Chapter 218: The bright moon in Hehuang

Dr. Sun, who treated Cui Ning, was a famous doctor from Jincheng County. His clinic is located in the south of the city, which is a prosperous place for trade in Jincheng County. Early in the morning, Dr. Sun left the clinic and came to Mingren Pharmacy to ask about medicine. Mingren Pharmacy is the largest pharmacy in Jincheng County. Medicinal materials from all over the world gather here. You can not only buy Silla ginseng, Anxi snow lotus, and even Japanese pearls and Tianzhu Hu medicine. There are all kinds of them here.

At this moment, there were many people buying medicine in the lobby. When Dr. Sun came in, the shopkeeper who was chatting with the guests in the lobby immediately came out. Dr. Sun was the old customer here and brought a thousand-yuan business to this place every year.

The shopkeeper was originally a Hu from the Western Regions, and changed his surname to Li. The shopkeeper Li quickly walked to the door and bowed and smiled, "Why do Dr. Sun come to the door in person? Isn't it enough to send an apprentice?"

"I'm here to buy your 800-year-old Silla ginseng, and I also want to buy some excellent Cordyceps sinensis. How can I not come here in person?"

The smile on Manager Li's face disappeared immediately, and he said embarrassedly: "There are as many Cordyceps sinensis as you want, but that ginseng..."

Before he finished speaking, Dr. Sun waved his hand and interrupted him, "The medicine is always used to treat diseases. Do you know who I am treating diseases?"

"I heard about it too!" Manager Li nodded, "Let's talk inside."

The two walked through the medicine hall, walked into the inner room and sat down. A medicine boy served them tea. Manager Li took a sip of tea and asked, "I heard that the second wife of the Jiedushi is sick, is it serious?"

Dr. Sun smiled and said, "It's just that my body is a loss. It's serious. It's not a big deal if it's not serious. The key is that this disease depends on who it is. If the poor woman gets it, lacks medicine and doesn't keep the meat porridge, she will sooner or later lose her life. But she is a daughter of the prime minister and the wife of the governor. As long as she is well-behaved, she will not be considered a serious illness. So if you don't give me your wild ginseng, you may not be able to prescribe this pharmacy."

"You guy, you've sold me for more than ten years." But no matter how he said that, Shopkeeper Li ordered someone to pick up ginseng. At this time, he saw that there was no one around and he whispered: "I heard that the Dangxiang people in Yinchuan County are in chaos. Is this true?"

"I heard about this too." Manager Sun nodded, and he whispered: "Yesterday, I heard from the butler of the Jiedushi's mansion that Zhang Jun was going to rush back to reunite with his family yesterday, but something happened to Yinchuan County, so he turned north again. From this, it is speculated that this is very likely true."

Manager Li smiled without saying a word: "In this way, Longyou will be in chaos, and you and I can make a fortune."

Manager Sun didn't like his face as a profiteer, so he smiled in agreement, and then left with ginseng and cordyceps. When Manager Li from the pharmacy saw him walking away, he immediately stood up and walked into a secret room, closed the doors and windows, took out a roll of small paper, quickly wrote a few lines on it, rolled it up, and put it into a small bamboo tube.

He then came to the backyard where he kept a cage of pigeons. He took out a pigeon, tied a bamboo tube to its legs, and sent the pigeon out. The pigeon flapped its wings and flew up, flew westward, and towards Hehuang.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

The Hehuang area is the vast land between Lanzhou and Xining today. It is named after the Huangshui River crosses it. It is the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It has a flat terrain and sufficient water, and the land is also very fertile. Although it cannot be compared with the richness of the Guanzhong area, compared with the Tubo people who have always lived on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is as rich as heaven.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tubo people seized the Hehuang area and captured millions of Tang people as slaves here to cultivate food for them. In addition, there are many other ethnic groups living here, such as Tuyuhun, Qiang, etc. They live by grazing and living by chasing water. Compared with Han slaves, their status is much higher, and many even own Han slaves.

The most important mountain range in the Hehuang region is Chiling. It was originally the dividing line between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. The mountains were towering and steep, becoming a natural barrier to block Tubo’s northward. The only valley was built into a solid mountain fort, namely Shibao City. This is a castle that was extremely famous in the history of the Middle Tang Dynasty. Its strategic significance is related to the competition between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty for the Hehuang region.

