Time flies, in a blink of an eye to the early spring of the sixth year of Tianbao, this morning, the Bodaling Pass suddenly lively, a caravan composed of hundreds of camels came from the direction of broken leaves, the camel bell was melodious, seeing that finally out of Lingshan, the Hu merchants cheered together.

These Hu merchants were apparently Sogdians, who were known for their merchantism in Lingyou, and they led camels and dressed in much the same way, dressed in white tight-sleeved Hu robes, with pointed curly brimmed hats, a gold belt with ten thousand nails around their waists, and long leather boots on their feet.

In addition, there are more than 20 young and beautiful girls, they are orchids who go to Chang'an to sell wine, Chang'an's heavenly treasures and incomes are expensive, and they have been strongly attracting generations of Hu Niang to the east for a hundred years, so that a beautiful landscape has been formed in Chang'an.

'Falling flowers wander wherever they go, and laugh into the orchid restaurant. ’

But after a long journey, especially over the high altitude of Lingshan, these twenty or so girls were obviously a little haggard, but after entering the land of Datang, everyone's faces gradually became radiant, and their eyes were full of yearning for Chang'an.

This huge camel caravan was not unique to one person, but was formed by more than a hundred merchants, led by an old man of about sixty years old, named Salda, with bronzed skin and deep wrinkles on his face full of vicissitudes of life, although he was very old, he still walked as vigorously as a young man.

Behind him followed a young girl, the girl also wore a top hat, under the brim of the hat revealed the Zhaowu woman's unique five-braid hair, her appearance was beautiful, her skin was crystal white, a pair of blue eyes flashed like jewels with bright light, after Ling Mountain, she began to look left and right, seemed to be full of curiosity about everything around her, obviously she was also the first time to come to Datang,

However, this girl seems to be different from other Hu Niang, she is richly dressed and noble, and wears a short sword full of precious stones at her waist.

She suddenly frowned, and asked the old man who led the team: "Uncle Salda, is this the Tang Dynasty?" I don't think it's much different from our Shiguo! ”

The old man smiled, "Princess Julan, this is the border of the Tang Dynasty, of course, it is similar to ours, after crossing the Hexi Corridor and entering Longyou, you will find the difference, and when you arrive in Chang'an, I can guarantee that you will be amazed in disbelief." ”

"Uncle Salda, how far is Chang'an?"

"There's still 10,000 miles to go, and it's going to take at least three months to travel." Speaking of this, Uncle Salda suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly patted his head and smiled: "I forgot, I can't call you a princess, you changed your name to Shi Julan." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and a troop of horsemen appeared, and they galloped along the river towards this side.

"There are armies!" The caravan was suddenly in chaos, the Hu merchants took the knife from the leather bag, Shi Julan also bit his lip, his hand was tightly held on the handle of the knife, Salda looked at it for a long time, and suddenly smiled: "It's not the Tuqi Shiren, it's the Tang border army." ”

Maintaining the smooth flow of the Silk Road, is one of the responsibilities of the Tang Dynasty border army, for a hundred years, they and the Hu merchants met day and night, very few hurt people to seize goods, Salda relieved, from the leather bag to take out the stone country of the pass.

In a moment, more than 100 cavalry of the Tang Army galloped towards them, all of them were burly, wearing Mingguang armor, with a round shield on their backs, horizontal knives on their waists, and long lances in their hands.

An officer rushed out of the ranks and shouted, "Where are you Hu merchants, where are you going?" ”

The officer spoke fluent Turkic, much to Shi Julan's surprise, and she couldn't help but take a closer look at the young officer.

I saw that he was about twenty-three or four years old, tall and tall, with a broad and lofty forehead, a contoured face, and a pair of deep sunken eyes with a kind of sternness, calmness and gloom peculiar to men.

This Tang general is Li Qing'an, he stayed in the scout camp for more than half a year, patrolling the border security, accumulating merit and being promoted to the commander of the scout battalion, in charge of a hundred people, this year he not only has more exquisite archery skills, but also learned Turkic language, a year's time, Li Qing'an has become mature, his surname is more calm and tenacious, and gradually became a famous general in Anxi.

