Amidst the curses of the soldiers, the dung truck swayed out of the south gate and drove all the way. [:Through the gaps between the dung buckets, the majestic city of Susa became smaller and smaller, becoming more and more blurry.
Tatjana finally breathed a sigh of relief, covered her nose and shouted: "Stop the car quickly, big brother, stop the car quickly."
But Balak seemed not to hear anything. The whip in his hand made a crisp sound and hit the cow's back hard. The old cow ran even more happily.
Laura looked so frightened that she trembled: "Miss, something is wrong!"
Tatjana was unusually calm. She quietly took something out of her bag and hid it in her arms. She whispered, "Don't be afraid. This person doesn't look like a bad person, but you should be prepared for danger."
Balak is indeed just an ordinary manure digger, not a vicious person, but people always change, and no one is born a robber. At first, Balak saw the cute looks of the two little girls,
Feeling secretly pity, Balak agreed to send them out of the city. But when he saw the heavy burdens on their backs, Balak couldn't help but become greedy.[
Just hearing Balak's shout, the dung truck gradually drove away from the road and got into the small woods on the roadside. The dense branches and leaves blocked the moonlight, and from time to time, one or two howls of wild beasts could be heard, making it particularly eerie and terrifying.
, this time even Tatjana couldn't help but shudder.
With a loud "plop, plop" sound, Balak dropped the dung buckets on the car one by one, revealing two shivering little girls.
Tatjana had seen the world, and she quickly regained her composure. She took off her baggage, opened it in front of Balak, took out a handful of gold coins, and said, "Brother, thank you.
, let’s use this money to pay for the car fare.”
Balak had already seen the golden light shining in the baggage, and he was afraid that there were many treasures. He couldn't help but said with a smile: "This little money is not enough, why don't you get all the baggage!"
Laura lost her voice and said: "Twenty gold coins is not enough, you are too greedy!"
"Stop talking!" Tatjana stopped Laura, handed the bundle over, and said, "Okay, I'll give you all these things."
Balak snatched the bundle and said to Laura: "Take what you have on you too!"
Laura was a little reluctant, but Tatjana said in a deep voice: "Give it to him!"
Balak held the two bundles in his hands and weighed them for a long time, but a pair of thief eyes wandered back and forth on Tatjana and Laura. He couldn't help but think of getting both people and money, and suddenly threw the bundles on the ground.
He said sternly: "You two, take off your clothes!"
Laura asked in shock: "You, what are you going to do?"
Balak said proudly: "There is no reason not to eat the meat that is brought to your mouth. Brother, I don't know what a woman feels like. Today is the day to eat meat."
Laura was so frightened that she screamed again and again. Balak picked up a dung pickle and said viciously: "Stop shouting, it's useless even if you shout to break your throat! This is a wilderness, and it stinks to the sky. Others
I can't avoid it, who will come here!"
Tatjana plucked up the courage and said, "Good brother, our sisters are too dirty. Can you find a place for us to wash ourselves first before we do that?"
The sound of "good brother" made Balak's bones go numb. He suddenly smiled and said: "Brother, I have been dealing with these pickled things all day long. They only smell delicious, so how can I find them smelly? Little sister, please take off your clothes quickly."
, don’t waste your time.”
Tatjana lowered her head reluctantly, hesitated for a long time, and suddenly said: "Good brother, my hands are shaking so much, why don't you come and help me."
When Balak saw that the little girl was so knowledgeable, he couldn't help but feel elated. He threw the dung pickle and rushed towards the hungry tiger. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
I saw that Tatina was already rolling and running to the side, but there was a brilliant "gold bar" on Balak's chest. No, what kind of "gold bar" was that? It was clearly a golden handle, and
The blade had pierced his heart.
Just when Balak figured this out, he felt as if all his strength had been taken away from him. His legs softened and he slowly fell down. Blood flowed out from his chest, staining it red.
Seeing that Balak was dead, Tatjana stood there in a daze. The courage she had given during the killing had been thrown away, and she suddenly screamed hysterically...[
The outside of the city of Beitian gradually became lively, and two hundred thousand troops arrived one after another. They camped for dozens of miles, which was quite spectacular. Liu Xin did not continue to move forward. He needed to take some time to readjust his deployment.
If you want to take the initiative to attack Daqin, you must borrow a road from Parthia. Originally, Liu Xin thought that this was just a very simple matter. Ctesiphon was recaptured with the help of the Han Dynasty, and he could borrow a road to attack their enemies. Volodymyr
For Sri Lanka, it should be a dream, right? But things are different now. Artaban and Caracalla have colluded together, adding many variables to this war.
Apart from the concession agreement, there was no agreement between the Han and Parthians to allow them to station troops at will. After the army crossed the border, the lifeline of the food transportation road would be entirely in the hands of the Parthians. What Liu Xin was most worried about was
The Parthians ostensibly agreed to let the Han army take advantage of the passage, but then, taking advantage of the stalemate in the battle ahead, they suddenly turned their backs and stabbed them in the back.
