Tibet

Chapter 224 Arriving in Kucha
After nearly half a month of long journey, Li Ye and his party arrived in Dunhuang, Shazhou
Dunhuang County is an important fork of the Silk Road. The southern line of the Silk Road can continue to the southwest along the Gobi Desert to enter Anxi, and then go to Qiuci and Shule along the Chihe River.

The other road is the northern line of the Silk Road, which enters Yizhou from Xingxing Gorge, passes through Beiting, and then exits from the Yili River Valley to Rehai.

Li Ye chose Shazhou Road. He wanted to go to Kucha to meet Gao Xianzhi first. Li Ye’s real purpose in coming to Anxi was to participate in the Battle of Talas, not a so-called tour. Naturally, he wanted to establish a good relationship with the participants in the Battle of Talas .

Shazhou in the Tang Dynasty occupied a very large area. Dunhuang County was in its northeast corner. Its territory extended westward to the Tulun Desert, which is the Taklimakan Desert. The territory of Shazhou also extended to southern Xinjiang. Including Mo County and Ruoqiang County, most of the land is desert and Gobi Desert.

This is also the most difficult journey for Li Ye since his journey to the west. It will take half a month to get out of Shazhou. The only supply point is Pu Leihai, which is today's Lop Nur.

There were two Sogdian caravans in front of them, the camels alone amounted to a thousand, and the camel caravans could not be seen at a glance, which was very spectacular.

The yellow sand road is long, and gusts of wind blow, flying sand and rocks, and thumb-sized rocks are mixed in the wind, crackling and hitting the cavalry.

The war horse neighed, raised its front hooves high, and the camel walked slowly.

Li Ye raised his head and found that the whole sky had turned yellow. This is... Is this a sandstorm?

The guide ran past and shouted: "A sandstorm is coming, a very violent sandstorm, let the camels and horses lie down, everyone is close to the camels!"

The soldiers pulled the horses and camels down one after another, and covered the eyes of the horses with cloth scarves, and the restless horses gradually calmed down.

The soldiers all leaned close to the camels, praying secretly that nothing happened.

It was still noon at this time, but the surroundings were already pitch black, the sky was covered with sand and dust, and only the sound of howling like a devil could be heard in my ears, which was extremely terrifying.

The sandstorm lasted for five full hours, and when the sky gradually cleared, it was already late at night.

The soldiers stood up slowly and brushed off the thick dust on their bodies. Many soldiers and horses were almost submerged, and the horses also struggled to get up. Li Ye ordered the captains of each team to count his men. Is there any accident?

Fortunately, although the sandstorm was terrifying, there were no casualties, and the horses and camels were safe and sound.

Everyone ate dry food, drank water, fed the war horses, and rested for half an hour. With the sound of the departure horn of the Sogdian caravan in the distance, Tang Jun also set off.

Li Ye sat on the back of a strong two-humped camel. The tall camel walked slowly with its long legs, and his body rose and fell accordingly. Li Ye stared blankly at the starry sky.

The sky seems to have been washed, the galaxy is bright, the stars are like gems on the blue velvet cloth, and a Milky Way crosses the sky like a jade belt.

Li Ye no longer considered the philosophical issues of where he came from and where he was going back. He was just attracted by the magnificent and beautiful starry sky, and felt a kind of loneliness and insignificance of human beings.

In fact, all the soldiers were looking up at the starry sky, and no one spoke. They were all shocked by the magnificent starry sky. A long meteor streaked across the night sky above their heads, causing the merchants and soldiers to exclaim.

But there is also a beautiful scene in which more than 30 orchids are also sitting on camels, nestling in the arms of Tang soldiers, looking up at the starry sky intoxicated.

Long story.

Ten days later, the team arrived at Pulei Sea. Pulei Sea is Lop Nur. Lop Nur in the Tang Dynasty had plenty of water, and the Chihe River and Qiemo River flowed into it. It was an endless freshwater ocean. There are large areas of Populus euphratica forest and reeds, and with water, everything becomes full of vitality.

