According to Yang Chong, Shan Xiongxin and Suo Yanshou went north along Jiuquan County, all the way to find the broken wall of the Great Wall, until the end of the Heihe River, where the water of the river flowed into the East and West Juyan Sea. The east and west Juyanhai are one hundred and fifty miles apart, just forming a delta with the Heihe River, with abundant water and grass, and wild alpacas. From the weak waters of the upper reaches of the Heihe River to the edge of the Juyan Sea and the desert, the army saw defensive walls and beacons that stretched for hundreds of miles, as well as a number of cities, towns, passes, and pavilions, which extended to the northeast to the outside of the Wuyuan Fortress.

Peng Liao wondered: "This place is only suitable for grazing, and it costs too much effort to grow food. ”

Shan Xiongxin smiled, ignored him, and took the selection of a castle on the east bank of the Heihe River that was still intact as the temporary official office, the castle was about one and a half acres of land, and there were two rectangular gatehouses on both sides of the six-meter-high gate gate in front of it, and the adobe gate wall was built outside the building. The beacon tower is on the southwest side of the gate, the rammed earth is built, there is a roundabout road in the fort, the courtyard, the living room, the stove room, the warehouse are tightly organized, and you can know that it was the barracks of the army at a glance.

When Shan Xiongxin set off, Yang Chong had already understood that the Juyan Duweifu was the highest military command organization in the Juyan region during the Western Han Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of the Taishou of Zhangye County, and there were three major marquis, namely the marquis of Yanbei on the northern line, the marquis of Jiaqu on the western line, and the marquis of Sanjing on the southern line. Yang Chong's purpose was not to restore the original line of defense, but to brush up on the sense of existence and establish Zhangye's crushing farm here.

Sure enough, within a few days, a team of Turkic cavalry passed by, looking at the camp of the Sui army was very surprised, and when they saw a group of Sui Turkic soldiers led by Suo Yanshou to meet them, the two sides immediately talked, and learned that Zhangye County intended to trade in Juyanhai, and the other party immediately agreed to go back with the letter. Ten days later, 2,000 cavalry Turkic troops arrived, led by Mohedu, the third brother of Shibi Khan, who was located in the north of Wuyuan County.

Shan Xiongxin lined up to greet him, and after introducing himself, he handed over an official letter from Yang Chong; Knowing that Zhangye County was preparing to set up the Governor's Mansion in Juyanhai to manage the farm, he was overjoyed and said in proficient Chinese: "Yang Junshou is my old friend, and sure enough, the hero sees the same thing, and the troublesome General Shan replied to Yang Junshou, I agree that you will set up the Governor's Mansion and trade on the first and fifteenth days of each month, and I will send troops to strengthen patrols in this area to prevent horse thieves from destroying our cooperation." ”

Shan Xiongxin secretly thought that Yang Chong and Ling Jing's ideas were really not bad at all, Du Bi was as eloquent as Shibi Khan, and he valued long-term strategies, and he was not short-sighted at all about the immediate interests. Du Bi drew up a list on the grass and handed it to Shan Xiongxin, and then went back with the team.

After receiving Shan Xiongxin's report, Yang Chong organized a group of merchants to follow Kou Jiuhui to Juyanhai to trade, and the chief of the Zhifu Department was sent by Dubi to deal with the chieftain of the Zhifu Department, and the two sides exchanged goods under the attention of the army, and they were all happy. Many Turkic and Sogdian merchants were very interested in the seven stone houses that Shan Xiongxin had rebuilt along the twenty-mile road in the abandoned beacon tower, and some of them were rented on the spot, and the merchants from Zhang Yelai lived in a row of earthen houses behind the palace of the governor of Juyan.

