Dunhuang Mansion is a new city established by the Tang Dynasty, and it is the most outpost city in the Western Regions. ~with~dream~small~say~щ~suimеng~lā

It was mainly responsible for the military use of the Tang State in the northwest frontier to defend against the Western Regions and the Mengyuan Empire, and at the same time had the important task of border trade and cultural export, so the Dunhuang Mansion was built very grandly.

The city scale of Dunhuang Mansion can be ranked in the top ten in the city of the whole territory of the Tang Kingdom, its city is not a standard square, it is 22 miles long from north to south, 18 miles wide from east to west, the Great Wall is 12 zhang and 4 feet high, there are four urban areas of inner city, outer city, military city and urn city.

There are a large number of fertile fields and pastures in the outer city and the military city, which can be used for production and self-rescue during the siege, which is a very typical war-ready and defensive city structure.

This huge city can accommodate millions of soldiers and civilians, and every winter the Dunhuang government will ask the villagers outside the city to return to the city to avoid accidents.

After the city gate was closed this year, it took nearly 10 days for the houses to be counted, and there were 740,000 residents in the city and 44,000 defenders, of which nearly eighty percent were young men and women, and such a population size was enough to rank among the top 20 in a single city in the Tang Kingdom.

Because of the special military status of Dunhuang Prefecture, the standing grain in Dunhuang City can be eaten by millions of people for three years, and most of the city residents are young and strong, and they can replenish the military resources on the spot.

Therefore, the level of the city guard officer of Dunhuang Mansion is very high, and he is not the fourth rank of the general governor of the prefecture, but the third rank official, which is the same level as the Yin of Chang'an Mansion.

In order to strengthen the military command ability of Dunhuang Mansion and avoid deviations in the military command of the city guard, the imperial court specially equipped Dunhuang Mansion with a full-time garrison officer, instead of a city guard officer concurrently.

The garrison officer of Dunhuang Mansion is a military attache at the deputy general level from the second rank, and at the same time is also the deputy general of Suzhou Province.

In principle, the city guard and the garrison officer are not subordinate to each other, but according to the unwritten rules of the imperial court, the Wenjian Wuda is at the third level, and the garrison officer still has to be controlled by the city guard at critical moments.

Dunhuang Province has always had the practice of discord between city guards and garrison officials, which is not only a manifestation of the struggle for power and advantage in the border city between the two Chinese and military forces, but also a way of check and balance for the royal family.

Even if there is no conflict between some city guards and garrisons, they will pretend that they have a bad relationship on the surface, so that it is easier to gain the trust of the imperial court.

However, this generation of Dunhuang City Keeper Li Chengliang and Garrison Officer Fan Yunchao have a very good personal relationship, and the cooperative relationship for nearly 20 years has been very harmonious, and they have jointly maintained the prosperity and security of Dunhuang Mansion.

This is mainly due to the status of the royal clan of the city lord Li Chengliang, who is in the ascendancy of the holy family at this time, and no one dares to question the secret affairs of the civil officials and military generals.

According to the usual practice this year, the Dunhuang Prefecture closed the pass on time on November 11, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the city, except for the border troops stationed in the city, who had to continue to carry out defense, most of the Dunhuang residents had to start a cat winter of up to 81 days.

Under the personal supervision of the city guard and the garrison, the four gates of Dunhuang Mansion were completely sealed by the guards of the city guard with stones and sacks, and the sealing plates were nailed and sealed, and the seals could not be lifted until February 2 next year.

The defense of the defenders in the city is also focused on the city tower and the city wall, because there is no external patrol task, so the defenders in the city during the winter closure period, all patrol with double posts, which can not only ensure that the soldiers in the winter combat strength is not damaged, but also can strengthen the security of the city.

Li Chengliang and Fan Yunchao have been guarding Dunhuang Mansion for 20 years, from a high-spirited young man, has become a gray old man of the Mandate of Heaven, this winter may be the last time they guard Dunhuang Mansion, because there is news from the imperial court that the city guard and garrison officer of Dunhuang Mansion will be replaced at the same time next year!

Today, the two appeared together on the highest Wangfeng Tower at the north gate of Dunhuang Mansion to observe the snow outside the city, and talk about warm wine.

