On the 14th day of the first month, in Dunhuang City, every household was decorated with lanterns, and everyone's faces were filled with happy smiles. ◢ with * dream ◢ small *.lā

Since yesterday evening, the city lord's mansion issued an announcement that all the barbarian coalition troops besieging Dunhuang City for more than 40 days had withdrawn, the dark clouds that had been suppressed in the hearts of the people of Dunhuang City finally dissipated, and the people of the whole city immediately fell into ecstasy.

People were eager to take to the streets to celebrate, but last night the city lord's palace did not lift the curfew, and people could only hide at home and share the joy of victory with their families.

Early on the morning of the 14th, the order of the city lord's palace to lift the curfew and restore normal order in the city was issued, and the food and arms control was also lifted on the same day, and these two clear signals were issued, which made the people of the whole city rejoice.

The gentry and villagers of each Fang City gathered the Fang people in the square of the Fang City, and asked everyone to clean the Fang City on the same day, all the streets should be cleaned up, and every family should have a new atmosphere, and celebrate the success of Dunhuang City in repelling the barbarian coalition army.

The fang officials of each fang city asked each family to worship the spiritual seat of the soldiers who sacrificed the soldiers of the border army in the house, worship the Dunhuang border army who died in the battle of Zi'an Shoucheng, and at the same time prepare the things of the labor army, and wait for the official government to order, go to the city wall and the military city to comfort the soldiers who fought desperately for the people.

Everyone in the city began to get busy, no matter who had been controlled for more than forty days, after finally being freed, they must have wanted to celebrate, so as to vent the depression in their hearts.

The city lord's mansion is also in the lanterns, the city lord Li Chengliang's spirit is very good, so that the illness has recovered a lot, this time Dunhuang City successfully resisted the attack of the barbarian coalition army, it can be described as a great achievement, the award document has been reported to Chang'an, it depends on how the court praises the people of the city.

Changshi, Sima, and Lushi joined the army today to ask for instructions from the adults, and the gentry and villagers of Dunhuang City petitioned on behalf of the people to prepare for a large-scale celebration of the labor army in the near future.

The lord of the city pondered for a moment and said: "This is a good thing to boost the morale of the people and the army, you might as well host it by the people, we will guide it, as long as you wait for the relevant commendation documents of the imperial court to arrive, you can let them hold an event, it is best to complete it before the opening of the city on February 2." ”

Changshi said: "What the adults think about is that we will start to prepare. ”

The city lord asked again, "How is order restored in the city?"

Sima said: "Order in the city has been basically restored, and some shops have begun to resume operations, and it is expected that the shops in the city will return to their pre-war appearance within five days." ”

The city lord nodded and said: "Well, supervise and let all the shops open as soon as possible, so that the people in the city can feel at ease, especially the restaurants and restaurants, they have resumed business, and they can directly transmit the signal of stability, and the people's hearts will be calm." How's it going on the military side?"

"Today, General Fan began to send people to clean up the corpses of the Tang people outside the city, and according to the instructions of Jingyunguan, all the personnel were incinerated on the spot to avoid the spread of ice leeches. ”

The city lord said with a solemn face: "Well, this is a major event related to the life and death of Dunhuang City, you must do your best to cooperate, all kinds of materials and manpower to keep up, and the sergeants who participated in the collection of corpses this time must increase their salaries and benefits, and they can't chill the hearts of the front-line soldiers."

The epidemic prevention work in the city should also be done in place, and the publicity of drinking water safety should be increased, and residents in Dunhuang City will only be allowed to drink boiled water in the future. ”

The record of joining the army was hurriedly recorded, and the lord of the city finished arranging the government affairs, got up and walked to the courtyard, looking in the direction of the north of the city.

All the reservists in the city were disbanded and went home to celebrate, the border army and the city defense army were still holding the city wall and were still in a state of combat readiness, and the city defense army could not be disbanded for the time being, in case the barbarian army sneaked back and attacked.

And the border army finally dared to go out of the city on a large scale today, with 2,000 border troops falling from the north of the city and 1,000 border soldiers falling down from the city with ropes from the west of the city.

The corpses were contaminated with leech eggs and could not be transported into the city, but had to be incinerated on the spot outside the city, otherwise the melting of the ice and snow would cause a large-scale disaster next year.

