Han Yan jumped off the horse and strode towards the gate of Weiyang Palace.

Li Shuyun, who had been waiting outside the door, hurriedly walked out, following Han Yan's steps. Han Yan glanced at him, and the corners of her mouth provoked a chuckle. "What's wrong? Something? ”

Li Shuyun accompanied the smiling face and said softly: "There is one thing that must be an adult." ”

"Really?" Han Yan was noncommittal, her steps did not stop, and she had no intention of stopping at all. Seeing that he was about to enter the palace gate, Li Shuyun was a foreigner, and he was not allowed to enter the palace gate without an edict, so he could only make a long story short. "I want to ask your lord to pass on a message to Your Majesty."

"Oh?" Han Yan stopped and looked at Li Shuyun. "Why didn't you just say it when you met Your Majesty?"

"When I first saw the holy face, I was so happy that I forgot about it. Now that I think about it, I am afraid that I will make a mistake, and I think about it, only adults have such righteousness, and they only have the cheekiness to ask adults. ”

Han Yan tapped her palms with a golden horse whip. "Say it."

"The Dawan horse brought back this time is actually not the best Dawan horse."

Han Yan's eyes flashed, and she said with a smile: "You are so bold, there are better horses that you don't bring back, but you use inferior ones to fool Your Majesty?" ”

Li Shuyun smiled even more humbly. "My lord laughed, how dare I. The best Dawan horse is worth a thousand gold, and Dawan people regard it as a treasure and refuse to take it lightly. Moreover, in addition to the Wusun and Huns along the way, there were also many rogues and thieves. We were afraid of robbery, so we didn't dare to transfer it. Only when our Han army expells the Xiongnu in the future and the Western Regions are peaceful, will we have the opportunity to transport the best Dawan horses to Chang'an. At that time, please encourage you. ”

"That's just as well." Han Yan glanced at Li Shuyun meaningfully. "I also admire your hard work. Other favors can't help, this little favor. I can still help. You can rest assured. I will tell Your Majesty. ”

Li Shuyun shook it to the end. "Your Excellency, hard work."

"Well said." Han Yan walked into the palace gate. Brisk walking.

Li Shuyun breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and shook his head with a wry smile. An acquaintance Lang official walked over, looked at Han Yan inside the palace gate, and patted Li Shuyun on the shoulder.

"See, merit is better to be petted. If military merit is so easy to earn, General Li will still not be able to be crowned a marquis? ”

Li Shuyun sighed to himself.

――

Han Yan walked quickly into the Qingliang Palace, and the Son of Heaven was sitting on the desk to peruse the recital brought back by Liang Xiaotuo Li Shuyun. Han Yan came over. The probe took a look. The Son of Heaven beckoned. "Wang Sun, come and see, it turns out that there are such heroes among this Xiyi, it's really desirable."

Han Yan sat next to the Son of Heaven and sat side by side with the Son of Heaven. He glanced at it, a little surprised. "Really? This Xiyi, named Alexander, is really a hero. He probably rode the best horse in Dawan, otherwise how could he have gone so far. ”

"Haha, nonsense, Liang Xiao clearly said that he is some kind of Macedonian. Dawan is the end of his 10,000-mile journey, how can he ride a Dawan horse. ”

"Then Macedonia also has a horse character. Could it be that like Dawan, he is famous for raising horses? ”

"It's not clear." The Son of Heaven pondered for a moment, his eyes smiling. "However, my Han has this Dawan horse, improve the horse breed, and in the face of the Hun horse in the future, we will not be left behind."

"Your Majesty is wise. However, this Dawan is too far away, and there are Huns and Wusun people in the middle, so it is not easy to get their good horses. ”

"What's not easy, don't we have it now?"

"Yes, yes, but not the best." Han Yan grinned and said, "Li Shuyun just told me that the horse they brought this time is not the best Dawan horse. ”

The face of the Son of Heaven immediately sank. Han Yan's face did not change, she explained Li Shuyun's reason, and finally said: "This Liang Xiao has always been rude and rude, but this matter is thoughtful. It's just a pity that for the sake of these good horses, he has to sacrifice his life in Dawan. ”

When the Son of Heaven heard this, his face turned pale, revealing a little regret.

"When you think about it, this Hun is really hateful." Han Yan slapped her thigh and scolded the Huns a few words. "The minister now thinks that they cut off the Western Regions because they don't want us to get good horses so that we can have an advantage in horses. The purpose of driving out the Yueshi people in the first place, and now intercepting our envoys, is the same purpose. Zhang Qian was caught by them, and Liang Xiao broke through, but it's really hard to say how long he can live. ”

The Son of Heaven nodded again and again. "Then you say, should you send someone to support Liang Xiao?"

"Naturally. Liang Xiao arrived at Dawan so easily, how could he let the Huns drive him away. ”

"But what if his tail doesn't fall off?"

"Haha, it's not that easy." Han Yan laughed out loud. "Your Majesty, if Liang Xiao can control Dawan so easily and divide the river, then there are tens of thousands of Lang officials in this Chang'an City, wouldn't it be rampant in the world, and what are the Huns worried about? He is neither a famous nobleman nor a general, and the honor and disgrace are all up to His Majesty. The three-foot edict is to, or for the princes and ministers, or for the puppet scoundrels, all by His Majesty's heart, why be afraid? ”

The Son of Heaven laughed. "Wang Sun, you still have the courage to see it thoroughly. In your opinion, who can go west? ”

"The Western Regions are thousands of miles, so naturally you have to pick some capable ones. Li Danghu is the son of General Li, with both ability and political integrity, and he is deeply respected by Liang Xiao, I think he is a good candidate. With him, Liang Xiao will not dare to act recklessly. ”

"Reasonable." The Son of Heaven nodded again and again.

