Liu Cheng had to order the army to stop advancing and ordered a personal soldier to take out something. It turned out to be a disc, the prototype of a compass, and he ordered people to buy it from a Taoist You Fang for a high price.

A torch was taken from the hand of the guard beside him to illuminate it. Liu Cheng looked at the pointer on the disc, pulled the guide to his side and pointed at the compass and said, "Look here, the direction of this pointer is directly south. You can judge the direction, how should the army go!"

"Oh? This... is the south direction?" The guide muttered, gestured his fingers, pointed to the northwest direction and said, "General, you should go in this direction!"

"Are you sure?"

The guide replied: "If the pointer is indeed directed to the south, then you should go in this direction."

Liu Cheng decided to believe in the guide and immediately ordered the army to continue moving forward in the direction pointed by the guide.

As the night fell, the temperature began to drop. Due to the alternation of cold and heat, white fog began to appear in the air, which seriously affected the sight. With the simple compass in my hand, the guide adjusted the direction of the marching from time to time.

Liu Cheng ordered that everyone should not stop during the march, and even if they were in a hurry to urinate, they would hold back first and then solve the problem after walking out of this white dragon pile to prevent people from falling behind. Once they fell behind, it would be a lot of danger.

After leaving less than half an hour, Liu Cheng received a report: "General, more than 30 people in the baggage team behind him are behind him!"

After hearing this, Liu Cheng was furious and said, "What did I say? Don't stay, why are you still left behind?"

"This..." Liu Ye couldn't make a sound, so he could only bow his hands and keep bent.

He thought for a while and ordered: "The army continued to advance, and sent a hundred people to lead the team as a search team to return to find them. Wherever the army passed, a special person left obvious marks, and then used flags as marks, and a flag was inserted after a pile of soil!"

"Yes, I'll make arrangements!"

After walking for nearly two hours, the army finally walked out of the White Dragon Dune. At this time, the army was located in the northeast of the White Dragon Dune. There was an obvious road under the Gobi Desert, but a fork appeared here.

The guide said to Liu Cheng: "General, we are going to the southwest to Guanni City, we are going to the west to Yuli, and we are going to reach Gaochang by climbing the arid mountain north!"

"The army is camping here, waiting for the search team to retrieve the lost baggage team officers and soldiers!"

Until the next morning, the officers and soldiers of the search team sent back to the search team and the lost baggage team did not return. Liu Chengli resisted the opposition and sent a team of 200 people to return to the original route for search and rescue. This time, the flag marks left by the army the night before were soon returned to the lost position of the officers and soldiers of the baggage team. After more than an hour of searching, they were finally found, and they were also found together with the previous search and rescue team.

Until the lost people finally returned to the team, Liu Cheng felt relieved and ordered the army to continue moving forward.

After two days of march, the army came to an oasis with some fatigue. The oasis surrounded a huge lakeside, and a river flowed through the northwest. There were fertile fields and woods everywhere on the lakeside. There was also a large city on the other side.

The guide pointed to the city on the other side with a horse whip and said, "General, that is the capital of the Ni City, which was the capital of Loulan Kingdom in the past! After Loulan Kingdom took the capital to Yixun City, it changed its name to Shanshan Kingdom. Although it is no longer the capital, it is still very prosperous. Businesses and travelers from all over the Western Regions often come here, but this lake is reduced year by year. I heard that before Loulan Kingdom moved the capital, the lakeside was very large and the water of the river was deep! Perhaps the area of ​​the lake oasis was getting smaller and smaller, which was the reason why Loulan Kingdom moved the capital! After all, as the lake became smaller and smaller, the river water became shallower, and it could no longer support more people, so I could only move the capital! Outside this city, there is a military army from my great Han who is busy farming here!"

The arrival of the Western Tour army caused great panic in Guanni City. The local Loulan people ran into the city with their families in horror, but they just wanted nothing outside the city.

The city gate was closed, and the city tower was full of soldiers. There was a scattered chaos in the city, and soon there was a neat sound of running.

Just as the Western Tour Army was advancing towards the Ni City around the lakeside, the city gate opened, and a Han army captain ran out of the city gate with some soldiers on horseback and headed out to meet the army.

A group of more than a dozen cavalry ran from the westward army and left the city first. On the way, they met the Han army captains who came out of the city and the group of people. When both sides met, they stopped.

The Han army captain who came out of the city of Nicheng clasped his fists and said loudly: "I am Wei Li, the captain of the military farm in Nicheng, where is the general?"

Zhang Xiu came back with his fists and said, "Now the Marquis of Anyi, General of Cavalry, and Lord Liu of Sikong, Zhang Xiu, was ordered to come to contact the Nicheng City of Shanshan Kingdom. The general led his army to inspect the Western Regions under the emperor's order. The Wei lieutenant should follow the lieutenant to visit General Liu!"

The emperor's patrol is extremely honorable! It's still one of the three dukes. General Liu is probably powerful. Wei Li thought hard, but he clasped his fists and said, "I'll give you a visit to General Liu!"

"please!"

Under Zhang Xiu's leadership, Wei Li quickly came to the front of the army. Seeing Liu Cheng under the canopy of the big flag, he was so young, he couldn't help but be stunned, but he quickly reacted and clasped his fists and said, "Wei Li, the captain of the Western Region Chief Mansion, visited General Liu, the Qin envoy!"