Liu Xin has never liked interfering in other countries' internal affairs, but he is even less willing to gamble with his own life and the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. After several weighings, Liu Xin decided to bypass the incompetent Vologis and the ambitious Artaban
, sent a mission to directly contact Arshak.
Since Jia Xu had been in the Han Concession for a long time and knew the situation in Parthia best, the important task of this mission fell on his shoulders again. Jia Xu also knew that this trip was a heavy responsibility and he did not dare to neglect it.
After receiving Liu Xin's order, he set off from the concession overnight and worked hard, finally arriving at Ecbatana two days later.
Arshak's mansion occupies the center of Ecbatana and is as big as a village, so it is not difficult to find. A soldier had already come forward to inform him of his arrival. Not long after, a gentle middle-aged man
He walked out of the door and bowed and said: "It turns out that Mr. Jia is here. I'm just very sorry. Something happened in the mansion today and His Highness can't see you. Please ask Mr. Jia to go to the post house to rest for a few days first. If you offend me,
Wherever I go, I still hope Haihan will do it.”
Jia Xu vaguely felt that this person looked familiar, and when he took a closer look, he turned out to be Remitu, the Prime Minister who had been dismissed by Vorogis.
After learning that Remitu had been deposed, Arshak sent someone to take his family to Ecbatana. In order to prevent him from angering Wologis, Arshak did not arrange any official position for Remitu, but he treated Remitu
But Mitu trusted him more. Now, Remitu can be almost half of Arshak's boss.
Jia Xu had not dealt with Arshak, and had not even met Arshak himself. In Jia Xu's opinion, Arshak was not only the heir to the throne of Parthia, but also stationed in Ecbatana for a long time, holding one hundred thousand people.
Heavy soldiers will inevitably be a little arrogant, and Remitu's words are definitely just an excuse. Jia Xu couldn't help frowning and said: "Jia really has something urgent to do here. I would like to ask the Prime Minister to inform you again. Jia is very grateful!"
"Lord Jia, you are serious. I am no longer the Prime Minister of the country." Remitu shook his head in shame and said, "To be honest, the two highnesses are having a quarrel inside. It is very inconvenient for Lord Jia to enter at this time.
Why don't I accompany you to the inn together? If you need anything, just tell me first."
Hearing that Artaban was also in the mansion, it was not convenient for Jia Xu to go in, so he had to go to the post house accompanied by Remitu.
It turned out that Artaban and his men searched all the way to the outside of Ecbatana, but they did not see the whereabouts of Tatina. If Tatina could not be found, the cooperation with Caracalla could not proceed, and Artaban could not find her.
I lost a strong supporter.
Therefore, even in the face of the danger of exposing his relationship with Caracalla, Ardaban decided to ask Arshak for his daughter in person, because he had determined that Tatina was hiding in Arshak's home.
Arshak felt baffled and naturally denied it. But Artaban refused to comply and had to search his house before he gave up. There were many female relatives in Arshak's house, so of course they would not allow Artaban's people to do whatever they wanted.
, so the two brothers quarreled and almost got into a fight.
Jia Xu could not see Arshak for the time being, and it was inconvenient to tell Remitu many things, so he had to stay in the posthouse in depression and wait for news.
But Liu Xin was not idle. During the two days that Jia Xu left, he had been making various preparations for the upcoming war.
The First Army Corps, as the vanguard, has crossed the border of Kangju and entered the Dahan Concession. The 30,000 soldiers from the Western Region Army have also taken over the defense of Dawan. The cavalry, composed of 100,000 grassland herdsmen of all ethnic groups, has just passed through Uzbeli.
The fortress enters the territory of Dawan.
The ones that moved more slowly were the rear guard corps composed of the old army and the civilian men transporting supplies of food and grass. They had just arrived at Uzbeli Fortress. Fortunately, Liu Xin had already stocked up a large amount of food and grass in the fortress, and he would save a lot by transporting it to the concession from here.
time.
It is not a joke that food and grass go first before the troops and horses are moved. Hundreds of thousands of people eat horse chews every day, which consumes a lot of money. When these rearguard regiments and civilians arrived, Zhang Ren did not give them a chance to breathe, and immediately allocated supplies from the warehouse
Send out grain and grass and let them transport it to Kangju overnight.
The roads in Dawan are still under construction, so the transportation of materials is particularly difficult. The rear guard regiment and civilians are old soldiers who are used to being lax and do not get enough rest, so they inevitably complain. Although the officers at all levels in the team
They were all from the regular army, but the Han army was not allowed to beat or scold the soldiers, and no matter how hard they tried to persuade them, these old soldiers were still laughing and joking, and they couldn't walk very far in a long time.
At this moment, two veterans stood up. One of them was wearing a blindfold. It was Xia Hou and Xia Houyuan. The two brothers waved the spears in their hands and beat several soldiers who were unable to perform their duties with the spear poles. The situation
It got a little better and I walked a little faster.
Liu Xin was waiting on the left side of Khotan City for food and grass to come, but neither did he for food and grass to the right. Instead, he received an urgent letter from Chang'an.[