When all our people gathered together and set off to Mazhan with Mr. Fang, the old man was a little confused. He held up his glasses and asked why he didn't see so many people just now.
"Well..." I coughed and said, "They just went together for a convenience. Although there are no people in this kind of place, you have to pay attention to your personal quality, right? You can't defecate anywhere."
Mr. Fang’s three students were indeed very introverted. When they saw so many strangers, they kept their heads down and refused to speak. Only Mr. Fang would point around and whisper to them from time to time. Cao Shi was always secretly observing Mr. Fang and the others.
, and told others to always pay attention to their surroundings.
The weather that day was good, and the wind and sand were not too strong, so the several kilometers of road were quickly completed. At around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we had already seen the small town of Machan in the distance.
This is a very small city, which has been swallowed up by time and wind and sand, and has been completely changed beyond recognition. Only the broken city wall less than two feet high is left to outline the outline of the entire Machan city.
When I stood in front of Machan City, I felt that no words or images could cover the entire connotation of this small city ruins. The windy and sandy Mongolian plateau, a sleeping ancient Xixia city, I could even think of hundreds of years ago.
The Xixia people are busy here creating their own civilization, culture, and short-lived glory.
Most of the buildings in Machan City have collapsed and been destroyed, and the ruins have been buried into sandbags by years of wind and sand. Mr. Fang seemed to be very familiar with this place, and he took us to a relatively well-preserved place in the center of the city.
In front of the building, he said: "You can barely fit in here. I will show you the specific route from Ma Zhan to the military ruins of Baima Qiang Town on the map later."
Several windows in this house have collapsed, but the door is relatively intact. There is a worn-out thick wooden board that serves as the door panel. Mr. Fang asked his students to clear away the sand blocking the door, and then let everyone come in to rest. The house
Some of the items inside could no longer be seen in their original appearance, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of sand. We cleared a place and started drinking water. Mr. Fang’s three students were still very cautious and sat alone in a corner of the room. Cao Shi
I brought some food to them, but several of them were too embarrassed to take it.
After eating, everyone sat together and chatted. The bad looks on our group could not be stopped. Mr. Fang and three students kept looking this way. I was afraid that Mr. Fang would become suspicious and intentionally go over to talk to him.
Talk to him to distract his attention. When I really set foot in the hometown of Xixia, I became somewhat interested in this mysterious country, so I asked Mr. Fang a few questions about Xixia.
Mr. Fang didn't talk much, but as soon as I asked him for advice, the old man's energy suddenly became much stronger and he asked me: "How much do you know about Xixia?"
I shook my head in embarrassment, and Mr. Fang advised me: "It doesn't matter if you don't know much. If you are really interested in Xixia, you can refer to many written materials. Everyone comes from knowing nothing.
Yes, just because you don’t understand it today doesn’t mean you will never understand it. Research, like many other things, is a matter of attitude. There are also some relatively simple tips here. For example, if you want to fully understand Xixia, where should you start?
To sum it up, there are three points: history, culture, and geography. Only after mastering these three aspects can we conduct some more detailed research. Can you understand?"
"This...I can understand."
"When some of my students first came into contact with Xixia, they always liked to start from the founding of Xixia in 1038 AD. I criticized them. What about before 1038 AD? Is the history of the Dangxiang Qiang people a blank? Such a large country suddenly appeared
?This attitude is not rigorous and undesirable..."
Speaking of this, Cao Shi's people didn't know what happy topic they were talking about. Several people laughed loudly at the same time. Mr. Fang turned to look. I quickly asked: "Mr. Fang, I am very interested in these. Could you please
Can you talk about it?"
"Okay." Mr. Fang turned around and said: "I am very willing to communicate with you, but my knowledge is limited, so what I will tell you are relatively simple issues. The predecessor of Xixia is Dangxiang, and Dangxiang is a branch of the Western Qiang people.
Therefore, they are called Dangxiang Qiang. This nation is divided into tribes and uses surnames as the names of tribes. It gradually formed eight more famous tribes, namely the eight tribes of Dangxiang, among which the Tuoba tribe is the most powerful. About
Some scholars believe that the Tuoba tribe are descendants of the Xianbei people, and I agree with this view."
At first glance, Mr. Fang is the kind of scholar who is relatively rigid and serious, and the rigid history sounds the least interesting. Mr. Fang did not find it boring and spoke very enthusiastically: "During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, some Dangxiang Qiang people moved south and began to attach themselves to the Central Plains.
During the dynasty, especially the Tang Dynasty, the Dangxiang Qiang people moved inland twice and slowly gathered in Lingzhou, Qingzhou, Xiazhou, Yinzhou, Suizhou, Yanzhou, and Shengzhou, which are today's eastern Gansu and northern Shaanxi.
