In the morning, a grand entry ceremony was held in Guzang City. Many people gathered on both sides of the avenue to watch the officials and soldiers returning from the expedition to the frontier enter the city.

Guzang City is small, so the roads are narrow, the roads are bumpy and dusty.

But it cannot stop people's enthusiasm. Whether it is flat ground, walls, trees, roofs, and places where people can stand, they are all full of people.

Men, women, young and old looked at the official army entering the city, talking and cheering from time to time, and the scene was very lively.

The officers and soldiers actually arrived at the suburbs of the city yesterday and set up camp outside the city. Today, they entered the city, just a scene.

However, for ordinary people, such a scene cannot be missed, because this time the official army went to fight, many of the children from Hexi and Longyou joined the army. Now they have returned triumphantly. As fellow villagers, of course they have to support them.

At this moment, the sun shone brightly in the sky, the gongs and drums in the city were loud and loud, and the sounds of people were rushing. After the soldiers wearing strong and held sharp edges passed, many dejected prisoners followed slowly.

The people couldn't help but be amazed when they looked at the captives whose clothes and hairstyles were different from those of the Central Plains.

Sure enough, the official army captured many prisoners!

The great military achievements of the official army have spread throughout the streets and alleys, and the result of the death and capture of the two khans in the east and west of the Turks, making the people very interested in this great victory.

All kinds of news about the war are spreading everywhere, and although there are many exaggerations, there are no doubts about the three facts:

One, an official army spanned the desert, set out from Youyan, crossed the Dazhi north, and went to the north of the Jibei region, and then rushed from east to west for nearly ten thousand miles, killing the Turkic Khans, which was really amazing.

2. Another official army entered the Huangshui River Valley, crossed the entire Tuyuhun from east to west, and then left the Kingdom of Khotan, crossed the Dazhi, and rushed directly to Baishan, the Turkic king Ting.

3. The cavalry led by the prince set out from Mingsha, Guazhou, crossed the terrifying "Great Ghost Spider" northwest, and defeated the Turkic Khan's camp in the boundary of Gaochang State.

Then he pursued thousands of miles, and captured the "big belly" of the Turkic Khan in the old place of Wusun, the Yili River Valley alive.

Now, the people watching the government army enter the city are excitedly discussing the three march routes of these three armies.

Especially the "ghostly ghostly moraine".

This is a nickname for Dazhi. Just listening to the name makes people feel creepy: ghost? charm?

"Of course there are ghosts. You haven't been there. Back then, I..."

Someone showed up and talked about his experience of crossing the "Great Ghost Moraine" with the caravan.

"The Great Ghostly Drift" is a large sandy dune in the northwest of Guazhou. It is said that "it covers two thousand miles and there is no water grass in the ground". In winter, the cold wind is cold, and in summer, the hot wind is burning.

No matter what kind of wind it is, it can't stand it when it blows on people and it is easy to get sick and die.

and...

"And, that world is really evil." The 'eyewitness' said his experience vividly. "Although it was daytime, the yellow sand covered the sky, as if it was dusk, and it was difficult to tell the things. The surroundings were full of strange screams, which made people panic."

"At night, there were fluttering fires everywhere, as if many people were holding torches and walking at night. From a distance, it looked like the stars in the sky fell to the ground."

At this time, someone was curious: "Why, there are so many people rushing in the Damari at night? Could it be that the sun is too hot during the day, so they only travel at night?"

"Haha, if you think so, you will probably not be able to get out of the Great Moraine." The witness sneered, "How come so many people suddenly travel at night in the deserted Great Moraine?"

"Put your brain! Those are not humans at all! A lot of fires float around in the cemetery at night? Do you dare to go over? After passing by, are you seeing a human or a ghost?"

"Ah?" Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Even in the scorching sun, they felt a chill on their backs.

The strange scenes of "the great trouble of ghosts and ghosts" that witnesses say are just a little scary, let alone experience them personally.

But the officers and soldiers safely crossed the "Great Ghost Rail".

The witness explained: "Of course it can pass. The army is the place with the strongest masculinity, and the fighting man has a strong murderous aura and a heavy evil spirit, which is the only way to overcome these ghosts and monsters."

"These ghosts and monsters are lonely ghosts in the Great Desert, so they dare to bully the lonely business travelers. When they meet a murderous soldier, they are too late to hide."

The topic was opened, and more people were involved in the discussion.

There are many people who go out to the frontier to discuss life in Hexi and Longyou areas, and they also know a lot about the customs of the outside world. Therefore, some people talked about the Youyan cavalry who spanned thousands of miles to kill the Turkic Khans, a large lake that the Qing pond passed by.

"I was running around and following the caravan to Thunder Ye, and passed the Qing Pond halfway."

A middle-aged man with gray hair said slowly, his face was full of wrinkles, and he could tell at a glance that he was a person who had experienced the vicissitudes of life and had stories.

The men, women, young and old around were listening, and the middle-aged man continued, "The lake is very large, it is said to be a thousand miles in a radius, long from east to west, narrow from north to south, and mountains on all sides."

"The water is very clear, very bitter, very deep... You will definitely ask, how do I know that the water is very deep?"

People nodded silently, and the middle-aged man continued, "Because the water is clear and unstoppable, the lake is blue and black when you see it from a high place. You say, the lake is not deep."

The deeper the water, the darker it appears. This principle is easy to understand.

"I heard from the caravan that although the water in this Qing pond is bitter and salty, there are many fish, but these fish cannot be eaten. Otherwise, it will anger the lake god and people will be swept into the lake and be bitten by thousands of fish."

"This Qing pond is surrounded by mountains, with white hair and snow all year round. However, the lake never freezes, so it is also called "Rehai".

