Chapter 1: The police heard from the fortress

‘Jinhe returns to Yuguan every year, and rides horses and sword rings every morning’

After several months, Yang Yuanqing returned to the border where he had been guarding for more than five years. It was already in the middle of November, and the north wind was howling, and the cold wind blew the traveler's skin.

On the boundless Gobi Desert, a camel fleet full of cargo was slowly heading north along the frozen Yellow River like jade belts.

The climate north of Lingzhou is severely cold, and the cold wind is as harsh as a knife. Everyone is wearing thick leather robes, and women are wearing curtain hats to cover their bodies to resist sand and dust and cold wind.

The camel caravan had a total of more than 600 heads, loaded with thousands of tans of tea and other goods. The camel caravan accompanied him about 30 people, almost all of whom were Hu from the Western Regions. This camel caravan also traveled between Sogdian and the Great Sui Dynasty. It was stranded in the capital in the cold winter and was hired by Combas.

In addition to Yang Yuanqing and Yang Wei, Conbas also brought his wife and daughter with him. His wife is from Sogdian, over thirty years old and can not speak Chinese. Her eldest daughter is fourteen years old. She is a beautiful girl with blue eyes and can speak a few words of Chinese.

The youngest daughter is six years old. Combas told Yang Yuanqing that his son was five years old and his daughter was two years old. In fact, he was more to win Yang Yuanqing's sympathy. He actually has no son, only two daughters. Every time everyone talks about this and jokes about him, Combas always smiles awkwardly.

Combass named the eldest daughter Kang Mo and the younger daughter Kang Li. Along the way, Niu Niu and Kang Mo had a very good relationship. The two were about the same age and had a companion along the way.

In addition to the wife and daughter of Conbas, there were several young officials, all of whom were low-ranking officials who had just entered the Imperial College. Most of them were the children of officials. One was the new county magistrate of Dalicheng, named Du Ruhui, from Duling, Jingzhao. He became an alternate official of the Ministry of Personnel at the age of fifteen. While studying in the Imperial College, he was waiting for the opportunity to enter the Imperial College. This time, Yang Guang ordered Gao Xiaoji, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to select a young and capable talent to serve as the county magistrate of Dali County to assist Yang Yuanqing. Gao Xiaoji chose Du Ruhui, praising him for his quick thinking, pragmatic and decisiveness.

In addition to Du Ruhui, there are three young officials, all of whom are around 20 years old. They are officials who serve as municipal supervisors. Most officials are unwilling to come to the frontier to work. The conditions there are difficult, far away from their families, and only have great ambitions and aggression. Young people with ambitions are willing to go to the frontier.

Although it was cold and hard along the way, several young people were very excited and full of expectations for the future.

At noon that day, the team arrived at Liuchengshu and saw a pillar of wolf smoke rising from the top of the fortress from afar. This is a fortress between Fengzhou and Lingzhou, and it is also a beacon tower. It is about forty miles away from the bend of the Yellow River and is under the jurisdiction of the Fengzhou Army.

The fort covers an area of ​​one acre, three floors high, one floor raises horses, two floors live in people, and the third floor is a beacon tower, with a total of twenty garrison soldiers, led by a garrison leader.

The team was one mile away from the fortress, and the garrison leader brought a few soldiers to greet him. The garrison leader was Yeliba Ge, who was an affiliated Dangxiang man. He was once a personal soldier of Yu Juluo and was very familiar with Yang Yuanqing.

He flew forward, he turned over and dismounted, and knelt on one knee to pay homage to him: "Brother Bei Zhiye Liba, see General Yang!"

Yang Yuanqing got off the horse and pulled him up, patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "Yeli, I've been missing for several months, how much fur has I saved?"

The soldiers lived a hard life and would hunt nearby, obtain fur and sell it to merchants along the way in exchange for wine, food and some daily necessities.

Brother Yeli sighed bitterly, "Don't mention it, I haven't gone out for a long autumn, and I have no gains."

