Liu Xin thought that Baguli was going to give him a beautiful woman, and was about to excuse himself, but he saw a bearded man walking over with a burden, the contrast was too great. Liu Xinhu glanced at Baguli suspiciously, took the burden, and started quite heavily. When Liu Xin opened the baggage, he couldn't help but exclaim: "Cut the cake!" ”

"Cake cutting? No, my lord, you are mistaken. This is sugar, which is our unique food here, called marline. Amu Fan glanced to the side and emphasized, "Children like to eat the most." ”

On the other side, the master and apprentice of Minchan and Lu Qiling were seriously enjoying the singing and dancing in the field with a very professional eye, and the child in Amufan's mouth naturally referred to Lu Qiling.

Amu Fan has lived for such a long time, he has long been old, and he did plan to send two women to Liu Xin, but when he saw Liu Xin with his family, he immediately changed his mind and turned to curry favor with Liu Xin's "daughter".

Liu Xin let out an "oh", and then took a closer look at the marline candy in the baggage, which was indeed different from the "notorious" cut cake in later generations. The cut cakes he had seen were all red, green, and green, but these markernels were pure amber in color, and the "content" was also very simple, that is, walnut kernels and syrup. I don't know if this marline candy is the primary form of cake cutting, or if cake cutting is supposed to be like this in the first place.

Since Amu Fan sent only one kind of food, Liu Xin was not polite to him, picked up a piece and tasted it, it was really fragrant and sweet, he couldn't help but nod and said, "Old patriarch, let me bother you, this maren candy is delicious, and the price must not be cheap, right?" ”

Amu Fan smiled bitterly and said, "Don't hide it from your lord, the cost of making such a pack of maren candy is worth one tael of silver." Not to mention the high cost of walnut kernels, even the syrup is boiled from grape juice. ”

One or two pieces of silver can be worth a thousand yuan, even if you can buy ten stones of grain in the war-torn areas in the north, but it is only worth this small bag of snacks, Jia Xu and Dian Wei at the same table were taken aback. However, Liu Xin, who heard the story of the sky-high price of cutting cakes in later generations, was not surprised at all, and said with a smile: "Since maren candy is so expensive, there must not be many people willing to eat it, so why make such a thing?" ”

Amu Fan sighed: "Maren candy is mainly sold to passing merchants, this thing is easy to preserve, and after eating, it is very hungry, and it is the most suitable for dry food." Now that there is no caravan, the prepared maren can't be sold. ”

For this point, Liu Xin understands that maren contains a lot of oil and sugar, which can provide a lot of calories, and is indeed a better food suitable for desert travel. Seeing the frustration on Amufan's face, Liu Xin smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, it will get better soon." ”

With Liu Xin's promise to restart the trade route, the villagers were visibly much more excited, and the lively gathering lasted until late at night. In the past, caravans often passed by here, and many villagers had guest rooms in their homes, so Liu Xin and his family followed the local customs and lived in the homes of hospitable villagers.

The largest house in the village naturally belonged to the patriarch Amufan's family, and Liu Xin and his family were arranged here. Although Amu Fan repeatedly patted his chest and promised that it was absolutely safe to live in the village, no matter which way the horse bandits would not attack and disturb the village. But Liu Xin did not take it lightly, there was a bright post and secret guard outside the courtyard, and the courtyard was handed over to the twelve female guards to take turns on duty.

The night was peaceful, probably because of the excitement of last night, when a glimmer of light gradually rose in the east, and many villagers were still asleep. Amu Fan is old after all, and his sleep is definitely not as good as that of young people. However, he also slept very soundly this night, and he hadn't felt like this for a long time.

When Amu Fan pushed open the door, he saw Liu Xin boxing in the courtyard, and couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why don't you sleep for a while?" ”

Liu Xin smiled and said, "How fresh the air is in the early morning, if the old patriarch is interested, can he accompany Liu to take a walk around the village?" ”

Amu Fan hurriedly agreed and walked out of the village with Liu Xin.

Not far from the village, I saw dozens of horsemen galloping over, and one of them rolled the saddle and dismounted, and said to Liu Xin: "Lord Qi, the gang of horse bandits who attacked tonight has been completely wiped out by the last general, and the last general has come to give orders!" ”

"Horse bandits?" Amu Fan asked in surprise, "Where did the horse bandits come from?" ”

Liu Xin laughed and said, "The old patriarch slept too heavily last night, and my sons and daughters have gone through a vicious battle." Wen Chang, lead the way, let the old patriarch see how your results are? ”

The general was Wei Yan, who did not attend the party last night, but led a large group of men and horses to lay an ambush around the village, and kept watch until midnight, and sure enough, a large group of horse bandits roared over. The two engaged, and in the blink of an eye, those horse bandits were killed, and Wei Yan could be said to have won a complete victory.

In fact, Amu Fan also faintly heard the sound of shouting and killing last night, but he was so tired that he thought he was dreaming, so he didn't pay attention to it at all. Looking at the piles of corpses and hundreds of captives in front of him, Amu Fan knew that he was not dreaming.

