Urban Sims

Chapter 125
……

The long river is far above the white clouds, and there is an isolated city, Wanren Mountain.

Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows? The spring breeze does not cross the Yumen Pass.

……

A song "Liangzhou Ci" vividly illustrates what kind of place Liangzhou is.

Plateau environment, high altitude, sparsely populated, surrounded by mountains on both sides of the isolated city, travelers don't have to play the Qiang flute to complain that the willows are not green, because the place is desolate, lonely and lonely, and the spring breeze cannot blow into Yumen Pass at all.

Liangzhou, the most important frontier state of the Great Zhou Kingdom, most of the area is the Gobi desert, lacking rainfall, the agricultural structure is half-agricultural and half-pastoral, the economic development is backward, multi-ethnic mixed living, and the western border faces two nomadic kingdoms : One is the "Turkic Kingdom" on the northwest grassland, and the other is the "Turkish Kingdom" on the southwest plateau.

These two countries are currently the two most important border troubles of the Great Zhou Kingdom. In the struggle for hegemony in a strategically important location, the three countries have waged endless wars for years.

However, among the three countries, the Turkic and Turkic countries, which were the most powerful in the Great Zhou Dynasty and had been suppressed for a long time after repeated disastrous defeats, had to unite and form an alliance. Great military pressure was created on Da Zhou, and the three countries repeatedly engaged in tug-of-war competition around some important military points, which has been deadlocked.

Therefore, in order to maintain the smooth flow of the Silk Road and the hegemony of the Western Regions, the Great Zhou court deployed a huge army with a total number of 30 in the area from the Western Regions to Liangzhou. This elite army is mainly composed of good families. A criminal exiled into the army.And the generals and soldiers of this huge army have been stationed at the border for a long time, ranging from three to five years for a short period of time, and as long as 30 to [-] years.

Moreover, there are endless wars at the border. Most of the soldiers have taken root here since the day they left their hometown, and have never returned to their hometown.

……

After Zhou Ming and his party entered the pale yellow and deserted Liangzhou territory, they occasionally heard the melodious sound of Qiang flute from a distance. He can write more than a dozen frontier poems, and the output of poems is quite amazing.

Yinzhou, an important node on the Silk Road, Zhou Ming and others followed a caravan with thousands of camels in this state, mainly selling silk, along an ancient road, all the way westward, trekking for more than [-] years Here, go to the border fortress: Yumen Pass.

In the process of following the caravan, Zhou Ming wanted to know more about the situation. After getting acquainted with the merchants who sell silk, after several conversations, Zhou Ming had more ideas about the Silk Road in his mind. Intuitive and clear understanding.

Why do these merchants work so hard, risking the desert lack of water, horse bandits everywhere, enemy plunder, etc., traveling thousands of miles, with their heads on their waists, to sell silk in foreign countries?
Profit, a thousand percent profit.

In the Far West countries farther west than the Western Regions, a bolt of silk is more expensive than gold of the same quality. As long as the silk merchants successfully sell it once, they can return full of gold and silver. Basic food and clothing.

Attracted by the huge profits, even if less than five out of ten silk merchants can come back, they still can't stop countless merchants from pouring out their wealth and giving it a go.

Moreover, these silk traders will also be protected by the Great Zhou court. Some large caravans and local garrisons will even accompany them as escorts. They will also clean up the horse bandits around the commercial road from time to time to maintain the overall smoothness of this silk road... ...It shows that the imperial court attaches great importance to it.

Why is the Silk Road so important to the Great Zhou Kingdom?
Zhou Ming believed that it was due to the lack of gold and silver in the Great Zhou Kingdom, and even the lack of copper coins... The shortage of various circulating currencies severely restricted the sound development of the national economy, so it was necessary to open up the Silk Road. Abroad in exchange for a large amount of gold and silver.

Therefore, Zhou Ming respected these brave and fearless silk vendors who benefited the country and the people, and wrote several poems to praise these vendors. Through these poems, several silk vendors suddenly learned that he was actually a famous When Mr. Zihua moved the world, he was very excited for an instant, and then the whole camp was shocked!That night, they took the best dozens of bolts of silk from the back of the camel, set up a silk tent, and arranged for two of the most beautiful orchids to serve in the accounts and treat them with extremely high ceremonies... Zhou Ming refused to refuse.