Yang Yuanqing was stunned, "Why?"

"I'll tell you later."

Brother Yeliba glanced at the camels and smiled and said, "Is there anything for us?"

"It's all tea leaves, so I'll leave you two tumbles when I leave."

Yang Yuanqing turned around and waved to everyone, "Everyone go to the fort to rest for an hour and have some hot soup!"

Everyone was very tired when they walked along the way. When they heard Yang Yuanqing's shouts, everyone accelerated their speed and headed towards the fortress.

The garrison soldiers had already set up several tents for them, burned dry cow dung, and sent them to the tent to keep them warm. Although Yeliba looked rude, he was as careful as his hair. When he heard the patrol that there were female relatives in Yang Yuanqing's team, he specially set up a thick wool tent for them, and did not use cow dung, but burned charcoal himself to keep them warm.

Everyone came to the fort and camels down from the horse and stomped their feet and rubbed their hands desperately. Their hands and feet were almost frozen. The camel men settled the camels and rushed into the tent to make a fire to keep warm. A soldier brought several women into the wool tent and sent a lot of blankets.

"General Yang!"

The new county magistrate Du Rumei walked up to her and bowed and asked, "Will we spend the night here tonight?"

Du Rumei has a dark and thin face and a medium figure. Although she is only twenty years old, she is old and looks over thirty years old. However, she is in good spirits and chats and laughs all the way, and she can tell many allusions everywhere, which makes her very knowledgeable.

Although it was his first time as a county magistrate, he often went to the county government offices of the capital since he was sixteen years old and accumulated a lot of government experience. This time he became the county magistrate of Dali, he was also full of longing and wanted to have a vision.

Yang Yuanqing also served as the county magistrate, while Du Rumei was the county magistrate. In general, the county magistrate and the county magistrate were closely related. However, Yang Yuanqing was a soldier and not a civil servant. Du Rumei and him lacked a little common language, which seemed a little estranged, not so tacit understanding, and the two did not talk much along the way.

Yang Yuanqing also understood this. After he was busy with his job, he would naturally improve slowly. However, he was quite respectful to his young subordinate. He shook his head and explained: "In a few days, there will be a blizzard. We must arrive at Dali City as soon as possible, and leave for only one hour."

He glanced at Du Rumei's hand, his fingers were red and swollen, and he actually had frostbite, and asked, "Didn't the county magistrate use frostbite cream?"

Du Rumei smiled bitterly and shook her head, "I bought a little before leaving, but it didn't seem to work."

Yang Yuanqing immediately turned around and waved to a garrison soldier, and the soldiers stepped forward to salute, "Is there anything that the general?"

"Give me a box of your antifreeze paste."

The soldier rushed into the fortress, and for a moment, he brought a wooden box as big as a palm and handed it to Yang Yuanqing.

Yang Yuanqing opened the box and filled it with black ointment. He handed it to Du Rumei and smiled: "This is made by locals using the local method. Although it is rough, it works very well. The county magistrate will give it a try."

Du Rumei took the box and sniffed it, with a knowing smile on her face, "There is musk, good stuff!"

He bowed and smiled, "Thank you, General, I've entered the account first, call me when I set off."

Du Rumei turned around and walked into the tent. Yang Yuanqing looked at his thin back and suddenly thought of another person, Fang Xuanling, and I wonder where this person was?

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Soon, the aroma of the boiled broth spread throughout the camp. Brother Yeliba took Yang Yuanqing to the third floor of the fort. There were beacon towers on it, with a total of three pots, and the wolf smoke was placed as a symbol. If there was nothing wrong, a pillar of smoke was placed. If a small-scale enemy attacked, two pillars of smoke were placed, and a large group of enemy attacked, three pillars of smoke were placed.

The terrain here is high. From a distance, not far away is the white-light Yellow River, which has frozen. To the west is the endless Ulanbuhe Desert, and to the northwest is a dark mountain range, which is a branch of Yinshan Mountain. The beginning of Langshan Mountain, from Langshan to Yinshan Mountain, is like a giant dragon lying across the heaven and earth, stretching for thousands of miles.

