Chapter 1 Phoenix Fort

In the early spring of 286 AD, the sun was shining brightly and everything was glowing.

Caravans laden with goods have reappeared in the vast and empty land of the Western Regions, risking all kinds of risks and walking on the wilderness and oases all year round.

Some of them got their wish and achieved amazing wealth, while many more were reduced to white bones and loess, and they were forever buried in this tens of thousands of miles of Silk Road.

A convoy of hundreds of people slowly walked through the wilderness, and the dart masters roamed around the convoy on tall horses, very vigilant to their surroundings and ready to deal with any eventuality.

In addition to the harsh roads and environment, cruel horse bandits and cunning wolves are the caravan's biggest killers during the long journey.

Mr. Ning Zhenhu, who had a cold face, looked at the sunset and said, "Ah Wu, go and tell the shopkeepers in the back that you can set up camp!" ”

As the order to camp was handed down, the convoy walked nervously for a day, including more than 120 dart masters, and their minds could not help but relax, and they wanted to repair it properly.

Just as the accompanying shopkeepers were busy clearing the weeds around them and building a new camp, the dull sound of horses' hooves came from the other side of the high slope.

"There is a situation, brothers, hurry up and get on the horse!" Mr. Ning's face changed in shock, and he immediately turned on his horse, shouting in fear, urging the dart masters to get on the horse and deal with the next mutation.

At this time, the horse bandits, wielding all kinds of weapons, had already crossed the high slope, howling excitedly, and frantically slaughtering them.

"It's a brutal horse bandit, everyone run!" The guy from the shop panicked and shouted as he ran.

At this moment, with a whoosh, a sharp arrow slashed through the sky, and the guy fell in response, and there was no longer life.

"Disturb the morale of the army, kill!"

"All the dart masters, follow me to block the horse bandits first, and the rest of the people quickly form a circle around the convoy!"

With the order of Ning Zhenhu's head dart, everyone seemed to have a backbone, and they all had a sense of security out of thin air.

、、、、、、

"Report to Childe, in the wilderness five miles to the northeast, I found a group of more than 300 horse bandits frantically besieging a caravan, and the situation of the convoy is very bad!" A sturdy probe horse flew off the horse, knelt down on one knee and clenched his fists.

A thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy rode on a horse and said in surprise: "Damn brute, you dare to commit a crime within a hundred miles of our Phoenix Castle, the time has come to uphold justice!" Brothers, the Fortune Boy is here again, let's go at once! ”

The burly and powerful Wei Gongzi waved his big hand, slapped the horse's tail hard, and galloped over with a black war spear in his hand, and dozens of men in leather armor behind him immediately followed.

、、、、、、

"Chief dart, the dart masters have died heavily, and everyone is about to lose their hold, what should I do?" The dart master Ah Wu ran over with a solemn face in the face of the arrows.

After Mr. Ning, who was hiding on the side of the carriage, pulled his bow and shot down a horse bandit, he turned his head and shouted: "Let the guards around several big treasurers be sent over, no matter what, you can't let the horse bandits break through the car formation!" ”

"Chief dart, but 、、、、、、 we have an agreement with them in advance, those thirty or so guards are only responsible for the safety of a few big shopkeepers, and they are not responsible for other things!" Ah Wu explained with great difficulty.

Those thirty or so guards are the armed forces cultivated by several chambers of commerce themselves, and they are only responsible for the security of their own big treasurers.

"Dog days, when is it! Tell them that if the formation is broken, everyone will die the same, and let them choose 、、、、、、 by themselves," Mr. Ning scolded.

Before the chief dart head could finish speaking, Ah Wu pounced on the chief dart head in time, and an arrow just flew over Ah Wu's scalp.

After a while, Mr. Ning turned over and pushed Ah Wu away, urging in a hurry: "Don't go yet!" ”

、、、、、、

When the horse bandits were about to break through the car formation, the young son Wei Xing led the cavalry of Phoenix Fort to kill.

The leader of the horse bandits immediately divided a team of more than 100 horses to intercept them reflexively, and the pressure on the caravan was immediately greatly reduced.

Mr. Ning is very grateful for this sudden rescue!

