Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 1164

The red flag fluttered, and a Qin cavalry galloped to it.

The young man stood behind Grandpa and looked at the mighty Qin cavalry with a look of admiration. They rode tall war horses with iron armor on their bodies, iron helmets on their heads, spears in their hands, horizontal knives on their waists, and bows and arrows. , There are also close-combat blunt weapons such as whips and maces stuck on the back.

All of them are tough and brave, and his blood boils when he sees them.

It's a pity that he doesn't have enough qualifications to be a government soldier, and he doesn't have a strong body like these servants.

"Shut up!"

The procession stopped before the caravan.

"Fellow folks, where is this from and where is it going?" the leading knight asked politely.

The leader of the caravan stepped forward with a smile and cupped his hands.

"Your servant is working hard. We are businessmen from Chang'an. We will go to Kangguo together. There are customs clearance and tax clearance documents here. The procedures are complete. It is not a smuggling caravan. Please take a look."

Immediately the knight checked it again, nodded and sent it back.

"I see, everyone has worked hard from afar. I am the patrolling cavalry stationed on the Silk Road, and I am Xiao Jin. The imperial court set up post station military forts along the three Silk Roads in the Western Regions, one every [-] miles. There are post stations, a beacon pier fifty miles away, and a military fort one hundred miles away. We are responsible for guarding the Silk Road and protecting passing merchants. We just came back from a patrol, and we will send you to Fort Patchang, where you can rest and replenish your supplies before moving on.”

"So it's Captain Xiao, sorry for your disrespect." The leader of the caravan took out a small bag of money while talking, but it contained silver money.

"What does that mean?"

"Everyone respects the servants." The caravan leader smiled. He was a temporary leader and the largest merchant in the caravan. In fact, the money was shared equally among the people in the caravan. It can be regarded as an RBI on the road, and the old rules are indispensable.

But this time, the sturdy Xiao Duzheng turned his face black, "What do you think of us court servants? Could it be that they are extortionists? Put this away, the soldiers of Daqin don't like this, This time, it will be regarded as your ignorance of the rules, and next time, you will be charged with bribing a soldier."

The leader of the caravan took a closer look at the positive expression of the team, and then took a peek at the other soldiers, and found that they really didn't mean to be too small, so he laughed dryly and put it away.

"I didn't expect the servants to be so clean and honest. It's because Xiao Lao doesn't understand the rules."

"If you have nothing to do, just come with us. We will escort you for a ride. After leaving the boundary of our Anxi three counties, the further west you go, the less peaceful you will be. There are still many horse thieves and robbers here. You guys There are so many commodities, so be careful."

Although the caravan also hired a small team of guards, in Xiao Duzheng's eyes, these caravan guards with only horizontal knives and short bows were really vulnerable.

The leader nodded with a smile and hurriedly said thank you.

Then he turned around and sent someone to pick up some food and the like to deliver.

"No, we all carry dry food and water bags. We have our own. You can't eat or take things from your caravan. This is the rule."

"Eating something can't be called bribery, can it?"

Captain Xiao was still shaking his head.

Seeing this, everyone secretly admired it, but at the same time had no choice but to drive the camel team on the road again.

The sound of camel bells was accompanied by the clanging of armored officers of the Qin army.

The young man followed Grandpa and said in admiration, "They are really amazing."

"That's because the emperor is so good. They are the emperor's soldiers, so of course they are so good." The old man is getting old, and he has traveled all over the world to sell goods. He has seen many soldiers, whether they are soldiers from the Sui Dynasty or The soldiers of the Western Turks, or the soldiers of the Mingfang during the Sui Dynasty, indeed, no one can compare with the soldiers of the Great Qin.

"Speaking of which, when the Sui Dynasty was strong and prosperous in the past, the government soldiers were also carefully selected. They were all sons of good families, and most of them were the sons of officials and powerful landlords. Their military discipline was also good, but compared with today's servants It’s still far behind. In the final analysis, our emperor values ​​these servants more, gives higher honors, and is willing to give practical things. The guards have strict requirements for selection. After being selected, the honor is high. Fulfilling the rewards and being able to be promoted to an official position is indeed enough for them to do so."