"Why didn't you go out hunting for an autumn?"

Yang Yuanqing also kept thinking about this reason, "Is there an enemy army appearing?"

Brother Yeli Ba nodded, "It's Xueyantuo people, but not a large group of cavalry. There are often small groups of cavalry coming to harass and loot, forcing us not to hunt for the autumn."

‘The Xueyantuo people?’

Yang Yuanqing was very familiar with the Tiel tribe. In the battle of Harry Lake, he defeated more than 20,000 Xueyantuo cavalry. The grassland bandits were in dispersed and ran to Fengzhou to harass him.

"The climate is particularly cold today. There will be a blizzard in September on the other side of Jinshan. Xue Yantuo suffered a major disaster and they began to loot everywhere."

Brother Yeliba looked at the camels under the fort worriedly, "General, you have to be careful. If you have brought so many goods, it will be troublesome if you are targeted by Xueyantuo people."

Yang Yuanqing pondered and said nothing. He did not expect that the Xueyantuo people would cross Yinshan to come to Fengzhou to harass the land of harasse. The small enemy troops in the grassland usually had a team of 100 or 200 people. No matter which one they encountered, he would lose money. If he had known about Lingzhou, he would have asked for military escorts.

But now it is seven or eight hundred miles away from Lingzhou, which is too far away. Yang Yuanqing pondered for a long time and said to Yeliba Brother: "This is it! Give me ten subordinates."

"Is ten people enough? I can give you fifteen."

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "It's too dangerous to leave only five people yourself. There are ten people in front of Leshifeng and Henghekoufeng. I can take another five people. I will lead fifteen people enough to deal with a hundred enemies."

"Let me do this! I will send another officer to Yongfeng County for help and ask the army there to come to pick up the general."

Yongfeng County is the second largest county in Fengzhou, with nearly 2,000 garrisons and more than 400 miles away, making it the closest army.

Yang Yuanqing nodded. This is also a solution, "Okay! Send your men to report the news immediately, and I will continue to rush."

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An hour later, the team continued to set off north, and there were ten more cavalrymen in the team. They walked twenty miles north and passed by the beacon tower. There were five beacon trees here. Yang Yuanqing took three more people, and soon the team arrived at the fork of the Yellow River.

From here, the Yellow River divides into two strands, one continues to move northward, flowing eastward in an arc shape, while the other strands eastward at a ninety-degree folding path. The two strands of the Yellow River each ran for hundreds of miles and then merged again, forming the Hetao Plain with a fertile field of thousands of miles between them.

The camel team stopped next to the fork in the Yellow River. Yang Yuanqing stood on his horse and stared at the west for a long time. The ice surface was like a huge jade cover, extending into the distance. Under the setting sun, there was a magnificent light, which made people feel so magnificent.

Niu Niu was as careful as her hair. She found that there were more than a dozen soldiers in the team, so she became a little worried. She slowly urged her to go forward, pulled open the curtain covering her face, and asked, "Yuan Qing, is there any danger?"

Yang Yuanqing looked back at her. After a difficult journey for a month, she had obviously lost weight and looked a little haggard on her face. She was from the south and had never experienced such severe cold. The wind, sand and climate made her unable to adapt.

Yang Yuanqing smiled and comforted her, "Disasters always exist on the grassland. It is very dangerous to encounter wild wolves in winter, but Tengger will bless us."

"What is Tengger?"

"Tengri is the God of the Grassland."

Yang Yuanqing cheered up and laughed at everyone, "It's almost time to get home, everyone can cross the river!"

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Suddenly I found that many historical masters have opened new books! Sanjie's "Yi Pin Jiangshan", Gengxin's "Song Shixing", and Yan Jiumm's "Tianguan" are all good friends of Lao Gao. You can go and have a look

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Chapter completed!