Unfortunately, the map drawn by Zhang Zheng is useless no matter how standard it is, because there is no road. Zhang Zheng can only vaguely remember which city is in which direction, and there are some iconic scenic spots or cultural monuments.

Zhang Zheng scratched the map, and there were two roads to go after leaving the Yumen Pass. One is to cross the desert without people and directly reach the territory of Gaochang.

But the straight-line distance across the desert is at least nearly 1,000 miles. Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish the direction in the desert, and even if there is a guide, it is only the difference between early death and late death.

The other way is to go north to Yizhou, which is the Hami generation of later generations. Although the road is a little longer detoured, it is also the path chosen by most caravans.

After all, the desert is not so easy to walk. Every year, there are so many people who don't believe in evil, always think that they are the chosen ones, and then plunge headlong into the vast desert.

In the end, he became a white bone on this Silk Road. After eating, Zhang Zheng decided to wait here.

At present, the people in the team who can keep up with their own thinking are Chen Yu and Cui Shu. As for waiting, what are you waiting for?

Caravans, of course, waiting for passing caravans. What better guide in this world than a caravan?

Although Zhang Zheng didn't know where he was now, he was sure that this would definitely be a must for all caravans traveling between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty.

No, because this is an oasis and there is a small lake in the middle of the oasis. Zhang Zheng could also find traces of Xu Jingzong leading 5,000 troops to supply fresh water here.

Perhaps it was because Li Jing's army conquered Tuyuhun that most caravans did not dare to travel to and from the Silk Road at this time.

So Zhang Zheng and the others waited here for three days, but the caravan did not wait, but waited for a group of bandits. Zhang Zheng frowned, looking at the bandits of thousands of people, Chen Yu led two hundred elite horsemen to solve it as quickly as chopping vegetables and cutting melons.

The frown was not smoothed out, because it was not normal. It has only been a few days since he left Yumen Pass, and the road is not easy to walk, so he has walked a distance of less than two hundred miles.

In other words, this is still within the borders of Datang. But there are bandits within the borders of Datang?

Don't these bandits know that an army of 5,000 men was only pulled west here half a month ago?

Don't the bandits know that not far from here to the southeast, the 80,000 elites of the Tang Dynasty are slaughtering Tugu Hun like killing pigs and dogs?

How dare they enter the territory of the Tang Dynasty so brazenly? Who gave them the guts? And even if you are bold, you haven't matched the force of this guts.

The bandits of thousands were not so much robbers as a bunch of beggars. The team of 1,000 people couldn't even get together a few good horses, so they could only ride You Chun's horses.

"Can you tell these people from which country they are?" After the bandits were wiped out, Zhang Zheng came to the front of a group of bandits and took a look.

Then he asked Chen Yu behind him. Chen Yu looked at the corpses with different appearances, and slowly shook his head and said: "It's hard to distinguish, there are people in these small countries in the Western Regions, there are Han people, and there are also blond and blue-eyed Hu'er, this is probably not from a small country, but from many countries." The corners of Zhang Zheng's mouth twitched, and he muttered: "I really listen to your words, like listening to a seat." "It's all nonsense!

"Don't let the corpses pollute the water here, stay away." Zhang Zheng gave a faint order, and after Chen Yu received the order, dozens of people dragged these strange corpses with iron hooks to a distance.

In fact, Zhang Zheng already had some guesses in his heart. These bandits are probably caused by Xu Jingzong.

It's not that Xu Jingzong targeted Zhang Zheng, but that Xu Jingzong didn't have enough manpower, which led to the emergence of some fish that slipped through the net.

With the national strength of Datang, no matter how arrogant and arrogant these horse bandits in the desert are, it is impossible for them to brazenly rush into the territory of Datang to burn, kill and loot.

After all, in the Yumen Pass not far away, the 10,000 elite horsemen under Tian Zheng are not vegetarians. Then the only explanation is that they have no way to survive in the desert, so they flee in all directions.

Combined with the fact that Xu Jingzong led 5,000 people into the depths of the desert, Zhang Zheng easily came to a conclusion.

Clear the Silk Road! If it was Zhang Zheng, Zhang Zheng would do the same. Xizhou is isolated outside the Tang Dynasty, and before the Western Regions are completely controlled by the Tang Dynasty, Xizhou is an isolated city.

If you want to hold a lonely city, you must maintain stability in the rear. Otherwise, you may face the allied forces of the Western Regions at any time, and from time to time a bandit will come out of the desert to cause chaos for you.

No matter how strong the combat effectiveness of Datang's army is, it can't stand such a game. Therefore, Xu Jingzong's strategy was right, to clear the Silk Road, ensure the smooth flow of the rear, and then go all out to deal with the countries of the Western Regions.

"Something." Zhang Zheng muttered to himself, turned his head and smiled dumbly. Who is Xu Jingzong, although he has a bad reputation in the Zhenguan Dynasty, he is also one of the eighteen scholars of the Qin Palace.

It's just that he lives too alone as a man, so that he is reduced to a villain, so he is not loved by His Majesty Li Er.

But if you want to talk about ability, can you shine in the two dynasties of Gaozong and Wuhou, can the ability be poor?

You know, being a traitor is much more difficult than being a virtuous minister. To be a virtuous minister, you only need to have a wise monarch and then work diligently.

But being a traitor is different, you not only have to do things, but you also have to form a party, you have to run a private business, and you have to find a way to make the monarch happy.

That's a lot of brains. But Xu Jingzong did a good job, and there was another one called Li Yifu. These two people are both representative figures of the upper limit of a person's ability and the lower limit of his character.

After instructing Chen Yu to dispose of the body, Zhang Zheng returned to the camp. Cui Shu was in the camp, sorting out the various documents on the table for Zhang Zheng, including the map.

Seeing Zhang Zheng coming in, Cui Shu hurriedly pinched her nose and took a few steps back.

"The smell of blood, bad smell to death." Disgusted, he slapped his hand a few times in front of his nose, and Cui Shu endured the discomfort and took off Zhang Zheng's robe.

In fact, the smell of blood on Zhang Zheng's body was not so strong, after all, he did not participate in the fight. But recently, Cui Shu's nose seems to be possessed by a dog, and she can smell a little bit of any smell.

"I've boiled hot water, so take a shower first." Cui Shu threw Zhang Zheng's robe into a large wooden bucket, put away the documents on the table, and then went to fetch hot water for Zhang Zheng and prepared to serve him in the bath.

Zhang Zheng didn't refuse when he heard this, while there was still water, it would be good to take a bath. Otherwise, when you enter the desert, you can only bathe in sand.

"Vomit ......" Cui Shu, who was fetching water, suddenly covered her chest and retched.

"Well, what's wrong?" Seeing this, Zhang Zheng hurriedly stepped forward to support her, and then gently patted her back.