Although he saw that the horse bandits had been completely wiped out by the Han army, Amu Fan was not the slightest excited, but worried. The changes in the expression on his face were all seen by Liu Xin. Liu Xin asked, "Old patriarch, are you worried about retaliation from the horse bandits?" ”

Seeing that his thoughts were seen through by Liu Xin, Amu Fan lowered his head and said, "My lord, you can just leave, but more than 1,000 men, women, and children in our village can't run away, if the horse bandits make a comeback, this ......"

Liu Xin smiled and said: "Don't worry, from today onwards, you will be regarded as the subjects of the Han Dynasty, and Liu will not ignore you." Wen Chang, you choose 3,000 elite soldiers to stay, set up camp on the edge of the village, and be sure to protect the safety of the villagers. ”

In fact, even if there was no horse bandit attack last night, Liu Xin planned to set up a barracks near this small village. The geographical location here is very special, if there is no strong wind, the fastest distance from here to Yumen Pass is only one day, it can be said that it is the closest node to Liangzhou on the Silk Road, and it is very important to ensure the safety of the entire trade route by guarding this place.

Amu Fan was also very happy. If a Han army can be stationed in his village, it can bring a sense of security to the Han caravan, and the Han caravan will be more willing to pass through their village, use their village as an important foothold, take a rest, replenish food and water, so that the villagers have a lot to do, make money, and everyone's life will naturally be better day by day.

Liu Xin glanced at Amu Fan, who was slightly excited, but said: "However, Liu's soldiers are stationed here, I'm afraid they will also cause some trouble to the villagers, and I hope that the old patriarch will be able to make it more convenient when the time comes." ”

In addition to its geographical location, this small village has an even more important advantage: it is an oasis with a small crystal clear lake. There is nothing more important than water to survive in the desert, with water, the army can be stationed here for a long time, otherwise, for the current logistics capacity, the supply of water alone is a heavy burden.

Water is very important to the soldiers stationed here, and even more so to the villagers who have lived here for generations, so in order to avoid a scramble for water, Liu Xin and Amu Fan must say these words in advance.

Amu Fan said disapprerovingly: "Don't worry, my lord. More than thirty miles north from here, there is a large lake, but it is a little far away. ”

Liu Xin, who came from later generations, knew very well the importance of the people's will, and if his soldiers stationed here needed to constantly compete with the local people for water, it would inevitably trigger all kinds of contradictions, and when the contradictions reached a certain level, his soldiers would not be able to exist here. Therefore, listening to Amu Fan say that there is such a water source, Liu Xin couldn't help but be very interested, and said continuously: "Don't be afraid of the farther road, just prepare more camels and horses when the time comes." Old patriarch, when the soldiers' camps are set up, I would like you to send a few more guides to guide them, and the water for the soldiers will be brought from there. ”

Amu Fan didn't expect Liu Xin to think about it so thoroughly, and replied in a loud voice: "Don't worry, the adults should do what the small people should do." ”

On the way back to the village, Wei Yan walked up to Liu Xin and whispered, "Lord Qiqi, this group of horse bandits that appeared last night is well-trained and well-organized, not like ordinary bandits, but like a regular army. ”

Liu Xin couldn't help but think of the night when he camped in the wilderness, and the person that the guide Baguli recognized was a soldier from Shule State.

Hearing Liu Xin say the doubts in his heart, Jia Xu groaned: "There is this possibility." In the previous time, his subordinates traveled to the countries of the Western Regions under the order of the lord, and the king of Shule, Kergan, was one of those who opposed the rebuilding of the capital, and he had always been friendly with Dawan. And Dawan has always been at odds with our Han Dynasty, and was one of the first countries to break away from the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate. ”

Liu Xin sneered: "Liu's trip to the Western Regions is to value peace, but if you meet such an eyeless opponent, you don't mind taking him as your authority!" Wenhe, you draft an order for me to let Han Sheng lead the army out of the customs. And inform the caravans everywhere that they can go to the Western Regions to do business. ”

Jia Xu pointed to the hundreds of captives and said, "The subordinates interrogated those people overnight, and they all insisted that they were Black Whirlwind's subordinates. However, the subordinates suspect that what they say is untrue, and they don't know what the lord is going to do with them? ”

This was the third time Liu Xin had heard the name of the Black Whirlwind, and from the look of respect and awe on the look of the guide Baguli, Liu Xin could tell that this Black Whirlwind was definitely a difficult opponent. A terrifying bandit in the middle of the desert, his men would never be so.

However, regardless of whether these people are Black Whirlwind's subordinates or not, to ensure the safety of the Silk Road, Black Whirlwind must be eliminated. Liu Xin frowned, suddenly laughed, and said: "If it spreads out, it will be said that my Han soldiers have won the victory in clearing the Black Whirlwind, beheading more than 2,000 people, capturing more than 500 people alive, and the bandit leader Black Whirlwind was seriously injured, and it is estimated that he has died in the desert." ”