Enjoying all kinds of preferential treatment, Zhou Ming, who soon became the most eye-catching person in the caravan, felt a little regretful in his heart. If he knew this, he should not have revealed his real name before. Celebrities also have troubles of celebrities. If the whole world If his fans are fanatical about stars to such an extent, then he can almost choose to remain anonymous, otherwise, his normal life will be seriously affected.

During the journey of more than 2000 miles, Zhou Ming and the caravan traveled for more than a month. In the second half of the journey, they also encountered a group of vicious horse bandits with a population of one thousand. This group of horse bandits was very cunning. Launched an attack, intending to swallow the caravan whole in one gulp. However, Zhou Ming, who woke up earlier when he faintly heard the sound of horseshoes, immediately woke up everyone. With very slight losses, the horse bandits were successfully repelled.

In the process of attacking the bandits, Zhou Ming borrowed a three-stone hard bow, set up the bow and set up an arrow, and shot and killed fifteen horse bandit leaders in a row, which shocked the morale of his side and cheered again and again. The horse bandits chased and killed them for several miles and captured hundreds of horses.

……

"Here, is the Yumen Gate closed?"

A city made of loess, with a height of about ten meters and a circumference of nearly ten miles, appeared in front of Zhou Ming.

The surrounding area of ​​the city is very desolate, and the sandy land around it only grows some drought-tolerant plants such as camel thorn, sand holly, and azalea, and other places are full of yellow sand and gravel.

Yumen Pass.

The three white and simple characters on the city gate clearly told Zhou Ming that his destination had finally arrived.

Yumen Pass, this frontier fortress, has a long history of existence. As early as thousands of years ago, there was a powerful dynasty named "Wei". pass.

And because this pass is close to Dayin Mountain and Tianzhu Mountain, the top of the snow mountain, a lot of snow water melts every year and flows into the underground underground river. Yumen Pass provides a large amount of fresh water, enough to meet the drinking water needs of hundreds of thousands of people and livestock.

Therefore, Yumen Pass is an important stop on the Silk Road where any caravan replenishes fresh water.

In Yumen Pass, there is not only a garrison of 5 people, but also hundreds of inns, warehouses, restaurants and restaurants.The supporting banks, casinos, bathhouses and brothels are also available.

Even here, Zhou Ming accidentally saw a "Zihua Bookstore" that has been in business for half a year and has a booming business... He couldn't help but look at the store manager of this Zihua Bookstore differently, because this place on the border , not within the scope of ten states in the world, the fact that the store manager of this Zihua Bookstore can find business opportunities here and successfully open a store is enough to prove that he is a talent full of courage, daring to think and do!Therefore, after some encouragement, Zhou Ming appointed him as the "General Agent of the Western Regions", and he will take care of all the Zihua Bookstores opened in the Western Regions in the future.

The store manager was so moved that he almost knelt down.

And with the momentum of the silk traders who followed, and the foundation of this "Zihua Bookstore", in less than half a day, a group of well-equipped soldiers rushed to the inn where Zhou Ming and others stayed, saying : General Su Lie, the general in charge of the Ganzhou march, has invited Mr. Zihua to visit the mansion of the general manager. The banquet has been prepared. I hope that Mr. Zihua will meet each other, discuss the books together, and have a good drink...

The leading soldier was very respectful.

Zhou Ming nodded, tidied up a bit, followed the group of soldiers, passed through the triple city gate, and walked past groups of soldiers wearing armor and fighting for more than ten minutes. In the living room of a wing of the mansion, I saw the owner who had been waiting here for a cup of tea—an old man in a green robe, with white hair and beard, and hale eyes.

"Are you Tian Zihua?" After seeing Zhou Ming, the old man was taken aback for a moment and blurted out.

"Exactly!" Zhou Ming raised his head and chest after slightly cupping his hands, and said neither humble nor overbearing.

"Young, really young! When I was your age, I was just a general who commanded thousands of people, but you have already moved the world, and your reputation is far above this old man. You will be feared by future generations, you will be feared by future generations!" The old man exclaimed, He said with emotion: "This practice of martial arts is really not as good as that of Xiwen..."