Looking closely at the number of rescuers, the mood fell back into the ice valley.

Gongzi Wei Xing and the others were wearing eighteen layers of leather armor specially made by Phoenix Castle, wearing a fur hat that only showed their eyes, and their eyes showed excited flames, all of them were holding a three-shot crossbow in their right hand, pulling the reins tightly with their left hand, leaning over the horse's back, and rushing towards the horse bandits without fear, as excited as if they had seen gold and silver treasures.

The cavalry behind him were afraid that Gongzi Wei Xing would be hurt, so they all desperately whipped their horses, and rushed over in the face of the whizzing arrows!

When they were less than thirty meters away from the horse bandits, the cavalry of Phoenix Fort suddenly stood upright and decisively moved the trigger of the crossbow.

With a pop, a horse bandit was hit by an arrow in the chest, and the powerful impact made the horse bandit easily roll off the horse.

After a while, three crossbow arrows successfully killed the three horse bandits, Gongzi Wei Xing casually threw the crossbow into the bag behind his back, grabbed the black war spear casually, clamped his feet hard, and the war horse flew forward, easily picking up a horse bandit under the horse.

In less than a minute, more than a hundred horse bandits were beheaded by more than fifty cavalry from Phoenix Castle, leaving the other horse bandits who were besieging the convoy stunned!

I thought to myself, when did such a powerful cavalry force appear in the Western Regions?

"Chief dart, we're saved!" A nearby dart master shouted excitedly.

Mr. Ning has been walking the rivers and lakes for more than 30 years, and it is the first time he has seen such a fierce cavalry, and he is also shocked by the combat effectiveness of Phoenix Fort!

"Brothers, don't let the fat sheep run away, rush me!"

At this time, Gongzi Wei Xing was holding a war spear and pointed at the horse bandits outside the convoy with a menacing attitude.

"Yes, Childe!" The cavalry of Phoenix Fort responded in unison, immediately speeding up and killing the remaining horse bandits.

The leader of the horse bandits was also enraged by the arrogance of Phoenix Castle, and wanted to fight him to the death!

However, when he saw the frightened expressions of his subordinates, he scolded: "A bunch of waste! ! ”

As the sound of the leader's retreat fell, nearly two hundred horse bandits scrambled to escape.

However, in the eyes of Gongzi Wei Xing, these horse bandits are their own extremely cute fat sheep, and Phoenix Fort lacks everything now!

Bite tightly behind the horse bandits, and chase after them, wanting to bite off as much fat as possible!

A moment later, the people in the convoy who were still alive cheered heartily!

When it was about to get dark, Gongzi Wei Xing and the cavalry of Phoenix Fort came back happily, and the people of the convoy had already prepared sumptuous food to treat their benefactors!

By the way, the cavalry of Phoenix Fort also drove their booty - seventy or eighty war horses!

Gongzi Wei Xing jumped off the horse in a dashing manner, and said heartily: "Wei Xing, the lord of Phoenix Fort, has seen you!" ”

Ning Zhenhu's chief dart head and several big shopkeepers warmly greeted him, and after each made introductions, he took his benefactors to the fire, and the horse meat and wine were ready!

After everyone sat down in turn, Mr. Ning took the opportunity to ask: "Master Wei, do you know Tang Zhongyi Tang from the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in Haitou City?" ”

Haitou City is the seat of the Changshi Mansion of the Western Regions, and the Han people govern everything around, and the safety is guaranteed, and the trade of goods in the east and west is extremely prosperous!

As early as a few years ago, Tang Zhongyi led a group of people to take root in Haitou City, secretly collecting information from the Western Jin Dynasty court, and at the same time sending some necessary living materials to Phoenix Fort.

Gongzi Wei Xing put down the horse meat on his lips, raised his head with great interest, and said, "Mr. Ning, do you know my Uncle Tang?" ”

Mr. Ning smiled and said: "I have passed by Haitou City many times and dealt with the shopkeeper of Tang Da, he is very righteous and shrewd, and he is also a figure with a head and a face in Haitou City!" ”

"Let the chief dart head forgive me, Uncle Tang is my elder, and he is the big shopkeeper of Phoenix Fort stationed in Haitou City, responsible for selling some sundries, not as good as your vision, not in the hall of elegance!" Gongzi Wei Xing said modestly.

