Ancient Loulan, a mysterious ancient country, where the people of the Loulan nation lived, the ancient city of Loulan was built in what year, when the formation of the Loulan Kingdom is not recorded at all in the existing historical materials.

According to the records of the "Historical Records" and other books, during the Western Han Dynasty, Loulan was one of the 36 city-states in the northwest region. It is adjacent to Dunhuang and has a close relationship with the Han Dynasty after BC.

The record of ancient Loulan is based on "Hanshu Western Regions Biography": "Shanshanguo, whose real name is Loulan, Wang ruled the mud city, went to Yangguan for 1,600 miles, and went to Chang'an for 6,100 miles. Households are one thousand five hundred and seventy, and mouths are forty-four thousand one thousand. ”

"Hanshu Western Regions Biography" records that in the late Western Han Dynasty, the court was in turmoil, and the Xiongnu took advantage of the situation to enter and colluded with local rulers, resulting in the cutting off of transportation in the Western Regions.

Book of the Later Han Dynasty. The Legend of the Western Regions says: "Galloping to the post, endless in time and month; Hu merchants and traders, the Japanese money is stuffed. "To Cao Wei, the Silk Road went out of the Yumen Pass to the Western Regions, and Loulan became the only way, so far Loulan began to prosper again.

The strange thing is that the famous Loulan Kingdom at that time suddenly disappeared after five or six hundred years of prosperity, but mysteriously disappeared from the fourth century onwards.

In the seventh century, Tang Xuanzang returned from Tianzhu's journey to the west and saw that Loulan was "a city with a clear outline and no people", and Loulan in Xuanzang's eyes became an empty city.

There are many theories about the mysterious disappearance of Loulan Kingdom, and the first theory is that Loulan disappeared from war. After the fifth century AD, the kingdom of Loulan began to weaken, the northern powers invaded, the city of Loulan was broken, and then abandoned.

It can be seen from Wang Changling's "From the Army": Huangsha wears gold armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will not be returned if it is not broken. According to records, the Tang Dynasty army marched north and eliminated many of the few famous clans that harassed the northwest frontier, so it can be seen that the Loulan Kingdom may be wiped out in this war.

Claim 2: Loulan decayed due to drought, water shortage, ecological deterioration, and the upstream river was cut off and diverted, and people had to leave Loulan. Loulan is located in a desert area and lacks water all year round. The arid geography is unsuitable for human habitation, and the only source of water is dry.

Coupled with the destruction of nature by humans, the climate has become more and more hostile and threatening under natural conditions. The people had to relocate, and in the end only the current ruins remained.

Claim 3: The disappearance of Loulan is related to the north-south migration of Lop Nur. Sven Hedin believes that the cycle of Lop Nur's north-south migration is about 1,500 years.

More than 3,000 years ago, there was a European tribe living in the Loulan area, and more than 1,500 years ago, Loulan entered the era of prosperity again, which is directly related to the migration of Lop Nur.

Lop Nur is located in the northeast of Ruoqiang County, was the second largest inland river in China, with the movement of Lop Nur, the Loulan people, who are seriously short of water, have to abandon the city and relocate.

Myth 4: The disappearance of Loulan is related to the opening of the northern Silk Road. After the opening of the North Silk Road through Hami (Yiwu) and Turpan, the Silk Road Desert Road through Loulan was abandoned, and Loulan also lost its former glory. With the opening of the northern Silk Road, the ancient Loulan City, which was originally necessary for the Silk Road, gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

Myth 5: Loulan was destroyed by the plague disease. A plague from other places took the lives of eight or nine out of ten residents of Loulan City, and those who survived fled Loulan one after another. It is recorded in the "Historical Records of Xia Benji" that a rat species brought a plague from outside, and Loulan of the feudal kingdom was infected with eight or nine diseases, and the fortunate ones were able to survive by avoiding it, and Loulan disappeared. Love you eBook

Claim 6: Loulan was defeated by biological invasion. A mole cricket insect introduced from the two river basins, which has no natural enemies in Loulan and lives in the soil, can live on the white plaster soil of the Loulan area, and enters the houses in groups, and people cannot eliminate them, so they have to abandon the city.

The Kumtag Desert we are about to enter is known as the Guardian of Loulan, a part of the Taklamakan Desert.

The ruins of the ancient city of Loulan, which were discovered earlier, are located in the eastern part of the Taklamakan Desert, on the northwest edge of Lop Nur, while the abandoned ruins of the ancient city that Professor Zhang is looking for are located in the Kumtag Desert. Although the two deserts are connected, there is still a long distance, could it be that after the destruction of Guloulan, the survivors migrated to the Kumutag Desert?

After the discussion of the four of us, we decided that it was necessary to make a trip, but we still had to make some thorough preparations to enter this desert. We set off two days later, Li Zhen and I were in charge of finding equipment, and Huzi was in charge of food, water, and some daily necessities.

Firearms self-defense weaponsWe brought two Desert Eagles provided by the Yamamotoki Group at that time, with a total of more than 40 bullets.

There are two Swiss army knives, which are multi-functional army knives, which are folding knives that contain many tools on one knife body, ballpoint pens, toothpicks, scissors, flat knives, can openers, screwdrivers, tweezers, etc.

When you want to use these tools, as long as you pull it out of the fold of the blade, you can use it, the German folding sapper shovel, can be folded twice, the handle is still like a triangle streamline, there are shovels, pickaxes, crowbars (stabs), saws, knives, many functions are easy to carry.

A homemade earthen detonator, this kind of earthen detonator, low security, but more powerful, and easy to get, a compass, of course, the black donkey hooves I carry with me.

Leftover ropes, clothing, sunscreen, medical alcohol, field tents, binoculars, sunglasses, and other equipment were found in this town. In the evening we went back to the hotel and everyone started to check the equipment. Basically, they were all about the same, but I bought four sets of high-necked camouflage outfits and four pairs of thick-soled labor cloth shoes in the town, which caused Huzi's dissatisfaction.

"Yang Xiuyuan, your brain is not sick, let's go to the hot desert, and you are wearing an elderly camouflage uniform. And the fabric is so thick, I won't say it, forget it, you still have such a high-soled labor cloth shoes. You want to kill us alive in the desert, you have to look at the temperature of your whole clothes, you won't buy shorts and T-shirts, or you don't want to buy them. Huzi chattered with wide eyes and a stunned head

The three of us didn't care about this uneducated fool, and continued to be busy with the things at hand, and the equipment was almost complete.

However, these equipment, plus a large number of water bottles, weighed more than 400 pounds of food. Everyone should carry at least more than 100 pounds of clothing, and it is impossible to walk in the desert like this.

We don't know the specific location of the site, the weight is more than 100 catties, and the sand under your feet is as soft as cotton, so it is not possible to go on like this. Reducing the amount of equipment you bring with you will not work to travel lightly.

Everything we carry with us is essential, and a car simply can't drive in the desert. But something had to be carried on such heavy equipment, and almost simultaneously several of us came up with the camel known as the "Ship of the Desert".

The camel is an animal that can be said to be born for the desert, and it has hair in its ears to block the entry of wind and sand. Camels have double eyelids and thick long eyelashes that prevent wind and sand from entering their eyes, and their noses close freely, while the soles of their feet are flat and have thick, soft pads of flesh under their feet, which allow them to walk freely on sand without getting stuck in the sand.

The fur is thick, and in winter the desert terrain is very cold, and the camel's fur is extremely beneficial for maintaining body temperature. In the summer, it can also fully maintain the loss of water in the body.