Author: Gongsun Wujiu

The person who came was a messenger sent by King Shanshan to ask for help.

The clerk who received the letter did not dare to be expert and immediately reported the matter to Zhang Yue and Li Si.

After receiving the letter from the clerk, both Zhang Yue and Li Si fell into deep thought.

"Why do the Nuoqiang people suddenly harass Janni during this season? Is it related to the Huns?"

No wonder Zhang Yue suspected that although the Ruoqiang people often plundered Loulan, Shanshan, and Qiemo cities in the past, they mostly did so in autumn.

There has never been a situation where troops were sent out in winter before, let alone a siege.

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that this matter has something to do with the Hun servant captain!"

Li Si spoke after pondering for a while.

Although Tu Er, the boy servant captain, was not good at fighting, he was a good hand at handling other matters.

His current duty is to gather the people of the grasslands and the Western Regions to supplement the strength of the Xiongnu.

Very different from the boy servant captain in another time and space.

According to the information from the Qianniu Guards, Tu Er, the child servant captain, has now gathered more than 10,000 people who can draw bows for the Sun Zhu King, and there are also 2,000 people who dare to fight among them.

The Sun Chaser King Division has returned to its pre-war size in terms of numbers.

Tu Er's status among the Huns is now even higher than that of some of the 24 little kings of the Huns.

"Did the Nu Qiang people collude with the Xiongnu?"

"The actions of the Nu Qiang people are actually to mobilize the Loulan Han army..."

"Come here, go get Yang You!"

Zhang Yue gave an order, and someone quickly responded.

Not long after, Yang You came to Zhang Yue.

"The subordinates pay homage to the Lord. What do you want from the Lord?"

Yang You stood aside respectfully. When others were around, Yang You would always show a hint of alienation, intentionally or unintentionally.

After Zhang Yue motioned Yang You to sit down, he said, "Qianniu Guards, do you have any information about the young servant captain?"

After hearing this, Yang You thought for a moment and said, "Since Captain Tongfu entered Yanqi last year, there have been no other big moves. According to the information sent back by Qianniu Guard, the Huns seem to be planning something big in Yanqi..."

Zhang Yue touched his beard and fell into deep thought again.

"Could it be that I made a mistake in my judgment? The Huns did not intervene in the Nuoqiang..."

Zhang Yue thought for a while but still couldn't figure it out, so he turned to Li Si and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Li?"

Li Si shook his head and said, "It's hard to judge at some point!"

Zhang Yue nodded and began to think about other possibilities.

However, because we know so little about Nuqiang, we still have no clue.

In the end, Zhang Yue decided to take people on a trip to Janni City.

"Mr. Li, I have decided to go digging mud, why do you think so?"

Li Si thought for a moment and said, "In my opinion, there is no danger, but the Huns have to be on guard!"

Zhang Yue nodded, "Then the Huns have to leave it to Li Gong."

Li Si responded with a smile, "Your Majesty is so polite, why should the relationship between Duke and Si be like this..."

Out of caution, Zhang Yue asked Li Si to stay in Loulan City. He took more than a hundred riders out of the city in the wind and snow, and headed to the new "Juni" in the south.

Although the newly built "Kanni" in Shanshan Kingdom is a city, it is not even as good as some large villages in Guanzhong.

Its city wall is extremely short, no more than two feet high, and its circumference is only more than three miles (Hanli).

When Zhang Yue brought him to the city, it was already the afternoon of the second day.

Out of caution, he did not enter the city directly, but patrolled outside the city.

He did not see the Nuoqiang people outside the city, but he did see traces of trampling by a large group of war horses.

In the evening, Zhang Yue led his people to the foot of Jani City.

"Who is coming!"

The arrival of Zhang Yue and his entourage made people in the city extremely nervous.

Zhang Yue raised his eyes and saw that the entire city was already filled with Shanshan soldiers holding various weapons.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Han Dynasty Camp in the Western Regions is here, why don't you open the door quickly!"

The guard came forward and called the door. After a while, he heard a voice coming from upstairs.

"But in front of Marquis Yunyang?"

"It's me!" Zhang Yue replied.

"Sure enough, Marquis Yunyang has arrived..." The sound of joy came from the city.

Soon the city gate was opened, and a man in Hanfu ran out with several guards.

"The little king has met the king!"

The person who came was none other than the new king of Shanshan Kingdom. It was said that they had met in Chang'an, but Zhang Yue had no impression of him.

"I've met King Shanshan..." Zhang Yue returned the gesture out of politeness.

King Shanshan was flattered by Zhang Yue's actions.

"Your Majesty, please come into the city quickly!" King Shanshan invited Zhang Yue into the city with a smile on his face.

"Your Highness, please!"

Zhang Yue was talking, but he had already entered the city first.

Everyone in the Shanshan Kingdom, including King Shanshan, took Zhang Yue's actions as a matter of course.

Zhang Yue is now the representative of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions, and he is like a supreme king to the countries in the Western Regions that have submitted to the Han Dynasty.

After Zhang Yue entered the city, he saw only low mud houses.

King Shanshan apologized and said with a smile, "Kanni is a humble little town, please forgive me..."

Zhang Yue nodded, "King Shanshan is too polite..."

Zhang Yue didn't care. In fact, it was his masterpiece that drove King Shanshan here.

The group of people continued to move forward, and soon a small courtyard appeared in front of them.

King Shanshan said: "Your Majesty, please come this way. The palace is right in front of you!"

Zhang Yue was stunned. He had no idea that Shanshan would become so poor after losing Loulan.

The palace of King Shanshan was actually a small courtyard with a vineyard.

Zhang Yue said nothing and followed King Shanshan into the "palace"!

"The little prince's palace is simple, please forgive me!"

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "No problem!"

Entering the hall with a smile, Zhang Yue couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

Although the hall is simple, it is completely decorated in Chinese style.

This hall is similar to the layout in the homes of middle-class people in Guanzhong.

"I wonder if you, your lord, have ever used food?" King Shanshan said nervously

Knowing that Zhang Yue and a group of Han troops had not eaten yet, King Shanshan quickly led Zhang Yue into a nearby hall.

He also arranged for people to arrange food and rest for the Han troops outside the palace.

Zhang Yue entered the hall and looked around. This should be the restaurant of the palace.

The two parties sat down, and then King Shanshan ordered people to serve food.

The food was not rich, just some biscuits dotted with raisins, a small plate of mutton, and a small glass of wine.

The food in front of me was in sharp contrast to the luxury of the previous King of Loulan.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It's a remote place and I only have such humble food..."

"Your Highness, you're welcome!"

Although the food was simple, Zhang Yue enjoyed it very much.

After the meal, Zhang Yue asked, "King Shanshan, where are the Nuo Qiang people?"

King Shanshan said, "Today a message was sent from Haitou City, but the Nuoqiang people went to Haitou and extorted 60 shi of grain from Haitou. Tomorrow the Nuoqiang people will return to Shanni..."

Zhang Yue was surprised when he heard this and said, "60 shi of grain?"

He thought he had heard wrongly. The Nuo Qiang people only paid for 60 shi of grain during such a winter trip. 60 shi of grain was only 1.8 tons in later generations.
To be continued...