The post chief rubbed his mouth and cried and said: "We haven't seen a high-grade person in the army for three years, and the people who usually inspect our post station are all these officials who protect the mansion, so we naturally have to pay homage." ”

Zhang Yuanli's face was cloudy, and he slapped his knees heavily: "Check when you go back!" This matter is on the head of my soldier Cao, and I, Zhang Yuanli, are all responsible. ”

"Heh," Li Siye said with a dry laugh: "These are all details, don't forget the business, we just want to find out how much extra income a post station can have, and bring this pair of difficult husbands and wives back to Qiuzi City first."

The two picked out the horses in the post station, humped the couple to the horses, took the reins of the horses and left the post station, crossed the Tuoji Pass along the Chihe River, and crossed the White Horse River back to the city of Qiuzi.

After Li Siye entered the city, he handed over the accounting and seizure of the Chihe post chief's family property and female spies to Zhang Yuanli, which was originally an internal matter of Bingcao, and he, an outsider, was too lazy to get involved, so Zhang Yuanli had a headache for himself.

He cleaned up briefly in the city, went to the capital to see Fu Meng Lingcha, and told him that the seventy-two post stations in the middle road could be built without spending money. As for how to prepare for the construction, he is still selling Guanzi.

However, the 82 post stations on the southern route on the Khotanese Road are located in a relatively barren and arid area, and they still need to be investigated. He asked Fumeng Duhu to delay for thirteen days, and to see the post station in the south province for himself.

How can Fumon Lingcha say that he can only treat dead horses as live horse doctors now. Tian Renwan, the envoy of Jiedu, had already requisitioned the money in the treasury for the advance preparations for the expedition to Xiao Bolu. Li Siye can build a post station empty-handed, then naturally everyone is happy, even if it can't be built, it can only wait until next year.

Li Siye prepared dry food and fresh water, and returned to Qiuzi City to bring Mo knives, bows, crossbows, and horizontal knives to prevent accidents during the journey. He also called Yan Xiaosi and Fuji Mu as his entourage, and prepared to go to the South Silk Road, that is, Khotan, to inspect on the spot.

The Chihe post station represents only the income level line on the middle road of the Silk Road, and the post road located on the edge of the desert in the south is more barren than the middle road, and there is only one military town in Khotan, as well as two or three small cities, and two guards.

The Taklamakan Desert, of course, is not called that at this time, the written language calls the desert moraine, and the Taklamakan is the Tulun moraine. He had to make a big circle from Qiuzi to the city of Diachang, pass through the city of Sede, and then pass through Yandu Prefecture, Pancheng Prefecture, and Diananzhou after reaching Shule Town, and come to Khotan Town. But his final destination was not Khotan, but the city of Niyang, located in the desert.

Niyang City is dozens of miles deep into the desert, is an important transit station on the south road, here in the Han Dynasty is the capital of the Exquisite Country, is called the Exquisite City. It is rumored that the city of Jingjing in the Han Dynasty was prosperous and prosperous, and merchants gathered, but now it is just an oasis in the desert.

When Li Siye rode a horse into the city cave, he looked up and saw the flat chisel stone on the beam of the city cave, which can also show that the city was prosperous in the past. However, the city was very desolate, and a group of Tang troops stationed here occupied several large stone pavilions in the city, and the rest of the houses were made of stone slabs and white mud.

There are many plants growing outside the castle, and there is a swampy lake that half-surrounds the castle, and the water level of this lake is said to be decreasing every year. In order to save the fate of this oasis that is about to disappear, every family in Niyang City has to plant a tree outside the city when there is a Tianding or happy event, and when they give birth to a child, they are called Tianding Tree, and when they get married, they are called Acacia Tree. In this way, the tree will be cared for like a child, watered in spring and summer, kept warm in autumn and winter, and gradually grow into a green crown to protect the water and soil.

