Chapter 2: The Arrival of Xiao Bolu

  This fort was built to provide an early warning system for Shule, and two beacon towers were constructed in front of the fort for this purpose.

  Li Changguo and his men arrived at the tower, divided into two teams of five people each, and climbed up. With a glance, they could see everything within several miles around, and would notice even the slightest movement caused by the wind.

  After a while, the wind and waves calmed down, but Li Changguo and his men did not relax their vigilance, because this was the only way to enter Shule from Xiaobulü, and the Tubo people were determined to get here.

  Xiaobulü was originally a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, but later rebelled against the Tang and defected to the Tubo. In order to win over Xiaobulü, the Zanpu of Tubo married his princess to the king of Xiaobulü, Suli.

  After controlling the small Balur, Tubo was always thinking of entering the Western Regions. For this reason, the Tang Dynasty and Tubo had many wars in the Western Regions.

  Especially during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, the war between the two countries in the Western Regions was extremely fierce. The Tang Dynasty once lost the Four Garrisons of Anxi, but later dispatched a large army to retake them.

  "Ding! Ding! Ding!"

  A faint camel bell sound came from the west, a merchant team was heading towards the fort. This merchant team was not small in scale, with nearly two hundred camels, it was a large merchant team.

  The road in front of the fort is the famous Silk Road, which runs through East and West, and is a major artery for trade between East and West. Every day, many merchant caravans pass by here.

  The Silk Road splits into a southern and northern route after entering Western Regions, with the southern route necessarily passing through Congling.

  "Keep your eyes wide open and take a good look!"

  Li Changguo's eyebrows furrowed, and he loudly rebuked: "If it's a Tang Dynasty merchant group, there won't be any issues. But if they're Hu merchants, I need to keep my eyes wide open and take a good look, can't let spies sneak in!"

  Ferré's soldiers all opened their eyes wide, staring at the merchant group, waiting in a tight formation as if facing a great enemy.

  Before long, the merchant group arrived nearby, and Li Changguo took a closer look. It was indeed a Tang Dynasty merchant group, not only were they dressed in Tang attire, but their faces were also those of Tang people, this was absolutely unmistakable, it was a Tang Dynasty merchant group.

  "It's our merchant fleet!"

  Everyone secretly let out a sigh of relief, but they didn't relax their vigilance.

  The caravan came to a halt in front of them, and the leader of the merchants jumped down from his camel and quickly walked up to the foot of the tower. He bowed to Li Changgui and the others, saying: "Greetings, officials and soldiers! We are a merchant caravan from the Tang Dynasty, and we request your assistance. We need water."

  Behind the fortress there is a mountain spring, which is the only source of water for dozens of miles around. Most of the merchant caravans passing through here will replenish their drinking water here.

  This kind of thing, the soldiers had experienced a lot, and they were not surprised at all. Li Changguo waved his hand to Fei Rei and said, "You take them to fetch water."

  "Understood!" Fei Lei led the way, taking several merchants to fetch water.

  "It's just a small token of our appreciation, please accept it with a smile!" The leader of the merchants took out several pieces of silver and gave one to each person. Li Changguo received two pieces.

  A piece of broken silver is worth about three qian, equivalent to 300 Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, which is a pretty good income.

  This kind of filial piety is what the soldiers are used to; if they give it, they accept it, and if they don't give it, they don't force them.

  "Where are you going?" Li Changguo asked casually as he put away the silver.

  "Of course we're going to Chang'an!" The leader of the merchants said with a slightly higher tone, somewhat proudly.

  "Chang'an? You're going to Chang'an?" Liu Hao and the others were greatly surprised, also excited, and loudly asked: "Have you been to Chang'an?"

  Chang'an is the capital of the Great Tang Empire, and it has an extremely important position in the hearts of the Tang people. It is a place that the Tang people yearn for, and it is a sacred place in the eyes of the soldiers of the Great Tang. If one can make a trip to Chang'an, it would be a most glorious thing. However, Liu Hao and his fellow garrison troops do not have such an opportunity.

  "I've been there many times!" The leader of the merchants proudly raised his head and puffed out his chest: "I haven't told you, I've traveled to so many places, but among them, Chang'an is the most prosperous. There are countless people in Chang'an, if you walk on the main streets of Chang'an and let out a sigh, the warm air will even spray onto other people's necks."

