"The Yumen Pass is ahead!" Zhou Shi reported on his horse and returned to the temporary camp.
This guy Zhou Shi was not good at reading and writing papers, but he was extremely talented in riding horses.
Zhang Duanyang saw Zhou Shima bending his bow and shooting an arrow, and directly said that he had chosen the wrong major.
With his superb equestrian skills, Zhou Shi naturally became the scout for the eastbound group. Relying on Zhou Shi's investigation along the way, the four of them also avoided a lot of troubles.
"Teacher, do we want to enter Yumen Pass?"
Zhang Duanyang was holding a bamboo slip in his hand. He had just put it away and was about to stuff it into his bag. When he heard Zhou Shi's question, he took out the bamboo slip and tapped Zhou Shi's headgear.
"I knew you didn't listen well to my class!"
Zhou Shi was wearing a headgear and could not feel the strength of the bamboo slips at all, but Zhou Shi still squatted down holding his head.
Zhang Duanyang pointed to the isolated city on Wanren Mountain and said: "Yumen Pass is a 'dangerous' pass. According to the system of the Tang Dynasty, we must check the pass when entering the customs. After verifying our identity, we must stamp the Yumen Pass ultimatum before we can continue forward."
"This is the principle of 'no mercy when in danger'. If we bypass it, we will become a gangster."
So that was the case. Li Daoyuan lamented that there was an expert on Dunhuang studies like Zhang Duanyang in the team. He also stayed at the inn and communicated with the officers and soldiers along the way. It was Zhang Duanyang who went there, saving a lot of trouble in the team.
Li Daoyuan raised his eyes and looked into the distance. On the vast sandy land, among the tens of thousands of mountains, a Great Wall was built around the mountains. A square fortress blocked the main entrance to the pass.
This is the Yumen Pass.
Zhang Duanyang also put away the bamboo slips. The majestic Yumen Pass was still brand new, not the ruins on the loess slopes of later generations.
There was a long queue outside Yumen Pass. These were all businessmen waiting in line to enter the pass.
"The Qiang flute does not need to blame the willows; the spring breeze does not pass through the Yumen Pass."
Yu Xiaoxiao read a poem, she looked at Zhou Shi curiously and asked: "Brother Zhou, is the poet who wrote this poem still alive?"
Zhou Shi touched his head and said, "Is this Wang Zhihuan's poem? Teacher, is Wang Zhihuan still alive?"
Zhang Duanyang said angrily: "I asked you to study hard, and now you won't even have a chance to brag in front of girls! Wang Zhihuan died during Tianbao's reign."
Yu Xiaoxiao asked Zhang Duanyang again: "Teacher Zhang, why do you say that the spring breeze does not cross Yumen Pass?"
Zhang Duanyang pointed to the surrounding mountains and said: "Yumen Pass has a typical continental climate. It is bounded by the Tianshan Mountains to the north and the Kunlun Mountains to the south. The mountains block the southeast wind blowing from the sea, so the spring breeze cannot blow at Yumen Pass."
Yu Xiaoxiao said: "So, then the location of Yumen Pass is very important?"
Zhang Duanyang nodded and said: "Yumen Pass guards the gateway to the entire Hexi Corridor and is an important fulcrum for the Tang Dynasty to control the Western Regions. There are a thousand Yumen Army troops stationed at Yumen Pass, all of whom are elite cavalry. The Tang Dynasty once fought fiercely with the Turks at Yumen Pass, and eventually defeated them.
The Turks were driven out of the Western Regions."
"So awesome!"
Yumen Pass is getting closer and closer, and a touch of green appears on the surrounding desert. The willow forest in front of Yumen Pass grows along the Hulu River. It is March in spring, and green buds are sprouting on the willow trees, blowing in the breeze.
and move.
"It's so beautiful!" Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the long willow forest. The road was dusty and windy. Seeing this vast willow forest made her feel happy.
Zhang Duanyang stroked his beard and said: "In the Tang Dynasty, the Hulu River was still connected to Daze, and the water and grass were quite abundant. The willow forest outside Yumen Pass that the poet mentioned really existed. Unfortunately, in later generations, the Hexi Corridor further became desertified, and Daze withered.
