(Thanks to Dameng, Little Fat, Broken Vicissitudes, Little Snow Princess)

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In the third year of Jianzhao (36 years ago), in February, spring arrived on the Silk Road. Along with the arrival of spring, there is also the edict of the Emperor of Heaven of the Han Dynasty transmitted from the capital of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty in Wulei City to the two cities and kingdoms of the north and south of the Western Regions.

The edict said: "The slave chieftain Zhizhi is good at killing Han envoys, escaping from the border, and cutting off my domain." It also invaded the countries of Lingling, leaned on the road and jumped off the beam, treating China as if it were nothing...... Today, the son descends to power, the domain moves thunder, the officials of the Tuntian are sent to the fields, and the countries are fighting, although they must be begged for thousands of miles......"

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and this edict suddenly caused an uproar in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.

From kings to subjects, from the court to the dome, from the chariot to the horseback, from the wooden tablets to the word of mouth...... are all running to tell each other about this shocking and shocking news.

The Han Dynasty is going to use a knife against the Xiongnu who are thousands of miles away!

In March, the officials of Jiaohebi Tuntian entrusted the spring ploughing to their families, organized their troops and marched westward.

In the same month, the cities and kingdoms of the Green Ridge River valley successively sent their own herdsmen, either led by the king himself or led by the generals, to converge in the center from all directions.

The arrows of all the marches point to the same place - Wulei City.

All the countries moved together, and the Western Regions Protectorate, which was in the eye of the storm, was naturally not idle. The hissing sound on the training ground became hot again, and even Han Jun, Han Chong, Qingyan and others jumped up.

On the stage, the superintendent sitting in the middle has become Deputy Captain Chen Tang, and the unusually active and sturdy figure before is gone.

What about the protection of the Western Regions and the longevity of the riders? The answer is: sick.

So a man who is alive and well, he is sick when he says he is sick? In fact, all those who learned about Du's illness not only believed it, but also expressed deep concern.

The Duhu Mansion announced to the outside world that after Ganduhu returned from training one day, he suffered from a cold and fell ill suddenly.

The entire Western Regions, regardless of Han and Hu, are mostly scholars who can ride horses and bend bows, and have a deep understanding of this situation. In the Han realm of the Central Plains, it has a name that makes people talk about the color change - the armor removal wind.

The so-called "nail removal wind" is a symptom of sudden onset of illness due to the thick armor and thick clothes covering the body, and when the action is over, the cold wind hits the body, causing the body to adjust the temperature of the body out of balance, and the symptoms of sudden onset. Because there are many soldiers who fight in battle, it is called the unarmor wind. This disease is extremely dangerous, and the slightest carelessness will kill people in a very short time, and it is a major "occupational disease" of ancient soldiers.

Later generations of famous generals often meet spring, and it is said that it is because of this that he died young.

Because of the sudden news that Gandu was protected by the cold and lying sick, he was all disturbed. Fortunately, Gan Duhu also has a good assistant, Deputy Captain Chen Tang, who takes on the responsibility of the integration of the whole training.

Zhang Fang, as the most energetic person in the entire Metropolitan Protectorate, in addition to the basic training of routine riding and archery and riding and chopping every morning, he also conducted visits and investigations in the afternoon.

Zhang Fang has always wanted to understand one thing, why there are so many Han soldiers who resolutely embarked on the long journey to the west with Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou. In addition to the so-called "imperial order", there should be something practical to motivate them. His investigation began with the "gathering".

The army of the Han Dynasty mainly has two categories, one is the Beijing division soldiers (southern and northern armies), and the other is the county soldiers (including the border soldiers, the subordinate state soldiers, and the tuntian soldiers). Among them, the Tuntian soldiers are a special category, which is most obviously reflected in the fact that soldiers can bring their families.

As we all know, the military has always had only military personnel, and dependents are not allowed. Don't say that soldiers, even if they are generals, do not have the right to carry their families. However, the Tuntian soldiers were an exception, as they were not "changshu" (short-term military service) and were different from ordinary "regular pawns" (long-term military service). They are busy farming, practicing in their spare time, closer to the militia, but more formal than the militia. They are like the agricultural army of later generations, and throughout their lives, they will take root, blossom, and scatter their leaves outside the fortress...... So, they are not individuals, but families.

Therefore, when he was besieged in Fengsui, Zhang Fang asked Alimu how many troops there were in Jiaohebi, and Alimu replied not how many people there were, but "three hundred households".

Whether it is the capital protection mansion or the river wall, there are military camps, and there are soldiers in the camps, and all the management is no different from the rest of the county barracks. It's just that dozens of miles away from the barracks, there is a gathering area for military dependents, forming a settlement, which is the "gathering of dependents."

To put it bluntly, this is an enlarged version of the "military compound". It's just that the military family compounds of later generations are all the families of officers, and the family gatherings are not divided into officials, everyone is military families.

Zhang Fang does not have the right to enter the barracks for research for the time being, but he can come and go freely to gather with his family, and there are some things that may be better understood from the family members of the officials.

Most of the officials in Tuntian came from the three rivers (Hedong, Hexi, and Hanoi), and many of them came from Beidi County. Qingyan often goes in and out of family gatherings, and knows all the women, children, and old women there, and also recognizes distant relatives with a family surnamed Qiu from the eighteen turns of Gyro Mountain.

Zhang Fang's preliminary investigation began with this family.

From the outside, the gathering is more like a walled city, there is a high soil increase, there is a solid red fir village gate, there are watchtowers at the four corners, there are beacons on the side of the tower, and there are special people in the tower to watch. It seems that the protectors of the Western Regions in the past generations have understood a truth - if you want to make your subordinates feel at ease, you must ensure the safety of your dependents.

Zhang Fang entered the gathering under the guidance of the military officer Qiu Tang. Qiu Tang is the person Zhang Fang wants to visit this time. Knowing that the nobles were visiting, Qiu Tang took a special leave and led him.

In front of the high red fir gate, Qiu Tang slammed the door, and soon a head poked out from the battlement wall: "Uncle Qiu, are you back...... Hey, who are these? ”

"Nobleman. Ding Ji, don't ask too much, open the door quickly. By the way, did my second son patrol today? ”

The young man on the wall looked curiously at Zhang Fang and his party wearing a thick cloak, and nodded: "Qiu Zhong is watching in the west corner......

"Call someone for him, and let him go home to greet the guests."

"Uh...... Good. The boy looked hard a few more times before retracting it. Immediately, the red fir gate creaked and opened to both sides.

"Most of the people in the family gathering are women, children, the old and weak, and there are still a few young people who are not educated, so they are asked to serve as patrols to protect their homes." Qiu Tang explained while solemnly pleading.

Zhang Fang nodded, he had just figured out the concept of "Bo book" in the past few days. The so-called Bo nationality is the registration of conscription, and the Han Dynasty is subject to the age of seventeen. In other words, when you reach the age of seventeen, you need to take on all kinds of conscription, which naturally includes military service. Before that, these young people who are not old enough can take on basic functions such as lookout, patrol, and warning. This is not only to defend the homeland, but also a kind of training, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Deng Zhan asked as he rode forward: "How old is the Qiu Official's neutron?" ”

"Sixteen years old, seventeen years old, after the spring, I will be registered." Qiu Tang took a deep breath, "Don't hide it from Brother Deng, my request for the Western Expedition this time is half so that this kid doesn't have to fight more in the future!" ”