At the end of the first squeezing, Shan Xiongxin left Bailitao with 1,000 people to stay, so he withdrew the army, and changed his guard every six months; Suo Yanshou also led a thousand cavalry to camp next to the weak water a hundred miles south of the Governor's Mansion in Juyan to ensure that the road from Juyanhai to Jiuquan was unblocked, and recruited soldiers by the way. The scouts sent by Suo Yanshou went in all directions and found that the Turkic cavalry was also protecting the caravan from horse thieves.

The establishment of the Governor's Mansion and the Reclamation Farm so easily made Yang Chong feel a little happy, and he wandered around the mansion excitedly, Jiang Fei and the others had not moved over, only Zhang Guolao and Kou Jiuhui lived behind. Kou Jiuheng went to be busy with business, and Yang Chong could only watch Zhang Guolao take care of the flowers and medicinal herbs while chatting with Zhang Guolao; Zhang Guo is old and refined, and naturally knows that Yang Chong is now in the excitement of squeezing the Turks, and he does not say anything, and he copes with it without a word.

Yang Chong suddenly looked at a few pots of plants in a daze, and forgot to speak, the plant stems were erect, with rectangular round leaves, and at first glance it was not a plant from the Central Plains; Zhang Guolao said with a smile: "This is called Herbaceous Vegetables in the South, a medicinal herb produced by big food, and I heard that people in Lingnan have already planted it; However, the medicinal materials sent from the south are all green stems, I see the rarity of white stems, so I bought twenty seeds from Persian merchants, and in two years, only seven plants have grown, but you can rest assured, this year's fruit, more than 40 seeds have all been planted by me, and they will definitely bear fruit. ”

Yang Chong asked in a low voice, "Can you give me one?" ”

Zhang Guolao pointed to the most unsightly one and said, "This one is for you." ”

Yang Chong immediately picked up Zhang Guolao's shovel and dug out the roots of the plant, and the hammer-shaped purple fleshy tubers were mixed with white, growing a large number of fibrous roots; Yang Chong took out the dagger he brought with him at any time, cut off the root head and root whiskers, cut a small piece from the root, squeezed out a few drops of juice into the bowl, tasted it sweet, and cut another piece for Zhang Guolao to taste. Yang Chong thought about it, cut two small roots, and ate them with Zhang Guo, which was also sweet.

Yang Chong has been able to affirm that this is a sugar beet, perhaps because the artificial cultivation technology is not good, and there is still a difference in shape from the sugar beets of later generations, and the fleshy roots are much smaller. Yang Chong swallowed the beetroot and asked Zhang Guolao: "Is the southern kind of cabbage root big?" ”

Zhang Guo sighed: "The roots are smaller, only two-thirds the size of this one, and most of them have dried up when making medicine." ”

But no, Dasui doesn't have refrigerators, and it has been a few months or even a year since he arrived in the Central Plains, and it would be strange if there was still moisture. Yang Chong thought for a while and said: "Guo Lao, this matter is kept secret for the time being, except for you and me, it is Jiu Hui who knows, let Jiu Hui buy seeds and live plants from Persia, Great Qin, and Western Turks in the name of purchasing medicinal materials, even if the price is a little higher, it doesn't matter." I will ask the Yuan family and the Cui family to go to the south to find seeds and plants for the cabbage, and I will do it at the same time. ”

Zhang Guo Lao agreed, if an introduced plant can be eaten, it is not measured by money, Zhang Qian brought back walnuts, grapes, garlic and other plants from the Western Regions, and now they are widely planted in Hebei, Hexi and other places, I don't know how many people have benefited. If the cabbage can finally make it to the table, it is better than anything else.

Yang Chong wrote a letter to the Yuan raiders, asking Zhang Guolao to list five kinds of southern medicinal herbs, mixing the herbs in them, and asking the Yuan raiders to arrange for people to go to the south to purchase; Yang Chong is still a little selfish, and he can't divulge secrets unless he has to. The people of the Yuan raid can find must be the old cripple and the people of the Yuan family, once they are purchased, they will definitely be known, and it is too obvious to list a single medicinal material, and it is a confusing effect to write five.

(End of chapter)