August 15th, this day used to be nothing special for the people of Xinqiuci.
Because at this time, although the Mid-Autumn Festival existed, it was just a day to enjoy the moon and gather together, and no mooncakes were eaten.
And it is not just August 15th, but the two or three days before and after August 15th. Such gatherings will be held. Family reunions are held on the night of the full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This custom only existed in the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, such a festival that only involves admiring the moon is not a big festival for the New Kucha people who often walk on the edge of life and death.
But this August 15th is different, because the ancestors have been talking about their homeland for hundreds of years, the spiritual pillar of the new Qiuci people, and the Tang Dynasty court sent people to find them.
No one fell asleep last night, and as soon as it dawned this morning, everyone in the city got up.
They first moved all the useful things back from the Zahu camp at the foot of the mountain, then piled the corpses of the Zahus together and burned them all. Finally, they worked until the sun was almost setting.
The crowd, who should have been exhausted but were actually not exhausted at all, gathered in front of the meeting hall in Beicheng.
There are still about 7,000 descendants of the Anxi Army in New Qiuci, headed by the descendants of the three families of Yang, Zheng, and Xue.
They usually live scattered in this mountain forest, which they call Beishan. Along the river valleys and mountain plains, the descendants of the Anxi Army opened up farmland one after another.
Ma Yaozi looked around and saw that there were at least two to three thousand people gathered outside, and more people were on their way in. Although many of them did not have the right to enter the meeting hall, they gathered outside and refused to leave.
Of course, there are not so many people in Xinqiuci originally. On weekdays, people live scattered in units of more than ten or twenty households.
Because the cultivated land is relatively scattered, if they live together in the city, it is impossible to provide food and drink for so many people. On weekdays, there are seven or eight hundred people in Xinqiuci, which is good.
"So it's not that the imperial court is here to look for us, but King Zhang Zhao is here to save us!"
Yang Tongyi said and cupped his hands in the direction of Shule to the east.
"Your Majesty is so righteous! As expected of a distinguished and heroic man, please remember that we who have lost our country and our family, when we arrive in Shule in the future, you must follow me and bow to your Majesty to express your gratitude for your great kindness!"
"General Ma, are you saying that Guo Dalang did not betray us as a traitor back then, but that it was actually the sinister villain Pu Gujun who caused this?"
Although they are father and son, Yang Tongyi and Yang Shouli's concerns are not in the same place at all.
Ma Yaozi first comforted the excited Yang Tongyi, and then nodded to Yang Shouli.
"That's right! Guo Dalang is not a traitor, nor did he go to Xizhou to enjoy the glory and wealth as you think, but he should have died somewhere in the battle.
After the Guo family separated from you, they finally went to Suiye, and are now under the king's command, and have recruited four hundred men to fight with the king."
Yang Shouli took a long breath after hearing this, "That's good. It was the king of the Guo family who led us to defend Qiuci back then. I really didn't want to believe that the Guo family would betray all of us. It's good now."
"Yes! We, the descendants of the Anxi Army, are all great and well-known athletes!"
Zheng Tong looked sympathetic. His conclusion that the descendants of Guo Xin, Prince of Wuwei County, were traitors actually dealt a terrible blow to them, the descendants of the Tang Army in Anxi.
If this incident hadn't happened, the Guo, Yang, Zheng and other families would never have parted ways.
"Yang Dalang, the king said that he would lead me and the descendants of the Anxi Army to return eastward, and then work with the descendants of the Hexi Guiyi Army to open up Ganliang.
We also need to go together and ask the emperor on the dragon throne in the Central Plains, if he still remembers me? How much credit did our ancestors have? You...!"
Zheng Tong didn't finish what he said, but his meaning was very clear, that is, he wanted the people in Xinqiuci to express their stance.
Zheng Tong originally thought that this was not a problem at all. How could anyone be unwilling to return eastward with the king?
But the Guo family's attitude undoubtedly poured cold water on him, and some people were really unwilling to do so.
Yang Shouli glanced at his father Yang Tongyi and father-in-law Xue Tongyi behind him. His father Yang Tongyi walked towards Yang Shouli with a wooden box.
"This is the treasure map of the Loyalty Treasury kept by our three surnames Yang, Zheng, and Xue. Now you will hand it over to General Ma. From now on, you will be the patriarch of the three new surnames of Qiuchi."
Yang Shouli looked at the brothers from the Li generation in the hall, and Zheng Shouli cast a trusting look at Yang Shouli.
"Master Shouli, we all listen to you."
"Yes! Dalang, you decide, we all listen to you!"
As a leader among the younger generation of the Yang family, Yang Shouli's abilities have long been recognized by everyone.
At the same time, Yang Tongyi was exhausted mentally and physically, and now there was hope. Yang Tongyi did not care whether this hope was brought by the Central Plains court or by King Zhang of the Khotan Kingdom.
He now wants to return to Shule to enjoy a few years of peace and happiness, and then it will be worth his while to die. The future of the three new surnames in Qiuchi will be left to his son.
Yang Shouyi walked up to Ma Yaozi, knelt down on one knee, and raised the wooden box to Ma Yaozi's chest.
"There are 7,677 people with the surnames Ma Jiangtou, Qiuci Yang, Zheng, and Xue. From today on, we swear to follow the king to the death, open up Ganliang, and return to our homeland!"
Ma Yaozi took the wooden box and handed it to Zheng Tong, and quickly helped Yang Shouli up, with a smile on his face.
The king personally went to Broken Ye and saved the lives of the Guo family, but in the end he only took away four hundred men and a young lady from the Guo family.
