During the Zhenguan period, the Tang Dynasty army attacked Qiuci, captured its king and minister, and moved the capital of Anxi to protect Qiuci. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 During the reign of Emperor Gaozong and Li Zhi, the Tang Dynasty moved the Anxi Protectorate to the capital of Qiuci, which consisted of four towns: Qiuci, Khotan, Yanqi and Shule, and Qiuci began to become the center of the Tang Dynasty's rule over the Western Regions.

Later, because of the confrontation with Tubo, there were victories and defeats, Qiuzi sometimes belonged to the Tang Dynasty and was sometimes occupied by Tubo, until the Wu Zetian period, the Anxi Protectorate was stabilized, and Qiuci also became the center of the four towns of Anxi, until now, the four towns of Anxi have become Qiuci, Shule, Yutian and Broken Leaves, and the Broken Leaf City located in Kyrgyzstan in later generations became the forward base of Gao Xianzhi's attack on Talas City.

Therefore, Li You also had to follow the path that Gao Xianzhi had just walked, along the foot of the Tianshan Mountains all the way to the west, across the tributaries of the Qiuzi River, to the east bank of the Pai River, and then along the Pai River to the north, over the undulating mountains and in the northwest direction, until he reached Atami (Issyk-Kul Lake), and the Broken Leaf City was more than 100 miles northwest of Atami. It is said that Cen Shen also left a poem when passing by Atami, which has the sentence "I heard the Huer language of Yinshan on the side, and the hot sea water in the west is like boiling".

This road is not easy to walk, the winding and rugged mountains, grassless deserts, and thieves-infested hills along the way have made Li You and his party suffer enough, but fortunately, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty is still there, and the people and horses of the brigade and team encountered along the way saw the banners raised high in the team, or avoided or diligently sent all kinds of fruits, wine and meat, and there was not much war along the way, but it was much easier than Li You's first crossing the Western Regions.

At first, Du Huan was worried that this fair-skinned young lieutenant from the prosperous land of Chang'an might not be able to endure the hardships of a long journey, but he didn't expect that he didn't complain at all along the way, and even gave people a feeling of having spare strength, and Li You's Zhulong BMW under his crotch also made Du Huan can't help but praise, even if he is well-informed, he has never seen such a BMW.

Coupled with the richly decorated Tang knife on Li You's waist, the sky-shaking bow on his back that is extraordinary at a glance, and the horse lance made by the famous craftsman at hand, this made Du Huan secretly count the wealthy families surnamed Li in the court one by one, and constantly guessed Li You's origin, whether he is the descendant of the British Duke Li Ji, or the son of the Li Jing family of the Duke of Weiguo, or the relative of Li Linfu, the minister of power and the distant protector of the Anxi capital?

But no matter how he tried it, Li You was secretive about his origin, and he smiled noncommittally, which made Du Huan's speculation more and more bold, and even wondered if he would be a disciple of the Tang Clan, but now that sect was willing to let him come to such a bitter cold place as the Western Regions?

And seeing that he took good care of these sergeants and craftsmen along the way, although he was strict in governing the army, he was not strict, if he violated the military law and acted in accordance with the military law, after camping, he ate and lived with the soldiers, and did not have special requirements because of his official position, which was completely different from those children of the family.

Du Huan is familiar with geography, Li You's army is well-managed, plus it is spring at this time, no longer the severe cold of winter, and there is no scorching heat of midsummer, the glacier gradually melts under the warm sun, flowing from the top of the mountain to the forest and grassland at the foot of the mountain, those rivers that have been dry for a long time slowly regain their vitality, moistening the grass and trees along the way, flowers bloom everywhere, birds and beasts can be seen everywhere, it is the most suitable time for marching here, so the speed of the march of the team gradually exceeded Du Huan's expectations, maybe they can really catch up with Gao Xianzhi's army in Broken Leaf City.

After a long trek, the army finally came to the basin of the Swap River, along the river for a few days, came to a big bend, the upper reaches of the swap river turned westward, Du Huan looked at the direction of the river and said, "Captain, let the soldiers fill all the water bags, from tomorrow we will leave the river and continue to the north, in a few days you can reach Atami, to Atami successively there are frozen city, He Hunting City, Ye Zhicheng and other small cities, and Ye Zhicheng is where the water of broken leaves flows into Atami, we can get to Broken Leaf City in half a month at most!" The trail of the army seen along the way is still new, presumably Gao Duhu may have just arrived in Shattered Leaf City, and we still have time to catch up with them. ”

"That's fine." Li You turned over and dismounted, and issued a series of orders, the soldiers and craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty carefully gathered the chariots and horses together, and then set up tents around these materials, the groom began to prepare forage and drinking water for the accompanying camels and horses, and the sentry scouts occupied the most open position of the master according to Li You's instructions, vigilantly watching the possible enemy army.

After a while, the smoke of the cooking stove rose, and the aroma came from the camp, and the Tang Expeditionary Army, which had been trekking hard for a day, began to rest and eat, and Li You used his superb archery skills to shoot a few beasts that came to the river to drink, plus the fresh fish caught from the river, just enough to add some meat for them to eat.

The next day the road became difficult again, and the distance from the river caused them a lot of inconvenience, but fortunately, with Du Huan, they never deviated from the right direction, and they always found water along the way.

Turning over a small hill, the soldier who opened the road in front of him was stunned, and he was greeted by the color of the water that could not be seen at a glance, and after many days of walking through the desert, the scenery in front of him looked particularly intoxicating.

"Duwei, Atami has arrived, this lake is also known as Daqing Pond, and the former Sanzang Master went to Tianzhu to learn scriptures and passed by here; The water of the lake is clear and turquoise, and it does not freeze all year round, but unfortunately it is too salty for people and horses to drink, but the fish in the lake are extremely fat, and they can be eaten to a great extent. Du Huan took a deep breath of the slightly salty air by the lake and said, "The army can rest here for a day, wash the wind and dust along the road, and set off again tomorrow, and walk along the lake for a few more days, and after passing Yezhi City, you will arrive at Broken Leaf City." ”

"That's it!" Although it can't be drunk, the sight of this boundless water is enough to make people feel a little cool, and after finishing the work at hand, Li You and the soldiers can't wait to pounce in the hot sea, so happy.

While washing away the dust of the expedition, it seemed to wash away their fatigue, and on the second day of the march, all the soldiers became energetic, and they soon arrived at the Frozen City, and the Tang army guarding here told them the good news, Gao Xianzhi had just arrived in Broken Leaf City, and would stay here for a few days, and if they walked fast, they could catch up with them.

So everyone moved forward again after replenishing the supplies, passing through He Hunting City and Yezhi City, and flowing up the Broken Leaf Water, but after a few days of effort, they finally saw the walls of Broken Leaf City. (To be continued.) )