All the border soldiers were given the tightest protection, with three-tiered pullover scarves tucked into the collar to cover their faces so that only their eyes remained, long-sleeved leather gloves, cotton sleeves tucked into the gloves, long-waisted leather boots, and the legs of cotton trousers tucked into the boot shafts, and then tied tightly with belts.

The cotton clothes on the body were also tied with ropes twice, and then a white cover-apiece was put on the outside of the cotton clothes, so that the strict protection was to prevent the ice leeches from taking the opportunity to stick to the people and enter the city.

Originally, the border army generals did not pay attention to the harm of ice leeches, but it was not until the end of the first phase of isolation that two border soldiers who had participated in the beheading of the Tang Dynasty prisoners were infected with ice leeches, and the border army generals attached great importance to it, so when cleaning up these corpses this time, the border army paid special attention to the protection work.

Fan Yunchao stood at the head of the city, looking at the corpses under the city with some sadness, and Huang Qian stepped forward and said, "General, the city is windy, you go down to rest first." ”

Fan Yunchao watched the border army clean up the corpses of the Tang people under the city, and arranged them in ten piles neatly, and there were sergeants next to him who began to set up firewood piles to make a temporary incineration plant.

Eventually, the corpses need to be sprinkled with fire oil and incinerated to ensure that the ice leeches do not overflow.

The corpses abandoned by the Mengyuan people were randomly piled up in a huge Jingguan and piled up on the side of the road, and these corpses would not be disposed of for the time being before the beginning of spring, mainly to deter the barbarians and prevent them from attacking again.

Fan Yunchao said in a deep voice: "Have you explained to the sergeants the precautions for handling corpses before?"

Mr. Huang Qian hurriedly said: "The explanation is very clear, and every sergeant is required to memorize and memorize before being sent out." ”

Fan Yunchao nodded and said: "Well, after disposing of the corpses, I have to wronged them, and then stay on the city wall for fifteen days, and only after making sure that they are not infected with ice leeches can we let them go down to the city, is the pacification work done?"

Mr. Huang Qian nodded and said: "It's all made clear, the two thousand brothers brought by me and Mr. Ma Qian went down to dispose of the corpses, and they were paid two months' double salary, and the brothers were very willing." ”

Fan Yunchao condensed his eyes and looked at the city and said, "Has the mage of Jingyunguan also gone down?"

Huang Qian pointed to the city and said, "My lord, look, there is a person there who is sprinkling yellow powder near the incineration plant, and that is the mage of Jingyunguan. ”

Fan Yunchao still couldn't see clearly: "I sighed and said, I'm old, my body is not good, and I can't see it clearly at this distance." ”

Mr. Huang Qian hurriedly said: "The general has just passed the age of confusion, and it is when he is in the prime of life, how can he feel this way?"

Fan Yunchao shook his head and said: "My body knows best, and if there is another siege by the barbarian coalition army, I will explain here." ”

Huang Qian said: "General, the retreat of the barbarian coalition army this time is very abrupt, is it the reason why Jingyunguan made a move?"

Fan Yunchao shook his head and said, "Those are the things of the cultivation realm, and we ordinary people still don't need to know about it." By the way, how did you do to keep Li Mao?"

Huang Qian said: "General, Li Mao is a person of integrity and promise, he first promised to escort the Xu family to the south, so he can't stay in the army to serve, I have no choice, Ma Qian is not dead, and today he went to the Xu family to lobby Li Mao." ”

Fan Yunchao sighed: "In today's world, how many people are willing to contribute to the country? If Lao Ma can't persuade him today, don't let him go, everyone has their own ambitions and can't force them, let them go on the day of the opening of the city on February 2." ”

Mr. Huang Qian nodded and said: "General, I believe that there are more capable people in the people, as long as we work hard to discover, there will definitely be people who are willing to serve in the army." ”

Fan Yunchao saw that the temporary incineration plant in the distance had begun to ignite and smoke, and he couldn't bear to look at it anymore, so he turned around and left.

......

Dunhuang City Outer City, Xujia Chamber of Commerce.

