Li Mao practiced for another quarter of an hour before stopping the double knife in his hand, at this time the east was already dawning, and the guards and men of the Chamber of Commerce also got up one after another, and soon the camp was lively. lā

Because it was only half a day's journey to Dunhuang Mansion, in order to reduce the burden, the caravan would dispose of the extra fresh water, dry food, forage and other sundries brought on the road in advance.

Because when these things enter the Dunhuang Mansion City, they will all be treated as goods and taxed, and the tax collector at the city gate will not talk so much to the Chamber of Commerce.

It would be a pity if these things were discarded directly, so the people of the Chamber of Commerce would try their best to make the best use of them and avoid waste, like clean water that can be used to wash the face that has not been washed for more than 30 days.

People who beg for a life in the wasteland all the year round, and will not waste food, today's breakfast is naturally very rich, and the variety, the amount is also many, look at the posture is to prepare a full meal, and then go to Dunhuang Mansion to eat the next meal.

As for the forage, it could not be wasted, and soon some chamber of commerce men sent hay, bean cakes, and water to Li Mao, which were for Li Mao's mount to eat.

There was also a chamber of commerce that sent two large copper basins of boiled sugar tea, which was rewarded by Li Mao's two camels carrying human heads to drink.

After a day and a night together, everyone's fear of Li Mao was reduced a lot, and many guards and men were bold enough to gather around the two camels, pointing and pointing.

The far-sighted and knowledgeable guards carefully identified the heads, telling everyone which countries they belonged to in the Western Regions.

This is the Uighurs, this is the Mongyuan, this is the Turks, this is the Tuyuhun, this is the Tocharians, this is the Qiuzi, this is the Yanqi, this is the Cheshi,......

After counting all the way, they didn't see a single head of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, and everyone's respect for Li Mao immediately rose a few levels.

This is the real master, the real hero, never exchange the heads of his fellow citizens for fame, even if it is a horse thief of the same clan!

Some guys couldn't help but cry bitterly when they saw these two Western Regions head Jingguan, this is because his relatives died at the hands of horse thieves in the Western Regions.

There are also heroic guys standing in front of Rentou Jingguan, swearing that they will also practice martial arts from now on, and in the future, they will kill all the people of the Western Regions and expand the territory for the Tang Kingdom.

Xu Jiu is most satisfied with Li Mao, is that he is focused, not moved by external objects at all, and only does what he should do.

When so many people watched the crowd, he didn't even look at it, let alone show off and explain, he was just busy with his own affairs in an orderly manner.

When the caravan was crowded, Li Mao had already begun to pack his belongings, and the bedding and tent were quickly packed, and he checked that all the items were complete before he came to lead the camel.

Xu Jiu saw that it was not early, so he shouted: "Don't waste time, everyone, hurry up and pack up and get ready to go on the road." ”

So the men and the guards dispersed in a hurry, and hurriedly ate breakfast and packed their things, and for another quarter of an hour they were all cleaned up.

At this time, Li Mao had already led his black horse and two camels to Xu Jiu, and said with a deep salute: "Shopkeeper Xu, after thinking about it last night, Li is willing to accompany the shopkeeper's family to Yuezhou, and I hope that the shopkeeper will accept it." ”

Xu Jiu immediately smiled and said: "Li Zhuangshi is polite, there is a master like you to escort the old man's family, the old man just can't ask for it, what to accept, it should be an honor for the old man." ”

Li Mao clenched his fists and said: "From today on, you are Dong Weng, and Li Mao will do his best to protect the safety of Dong Weng's family." ”

Xu Jiu hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't don't, let Dong Weng see too much! In the next few years, our family will be taken care of by you." The old man is a few years older than you, so I will call you a good nephew, and you call me a ninth uncle, which sounds a lot closer, you can see it. ”

Li Mao stared at Xu Jiu's eyes for a full breath, saw the sincerity in Xu Jiu's eyes, took a deep breath and said, "In this case, Cheng Meng Dongweng will not give up, and he will boldly shout below, Uncle Jiu." ”

"Eh! ”

Xu Jiu looked a little excited, and quickly called his wife and daughter over and said, "Madam, Ai'er, Li Xian's nephew promised to escort our family back to Yuezhou, why don't you thank Li Xian's nephew Gao Yi quickly." ”

Mrs. Xu was a little surprised and asked, "Virtuous nephew, when did you accept Li Zhuangshi as your nephew?"

