The second part of the collision of empires

Volume 1: The crisis caused by the southward migration of the Qarluqs

Chapter 1: Broken Leaves and Silver (I)

Golden autumn September, under the vast sky, autumn is high and refreshing, pure azure shrouded in the sky, it is the harvest season of the year, in the large plain south of Daqing Pond in Broken Leaf Prefecture, the Yezhi River meanders north like a jade belt, injecting a water and blue waves into Daqing Pond, and in the east of the Yezhi River, cattle and sheep graze quietly in the undulating pasture, a group of war horses galloped from afar, several young herdsmen shouted loudly, laughter echoed on the grassland for a long time, Broken Leaf Prefecture belongs to the official territory of the Tang Dynasty, according to the Tang calendar, this year is the fourth year of Dazhi, Tang Emperor Li Huan has been on the throne for three years.

There is a newly built official road about two miles away from the Yezhi River, which stretches flat and straight to the south, until it reaches the Tuoyun Pass, which is repaired by Siyu, the protector of Anxi, with 20,000 prisoners of war and 30,000 soldiers recruited from various countries in Anxi, and uses hundreds of thousands of people from various countries, it took two and a half years to complete, the road is about five zhang wide, all are compacted with mud, the roadbed is tight, not an inch of grass grows, a beacon tower is built every twenty miles, and a team of soldiers is sent to guard

On both sides of the official road planted with poplar trees, golden autumn leaves yellow, from the high altitude, this road is like a golden dragon stretching out to the distant horizon, the Tang Dynasty soldiers named it after their Emperor Majesty, this official road is called the Golden Dragon Avenue.

At noon, a long camel caravan walked by on Jinlong Avenue, loaded with goods from the west, heading to the Tang Dynasty in the east, and more than a dozen grazing teenagers held bags full of clear water in their hands, waving goodbye to the merchants. Waiting for the arrival of the next group of merchants.

At this moment, there was a sudden thunderous sound of horses' hooves from the far south, and the teenagers hurriedly picked up their skins and ran to the depths of the grassland, and the team approached. ^^ debut^UC eBook^^^ This is a team of more than 1,000 Tang cavalry, the red tassels on their helmets are flying in the sun, their armor is bright, and their long lances are hung in the saddle. All of them look heroic, and their crotches are all big horses. According to the standard configuration of one person and two horses, they were the tenth time to charge the silver army, returning from Chang'an, thousands of miles away, and returning to Broken Leaf after five days of repairing in Shule.

Seeing the Yezhi River in the distance, the cavalry slowed down. They changed their horses one after another, and slowly recovered their physical strength. More than a dozen herding teenagers saw that it was the Tang Army, and they ran forward with skins filled with water, and the soldiers took the skins and gulped water, and several soldiers took out a handful of copper coins from their waists and threw them to them, shouting loudly: "Go and fetch water again, and there will be a reward." The boys happily put away the coins and rode off to the river in the distance.

This cavalry lieutenant will be in the middle of the ranks, his name is Han Yue, he is not yet thirty years old, and he is from Jingzhao Fuping County. At the age of twenty, he joined the army in Longyou. He participated in the battles of recovering Hehuang and recovering Anxidi, and has experienced a hundred battles. Accumulated merit was promoted to the captain, next to him is a civilian officer, for the Broken Leaf Governor's Mansion Hu Cao Shen military, age more than 30 years old, a native of Fenzhou, Hedong, surnamed Guo Mingmu, is the soldier Guo Mu who came to Anxi to join the army three years ago, three years ago after failing in the first system examination, Guo Mu went to the Western Regions to serve in the army, because he was originally a Jinshi, especially valued in Anxi, where there is a lack of talents, and soon appointed him as the chief secretary of the Qiuzi Army, last year he was promoted to the Broken Leaf Governor's Mansion Hu Cao Shen Military, Broken Leaf Prefecture is the Governor's Prefecture, the military and the government are integrated, Therefore, the Hu Cao Shen military of the Governor's Mansion is also the state Hu Cao Shen military, in charge of the civil affairs such as Qian Mi household registration of broken leaves, and four months ago it was his turn to be the silver protector and escort one million catties of coarse silver to Chang'an. ^^ first release of ^UC e-book ^^^

