The roads in the Western Region are full of twists and turns, and the roads in the river are criss-crossed.{{}{}
Li Kuo originally knew all this. But the young man still didn't expect that Ashina Rao would eventually lead him on such a path!
To be precise, this can no longer be called a road!
The spring rain that lasted for several days turned the loess-tamped road into a quagmire. Once the wooden cart loaded with tea and silk sank into the mud pit, it could no longer move out. The Sogdian pony snorted and snorted.
The white turbid air in the circle of the mouth vents the dissatisfaction in the heart.
Li Kuo looked at Suiye City hidden under the black and gray clouds and gave a wry smile. At such a sensitive time, they actually took a huge risk and came to Suiye City!
According to the guide Ashina Razai, although Suiye River is more dangerous, as long as they successfully pass Suiye City, the road after that will be smooth and not dangerous. As long as they follow Ashina City, they will be able to reach the city.
You can successfully avoid the eyes and ears of the cannibal by walking slowly along the Chachu ancient road between Lan City and Talas City. Moreover, the city gates of this generation have more reasonable customs and taxes, so it is reasonable for large caravans to choose to enter the river from here.
.
Now Ashinara's interests are completely tied to his own Tang army, and I don't think he will play any tricks.
This time they came to Suiyechuan under the banner of Xiameisi, a well-known business name in Shule. Xiameisi is the language of the big eaters, and when translated into Tang language, it means the sun. It is said that the big eaters worship the sun and believe that solar energy brings them
Light can carry the voice of God to the far east. In fact, the owner of this business is a Sogdian, and most of the employees are Tang people, Lingdong Hu people, mixed with a small amount of Turks. The reason why there is a big food
The name is purely for business convenience.
Different from the caravans of the Tang Dynasty, most of the caravans traveling in the Hezhong countries have merchants as the backbone, which means that there are rarely individual merchants in the caravans. In other words, all merchants belong to the same merchant.
Hire workers! Therefore, the uniformity of overall clothing is extremely important. According to Ashina Razai, although they are caravans from the East, since they are going to sell goods in the land of cannibals, they must dress up completely.
The appearance of a big cannibal. This can avoid a lot of unnecessary troubles and also allow the big cannibal to instinctively regard this caravan as one of its own.
Therefore, everyone, including Li Kuo, changed into Da Shi pullovers made of white burlap. It is said that Da Shi people believe that white symbolizes purity, sincerity, and bravery. Although this outfit makes young people who are used to wearing blouses and robes
It was a bit dumbfounding, but no matter what, it was all for the purpose of going on a mission to the barbarians in the river. Naturally, Li Kuo would not care about the minutiae of dressing up.
Since they had bought the documents from Shemis Company, everyone did not have to worry about the traffic conditions along the way. Everything would be solved by Ashina Racha. All they had to do was pretend to be hired workers and live their lives in confusion.
Due to the internal strife between the Tuqishi people with the surname black and the Tuqishi people with the surname Huang, martial law has been implemented in Suiye City, and in principle no entry or exit is allowed.
But the so-called principles are so weak in the face of money. When Ashina Luoji gave a bag of silver coins to the city gate guard, those guards who had sworn not to let a jackal enter Broken Leaf City
, without even carefully checking the goods carried on everyone’s animals, he waved his hands to signal them to pass quickly.
Ashina Luozha thanked him repeatedly in Turkic language, and then took the lead in leading everyone into Suiye City. Although everyone had never been to Suiye City, they often heard the veterans stationed in Shule mention this majestic city.
.It is said that before the seventh year of Kaiyuan, Suiye City had always been one of the four towns in Anxi. It was not until the Tuqishi people rose up and occupied Suiye City that this majestic city in the Western Regions, which was entirely modeled after Chang'an City, was lost to the Tang Dynasty
of imprints.
It's just that these Tuqishi people are so unsatisfactory. For more than 20 years, the clan's internal strife has severely damaged their vitality. Not long after the big cannibals invaded the east, they abandoned their weapons and surrendered, and completely became the cannibals' lackeys.
Due to years of fighting, this generation has long lost its glory as it was in the Kaiyuan period. The grassland outside Suiye River is constantly being eroded by the desert, and there are fewer and fewer caravans coming and going. Even the residents of Suiye City can't walk.
, moved again and again, the former holy land has almost become an abandoned city. If there are any places in the city where you can see the glory of the past, only the Tuqi Shihan Palace in the north of the city is left. This building was originally built by Suiye Governor
After the Tuqishi people invited Suiye to live in Suiye, it was changed into a magnificent palace for Tuqishi Khan to live in. (Note 1)
Of course, Li Kuo and his caravan would not have the leisure to enjoy the scenery of Suiye City. Staying any longer in the city would be more dangerous. After replenishing water and dry food, they set off again and passed through the mountain on the north side of Suiye City.
City Gate, heading west all the way to Ashbulai City.
Although he stayed in Suiye City for no more than two hours in total, Li Kuo felt a deep sense of humiliation! The sky was filled with yellow sand and the streets were desolate. Is this still the Suiye City where the doors were open at night and merchants gathered?