Liu Cheng looked at Wei Li, and saw that he was about forty years old, nodded and asked, "Person Wei is exempt from courtesy! How many years have you been farming here? Are there soldiers under his command of military farming? Who is the lord of Guanni City now?"

"Return to the general, I have been in charge of the military farming matter here for ten years. I have 108 officials and soldiers under my command, and the land is twenty-six! The lord of the city of Ji Nicheng is Chihe, who is the younger brother of Banren, the king of Shanshan today!"

Liu Cheng nodded and said, "Okay, I am ordered to inspect the Western Regions. I will take time to ask you about the situation in the Ni City. You should go back to the city and inform Chihe. I will tell him about the Western Paradise of the General and let him notify King Panren!"

"As for the order!" Wei Li agreed with his fists and took his subordinates to beat the horse.

Soon, the army arrived at the mud city and saw that the city gate was wide open. The road outside the city gate was full of local residents, merchants and travelers from various countries in the Western Regions. These people were all here to watch the fun and also to see the power of the troops from the Central Plains dynasty.

At the gate of the city, a middle-aged man wearing Shanshan official uniform was looking forward to it. Wei Li was standing beside him, and behind them and on both sides were several officials. Some Shanshan soldiers stood guard on both sides of the road with spears in hand and isolated the people from the road.

The people who were welcomed by the road had already received a notice from the City Lord's Mansion that this army was sent by the emperor of the Central Plains dynasty to inspect the countries in the Western Regions. The emperor's envoy was riding under the canopy, Liu Cheng, the current dynasty's Sikong Lord.

The local residents are also very gossipy people. Before anyone can see them, everyone is discussing what kind of person the imperial envoy is.

The city lord Chihe and Wei Li brought the officials to greet him and saluted him when they met Liu Cheng: "Chihe, the lord of the city of Shanshan Kingdom, led all the officials and people in the city to welcome the arrival of the imperial envoy of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, General Liu, and all the soldiers!"

Chihe is an irreconcilable man, and his beard almost covered his entire face. Liu Cheng looked at him and smiled and said, "The Lord of Chihe and the officials are exempted from courtesy. I and the soldiers under my command have come after a long journey and my eyes are a little tired. I continue camping and resting and eating. I will talk to the Lord of Chihe and the officials in detail later!"

"Is it the extreme? The lower officials have ordered people to prepare meals. I wonder if the general is going to camp in the city or outside the city?"

"Stay outside the city and choose a piece of land to camp. There are many people and it is too troublesome to enter the city and it will also cause a lot of inconvenience!"

"Thank you for your compassion for the common people of the country. Then please ask the soldiers to station outside the city. Please ask the general and the officers to go to the city to rest. The official has prepared some wine at the city lord's mansion, and ask the general to enjoy the whole city!"

Liu Cheng waved his hand and said, "There is no need for drinking. The city lord is kind to me. However, I want to go into the city to visit. I heard that this city was the capital of Loulan Kingdom back then?"

"Yes, yes, the official is willing to be a guide to the general!"

Liu Cheng immediately ordered Xu Huang, Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao, Pang De and others to set up camp outside the city, while he himself took Chen Qun, Liao Hua and some personal guards to follow Chihe into the city.

The scale of the 黑博博 is not large, not as large as that of Dunhuang City. However, this scale is relatively large in the desert. After all, the population base is only so large. Moreover, as the lake area and river water flow decrease, more and more people leave here, and their prosperity is far less than before.

The City Lord's Mansion is the palace of the former royal capital, but the scale is much smaller and it only complies with the regulations of the City Lord's Mansion. There should be buildings in the city, including large markets, medical clinics, horse markets, various shops, and temples for sacrifices. The temples are very important to the Loulan people and are built very generously. The main building materials are made of rectangular stones.

The Tuntian School Guard Mansion is located near the city gate. After visiting the buildings in the city, Liu Cheng only politely rejected Chihe's banquet and came to Wei Li's Tuntian School Guard Mansion.

"Person Wei, what has changed in the attitude of Shanshan Kingdom towards our great man over the years? You shouldn't have been unaware of it for ten years, right?" Liu Cheng sat in the main seat of the lobby and asked, drinking water.

Wei Li clasped his fists and said, "General, the Western Regions have lost contact with the Central Plains in recent years. The countries in the Western Regions speculated that something might have happened to the court, so they lost their respect for the court more and more. The Western Regions Chief Mansion even did not get much support from Dunhuang County. This not only did Shanshan, the closest country to Dunhuang County, but also the farthest Shule Kingdom! Thanks to the efforts of the Chief Mr. Zhang, the chief mansion of the Western Regions, would not have been able to hold on to the present!"

Liu Cheng hurriedly said, "Zhang Yan is still alive?"

"Yes, but I heard that Lord Zhang was feeling a little uncomfortable recently, and the officials and soldiers of the Chief Secretary's Mansion were all a little worried!"

Liu Cheng felt a little relieved. He was afraid that the situation in the Western Regions would be a mess, which would be troublesome. However, the situation in the Western Regions was not optimistic. It seemed that he led his army in time.
Chapter completed!