After returning from Chang'an, his heart brought a little expectation and sweetness, and Han Yue, the commander of the general, saw Guo Mu looking at the direction of Broken Leaves from time to time, so he smiled jokingly: "Guo joins the army, we are going to drink your happy bar this time when we return to Broken Leaves!" ”

Guo Mu's face was slightly red, knowing that his thoughts had been seen through by others, his fiancée and he were fellow villagers, a small jasper, broken leaves from three years ago to each household to grant two hectares of land, three horses of animal power gradually introduced into the Central Plains immigrants, three years of immigration has reached 20,000 households, distributed in the broken leaves and several small cities around the Qing Pond, Guo Mudi's fiancée family is a small businessman who moved from Fenzhou, his fiancée's surname is Bai, only seventeen years old this year, born gentle and beautiful, can also read some words, Guo Mu at a glance, The central mediator went to say that the woman's family was naturally willing to get this good son-in-law, and was originally scheduled to get married during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but Guo Mu bet silver to go to Chang'an, and the marriage was delayed.

Guo Mu's heart was seen through, and his face was a little unbearable, so he reached out and knocked on Han Yue's helmet, and scolded with a smile: "What are you kid thinking about what others are doing all day long? Itchy skin? ”

Han Yue exaggeratedly covered the back of his head and shouted, "Ouch! It's so strong, haven't you been holding back for a long time? ”

After shouting, he urged his horse to flee forty or fifty paces away, laughing loudly, and a dozen soldiers next to him also laughed, and suddenly, one of the soldiers pointed into the distance and shouted: "Qarluq! ”

Guo Mu and Han Yue were taken aback at the same time, their smiles converged, and they looked to the northeast together, only to see more than a dozen horseback riders on a grassy hill two miles away, looking at the Tang army from a distance, they were all dressed in black robes, which were typical Gelulu people's signs, which was influenced by the black-clothed food, and the entire Western Regions was dressed in black.

"Not cavalry, just a dozen shepherds." Han Yue's brows furrowed slightly, since last year, there have been more and more cases of Qarluq people crossing the border to graze, and now they have actually penetrated into the Golden Dragon Avenue.

"I'm afraid that the severe cold in the north has intensified this year, and the survival of the Qarluq people is getting worse and worse."

In the past two years, the climate has become colder, and the Daqingchi valley is a little better, and the Qarlu people in the north have become sad, Guo Mu sighed lightly and said: "These herdsmen are really pitiful. ”

"What's the pity? They are now herdsmen, turned around and are soldiers, and will only rob other people's things. Han Yue didn't have any mercy, he immediately turned around and ordered: "The first battalion will go out, drive them all away, and if you refuse to leave, kill them all." ”

Three hundred cavalrymen rushed out of the ranks, and they drew their bows and arrows and rushed towards the Qarluqs, and a dozen Qarluqs saw the Tang army chasing after them. Frightened, the Tang army chased for dozens of miles, and saw that the Qarluqs had fled far away, so they returned to the team. The army sped up and continued to speed towards Broken Leaves.

Guo Mu and his entourage walked for two more days, this morning. Shattered Leaf City has finally appeared on the horizon in the distance, and the current Broken Leaf City is no longer the border of the Western Regions where the Hu people were the main land in the past. After three years of great development, with the migration of 20,000 Central Plains immigrants, the population of Broken Leaf City has reached 200,000, becoming the third largest city in the Zhaowu region, second only to Samadjiancheng (Samarkand), the capital of Kangguo, and Tuozhi City, the capital of Shiguo. In particular, the construction of Jinlong Avenue has greatly shortened the distance to Anxidi of the Tang Dynasty, and there are Tang army patrols on the road from time to time. It is very safe, it is this Golden Dragon Avenue that makes the Silk Road move north, and Broken Leaf City has also become a major trading city where thousands of merchants gather.

