Led by the guide Kang Bai, the team traveled westward. Twenty days later, the team passed through the Qaidam Basin and arrived at the Gasi Grassland.
A few years ago, Li Ye led thousands of exhausted Tang troops to fight a bloody battle with 2,000 Tibetan troops here, and was almost overturned by the Tubo troops. That battle was also the highest casualty ratio since Li Ye joined the army. The number of casualties reached 40% of the entire army.
It has not been surpassed yet.
Li Ye led the entire army to offer sacrifices and mourn to the graves of the fallen soldiers.
After resting for a long time, the team set foot on the road to the Altyn Mountain Pass.
The altitude begins to increase. The altitude of the Gasi Grassland is only about 3,000 meters, but when we reach the Altun Mountains, the altitude quickly rises to more than 4,000 meters.
Everyone, including Yang Yuhuan, took medication to prevent altitude sickness, but many soldiers were still pale and short of breath.
The ground also began to become extremely bumpy and uneven. Although the carriage could barely walk, the interior of the carriage was too bumpy to ride on.
At this time, Yang Yuhuan was also pale and short of breath. Li Ye simply hugged her and rode on the back of a camel, while Yang Yuhuan lay in her husband's arms and fell asleep.
There was no problem with the two maids. They were also riding on camels, looking around curiously.
Li Ye has experience. He knows that Yang Yuhuan only suffers from mild altitude sickness, which is not a big problem. She takes medicine every day. It is normal at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, and she only has a slight reaction at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters.
The same goes for the soldiers, it will be fine once they cross the Altun Mountains.
Li Ye ordered all soldiers to ride on camels. The key is that the camels are equipped with backpacks, so they can sleep directly on the camels. Each soldier was given a pot of grape juice, talked less, rested more, and replenished the sugar in the body in time.
Other soldiers who did not suffer from altitude sickness took turns to rest, and the team kept walking without stopping to waste time.
Yang Yuhuan woke up slowly. She had a good sleep and her complexion improved a little.
"Husband, I feel better. My chest is not as tight as before."
Li Ye smiled and said: "Stop talking and drink some grape juice!"
Li Ye handed her the kettle. Yang Yuhuan drank a few sips of grape juice and felt better. She sat up and looked around. There were snow-capped mountains all around. They walked through the snow-capped valley.
"Is this crossing the snow-capped mountains?"
Li Ye nodded, "If you close your eyes and rest, you can go out tomorrow morning!"
Yang Yuhuan nestled in her husband's arms and slowly closed her eyes.
The whole team was very quiet and silent all night. The next morning, the team finally walked out of the Altyn Mountains and looked at the endless grassland in front of them. The soldiers suddenly cheered.
The altitude got lower and lower as we walked, and when we arrived at Ruoqiang Ancient City, also known as Dianhe City, the altitude had dropped to about one thousand meters. Everyone returned to normal. Yang Yuhuan's face became rosy, and his eyes became bright again.
The carriage has copper shafts and iron wheels, which are very strong and not damaged at all. Walking on the soft sand beside the river, the carriage becomes comfortable again.
Yang Yuhuan returned to the carriage. She found that the team was actually walking eastward, and asked in confusion: "Husband, where are we going?"
Li Ye smiled and said: "There is a big desert to the north of us and we can't get through it, so we go to Puchanghai first, and then go to Qiuci along the Chihe River."
"But yesterday you told me that the desert can be crossed."
Li Ye smiled and said: "You can go to Khotan Town, you can go all the way north along the Khotan River, but the Khotan River is 1,500 miles away to the west, which is very far, and it is only 500 miles from here to Puchang Sea.
"
It was also on the way that Li Ye learned from his guide Kang Bai that there were roads in the desert of the Tang Dynasty. Several rivers originating from the Kunlun Mountains all crossed the desert and poured into the Chihe River, such as the famous
The Hotan River is lined with poplar trees on both sides of the river. Even if the flow almost stops in autumn and winter, there is still a thin trickle on the river bed, which is enough to ensure that there is no shortage of water. Therefore, from Qiuci Town to Yutian Town, it runs directly through it.
The Taklimakan Desert completely subverted the cognition of later generations of Li Ye.
The team continued eastward and reached the Puchang Sea. After resting for two days, they turned west and headed toward Kucha along the Chihe River.
In the morning, the team finally arrived at Kucha. Bai Xiaode, the governor of Anxi and the military envoy of the four towns, and Bai Li, the king of Kucha, led the nobles and civil and military generals out of the city to welcome the arrival of Qi King Li Ye with a grand ceremony.
Bai Xiaode is actually the brother of King Bai Li. He is the second son of the old king of Qiuci Kingdom. He has joined the Tang army for almost 30 years and is loyal to the Tang Dynasty.
King Bai Li invited Li Ye and his second concubine to board a large carriage without a carriage. They stood on the platform and the carriage moved forward slowly. More than 100,000 Kucha and Han people knelt down to worship and burned incense to welcome the arrival of King Qi and his concubine.
This is the gift of the emperor. In the eyes of the Anxi people, the King of Qi is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. They use the gift of the emperor to welcome their lord.
Li Ye was very familiar with Kucha City. Everything remained the same, including the familiar houses, familiar streets and palaces, and the familiar people.
In addition to the soldiers, the team all went to the military camp. Li Ye and Yang Yuhuan also moved into the VIP room in the palace. Sixteen beautiful maids welcomed the arrival of the new master.
"Husband, I want to take a shower first. I'm covered in sweat from all the walking. It's too uncomfortable."
Li Ye himself felt uncomfortable. He ordered the maids, and they led him and Yang Yuhuan to the bathing room.
The bathing room was magnificently decorated, with the surrounding walls inlaid with gold and precious stones, and the floor covered with large pieces of white jade. Even the bathing pool was paved with jade, with gold and jade intermingling and shining with magnificent light.
Several maids took off their clothes for the couple, then took off their own clothes and helped them into the bath.
After taking a bath and changing into new clothes, they felt refreshed. At this time, the king sent someone to invite them to a banquet.
After the banquet, Yang Yuhuan was really tired. Li Ye asked two maids to wait on his wife to rest while he went to the military camp.
At present, the Tang army in Anxi has a total of 15,000 people, including the 5,000 Han garrison who stayed in Anxi and the 5,000 Hu army, plus the 5,000 Tang army brought back by Bai Xiaode.
Except for Kucha, the four towns in Anxi have 2,000 people stationed in each of the other three towns. In addition, there are 2,000 people stationed in Ruoqiang Dianhe City, and 7,000 people are stationed in Kucha.
When Li Ye came to the gate of the military camp, Bai Xiaode led the generals to kneel on one knee and salute, "See you, Your Highness!"
Li Ye nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, generals, please get up!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
The generals surrounded Li Ye like stars holding the moon and entered the Chinese army's tent. Li Ye looked at it and said with a smile: "Carry out all the tables and items!"
The soldiers started working together. After a while, the big tent became empty. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what His Highness King Qi meant?
Li Ye sat cross-legged on the floor, waved his hands and said with a smile: "Everyone, sit down!"
Only then did everyone understand that His Highness did not want to be aloof. Everyone was moved and sat down one after another.
"Let's chat and see what difficulties everyone has. While I'm here, everyone can speak freely. If you have any difficulties, we will find a way to solve them."
