At this time, their westbound team had passed Zhangye, marched northwest along the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains, and completely entered the desert and Gobi world.
This is the most difficult section of the Hexi Corridor to walk. Because the altitude is getting higher, some people in the team have obvious altitude sickness, and the team walks slower and slower.
There is a large desert to the north, and traces of the Seoul Wall can still be seen from time to time. After walking for more than ten days, not a drop of rain fell, and the sun shone straight down, causing ugly mouths to crack in the dry land.
Fortunately, the Hexi Corridor is the choke point from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, and many tribes will migrate there consciously or unconsciously, and they are distributed in oases, large and small.
You can't tell which ethnic group they belong to, so this place is in chaos all year round.
At that time, Yang Guangxi's inspection tour stopped in Zhangye. He was probably the emperor who traveled the furthest since ancient times and even in the feudal dynasties in the future.
Of course, the influence of the Central Plains Empire goes far beyond this. The influence of the Han, Wei, Jin, and even the former Sui Dynasties reached as far as Central Asia. The Hexi Corridor was only a starting point.
Taking the former Sui Dynasty as an example, they actually took the entire Hexi Corridor as their own, and established the four counties of Yiwu, Shanshan, Qiemo, and Dunhuang in its western section, and established Xihai County on the south side of the Qilian Mountains, completely integrating the Hexi Corridor.
Package included.
Therefore, Yang Guang's patrol to the west can only be regarded as a deterrent. A standard military parade, apart from satisfying the emperor's vanity, has little effect. The Sui Dynasty declined within a few years, and the people in the Western Regions are still the same.
They will listen to whoever is strong.
This is not only true for the countries in the Western Regions, but also for the tribes living in the Hexi Corridor. When civil strife broke out in the Sui Dynasty, the area west of Zhangye was out of control early and became a three-no-no zone.
Of course, although the natural conditions here are harsh, they are far from being extinct. Although it does not rain or snow a few times a year, after the snow in the Qilian Mountains and Kunlun Mountains melts, it flows into the Hexi Corridor, bringing good weather to this place.
Comes life.
To the east of Zhangye, you can see a lot of cultivated land and pastures, where herders and farmers are mixed together, living a life of half herding and half farming.
This is a land that is almost wild, but there are still many people struggling to survive on it.
……………………
While walking, someone approached Cheng Zhijie.
Cheng Zhijie turned around and took a look. It was Liangzhou Sima Junjunji who joined the army.
Hou Junji was a native of Sanshui County, Kansai, and his ancestral home was Shanggu. He was formerly a confidant general of King Qin Li Shimin and led his army to defend Hancheng. Shortly after Li Shimin defeated Feng Yi and led his army to flee west, Hou Junji led his army to offer Hancheng.
Soon after he was appointed as the guard of the left prison, Sima joined the army and went to Liangzhou with General Pang Yu, the guard of the left prison.
Despite his young age, this man was very talented. When Pang Yu defeated the Tuyuhun coalition army the year before last, it was he who saw the new arrival of the Tuyuhun army and left the women and children behind, grazing cattle and sheep while rushing on the road.
So he suggested that Pang Yu send 500 cavalry to attack Tuyuhun's retreat. Pang Yu immediately agreed and sent him to lead 500 cavalry to attack. When the Tuyuhun coalition wanted to fight the Tang army, the women, children, cattle and sheep behind were already marquis.
You gather the captives.
The coalition forces were immediately in chaos. Pang Yu took advantage of the situation and led his troops to cover up the enemy. He used thousands of troops to defeat more than 100,000 enemies and almost wiped out the entire Tuyuhun army. The battle became famous in the northwest.
Hou Junji was promoted to the rank of Sima of Liangzhou and joined the army for his military exploits.
After hearing about this in Guzang, Cheng Zhijie felt that this man was quite talented, but had some problems with his background. The confidants of King Qin Li Shimin...
Of course, this is not a big deal, because he saw and heard in Chang'an that many of the old members of the Tiance Mansion were re-employed, and Hou Junji was the one who suffered the most misfortune.
For example, Fang Xuanling was Li Erlang's mastermind, and now he has become Jingzhao County Sheriff Shi? There is also the old guy Changsun Shunde, who is Li Yuan's relative, and Xiao Yu, who is Li Yuan's relative.
It can be seen that family background is still at play. Hou Junji's family background is slightly worse. Although he is also a family of officials, he is not among the wealthy...
However, when he actually met Hou Junji and interacted with him, he found that this man was talented, but he had serious problems.
This man has so many ideas and is so proud. No one can compare to me. Even Lao Cheng, who loves to make friends, is a bit overwhelmed, let alone other people.
He is still very confident. For example, his brain is really good, but his martial arts is only so-so. Twenty steps away, if you stand still, he may not be able to hit one of ten arrows, and even more so when riding a horse.
Waste, that is, the level that will not fall down.
Cheng Zhijie felt that he could defeat such a group of people by himself.
But I don't think so. I often claim to be brave. After being defeated by Cheng Zhijie in a friendly competition, I keep praising Cheng Zhijie as an enemy of ten thousand people, which makes Lao Cheng dumbfounded. I understand what you mean. I'm too powerful, no?