Broken Leaf City currently has 10,000 garrisons, second only to Shule in the five major governors of Anxi, Broken Leaf Governor or Cao Hanchen, he has received the news of the return of the silver army, personally came to the city gate to greet Guo Mu and his party, since the first batch of broken leaf silver was sent to Chang'an three years ago, Broken Leaf has sent away ten rounds of coarse silver, a total of eight million catties. Broken leaf silver is generally sent to Shule. Then it was sent to Dunhuang by Shule, and finally sent to Chang'an by Dunhuang. It is divided into three sections, but once a year, the silver envoy is sent directly from the broken leaf to Chang'an, and reports the development of the broken leaf to the imperial court, and this year is Guo Mu going to Chang'an.

Cao Hanchen stood at the head of the city and looked into the distance, at his feet, a team of five hundred camels composed of Persian caravans were lining up to slowly enter the city, on both sides of the road outside the city were more than a dozen Han tea sheds, a few smiling shopkeepers were enthusiastically greeting guests in poor Persian, although the language barrier, but the red wine in their hands was the best sign, from time to time Persian merchants climbed down their camels and entered the tea shed to buy wine, not far away, hundreds of Turkic tents lined up along the Broken Leaf River, the river was crowded with laundry women, The women suddenly threw down their clothes and ran into the distance, where hundreds of horse-drawn carts were dragging hills of hay slowly.

Chinese, Persian, and Turkic languages were intertwined in Cao Hanchen's ears, and he looked at this busy scene, and was very emotional, and his four-year term was about to expire in a few months, and there was news that he would go to Shule to serve as the deputy envoy of Anxi Jiedu, and he would leave this land he loved so much, and Cao Hanchen's heart was full of nostalgia.

"General, here!" A soldier pointed his finger into the distance and shouted, although Cao Hanchen was appointed as the governor of Broken Leaves, but there was an unwritten rule in the Tang army, all the governors were not called governors, but generals or soldiers and horses, and the reason for this is needless to say.

Cao Hanchen looked at the dazzling sunlight, and saw a group of Tang troops in the distance rushing towards him, "It's really them!" Cao Hanchen hurriedly ordered people to run down the city wall to stop Guo Mu, who had returned from Chang'an, don't blame him for being anxious, because in Guo Mu's hands there will be a formal order issued by His Majesty the Emperor, and it was only rumors that he would be appointed as the deputy envoy of Anxi Jiedu after all.

After a long journey of four months, Guo Mu finally returned to the Broken Leaf City that he thought about day and night, and he couldn't wait to fly to his future father-in-law's house, but he had to wait for a while, Guo Mu saw Cao Hanchen standing at the head of the city from a distance.

"Dismount!" The commander gave Han Yue a loud shout, and a thousand cavalry dismounted one after another, and marched towards a white marble monument located in the east of the city gate, the monument is three zhang high, and the shape is a Tang horizontal knife pointing straight to the sky, which is engraved with the inscription of the Tang Emperor Li Huan: Tang Dynasty Hero.

There are more than 1,000 small tombstones behind the monument, covering an area of dozens of acres, surrounded by wooden fences, guarded by special soldiers, where more than 1,000 Tang Dynasty soldiers who died to recover broken leaves are buried, and one of the small tombstones is engraved: The tomb of Guan Ying, the general of Tang Zhonglie.

A thousand cavalry lined up with helmets in front of the monument and bowed silently, this is the rule of His Majesty the Tang Emperor in the round year of the Great Rule, any Tang Dynasty soldier who comes to break the leaf must mourn in front of the monument, the same tombstone in Anxi Zhang Sancheng guarded and captured one, this is to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed to maintain the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, and there is also a Tang Loyal Martyrs' Shrine on the side of the Qujiang Pond in Chang'an, which echoes the monument in the Western Regions.

