Outside the Great Wall, the wind is blowing, and the ice has frozen across the river.
There are hundreds of waves in the vast sea, and there are thousands of miles of snow in the Yinshan Mountains.
Outside Jiaohe City, Changsun Jun was sitting on his horse. The howling cold wind mixed with the heavy snow like reed flowers hit his body. The thick armor was as cold and heavy as ice, chilling his bones.
Wrapping up his outer cloak and pushing down the mink hat on his head, Chang Sun Jun looked at a group of Tang army soldiers who were gradually walking in.
This place is outside Jiaohe City, the only way to the Western Regions, and it is also the location of the Protectorate of the Western Regions. Therefore, there is an endless stream of soldiers and troops coming and going, and merchants passing by are strictly inspected even in heavy snow days.
Changsun Jun sat on the horse and looked at the group of soldiers who were gradually walking in. Among them was a son of an aristocratic family who once sat across from each other drinking in Chang'an City. Now he was wearing leather armor, and his former unruly glory had long been polished by the wind, rain and snow of the Western Regions. There was nothing left, a face covered with frostbite, only as strong and sharp as a steel blade.
"Where do you come from, where do you go, and what kind of goods are you selling?"
The leading captain sat on the horse, wiped the snow foam from his face, and asked in a deep voice.
While speaking, his other hand was always resting on the handle of the sword across his waist. He was in a state of vigilance. If there was any abnormal situation, he would draw the sword out of its sheath and kill violently.
The Tang army has never been a benevolent and righteous gentleman. In Chang'an, Shandong, and Jiangnan, the benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, and faith preached by Confucian children all day long are of no use in this land where Hu and Han people live together. From the west of Yumen Pass to the Da Daguan Mountains further away Food, Byzantium, the Hu people believe that the strong are respected, the fittest survive, and all actions must be based on their own interests. Whoever has the biggest fist will have the final say.
Talking to these barbarian generals who drink hair and drink blood is tantamount to seeking death...
Changsun Jun sat on the horse and remained silent.
The merchant who hired Chang Sun Jun this time was Qin Changgeng, the head of the Qin family in Tianshui County, Longyou Road. At this moment, he had already got off his horse, took out a small bag of copper coins that he had prepared in his arms, and handed it over to him with familiarity. He smiled apologetically and said: "I am from Tianshui County, Longyou Road. I am going to Damascus on this trip to sell 350 pieces of silk. You officers and soldiers are stationed in the Western Regions under the emperor's order to protect the lives and fortunes of our merchants. I admire you in my heart. I only care about you. As a sign of respect, I would like to ask all officers and soldiers to buy a glass of water and wine to cool off the cold weather in this icy and snowy environment."
The captain waved his hand on his horse, and the soldiers behind him stepped forward to check the vehicles one by one.
Then he said to Qin Changgeng: "I was ordered to conduct an interrogation and did not dare to enforce the law and break the law. Therefore, I accepted my wish, but I did not dare to accept the money. Bring me everyone's identification certificates."
"Hey, hey."
Qin Changgeng had no choice but to take back the money bag, and while calling his accountant over to bring various documents to the captain, he said with emotion: "I have been doing business in Xiaxia for several years, and I have traveled to the Western Regions more than ten or twenty times, just like the captain Such honest people are indeed rare, and I admire them in my heart."
The lieutenant took the documents and read them one by one, and said without hesitation: "Now the Prince of Hejian County serves as the Protector of Anxi. When he took office, he implemented strict military discipline and strictly prohibited the exploitation and looting of passing merchants. At this time, who doesn't want to eat his head? You dare to go against the wind and commit a crime?"
Qin Changgeng sighed: "I only hope that the imperial court can always be in charge of the Western Regions and hold the Silk Road tightly in its hands, so that our merchants can make a lot of money."
Since Pei Ju of the former Sui Dynasty opened up the trade routes to the Western Regions, the armies of the Central Plains Dynasty have always controlled the Western Regions, making the Silk Road smooth, and countless merchants have made fortunes and become tycoons.
There were rumors in the court that garrisoning troops in the Western Regions would be costly and a drag on the national treasury. However, the merchants naturally supported the imperial court's permanent garrison in the Western Regions.
The captain smiled and said casually: "It's good for everyone to get rich, but don't forget to pay taxes."
The tax payment place was at a checkpoint just past. Qin Changgeng had already paid the full amount of commercial tax. At this moment, he said quickly: "What the captain said is, how dare I evade taxes? Not to mention that since the Duke of Yue has written to His Majesty to reform the commercial tax system,
After that, we only need to pay taxes once, and we don’t know how much money we save every year. Just this policy of one tax for ten for Tang people and one for four for Hu people has allowed us to completely suppress Hu merchants and make more profits than before.
