In mid-October, Hu Hongxiu, the Minister of War, set out in a hurry to the west.

Of course, it is said to be in a hurry, but it is also fully equipped, including attaches from the Ministry of Rites, attaches from the Ministry of War, a whole imperial squadron, a whole group of imperial cavalrymen from Hehuang, plus several imperial camp imperial soldiers and several new subjects.

Jinshi, there is even a team of monks and a team of Taoist priests.

It is the envoy's ceremonial guard and the gifts prepared for Yelu Dashi. They are all there, but they are not spread out specially.

The group of people traveled through the hinterland of the Central Plains and arrived at Kansai calmly. Then the Minister of War, who was heading to Kansai to check logistics and buy war horses from the Qingtang Tibetan tribe, only had a brief conversation with Yu Wenxuzhong, who had received the news in advance, and then continued.

Heading westward. In order to save time, Hu Hongxiu and Yelu Yujian, as well as a small local Tubo tribe in Qingtang, a Han caravan with experience in traveling westward, and a Khotan caravan that was about to turn back, simply met in Lanzhou.

Will do.

There, local officials and local troops had already arranged the logistics vehicles, horses, grain and grass, as well as some necessary salt, cloth and other supplies.

But at this time, it was already November, and the weather was getting colder and colder.

Over in northern Shaanxi, it is said that the battle situation was somewhat repetitive. The Jin army of the Security Army was successfully driven out by Wu Jie and Guo Hao. However, at the same time, one of the three rulers of the Jin Kingdom, King Wanyan Wushu of Wei, arrived.

Daning, an important town near the river, makes Danzhou, which is adjacent to the Yellow River, a little nervous.

But these don't matter, at least to Hu Hongxiu, Yelu Yujian and his party are too lazy to pay attention to them, because they have to go directly to the west without stopping.

As for the road heading west, it's actually not that complicated.

First of all, thanks to the Hehuang Kaibian of the Shenzong Dynasty in the past, Lanzhou, Huangzhou, and Xining Prefecture were all civilized Han states, and the Tubo regime that was entrenched here at that time was basically annexed and 'mature'.

Even when Cai Jing was in power, he did not forget to strengthen his rule over this place and suppressed the once wavering Qingtang City (the capital of Xining Prefecture, later Xining). However, Zhao Huaien, who took office five years ago to deal with the Huangshan affairs,

As a descendant of Zusiluo, he has always been loyal to the Song Dynasty... He provided the small local Tubo tribe in tandem, specifically to negotiate with the Tubo tribes along the way.

Therefore, this road is generally safe.

Secondly, it is precisely because Xixia has controlled the Hexi Corridor for a long time and then consciously isolated the Song Dynasty from the Western Regions, which in turn forced many merchants from the Western Regions to take this Qinghai Road exclusively.

Even after the Shenzong Dynasty took control of Xining, Khotan envoys came from this place immediately, and because they came too fast and too many, the Song Dynasty was a little tired of the rewards, and had to limit the envoys to come once every two years.

Khotan was later referred to as Hotan, Khotan, and the gate. It means that Khotan is a transportation hub in southern Xinjiang. At least this Qinghai Road can directly connect to Khotan.

In other words, this road has been clear and clear since ancient times until now, and it has never been a wild road.

Or to use the almost unanimous words of the three guides from Han, Tubo, and Khotan, if you follow this route and endure the hardship, you will definitely enter the big city in the Western Regions within two months, and then go to find the Yelv Stone at your leisure.

If the road is smooth, forty or fifty days is enough.

Naturally, Hu Hongxiu and Yelu Yu had nothing to say, especially since the Khotanese merchants who had just arrived in Xining City clearly told them some news, that is, these Khotanese had indeed heard Yelu Dashi's speech in southern Xinjiang before setting off.

According to the news, I knew that a Khitan king had swept away Yemili and was about to move to the south, because the Xizhou Uighur tribes who controlled Gaochang and Hamili were conducting diplomatic negotiations with the Khitan king at that time in order to avoid war.

This is consistent with the information Yu Jian obtained from Xixia. Considering that Xixia controls the Hexi Corridor, it naturally knows it faster and more completely. Therefore, the huge envoy led by Hu Hongxiu had almost no doubts and immediately

They left Xining Prefecture and headed west in order to see Yelu Dashi as soon as possible.

However, there are always surprises and ups and downs in travel, as well as boredom and dullness.

Less than a hundred miles west of Xining Prefecture, this group of people fell into their first huge shock because they saw the Xihai Lake, which was like a natural wonder.