――

Liang Xiao traveled east along a large river at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. The river has no name, it's called a river. Liang Xiao traveled to Xinjiang in his previous life, and it is estimated that it is the Tarim River in later generations.

The reason why I say this is an estimate is that the river is wider and larger than the Tarim River he has seen, and there are more green states along the river, and the river in the desert often changes lanes, and no one can say for sure. In fact, this is true not only of the Tarim River, but also of many places he has walked. Many of the deserts of later generations may still be grasslands now, and there are more lakes in the grasslands than in later generations.

The most famous is of course Lop Nur, because the ancient kingdom of Loulan is now alive and well, shining on the Silk Road.

Along the big river, all the way through Gumo, Qiuzi, to Yuli. In the country of Yuli, Liang Xiao left the river and turned north. There he was ready to bypass the Tien Shan Mountains and rush to the mountain pass.

Yuli is a small country in the green state, the place is not big, but the water and soil are good. They graze cattle and sheep like other small countries, and also have a part of agriculture, but they are more extensive and belong to the stage of looking at the sky and harvesting. Even so, they were a little richer than the smaller countries that only had animal husbandry, and even had a capital, just north of the oasis, with the same name as the country, also called Yuli.

Liang Xiao and his entourage of more than 400 people couldn't keep a low profile if they wanted to, so he simply showed the Han Festival and appeared in front of everyone as a messenger of the Han Dynasty. At every step, I try to receive with the local small government as much as possible, learn some information, and record it. Along the way, he saw the geography of mountains and rivers, and recorded them one by one, such as Yuli, an oasis suitable for farming, of course, more in his attention.

When King Yuli learned that an envoy from the Han Dynasty was coming, he did not dare to be negligent and sent an important minister An Shihou to greet him. Probably out of safety considerations, King Yuli did not dare to invite Liang Xiao into the city, so he set up a banquet outside the city to entertain Liang Xiao, not only supplementing supplies for Liang Xiao and others, but also replacing horses for them. Liang Xiao thanked them one by one, and had a happy gathering with An Shihou outside the city, and dispersed happily.

Leaving Yuli, Liang Xiao turned to the northwest.

At the end of July and the beginning of August, it was the hottest time, Liang Xiao was worried about heat stroke, so he avoided the hottest time at noon as much as possible, and hurried away while the morning and evening were cool. As soon as the sun heats up, he finds a shady place to rest, and chats with the travelers he meets to broaden his horizons.

On this day, during the lunch break, Liang Xiao met a person he couldn't have imagined: Wudan.

Udan and Iul traveled together and rushed to Akiti Castle. At noon, the weather was hot, and they were taking a dip in the shade of the trees on the side of the road, and they saw Liang Xiao and his party from a distance. Iul's face changed in fright, and he wanted to run when he got up, but was stopped by Udan.

"Don't run." Wudan said: "If you run, you will attract their attention. Let's take a risk and bet they don't know us. ”

Feeling justified, Iul lay down and leaned against a large tree, put a cloth over his face, and snored.

Wu Dan clasped his hands on his chest, closed his eyes to recuperate, and looked at Liang Xiao from the corner of his eye. He saw Liang Xiao at a glance, and couldn't help but look at it twice. It was these two glances that made Liang Xiao's Tuniu'er around him notice him.

Tuniu'er walked over and looked at Udan and Iur, saw the bows and arrows and swords and shields in their luggage, and looked at their appearances.

"Huns?"

Wudan nodded and smiled, but did not speak.

"Mercenary or horse thief?"

Wudan glanced at Iul, who understood and forced a smile: "Mercenary." ”

Tu Niu'er stared at Wudan. "Why don't you speak?"

"He's mute." Iul said. After Wudan was injured, his voice gradually became thinner and thinner, like a female voice, and he became less talkative. It is usually Iul who comes forward and falsely claims that he is mute. They live in isolation, rarely with others, but they don't show any flaws.

"Whose bow is it?" Tuniu looked at the bow in her luggage. This bow is one size larger and much thicker than a regular bow.

Wudan pointed to his nose, picked up the bow again, and pulled it a few times, making a very proud look. Tuniu'er looked at him, a little undecided. He felt that this man was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. At this moment, Liang Xiao walked over and happened to see Wudan pulling a bow.

"Not bad." Liang Xiao put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "Where are you?" What for? ”

"Huns, mercenaries." Tu Niu'er leaned over to Liang Xiao and whispered, "Ah Xiao, I think these two people are a little weird, as if they have seen them somewhere, but I can't remember them." You take a closer look and have no impressions. ”

Liang Xiao nodded quietly, carefully looking at Wudan and Yiur, but he was not impressed at all, but he became interested in Wudan's bow. According to his eyesight, this bow may be more than two stones, only weaker than the human bow in his hand, and the style is simple, not like the common Xiongnu bow, but somewhat like the Han bow. Such a bow is rare even among mercenaries with complex weapons origins.

"Where did you get this bow?" ――

(To be continued.) )