Ji Tang

Chapter 1132: Homesickness Bridge and Lunnan City

He touched the short beard on his chin and said, "I just don't know who it is? I didn't expect such a big crocodile to exist under everyone's noses?"

"Guo Xiaoke said it was to eliminate bandits, I still believe it, but Xu Jingzong? And Qiao Shiwang's reaction!"

"There's something going on here, and it's not a big deal!"

Cheng Yaojin stared blankly at Ji Song, who was looking for knowledge, and suddenly felt a moment of silence for those people!

What else can be good about being targeted by this idle man?

Taking a breath of cold air, Cheng bit his teeth and said, "I asked you, can you please stop causing trouble? What are we doing in the Western Region?"

"Fighting, do you understand fighting? Can you put more care into the army?"

But what made him even more dissatisfied was that Ji Song waved his hands indifferently and said, "What's the point? Don't you have to warm up before a battle? The battle can be fought at any time. Such things are rare!"

"Wouldn't it be a pity to miss it?"

Staring blankly at Ji Song walking away with an excited look on his face, he suddenly felt that he shouldn't have come!

If you meet such a master who doesn't play by common sense, you will be unlucky for the rest of your life!
-
Three days later, the army rose up!

After three days of repairs this time, the army was completely exhausted. With their horses and banners, the majestic and high-spirited Western Army marched towards the west with all their might!

In fact, in the early Tang Dynasty, the jurisdictions of Beiting Duhufu and Anxi Duhufu were not far away, in order to better rule the Western Regions and to prevent the already small number of troops from being too dispersed.

The Beiting Protectorate governs Tingzhou, the Anxi Protectorate governs Xizhou, and there are smaller protectorate offices around it, including the Yanqi Protectorate, Shuleo Protectorate, and the Pisha Protectorate in the south, while Xizhou It's only a few hundred miles away from Tingzhou.

In the event of an accident, when the garrison in one place moves away, the garrison in another place can act as a guard at any time.

When Ji Song passed the driver, he was less than a hundred miles away from Tingzhou in less than half a month.By the time we got here, [-]% of the trip had been completed, which made Cheng Yaojin and others breathe a sigh of relief.

If it weren't for the compressed military rations and supplies along the way, the food and fodder for the 4-strong army would be able to overwhelm everyone.Fortunately, after all these years of planning, there were supplies of food and grass along the way.

Moreover, the army has not moved, and the food and grass have gone first.Months before the early army departure, they had already begun transporting grain and grass to the Western Regions.

As for whether there will be a shortage in Beiting?hehe!If Beiting, which has fertile fields and a large number of Han people, will be short of food, Ji Song doesn't care if he has more lives on his hands!
According to Qiao Shiwang's report, after nearly ten years of development and pioneering, Beiting now has more than 500 Han people and more than [-] million acres of farmland. Under such a rule, if the court still needs to send grain to the Western Regions, then We must really doubt Qiao Shiwang's purpose.

"The army stops advancing!"

Ji Song's military order was quickly spread. The place happened to be rich in water and grass, with snow-capped mountains in the distance, grasslands and lakes nearby.Anyway, we are about to enter the North Courtyard, so let the soldiers take a rest.

Coming here from Chang'an, there were basically no stops on the way except for three days in Puchanghai.After several months, the soldiers were already exhausted!
Just when the army began to set up camp, Qiao Shiwang, Xu Jingzong and others who were hundreds of miles away finally got the news of the army's movements.

When the army travels, the scouts run rampant within fifty miles, and all unknown persons are detained at least, or killed at most, in order to protect the movements of the army from being known.

Within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, all officials were not allowed to convey news about the army, otherwise they would be punished as collaborating with the enemy.

If it were other generals, maybe everyone would just let it go and pass on what should be passed on.

However, the leader this time is Ji Song!

When they found out it was this person, everyone tacitly acted like they didn't know what he was doing.If the army did not notify the local area or had no other requirements, they would treat it as unaware.

As for conveying military information and telling others about the movements of the army? ,

hehe!They're not that stupid yet.

Although this is not a big deal, if they are worried about this person or make Ji Song unhappy, do they still want to be promoted?Go ahead and dream!
Therefore, it was not until the army arrived a hundred miles away from Tingzhou that Qiao Shiwang, the guardian of Beiting, learned of the arrival of the army.

The distance of a hundred miles is only half a day's galloping, and this is the case for some cautious generals to explore the military situation.Therefore, Ji Song was not surprised at all when he discovered the movement of the army.On the contrary, if he didn't know, he would doubt the abilities of Qiao Shiwang and the Beiting Army.

