To the west of the Gouluo Salt Pond, close to the salt farm established by Yeligasi, there is a warehouse area.
The reservoir area was newly built in the past two years, with an area of nearly three acres. The perimeter was originally a fence. It began to be raised and thickened at the end of last year. Houses and courtyards for long-term living were also built in the reservoir area.
However, the speed of expansion has never caught up with the increase in the flow of people. Every time a large-scale caravan comes here, the houses and courtyards will be full, and the courtyards are full of people and lively. When you have time,
The merchants were chatting and laughing with each other, while the people who worked hard to make money were carrying bags of salt or other goods back and forth, shouting and shouting.
There are almost no Mongolians in the reservoir area. On the outside, behind the fence wall, there are several Mongolian man-made arrow towers. Mongolians with furs wrapped around their waists often climb up the arrow towers and look down eagerly, but the businessmen
Don't particularly care.
After Genghis Khan's Western Expedition, the Mongols did not launch any large-scale raids southward. However, small-scale conflicts between the Mongolian army and the Zhou army would break out from time to time on the edge of the grassland, and each side suffered losses. Over time, apart from fighting,
A special order was formed, and businessmen followed the order to make money without worrying about danger.
I really want to talk about danger...
A relatively large team arrived yesterday, and several businessmen were wandering around the reservoir area with great interest. They noticed that the ground they stepped on had obvious traces of fire burning, and under the black ash, they could often see
There were pieces of rotten leather armor, broken iron leaves, and even things that looked like broken human bones. Many warehouses were obviously built against the damaged city walls.
It can be seen that this place was once a battlefield of fierce fighting. Fortunately, everything has passed. At least in the past two years, the edge of the grassland has been generally safe.
"More than three hundred years ago, the Khitan people opened an ancient salt road on the grassland to trade green salt from the grassland salt ponds. The source of green salt was mainly Eji Nur, thousands of miles away in the north, and the salt transportation team south
We walked through the sandy land, collected local lake salt at Gouluo, then went down the dam and entered the Central Plains."
A Central Plains vendor stood beside half an earth wall, patting the rammed earth with great satisfaction and said to his companion:
"The Salt Road was an important source of wealth for the Liao Kingdom, so the Liao Kingdom chose a strategic location on the west bank of Gouluo to set up the Gouluo Salt Division. Later, with the rise of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda once fought a battle with the Liao army here.
, Xiao Gui, the prince-in-law of the Liao Kingdom, was captured alive. Therefore, the land had the terrain of a fortress and a salt pond. The Jin Kingdom not only continued the salt division here, but also set up a quarrying ground to carry out trade with the northern grassland peoples.
, is under the unified jurisdiction of Changzhou. This Changzhou city is where we are now, and the place where our Emperor Zhou was born is Changzhou!"
In fact, these words have been said by people all the way north, and most of the listeners have heard them several times. Those who are interested also discussed them along the way, and the ears of others are about to grow calluses. But in the vast wilderness, you can see the ruins before your eyes.
The ruins of the wall and the marks of knife and ax chiseling on the wall. Thinking of the hard work along the way, the feeling is different.
Immediately, some people were in awe, and some looked around to see if there was any place to salute, and asked: "Your Majesty often said that he was born in Wushapu, Changzhou. Is Wushapu here?"
The merchant shook his head: "This is only my second time here. As you can see, the old buildings in Changzhou have been razed to the ground. The residents who were here back then were all killed and taken away... I I really don’t know this.”
Everyone sighed in disappointment.
The founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty was still short, but the kings and ministers in the court paid great attention to allowing the people to recuperate and recuperate. At this time, the economy of various places was gradually not as depressed as it was in the early years, and the relationship with the Southern Song Dynasty was not as tense as it was during the reign of Jin Dynasty. As a result, life for merchants generally became easier.
And because this newly rising country's martial arts was so strong that it had the momentum to overwhelm the Black Tartars, everyone's business slowly spread to the grasslands. Everyone felt that the future was very promising, and they were all very interested in that legendary man. The young emperor respected him very much.
