Five days later, the expeditionary Tang army arrived in Dunhuang County, Shazhou. Dunhuang County is a settlement of Han people in the Hexi Corridor. There are tens of thousands of households in Shazhou, and more than 70% of them are Han people. Because of this strong ethnic foundation,
It took Zhang Yichao decades to establish the Guiyi Army.
Shazhou belongs to Tubo in name, but there is no Tubo garrison. This is also an agreement reached between Tubo, Uighurs and local powerful people in Shazhou. Shazhou is used as a buffer zone. Tubo and Tuyuhun troops will not enter Shazhou, and Uighurs and Shatuo will not attack Shazhou.
, governed by local powerful powers.
Although it belongs to Tubo in name, the people of Shazhou never agree. They still insist that they are subjects of the Tang Dynasty.
Guo Song's expeditionary force did not enter Dunhuang County. They just passed by Shazhou and were far from capable of defending Shazhou. Risky actions would only give Tubo and Shatuo an excuse to march into Shazhou, thereby changing the status quo.
The Tang army passed through Dunhuang County at night, but stopped briefly at Dayun Temple at Mogao Grottoes. At dawn, two middle-aged men, surrounded by more than a dozen followers, rode from Dunhuang County to Mogao Grottoes.
"This temple was built by Emperor Zetian and has been here for more than 50 years. The main Maitreya Buddha enshrined in it is the second largest Buddha statue in Mogao Grottoes and is also the true face of Emperor Zetian."
Master Zhiguang, the abbot of Dayun Temple, was serving as a tour guide to Guo Song, introducing the Buddha statues in Dayun Temple. Guo Song admired this Buddha statue. He had seen this Buddha statue in later generations. It was the Nanda Statue of Mogao Grottoes, which was excavated by Wu Zetian.
, it was not completed until the Tianbao period.
It's just that the big statues he saw in later generations are still different from the current Buddha statues, but he can't tell the specific differences. It seems that the current stone statues are more full, bright and lifelike.
At this time, a soldier walked in quickly and whispered a few words in Guo Song's ear. Guo Song nodded, clasped his hands and said apologetically to Master Zhiguang: "The guests I was waiting for have already arrived, and I can only listen to Master's wonderful words another day.
"
"Guo Changshi, you're welcome, please!"
There are two middle-aged men sitting in the Zen room of Dayun Temple. One of them is called Cao Qingyun and the other is Zhang Feng. They represent the two powerful families in Shazhou, the Cao family and the Zhang family. For more than a hundred years, these two families have been in control.
As for Shazhou, the current autonomy of Shazhou is actually governed by these two families in turns.
Guo Song walked into the living room, and the two men stood up immediately. Guo Chongqing next to him introduced them: "This is Guo Changshi, and he is also the commander-in-chief of our Western Expeditionary Army."
The two people quickly bowed and saluted, Guo Song said with a smile: "You two are the head of the Cao family and the head of the Zhang family!"
"Exactly, my Excellency, Cao Qingyun, this is Zhang Feng. We looked forward to the stars and the moon, and finally the imperial army came, which shows that the imperial court has not forgotten us."
Guo Song smiled and asked the two of them to sit down. A monk served them tea. Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "Two days before I left, the emperor even specially received me. The emperor has always been very concerned about the Western Regions, including Dunhuang.
In fact, not only the emperor, but also the ministers of the imperial court are also concerned about the Western Regions. I believe that every person in the Tang Dynasty is dreaming of restoring the thousands of miles of territory in the prosperous Tang Dynasty."
"Does the emperor or the imperial court have any plans to recover the Western Regions?" Cao Qingyun asked eagerly.
Guo Song was silent for a moment and said: "I hope you two can understand the fact that the emperor and the court really want to recover the Western Regions, but recovering the Western Regions has always been a long process, just like we established the Western Regions Protectorate from the Sui Dynasty to the mid-Tang Dynasty
, it took more than a hundred years to establish. Similarly, recovering the Western Regions involves all aspects. I estimate that it will take at least twenty years. The starting point is my mission to the Western Regions this time."
Hearing that it would take another twenty years, Cao Qingyun showed a look of disappointment on his face, but Zhang Feng was very realistic. He knew that there were many problems within the Tang Dynasty due to the separation of vassals and towns, and he had no time to take care of the Western Regions for the time being. He smiled and said: "As Guo Changshi said
, having the Western Expeditionary Army take its first step into the Western Regions is a good start, but no matter what, we are still grateful to Chang Shi and the soldiers."
Next to him, Guo Chongqing laughed and said, "They are referring to the horse bandit incident."
"Shazhou is also infested by horse bandits?"