"Wei Gongzi, you are too modest, the raisins of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce are well-known in the entire Western Regions, they are rare delicacies, and all the chambers of commerce are greedy, but the number is too small, only about 5,000 catties per year, and the car is worth a cup! None of our smaller chambers of commerce are eligible for a share. Chen Da, the shopkeeper of the Xishui Chamber of Commerce, said regretfully.

Viticulture in ancient China was a foreign material civilization, and its native place was in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean coast and Central Asia.

About 5,600 years ago, grapes and wine production began in present-day Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, and later spread westward to Italy, France, and other Western European countries, and eastward to East Asia.

During the pre-Qin period, viticulture and winemaking began to spread in the Western Regions.

However, when it spread to the Western Regions, the nobles and princes of the Western Regions regarded it as a national treasure and did not allow ordinary people to plant and enjoy it.

Therefore, grapes are still an extremely precious delicacy in the Western Regions, which is extremely difficult for ordinary people to taste, let alone the princes and nobles in Chang'an and Luoyang!

A few years ago, Gongzi Wei Xing's subordinates secretly stole a batch of grape branches from the plantation of Xiaowan Kingdom and planted them in a secret valley, which slowly became the cash cow of Phoenix Castle, and the materials exchanged for raisins greatly alleviated the dilemma of Phoenix Castle!

After several years of accumulation, it was barely able to build a simple stone castle last fall.

Stealing grape branches from Xiao Wan's plantation and planting them secretly is one of the most proud works of Gongzi Wei Xing.

Since then, Gongzi Wei Xing has had some say among more than a dozen uncles, and he no longer treats him as a child.

"Don't worry, Phoenix Fort likes to make friends from all over the world very much, and there is still some stock in the fort!" Childe Wei Xingdao.

"Wei Gongzi, sell it to me!"

"Wei Gongzi, sell it to me!"

、、、、、、

The seven or eight shopkeepers immediately surrounded their son, Wei Xing, and shouted nonsense.

Gongzi Wei Xing immediately stopped the guards who wanted to pull away everyone with his eyes, stood up, stretched out his hands and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet, when you arrive at Phoenix Fort tomorrow, there will be someone to negotiate with you, don't worry!" ”

A few shopkeepers slowly retreated, and began to think about how to get more shares.

、、、、、、

In the dead of night, the guard outside the tent whispered: "Childe, the shopkeeper of the Jixiang Chamber of Commerce is here to visit you!" ”

"Let Shopkeeper Lu come in!" Childe Wei Xingdao.

Shopkeeper Lu opened the leather curtain and bent into the tent, and found that the son-in-law Wei Xing's clothes were intact, he was very surprised, and said: "The old man thought that Mr. Wei had already gone to bed and rested, so I disturbed the son!" ”

"If Xiaosheng really goes to bed, it will disappoint Shopkeeper Lu, wait, there should be someone to visit." Gongzi Wei Xing said mysteriously.

Shopkeeper Lu thought about it for a while, smiled bitterly, and felt that he had met a smart person, and he didn't seem to be able to take much advantage of this trip!

After a while, the guard said again: "Childe, Shopkeeper Chen of the Xishui Chamber of Commerce is here!" ”

"Hurry up, please!" Childe Wei Xing smiled.

As soon as Shopkeeper Chen entered the tent, he saw Shopkeeper Lu of the Jixiang Chamber of Commerce, and shouted in surprise: "Why are you here?" ”

"Why did Shopkeeper Chen come, and why did Lu come too!" The shopkeeper of the Jixiang Chamber of Commerce shot back with a headache.

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Chen also smiled bitterly, so he had to find a random place to sit quietly.

In less than a stick of incense, all the shopkeepers quietly touched it!

Seeing this situation, everyone smiled bitterly and sighed in their hearts, no one is a fool, they are all shrewd businessmen!

Even Mr. Ning, who had little to do with this matter, took the opportunity to walk in!