Ma Yaozi only used about twenty people to find Yang, Zheng, and Xue, and more than 7,000 people surrendered. How much credit is this?
If the capital becomes a capital in the future, it will be my turn to be the captain of the capital!
"Yang Dalang really understands justice. Since we are a family now, let's quickly steam rice and cook meat. After we are full, we have to do another big thing!"
"Hand down the horse general's head!" Yang Shouli stood up and made a cross-hand salute to Ma Yaozi.
"I see that there are far more than a thousand people surrounding you. What do you think the troops who broke down the mountain yesterday reached the other two battalions?" Ma Yaozi asked with a smile.
"The other two battalions must not believe it, because they have been waiting for me for more than 20 days, and they know the situation on the mountain quite well.
They definitely won’t believe that people like us who can’t even drink water can defeat a battalion. They will definitely send people to check and even seal this place again." Yang Shouyi said after thinking for a while.
"That's right! Those bastards will definitely come again, so I want you to show weakness to the enemy. Let's eat and drink on the mountain for a few more days. After they are exhausted, we can completely deal with these bastards at the bottom of the mountain!"
Ma Yaozi's face was full of ingenuity and confidence. In fact, this was the crystallization of the collective wisdom of everyone after the meeting last night.
"Here!" Yang Shouli responded loudly, crossing his hands.
"In addition, we need to find two people who are familiar with the surrounding terrain to help us find the ancient road that can lead to and from Shule.
We also have the Pei brothers who need to go to the hometown of Dongcao Kingdom, so it would be best if we can help us find two guides who are familiar with the environment there."
After Yang Shouyi thought for a while, he nodded, "There are some tribes in the Beishan Mountains who have been nomadic for hundreds of years in this generation. They were expelled by that thief Yu Supu because they refused to convert to the Tianfang Sect.
They are far more familiar with this area than we are. After repelling the enemy, I contacted them to see if I could find the ancient road."
"As for the candidates to go to Dongcao, let my second brother Xue Sili accompany the two Pei brothers. The ancestor of a certain family is King Ningyuan (Bahanna). This place originally belonged to my family. Maybe I can find some old memories!"
Xue Shouli, who had almost lost the appearance of a Sogdian, pointed at his disciple who almost looked like a Sogdian.
The Xue family is actually not Han, but the descendants of Xue Yu, king of Bukhan.
No! It seems that we cannot say that the Xue family is not Han. They sent troops from thousands of miles away to help the Tang Dynasty quell the Anshi Rebellion, and followed the Anxi army to defend Anxi for more than a hundred years. After all, they are also from the Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, Xue Yu’s mother was Princess Yihe of the Li Tang clan, so she was definitely from the Tang Dynasty.
....
In Shule City, the most prosperous business in Shule is the cotton sales industry.
This kind of crop, which was not very popular in the first place, became so popular so quickly because both the Great Sage and King Zhang successively issued orders to go to various places to collect large quantities at a higher price than the market price.
In the palace, Li Shengtian lay feebly on a bed with a cooling ice pack on his forehead.
My great sage, the Emperor, has worked so hard recently that I have been suffering from colds and high fevers, which almost scared Cao Yuanxin to death.
The colds of this era are not the kind of minor diseases in later generations that can be cured by just taking a few pills and drinking a pack of Sanjiu Cold Cold Spirit, or even just taking two days.
Colds in this era, especially those accompanied by high fever, are very likely to kill people.
So Zhang Zhao quickly left his job of teaching his men how to make cloth armor and ran to the palace to visit Li Shengtian.
But as soon as he entered the door, through the translucent screen, he saw Li Shengtian and Cao Yuanxin, who were performing a love drama between each other.
A man who looks at his husband with tears in his eyes and encourages him affectionately will definitely get better. Don't overwork yourself.
A queen looked at her with a worried expression, saying that she had worked hard for her country and it didn't matter if she got a little sick.
After regaining the kingdom of Bakhan and accomplishing the eternal destiny of the Kingdom of Khotan, I still want to help my nephew regain the power of the rebel army. I hope the queen will forgive me.
Then Cao Yuanxin burst into tears and claimed that he was willing to sacrifice something for the sake of the Kingdom of Jin and for the emperor to have an explanation for his eldest sister.
In the end, the couple held each other's arms and cried on the bed, separated by a screen.
Everyone outside the screen was shocked when Zhang Zhao came in. When he came in, he could only come in after giving permission. This was deliberately staged for him!
If you don’t just want to capture the Bukhan, why should he put in all the effort in the front? Don’t you just want the full production process of cloth armor? Is this what you two are like?
Zhang Zhao wanted to shed a few tears, so he went in and the three of them hugged each other and cried. Then he said that his uncle and Jin Niang's kindness would be unforgettable, even if they were broken into pieces, they would repay it.
However, after pinching his thigh several times, the flesh was bruised, and the corners of Zhang Zhao's eyes were still dry. Seeing Li Shengtian pretending to be close to death even though his fever was gone, it was really hard for him to cry.
"How did you become a nephew? Your uncle is still worried about you even though he is so ill, and you have this look on his face? Why don't you get out of here!"
After howling for a while, it seemed that the performance could no longer go on. Cao Yuanxin, who was so dark-skinned, showed off her majesty as a concubine, grabbed Zhang Zhao's arm, and led him in from the outside.
"Ouch! It hurts! The finished cloth mask is outside. I asked someone to bring it in. I have also made a plan to attack Bukhanna. Just let me report it."
This chapter has been completed!