With patrolling cavalry accompanying them, the next few dozen miles would be very easy.

Far away, under the afterglow of the setting sun at dusk, I saw an earthen castle by the roadside.

"That's Bahuan Fort. After passing this fort, and less than a hundred miles ahead, there will be Bahuan City, the great city of Kucha. It's getting late today, and you can camp outside our fort overnight. Because of the regulations of the military government, the military The fort can't take you overnight, I hope you will forgive me, but you can fetch water."

Everyone hurriedly said that it is enough to rest outside the military fort for one night, after all, it is safe to rest and sleep next to the military camp.

The Bachang Fort is not too big, it is just a beacon castle with beacon soldiers stationed inside and can accommodate patrolling cavalry at the same time.In order to ensure the allegiance of the countries in the Western Regions, as well as to control the Western Regions and protect trade routes, the imperial court made an agreement with the countries to widen the roads along the way, and then the imperial court set up post stations and beacon castles along the roads.

The post station is used to transmit information and connect with the imperial court and other countries, while the Fengbao is to protect the Silk Road from robbers and robbers. At the same time, it can also protect the countries. They are all obliged to obey the rescue dispatched by the Great Qin court.

In short, in the Western Regions, the capitals of all countries belong to the Great Qin, and the countries are not allowed to attack each other. If there is a dispute, it is necessary to ask the imperial court to preside over mediation.If anyone crosses the borders drawn by the imperial court for other countries and attacks other countries, then Daqin has the qualifications and obligations to call all the countries together to discuss it.

In the beginning, countries were not willing to allow Daqin to build post stations and beacon castles on their territory, especially the Silk Road, which is an important road. But the emperor said that the smooth flow of the Silk Road can ensure the prosperity of trade. Both are good.

Of course, Cheng Yaojin, the general of the Qin State stationed in Gaochang, also released the news at the right time. Anyone who dares to oppose the construction of the post station and the construction of the Fengbao is deliberately destroying the stable and prosperous future of the Western Regions, and should be punished.

Therefore, the countries finally reluctantly agreed to this plan.

The action of the imperial court was very fast. Three silk roads, the south line, the middle line and the north line, built a post station every [-] miles, and a beacon castle every [-] miles.

There were not many postmen and soldiers in the post station and the beacon castle, but the imperial court specially sent three thousand light cavalry, one thousand light cavalry for each route, to patrol in sections.

The patrol cavalry is not stationed in a fort, but patrols regularly.

It has to be said that the Silk Road is indeed much safer with post stations, beacon forts and patrolling Qinqi.

Night falls.

The leader of the caravan fetched water from the well of Bachangbao, and sent someone to buy some sheep from the nearby Kucha people, and slaughtered the sheep for cooking, which was very lively.

They also specially sent mutton to the fort, but Team Xiao refused to accept it. In the end, the leader of the caravan forcefully kept two sheep.

"Even if you arrest me, I don't care if you want to punish me for bribery. You protected us all the way today, and let us camp outside the fort at night. This is the most secure place we can sleep in since we left Dunhuang." I see, you must accept these two sheep, otherwise, you will look down on us businessmen too much."

Fresh mutton, sprinkled with some Anxi fennel, skewered with red willow branches and roasted on the fire, the hot oil drips down, the appearance is golden, and the aroma is not to mention very attractive.

This is an unforgettable night.

The young man and Grandpa even had a rare drink, and slept soundly that night, because they knew that behind them was the Bachang Fort, the red flag on the fort, and the soldiers of the Qin Army standing guard under the red flag, would protect them.

on the fort.

Xiao Dui was eating delicious kebabs, looking at those Qin merchants who were only two miles away from Baozi.

"Why, do you envy them?" Elder Huo in the team asked three times.

"Sometimes I am very envious. I can travel around freely, see the beautiful scenery of all places, enjoy the food and customs of various places." Take a bite of barbecue, the mouth is full of oil, but it is not greasy, the kind of charred outside and tender inside It feels delicious and juicy.