Salda is not surprised, the people of all ethnic groups in the border army are mixed, it is normal for the Hu people to speak Chinese, and the Han people to speak the Hu language, he hurriedly handed over the Guan Mu and said with a smile: "We are merchants from Shiguo, going to Chang'an to do business, may I ask the general's surname?" ”

Although the Tang Army will not hurt Hu Shang, it can't be offended, and if you flatter it, you may be able to earn a free escort team! The Sogdians, who were born with a merchant's mind, were always doing business whenever and wherever they wanted.

"My surname is Li, not a general."

Li Qing'an looked at Shi Guo's pass, and his tone was still tough, "The husband and the handsome man have an order, and the entry of Hu merchants must be reported first, don't you know?" ”

Salda smiled bitterly and said: "General Li, we just came from Shiguo, how can we know the order of Marshal Fumeng, please bear with me!" ”

He changed to proficient Chinese, showing that he was a businessman who often came to the Tang Dynasty, and Li Qing'an heard that he could speak Chinese, and his face softened slightly.

"The commander's military order is for your own good, since last summer and autumn, the Turgish people have been raiding and plundering the territory from time to time, and you merchants with heavy goods are their targets, especially since you also have so many young women with you."

Speaking of young women, Li Qing'an glanced at Shi Julan behind Salda, Shi Julan was swept by his sharp gaze, and her heart couldn't help jumping, as if this young officer had seen through her identity.

But Li Qing'an's gaze only flickered, he returned the pass to Salda, and still ordered with an expressionless face: "Open the box, we have to check it routinely." ”

Salda was stunned, what this routine check meant, he knew better than anyone else, a wry smile appeared on his face, it seemed that it was impossible to be free.

He hurriedly went back to inform the merchants, there was a slight twitch in the merchant team, everyone protested, but their protest was meaningless, Li Qing'an waved his hand, the soldiers stepped forward and stabbed the box on the camel with a long lance, the rope of a large box was pierced, the big box fell to the ground and scattered, hundreds of pieces of silver inside rolled out, the owner spread his limbs on the silverware, cursed with tears and snot, and more than 20 Hu Niang were scared and trembled, like a flock of lambs to be slaughtered.

Shi Julan was furious, she ran to Li Qing'an, clenched her fists and shouted, "Is there any difference between you and robbers doing this?" ”

Li Qingan glanced her up and down, squinted and smiled, "There is a difference, the robbers are taking your things, and we are just doing a routine inspection, the robbers will strip you naked, and I just appreciate your appearance." ”

Shi Julan's face was swollen red, and she gritted her teeth and scolded: "You are not a soldier, you are a scoundrel!" ”

Li Qingan's face sank, and he said coldly: "Girl, don't hinder Tang Jun from performing official duties, that will endanger your life." ”

Salda was so frightened that she stepped forward and pulled away Shi Julan, and apologized to Li Qing'an repeatedly: "General Li, my niece is going out for the first time and doesn't understand the rules, please bear with me." ”

Li Qingan snorted and ignored him, and at this time, a team member was galloping on a flying horse and clasped his fists and reported: "General, there are no prohibited items." ”

"Good! You can stop the inspection. ”

Li Qing'an glanced at Salda again and said: "The old rule, the brothers ask for wine money, five hundred wen per person, and if you want us to escort you, add two more yuan per person." ”

"This .....," Salda hesitated, "we're going to discuss." ”

Salda ran to discuss with the merchants, Shi Julan was still staring at Li Qing'an in annoyance, but Li Qing'an smiled gracefully at her, saluted her very politely, and stretched out his hand to her.

Shi Julan glared at him fiercely, turned her head to look at the sky, and ignored him again.

At this time, Salda ran back, he handed a money bag to Li Qing'an, and said apologetically: "Everyone unanimously decided that there is no need for your army to escort it, this is fifty taels of silver, and the city is worth more than sixty yuan, which is the wine money for the military masters." ”

"You're a shrewd man."

Li Qingan snatched the money bag and turned over on the horse, "Okay, you ask the sun god for blessing!" ”

He took a deep look at Shi Julan and sneered, "Girl, you will soon know, what is the difference between the robber and me?" ”

"Let's go!" As soon as Li Qing'an waved his hand, the cavalry of the Tang Army immediately rushed away like a gust of wind.

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