In the eighth year of Tianbao, Geshuhan, the governor of Longyou of Tang Dynasty, used tens of thousands of people to deal with the Tubo army guarding the city. He died and injured Jizhen, and finally regained Shibao City. In the ninth year, the Tang army captured Shudun City of Tubo. In the twelfth year, Geshuhan attacked Tubo again, conquered Hongji, Damomen and other cities, captured all the Jiuqu tribes, and seized the logistics base for Tubo eastward. In the thirteenth year, the Tang Dynasty had advanced westward to the line west of Qinghai Lake to the Yellow River Hequ. In the more than 100-year Tang Tu battle, the Tang Dynasty finally gained strategic advantages.

Unfortunately, the Anshi Rebellion broke out the following year. The Tang army in Hehuang went to the Central Plains to start a war, leaving Hehuang empty. The Tubo people took the opportunity to advance in large numbers, attack cities and villages, and pushed the Tang-Tu border to the front line of the Yellow River.

It was too late every day, and the blood-red setting sun gradually fell behind Chiling, which stretched thousands of miles apart. A dozen people drove hundreds of horses and were walking quickly along the frozen river, by a river about ten miles away from Shibao City.

At this time, he rode up the hill and looked at Dingrong City not far away. This was a Han man in his thirties. He had a serious look and focused expression. A bright moon rose from his head, and a white light filled the valley. In the light blue night sky, the moon was full like a mirror, revealing a trace of blood. This strange moon night.

This is a scout team of the Western Liang Army. Three months ago, together with five other scout teams, they were sent to the Hehuang area to investigate the terrain and the Tubo people's troops. The Han people were named Li Guozhen, the chief of the scout team. They usually regarded themselves as Han slaves. They had been in the Hehuang area for three months. They migrated all the way to Shibao City by releasing horses as cover. They had lived in this area for nearly a month and had a lot of first-hand information about Shibao City.

According to the agreed time, they will return to Longyou by mid-February, which is exactly one full month before now.

At this time, a horse ran up the hill, "Captain, it's getting late, let's find a place to rest!" The person who called out was a Qiang man, with a burly figure and a fierce appearance. His name was Xianzhu. His ancestors lived in Hehuang. He moved to Wuwei County ten years ago and joined the Xiliang Army. He is currently the deputy commander of this scout team, and in name he is the owner of the group of horses.

Li Guozhen looked back at him and said solemnly: "This place is close to the strategic location of the Tubo people. Don't disclose your identity at will. Be careful of being heard by the spies."

"Yes!" Xian Zhu saw his serious expression and immediately agreed as if he was ordered.

Li Guozhen glanced around and pointed to a valley in the distance and said, "Let's go there to spend the night!"

Soon, a bunch of fires were lit in a valley. There were many wild wolves in the Hehuang wilderness. To prevent wild wolves from attacking their horses, not only did they need to ignite a bonfire, but they also had to go to a high place to watch.

There were twelve Tang army scouts in this team, two Han people and ten Qiang people. In addition to Li Guozhen, there was also a very young soldier. He was only seventeen years old. He was a new recruit who had just joined the army last year, named Liu Shuai. Everyone always joked about him and called "Niu Shuo". He sat next to Li Guozhen and saw him take out a small notebook and draw something seriously with a piece of charcoal.

Then he leaned over and said, "Is the lieutenant painting this valley? Why don't I draw it!"

Li Guozhen glanced at him and smiled and said, "Do you think it's that simple to draw? How do you judge the situation in this valley in summer?"

"This..." The young scout was speechless, grinning next to him: "Don't listen to the mysterious thing. Just pay attention to the color comparison of the stones on both sides of the river during the day, and you will know where the river water will rise."

‘Oh!’ He suddenly realized as if he was taught. After a while, he couldn’t help but ask Xian Zhu curiously: “Sub-head, I heard that you were from Hehuang before. Are you not familiar with the terrain here? Why do you still need us to explore the way?”

"His grandma, are you hurting me?" Xianzhu scratched the back of his head and cursed: "Hehuang is so big, how can I remember how much?"

"Did Niu'er miss home?" Li Guozhen suddenly asked him with a gentle smile.

Liu Shuai nodded, "Yesterday was the Spring Festival, I wonder if my parents miss me?"

"Think of nothing!" A big man next to him couldn't help but mutter, "Since he became a soldier, he was still sentimental like a woman, and always thought he was a child. Then when did you grow up?"

Liu Shuai's face turned red. He shrank back without saying a word. He first slapped the guy on the scalp and cursed: "If you don't say anything, you won't be able to hold it to death. Get up and change the guard."

The man had no choice but to stand up. At this moment, Li Guozhen suddenly waved his hand and said, "Listen, what's the sound?"