Li Mao now lives in the Xujia Chamber of Commerce, since he assassinated Batu and returned to the city, because of the need to do epidemic prevention monitoring, he did not return to the Xu Mansion, and was required to live in the Xujia Chamber of Commerce and not go out at will.

This was originally a small courtyard where the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce stacked up sundries, but now it has been cleaned up and used as a temporary residence for Li Mao.

There were a few loads of gifts in the courtyard of the small courtyard, and the two border soldiers were guarding the gate of the courtyard, Ma Qianzong had been in for a quarter of an hour and had not come out, and the two border soldiers did not speak, but they all knew that this time Ma Qianzong must have returned in vain.

Suddenly, the curtain of the door was lifted, and Mr. Ma Qian and Li Mao walked out together.

Mr. Ma Qian walked to the courtyard and said: "Li Daxia, it's a pity that I can't gallop with you, the green mountains do not change, and the green water flows forever, I wish you a smooth journey to the south, and you will see you again in the future." ”

Li Mao also hurriedly replied: "Let Master Ma bother, say hello to the general and Huang Qian on my behalf, and say that although I, Li Mao, can't fight side by side with everyone, my respect for the border army is from the heart." ”

Mr. Ma Qian nodded vigorously and said: "Xie Lixia, these things in the courtyard are all worthless gifts, they are not used for public money, they are all gifts that the border army brothers pooled money to buy for you, please be sure to accept them." ”

Li Mao knew that he couldn't refuse, so he had to accept it: "Mr. Ma Qian, I accepted these gifts, you are busy with military affairs, I won't keep you any longer, go slowly." ”

Ma Qian always said goodbye and led his own soldiers to quickly beat the horses away.

As soon as Mr. Ma Qian left, Xu Ai didn't know where to get out, grabbed Li Mao's sleeve and said, "Brother Li, I was really afraid that you agreed to stay just now." ”

Li Mao lifted the curtain and walked into the house and said, "Silly girl, I promised to send your family back to your hometown, how could I promise the military." How many pulses have you already developed?"

Xu Ai followed Li Mao into the house and said, "I have already extended six pulses, Brother Li has changed the exercises this time, is it useful?" ”

Li Mao paused for a moment and said, "I already have a sense of qi, and I should be able to embark on the path of cultivation soon." ”

Xu Ai shouted happily: "Great! Brother Li can also cultivate." ”

Li Mao was very unhappy in his heart, he didn't expect that in the end, he could rely on a demon clan technique to embark on the path of cultivation, did he really have the bloodline of the demon clan? What kind of mystery did he have?

Li Mao quickly put these emotions aside and continued to talk to Xu Ai: "How is the preparation over there from Uncle Nine? There are less than twenty days left before the opening day of the city on February 2nd, and we have to step up our preparations. ”

Xu Ai said: "Well, the transfer of the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce has been negotiated, and the Shen family in the city is willing to take over the whole thing, but the price is very low, and Dad is ready to lose some money and will change hands, so the handover will be done in the next few days." ”

Li Mao said, "Well, are any of the nurses, men, and servants at home willing to go with us?"

Xu Ai pouted and said: "Only Xiao Zhu and Xiao Zhu are willing to go back to their hometown with us, and the others choose to stay, my father is just for them to keep their jobs, and he does not hesitate to accept the harsh conditions of the Shen family, so that the Shen family promises to use the people we used to hire in the future Chamber of Commerce." ”

Li Mao said: "Uncle Jiu is a great good man, you should support your father's decision, you need to know that good people accumulate yin virtue, good people have good rewards, what your father has done for others, God will always compensate him elsewhere." ”

Xu Ai said: "Okay, what Brother Li said is reasonable. By the way, Brother Li, now that the curfew has been lifted and the shops on the street are gradually resuming business, you can continue to take me to treasure hunting, that little incense burner last time was so magical, it is becoming more and more new. ”

Li Mao said, "Are you now proficient in taking things out of the incense burner?"

Xu Ai said: "Of course, I have to practice many times a day, it is really easy to use, and a lot of valuable things can be put in it." ”

Li Mao said: "Okay, while the city is still closed and the things in the jewelry and antique store are relatively cheap, let's go and find some treasures and come back, and make up for all the money lost by the Ninth Uncle Transfer Chamber!"

Xu Ai shouted happily: "Great, great! I'll go in a while!"