Chapter 1 The First Drop of Blood

Zhang Jianliang jumped out of a carriage and looked up and saw the city gate of Jiayuguan.

Then, his shaped backpack was thrown off the shelves on the roof of the carriage by the coachman.

The backpack was very heavy, and he hugged it hard to let the backpack fall to the ground. For this reason, he glared at the coachman with a very bad attitude.

The coachman smiled with yellow teeth showing his mouth, and had no sense of Zhang Jianliang's anger. He jumped back to the coachman's position, shook the reins, and the carriage slowly began to drive, and soon, he ran.

Long-distance carriages do not enter the city.

The city wall of Jiayuguan is very tall, but there are no guards on the city wall.

Only a group of tax collectors were checking the caravan entering the city gate.

Zhang Jianliang carried this backpack that was almost as tall as himself, and dusted his armband with his hands, and walked towards the Jiayuguan city gate.

An officer in black military uniform and a black silver ornament appeared in the team preparing to enter the city, which was very conspicuous. The tax collectors had already discovered him, but were busy with the work at hand, so they ignored him.

After seeing Zhang Jianliang, the tax official sitting on a recliner, he slowly got up, came to Zhang Jianliang and bowed, "Visiting relatives?"

Zhang Jianliang glanced at the tax officer and said, "Go home."

The tax officer said embarrassedly: "I want to check..."

Zhang Jianliang said: "Then check it."

The tax official laughed and said, "If my brother accidentally brought jade, agate, gold and other things, he can now put it on his body. According to the rules, for soldiers like his brother, only check their luggage and not people."

Zhang Jianliang smiled and said, "When I went out of the border, I was empty-handed. Now I am back and have no objects."

The tax official laughed and said, "That's good, that's good. It's not that the brothers don't give face, but that they are chasing them up the top. Some brothers go out for a bus and carry two hundred taels of gold sand when they come back. This is notorious."

Zhang Jianliang smiled and said, "I came from Tuoyun Ranch..."

The tax officer was stunned when he heard this, and said, "I heard there..."

Zhang Jianliang said: "We won."

The tax officer's tense face suddenly burst into laughter and said repeatedly: "I'll just say that General Duan is here, how can he allow those Mongolian Tartars to be arrogant?"

After saying that, he made a clear way to invite Zhang Jianliang to pass.

"Don't check it?"

"No more investigation, don't say that the captain is a hero who came from the battlefield. As long as you come from a place like Tuoyun Ranch, you shouldn't be wronged here."

"My backpack has gold and jade."

"It must be the captain's trophy."

Zhang Jianliang reached out and patted the tax officer on the arm and said, "Thank you, brother."

After saying that, he walked straight to the city gate that was so close to him.

"Brother, how many have you killed?"

The voice of the tax officer came from behind, and Zhang Jianliang stopped and turned to the tax officer and said, "I didn't kill many people this time."

The tax officer frowned and said, "Why didn't he kill? The envoys of our Ming Dynasty were cut off by others."

Zhang Jianliang laughed and said, "The head of the Mongolian king who cut off the ears of the messenger has been made into a wine bowl by the general. More than 36,000 prisoners from the Mongolian king have officially entered the Tuoyun Pasture to plant trees, grazing and farm for us."

The tax official also laughed and said, "In this way, in the coming year, there will be no need to transport grain from the pass in the Western Regions?"

Zhang Jianliang shook his head and said, "It won't happen next year. Let's see, three or five years later, the Mongolian Tartars don't know how to farm."

After saying goodbye to the tax officer, Zhang Jianliang entered the pass.

It is true that Jiayuguan is an important pass, but the military status here has declined a lot. The most important reason why there are still official offices here is to pay taxes rather than defense.

Hami is the place where great army gathers.

After eating a large bowl of roasted mutton noodles on the bazaar, Zhang Jianliang went to the inn to stay here.

The inn was full of people, and even in the yard, there were many people sitting and lying.

These people are all women, women from the Western Regions. When Zhang Jianliang appeared in the post station in a military uniform, the women immediately became turbulent and couldn't help but hide together, lowering their heads and not daring to look at Zhang Jianliang.

The postmaster who was drinking tea saw an officer coming in, and hurriedly came up and bowed, "Where is the captain?"

Zhang Jianliang took out a bronze medal from his shirt pocket and threw it to the Yicheng and said, "Give me one to go to the room."

The official secretary looked at the bronze medal of accommodation certificate representing the school official in his hand, then looked at Zhang Jianliang's epaulette and said, "Captain, it's not that he won't let you get a house. If the military police come, it's hard for you to explain."

Zhang Jianliang said: "I have been awarded a medal and promoted to major."

The official secretary looked at Zhang Jianliang's epaulette and said, "There is no silver star."

Zhang Jianliang turned around and exposed his armband to show the postmaster.

After carefully looking at the armband, the Yicheng smiled bitterly: "This is the first time I have seen the situation where the epaulette does not match the armband. I suggest that the captain be neatly done, otherwise it will be another trouble to be seen by the military police."

Zhang Jianliang glanced at Yicheng and said, "You should have given all the house to those slave traders?"

Yicheng shook his head and said, "I know you will ask this, but the answer I give you is - no!"

Zhang Jianliang put down his backpack, took out an exquisite wooden box from the backpack and hugged it in his arms, saying, "This is Lieutenant Colonel Liu Guomin. My backpack also contains six lieutenants and three school officials. In addition, I have five school officials in total. I wonder if I can live in the upper room?"