It’s more than one thing. The imperial court takes such good care of us merchants, so we are naturally willing to support the imperial court, do business and pay taxes, it is only natural and right!”
The tax rate of "ten taxes and one" is actually much higher than the previous taxes. After all, the commercial tax was "zero" before this, and there was no such thing as a commercial tax...
However, although there is no serious commercial tax, there are various private checkpoints set up by local governments on the road of selling goods. Which one is not a wild goose plucking? Even showdowns in various places will eventually be passed on to merchants.
On the head.
After a business trip, more than half of the profits must have been given to local governments...
Now that the commercial tax has been fixed, you only need to hold the tax payment certificate, and you no longer need to pay a penny in taxes and fees all the way across the state. How can the merchants not calculate how much they have saved?
The school captain joked: "Hey, you know the real person...that one, Sun Jun?"
Changsun Jun didn't pay attention at first, but when he saw the captain looking towards him, he realized what he was doing. He quickly jumped off the horse, lowered his head, and said respectfully: "That's it."
The captain looked at the document and said, "Raise your head."
Changsun Jun's heart tightened, but he did not dare to disobey the order. He had to raise his head and let the captain's gaze sweep across his face like a knife.
If his identity is discovered, not only will the mission assigned by his father fail to be completed, but it may also trigger a series of consequences. After all, as a descendant of the eldest grandson's family, what is the purpose of going to the Western Regions in hiding and pretending to be his identity?
Although he had put on simple makeup on his face, the captain had known him before. Although he was not familiar with him, but in case...
Fortunately, the captain was probably just responsible for his duties. He called everyone by name according to their identity and found that there was nothing unusual, so he returned all the documents to Qin Changgeng.
Then he warned: "This trip to the Western District, the area is vast and sparsely populated, and the patrolling soldiers will inevitably be unable to take care of it, so bandits are rampant. You must be more alert along the way. If you encounter bandits, don't panic. Form a formation first to delay time, and then
Set off fireworks to notify the surrounding patrol soldiers to rush to the rescue... Of course, if the soldiers can see the fireworks."
The Hu land is desolate and vast, with the north wind blowing the white grass on the ground, and heavy snow falling from time to time. If a million troops are scattered like a fish into the sea, where can they watch over it? Unless there happens to be patrol soldiers not far away, otherwise there is no way.
You may not necessarily see the fireworks of merchants calling for help.
Life or death depends more on luck...
Qin Changgeng said hurriedly: "Thank you, captain, for reminding me that Sun Jun is the bodyguard hired by me on this trip. He is very skilled and well-equipped. Unless we encounter a large group of Turkic horse bandits, we should be able to protect ourselves."
"
The Turks were defeated by the Tang Dynasty in Mobei, and Jieli Khan was captured alive. He sang and danced in front of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty all day long, fully demonstrating the talent of the grassland people in singing and dancing... The land of Longting was given to Xue Yantuo again. The dove occupied the magpie's nest, and had no choice but to flee westward, relying on the natural dangers of the desert to survive.
Although the Turks often moved among various countries in the Western Regions, they were afraid of the combat power of the Tang army and did not dare to travel in scattered directions. They could only move on a large scale. Although safety was guaranteed, their movements were inevitably restricted and they could not travel anywhere and anytime. Merchants were intercepted and killed on the road.
"oh?"
The school captain glanced at Chang Sun Jun again while on the horse, his eyes passed by the horizontal knife on his waist, smiled, and said: "Just be careful, it's not early, so hurry up and get on your way."
"Here!"
Qin Changgeng then led the caravan to bid farewell to the captain and set off slowly.
Watching the caravan slowly disappearing into the snowy sky, the captain was riding on his horse, stroking the stubble on his chin, thinking to himself: How come that guy named Sun Jun looks so kind? It seems like I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't remember it.
He is also a child of a noble family. Although his family is not well known, when he was in Guanzhong, the people he visited were all high-ranking officials. If you think about it carefully, how could an acquaintance from the past come to this icy and snowy Western Region to act as a guard for a caravan? Woolen cloth?
Shaking his head, he led his soldiers and stopped another caravan...
Changsun Jun didn't let out a long sigh until he walked far away and looked back to see that the wind and snow had already wiped out the road he came from, and the soldiers were blocked by the wind and snow.
The captain's last look almost made him think he had been recognized.
Fortunately, they managed to hide it in the end. Once they passed Jiaohe City, they were in the depths of the vast desert. The influence of the Tang Army was limited, so they didn't expect to find any traces of acquaintances again.
It’s just that we are less than halfway through the long road to Damascus…