"I'm not envious. After staying in the Western Regions for a few years, I can always make a few military achievements. When the time comes, I will be promoted. After all, we will still be transferred back to the prosperous places of Chang'an and Luoyang, where the real It’s a great place, nothing compares to it.”

"That's right, it's a prosperous place in the Central Plains, but if you don't have any skills, it's hard to transfer back, especially Luoyang City."

"It's hard to say, it's not difficult, and it's not difficult. Didn't you see the newspaper handed over from above? Didn't our general Qin be transferred to the court, worship the great Sima, and be promoted to prime minister? Look, Your Majesty We warriors are treated very preferentially, as long as you have the ability, it is possible to be a prime minister. Old Xiao, have you never thought that one day you will become famous and become a prime minister?"

Xiao Duzheng let out a chuckle, and threw the red willow branches into the air, "Being a general and being a prime minister, do you think anyone has this ability? Let's talk about the great generals of our court, the Secret Envoy Zhang and Deputy Song Privy Envoy, Deputy Privy Envoy Zhou, they are both teachers and friends of His Majesty, Deputy Privy Envoy Zhou is also His Majesty's brother-in-law, which one of them is not the founding father of the country?"

"General Qin is not only His Majesty's cousin, but also the founder of the country."

"Others, Hou Mo and Chen Xiangguo have been His Majesty's marching chief Shi in the early years, and he is his right-hand man. Others, those who can pay homage to the prime minister, originally the few generals in the clan are the most qualified, but the court system is there. Therefore, it is the most impossible to worship the prime minister, and for the rest, I think General Li who guards Lingnan, General Xu who guards Andong, General Cheng who guards our Anxi, and General Su who guards Xishan will all be likely to worship prime minister in the future." Xiao Dui was commenting clearly and logically.

"You said General Li, I believe that he had served as Minister of the Ministry of War before, but Xu Shiji and Su Dingfang are not qualified, especially Su Dingfang, whose qualifications are not high."

"You can't just look at those, you have to look at them now. Like Cheng Shuai, they are guarding one side, and they are places where it is very easy to make contributions. It's a proper and unworldly feat. Others, such as Uncle Shan Guo, etc., are hard to compare."

Huo Chang squeezed his chin, "Our Anxi is so stable, what chance can we have to make great achievements, don't talk nonsense!"

"Why would I talk nonsense? Believe what I say today. Don't look at Anxi's calmness like a pool of stagnant water, but this calmness won't last long. Sooner or later, Anxi will become a big battlefield. By then, this place will be a good place to make contributions. Don't worry. Transfer away, and stay in the Western Regions for ten years, I guarantee you can be promoted from a fire chief to a school rank. Even, maybe you have a chance to become a general."

Eight lieutenants, eight schools, eight generals, four generals and two generals.

At this level, you can only get promoted without real merit. If you rely on your qualifications, after ten years, you can at most be promoted from fire chief to team leader. It's not bad to barely get to the end of eighth , Return to school rank and general rank?
The lowest level of a general is also the fifth rank. Which general must have great military exploits?That is at least a regiment-level officer, who can command 2000 people.

"Believe me, follow me steadily and steadily, and work hard in the Western Regions, and you won't suffer. In the future, we will also become school officials and return to Luoyang. Wouldn't it be nice? Anyway, if I I will not leave the Western Regions unless I am promoted to school!"

"You can't be promoted to a school official for ten or twenty years, so you never go back to the Central Plains?"

"No reply!" Team Xiao said seriously.

"Okay, I'll just trust you halfway for now, and then I'll be a soldier in the Western Regions for ten years. If I don't get promoted to a school officer by then, I'll beat you to death!"

"The third son of the dog slave, how dare you commit a crime!"

"Now is not on duty, commit an egg!"

The two were laughing and laughing, but it was very relaxing. The same group entered the Western Regions from the Central Plains and took down the three counties of Anxi. can have a bright future.

(End of this chapter)