Xu Jiu laughed and said: "Madam, Li Xian's nephew and I are very compatible, so I call him an uncle and nephew, and now he is naturally your nephew, Ai'er's brother." ”

Li Mao hurriedly saluted Mrs. Xu and Xu Aishi: "Hello Madame, good Miss." ”

Mrs. Xu leaned sideways and gave half a salute, waved her hand and said, "Virtuous nephew is polite, you can call me Aunt Jiu in the future, she is not a young lady, she is your sister-in-law, Ai'er will be called brother soon." ”

Li Mao saluted again: "Aunt Nine is good, little sister is good." ”

Mrs. Xu and Xu Ai hurriedly returned the salute, one called the virtuous nephew and the other called the elder brother.

The two sides officially met, and the little girl Xu Ai suddenly asked, "Brother Li, did you use the ointment you gave yesterday?"

Xu Jiuhe's wife's face changed, and he secretly complained that his daughter was a little reckless, and she shouldn't casually mention other people's sad things.

Xu Jiu was about to reprimand his daughter, but Li Mao said: "Brother is about to thank my little sister, this ointment is really effective, it is very cool to apply, I can feel that the injury is recovering, I had a good night's sleep for my brother yesterday." ”

Xu Ai was very happy, and said with a smile on his eyebrows: "Well, it's good if it works! Brother Li should insist on using it, so that it can get better quickly, you don't have to worry about the ointment, I still have a lot of it at home." ”

Li Mao had a very good impression of this cute and caring little girl, and said with a smile: "Thank you, little sister, I wrote it down for my brother." ”

After the two sides saw each other, the caravan was ready, Xu Jiu immediately ordered to set off, the entire caravan moved slowly, and Li Mao still followed the caravan at the back of the formation.

The road was very smooth, nothing major happened, and at noon, the Xu family caravan could see the city of Dunhuang Mansion from a distance.

The history of the founding of Dunhuang Mansion is not very long, it is a new state capital after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, which is much larger than the Guazhou Mansion that was already built during the Han Dynasty.

The city wall is more than ten zhang high, which is enough to resist the 36 ** teams of the Western Regions that lack siege equipment, and has become the fortress of the Tang State wedge at the forefront of the Western Regions.

This giant city is the pride of the Tang people, and it is also the sad place of the countries of the Western Regions, and the souls of the Western Regions that have wandered under the giant city for tens of thousands of years can be tens of millions.

Every time Xu Jiu saw this majestic city, he would be in awe, if there was no such giant city, the territory of the Tang Dynasty would have retreated four hundred miles, and at least millions of Tang people would have to find another way to survive.

There are many people in Biansai who have Xu Jiu's thoughts, at least all the people in the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce also have the same thoughts.

When the caravan had moved forward for several miles, the giant city was already close at hand and clearly visible, and at this time, the number of merchants and travelers on the official road gradually increased.

Walking another mile, a small square appeared next to the official road, and there was a small stone tablet standing on the square, only eight feet high, simple and solemn, with a line of blood characters written on it - "Those who offend me in Huaxia will be punished even if they are far away!"

This is the famous "Xuanwei Monument"! It was erected during the Han Empire in the previous dynasty, and is now inherited by the Tang State, and is the symbol of the national and democratic movements.

As a Tang person, Xu Jiu naturally has to pay homage here.

Xu Jiu got off the carriage, and many guards and men also got off the horses and carriages, and followed Xu Jiu to the small square to worship.

