"I've searched every corner of the county in the past two days, and no one has heard of the kind of medicine you said, his grandmother's, and I actually met a liar."

Cheng Yanjin handed a small wooden box to Zhang Xuan, "Open it and take a look!" ”

Zhang Xuan opened the wooden box, and there was a fat purple worm crawling inside, and he was stunned, "This is—"

Cheng Biting Jin said hatefully: "It was a Sogdian who sold it to me, saying that this is a purple insect jade chrysalis, and asked me for five yuan, but I later found out that it was a cabbage worm dyed purple, dog's day, he dared to lie to me Uncle Cheng, Lao Tzu must pinch him to death!" ”

Zhang Xuan smiled dumbly, in order to get that component, this Cheng Biting Jin looked for a crack in the drill bit and sharpened his head, this person who desperately took advantage of it and would rather die than suffer a loss, was actually deceived in the end!

At this time, Zhang Xuan caught a glimpse of Zhao Dan hurriedly walking into the courtyard through the window, and he hurried out, "Is Uncle Zhao looking for me?" ”

"It's a matter of looking for a childe."

Zhao Shan pulled Zhang Xuan aside and said in a low voice: "Liu Wuzhou came to me just now, saying that the imperial court has agreed to send troops to escort the caravan north, and now about nineteen caravans have signed up to go north, I am also a little tempted, what do you say?" ”

"What is the attitude of Si Chang and Second Uncle Li?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

"Chai Gongzi didn't say anything, but Li Shentong said, he will follow you, and he will leave if you go."

Zhang Xuan thought for a while and asked, "Can the Sui army enter the territory of the Turks?" ”

"Nope! No! There is no need to enter the Turkic territory, there is a market in the northernmost part of Mayi County, and as soon as we get there, many Turks will come to trade, and it will take about three or four days to travel. ”

He laughed in a low voice again: "There will be a lot of Turkic characteristics, a lot of medicinal materials, it is estimated that there will be something that Gongzi needs." ”

Zhang Xuan thought of the purple insect jade chrysalis, and his heart also warmed up, and he nodded and agreed, "Since we don't have to go north to the Turks, then we might as well sign up." ”

"Alright, I'll go and get everyone to pack up."

Zhao Shan turned around to leave, but Zhang Xuan grabbed him again, "Uncle Zhao, ten years ago, where did you buy the purple insect jade chrysalis with Zhang Zhongjian?" ”

Zhao Dan's face changed, and after a while, he smiled bitterly: "Zhang Gongzi, you have asked me several times on the way to this matter, since you must know, then I will tell you now, in fact, I don't know Zhang Zhongjian at all." ”

"Then how would Uncle Zhao know-"

Zhao Dan sighed, "Ten years ago, we encountered a black horse thief at the foot of Jinshan, dozens of merchants were all killed, and I couldn't survive, at this time a bearded man came, he single-handedly killed more than a hundred black horse thieves, I escaped with my life, he just found a few bottles of purple insect jade pupal juice from the leader of the black horse thief, everything I knew about this medicine was he told me, and then he sent me back to Mayi County, I never saw him again, and the black horse thief disappeared." ”

Zhang Xuan listened leisurely and yearned, single-handedly killed more than a hundred dark horse thieves, when will he be able to meet this legendary figure again?

．．．．．．．．

Although the imperial court agreed that Mayi County should send troops to escort the merchants north, the number of approved troops was limited and could not exceed 100 escorts.

Due to the small number of troops, many merchants were reluctant to set off in the first batch, and the first batch of caravans to the north was only twenty, most of them were small and medium-sized caravans, they had limited funds and could not support them for too long, although the risks on the road were very high, they still chose to go north.

Zhao Dan's imperial caravan was also in the first batch of northbound lists, he had more than 300 healthy mules and 50 camels, more than 70 people, it was the largest caravan, with them in the team, many small caravans were reassured.

Early the next morning, Liu Wuzhou led a hundred cavalry to escort a caravan of five or six hundred people to the north, heading in the direction of Qifubo.

The terrain of Mayi County is long and narrow, nearly 1,000 miles deep from north to south, of which the south is mainly the Taihang Mountains, with mountains and mountains, and many canyons, but after passing the Wuzhou Mountains and the Purple River, it enters the grassland area.

"It's Wuzhou Mountain over there!"

Liu Wuzhou pointed to a mountain in the distance that stretched for hundreds of miles and said with a smile: "My name is derived from that mountain, which is also the border between the Central Plains Dynasty and the Xiongnu during the Qin and Han dynasties. ”

"General Liu, has the Great Wall been repaired?" Someone asked.

Liu Wuzhou pointed ahead with a whip, "The new Great Wall was just repaired last year, and it was built along the Purple River, and we saw it soon." ”

The caravan walked more than ten miles north, and the terrain gradually became flat, and the woods turned into grasslands, and the endless grasslands were scattered with low-lying hills, like undulating green oceans.

Everyone's hearts and horizons became broader, and I don't know who pointed ahead and shouted, "Look, river!" ”

A wide river flows in front of everyone, like a white and bright jade belt, entangled in the undulating grassland, this is the famous purple river in Mayi County.

Everyone cheered, livestock and camels were even more energetic, and they all accelerated their speed and ran towards the river, and the south bank of the Purple River was suddenly crowded with people and animals drinking water, and the river water was clear and sweet, washing away the fatigue of everyone who had been hurrying for days.

At this time, Zhang Xuan stood up straight and took a curtain to look north, and to the north was a raised hillside, blocking the view, but Zhang Xuan still faintly saw a square building with an exposed roof.

"General Liu, is there the Great Wall ahead?"