There is a garrison and post station in Pulei, where hundreds of soldiers are stationed, and the post station is a transfer point for sending letters, which is equivalent to a post office.

In addition, there is a small town next to the garrison castle and the post station. There are about a hundred households, and almost every family has a shop. Inns, taverns, brothels and mansions, just these four. What is a mansion?It is a place to supplement supplies, providing water, dry food, forage and medicine.

After resting for two days in the town of Puleihai, the team set off again, but this time it was better. The team walked along the north bank of the Chihe River. The Chihe River is the Tarim River, but it belongs to the seasonal river, and the water volume is very small in autumn and winter. , In spring and summer, the water is sufficient to supplement the water flow of Pulei Sea.

There were two Sogdian caravans traveling with the Tang army. They were actually afraid of horse bandits along the way, so they went with the Tang army. They also provided a lot of convenience to the Tang army soldiers, mainly medicine. They trekked on the Silk Road for many years. There are some medicines for the treatment of travel sickness, which are miraculous and can be said to be effective after one patch.

These two Sogdian caravans are very large, one is from Kang, and the other is from Xiaoshi. Among them, the caravan from Xiaoshi followed more than 20 returning orchids. They all came to Datang to make a living in their teens. , Selling wine for ten years and earning a fortune, everyone is in their [-]s and can't stay. At this time, they can only return to their homeland to marry.

The existence of these orchids with amorous feelings has added a lot of color and vitality to the boring journey.

These orchids go to the Tang army every day to talk and laugh, even avoiding sandstorms and staying with Tang army soldiers. After a long time, some kind of emotional cremation will naturally burst out.

Even Li Ye could see that these thirty or so orchids were very scheming. They actually came to find a home among the soldiers of the Tang army, and they seemed to have found them all. It is estimated that after this trip, they would not return to China.

"General Li, let them be fulfilled!"

The person talking to Li Ye was the leader of Xiao Shiguo's caravan, named Slytherin. This name reminded Li Ye of Voldemort in his previous life.

Slytherin is about 50 years old. He has been walking the Silk Road since he was 20 years old. He has been walking for 30 years. The deep wrinkles on his face are full of years of wisdom.

"Their fate will not be very good after they go back. All the money they earned in the Tang Dynasty must be handed over to their parents. The parents must marry their brothers, and then they wait for men to choose wives like animals. Luckily, parents A little dowry will be given, if you are unlucky, you will get nothing, and the fate will be very miserable after marriage, and some husbands will even sell them to the Persians, hey! It’s tears.”

Li Ye nodded and said with a smile: "I will not interfere, as long as they are consensual, I will help them find a temporary home when they arrive in Kucha."

Li Ye suddenly remembered An Lu who took away his first kiss, and wondered how she was doing in Anguo?
After a long journey of one and a half months, Li Ye finally arrived at the city of Kucha, which is the largest military town among the four Anxi towns and the seat of the Anxi Jiedu Mansion.

The Anxi Army has 4000 people, but it controls the territory of Anxi and thousands of miles west of Congling. On the one hand, it is related to the fetter system of the Tang Dynasty, and on the other hand, it is also because of the strong combat power of the Anxi Army.

The city of Kucha belongs to the country of Kucha, where local people of various ethnic groups and the families of soldiers of the Tang Army lived. Although the imperial court launched the "Long March Athlete Movement" from the Kaiyuan period, it gave generous land and tax conditions and encouraged Han people to immigrate to the Western Regions. There are also tens of thousands of households from the Central Plains who moved westward, but they are mainly concentrated in the three states of Beiting, Tingzhou, Xizhou and Yizhou.

There are also some immigrants from Anxi in the south, mainly soldiers' families, but most of the soldiers' families are still in the Central Plains.

At present, the Anxi Jiedu Mansion is inside the city, but the camp of more than 1 Tang troops is outside the city.

Li Ye and his party walked into the noisy and bustling city of Kucha, and the exotic atmosphere rushed over them.

(End of this chapter)