Faced with the choice given by Zhou Jun, Guo Ziyi finally chose the second path and went to Anxi to succeed Feng Changqing and became the deputy envoy of Anxi Jiedu and the Jiedushi of Beiting.
After leaving Liangzhou City and riding on the ancient Hexi Road, Guo Ziyi looked at the endless desert and the endless traffic of caravans, and whispered to herself: "Loyal to the king, loyal to the people, loyal to the world..."
Guo Ziyi's eldest son, Guo Yao, rode over and said, "Father, you cherished your reputation before and made up your mind to resign. Why did you suddenly change your mind?"
Guo Ziyi shook his head and smiled. Instead of answering Guo Yao's question, he asked about another thing: "You have led troops under Gao Xianzhi before. In your opinion, what does Anxi look like?"
Guo Yao thought for a moment and replied: "When Gao Xianzhi was the protector, Anxi was vast and sparsely populated. No matter where you were, you could see it was desolate, with alien lands everywhere... Moreover, within Anxi,
There are many Hu people, many heretics, many religions, and the situation is complicated."
Guo Ziyi: "Before I set off, I talked with many Anxi officials. According to them, Anxi today is not like this at all. They said..."
Before Guo Ziyi finished speaking, she looked into the distance, suddenly stopped talking, and froze.
Guo Yao followed his father's line of sight and saw a convoy stretching several kilometers to the far east, slowly moving toward the west.
The convoy was so huge that most of the entire horizon was obscured.
Guo Ziyi reined in his horse, frowned and asked, "Is that the army's plan?"
Guo Yao: "I have never heard of a long procession of baggage in the army in recent days."
Guo Ziyi: "Since it's not the dispatcher, then who are the people in that convoy?"
Guo Yao: "Father, please stay for a moment. I'll go take a look."
After saying that, Guo Yao rode his horse and rode away into the distance.
After half an hour, Guo Yao returned to Guo Ziyi, with a shocked expression on his face.
Guo Ziyi asked Guo Yao: "Did you ask anything?"
Guo Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "Father, that is a slave-trading convoy."
Guo Ziyi was stunned: "Trading slaves? Don't make a joke."
Guo Yao: "Father, I am not joking. There are at least thousands of slaves in that motorcade, including men, women, old and young."
Guo Ziyi: "Where do so many slaves come from now?"
Guo Yao: "The guards of the convoy did not allow others to approach, and there was a fence to cover it, but I vaguely heard that someone among the slaves spoke with a Guanzhong accent."
Guo Ziyi: "Guanzhong accent? Who is the leader of the slave traders?"
Guo Yao: "I couldn't ask clearly. I only heard that he was a Sogdian."
Guo Ziyi frowned, turned the horse's head, and headed towards the slave trading team in the distance.
Guo Ziyi led his soldiers on horseback to the front line of the slave team and blocked the team's way.
Seeing this, a guard rushed up and shouted: "Who are you?!"
Guo Ziyi didn't say much, and asked Guo Yao to take out the Guo family's waistband, throw it to the leader of the slave team, and then said: "Give this to your master quickly and let him talk to me."
The escort took the badge with his head, glanced at the inscription on it, and then at Guo Ziyi. Without hesitation, he quickly turned back towards the middle of the motorcade.
Not long after, several horses came from behind the slave team.
The Sogdian at the head was wearing silk and brocade clothes, but he was a young man.
This young Sogdian man came to Guo Ziyi's horse, turned over and got down, bowed and saluted: "Kang Kejing has met General Guo."
Guo Ziyi looked at Kang Kejing and asked, "Do you know me?"
Kang Kejing raised his head and said with a smile: "General Guo's reputation has spread throughout the Tang Dynasty, and everyone knows it."
Guo Ziyi rode on a horse, pointed at the mighty slave team, and asked Kang Kejing: "Let me ask you, who are these people?"
Kang Kejing: "Of course they are all bought slaves."
Guo Ziyi: "Who is the seller?"
Kang Kejing smiled meaningfully and said softly: "The seller is the one in Luoyang."
When Guo Ziyi heard this, he opened his eyes wide and froze on the spot.
His son Guo Yao reacted immediately and shouted: "You are so brave, you dare to trade with the bandit army!"