Everyone was motionless and listened carefully. Only a loud roar came from a distance, "It's the sound of horses' hooves!" Xianzhu heard it all at once. At this time, the horses, except for the army, were not others. He jumped up and was anxious to extinguish the fire, but Li Guozhen grabbed him and said in a deep voice: "It's too late, we are nomads, don't forget."

"Head! Thousands of cavalry are running towards this side." The brothers who were guarding the cliff ran back in panic and reported the report.

"I understand." Li Guozhen nodded, took out the small notebook and stuffed it to Liu Shuai and said, "You go first. No matter what happens to us, we must send this notebook to Longyou."

Liu Shuai took the notebook and put it in close proximity. He saluted Li Guozhen, flew onto a horse, shouted, and ran towards the east.

After a moment, a large group of Tubo soldiers rushed into the valley, with about 3,000 people. It was obvious that they were just passing by here. They saw a fire in the valley from a distance. Now they saw hundreds of horses on the other side, so they stopped immediately and surrounded the group.

"What do you do?" a thousand-man leader stepped forward and pointed.

Xianzhu hurriedly nodded and stepped forward, and replied in Tubo language: "We raise horses. It's snowing heavily in the new city, so we hide from here."

At this time, the Tubo army dodged a path, and dozens of cavalry surrounded an old general and stepped forward. He was majestic and had a deep look. It was Ma Chongying, the governor of Hehuang.

He came from the logic and headed to Xiping County. He happened to pass by here. He heard that the other party was a horse breeder. He looked at them suspiciously. It was winter now and it was hard for the shepherds to meet.

"Search them!" With a command, he immediately stepped forward and searched them carefully. There was nothing else except for some ordinary swords.

"Report to the governor, I didn't find anything?"

Ma Chongying nodded, and he suddenly saw Li Guozhen. The man's face was clearly a Han man. He pointed to the horse whip and asked, "Who is this Han man?"

First Zhu quickly reported, "Old General, this is one of my slaves."

"Slave?" Ma Chongying looked at Li Guozhen carefully and looked at the others. This was close to the strategic location of Shibao City, which forced him to be more careful. He also saw that these people were tall, big, burly and majestic. Even if they were not a spy from the Tang army, it would be a pity not to let them join the army. Besides, they still had hundreds of horses. Ma Chongying laughed sinisterly, and he waved his hand, "Take them all away!"

Thousands of war horses rolled across the valley like a whirlwind, gradually leaving. No one stayed, only a pile of fire that was about to be extinguished was swaying under the cold Hehuang moon.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Xiping County, which is today's Xining, Qinghai. Before the first year of Tianbao, it was called Shanzhou. It was the headquarters of the Longyou Jiedushi. After the Tubo people captured Hehuang, they used this place as the center of ruling the Hehuang area. Ma Chongying's Hehuang Governor's Office was also located in the city. One morning two days later, thousands of Tubo cavalry guarded Ma Chongying and entered the city gate in vain.

The city basically maintained its original appearance during the rule of the Tang Dynasty, including the ruins burned when they attacked the city. There were not many people on the streets. From time to time, you can see arrogant Tubo people passing by, and behind them were followed by Han slaves who bent down. Although they were also shaved and their clothes were no different from those of the Tubo people, their humble figure still made people see that they were Han people at a glance.

Li Guozhen's current name is Da'ang. They were forced to be incorporated into the Tubo Army on the road. They were dressed in the Tubo Army uniforms and officially became one of them. They had no choice but to choose and had no way to escape, so they had to endure it.

The cavalry went to the military camp, and Ma Chongying, under the protection of hundreds of personal guards, came to his governor's headquarters. This was once the Longyou Jiedushi Mansion of the Tang Dynasty. Now it was full of Tubo soldiers and was heavily guarded. A left-behind guard official greeted him. Ma Chongying asked while walking, "I am not here, what's going on here?"

"Report to the governor, more than a month ago, Xiang Shangzan Po once passed by here and went to the Tang Dynasty."

"I already know this." Ma Chongying entered the room, took off her outer clothes and handed it to him and asked, "What news is coming from Longyou?"

A sentence reminded the guard officer. He immediately took out a pigeon letter and handed it to Ma Chongying, "This is the pigeon letter I just sent this morning. It seems that there was a civil strife among the Dangxiang people in Longyou."

"Dangxiang people are in civil strife?" Ma Chongying immediately took the Ge letter and looked carefully several times, his eyes full of doubts.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．
To be continued...