Beiting Dufu.

Qiao Shiwang was extremely angry during this period. He was actually frightened by this villain Xu Jingzong that day.I thought that he, the majestic Prince Consort and the Protector of Beiting, was frightened by a villain.

In the past, I just felt that this person had evil intentions and was trying to flatter others. His current status was only due to His Majesty's previous affection.But this time he finally understood that this person is a poisonous snake and will bite you back at any time.

On that day, Xu Jingzong not only did not restrain himself, but intensified his efforts and continued to clean up banditry in Beiting.That's all, he actually took action on those mines.

Thinking of this, his scalp went numb. He knew better than anyone who was behind these mines. Not only did he know it, he also had a stake in it, otherwise he wouldn't have been so angry after hearing that he had taken action against those people. Knock on the door of Chang Shi's Mansion.

In the past few days, people have been coming to him. He knew the reason, but now he didn't dare to help even if he wanted to.Not only do we not dare to help, we also need to clean up the front and rear as soon as possible and cut off contact with these people!

According to calculations based on their footsteps, the Western Expeditionary Army is about to reach Beiting. If anyone knows what they have done, I am afraid that they will be killed.
"Is there no movement of the army yet?"

Qiao Shiwang asked his staff irritably.

Mr. Liu was originally from a poor family in Guandong. Later, he responded to the imperial court's call and came to the Western Regions. Because he had some relationship with the Qiao family, he was transferred to the Duhu Mansion as a staff member and was deeply trusted by Qiao Shiwang.

Hearing the Governor's question, Mr. Liu shook his head and said: "There is no news yet. The army has been dispatched. We dare not inquire about the movement of the army at will. But as soon as we reach the boundary of Beiting, we will know it as soon as possible."

Qiao Shiwang nodded, of course he knew this.But he was anxious!

He had to see Duke Xi immediately. If Xu Jingzong knew about it in advance, who knew whether that villain would give him eye drops?
"Inform me and ask people to guard the border of Beiting. Once the army arrives, report it immediately!" "No!"
-
While Qiao Shiwang was waiting anxiously, Ji Song was not anxious at all.After handing over the army to Lao Cheng, he took his people to the nearest immigration gathering point. He wanted to see with his own eyes the real situation after the people were relocated!

This matter is related to the century-old plan of the Tang Dynasty, and there must be no mistakes.If these people are not as good as living in the customs after coming here, then everything he does will be meaningless!
A government decree that cannot bring benefits to the people cannot last. He knows this better than anyone else!

No matter how good the policy is, various unexpected situations will occur once it reaches the lower level. If a local government can achieve five points out of ten, it is already fulfilling its duties.Achieving three points can be regarded as living up to the expectations of the court.

Tingzhou governs Luntai County, which is the capital of the ancient Wulei Kingdom.

There was a history of farming as early as the period of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. It is located at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. To the north is the Shatuo tribe conquered by the Tang Dynasty. To the south is Xizhou, the Anxi Protectorate, and to the east is Yizhou.

This is a large oasis in the desert. It is not only rich in water and grass, but also has a pleasant climate. It can be regarded as a more suitable gathering point.When the people migrated westward, this place served as the front line of the Western Regions and was also a trade transit place.

Luntai at this time was not the Luntai of later generations. Due to the sparse population and the oasis area, Luntai was not comparable to that of later generations. Although it was a county, it was larger than a state in the mainland.

According to the documents of Beiting Chief Shifu, there are more than ten gathering places here with more than 5 people.However, due to different regions, there are only three gathering places with a population of more than [-], and none of them has a population of more than [-].

You know, in order to allow academy students to come here, the imperial court promised that any gathering place with more than [-] people could directly establish a county, and the officials in the gathering place would also be appointed as county magistrates.

But five or six years have passed, and none of them have met the requirements. If there were no tricks here, he could eat the sand on the ground!

The group of people arrived at the nearest gathering point. What surprised Ji Song and others was that there was a big river in front of them. Although it was small compared to the big rivers in the Central Plains, in the Western Region where water resources were scarce, it was a big river. What a rare sight.

What surprised them even more was that there was a bridge in front of them, and it was a stone arch bridge.They won't even take a second look at this in the mainland because there are too many.

But you must know that this is the Western Region!
This bridge is a three-hole stone bridge, spanning about ten feet across both banks, two feet high, and two feet five feet wide.

"Homesickness Bridge?"