After a stick of incense, the soldiers put on their helmets, turned over their horses, and galloped towards the gate of Broken Leaves, Han Yue went up to the city to give orders to Cao Hanchen, while Guo Mu was kept by one of Cao Hanchen's men.

After a while, Han Yue finished handing over the order and led the army back to the barracks, Cao Hanchen walked down the city tower quickly, and laughed at Guo Mu from afar: "Guo has worked hard all the way to join the army. ”

Guo Mu hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "The general came to greet him in person, and his subordinates are really ashamed." ”

Why did the boss come to greet him in such a hurry, of course Guo Mu knew it, he hurriedly took out an official document and handed it to Cao Hanchen, "General, this is the edict that Your Majesty gave you." ”

Cao Hanchen seemed to be burned by the fire, hurriedly tidied up his official uniform, and respectfully took the official document, only to see his official name written on it: General Yunlu, Broken Leaf Prefecture Thorn History, Governor Broken Leaf Soldiers and Horses Cao Hanchen.

Under the letter cover, the emperor's jade seal, the seal of the door of the Chinese book and the seal of the Ministry of War, the letter cover was sealed very tightly with fire paint, Cao Hanchen nervously picked up the seal, and pulled out a piece of official document from it, only to see that there was only one line of words written on it: continue to serve as the governor of broken leaves for two years, and add the title of Marquis of Gaochang. Below are still the three Great Seals.

Cao Hanchen was ecstatic, he could stay in Broken Leaf for two years, and he was also made a marquis, but then he was full of doubts in his heart, why? Why did the emperor want him to continue his term for two years, he couldn't help but look at Guo Mu in confusion, Guo Mu smiled bitterly, and said: "My subordinates have heard a friend who served in the ministry talk about another thing, Wang Dashuai was originally going to be transferred back to Chang'an to serve as the general of Zuojin Wuwei, but he was also in office for two years, and the general should be the same reason, what is the specific reason, my friend has a humble official position, he doesn't know, his subordinates estimate that there will be pigeon reports soon." ”

Since Wang Siyu was also reappointed for two years, Cao Hanchen was relieved, he put away the appointment letter, patted Guo Mu on the shoulder and said with a smile: "When you are not there, your prospective father-in-law has come to inquire about the time of your return several times, it is estimated that your fiancée is in a hurry, go back quickly!" ”

Guo Mu's face flushed, and he wanted to say a few words about the scene, but he couldn't say anything, so he had to bow his hand and say goodbye, and after walking a few steps, he ran up and rushed towards the destination of his soul.

Cao Hanchen saw that his running posture was really ugly, like a big praying mantis, he couldn't help but smile and shook his head, turned back to his subordinates and said: "Pay attention to the information of the pigeon station for me in the past two days, and if there is any news from Chang'an, you must report it to me immediately." ”

In order to strengthen the connection between Anxi and Chang'an, the imperial court specially built twenty special pigeon posts in the states along the way, to relay the news, there are two pigeon posts on the broken leaves, one is in the broken leaves, and the other is in Tuoyun Castle, if there is major news from the imperial court, it can be transmitted to the broken leaves within almost ten days.

And said that Guo Mu ran and ran regardless of the image, and in a moment, he ran into Chongrenfang, there are thirteen Han gathering areas in the broken leaf city, known as the Thirteen Fangs, named after the name of the Fang in Chang'an, the architectural style in the area is no different from the Central Plains, walking on the street, hearing the Chinese language in the ears, and seeing the Chinese characters in the eyes, as if walking on the streets of the Central Plains.

Bai's house is located in the middle of Chongrenfang, Guo Mu turned a street corner, and saw the grocery store opened by the Bai family on the street, in front of the window on the second floor of the grocery store, Guo Mu vaguely saw a beautiful figure, she seemed to see him, turned around and ran downstairs, Guo Mu's heart was hot, and he ran away to his most beloved beauty.

(In the first chapter, everyone is welcome to submit their opinions, and we ask everyone to express their support with a monthly pass)