A month later.

A caravan of more than 1,000 people came to Haizhou Jiaohe City, wrapped their faces and heads with towels one by one, revealing only a pair of bright eyes outside, the yellow sand on the plateau was all over the sky, and the ultraviolet rays were even more vicious, and people who were not used to it couldn't stand it at all.

When the team stopped when it approached the gate of Jiaohe City, Qin Huaidao took a few steps forward, curiously looking at the city in front of him, when he looked at it from a distance before, he saw that the river came leisurely, and after arriving at the city, it was divided into two, intersected, and finally converged into one place, and continued to move forward, the whole city was like a leaf in the river.

Now standing in front of the city, I found that the city is built by a huge platform raised in the river, the river that goes around on both sides is like a moat, there is no city wall, the buildings are dug down from the surface of the towering platform, and in the middle is a road that runs through the city, from the avenue you can see the temple, the government office, the people's house, the city gate are all earthen walls, the streets and alleys are narrow and deep, like a winding trench, and the whole city is like a large fortress fortified layer by layer.

"It's kind of interesting!"

Qin Huaidao sighed with emotion, later generations have also come here to visit, but what they see are ruins, like ruins, this era is different, two years ago Hou Junji led troops to destroy Gaochang State, that is, the later generation of Turpan, Gaochang State was set as Xizhou, and the Anxi Protectorate was set up in Jiaohe City west of Xizhou, but now Jiaohe City is full of vitality, the market, the official office, Buddhist temples, pagodas, streets and alleys, as well as workshops, dwellings, military exercise grounds, Tibetan trenches are readily available.

"Uncle, do you want to go in?" Luo Ying stepped forward and asked.

"No need." Qin Huaidao shook his head, the reason why he came here was just to find out the news, although the court was crowned king, Qin Huaidao didn't want to get too close to the court.

"It's okay, then wait, the scouts of the Anxi Protectorate already know that we are coming, and they will definitely tell us to go up, and someone will come, but I don't know if we can get useful news here, and no one knows about this way."

Luo Ying replied casually, not optimistic, curiously looked at the city in front of him, and added: "It's all earthen walls, fortunately, there are rivers all around, and the Turkic cavalry can't rush over, otherwise a large number of cavalry will fall in a concentrated charge, and this city is built along the river, which is not bad." ”

As he was talking, a team rushed out of the city, led by the person with a national face, about forty years old, with tanned skin, but the momentum was extraordinary, and he arched his hand back and forth: "But the king of Qin County is in front of him?" In the Lower Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate Governor, Xizhou Road Marching Governor Guo Xiaoke. ”

Qin Huaidao had heard of this person, but he was not familiar with it, so he stepped forward and saluted: "It is here, I came here to disturb this time, just to inquire about the matter, and I also asked Guo Dudu to make it convenient." ”

Guo Xiaoke didn't know Qin Huaidao, but he had also heard a lot of rumors, and he knew that he was very young, but he didn't expect to be so young, so he didn't dare to hold it up, so he quickly dismounted, and saluted solemnly: "Xiaguan Guo Xiaoke saw the county king, and a few days ago he received an urgent holy decree from the imperial court for eight hundred miles, ordering the lower officials to obey the command of the county king unconditionally, but there is an order, and there is no lake. ”

Qin Huaidao was a little surprised when he heard that the imperial court had a will, he couldn't guess what Li Er wanted to do, he had already made up his mind not to have too much to do with the imperial court, and he would not change easily, so he said quietly: "Thank you Guo Dudu, presumably Guo Dudu already knows what I am waiting for?" ”

"The holy decree was mentioned, but the lower officials had no clue, and after receiving the holy decree, they sent people to inquire around, but there were no clues, and they asked the county king to atone for their sins." Guo Xiaoke hurriedly said.

"Have anyone found us?" Luo Ying couldn't help but ask.

"No!"

Luo Ying wanted to ask something, Qin Huaidao glared back, and then looked at Guo Xiaoke and continued: "Guo Dudu does he have a topographic map of the Xizhou generation?" ”

"There is one, but it is very rough, it is better to enter the city first, so that the lower officials can fulfill the friendship of the landlord."

Qin Huaidao originally didn't want to go in and keep his distance from the imperial court, but the map was too important, so after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "It's okay, then go in and rest for a while, and replenish some food and water." As he spoke, he looked at Luo Ying.

Luo Ying nodded knowingly and ran to order.

The team drove the carriage into the city slowly, the carriage was full of weapons and food, Luo Tong was wearing civilian clothes and mixed in the team, pulling up his face scarf higher, not like being recognized by Guo Xiaoke, the two were old acquaintances, and whispered to Li Yixie next to him: "You watch in front, I'll go to the back." ”

"Danger here?" Li Yixie asked in surprise.