After some storytelling, everyone had a vague understanding of the distant "Da Qing Pool", and from this, it was inferred how difficult it was for the Youyan Cavalry that had been raiding thousands of miles.

Similarly, it is not easy for cavalry to span the Tuyuhun territory.

Many people have heard of the situation in Tuyuhun Haixi. It is really a barren land and is still cold. In May and June, the Longyou area is unbearable, but the Haixi area is still cold and cold, which is really a bitter and cold place.

Moreover, people with poor physical fitness will easily become sick if they enter the Haixi area, dizziness, chest tightness, tinnitus, etc. If they are not careful, they will become seriously ill and unable to cure them.

As a result, the official army still crossed the sea and ran to the far and far Western Regions Khotan Kingdom.

It was precisely these three armies who did not fear hardships and made long-distance attacks that led to the great achievements of defeating the Turkic army, killing one Khan and arresting one Khan.

The Hexi and Longyou areas have been in chaos for hundreds of years. The people are strong and martial. Faced with such great military achievements, I sincerely admire them and welcome them.

Seeing the soldiers frequently waved to the "spectators" on both sides of the road, and seeing many children from hometowns lined up in the team, the people watching continued to cheer.

Amid the joy and thunder, the people felt proud of this army with the banner of "Chu" for the first time: This is the official army!!

An official army that can protect one side of the country!

The official army that can protect Hexi and Longyou security!

The Turks were crippled and they would definitely not dare to invade, and not to mention the Tuyuhun, who often took advantage of the situation, had the official army there, from now on, Hexi and Longyou, finally peace!

The people who had no feelings for the new court finally realized that the night was about to pass and the east had begun to reveal their whiteness.

The world that has been in chaos for a long time is about to calm down, and the days of peace are coming!

......

At the headquarters, Li Li was meeting a hero, the Sogdian businessman Kangduluo who settled in Kubiro, the city of Kucha.

Previously, Kang Duluo's family was arrested and his son was killed because of the leak of the Chu army.

And he was trampled to death by Kang Duluo and his wife and concubines.

Of course, Kang Duluo and his wife and concubine were tied to the horse at that time, and they could not help themselves, but they experienced such inhumane punishment personally. Seeing his son die tragically in front of him, the trauma of his heart must be very great.

Afterwards, Kang Duluo, who was about to undergo the punishment of "Five Horses Split Body", had a chance to breathe because of the appearance of the Chu army, and survived the chaos and escaped by chance.

Although this person who was an insider "attempted" and had a great contribution in the future, Li Li still decided to give a heavy reward to let everyone see how rich the rewards he had given to the Central Plains Emperor.

Without solid military achievements, Kang Duluo certainly could not be awarded the title, but his "loyalty is commendable" and deserves a decent official position. It is also worthy of Li Li to issue a "franchise certificate" to this person.

In the future, the "private private business name" that is responsible for trade affairs in the Western Regions will issue some "highest authority" franchise certificates. The number of such "certificates" is limited and can be passed on to the family. If you get one, your descendants will have no worries.

The specific rewards are arranged by themselves. What Li Li said to Kang Duluo now is about a plant planted in Gaochang and Kucha.

Each time this plant blooms, it will bloom two kinds of flowers before and after: the first flower blooms first, first white and then red, after withering, the fruits will collapse, and another flower will bloom.

This flower is white, without flowers, all of which are white silk floss, looking like a cloud.

Therefore, this plant is often planted as ornamental flowers, but in Kucha, Gaochang and other places, people use this white flocculent flower for textiles.

First spin the thread, and then weave the cloth with thread. The woven cloth is of good quality, sweat-absorbing and breathable, and is much better than linen and kudzu.

After careful consideration, Li Li found that this plant is "cotton". Of course, the so-called secondary blossoms, those white flocculent "petals" are actually not flowers, but fluffs of fruits (cotton seeds).

People in the Central Plains also grow this plant, but they all regard it as ornamental flowers and are only planted sporadically.

In Kucha and Gaochang, the textile industry that uses this plant "flowers" as raw materials to carry out textiles has already reached a small scale and is considered the prototype of the cotton textile industry.

Therefore, Li Li discovered the opportunity and "invented" the word "cotton".

In this era, there was no "cotton" next to the character "wood", only "cotton" next to the character "silk", which refers to silk floss such as silk.

Cotton clothes refer to clothes filled with silk tights.

There is no large-scale cotton planting in the Central Plains, so there is naturally no cotton textile industry.

"I call this plant cotton. Next, you need to find a way to get more cotton seeds, find more people who can grow cotton, and find more craftsmen who can spin cotton thread, and try planting them in Hexi and Longyou areas."

Without enough arable land, it cannot support enough population and cannot maintain enough garrisons.

With insufficient population, whether it is culture or religious belief, compared with local indigenous people, the Central Plains immigrants and garrisons are like isolated islands surrounded by vast oceans.

The imperial court's investment in the Western Regions Protectorate was only investment, without much economic return, which was equivalent to blood transfusion.

When the imperial court had a lot of blood (strong financial resources), it could still maintain the garrison in the Western Regions. Once the national strength declined, these lonely protectors would be like children without parents, wandering in a foreign land, without any news.

If you want to solve this problem, you can only find ways to support effective economic industries locally, so that garrisons and immigrants can develop the economy and reduce the burden on the court.

And attract more mainland immigrants to settle down.

And cotton is the best "weapon".

As long as the new "Protectorate" gains a foothold in the Western Regions and continues to move westward, one day, it will occupy the farming areas in Central Asia...

Thinking of this, Li Li shook his head with a wry smile.

He finally understood why so many emperors wanted to live forever in all dynasties.

One is power and beauty, and the other is because there are still many ambitions to realize.
Chapter completed!