Hearing the old man's words, Zhou Ming, who was originally quite serious, suddenly laughed and said:

"Why did the old general say that? My boy grew up listening to your stories. You conquered the Turks from east to west, conquered Gaoji four times, destroyed the three kingdoms and captured the three kings, and you were defeated repeatedly. For decades, what have you been doing, isn’t it shocking the world and protecting the country and the people? If there were no generals guarding the gates, the world would have been in chaos. How could there be a stable life for the people? A chance to show off your reputation? I would rather be a centurion than a scholar, compared to the old general, the kid is useless, just laugh!"

"Hahaha!"

The old man blushed when he was told, he pointed at Zhou Ming and laughed loudly: "Good Mr. Hua! The old man thought you were a talented, arrogant and unruly person, but I didn't expect that you would also flatter others... Hahaha, lol Dead old man!"

The old man's laughter was like thunder, shaking the roof tiles, completely unlike an old man in his 70s.

This old man is known as the "God of War of the Great Zhou Dynasty". Since he was 15 years old, he has joined the army with his father to defeat thieves. He has been the emperor of three dynasties and participated in dozens of battles. He has won countless victories and destroyed several countries. He has never lost a battle General Su Lie Su Dingfang.

However, although this old general has great military exploits, he also has some great achievements, so he has not been used by the court. He is like a brick, where he needs to be moved, so, where is the border of the Great Zhou Kingdom? Police, the situation is developing in the direction of corruption, and sending the God of War Su Lie to go out has become a subconscious choice of the whole court.

For these arrangements of the imperial court, General Su Lie has no complaints or regrets. In the past 50 years, from north to west, from west to south, and many states in the world, there have been traces of this God of War. He is strict in running the army and loves soldiers like sons. Not only is he deeply loved by the soldiers, but he also has a very positive and good impression in the hearts of millions of people in the Great Zhou Kingdom.

The surrounding enemy countries respected and feared him, even to the extent that they had repeatedly violated the border, and when they heard that General Su Lie was coming, they ordered their troops to withdraw.

Therefore, in front of this respected old general, Zhou Ming did not dare to display his "Mr. Zihua" profile, but instead treated him respectfully as an elder.

Su Lie was very satisfied with his attitude, and was photographed by his comfortable flattery from time to time, even more smiling from ear to ear, and regarded him as a friend who had forgotten the years. Afterwards, the two often discussed marching formations and winning wars The secrets of the elements are sometimes in contention. For example, when he heard Zhou Ming describe a weapon that could defeat 1 people head-on with only 10 people equipped, the old general shouted that it was ridiculous. Weapons, he is still stationed in this bitter cold place?Long ago, he led troops to sweep across the grasslands, flatten the plateau, and quickly wiped out the Turks and Turpans...

The two rarely discussed topics about poetry and prose.

Two days later.

The old and the young, who had a good talk, called some people together, rode out of Yumen Pass, and enjoyed the scenery beyond the Great Wall.

Standing on a high sand dune, with the breeze blowing, looking at the desert scenery of yellow sand in front of me, the geese fly north under the setting sun, and a nearly vertical thick smoke rises from the top of the mountain not far away. Immediately inspiration came Zhou Ming, who wrote a poem, wrote on the spot the famous line of "Zheng Peng leaves Weisai, returns geese to Hu Tian. The lonely smoke in the desert is straight, and the long river falls into the sun.".

However, after this poem was written, it did not attract a lot of applause. Zhou Ming felt strange, turned his head to look, and saw the old general and several lieutenants, all with serious faces, staring at the thick black smoke, waiting After it rose three times in a row, the lieutenant next to him cupped his hands and said to the old general: "General Manager, there are three pillars of smoke, the enemy army should be more than 10!"

"Go back to the pass, beat the generals' drums, prepare food, grass and weapons, and prepare to go out!" The old general, whose momentum had completely changed, issued several military orders in an instant.

"promise!"

All the generals agreed!

……

Half a day later, a Tanma entered the city and reported urgently: "Report! Tupan Lunzanqin led [-] troops and stormed Stone City. Zhang Yuan, the defender of Stone City, please send troops to the rescue. Reinforcements must arrive within five days!"

　Please subscribe!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)