Along the edge of the Taklimakan Desert and continuing to the west is the famous Silk Road.
There is a road at the north and south ends of the desert, both of which go along the edge of the desert. When the two roads merge to the east, it is naturally Loulan City.
To the west, a road passes through Shule City and then reaches Shatuo City.
The other road passes through Khotan, then passes through the small Chengpi Mountain, continues to wind along the Kunlun Mountains to the west, and also reaches Shatuo City.
As for Shatuo City, it has entered the high-altitude area of the Pamir Plateau, and further ahead is the Persian Governor's Palace, which is still firmly controlled by the Tang Dynasty.
Going south along the Penchi River from Shatuo City, you can enter the Tubo region, and Shatuo City is naturally the next place that Tubo must pass through.
The Pamir Plateau, also known as the Congling area, is not a flat plateau in the true sense, but consists of several groups of mountains and broad areas between the mountains, forming seemingly flat valleys and basins with rich water and grass.
The plateau can be roughly divided into eight parts, which are called 'pa' by the locals. Each pa is also controlled by its nomadic tribes.
Because of the uneven abundance of water and grass, nomads often engage in small-scale wars here, mainly to compete for fertile land to support the tribesmen.
The size of tribal groups is not very large, ranging from tens of thousands to thousands.
Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty is already thousands of miles away from here, and stone cities and small towns built with rammed loess can be seen everywhere.
The control here was naturally extremely weak. Because of Tubo's power and interference, it was difficult for the Tang Dynasty to form effective control here.
What shocked Li Hong even more was that this place still belonged to China in the 1870s in his previous life.
Further to the west, there is Tocharo, which was occupied by the White Food. Now, after Li Hong took control of the Western Regions, it has become a strategic buffer zone between the White Food and the Tang Dynasty.
It seems that it is still affiliated with Baiyi Dashi, but in its country, some people have gradually begun to favor Datang.
The two thousand men and horses led by Li Hong had long been accustomed to life on the plateau, so among them all, only Banmei and Xunlan were slightly uncomfortable with altitude sickness.
But what Li Hong didn't expect was that the person who was least suitable for this place turned out to be Bai Qi, the pervert. At this moment, the old man was tongue-tied, and he hadn't even recovered yet.
But having said that, Bai Qi cannot be blamed for this. This pervert has been tired of the desert since the second day. Ever since he passed the Kunlun Mountains, the desert on both sides turned into Gobi and then into an oasis.
This wolf went crazy. After seeing the green water plants, he started jumping off his horse and running wildly on the grassland. It was hard not to feel uncomfortable at this moment.
Choosing a northerly, flat place, far away from the nomads and close to the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, a small lake appeared in front of us.
If you investigate carefully, you will find traces of many people staying and camping around here.
The fire that had turned into ashes, the stones needed for tent camping, and the cow and sheep dung all proved that this was indeed a suitable place for camping.
"Sir, did we run too far? Should we ask Lawless reinforcements to come in?" The mountain eagle soared in the sky, and the hare secretly looked at these outsiders in the grass, but fell into the wolf's mouth without thinking.
"It's too late. When troops are sent from Khotan, the Tibetan caravan will arrive soon." Li Hong raised his head and looked at the blue sky. It was so beautiful here, everything was so pure.
"No matter how fast the caravan is, it will still be four or five days behind us. In this case, the time should be enough, right?" Hua Meng agreed with Quan Yi after checking whether Li Hong's tent was strong.
It's so empty here, it's so empty that it makes people feel guilty, as if they have entered an ethereal world.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is here alone. If something unexpected happens, not everyone here can bear the responsibility.
"Shatuo City is the only big city. As long as you cross the desert, only caravans travel here, and there are few people. If lawless people are sent here, the cautious Tubo people will only find clues from the hoofprints on the road, so instead of looking for reinforcements, It’s better to use these few days to get familiar with the terrain here, which is more reliable than reinforcements.”
Li Hong took the water handed over by Xunlan while complaining, and heard Xunlan mutter in a low voice: "It has been burning for a long time. It looks like the water has boiled, but why does it feel like it is not boiling and it is not hot at all."
He had a sullen look on his face and his bright eyes were filled with tears. Because he didn't boil the water, he felt that he was so useless that he couldn't even boil the water.
Li Hong chuckled, took Xunlan's hand, pulled him to sit next to him, patted Xunlan's cheek, and said, "It's not your fault, it's a regional issue here..."
"Ah... Your Highness, is there a ghost here?" Xun Lan quickly looked around with vigilance.
Li Hong's words made not only Xunlan Mo stunned, but others also looked towards the quiet wilderness in a panic.
The huge cliff-like mountains blocked the sunlight, making people feel a little weird involuntarily.