One day, they will recapture Suiye City and let the Tang Dynasty's territory once again cross the west of the mountains and extend to the middle of the river.
When the sun rises, it’s the Tang Dynasty!
...
...
If you want to travel west to Talos, you must pass through the city of Ashbula.
The further west you go, the more desolate the scenery becomes, and the atmosphere everyone feels is closer to the style of Dashi.
Since the Dashi invaded the east, this generation has long been imprinted with the strong imprint of the Tianfang Sect. From the style of city architecture to the small things people wear, everything is based on the Dashi. The launch of the "Holy War" has made the Dashi
Humans successfully invaded the river culturally and injected the thoughts of Allah into the minds of every Lingxi Hu people.
Ashbulai City was built next to a bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there is a tall khaki city wall. These walls are made of glutinous rice, clay and other materials, and finally compacted with loess, so they are very solid. The city gate hole
Compared with Broken Leaf City, it is obviously much smaller, and the brass-colored city gate is even more shining with bits of gold under the setting sun.
Forty Dashi guards stood straight on both sides of the city gate, not squinting. Compared with the Sui Yechuan generation of Tuqi Shiren, they were obviously more dedicated to their duties, but this only made it harder for everyone to pass.
of difficulty.
Even the always confident Ashena frowned and complained softly. These so-called 'jihadists' are the staunchest supporters of the faith of God. They firmly believe that as long as they guard the gates leading to the Holy Land, they can
After death, they enter heaven and enjoy endless food, wine, and virginity. Therefore, even if a mountain of gold coins are placed in front of them, these "upright and selfless" warriors will not blink an eye.
"Dear friend, we are a caravan from the east, hoping to enter the holy city for a night. God's blessings are on you!" What he said was a big joke. Although Turkic language is spoken in Lingxi
It is common to all countries, but it is only aimed at ordinary civilians. Expecting these brainwashed food guards to speak Turkic is tantamount to expecting flies to give up a bowl of fragrant broth!
"The blessings of Allah be upon you!" A cannibal who looked like an army officer also saluted Ashinara. Allah taught them to treat their friends with sufficient respect and return the favor!
However, before Ashinara was happy for a long time, the officer changed his tune: "Where is the document? We are guests from afar!"
"Here, here!" Ashinara hurriedly took out the document from the bag he carried and handed it to the guard. These guards were not something they could offend. Regardless of their small official positions, they were the most difficult to deal with.
. Nowadays, it is better to do less than to do more. There is no need to make mistakes in these places.
"From Shule?" The officer obviously became more vigilant and looked at the person in front of him carefully: "They are Turks!"
"What is being sold?"
"Going back to Mr. Dashi, we are serious businessmen of the Shemis Trading House. We sell tea and silk from Lingdong. If you need it, I can prepare one for you..." Although
Feeling extremely disgusted in his heart, Ashinara nodded and bowed, and introduced in a deep voice.
"Okay, okay, let's go in quickly. God teaches us not to take other people's property without permission, otherwise we will not be able to enter heaven after death!" The officer saw that there was no problem with the document and did not want to chat with Ashinara. He was impatient.
Urged the other party.
"Hey, hey." Ashinara was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.
"Hurry up and push the cart. The proprietor didn't hire you to spend all your energy chatting, you bastards!" Ashinara spread all his grievances on Tang Bing, but at this time, the bronze warriors
Still unable to vent, I could only grit my teeth tightly.
After passing through a dark doorway, everyone officially entered Ashbulai City.
It was almost dusk, and according to the plan, they wanted to stay here for the night.
Li Kuo moved his turban slightly away and carefully looked at the scene in front of him.
Each street is very narrow, with almost no windows on the earthen walls on both sides. Because the roads are crowded with people entering the city with them, the already narrow streets are even more crowded. Some of these people entering the city are going to
Farmers selling fresh vegetables in the market also range from people who go to the small square in the center of the city to sell water and people who sell sweets.
Turning his eyes slightly, the young man saw the various aspects of Ashbula City.
Porters with withered faces, soldiers with arrogant attitudes, children in ragged clothes, beggars, a hen that escaped from someone's chicken coop, a big yellow dog that was mysteriously missing at the corner, a slave with bare feet and confused eyes...
.
The eyes of the unwashed people showed a bright light, and they walked lightly through the vegetable market full of livestock stench without showing a trace of embarrassment. The vegetable market was full of middle-aged women who were willing to compare and bargain with each other, and discarded items could be seen everywhere.
Garlic, garbage.
The messy smell came from the market in the corner of the city, irritating the mouth and nose of the bronze warrior.
Living in such an environment, why are they still happy?
Selling coolies and selling youth? What makes the cannibal rule the river so stably? Is it just a word of Allah?
Note 1: The general chapter is the reign name of Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. It is worth mentioning that in the second year of the general chapter (669), the territory of the Tang Dynasty reached its maximum. After that, it could no longer be surpassed.
ps: By the way, writing about Arab cities in the Middle East is really difficult and exhausting.
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