  Chang'an was the first super city in Chinese history and also in human history with a permanent population of over one million, far more than other famous capitals in world history such as Constantinople, Baghdad and Rome. These Western famous capitals are simply incomparable to Chang'an, it can be said that they are not on the same level, one is heaven and the other is earth.

  "You must remember, if you go to Chang'an, don't randomly spit, or you might spit on a beautiful woman and become a Tang Dynasty romantic!" The leader of the merchants was a humorous person and didn't forget to crack jokes, making everyone burst out laughing.

  Li Changguo smiled, this merchant leader was rich in humor.

  "Chang'an has three great places to go, Wei River, Longshouyuan and Qujiangchi." The leader of the merchants opened his mouth and couldn't stop: "There are many beautiful women by the Wei River. On March 3rd, you must go to the Wei River. There are groups of beautiful women there, too numerous to count, and you will be dazzled. Remember to bring a few more eyeballs, otherwise your eyeballs will fall out and you won't be able to replace them, and if you can't see the beautiful women, it's a big loss!"

  "Haha!" The crowd was amused by his witty remark and burst into laughter.

  "You didn't go to the banks of Wei River on March 3rd this year, and saved a few eyeballs!" Li Changguo was also a humorous person, joking with the leader of the merchants.

  "I wasn't in Chang'an, was I? If I were in Chang'an, I would definitely go!" The leader of the merchants shook his head repeatedly, with a look of regret at having missed meeting the beauty.

  Liu Hao and his friends admired him so much that they wished they had wings to fly to Chang'an.

  "Chang'an's Qujiang Pool is also a beautiful place to visit. On the day when the imperial garden of the Tang Dynasty, Furong Garden, allows common people to enter, it's crowded with people. The leader of the merchants counted on his fingers and raised an eyebrow, a smile spreading across his face: 'In another month, it will be the day when Furong Garden can be entered, I can make it.'"

  These words have the power to shock heaven and earth, and make ghosts and gods weep. The crowd of soldiers almost dropped their eyeballs to the ground.

  "If you want to know the best place in Chang'an, it's Longshouyuan. It's the highest point in Chang'an, and from there, you can overlook the entire city, taking in all the sights of the Tang Dynasty. If you ever go to Chang'an, be sure to climb up to Longshouyuan!" The leader of the merchants reminded him.

  Ferré led the water-carrying merchants back, and the caravan bid farewell to Li Changguo and his party, heading in the direction of the rising sun.

  The merchant group has left, but Liu Hao and his companions are still feeling uneasy: "When can we go to Chang'an?"

  "We're just ordinary soldiers, and we don't have the good fortune to go to Chang'an in this lifetime!"

  "It's not necessarily so, Shilong is a brave warrior, if he achieves military merit, it's possible that we can enter Chang'an and become officials, let's follow Shilong!"

  "Most of the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty have military achievements, as long as they make great contributions, it's no problem to be a general or a minister. If we follow Shilong, we will have a bright future!"

  Everyone has great confidence in Li Changguo. For someone like Li Changguo with exceptional martial arts skills, joining the military means a boundless future, making it impossible for them not to think about it excessively.

  "Ding! Ding! Ding!"

  The familiar camel bell rang out, and another merchant team appeared.

  This time it was Hu Shang, and Li Changguo and others did not dare to relax in the slightest, concentrating their minds and being vigilant, as if they were facing a great enemy.

  "Have seen government troops!"

  The leader of the Hu merchants used his half-life unfamiliar Chinese to ask Li Changguo and others, took out a 10-tael silver ingot from his pocket, stuffed it into Li Changguo's hand, and smiled: "A small token, not enough to show respect, please accept with a smile!"

  "Speak up, what are your demands?" Li Changguo tossed the silver and glanced at Hu Shang's leader, asking indifferently.

  "What requirements are there." Hu Shang's leader smiled particularly kindly, as if seeing an old ancestor: "We've come a long way and are extremely tired, thinking of finding a place to rest, have some hot water..." His eyes glanced at the fort, the meaning couldn't be clearer, it was to enter the fort to rest.

  Li Changguo stared at Hu Shang's leader, not speaking for half a day. Hu Shang's leader kept smiling and had a good attitude.

  "Are you a Little Burt person?" Li Changguo suddenly asked out of the blue.

  The three guards behind Hu Shang's leader had their right hands on the hilt of their knives, with a fierce glint in their eyes.

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