In order to facilitate the management of these ethnic minorities, the central government of the Tang Dynasty adopted the policy of using barbarians to control barbarians and granted official positions to some tribal leaders. At this time, Dangxiang was still not a united whole, and there was no subordinate relationship between tribes. Until the Huangchao Uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Dangxiang
The leader of the Tuoba Tribe, Tuoba Sigong, sent troops to suppress the uprising, and was granted the title of Military Envoy of the Dingnan Army and Duke of Xia by Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty. He was also given the national surname Li, and Dangxiang prospered from then on."
I was already a little dizzy from listening, but Mr. Fang didn't mean to stop talking. After drinking some water, he continued: "During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, no matter who was in power in the Central Plains, the Tuoba tribe always bowed their heads respectfully.
In exchange for their dominance and rewards in the northwest, for more than 200 years, their power gradually expanded. In the early days of Song Taizu's accession to the throne, his attitude towards the Tuoba tribe was relatively mild, allowing them to rule the territory hereditary. However, starting from Li Jiqian, the relationship between the two parties slowed down.
The situation gradually deteriorated, and then there was a sword fight. The leader of the Tuoba tribe after Li Jiqian was Li Deming. He made every effort to expand the territory to the Hexi Corridor and gain the necessary living space for the Dangxiang Qiang people. Li Deming's son Li Yuanhao..."
This kind of dogmatic history of Xixia made me feel very boring. I really couldn't listen to it anymore. I took advantage of Mr. Fang's opportunity to breathe and drink water and quickly changed the subject: "Mr. Fang, what research are you planning to do this time?"
"Take them to the ancient city of Bantuo in Xixia." Mr. Fang pointed to the three students beside him: "It's their first time to go to Bantuo. It's my third time, and maybe the last time."
"Bantuo?"
"It is also the ruins of an ancient city." Fang Lao frowned and said: "When Mongolia conquered Xixia for the sixth time, the rulers of Xixia already felt that they could no longer resist the Mongolian cavalry this time, so they transferred a large number of documents and items to other places before the capital was besieged.
The place is Yan Junsi, Heishui Town, oh, it is Heishui City, you should know it, right? This is one of them, and several old scholars who are traveling with me believe that Bantuo City is also one of them. Xixia in Heishui City
A lot of documents and cultural relics were lost to foreign countries at the beginning of this century, and what our country excavated from Blackwater City are all fragmented and incomplete data that cannot be sorted out. It is a pity. Logically speaking, my inference should not be
Wrong, but I went to Bantuo twice and found nothing. There are not many historical materials handed down from Xixia, and the Yuan people did not compile a special history of Xixia. It would be a blessing if I could find something useful from Bantuo. I
Considering my age, I am already reluctant to go out this time, and there may be no next time..."
"Teacher..." Mr. Fang's three students looked a little sad: "There will definitely be something rewarding this time..."
"I hope so." Mr. Fang took off his glasses, wiped them, and said to me, "Any more questions? We can continue to communicate."
"Okay." I said bravely, "Mr. Fang, please tell me about the events after the founding of Xixia."
It wasn't until my eyelids became sleepy that Mr. Fang stopped the "communication" between us. Although I didn't like listening to his boring stories, I felt a sincere admiration for this dull old man from the bottom of my heart.
, people of his age should stay at home, plant flowers and birds, hug their grandchildren, and enjoy a quiet and comfortable life for a few days, but he is willing to spend the last bit of energy in the vast desert. The power of faith and belief is sometimes too great.
It's unexpected.
The night was very peaceful. In the early morning of the next day, Mr. Fang and his three students were preparing to continue heading west, while we pretended to set off towards the military headquarters of Baimaqiang Town in the northeast. Before we parted, Mr. Fang left a note for me.
On the note was his contact information. He said that he admired my tireless attitude towards studying and improving, and hoped that we could communicate from time to time in the future to exchange experiences.
I was already convinced of Fang Lao's identity. What he said last night was very clear and professional. Most people would not be able to have such knowledge about Xixia. But Cao Shi had a different mentality, and Fang Lao walked out.
After a long distance, he ordered two people to follow him from a distance to spy on the other party's whereabouts. I was very dissatisfied and asked whether Cao Shi was a little bit arrogant.
"Master Tian, please be careful when sailing." Cao Shi looked at the direction in which Mr. Fang and the others were going and said, "Don't you think it's strange? Four unarmed intellectuals, in a place like the desert, didn't even prepare a camel.
"
If Cao Shi didn't tell me, I really wouldn't have thought about it. According to Fang Lao's knowledge, he should be very familiar with the geography and landforms of his hometown in Xixia, and it is impossible for him to go into danger alone. But after we spent a day together, we really couldn't find anything out from him.