Li Mao also dismounted, but he didn't go with Xu Jiu, because he wasn't sure if he was from the Huaxia tribe or not, and the caravan still needed someone to take care of it, so he took the initiative to stay.

Li Mao saw so many people worshipping the Xuanwei Monument here, and he had to admit that the Huaxia people were really united and had such a strong cohesion, no wonder they could occupy the richest Central Continent in Dongshengzhou.

Li Mao saw that a stream of mental power floated up from the heads of these worshipping Tang people, slowly gathered into the air, and then was absorbed by the Xuanwei Monument.

Seeing this scene, Li Mao once again aroused his doubts, he had tried many times before, confirming that he did not have the power of True Yuan.

But Li Mao can see the trajectory of spiritual power and mana, and it seems that many secrets have not been answered until they are fully recovered.

After Xu Jiu led everyone to worship, the caravan set off again, and a quarter of an hour later the caravan came to the city gate.

Because it is necessary to always guard against the attack of the enemy from the north, the north gate of Dunhuang Mansion is the most majestic one among the four gates, and the city gate is as high as four zhang eight feet, and three zhang and six feet wide.

In order to facilitate the inventory, only half of the city gate is opened at the north gate for business travelers to pass, and the level of vigilance and inspection is very high.

Every day, there will be more than a dozen tax collectors and more than 20 city gate guards guarding the north city gate, and there is a group of no less than 100 armor soldiers hidden in the city gate hole, ready to be called at any time.

There are more business travelers entering the city today, because it has entered the winter moon, all the chambers of commerce and caravans have to return to the city, and no one dares to haunt the desert from November to January.

A strong wind, a heavy snowfall, or a cold snap can harvest the lives of all living creatures on the surface of the wasteland.

According to the usual practice, after three days, all the gates of Dunhuang will be closed, and it will not be reopened until February 2 of the following year.

The city gate official on duty today, in his forties, is not tall, with a weathered face, wrapped in an old sheepskin jacket and curled up on the only Taishi chair at the city gate, basking in the still warm sun, and is closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.

At this time, the sun had passed the middle of the day, and the city gate official suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the long procession into the city, and then looked at the sky, and couldn't help frowning, and beckoned to the city gate guards standing aside.

Immediately, a clever young guard ran over: "My lord, what do you command?"

The city gate official glanced at him and said, "I've said it a hundred times, just call me the captain or the leader, my lord is to call those high-ranking officials, and I really can't afford to be a small captain of the city gate guard." ”

The clever guard said with a smile on his face: "Chief, you are called a brother, and I really admire your personality and ability! ”

The city gate official smiled and patted the smart guard on the shoulder and said, "I know you are sincere, but it will not be good if you are heard by the Shangguan, I am an old man, and the adults will not punish me if they give me more or less face."

But if they catch you, they will not be polite and sentence you to contempt of military discipline. If it is light, he will be punished with 30 canes and fined for half a year, and if it is heavy, he will be dismissed from the army and sent back to his hometown to be used as a coolie. ”

The clever guard stuck out his tongue and said, "It's so serious, don't scare me, boss, I won't dare to call you nonsense again." If you have any military affairs for your subordinates to do, you should give orders. ”

The city gate official said: "Don't be poor, don't be poor, go and report to the garrison, just say that there are more people entering the city today, whether to extend the time to enter the city, or open the double gate of the north gate."

If the garrison agrees to any of the arrangements, you will say that the north gate is short of manpower, and for safety reasons, you hope that the garrison will send another team of men and horses to help. ”

The clever guard repeated the words of the city gate official, and after confirming that it was correct, he immediately rushed to report the news.

The city gate official retracted into his Taishi chair again, and thought: "In the past few years, Datang has really become much stronger, and the activities of merchants have been increasing every year, is this about to usher in a prosperous era? ”

Just as he was thinking wildly, suddenly there was a commotion in the previously well-ordered ranks, and many people in the back of the line rushed forward.

The city gate officer was furious, and immediately got up and shouted, "Come, ten brothers, take the guys, and come with me to see." ”