After a few days of long travel, Ma Chao, Wang Shuang, Yang Fu and others finally arrived in Zhangye County.

The yellow sand swept the west wind, the air was filled with endless desolation, the vast earth was undulating and hilly, the wind and sand were all over the sky, the skulls of the giant beasts were quietly half-hidden in the earth, and the smell of death was everywhere.

The farther west, the more desolate and desolate it became, and along the Silk Road, all the way to the west, they often encountered merchants on this road, all of them nervous, and the caravan was followed by hired sabber men, responsible for protecting the safety of the caravan.

Ma Chao and the others are not very conspicuous in these huge caravans, with a total of two carts and more than 20 people, but everyone is fully armed and ready for battle, which seems to be extremely orderly.

There were also a lot of horse thieves sporadically encountered on the road, but no horse thief dared to come over to provoke Ma Chao and them, perhaps because of the kind of might that Ma Chao and others showed to outsiders, or because the horse thieves didn't bother to rob such a small team as Ma Chao.

Zhangye County is located in the west of Wuwei County, bordering Wuwei County, but the situation of the two counties has formed a very different situation, the security of Wuwei County is relatively good, there are few horse thieves in the county, but Zhangye County is a horse thief, if you have not met a horse thief in the county, you are really embarrassed to say that you have been to Zhangye County.

Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang are collectively known as the four counties of Hexi, which are the counties established by the Han army to break the Xiongnu and occupy these areas during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and since then, the four counties of Hexi have become an important part of Liangzhou.

Hexi refers to the Hexi Corridor, which starts from Wusheling in the east and reaches Guyumen Pass in the west. The north and south are between the South Mountains (Qilian Mountains and Altun Mountains) and the North Mountains (Horsehair Mountains, Heli Mountains and Longshou Mountains). It is about 900 kilometers long. It is several kilometers wide to nearly 100 kilometers, and is a long and narrow flat land in the northwest-southeast direction, shaped like a corridor, and is located in the west of the Yellow River, so it is called the Hexi Corridor.

The Hexi Corridor, which is also an important part of the Silk Road, is a transportation artery connecting the East and the West, but since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. There was constant turmoil in Liangzhou, and all the west of Wuwei was occupied by Qianghu, and most of the Han people retreated to the area of Hanyang County. After the Yellow Turban was pacified, Dong Zhuo took power, the heroes competed for hegemony, the Central Plains region fell into chaos, the Han court also existed in name only, and the Han army was even more unable to recover the lost territory. and did not dare to act rashly, so that for more than ten years. Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang have always been terra nullius, and the Qiang and Hu compete with each other, but the Han people no longer have the capital to gain a foothold here.

In such an environment, Ma Chao is also very curious, how did Dunhuang Suoshi survive in Dunhuang?

Along the way, Ma Chao asked Yang Fu about some information about Dunhuang Suoshi, but Yang Fu also knew very little about it, knowing that when Wei Kang was the assassin of Liangzhou, Dunhuang Suoshi had sent people to Jicheng to pray that Wei Kang would send troops into Dunhuang. It's a pity that Wei Kang was killed by Han Sui before he could respond, and there was no news from Dunhuang Suoshi after that.

However, the status of the Dunhuang Suo clan in the entire Liangzhou clan is very important, no matter what the current situation of the Suo clan in Dunhuang is, Ma Chao should go and see. On the one hand, it is to visit Suoshi, and on the other hand, it is to let Ma Chao personally appreciate the situation in the western part of Liangzhou, so that he can have a general understanding in his heart, and he will use troops against Xiliang in the future.

Ma Chao and the others went all the way to the west, and soon came to the territory of Lijing County, at this time it was late, twilight was four, and everyone was tired.

Ma Chao was still the first time to set foot in Zhangye County, and he didn't know the local geography, so he turned his head and asked the soldiers behind him: "Is there a city ahead?" ”

The soldiers behind him all shook their heads, indicating that they did not know. Like Ma Chao, they both stepped into this land for the first time, and they were full of curiosity about everything here.

At this time, Yang Fu said: "There is a city ahead, call it, Lijing, but it's just ......."

"Just what?" Ma Chao asked.

Yang Fu said: "It's just that the Lijing people are not friendly, I'm afraid they won't let us go into the city to rest!" ”

"How do you know if you don't try?" Ma Chaodao.

So, everyone went to Lijing City together, and when it was almost dark, Ma Chao and they finally saw a small city standing on the vast land. It's just that this small city is very different from the ones he has seen, and it seems to come from a foreign land.

Ma Chao pointed to the small city in front of him and asked, "Is Lijing City ahead?" ”

Yang Fu nodded and said, "Yes, this is the city where the Lijing people live. ”

"Who are the Lijing people?" Ma Chao asked curiously.

Yang Fu immediately explained to Ma Chao the origin of the Lijing people, who were descendants of the Great Qin people. Daqin was the name given to the Roman Empire at that time.