The Hulu River often stops flowing, and these willow trees are all dead."
In front of the majestic Yumen Pass, a long line of caravans were waiting to enter the pass.
After entering Yumen Pass, you can go all the way east to enter the Hexi Road of the Tang Dynasty.
The Central Plains is in chaos, and the price of silk in Anxi has skyrocketed.
I heard that Wuqi, the salt and iron envoy of the Tang Dynasty, has now opened up water transportation and can transport silk from the south of the Yangtze River to Fengxiang Mansion.
Merchants lined up to enter Yumen Pass, preparing to go south to Fengxiang Mansion to purchase silk.
Li Daoyuan had a pass from King Jianning, so he naturally did not have to queue up like the merchants. They drove their horses and camels to the city gate and presented gifts to the old soldiers guarding Yumen Pass.
棨 is a wooden sign for passage, with the holder's facial features and purpose of passage written in red on the back.
The front of the ticket is used to stamp each level. The pass can only be valid if the stamp of the previous level is on it. This is also to prevent criminals from forging passes.
The old guard guarding the gate was old and couldn't see clearly. It took him a long time to complete the inspection for the four people.
After stamping the seal tremblingly, the old soldier signaled that the four of them could enter the pass. At this moment, a commotion broke out in front of Yumen Pass.
Only a dozen knights were seen galloping toward Yumen Pass. Their armors were in tatters and they smelled strongly of blood.
The leading knight held up a wooden sign with feathers on it. After seeing the wooden sign, the guard at the gate immediately opened the door and let the knights run into the pass.
"Old man, where are these soldiers from?" Li Daoyuan asked curiously.
The old soldier guarding the city gate had already checked Li Daoyuan's relatives and knew that they were envoys sent by Shazhou to Fengxiang Mansion.
Since they are one of our own, the old soldier said: "Can't you see, Mr. Lang, these are the envoys sent by several capture guards in the north to ask for help?"
"Capture the Shoufu?"
"This is the messenger sent by the Baowen Mountain Capture Mansion to ask for help. They came once last month. General Fan already said that he had no troops to support him, so he came again this month."
The Capture Mansion is also a border garrison unit one level smaller than the army. The troops stationed in important areas like Yumen Pass are the Yumen Army, and the leader of the Yumen Army is the Yumen Army Defense Envoy.
There are usually only 500 people in the Kaoshou Mansion, and they are led by the Kaoshou Envoy.
The Tang Dynasty established eleven capture forts, large and small, in the northern part of Longyou Road. Baowenshan Capture Fortress is located two hundred kilometers north of Yumen Pass. It was originally established to guard against the Turks in the north.
Now that the Turks have collapsed, the function of the Baowen Mountain Guard House has been changed to defend against the newly rising Uighurs.
Seeing these messengers with broken armor and injuries on their bodies, they knew that the military situation in the north was urgent.
The old soldier sighed and said: "In recent years, Hui Hui'er has become more and more unruly. When I was in the army, Hui Hui'er would flee to the grassland in spring for fear that we would chop off his head and ask for a reward."
"Now Hui Huier is about to attack Yumen Pass, and General Fan has strictly ordered us not to attack."
Yu Xiaoxiao asked in confusion: "Why is this?"
The folk customs of the Tang Dynasty were open. There were female officials in the court of Wuzhou Dynasty, and there were also many female officials in Longyou Road. The old soldiers were not surprised to see Yu Xiaoxiao dressed in men's clothing.
He explained: "Fan Shoujiang said it was an order from Lord Jiedushi."
The Yumen Army, the Moli Army, and the Doulu Army were all under the jurisdiction of the Hexi Jiedu Envoy. The Jiedushi Envoy mentioned by the old soldier is exactly the current Hexi Jiedushi Envoy Guo Ziyi.
However, Guo Ziyi was leading troops to put down the rebellion, and this order was probably issued by the Jiedu Envoy.
"Why is this?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked in surprise.
"I heard that it was the emperor's order. Now the Tang Dynasty is borrowing troops to return to the Uighurs. I'm afraid that a slight provocation will damage the diplomatic relations between the two countries, so I ordered the border troops not to fight back."