You are such a waste.
Hou Junji's character flaws are so obvious that he still hasn't lost his head. This only shows that he is very lucky. The people he meets are willing to use their talents instead of liking their people.
Li Shimin is like this, and Pang Yu is like this.
Otherwise, Hou Junji would not have led five hundred soldiers to follow Cheng Zhijie to the west. Obviously, the people in Liangzhou did not like this guy and simply took the opportunity to drive him out.
Hou Junji doesn't care about this. He has his own set of self-consistent logic. Others don't like him because they are jealous of his talent. There is no need to be angry with some mediocre people.
When he first recommended himself to the King of Qin, he was often laughed at by others. But what happened in the end? Most of those people were trampled under his feet.
Now he feels that with his own talents, as long as someone in the court speaks for him, he will definitely not lag behind others in his achievements. Although Cheng Dabeard is a bit vulgar, in his eyes, it is that thigh.
Not only did he go to Liaodong with the current emperor, but he also served in the Qianniu Prefecture. He was obviously very trustworthy and a good guide.
So in front of Cheng Zhijie, he consciously or unconsciously put away some of his arrogance, and his intention to have a relationship with Cheng Zhijie was obvious.
Cheng Dabeard was a man who accepted everyone who came. He and Hou Junji became brothers along the way, and their relationship has become very close.
……………………
When they came closer, Hou Junji and Cheng Zhijie were riding side by side. He was a little bit affected by altitude sickness, but he had been in Liangzhou for more than a year, so he didn't have much of a problem. He only breathed heavily through the cloth and said in a muffled voice:
"We need to find a place to camp and have a good rest. Everyone is very tired after coming all the way from Zhangye. If we continue walking like this, even humans and horses will not be able to bear it.
Otherwise, we have to change camels..."
Cheng Zhijie shook his head, "It's fine for doing business, but it's not good for fighting with others. It runs too slowly, and you have to hold on to the knife when you leave Zhangye. The people here are very wild, and it's not as easy to deal with as before."
Damn it, I feel like I’m almost at the edge of the horizon, and I still can’t see the Yumen Pass. It’s either a mountain or a Gobi desert... What the Supreme said is really right. If you don’t go out for a walk, you don’t know how big the world is.”
As expected, once Cheng Dabeard took out his magic weapon, which was his relationship with the emperor, Hou Junji unconsciously lost his mind.
"What my brother said is that this trip has really enriched my experience. Compared with this place, Liangzhou can be called a prosperous place."
Cheng Zhijie chuckled, turned to the back and shouted, "Groni, you old guy, get over here quickly."
There was a response immediately from behind, and the chief guide Groni came running over on camels with his two sons.
Groni is a Qiang. It is said that his father's generation got rid of their slave status and took him to and from Hexi to serve as a guide for merchants coming from east to west. Later, they settled down in Guzang.
In Cheng Zhijie's opinion, most of them were telling lies. They might be the remnants of Bai Yusuo's rebel army, or the remnants of An Xiuren's party.
Of course, these are not important. People in the northwest are more forgetful than people in Henan. They basically listen to whoever makes the decision. A few years after An Xiuren died, the Qiang people had already completely forgotten about him.
.
The status of the Qiang people in the northwest is very low, so there is no need to pretend. Cheng Zhijie found Groni in a corner of Guzang City after someone recommended him in the winter.
After two drinks, Groni and his sons regarded him as the most distinguished guest, the kind of nobleman who made them want to be slaves. If Cheng Dabeard agrees, he can take the Groni family's
The women all sleep with each other, because most tribes in the northwest have the tradition of keeping wives as guests.
According to Groni himself, he came to Zhangye with the army more than ten or twenty years ago and drank fine wine from the Central Plains outside the nobleman's tent.
Well, these people in the northwest like to brag. Most of them have a problem with bargaining with businessmen. When they find an opportunity, they will brag about their experiences. In this regard, they are actually quite similar to Cheng Dabeard.
That's why Cheng Dabeard was able to hang out in Guzang City like a fish in water.
Groni does look very old, with dark and hard skin, gray hair, and cloudy eyes as if covered with a layer of sand, but in fact he is only in his early forties, not much older than Cheng Zhijie
.
Obviously, the water and soil in the northwest are not very supportive.
When he came closer, he followed the example of the sergeants and hammered his chest twice, and bent down deeply on the camel, "Old Groni is at your command."
Cheng Zhijie held his head high like a master and didn't talk nonsense to him at all, "Find a place to camp, preferably by the water... You damn thing always say it's almost there. Where is Fulu City? Why didn't I see it?"
"
Groni smiled flatteringly, glanced at Hou Junji timidly, and then said in awkward Chinese: "You wrongly blamed Old Groni. We walked a little slower. Now we have to go faster."
It takes two days to reach Fulu City.
Old Grony swears to you that he is absolutely right...if we walk for half a day, there will be a big river, enough to replenish drinking water and have a good rest."
Hou Junji asked, "How far is it to Yumen?"
Groni was obviously afraid of him. Compared with Cheng Dabeard, Hou Junji was obviously more like a real nobleman from the east.