Since the middle of November, heavy snow has fallen in the entire northwest region, and it has snowed intermittently for almost half a month, and the snow on the flat land has reached a certain thick, completely dressing the world into a pure white scene.

City Lord Li looked at the white sky outside the city, then looked up at the gray sky, and said worriedly: "Yunchao, the snow is too big this year. According to the statistics of the households, nearly 20,000 people registered in Dunhuang Prefecture this year have not returned to the city at the specified time, and are still scattered in various towns and villages outside the city. ”

Garrison General Fan Yunchao comforted: "My lord, don't worry too much, they chose not to go back to the city to avoid the winter, naturally they made all preparations, as long as there is no shortage of fuel and food, I think most of them can survive this winter, at most they will suffer some property losses, don't worry too much." ”

City Lord Li shook his head and said: "The suffering of the people is just a worry, I am more worried about the impact of this heavy snow on the north and west, the Western Regions, Mengyuan and Western Tibet are now bound to be rampant with white disasters, livestock are frozen to death, grasslands are covered, for the survival of the ethnic group, it is an inevitable choice for them to go south and east."

Therefore, this winter, Dunhuang Mansion will not be quiet, maybe there will be a lot of war, and I also ask the virtuous brother to prepare early to ensure the safety of the people of the mansion. ”

Fan Shoubei looked at the soldiers and civilians who were lazy and lazy in the city to remove snow and sweep the floor, and said: "My lord, there has been no siege for decades, and the people of Dunhuang Mansion are too peaceful, and they have indeed been a little slack over the years.

According to the regulations of the imperial court, during the winter retreat in the border city, young and strong laborers must undergo 24 days of winter military training, which has now been reduced to 10 days, and then they can also use some chores and labor to top the 10-day military training, which is really not possible this year. ”

City Lord Li said: "Alas, it's me who is usually too soft-hearted, and the lesson of the virtuous brother is that I will not issue such an order again this year, and I hope that the virtuous brother will bother more, and be sure to do a good job in military training and make all preparations for dealing with it." ”

Fan Shoubei stood up and clenched his fists and said, "Please rest assured, the city of Dunhuang Mansion is now strong, and there is plenty of grain and grass. The border army was also fully equipped, including 1,000 city guards, 2,000 heavy cavalry, 4,000 heavy infantry, 10,000 light cavalry, 20,000 infantry, 4,000 equipment battalions, and 3,000 other logistical baggage personnel.

In addition, there are 280,000 young men in the city, and if this cannot hold the Dunhuang Mansion, the lower officials are willing to apologize for their crimes with death!"

City Lord Li nodded with satisfaction and said, "By the way, Yun Chao, how did the imperial court reply to the reward of the hundred warriors reported to the imperial court half a month ago?"

Fan Shoubei pouted and said: "The world has been peaceful for too long, and the Pingzhang adults of Shangshu Province disdain it, only the military department issued a document, rewarded the warrior with some gold, silver and silk silk, and agreed to issue him a civil registration, and did not mention a word about Jian pulling him out of the army!"

City Lord Li frowned and said: "Such warriors are the talents who defend the territory and expand the territory, if you let it go like this, it would be a pity! Yun Chao, you send someone to contact him again to see if he is willing to serve in the army." ”

Fan Shoubei nodded and said, "My lord, I have already sent my subordinates to contact him before, and he was quite moved at that time. But this time, after he completed the beheading of 100 people, he happened to meet Xu Jiu, a wealthy businessman in the city, on the way to Dunhuang Mansion. ”

City Lord Li sighed: "The hustle and bustle of the world is all for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit." It is understandable that he chose this way, but I think he can behead more than 100 horse thieves in the Western Regions, but he will not hurt a single person of Huaxia Miao descendants, he must still be patriotic in his heart, so let's fight for it again. ”

Fan Shoubei said: "Don't worry, my lord, I will let him talk to him again, if he is willing to join the army, we can directly appoint him as the battalion officer of my personal guard battalion, such an appointment does not need the consent of the imperial court, I am ready to personally train him." ”

City Lord Li nodded in agreement, and the two began to talk about some other matters.