Liu Wuzhou stepped forward and nodded with a smile, "Three hundred steps away is the Great Wall, but it is blocked by the hillside, and you can see it after passing the hillside." ”

"Isn't it safe to cross the Great Wall?"

Liu Wuzhou nodded, "That's right!" Out of the Great Wall, we will be attacked by horse thieves at any time, and we will not be able to sleep peacefully. ”

Liu Wuzhou's words were completely correct, after leaving the Great Wall, the atmosphere of the caravan began to become tense, before the team maintained the shape of a long snake marching army, but out of the Great Wall, no one wanted to go behind, the team became a crab-like group, the goods were inside, the merchants and men were on the periphery, and everyone gathered in a group and marched north.

All the way to the north is the vast steppe, occasionally you can see herds of cattle and sheep, grazing leisurely on the grassland, and there will be a number of Turkic domes, these are small Turkic tribes attached to the Sui Dynasty, although they belong to the people of the Great Sui, they still have to pay taxes to the Turkic royal court for security.

The appearance of the caravan excited the Turkic people living along the route, and people constantly exchanged sheepskins and medicinal herbs for cloth, bee candy, salt and other necessities of life.

Chai Shao has been to the Turks a few times, and he knows more about the situation here, he smiled and said to Zhang Xuan: "The Turks along the way have little demand, and they don't want expensive goods, and they can't sell them at a good price, at most only 30% of the profit, but it's safer, do you see, some small caravans are willing to exchange with them." ”

Zhang Xuan also saw that two small caravans cleared the goods, replaced them with grassland goods such as sheepskin medicinal herbs, and then turned around and went south, no longer going north with the team, although they didn't make much money, but at least they didn't lose money.

"How far is it from the beggar to be bought?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

Chai Shao pointed to a red stone forest more than ten miles away in the distance and smiled: "Do you see that red stone pillar?" That is the famous Xuansha Mausoleum, is a holy place for the Turks, but it is a very good landmark for us, see the Xuansha Mausoleum, you know that there are about two hundred miles away from the begging bo, and you will arrive in two days. ”

Zhang Xuan was also looking forward to it in his heart, "I hope I can buy my things in Beggar Bo." ”

"I'm afraid this trip will be more auspicious." Chai Shao snorted softly.

"Why do you say that?"

Chai Shao looked at no one around him, and whispered to Zhang Xuan: "Didn't my brother see it?" Liu Wuzhou has a problem! ”

Zhang Xuan looked at Liu Wuzhou, who was talking and laughing at the front of the team, and asked puzzledly, "What problems will he have?" ”

"This person's family is inextricably linked with the Turks, and even became rich with his back to the Turks, and this time he actually took the initiative to ask for a guard, which is really incomprehensible."

Zhang Xuan muttered and said, "Maybe the Turks don't want the trade route to be blocked. ”

Chai Shao sneered, "The black horse thief is the power of the Turkic high priest Mo Aaron, and it is one of the eight departments of the Jinshan Palace, without the acquiescence of the Turkic Khan, it is impossible for the black horse thief to appear in the trade road, so the caravan is blocked, it must be the intention of the Turkic Khan, but the Turks don't want to arouse the question of the imperial court, so they fake Mo Aaron to come forward." ”

Zhang Xuan wanted to ask what Jinshan Palace was, but Chai Shao's words made him worried, and he said in a low voice: "So Si Chang thinks that Liu Wuzhou sent out to ask for Ying to escort him with ulterior motives. ”

"If he wants to maintain his family's relationship with the Turks, he should resolutely oppose sending troops to protect the caravan, and if he can't object, at least he should remain silent, but such an active march north makes people have to doubt his true intentions."

"Did Si Chang tell Lao Zhao these words?"

Chai Shao lowered his voice even more, "The Longhu Inn we live in is a partnership between Zhao Shan and the Liu family, not only the Longhu Inn, but also in the Liu family's commercial bank, Zhao Shan has also invested a lot of money, the reason why Zhao Shan asked the first batch to go north is actually what Liu Wuzhou meant, didn't you find that there was no real big caravan?" ”

At this time, a cavalryman urged the horse to run past them, Chai Shao stopped talking, and when the cavalry ran away, Chai Shao continued: "Zhao Shan didn't know that there was danger, but he and Liu Wuzhou's interests were too entangled, so he had to obey Liu Wuzhou's arrangement, but we had to guard against it. ”

Chai Shao's words made Zhang Xuan secretly frightened, he didn't expect that there was such a deep cat hidden here, if it was really as Chai Shao said, then this trip to the north would be full of danger.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, no matter whether Chai Shao said this on purpose, or if it was true, they couldn't be careless or too passive.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan said: "Since Si Chang said so, we can't sit still, we must take action, it is better to call Second Uncle Li to come over and discuss." ”

They slowed down their horses and waited for Li Shentong to come up, Chai Shao told Li Shentong what he had just said again, Li Shentong was also taken aback, and hurriedly said: "If this northbound journey is a trap, then the trap must be in the area of Begging and Bo, why don't we send someone to see the situation over there first." ”

"Let Cheng bite Jin and bring the two entourages of the second uncle over."

Chai Shao frowned, "He is very arrogant and selfish, can he do it?" ”

Zhang Xuan smiled and nodded, "Don't worry! His carelessness is faked, he is better than anyone else, have you ever seen him suffer? ”

Chai Shao smiled bitterly, "This is also true, I saw him take advantage, and I have never seen him suffer." ”

Li Shentong also agreed with Zhang Xuan's plan, "He will not be suspected if he leaves, it is indeed the most suitable." ”

Zhang Xuan urged the horse to catch up with Cheng Yanjin and handed over the task to him, Cheng Yanjin took a long time before he said: "You mean that I don't need to look for any purple insects anymore, after completing this matter, I will be given another 10% of the shares, right?" ”