The eastern section of the Tianshan Mountains, also known as Bogda Mountain, is covered with ice and snow and ice, which also nourishes the land on the north and south sides of the mountain range, forming a series of large and small oases, with many villages and fields. The southern and middle roads of the Silk Road are sandwiched between the Bogda Mountains.

The starting point of the two roads is Yiwu, the capital of Yihe, in the territory of Hami City, Xinjiang, in the later generations, and then the north road passes through the rear capital of the Cheshi Tugu to the west, and the middle road points to the front of the Cheshi capital city Jiaohe. Cheshi, also known as Gushi, was founded at about the time when the Warring States of the Central Plains were fighting for power, and at the same time controlled the north and south of the Bogda Mountains, and soon developed into a first-class power in the eastern part of the Western Regions. When Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han army had fought fiercely with the Huns in this place for a long time, known as the "Five Battles for the Car Division", and finally the Han army won, and the car division was divided into two parts, that is, the north and south.

When Wang Mang was arrested, the Xiongnu regained their prosperity and came to compete for the Che Division, and the front and rear kings were all killed, and the Che Division was from the Huns. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty established a military force in the twenty-first year, and sent his sons to the front and rear of the army together with Shanshan and other eighteen countries, requesting the rebuilding of the Western Regions and expelling the Xiongnu forces, but was politely rejected by Emperor Guangwu. The recovery division of the Later Han Dynasty was during the Yongping period of the Ming Emperor, and then won and lost with the Xiongnu, until the time of Emperor Huan, and finally expelled the Northern Xiongnu from the Western Regions - but the Later Han Dynasty immediately ushered in its twilight end.

The Western Regions, which lost the control and restraint of the Xiongnu and the Qiang Han, began a large-scale annexation war, and the rear of the chariot division also took advantage of the time, and soon subdued the surrounding countries, including the front, and dominated one side - until the Liang Duke Lü Bu personally led a large army into the Western Regions.

Regarding Lu Bu's order to rebuild the capital of the Western Regions, the queen of the Cheshi had already heard the rumors, but he was not afraid of it. In his opinion. Liang Gong will ask him for Gaochangbi, the city of Wuji Lieutenant. Perhaps they will also claim Yiwu from Yihe Duwei City and Wubu Houcheng Jinman. Those forts left over from the Han Dynasty have long been dilapidated, and even if Chinese troops enter, it is impossible to send too many soldiers and horses. According to the practice of the Han Dynasty, there were only a few thousand people at most, and they cultivated and fed themselves, and they were not as unrestrained as the Huns. Therefore, the Liang army can come if he wants, and it will not shake his own rule, nor will it damage the economy of the charioteer.

The point is. As long as there is a Liang army stationed, it is equivalent to thousands of more defenders coming out of thin air, and the big country Yanqi in the southwest will not dare to step into the territory of the Cheshi for half a step. And if he has a good relationship with the stationed generals, he may be able to ask for the assistance of the Liang army to conquer Yanqi and expand his territory.

Therefore, the queen of Cheshi sent envoys to Liangzhou many times to express his support for Lü Bu's desire to rebuild the capital of the Western Regions, and offered various tributes, including peach wine. However, he didn't expect that Jiang Gan had offered Lu Bu the strategy of "being the king of a foreign land", and Lu Bu used the excuse that the peach wine he paid was not good. He made himself sick after drinking—maybe he was poisoned—and he personally led his army straight along the northern road, and in an instant he was forced to the foot of the city of Wutu Valley.

In fact, the attitude of this chariot master and queen towards the Central Plains Dynasty. and the attitude towards Lu Bu, always deferential, and not rude, but as the saying goes, "the husband is not guilty, but he is guilty", who told you to be the closest to Liangzhou? The first thing Lu Fengxian wants to step on is you.

The Western Regions are vast and sparsely populated, and even in today's Cheshi Country, the number of households is less than 100,000, and there are more than 10,000 victories. There were no less than 7,000 Xiliang knights under the command of Lu Bu, and the battle under the city, the chariot division army was defeated, and the queen abandoned the city in embarrassment, bypassed Shanxi, and fled to the front. But who would have thought that Lu Bu would send Hou Cheng from the middle to take the lead in capturing Jiaohe City, and the queen was cornered, so he had to surrender by himself.

