for a night, after all, it was safe to rest and sleep next to the military camp.

The Fort is not very large, it is just a beacon fort with beacon soldiers stationed in it, and at the same time can accommodate patrol cavalry. In order to ensure the loyalty of the countries in the Western Regions, and also to control the Western Regions and protect the trade routes, the imperial court agreed with the countries that the countries would widen the roads along the way, and then the imperial court would set up post stations and beacon forts along the roads.

The post station is to transmit information and contact the imperial court and other countries, while Fengbao is to protect the Silk Road from robbers, and at the same time, it can also protect the countries, once the countries are invaded by other countries, they can ignite the beacon smoke to alarm, and all countries are obliged to obey the dispatch of the Great Qin Imperial Court to rescue.

In short, in the Western Regions, all the countries belong to the Great Qin, and the countries are not allowed to attack each other, and if there is a dispute, it is necessary to ask the imperial court to preside over mediation. If anyone crosses the borders drawn by the imperial court for various countries and attacks other countries, then Great Qin has the right and obligation to convene all countries to discuss it.

At the beginning, countries were reluctant to let Daqin build post stations and build Fengbao on their territory, especially on the important road of the Silk Road, but the emperor said that the smooth flow of the Silk Road could ensure the prosperity of trade, which was good for everyone.

Of course, Cheng Yanjin, the general of the Qin State stationed in Gaochang, also released the news in a timely manner, and whoever dared to oppose the construction of the post station and the construction of Fengbao was intended to destroy the stable and prosperous future of the Western Regions.

In the end, the countries reluctantly agreed to this plan.

The imperial court moved quickly, and the three Silk Roads, the southern line, the middle line, and the northern line, every twenty miles, built a post station, and a beacon fort was built fifty miles apart.

There were not many postmen and soldiers in the post station and the beacon fort, but the imperial court sent 3,000 light horsemen, 1,000 light horsemen on each road, to patrol in sections.

Patrol cavalry are not stationed exclusively in one fort, but patrol regularly.

I have to say that since the post station, the beacon fort and the patrol Qin cavalry, the Silk Road is indeed much safer.

Night falls.

The leader of the caravan drew water from the well of the Bachang Fort, and sent some sheep to buy some sheep from the nearby Qiuzi people, so they slaughtered the sheep and cooked them.

They also specially sent mutton to the fort, but the Xiao team refused to accept it, and finally the leader of the caravan forced two sheep to stay.

"Even if you arrest me and treat me for bribery, I don't care, you escorted us all the way today, and let us camp outside the fort at night, this is the most solid sleep we can sleep on since we left Dunhuang, these two sheep, you must accept them, otherwise, you will look down on us businessmen too much."

Fresh lamb, sprinkled with a little anxi fennel, skewered with red willow branches and roasted on the fire, the hot oil drips down, the appearance is golden, not to mention the aroma is very attractive.

It was an unforgettable evening.

The young man and the grandfather even drank a rare drink, and slept very soundly this night, because they knew that behind them was the Bachang Fort, the red flag on the fort, and the soldiers of the Qin army standing guard under the red flag, would protect them.

On the fort.

Team Xiao was eating fragrant kebabs, looking at the Qin merchants who were only two miles away from the fort.

"What, envy them?" The fire elder in the team asked.

"Sometimes I am very envious, I can walk around freely, see the beautiful scenery of various places, enjoy the food of various places, and enjoy the customs of various places." Take a bite of the barbecue, your mouth is full of oil, but it is not greasy, and the feeling of being charred on the outside and tender on the inside, delicious and juicy.

"I don't envy it, if you stay in the Western Regions for a few years, you can always make a few military achievements, and when the time comes, we will be transferred back to Chang'an and Luoyang, which are really good places, and there is no comparison."

"Yes, a prosperous place in the Central Plains, but I don't have any skills, but it is difficult to transfer back, especially Luoyang City."

"It's hard to say, it's not hard to say, haven't you seen the newspaper handed over above? Won't our General Qin be transferred to the court, worship the Great Sima, and be promoted to the prime minister? You see, Your Majesty treats us warriors very favorably, as long as you have the ability, it is possible to be the prime minister. Lao Xiao, haven't you ever thought about the day when you will become famous and become a prime minister? ”

Team Xiao laughed and threw the red willow branches of the finished skewers into the air, "Out of the phase, do you think everyone has this ability?" If you want to say that the great generals of our dynasty, the Privy Envoy Zhang, the Deputy Privy Envoy of Song, and the Deputy Privy Envoy of Zhou, they are all His Majesty's teachers and friends, and the Deputy Privy Envoy of Zhou is still His Majesty's brother-in-law, which of them is not the founding father? ”

"General Qin is not only His Majesty's cousin, but also the founding father."

"Others, Hou Mo Chen Xiangguo, has been His Majesty's marching chief in his early years, and he is his right-hand man. Others, who can worship the prime minister, originally the generals of the clan are the most qualified, but the court system is there, so it is the most unlikely to worship the prime minister, and the rest, I think that General Li who guards Lingnan, General Xu who guards Andong and General Cheng who guards our Anxi, and General Su who guards Xishan are likely to worship the prime minister in the future. Team Xiao is commenting on the head of the road.

"You said that General Li believes that he used to be the secretary of the military department, but Xu Shiji and Su Dingfang are not qualified, especially Su Dingfang, whose qualifications are not high."

"You can't just look at those, you have to look at them now, they are the same as our Cheng Shuai, they are all guarding the side, and they are all places where it is easy to make meritorious contributions, three or five years later, as long as there are no mistakes, they are all proper immortal meritorious deeds." Others, such as Uncle Shan Guo, etc., are difficult to compare. ”

Huo Chang pinched his chin, "Our Anxi is so stable, what opportunities can we have to make great achievements, don't talk nonsense!" ”

"How can I talk nonsense, you believe my words today, don't look at Anxi as calm as a pool of stagnant water now, but this calm will not last long, sooner or later, Anxi will become a big battlefield, and then this is a good place to make contributions, don't be in a hurry to transfer away, stay in this Western Regions for ten years, I guarantee that you can rise from a fire chief to the school level." Maybe you might even have a chance to become a general. ”

Eight lieutenants, eight colonels, eight generals, four generals, and two generals.

Which level of this, it is possible to rise up without real merit, if you rely on your qualifications, you can stay up for ten years, and at most you will be promoted from the fire commander to the team leader, and it is not bad to be able to barely get the end of the eighth lieutenant, and you will also be a general?

The minimum general is also the fifth grade, which general, must it be a great achievement? That's at least a regimental officer, and he can command 2,000 people.

"You believe me, follow me steadily and steadily, work hard in this Western Regions, and you won't suffer. In the future, when we will also become school officials, and then return to Luoyang, wouldn't it be beautiful? Anyway, if I don't get promoted to the school, I won't leave the Western Regions! ”

"I can't be promoted to school officer for ten or twenty years, and I haven't returned to the Central Plains?"

"No return!" Team Xiao said very seriously.

"Okay, I'll believe you half of it for the time being, and then be a soldier in the Western Regions for ten years, if Lao Tzu can't be promoted to school officer by then, Lao Tzu will beat you to death as a dog slave!"

"The third child of the dog slave dares to commit it!"

"It's not time to be on duty, make a mistake!"

The two of them frolicked and haha, but it was very easy, the same group entered the Western Regions from the Central Plains, and they had meritorious service in the three counties of Anxi, and now they came to this Qiuzi as a patrol cavalry, although they were lonely and hard, but both of them were full of confidence in the future, believing that he would have a bright future one day.