"Not necessarily, there's nothing wrong with being careful." Luo Tong said perfunctorily, turned back.

Li Yixie saw that Luo Tong was a little strange, but he didn't ask much, and secretly moved forward cautiously.

Jiaohe City is the last stop of the Tang Dynasty caravan to the west, and then to the west is the Turkic territory, no one dares to venture easily, Qin Huaidao looked around quietly, it feels like entering a labyrinth, a fortress, no wonder it has not fallen down for countless years, until the future generations still exist, this seemingly simple city, in fact, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is extremely dangerous.

Along the way, many people watched curiously, everyone has seen a lot of caravans, but the caravan of a thousand people is the first time to see, pointing, some people even come up to peddle all kinds of fruits, fresh, dried, and so on, it is tempting to look at, Qin Huaidao is very clear about the fruits of Turpan, and told Luo Ying: "Buy everything, brothers."

Try fresh, especially fragrant pear, expectorant and cough, heat and heat, nourish yin and nourish people, and can also alleviate water and soil discomfort. ”

"Understood!" Luo Ying looked greedy and agreed.

When the group came to the door of the official office, Qin Huaidao signaled the team to wait in place, originally wanted Luo Tong and Li Yixie to accompany him, but he didn't see Luo Tong's shadow, he didn't think much about it, and motioned Li Yixie to follow, and when he walked into the official office, he suddenly felt that the temperature was much cooler.

Guo Xiaoke didn't dare to slack off, let people serve tea, take out some fruits to entertain, and ran to the back to get a map, drawn on the cloth, looked really simple, and said apologetically: "The king of the county, the topographic map is a little simpler, but the surrounding mountains and rivers are in the mind of the lower officials, just ask." ”

Qin Huaidao glanced at it a few times, asked Guo Xiaoke for a large piece of paper, dipped it in ink with a brush and quickly sketched it, and quickly copied the topographic map, which made Guo Xiaoke's eyes light up.

"Guo Dudu, since you said that the surrounding mountains and rivers are in your mind, tell me carefully, where there is a river, where there are mountains, how the river is, the mountain height continues, and what is the shape trend, make it clear, I will draw it, and immediately point out the wrong place, the stakes are very high, and please Guo Dudu to waste his heart."

"It should." Guo Xiaoke hurriedly agreed and explained carefully.

It is worthy of being the chief of the march in Xizhou, the governor of the Governor's Mansion, and he really knows the surrounding terrain well, and he knows the surrounding terrain one by one, mountains and rivers, passes, canyons, grasslands, Gobi, deserts, etc., gradually emerging on the map, under Qin Huaidao's questioning, where are the Turkic tribes gathered, how many people, are told in detail.

For a full hour, a detailed map appeared on the paper, but unfortunately it was only a radius of two hundred miles, and Guo Xiaoke had never been to more than this distance, so I don't know.

Something is better than nothing, Qin Huaidao breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to put away the map, when he saw Guo Xiaoke looking at him steadily, his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help asking: "Guo Dudu has something to say?" ”

"The king of the county, the lower official...... Xiaguan ......" Guo Xiaoke looked at the map directly, and stopped talking, as a soldier, he knew the value of this map too well, but thinking of Qin Huaidao's identity, he didn't dare to ask for it.

Qin Huaidao is also a soldier, he instantly understood Guo Xiaoke's thoughts, and after thinking about it, it would be good to give the other party a map, and it would be a good thing to improve the combat effectiveness of the Tang Army, so he smiled and said, "Do you want it?" ”

"Don't dare?" Guo Xiaoke's expression of eagerness betrayed what he was thinking.

"It's okay to give you one, but you'll have to exchange it for something." Qin Huaidao said with a smile.

"Really?"

Guo Xiaoke was overjoyed, his eyes lit up, as for exchanging things, it was not a problem at all, anyway, the holy decree also asked for full support, for fear that Qin Huaidao would regret it, and hurriedly said: "Although the king of the county opened his mouth, everything I have in the Anxi Protectorate, take it all, this map is valuable, but I don't know what the king of the county wants?" ”

"This trip is in a hurry, and the grain and grass carried are a little insufficient, if you can, prepare a thousand people for a week of dry food, of course, the cost is indispensable to you." Qin Huaidao said with a straight face, in the bitter cold land of Xizhou, the food is limited, everyone can't eat enough, no one will easily take it out and sell it, and what can be bought on the market is limited, so it can only rely on the Governor's Mansion.