According to Lu Bu's temper, he planned to behead all the captured nobles, as long as they dared to resist the Liang army, and there was no hope of the wind to surrender. It was Jiang Gan who persuaded him: "When the king first arrived in the Western Regions, the people's hearts were not attached, if he killed his nobles immediately, the people would be terrified. Although it is easy to be peaceful, I am afraid that the Silk Road will be cut off - let it go? ”

Therefore, in the end, according to the popular rules in the Western Regions, all the nobles at all levels, including the queen king, were required to take out their wealth and goods to redeem themselves, and swore allegiance, and the Duke of Liang allowed them to temporarily return to their residence. Immediately, Lü Bu repaired and expanded Gaochang Wall, renamed Gaochang City, as his first capital after entering the Western Regions.

Lu Bu prepared for a long time before he made a thunderous blow. Moreover, he pretended to go out of the Jade Gate, but in fact he was guided by the Sogdian caravan, and crossed the desert to the north west of Mingze, and pointed directly at Yiwu, the city of Yihe. In the territory of Yuanquan County in the east of Dunhuang County, it is formed by the confluence of the dark water flowing down from the Qilian Mountain in the south, and the later generations have been annihilated without a trace, leaving the dark water to the west - it is the Shule River.

Heading north through the west bank of Hades to the eastern foothills of Bogda Mountain, a road secretly carved out by Sogdian caravans in order to evade the Yumen checkpoint and facilitate tax evasion. However, after Lu Bu settled in Jiuquan and Dunhuang counties, he soon discovered the tricks of the merchants, so he used him as a guide to highlight his surprise, and in less than a month and a half, he destroyed the huge Cheshi country. He then let the Sogdian merchants go west, telling them along the way to preach that the Liang people had joined the chariot division, to eliminate thieves, to protect the trade routes, and to reduce the trade taxes, so that the merchants of the West would not have to worry about being afraid, and could come to trade with confidence.

The Sogdian merchants were gone, but a large group of Chinese merchants followed Lu Bu's ass to the Cheshi. The largest of these was the caravan of the family, and it was Xun who lured Lü Bu with the benefits of the Silk Road, so he naturally wanted to take the lead in attracting more Chinese merchants to the west. The second largest was the caravan of the Xiahou family, which was personally formed in Chang'an by the emperor's son-in-law, Xiahou Nan, and sent his powerful subordinates to lead it. But for now, the destination of the Chinese caravan is only to Gaochang, where the goods are unloaded, and the special products of the charioteers are exchanged for the special products of the charioteers and they will return—further west, so far away, so terrible, we will not go there.

Therefore, under the rule of Lu Bu, the prosperity of the chariot division is better than in the past, and the construction of Gaochang City was quickly completed, and its majesty and majesty are the most in the Western Regions - of course, if it is placed in the Central Plains, it will be a slightly larger county town.

In March of the fourth year of Cao Wei Yankang, that is, when Wen Ping, Huang Zhong, Lu Yi and others regained Guangzhou and advanced into Jiaozhou, another Chinese caravan arrived at the newly built Gaochang City along the road to the west bank of Hades. The defenders stopped the city and inspected the people and goods, and calculated the duties—a hundred and thirty-two men, including the porters, and one of them was very strange, plain clothes, bast shoes, and all his hair and beard were shaved.