Qinghai Lake, no one would call it a lake these days. The Tubo people called it the "blue sea" from the beginning. After the Han people saw such a big and blue salt water, they couldn't believe it.

They just call this lake the West Sea, but at the same time they have to admit that this is a 'blue sea'.

Of course, when the Han people continued to expand and saw the Aral Sea further west, they changed the setting of the West Sea and re-identified that the Xining Prefecture was just a "blue sea".

And in Qinghai, everyone, including Hu Hongxiu, the educated Khitan remnant Yelu Yujian, and the accompanying Jinshi, including the Cantonese guy with the lowest level of education among them, just because of their backing and the combination of Yaoshan and Qianzhou Ping

'Jia Yingzi', who rebelled against his seniority and was promoted to the Ministry of War as a Yuanwailang, immediately remembered that poem.

So-called:

Qinghai is covered with long clouds and dark snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks out to Yumen Pass in the distance.

Huangsha wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned until it is broken!

This land has not been effectively ruled by the Central Plains Dynasty for hundreds of years.

The Tang Dynasty that once stretched across the world has never returned; in the past, it fought against the Tang Dynasty, Uighur, Dashi, Tianzhu, and Nanzhao at the same time, and Tubo, which expanded in five directions, was like a flash in the pan, completely falling apart and beyond control; even earlier

At some point, the Turks who used to be dominant in the past have long since moved to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea to redefine the West Sea... However, this blue sea and this poem that almost everyone can recite clearly remind everyone that this land

The land, from the mountains to the sea, has long been integrated into the cultural blood of the Central Plains dynasty.

Even Yelu and Yu Jian had such ridiculous thoughts.

The huge team continued to walk on the north side of Qinghai. In the first few days, the scholars in the team could not suppress the excitement in their hearts. They clearly recalled various allusions:

They know that directly south of them is Qinghai, the "Qinghai Changyun Dark Snow Mountain";

Knowing that the "source of the Yellow River" where "the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky" is hidden somewhere in the east;

I know that the peak of the snow-capped mountains in the north, which is vaguely visible on a clear day, is the Qilian Mountain that "drove thousands of miles to Qilian", and that the north of the Qilian Mountain is divided between Liangzhou and Ganzhou by the Western Xia, which is exactly the Liangzhou in those "Liangzhou Ci";

They also knew that if their trip continued westward, they would pass by Yumen Pass, where "the spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass", and Yangguan, where "there are no old friends when leaving Yangguan in the west".

But what is sad or funny is that they have not been to these places that are clearly recorded in their minds, places that even the Cantonese and the Khitan remnants can blurt out for hundreds of years?

Is this ridiculous?!

Of course, this inexplicable restlessness unique to young intellectuals will eventually be suppressed by the boring schedule. After leaving Qinghai Lake, they have been marching in the Caotou Tatar territory south of the Qilian Mountains for the next twenty days.

Then the topic turned to the four words "Caotou Tatar".

In other words, no one can explain the origin of Caotou Tatar.

Some people in the team speculated that they were close relatives of the Ganzhou Uighurs; others speculated that they were close relatives of the Xizhou Uighurs; the accompanying Khotan merchants interjected, saying that these people should be descendants of the nine surnames of Zhaowu who were driven out from the north of the Qilian Mountains by the Huns.

He left and returned to the south of the Qilian Mountains; but when he asked a local tribal leader who had done business in Xining, he said that some of his tribe's ancestors were Tuqi Shi people... Everyone was talking about it, and the only confirmed information seemed to come from

When Yu Yeluyu saw him and his Khitans, they all insisted that in any case, these so-called grass-headed Tatars were definitely not Tatars, because the difference was too big.

But, so say but.

Suddenly one day, when Wailang, the accompanying official of the Ministry of Etiquette, was writing an official travel diary under the sunset, he suddenly lost his composure. Because he clearly remembered a text he had read in a corner, which seemed to be the reason why this group of tribes were called Caotou.

Tatar, because when the envoy from Khotan went to see Shenzong, he said that these mongrel tribes in the south of the Qilian Mountains were the Caotou Tatars... And at noon that day, the accompanying Khotan businessmen even said that these people were in Khotan.

Originally they were called yellow-headed Tatars, but people in the Song Dynasty kept calling them straw-headed Tatars, which forced them to change the name.

As for the Yellow-headed Tatars, it is much simpler. It has always been the general name for the scattered Tatar tribes in Moxi. In other words, this tribe group most likely came from the north, crossed the Hexi Corridor, and then arrived here from the Qilian Mountain pass.

But if that's the case, not only is Yelu Yuchi's assertion wrong and they are Tatars, the key point is that the reason why this tribal group in the southern Qilian Mountains is called Caotou Tatars is probably because of an official responsible for recording or copying.