If there are any flaws, it really makes me a little confused after a careful analysis.
We hid in a place not far outside Machan City and waited. Four or five hours later, two people sent by Cao Shi came back to report. They said that Mr. Fang had indeed gone all the way to the west and that his behavior was normal and there was nothing suspicious about it.
place, a stone suddenly fell in my heart, and I said to Cao Shi: "How is it? I just said it, a dull old scholar like Mr. Fang can see it at a glance."
"Okay, let me be paranoid." Cao Shi said to the people around him: "Take care of yourself and let's return to Mazhan."
Regarding the specific details of this operation in Machan, Cao Shi never told the people below. Even I only knew that he was looking for something. When we came to the city of Machan again, Cao Shi started to be busy, walking around the remaining city walls.
The entire site has been turned around twice. The city is roughly in the shape of a rectangle, about 112 meters long from east to west, and 10 meters long from north to south. The total area is about more than 10,000 square meters. Over the past few hundred years
In the former Xixia period, the natural environment here may have been much better than it is now, but due to various constraints, it was not possible to build a very large city.
Cao Shi was busy wandering around the city and outside the city, and a few of us were hiding in the house and being lazy. Although Cao Shi refused to say anything for the time being, the old man's tough guys were very jealous, and one of them
He was muttering next to him, saying that Cao Shi might be looking for the precise location of that thing.
It wasn't until four o'clock in the afternoon that Cao Shi finished his work and his face was tanned. I told him not to be so tight-lipped. At this time, it's time to show everyone his secrets, right? Cao Shi glanced around us and said:
"Don't be anxious, let's have a good night's rest today and start tomorrow morning."
"Have you found the place?"
"We'll know tomorrow morning."
Cao Shi was very tight-lipped this time and refused to tell anyone who asked. Although Mazhan City is small, it has been covered by wind and sand for hundreds of years. Trying to find something deliberately in the vast sea of sand is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But I think Cao Shi is quite talented.
I feel like I have a plan in mind, and I feel a little more at ease. I hope to finish the matter smoothly and avoid eating a few mouthfuls of sand here.
As soon as it got dark, everyone got into the house. Cao Shi arranged for two people to go out to watch the night. These people started talking nonsense again, and they kept talking about the same topics. I was tired of listening to them.
I still slept soundly that night. When I opened my eyes, it was still dark. I wanted to go out for convenience, but as soon as I got close to the door, I heard a slight but strange sound.
Maybe it was because I had just woken up and my thinking was a bit slow. I didn't recognize what the sound was for a while, but my subconscious immediately told me to stop.
The sound seemed to be just outside the door. Although it was slight, it was very ear-piercing in the quiet environment. The remaining sleepiness in my body disappeared without a trace in an instant, and I raised my ears to carefully identify the source of the sound.
That's right! The sound did come from outside the door. After listening to it for two minutes, I felt like something was scratching the door panel, click, click, click... and the more I listened, the more it sounded like fingernail scratching.
The sound the door made.
I quickly returned to the place where I slept, grabbed a flashlight, turned on the switch with my clothes covered, gently shook Cao Shi awake, and at the same time made a gesture to silence him.
"Old Cao, listen, what's the sound?"
Cao Shi listened attentively for a while, then frowned, and tiptoed to a place very close to the door. I followed him with a flashlight wrapped in clothes. It was only then that I discovered that the door panel was blocked by someone.
It was driven to death from the inside with a thick wooden stick.
I remember that no one held a wooden stick against the door before going to bed, and the night watchman would ask someone to take over in the middle of the night. If the door was pushed shut, no one from the outside could come in.
This sound of scratching the door panel never stopped, which made people's teeth itch. Cao Shi asked me not to move, and then woke up all the sleeping people one by one. He asked softly the two people who were keeping watch on the previous shift.
Who pushed the door shut, but the other party said he knew nothing.
Everyone heard this tooth-itching sound and loaded their weapons one after another. Cao Shi gritted his teeth and cursed: "What do the people watching outside eat?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Shi seemed to remember something, and his expression immediately changed. Almost at the same time, I also noticed something was wrong. The door was jammed shut. Could it be that the scratching sound on the door panel outside was caused by two night watchmen?
of?
If this is the case, we must be in trouble. If the night watchman discovers anything unusual, he will go into the house and call for help. Even if it is too late to call for help, he will at least fire a warning shot. But the people in the house, including me, have been waiting all night.
Didn't hear any noise.
Cao Shi and I looked at each other, and my heart suddenly sank to the bottom. I asked softly: "Old Cao, the thing outside keeps scratching the door panel, is it trying to get in?"