The Yicheng looked carefully at the urn with two silver stars inlaid, and solemnly said to the urn: "I'm negligent, let's make arrangements, major, please follow me."

Zhang Jianliang got a room as he wished.

It is said that it is going to the room, but it is not big, just a bed, a chair, and a table.

Zhang Jianliang carefully took out ten urns and placed them on the table, lit three cigarettes, placed them on the table to pay homage to his fellow soldiers who died in battle, and then took a wooden basin to take a shower.

The bathhouses in the inn are all the same. Zhang Jianliang looked at the blackened pool water and lost his idea of ​​taking a bath. He stood under the shower tube and twisted the valve. A stream of cool water poured down from the tube.

After a moment, the water became hot. He stood under the water column, letting the hot water pour off his head, and then covered his whole body.

The water was rustling on his body, and this sound could easily lead Zhang Jianliang's thinking to that cruel battle...

"Stop, block, destroy the cavalry first..."

"Captain, I'm hitting an arrow, I'm hitting an arrow, medical soldier, medical soldier..."

"Follow me..."

"Get bayonets, bayonets, throw the grenade out first..."

"Boom boom boom...I'll kill..."

Zhang Jianliang suddenly opened his eyes, holding his hand on the slightly hot water pipe. The official secretary pushed the door and rubbed his hands to look at Zhang Jianliang's scarred body and said, "Major, do you want women to serve? How many are there?"

"Get out--"

Yicheng was stunned for a moment and said, "It's good, or good, tell me when I need it. They are all good men and I must not lose money."

When my thoughts were interrupted, it was difficult to enter the mood that made Zhang Jianliang tremble.

He hurriedly soaped his whole body, washed it clean, and walked out of the bathhouse with a wooden basin.

There were still those women in the yard, but at this time, they were having a meal, and the so-called meal was just a piece of naan bread.

The postmaster standing in the yard saw that Zhang Jianliang had come out, and walked over and said, "Major, your meal is ready."

Zhang Jianliang shook his head and returned to the upper room with the wooden basin in his arms.

The cigarette on the table had burned only a piece of ashes. When the door was opened, the ashes were scattered by the wind.

Zhang Jianliang put down the wooden basin and lit a cigarette again on the table. Liu Guomin was very addicted to smoking and could not live without this thing for a moment.

Zhang Jianliang looked at the backpack placed on the ground and poured everything inside on the bed.

Just as he told the tax official, there were ten bags of gold and sand inside, and there were many jade and agate that looked very valuable.

He was going to exchange all the gold for silver notes in the bank, otherwise it would be too difficult to return to Guanzhong with such a heavy thing on his back.

The most important thing is that the tax collectors in Jiayuguan may let them go, and the tax cards they encountered later will not be so easy to let them go.

Since the third year of China, gold from the Ming Dynasty has withdrawn from the currency market and private transactions are prohibited. The only things that can be traded are gold products, such as gold jewelry.

Zhang Jianliang gathered the gold, put it in a small bag, and left the room to go to the bank next to the station.

The Ming Dynasty stations were spread all over the world, and they shouldered many responsibilities, such as passing letters, some small items, welcoming and sending them to officials and those who were on business.

Later, banks and carriage shops were gradually added, and finally the post station became an indispensable part of the lives of the Ming people.

I heard that there were even telegrams in Guanzhong’s inn, and this thing was not available in small places like Jiayuguan.

Zhang Jianliang could actually ride a fast horse back to Guanzhong. He missed his wife, children, parents and brothers at home very much, but after the battle at Tuoyun Ranch, he didn't want to go home quickly.

Sometimes he wonders, if he goes home later, then the families of the ten brothers of life and death will suffer less?

He pushed open the bank door. The bank was very small, with only a high counter with an iron fence on it. A middle-aged man with a small goatee sat expressionlessly on a tall chair, staring at him coldly.

"Redeem 200 taels of golden sand."

Zhang Jianliang held up ten bags of gold sand and placed them high on the counter.

The middle-aged man behind the counter seemed to have become accustomed to this scene. He opened the bag and began to check the quality of the golden sand.

"One or two gold sands, nine and a half silver coins."

After the middle-aged man checked the golden sand, he said something lightly.

"Didn't it mean that one or two of gold sands can be exchanged for thirteen silver coins?"

The middle-aged man sneered: "That was in Wuwei, in Jiayuguan, there were only nine and a half, so I would take it away if I didn't exchange it."

Zhang Jianliang gritted his teeth and said, "This is the pension of my ten brothers. I am not a gold dealer. These golds are accumulated bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by brothers at Tuoyun Ranch."

The middle-aged man looked at Zhang Jianliang and sighed, "Ten silver coins, no matter how high I am, I really can't help it. Brother, you can't bring these gold to Wuwei. The prefect of Jiuquan Prefecture is launching a campaign to defeat and transport gold recently. You can't pass the level."

Zhang Jianliang looked up at the middle-aged man and said, "Is there any way to get around them?"

The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "This is the safest way. If you lose one silver coin, you will have one silver coin. You are an officer and have a great future in the future. There is really no need to commit the crime of smuggling."

Zhang Jianliang put ten bags of golden sand on the desktop back into his pocket and walked out of the bank silently.

It was a loss to exchange one or two gold sand for ten silver coins. He could not explain to his brothers who had already died in battle.
Chapter completed!