Many people said on the way that if they could see the relics of the emperor in the army, they would pay homage to them no matter what to gain blessings and nobility.
It is a pity that the entire northern Xinjiang defense line was completely destroyed during the previous invasions of the Mongols. On today's grasslands, whether soldiers, officials, merchants or farmers, they are all novices who have slowly moved northward in the past two years, hoping to reap benefits. , those old people stationed on the border under the rule of the Jin Kingdom were almost all turned into ghosts killed by the Mongolian swords. There was not a single living person who knew the scale of the past and could answer the questions of the merchants.
Someone speculated: "Our convoy passed through the valley a few days ago and saw broken walls and ruins across the mountains. Is that Usha Castle?"
"It looks like to me. The ruins are huge in scale. They don't look like ordinary fortresses. They look like tigers and dragons looming over them... That's nine out of ten."
A young man was walking past them. Wen Ting shook his head and said, "That's not Wusha Castle, it's Wuyue Camp. Wusha Castle is to the north of the salt pond. You go around the salt pond and walk another seventy meters to the north." Here, only when you see Daheiqu Mountain can you see Wusha Castle."
Everyone turned around and saw that the young man looked very familiar. Everyone had seen each other during this trip.
The young man was about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was of medium build and looked quite well-proportioned. His clothes were very ordinary, but he had a rather delicate sword hanging on his waist, and there was a jade stone on the sword's tassel.
A merchant couldn't help but laugh and said: "You are a little kid, you are doing business with your parents, right? What do you know about the old affairs in Northern Xinjiang? Don't talk nonsense here..."
Another person suddenly noticed that although this young man looked elegant, he had obvious scars and calluses on his hands, indicating that he had really practiced swordsmanship or archery and riding, or that he had come from a poor life.
After the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, thousands of low-level soldiers from the old days became the backbone of the new dynasty's honorable ministers. This young man was probably the nephew of an officer, so he could not be offended.
He also thought that on the caravan's way to Yanchi, several teams of vehicles were joining the caravan one after another, and that was when the young man joined the team. Those vehicles were all heavy-loaded, but they were not like businessmen's vehicles. Both of them were very heroic, and it was obvious that they had practiced martial arts and killed people.
Hey, there might be nobles from the Great Zhou Dynasty in the queue this time... The water here is very deep. He quickly tugged on his companion's robe to tell him to shut up.
This young man had a good temper and was not angry when seeing the two merchants looking down on him.
But he seemed to be a little stubborn about Wu Shabao. Seeing that the merchants didn't believe it, he took the sword and drew a few strokes on the sandy ground with its scabbard: "This is the salt pond, this is the Changzhou Forecasting Field we are in."
The old site, this is Wuyue Camp to the southwest, and this is Wusha Castle to the northwest. To go to Wusha Castle, you have to walk along this road... the distance is still far!"
After saying that, he turned around and looked at his companion: "Ah Duo, did I draw correctly?"
The man named "A Duo" was a young man dressed as a Bohai man. The young man frowned and looked at the drawing, took out his sword and made a few strokes in the lower right corner: "I only know that if I keep walking like this, I will reach Xuande.
Well, I’ve only been through this section, and I’ve never been further north.”
The young man smiled and said: "I've been there, and this picture is definitely correct. I can walk back and forth more than a dozen times on the way to Usha Castle with my eyes closed..."
A Duo nodded, then shook his head: "We have to wait until Zhao Xuan finishes his work before we can go."
Zhao Xuan!
The merchants suddenly became nervous. The merchants were very familiar with the name Zhao Xuan. The general who was responsible for commanding the border defense departments and stationed in Jinshan was called Zhao Xuan. When the merchants saw him every day, they would start nodding and bowing after dozens of steps.
.
But this young man called Zhao Xuan's name so casually... Where did they come from? How could General Zhao Xuan and Zhao come here? What did the old man want to do?