"Of course, although the Shatuo army abided by the agreement and did not invade Shazhou, they allowed the horse bandits to harass and plunder Shazhou. Especially during the wheat harvest every year, the horse bandits came to steal the wheat. We also organized militia soldiers to resist, and the two sides fiercely
During the war, dozens of people were killed every year. In the past ten years, hundreds of women and wealth have been snatched away by them in Shazhou. So we heard that Chang Shi led his army to annihilate three horses.
Damn, we couldn't be more grateful."
"The Tang army annihilated them all out of self-protection. If it can bring peace to the people of Shazhou, we will be deeply gratified."
"Can we do anything for Tang Jun?" Cao Qingyun asked.
Guo Song nodded, "I need you to do two things. The first thing is supplies. We need some dry food. Of course, we will hand over to you the war horses, leather armor and weapons captured from the horse bandits."
"There is no problem with supplies!" Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng said in unison.
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "The second thing is about the situation in Shazhou. I want to write a detailed report on the situation in the Western Regions and report it to the emperor and the court. Shazhou will also be an important part of it. Today I will invite you two
Come, I also want to know more about the current situation in Shazhou."
The Tang army rested for two days at Dayun Temple. After receiving supplies, the three hundred Tang army continued on the road.
Leaving Shazhou and heading southwest, they soon entered the territory of the Tuyuhun people. Most of them were alpine desert areas and the territory was vast, making it difficult for them to encounter the Tuyuhun army.
However, the most difficult part of this road is not the people, but the harsh environment, where wild wolves appear, especially in the area across the Puchang Sea, nearly a thousand miles of uninhabited Gobi and desert, and quicksand that sometimes disappears and appears, lurking in the desert like a killer.
, and it was a severe test of the will and physical strength of the soldiers.
Yang Xiaoyan brought a total of five men to Chang'an to report the news. Two of his men were swallowed by the quicksand near Puchang Sea, and the other died at the hands of the Shatuo sentry in Suzhou.
Puchang Sea is today's Lop Nur, a large lake formed by the Qiemo River and Chi River flowing into it. Coming from Dunhuang, you have to walk thousands of miles of Gobi and desert.
The Tang army soon entered hundreds of miles of desert, and a guide led them with more than twenty camels.
The cold wind was biting, blowing like a knife and causing pain on the face. The sky was full of wind and sand, and the whole sky was covered with yellow. The overwhelming wind and sand penetrated every hole. The soldiers lowered their heads and trudged forward, unable to speak or even open their eyes.
To prevent soldiers from getting lost, every fifty soldiers held a long rope.
For several days, the soldiers trudged forward in bad weather. Even the war horses could not stand the weather. After only three days of walking, more than 20 horses fell to death.
The sky was getting dark, but the wind and sand did not weaken, and still roared in the soldiers' ears with a sharp whistling sound, wreaking havoc.
"Rest where you are!" a soldier from the front shouted.
It is not easy to find a campsite. You cannot find a low place, as it will be buried by wind and sand overnight. Generally, an experienced guide decides where to spend the night.
The soldiers had spent several nights in the desert and had gained experience. They were tightly packed together and surrounded by more than twenty camels. Once there was danger, the camels would get up.
The soldiers barely ate some dry food and their mouths were full of sand, but these were minor problems. The biggest problem was water. When setting off from Dunhuang, each soldier brought five gourds of water. Not only the men needed water, but the two war horses also needed it.
For drinking water, they consumed almost half a gourd of water every day. They had only been walking for five days, and the soldiers generally only had two gourds of water left, but they were still more than two hundred miles away from Puchanghai.
The soldiers stood back to back, covered their heads with sheepskin blankets, drank water and ate dry food in small sips.
A soldier got into the sheepskin blanket and said to several people: "The guide said that the sandstorm may end tomorrow!"
“Absolutely great!”
Several soldiers sighed deeply, "I have never experienced such a climate. If it continues like this, neither humans nor horses will survive."
"Sand and dust are nothing. What's more important is that we have no water. We must save water. We are still more than two hundred miles away from Puchang Sea?"
"We humans can drink less, but horses need to drink water!"
The soldiers were very anxious. If they could not reach Puchanghai within three days, the consequences would be serious. If it was flat land, there would be no problem at all, but this is a desert!
Early the next morning, the strong wind finally stopped, and the warm sun shone on the endless desert, seeming to dye the desert with a layer of gold.
In the vast desert, the long team began to speed up, running towards the northwest.
Three days later, the exhausted Tang soldiers and horses arrived at Puchanghai. They finally saw an endless world of ice. Their lips were chapped and blistered. The Tang soldiers, who were almost dying of thirst, screamed hoarsely and tried their best to hit the white jade ice surface.
Running forward, they broke open several huge holes in the ice, and the men and horses fell headlong into the cold and biting water.