In 53 B.C., that is, the first year of the Western Han Dynasty, the Roman Eastern Expeditionary Army was besieged and annihilated in Karlai, of which more than 6,000 people broke out, returned to China and had no way to live in the mountains, looking for an opportunity to move eastward, crossing the eastern boundary of peace, and migrating to the Western Regions. In the first five years of the Western Han Dynasty, Kangju lent this foreign army to the Xiongnu Zhizhi Shan Yu who moved westward to threaten neighboring countries. Later, there was a civil strife in the Da Yue clan, and the Romans who lived in the Da Yue clan continued to move eastward, gradually flowing into the territory of the Han Dynasty, and there was a battle with the Han army, and more than 100 people were captured, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty released it and built a city for it, named Lijing. This is the origin of the Lijing people......

After Ma Chao listened to Yang Fu's story, he became interested in the Lijing people, and wanted to go to Lijing City to see what was going on.

A round of cold moon hung in the night sky, with his bright light shining on the earth, Ma Chao led people to Lijing City, but saw that the city was dilapidated, the city wall was made of rammed earth, some wind and rain hit the wall soil that had peeled off for a long time, and you can also see the traces left by the rammed earth when building the city, and some places were washed out of deep gaps by the rain.

The notices on both sides of the wall were plastered with proclamations, many of which were so old that the words were unlegible from the rain, leaving only a black cloud of ink. The other one was apparently posted only in the last two or three days, and not only did the paper not show any traces of wind and rain, but also exuded a strong smell of ink.

Reflecting the moonlight, Ma Chao looked carefully, and only then did he find that the proclamation in the notice board turned out to be a reward order, and the reward for a local horse thief was 50,000 yuan. Looking at the notice board on the side, there is almost the same reward notice posted on the wall, but the content of the reward is different. In addition to this, there is some information on hiring saber hands.

There are no battlements and watchtowers made of blue bricks in the city, only a wall of loess extends to the north and south. Above the gate, a small pavilion-like gatehouse made of wood, stood alone on the city wall.

The gates of Lijing City were closed, there was no one on the tower, and there was no sound in the city, as if it was a dead city.

Ma Chao looked through the gap in the city gate, but saw that most of the houses in the city had collapsed due to disrepair, and the entire city was shrouded in a layer of twilight, which looked so desolate.

"Is there anyone in there?" Ma Chao shouted at the city, but the sound was like a stone sinking into the sea, and it did not cause any ripples.

"Is it an empty city?" Ma Chao said suspiciously.

As soon as the words fell, suddenly a black shadow flashed out from the side of the city gate, put a gloomy eye through the crack in the door, stared at Ma Chao, and asked sharply, "What are you doing?" ”

Ma Chao was startled, and calmed down slightly, only then did he see clearly the face of this person through the gap in the city gate, this person had a fair complexion, deep eye sockets, a high nose bridge, and a scar on his face, which ruined his overall beauty, but the gloomy eyes gave people a chilling feeling.

"We are passing by here, it is getting late, we want to spend the night in the city, and leave early tomorrow morning, and I hope that this strong man can be accommodating." Ma Chaodao.

The man said: "I'm sorry, Lijing City has never been open to outsiders, so you better go elsewhere!" ”

Ma Chao suddenly took out a piece of gold from his arms, lit it up directly in front of the man, and said, "We can pay ......"

At this time, when he saw that man's eyes lit up, his originally gloomy face suddenly changed, and he looked at the number of people outside through the crack in the door, about twenty people, and then he said: "It's okay to spend the night in the city, but we don't have a good place for you to rest, if you want to enter the city, two hundred yuan per person!" ”

"Two hundred? Why don't you go and grab it, it costs 200 yuan for a night's stay? Wang Shuang couldn't help but laugh, and shouted directly.

The man said: "I can't stop loving!" There are many horse thieves in this area, and Lijing City is the only place within a radius of dozens of miles where you can stay, if you don't live, go elsewhere, anyway, we are not rare. ”

The Lijing people are known for their courage and skill in warfare, and often play the role of mercenaries, and often go to the people who offer bounties to receive them. In short, this is a group of people who can only fight, not farm, and all the merchants who have passed through Lijing, have not gone into the city to seek refuge without spending money. Even during the day, some caravans did not have enough swordsmen, and even hired Lijing people to send them out of Yumen Pass and Yangguan safely.

"We lived! Wang Shuang, give money! Ma Chao didn't say anything, he wanted to go into the city to see how strong the Lijing people were.

Wang Shuang endured his anger, took out the money extremely reluctantly, and stuffed it through the crack of the guò door to the Lijing man in the city, and after the Lijing man counted the money, he opened the city gate and let Ma Chao and others enter the city.

After Ma Chao and the others entered the city, the Lijing people closed the city gate again, and then took Ma Chao to an empty courtyard in the city, and said to Ma Chao: "You are not allowed to light a fire at night, remember!" Otherwise, they will drive you out of the city. (To be continued......)