Kang Kejing did not panic at all and asked: "Between the Tang Dynasty and Luoyang, only salt, iron, weapons, armor, kerosene and other contraband items are prohibited from trading... As for this slave mark, it seems that it is not on the list of prohibited trade.
In here?"
Guo Ziyi and Guo Yao were both stunned when they heard this.
There was indeed no interruption in mutual trade between the Northern Tang Dynasty and the Yan State.
Because the caravans of the Northern Tang Dynasty wanted to trade with Jiangnan, they had to pass through the territory of the Yan army.
Therefore, the Northern Tang Dynasty only prohibited the trade of strategic materials such as salt and iron, but slaves were not included in the blacklist of mutual trade.
Kang Kejing said at this time: "I heard that General Guo replaced the deputy envoy and became the protector of Anxi and Beiting. I would like to congratulate you first."
Guo Ziyi stared at Kang Kejing and asked in a deep voice: "Your surname is Kang, which one of the nine Zhaowu surnames is it?"
Kang Kejing: "A commoner was born in the Kang family in Shicheng."
Guo Ziyi: "Shicheng Town..."
Kang Kejing cupped his hands and said: "General, the slave team is huge and the journey is long. I will leave you here."
Guo Yao glanced at Guo Ziyi, who was still deep in thought, and couldn't help but shouted to Kang Kejing: "Stop! I have something else to ask you!"
Kang Kejing did not stop, but smiled and said: "General, if you have any questions, why bother at this moment? It won't take many days when you enter Anxi and all your questions will be solved."
After saying that, with the sound of a whip, the huge slave team continued to move forward.
Guo Yao turned to look at Guo Ziyi, who shook his head and said: "Before I take office, you must not act rashly."
Guo Yao sighed and could only give up.
More than half a month later, Guo Ziyi and his party entered the boundaries of Shazhou and approached Dunhuang City.
Guo Ziyi originally did not want to spend the night in Dunhuang City, but planned to enter Anxi as soon as possible through the Daqi Trade Road. Unexpectedly, the weather was not good, and there was a heavy rain outside Dunhuang City that had been rare in decades, making the road unsafe.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Guo Ziyi had no choice but to transfer to Dunhuang City, and then went to the government office to find officials to arrange food and lodging.
When a group of people arrived at Dunhuang Mansion, Guo Ziyi saw someone, an unexpected person.
Kong You.
Seeing Guo Ziyi, Kong You bowed and saluted, and then said, "You respectfully welcome General Guo."
Because of the Liangzhou mutiny, Kong You was demoted to the position of chief historian of the Anxi Protectorate, and he and Guo Ziyi became superiors and subordinates.
Guo Ziyi didn't like this sinister and cruel subordinate from the bottom of her heart, but she knew that he was Zhou Jun's confidant, so she couldn't show anything on his face.
Guo Ziyi dismounted from his horse, returned the salute with his hands, and asked again: "Confucius Changshi should be serving in Qiuci Town, why did he come to Dunhuang?"
Kong You: "I came here on official business, but I heard that General Guo entered Dunhuang, so I stopped by for a visit."
Guo Ziyi: "Coming to Dunhuang on business?"
Kong You nodded and said: "Not bad."
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and thought for a moment, decided not to ask any more questions, said goodbye to Kong You, and entered the Dunhuang Mansion.
In the mansion, Guo Ziyi met the Dunhuang Sima who was responsible for the reception.
Guo Ziyi asked curiously: "Where is Duan Xiushi, the governor of Dunhuang? He is not in the city?"
Sima replied: "Last month, there were Tubo cavalry gathered at Longle Mountain Pass. Duan was worried that the Tubo cavalry would come to seize the farmland and harass the trade routes, so he led the Doulu Army and Yumen Army to the Shanque Peak area.
Stationed to prevent Tibet from moving northward."
Seeing Guo Ziyi's solemn expression, the Dunhuang Sima said nonchalantly: "General, don't worry. At this time every year, the Tubo army will send a small group of rangers out of Longle Mountain Pass to fight the autumn wind in Shazhou. In the past years, Governor Duan led his troops to severely inflict heavy losses.
The Tubo people, but they just don’t have a long memory. So, it doesn’t matter. In a few days, Governor Duan will lead his troops back to the city."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi nodded slightly and said, "I hope so."