And our 100-slash hero Li Mao really didn't have the heart to serve the country at the moment, and he was deeply attracted by the operation mode of the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce.

Every day, he tirelessly asked Xu Jiu for advice on how to operate the chamber of commerce, conscientiously made various records, and personally observed the various businesses, staffing, and accounts of the chamber of commerce.

His eagerness to learn surprised him for a long time, Xu Jiu couldn't help but ask him why he wanted to learn this, Li Mao said a little dazedly, he himself was not very clear, but he felt that it must be useful to learn the operation of the Chamber of Commerce.

Xu Jiu considered that Li Mao was alone, and he had just obtained his citizenship, so he might be tired of the days of fighting and wanted to live some stable days, so thinking about it, Xu Jiu naturally suddenly became enlightened.

For such a capable and motivated young man, Xu Jiu was naturally willing to help him, so he taught him the business experience he had summarized in his life, and there was a master-apprentice friendship between the two.

And Li Mao is recuperating while studying, the burns on his face have basically healed, although he is not handsome at this time, but he is by no means ugly, except for a pair of obvious dark circles, he looks like a simple round-faced young man, and his smile is quite pleasing.

Li Mao looked at this face when he looked in the mirror, both familiar and unfamiliar, and he was still relatively satisfied, at least now when Xu Ai looks at himself, he will not deliberately look away, indicating that at least his face can still be seen.

Xu Ai is not afraid of Li Mao now, but feels that Li Mao is honest and cute, and when Li Mao is not busy, Xu Ai will pester him and ask him to take him to the city to go shopping.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xu deliberately stopped her, but Xu Jiu asked Mrs. not to meddle in her affairs, and Xu Jiu also specially explained to Li Mao, and when shopping, pay attention to what valuable and easy-to-carry goods there are, so that you can bring some goods along the way when you return to Yuezhou.

Although the four gates of Dunhuang Mansion are closed, after all, there are nearly 800,000 soldiers and civilians in the city to live, so all kinds of business in the city have not stopped, especially after the recent heavy snowfall, the business of wine shops, grain stores, and charcoal factories is particularly good.

Li Mao wandered around the street with Xu Ai, in fact, Xu Ai didn't know what he wanted to buy, but he felt that it was too wasteful to stay in the house, and he wanted to go to the market to see what suitable things to buy home.

Xu Ai is still young, and he is not very interested in things like rouge pollen, but he is very fond of colorful ready-to-wear and colorful hair accessories, and he will always buy some on the street every time, although the price is not expensive, but every time he finds his favorite clothes or hair accessories, Xu Ai will always be pleasantly surprised.

Li Mao likes to see Xu Ai happy, with a round face and a smile on his eyebrows, Li Mao always thinks about how good it would be if he had such a sister.

Xu Ai grabbed Li Mao for a long time, and finally got a little tired, so he took Li Mao to a restaurant to rest and eat something.

Li Mao and Xu Aigang sat down, and they hadn't ordered anything yet, when they suddenly heard someone shouting next to them: "Eh, isn't this Brother Li? What a coincidence, I went to Xu Mansion to look for you but didn't find it, but I didn't expect to meet here." ”

Li Mao and Xu Ai turned their heads together to look, it turned out to be Mr. Huang Qian, who had seen him before, they hurriedly got up to salute, and Li Mao invited Mr. Huang Qian to sit down together.

Li Mao personally poured a cup of tea for Mr. Huang Qian and said, "Brother Huang, you are taking a turn off today, do you have anything to do with me?"

Mr. Huang Qian glanced at Xu Ai and did not speak immediately.

Li Mao smiled and said, "Brother Huang, Xu Ai is my sister-in-law, but it doesn't hurt for you to say it." ”

Mr. Huang Qian said: "Okay, Brother Li, my brother came to you this time, or for you to join the army." The garrison said that as long as you are willing to join the army, you don't have to start from the bottom of the creep, and you will be arranged to be the battalion officer of the personal guard battalion immediately.

Such an opportunity is rare, don't you want to serve the country in the army? The big husband is determined to be in all directions, and defending the territory and expanding the territory is the real hero's doing, guarding the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce, won't you bury your peerless martial arts?"