In the month, Huan Wen Bingtun Jin Yong City, the battle Zhou Wei Wang Fu was thin in front of Rongyang, and the month was more than Luoyang. It has been ugly, and the tombs are repaired, and those who destroy them repair them, and each has a mausoleum order. Table Zhenxi General Xie Shangdu supervised the military of Sizhou and the town of Luoyang. The resignation has not yet arrived, and the longevity is long. Repatriated to supervise Chen Wu and Henan Taishou Dai Shi with 2,000 people to Luoyang and Weishan Mausoleum. The edict and the Sikong, the scattered riders, the regular attendants, the car irrigation, etc., such as Luoyang, the five tombs. In December, Geng, the emperor and the ministers all obeyed, and they were in the Taiji Hall for three days.

———————————————— Introduction

Liuzhong, Gaochang County, Western Regions. The former territory of Gaochang County, Liangzhou, was the same as Yuli, Yan and other places in the south, which were originally the territory of the Zhang family in Liangzhou.

At that time, Zhang Jun, the head of Guzang, killed Zeng Kang, the captain of Xuji and Zeng Hua's nominal grandfather, and occupied Gaochang, but since then there has been Zeng Hua's "story". In the first year of Yonghe, Zhang Jun sent Yang Xuan, the assassin of Shazhou, and Zhang Zhi, a general, to manage the Western Regions, defeated Long Xi, the king of Yanqi, and defeated Yuli and Yanqi in one go. At that time, the Zhang family was in the limelight in the Western Regions, which can be said to be the heyday.

However, as Northern Zhao attacked Liangzhou with all its might, the Zhang family gradually could not take care of Gaochang, Yan, Yuli and other places outside the lonely pass, so they began to retreat eastward in great strides. Especially after the rise of Beifu, Liangzhou began to decline, and even the Gaochang County was set up because of the approach of the old rival Che Shiguo, so it had to move to Yiwu City (now west of Hami City, Xinjiang). Yu Li and Yan Qi were even more "restored" and broke away from the control of the Zhang family.

At present, there are three forces in the Western Regions, one is the local forces of Cheshi, Yanqi, Khotan, Shule, Qiuci and other large countries in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains; One is Wusun in the north of the Western Regions, and it reaches the Cheshi in the east. It is bordered by Qiuzi in the south, Kangju and Dawan in the west, and Xihaizi in the north, (including the north of the Tianshan Mountains, the south bank of Issyk-Kul Lake in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, the south of Lake Balkhash, the east of Junggar, and the area of the Ili River Basin), the capital of the country, Chigu City (on the south bank of Lake Issyk-Kul in present-day Kyrgyzstan, Ishtik). It is said that there are 650,000 people. 180,000 soldiers; The third strand turned out to be the Zhangjia family in Liangzhou. It was later replaced by Beifu. However, the forces of the Northern Province had previously been focused on the south of the Tien Shan Mountains. The key areas are in the eastern countries of Shannan, Jizhi, Xiaowan, Loulan and other eastern Shannan, because it is close to the Qinghai General's jurisdiction. In other places, the Beifu army mostly engaged in "illegal deeds" such as murder and arson, and the identity of bandits was more than that of the ruler. Later, although it took over Gaochang County in Liangzhou, it did not develop further, after all, Liangzhou, which had just been taken over, still needed stability and recovery.

Liuzhong near Gaochang City is in the most sensitive and delicate place of the tripartite forces, so the relationship between the three places here is also very complicated. There are not only chariot divisions and cavalry, but also tax collectors and merchants from Beifu. Therefore, the residents and the "semi-autonomous government" are also very careful. for fear of offending the people of any faction. This situation is a bit like the border area between China and China that Zeng Hua knew before, and the maintenance there is estimated to be similar to the current government of Gaochang City.

Liuzhong is located at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, east of the Turpan Basin, which is a good place for grazing and farming, and it is also the main road connecting the east and west. It connects the Qiuzi, Wusun and other countries on the Tianshan North Road, and can go as far as Yiwu, enter Gaochang County in Beifu, and then go east to bypass the Bailongdui quicksand area and enter Dunhuang County. You can also go south and directly enter the Loulan and Haitou areas controlled by the three battalions of the cavalry under the command of General Qinghai of Beifu.