Li Hong couldn't explain to them that because the air pressure was too low, the water seemed to have boiled, but in fact it had evaporated. In fact, the temperature is far from reached, and the food cannot be cooked at all.
He had no choice but to explain casually: "It's just like when we first got here, we had difficulty breathing, so it's difficult to boil this water like this."
Hua Meng and Mang Zhong, with their clever eyes, pondered for a long time, and then Noonuo said: "Sir, is this the same as when you put a piece of white paper at the mouth of the cup so that the water wouldn't spill out? The beauty?"
Li Hong nodded with a smile, and then said: "That's about right. Tell them that it would be better to use our tight-fitting lids to boil water."
These are not difficult problems in Khotan and other places, so for more than a year, Li Hong's army has not encountered this 'weird' problem.
Now that I have met it, I naturally use the beef tendon pot lid that has been issued to the army for a long time. The edge can be squeezed into the edge of the big pot tightly.
This allows the water and food in the pot to be in a relative vacuum, and the food can be completely cooked.
Night fell quickly, and except for the soldiers on guard, the other soldiers began to fall asleep.
And Li Hong's tent was naturally located at the most central location in the entire army.
Simple square stools, square tables and other necessary items were all transported by the dozens of camels from the cavalry team when they were in Khotan for supplies.
Li Hong was wearing a big fur coat, while Banmei and Xunlan were also wearing fur outfits. Under the light of the fire, their smiling faces turned red and alluring.
Bai Qi caught another hare from somewhere, and now with a serious face, he was waiting for Hua Meng to roast it like a supervisor.
Quan Yi ran over in a short while, followed by several soldiers. The excitement on his face had already revealed the results of his investigation.
"Sir, from here, we just need to go around the high ground in front of us. It's about thirty miles ahead. It's a very suitable place for us to attack the caravan." Quan Yi stretched out his hand to warm the fire, pretending to grab the roasting food from Hua Meng's hand. Fragrant hare.
Bai Qi immediately stood up alertly, his wolf eyes full of warning. If you dare to touch my rabbit meat, I will fight you to death.
"Have the scouts been sent out?" Li Hong looked at Quan Yi and asked with a smile.
"We have all been dispatched. As soon as we get close to this grassland, we will get the news." Quan Yi spoke while watching Bai Qi pick up the two hares tied and roasted by Hua Meng, and then nodded. He disappeared into the night without looking back.
"This... Master, what is it doing?" Quan Yi looked at Bai Qi, who was as strong as a calf in surprise. His majestic figure would make anyone's scalp tingle when they met him at night.
"I don't know. This guy disappeared for a long time in the afternoon. There may be a pack of wolves nearby." Li Hong guessed.
But what makes Li Hong a little puzzled is that the wolf he picked up must be very sociable!
Back in Loulan, he colluded with outside wolves to commit crimes. Now, looking at his virtue, he must have gone to bribe the wolves here with a roasted hare in his mouth.
"This guy is going to become a spirit. Isn't he so understanding of human nature?" When Quan Yi was in Chang'an, he also saw powerful people raising leopards, tigers and other wild animals.
But raising wolves has not been heard of in Chang'an City, or even in the entire Tang Dynasty.
And Li Hong was also very puzzled. Wolves should be the most difficult animals to tame. Lions, tigers, bears and other wild animals can all perform certain performances through rigorous training by humans.
But wolves have never been tamed. The circus can use lions, tigers, bears and other wild animals for performances, but wolves are an animal that has never and will never appear there.
Li Hong didn't bother to pay attention to Bai Qi. If it was willing to return to the grassland, he would not stop it. Therefore, in the past year, Bai Qi seemed more like a wild animal to Li Hong.
After shooing away a few people, Li Hong dug into his huge tent. The tent was divided into areas, and even the study room was prepared.
Hua Meng and Mang Zhong had already boiled hot water and prepared everything for Li Hong. They returned to their tents, not far from Li Hong, one on the left and one on the right.
Then outside, there is the tent of the Guards soldiers, but a lot of room has been left around Li Hong's tent.
Under the service of Banmei and Xunlan, Li Hong naturally felt as if he was in Loulan, and everything was still as easy to use.
He had already let the palace maid accompany him, and he was used to everything, but he was not ready to hand over his precious first time.
In Li Hong's opinion, it is still time for him to grow up, and it will take another two years.
Holding her body in his arms every night, like a beautiful jade with an alluring luster, is simply a torment for Li Hong today.
Lifting one pillar into the sky every morning was enough to show how physically hungry he was now.
And whether it was Xia Zhi, Xiao Xue, Ban Mei and Xun Lan, they had already made preparations, but they all knew vaguely in their hearts that maybe His Highness was waiting for Bai Chun.
(End of chapter)