It may have been caused by a mistake in copying or remembering, or it may simply be a random thing that the Khotanese made up after being asked about it by Shenzong.

And they actually struggled with this mistake for more than ten days.

However, everyone can't help but focus on the four words "straw-headed Tatar" because they are too boring.

This place is too poor and dilapidated. The largest tribe only has three to four hundred riders and can't even put together dozens of armors. After seeing the huge Song Dynasty envoys, I almost thought that the Song Dynasty came to conquer the west.

It was about to surrender... The officials of the Ministry of Rites wanted to write a temporary document for the visitor, but Hu Hongxiu stopped him because they were worried that they would alert the enemy.

As for buying a woman with half a piece of cloth, although it is cost-effective, of course it is not allowed. Not many people would do such a thing as buying a handful of salt for a sunbath... After all, I have only been away from Xining for more than half a month, and I can't tolerate it anywhere.

Can’t live?

However, the towering Qilian Mountains stretch continuously and isolate the only possible military threat to the north.

Then there were meadows and swamps all over the place that withered in winter, and the Qilian Mountains got tired of looking at them for more than ten days, and they got tired of reading the poem dozens of times, so they couldn't help but start to kill time with the words "Grasshead Tatar".

In this way, twenty days after leaving Xining, we finally passed the front section of the Qilian Mountains, left the range of the Caotou Tatars, and arrived at a mountain pass (Dangjin Pass). Next, according to the guides, we will enter the territory of the Yellow-headed Uighurs

, the Yellow-headed Uighur is stronger, and theoretically it can indeed pose a threat to the team, but the probability is low. Compared with this theoretical danger, what is more troublesome is that what follows is an intermittent no-man's land.

That's right, compared to the first half of the road, the second half of the road is still a high mountain (Altyn Mountain) that can block everything in the north, but there is no Qinghai and lush water plants in the south. That place is a desert, only the mountains at the foot of the mountain.

The long and narrow semi-desert area is passable. This is also the fundamental reason why the military threat of the Yellow-headed Uighur is relatively low. Robbery in such a place is a bit like a blind cat looking to kill a mouse.

Of course, there is water, and the overall itinerary is not a big problem. But according to experience, a considerable number of people are likely to get sick, and it is not a serious illness, but a variety of unexplained minor illnesses.

And depending on the size of the team, an almost indefinite number of people will die on this stretch of road, and war horses and yaks will also be lost.

But everything will get better after another twenty days of traveling, turning into the mountain pass and entering Datun City, the hinterland of the Western Region. (According to the Khotan envoy’s account, this journey is likely to pass through the Solkuli Corridor in the middle of the Altun Mountains.

, entering the Lop Nur area, which was very prosperous at this time).

This was something that was expected, everyone was prepared, and there was nothing to say.

However, after gathering these guides together, Hu Hongxiu, the leader of the World Group, who had gradually figured out some geographical elements these days, suddenly raised a question: "When we get to Datun City, do we have to go north across the Nanhe River (Tarimu River Han River)

), go to the foot of Tianshan Mountain, and then turn eastward to reach Hamili?"

The Khotanian merchant nodded immediately.

"And if we go through the mountain pass in front of us." Hu Hongxiu, who had a somewhat rosy complexion, turned around on his horse and pointed at the Qilian Mountain Pass behind him. The mountain pass was so obvious that it was visible to the naked eye. "Is it possible to go directly to Hamili without taking the detour?"

"Yes." The person who answered Hu Hongxiu was a Han merchant from Xining. "So that Hu Shilang knows that passing from here is exactly where Shazhou (Dunhuang) is. Directly north of Shazhou is Hamili. If you go from here, it only takes half a month.

arrival……"

As soon as he said this, Yelu Yujian and the others, who had also turned red next to him, looked at each other and seemed to be moved.

"But Shazhou is in the hands of the Xixia people." The Han merchants responded carefully. "When the Xixia people encounter ordinary merchants, regardless of Hu or Han, they will exploit them at all levels, let alone the nobles of Tokyo City."

Everyone became quiet again.

"If we go from Shazhou to Hamili, are there any natural dangers that we must pass?" Hu Hongxiu asked seriously.

"Shilang Hu is confused." Lian Yeluyu saw that he was a little helpless. "The northwest of Shazhou is Yumen Pass, and the southwest is Yangguan. Take Yangguan to Loulan, and take Yumen Pass to Gaochang. We are going to Gaochang... we can't avoid the Xixia people.

According to the foreign general, it is better to be patient for a while and continue to circle westward!"
To be continued...