Xu Lian is an ordinary Mrs. Gao Changnong's family. The family has dozens of acres of land. There are also hundreds of cattle and sheep, four or five horses, plus parents and four minor brothers and sisters. A wife and three children, a total of eleven people in the family. Life is not good, but you can get by.

So when Xu Lian saw the man in front of him who was in tattered clothes, covered with dust, and could faintly see bloodstains, he began to mumble in his heart. The man was dressed in a short hakama, and the saber on his waist had long since flown away, leaving only an empty scabbard that shook as the man panted violently. Although the floor towel on his head was dirty, it was still stubbornly tied to the man's bun. Behind the man stood a mount that was also panting wildly, and this sweaty horse looked like a Qinghai horse.

Xu Lian knew in his heart that the person in front of him should be from Liangzhou in the east, or from Beifu, and according to Xu Lian's inference, it should be the entourage of the Beifu caravan and other figures.

Although Xu Lian is only twenty-three years old, he has seen many things in Gaochang, a place of frequent chaos, so he knows very well that this is an extraordinary time, and it is better to be careful. The Beifu caravan has always been unimpeded in the Western Regions, and the many horse bandits and robbers in the Gobi steppe easily did not dare to touch the Beifu caravan. After all, the tens of thousands of cavalry under the command of General Qinghai often cross the Altun Mountains to train when they have nothing to do, and they are frequent visitors to the Western Regions, and they can be regarded as the Tianzi No. 1 "bandits" in the Western Regions.

But the man in front of him was so depressed and embarrassed, Xu Lian could see at a glance that this should be the consequence of the attack. Someone in the Western Regions actually dared to attack the Beifu caravan, coupled with the rumors he had heard when he was rushing to the market in Gaochang City in the past six months, Xu Lian, who was very smart, immediately understood three points.

"Please give me some water to drink." The man stumbled two steps, and finally pounced directly in front of Xu Lian. The man struggled to raise his head to Xu Lian, and said in a weak voice, "And... Food. The tone was full of begging and helplessness.

Xu Lian knows what water and food mean to people in such a desperate situation. He is completely able to give this man food and water to live, but the key is that he is alive, himself

The little one will not die because of this.

The man seemed to hear Xu Lian's hesitation in the silence for a while, and quickly added in a weak voice: "I am a merchant in Beifu." ”

I know you're a merchant in Beifu, and that's why it's even more troublesome! Xu Lian thought secretly. He was most afraid that there would be pursuers behind this man, but now more than half an hour has passed, and there is no movement in the distance, so there should be no pursuers. But if you save this man, if the neighbors not far away know about it, or if the man falls into the hands of the enemy, you will be in big trouble.

Just when Xu Lian hesitated, Father Xu, who had been silently beside him, walked up. Although he understands his son's distress very well. But the kindness in his heart still made him can't help but step forward, ready to give some water.

Just as Father Xu lifted Dahan's head, a chain pendant fell out of Dahan's torn shirt, which was a copper Tai Chi Yin Yang Fish, like a fake Saint Cultist object.

"It's a brother in the sect, a brother in our holy sect." Father Xu suddenly shouted loudly, looking excited.

When Xu Lian heard this, he immediately reacted. The merchants of Beifu can not be saved. But the brothers in the church must be saved. In the holy scriptures, it is said that the elders should be the elders of their parents. Those who are of the same age should be brothers and sisters, and the younger ones should be the descendants of children and nephews, and they should be supported by blind dates. Xu Lian and his younger brother immediately carried the dying man into his own mud house, and then asked his wife to boil porridge and boil water quickly.