At this time, most of the countries in the Western Regions believed in Buddhism, so the soldiers of the Liang Kingdom recognized the monks - but they had seen a lot of Hu monks, and the Han monks still saw it for the first time, and they couldn't help but go around and ask. The monk clasped his palms together and introduced himself: "I am the monk Xuandi of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, and I am the one who wants to go to Tianzhu through the Western Regions to seek the interpretation of the true scriptures on the order of Prince Wei. ”

When the soldiers heard this, they discussed: "I heard that the prince was a Buddha, and sure enough." Then he asked the monk: "Thousands of miles away, difficult and unpredictable, are you not afraid of burying bones in the desert?" Monk Xuan Di said in a firm tone: "But if you sacrifice yourself for the great virtue, my wish is also, why be afraid?" ”

The Liang soldiers discussed: "We will stop being ordered to check the merchants, regardless of the monks and nuns. However, the governor has an order, but when people come from China, they will be introduced into the prime minister's mansion, and the prime minister will talk to him. So he asked the caravan captain and the monk Xuan Di to straighten out their clothes and go to the prime minister's mansion to report for duty.

The so-called "Minister of State" refers to Jiang Gan and Jiang Ziyi - but he is only a pretence to be the Minister of Liang, and the Liang Minister of State really recognized by the Wei Dynasty is Yang Fu and Yang Yishan, who is nominally Lu Bu but is actually Cao Cao guarding half of Liangzhou and Lingju City. Lu Bu originally only appointed Jiang Gan as a staff officer, and when he took the chariot division and established the city of Gaochang, as soon as he was happy, he said: "Ziyi can be a lonely minister." In the previous life, there was a difference between a general and a general, and Chen Chengxiang (Chen Ping) used to do it, and now he is taking Yishan as the prime minister and Ziyi as the sub-phase. "Anyway, his Liangzhou officials are different from the Wei Dynasty, and they mostly follow the Han system, and they also add a lot of new names as they like, so it is decided that Jiang Gan is a sub-prime minister.

However, the "Great Minister" is not in the Western Regions, and Jiang Gan is very favored by Lu Bu, so everyone simply calls him the "Minister of State" - bring out the word "Ya" more, in case Jiang Gan is unhappy, how can I wear small shoes?

Jiang Gan built the "Xiangfu" in Gaochang City—and deliberately omitted the word "Ya"—and he took care of it, but all those who came from the original were to be brought to the Xiangfu first and handed over to him for interrogation, with the purpose of collecting and mastering information about the East. So the caravan captain and the monk Xuan Di were brought into the Prime Minister's Mansion, and they waited for a long time, until Jiang Ziyi and Liang Gong Lu Bu returned from the discussion, and the little official reported to him, what did Jiang Gan hear? There was a monk who learned from the scriptures and called us here? This thing is new, hey-" The first order is to see it. ”

When Xuan Di entered the main hall, he did not bow down, but only saluted. Jiang Gan asked, "The mage is here from Luoyang?" Xuan Di nodded yes. Jiang Gan asked again: "It is rumored that he was ordered by the prince to go west, but is there any evidence?" Xuan Su said that there was a handwritten letter from the prince, which could be presented to the country. Jiang Gan said no need, I don't know Prince Wei's handwriting, and I have never even seen Prince Wei's seal, whether it's true or false, I can't tell if it's true.

Xuan Di smiled faintly: "The prime minister of the country is undoubtedly a faker?" ”

Jiang Ziyi didn't answer his words, and asked again: "Where is your hometown, mage?" "Xuan Di said that I am from Nanyang. Jiang Gan nodded: "There is indeed a Nanyang accent, but it is not complete." "Xuan Di said that when he was a teenager, he encountered a great chaos in the world, so he traveled to the countryside and traveled a lot of places, so his accent became southern and northern - in fact, I think my Luoyang dialect is quite standard.

Jiang Gan looked Xuan Di up and down for a while, then pondered for a long time, and then asked: "Since the mage is supreme and high-end, do you want to face my master?" "Xuan Di said that since he came, of course he hoped to meet Liang Gong, and also hoped that Liang Gong could provide funding and convenience for my westward journey. Jiang Gan snorted slightly: "Prince, my lord's son-in-law, even if the mage comes west, can there be a letter to my lord?" ”

When Xuan Di heard this, he was slightly stunned, and then he also laughed: "I was negligent for a while, and I didn't prepare." ”

Jiang Gan took a few shots, laughed "haha", and called the followers: "Jizhou is a wise strategist, and there is no seat?" Then he raised his hand: "Brother Xiao, please sit down and talk." (To be continued......)