No matter how green-minded the inhabitants are, the city will not be able to resist the invasion of the desert and will eventually become an archaeological site after thousands of years. After the Tang army set up a post station in it, it also actively carried out greening and forest protection, and for those who dared to cut down trees and cut firewood, they would definitely let him plant trees until he died of old age.

After Li Siye entered the city, he did not hide his whereabouts, and directly changed into an official robe and drove to the Tang army garrison as a member of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate. The envoy was still carrying a swaddling baby behind him, and the infant child was crying incessantly.

The city envoy crossed his hands and squatted on the ground: "The humble position is from the third to see General Li!" ”

"Woo whoa, wow whoa, wow whoa!" The baby clenched a pink fist on his back, and held back his voice and wailed.

Li Siye waved his hand at him and said, "Hurry up." ”

He looked at the crying baby on Yusan's back, frowned and asked, "Is this child hungry, take him down and feed him some food?" ”

You San looked very frightened, and hurriedly crossed his hands and said: "This is a lowly child, just because his mother went early, I will take it." ”

A soldier held a wooden bowl in both hands, ran eagerly into the stone hall, and shouted loudly: "Don't worry, baby, goat's milk is coming......"

When the soldier saw the presence of the great man, his voice became mute, and he untied the baby from his back and handed it to the soldier, who took the child carefully and gave it to the weeping baby in a wooden bowl.

With the goat's milk feeding, the child stopped crying at once, and not long after the soldier put down the wooden bowl, the baby let out a powerful cry: "Wow! Wow! ”

Yusan picked up the child and shook it for a long time, but it was useless, and the baby's voice was louder.

"Come, let the third uncle hug."

One of the elders took the baby and shook it in his arms, humming delicately, and then someone else took it from him, still not coaxing, and handed it over to someone else. The children have passed on more than a dozen hands among these soldiers, and all of them have changed from rough men in border cities to gentle dads, but unfortunately the skills of coaxing children are a little trendy. Li Siye beckoned and said, "Come, give me the child." ”

The soldier holding the child looked at him hesitantly, and said with a smile: "General Li, I'm afraid that this child will pee on you." ”

"It's okay, I'll coax him."

The soldier turned his head to look at the team Zheng Yousan, and after getting the permission of the eyes, he handed the baby to Li Siye with both hands. Li Siye held the baby in his arms, supported him to sit up slightly, and then hugged his two small hands in front of his chest, and shook it slightly. The child miraculously stopped crying, first looking left and right with his big crystal eyes, and then gently closing his eyelids.

The soldiers all smiled in surprise, they didn't expect that the person who could be a general could even coax a child. Li Siye handed the sleeping baby to Yousan and explained to them: "The child cannot be held lying down, they are sitting in the mother's womb with their hands on their chest, so that it is easier for them to calm down and fall asleep." ”

Yu San suddenly realized, and thanked Li Siye repeatedly, the soldiers of Niyang City were only in awe of Shangguan at first, but now they have a sense of closeness, they like children, and those who can coax children can be cold.

They took the sleeping child down to sleep, and Sancai took the initiative to ask: "Niyang City is located in a remote area, I don't know what General Li is doing here." ”

"The Niyang Post in the city, who will be the post chief?"

You San took the initiative to step forward and said: "The humble post is not only the envoy of Niyang City, but also the commander of the garrison, and the post chief of Niyang Station. ”

"Can you take me to the inn?"

"General Lee, please."

They went to the Niyang Post Station in the north of the city, which was equivalent to a large post on the Khotanese Road, and also had nearly a dozen buildings and stables with twenty or thirty horses.

It is said that the Niyang Post was rebuilt from the royal palace of the exquisite ancient city, which may sound unreliable, but in the past, the land of the exquisite country was less than 100 miles, the population was less than 5,000, and the number of victorious soldiers was less than 500. Its royal palace consisted of only a few large stone houses, on which the Tang army built stables and several mud houses, the scale of which was large enough to accommodate a caravan of more than 100 people to stay in the post station.