After a busy time, the man, who collapsed because he was hungry and thirsty, came back to his senses and was able to say a few words. His name is Ding Mao, and he is the retinue of a Qinzhou caravan in Beifu. But there's another identity - the detectives won't tell. His caravan was attacked at Tiemen (present-day Korla City, Xinjiang), southwest of Yuli, and most of the caravan of more than 300 men was killed or wounded. There were more than a dozen people left to take important information back to Liangzhou in order to keep a living, so they split into two ways to escape. Ding Mao and his two brothers followed the northern road, bypassing Yuli and Yanqi from Gaochang to Yiwu, and seven or eight other brothers went to the nearest Haitou.

However, Ding Mao and the others knew that those brothers at the head of the sea were purely covering their way. Of course, the enemy attacking them knew that Haitou was the closest to the Iron Gate, so they would naturally send people to pursue them in that direction or set up ambushes on the way to Haitou.

Ding Mao and the three of them were full of grief and indignation, and they kept going to the northeast day and night. On the road. The other two brothers were getting worse and worse because of their injuries. The movement became more and more inconvenient, so he left the mount to Ding Mao and kept it himself.

Run to the willows. Ding Mao and the last remaining horse could no longer hold on. When I saw the Xu family on the side of the road, I hurried over to ask for something to eat, so that I could recover a little bit of vitality.

Hearing Xu Lian say in a ashamed tone that he had just "fought between heaven and man" and almost said to his parishioners and brothers who were hopeless to death, Ding Mao felt a burst of joy in his heart.

Gaochang, like other cities and countries in the Western Regions, is located on an important road connecting the east and west, and all religions have followers here. Originally, the first religious force here was Buddhism from Tianzhu, and the second was Manichaeism (Zoroastrianism) from Persia. However, since Beifu became stronger, the Holy Religion has also spread to the countries of the Western Regions like wildfire on the grassland. First Shan, Jizhi, Xiaowan, Loulan and other countries, then Gaochang, and even to Cheshi, Yanqi, Qiuzi, Khotan, Shule began to infiltrate. Fortunately, Xu Lian's family is also one of the many saints in Gaochang.

After a night of recuperation, Xu Lian finally recovered a little. Thinking of the mission on his shoulders, as soon as the morning dawned, he began to prepare to continue eastward and march towards Iwu.

Since they are already a family, Ding Mao's business is also the Xu family's business, Xu Lian did not hesitate to take out his two good horses, prepare food and water, and accompany Ding Mao to Yiwu.

Under the expectation of the Xu family, Xu Lian came back on the sixth day, followed by three thousand Beifu cavalry.

These cavalrymen, all covered in black, stretched endlessly on the avenue of the South Tianshan Road, and the white feathers on their helmets were contrasted with their sad and angry faces.

After hearing about Ding Mao's urgent report, Captain Hu Nuyang of Gaochang immediately sent someone to deliver this information obtained by more than 300 people in the caravan to Guzang in Liangzhou and Sanjian in Chang'an, and also sent a letter to the Qinghai general and the Haitou garrison to inform them of the situation, so that they could be vigilant and pay attention to the search and rescue of the fleeing caravan survivors.

The fox slave then mobilized the cavalry of Beifu near the city of Yiwu, leaving 1,000 to guard Yiwu, and led 3,000 cavalry himself to march towards the iron gate. The fox slave is the captain of Gaochang and has the power to dispose of it on the spot. He also knew that attacking the Beifu caravan could be done by bandits, but attacking the Beifu cavalry was directly declaring war on Beifu. According to the information from the caravan, the enemy has not yet made this preparation, nor has this plan. So the three thousand Beifu cavalry are safe.

The 3,000 Beifu cavalry soon swept through Gaochang City and stayed in the west of the city for half a day. In front of the gloomy fox slave and the murderous cavalry under his command, the Gaochang city guard didn't dare to say a word, and immediately replenished the water and food according to the list, and then accepted the military funds and money tremblingly.

After Yanqi and Yuli, the three thousand cavalry did not stop, and the king of Yuli and Yanqi, who had ghosts in their hearts, did not dare to come out, and let the fox slave and others go straight to the iron gate.

In front of them is the iron gate, looking at the swaying avenue in the distance, and the yellow Gobi, the eyes of the fox slaves and others are red. They all knew in their hearts that there were still three hundred heroic souls of the Northern Mansion lying there!