Ji Song was stunned when he saw the three regular scripts above.You must know that official script is still popular in the Tang Dynasty, and block letters have become popular in recent years.

"Are they missing their hometown?" Ji Song murmured.

Homesick?This is normal for the people of the Central Plains.

"Let's go, I want to see what this place is like, if I don't mind killing people!"

Xue Li, Liu Laoer and Danniu who were following Ji Song were all stunned. They didn't know what had made the head of the family unhappy?

Soon everyone came to the bridge, but what they saw surprised them!
What did they see?
There was a steady flow of people, and as one could see from east to west along the Tarim River, there were at least hundreds of small boats traveling back and forth on the river.Ji Song was a little confused for a moment. Is this the Western Region?Those who didn’t know thought they were in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River!
At this time, it was the flood season of the Tarim River. There was plenty of water in the river, and he was not surprised at all that the boat could be driven.What surprised him was that this place was so prosperous?

Looking up, not far away, a city with the characteristics of the Central Plains and the style of the Western Regions is located in front of you.The soldiers on the city head are in bright uniforms and the city walls are brand new. It can be predicted that the construction of this city did not take long.

The three words "Lunnan City" written in block letters made his heart agitate even more!
"This bridge was built in the spring of the 20th year of Zhenguan, and it took half a year to complete. On the day it was built, the people hugged each other and cried. Looking back at China, homesickness comes from people. So it was named 'Homesick' to express the meaning of not forgetting China!"

"The name of this river is Tarim River, but when it flows through Lunnan City, people like to call it Anding River, which means stability."

"The city is Lunnan City, so named because it is located in the south of Luntai. The city is three miles long from north to south, five miles long from east to west, and fifteen miles in circumference. There are more than [-] people living in it, which is even comparable to small towns in the mainland. Nothing less."

"But it's just a gathering place, it doesn't even have the name of a town!"

The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be about 40 years old, but he already called himself an old man in the Tang Dynasty.This man is thin and has a leisurely aura of writing, which shows that he is also a well-educated man.

But this person’s eyes are narrow and long, and his cheeks are fleshless, which makes him look like a villain!
Amid the surprise of Xue Li and others, the visitor bowed and said with a smile: "Chief Shi of the North Courtyard, Chief Shi of the Prefecture, Xu Jingzong, respectfully welcome Duke Xi!"

Ji Song was a little surprised, but he didn’t take it seriously!
Glancing at Xu Jingzong, who was standing solemnly, he sat in a wheelchair and looked at this brand-new city, and said quietly: "Brother Yanzu, this is really surprising. Although the scene here is indeed what I expected. But at this time, I But I can’t be happy.”

"Tell me, if you can't give me a reasonable explanation, maybe this Western Region is not your refuge from disaster. The deserted island in the South China Sea is very short of people right now!"

Ji Song looked at him with a half-smile but said, "I heard that Brother Yan likes foreign girls. You know, there aren't many others in the South China Sea, but there are a lot of indigenous women who compete with monkeys for fruits. If you are interested, maybe You’ll be more comfortable there than here!”

'Pfft! '

Liu Laoer grinned and almost burst out laughing.But when I saw Xu Jingzong’s cannibalistic eyes, I immediately shut up!
"Uh ha ha!"

"Brother Ziyi still likes to joke so much!"

But Ji Song said seriously: "Perhaps I am serious?"

Now Xu Jingzong couldn't help it even if the city was deep enough. He gritted his teeth and said: "Since you want to know, I will tell you. I just don't know if you have the courage to take care of this matter!"

Ji Song had some free time and leaned back leisurely on his chair, saying: "It was my idea to move the people to the Western Regions. If the people's life here is not as good as in the mainland, I cannot absolve myself of the blame."

"Eighty percent of the officials who come to the Western Regions come from academies, so it's not wrong to say they are my students. If their efforts don't get the rewards they deserve, it's because I'm incompetent!"

"If there is anyone or anything happening here, even the King of Heaven will not let me have an easy time!"

Xu Jingzong looked at Ji Song quietly, as if he had seen the taciturn young prodigy back then!
He came here to wait half a month ago. He knew that the people who immigrated to the Western Regions were the hard work of this person. He had already come to the Western Regions. If he didn't come and take a look, there would be something wrong.

This place is the first stop when entering the Beiting. Based on his understanding of this person, he must come here.

Sure enough, after someone told him that a group of more than a hundred cavalry and a carriage came to the territory today, he immediately knew that the person he was waiting for was coming.

(End of this chapter)