Chapter 91 Journey to the West
Qingyang Shuo returned to Liu Zheng’s study in Yintan City .
This was where Liu Zheng usually rested, so he liked to put a sheepskin map on the table and think about Yinzhou's development strategy.
When Qingyang Suo saw this, he nodded with satisfaction. After Liu Zheng and Hu Xier stood on his left and right, he pointed to a city in the southern part of Yinzhou and said, "Kezhou!"
Liu Zheng's eyelids jumped. This Kezhou was a natural choice for him. When Chen Ping took out three prefectures and counties for him and Liu Dahao to choose, this Kezhou was a place favored by many people. It borders Liangzhou in the northeast and Hanzhong in the south. Looking east, it is a vast grassland, and after passing Hulao Pass, it is Jinghua. The geographical location is quite advantageous, and the city is also relatively prosperous, with a population of 700,000, which is more than the population of Liu Zheng's two prefectures and counties combined.
At that time, people thought Liu Zheng was a fool for not choosing Kezhou.
However, Liu Zheng had his own ideas. Although Kezhou was rich and well connected, if the world was in chaos, it would be a place that several forces would have to fight for! Moreover, Kezhou had no natural barriers. If someone attacked, it would be difficult to defend! In addition, Liu Zheng was very interested in the Silver Beach in Yinzhou, so he did not choose Kezhou, but Yinzhou.
Now it seems that Liu Zheng’s choice was correct.
but……
Qingyang Suo said: "If you want to go south, Kezhou is a must-go place. If you can take Kezhou, you can advance and retreat. You can go up to Liangzhou and look east to Jinghua. If there is any disturbance in Hanzhong, you can also take the initiative!"
Liu Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Sir, how do I get it?"
Qingyang Shuo smiled and said, "It's enough for you to give the order. Kezhou, Shuo will get it for you! You go to the Western Regions, and when you come back, you will be the master of Kezhou!"
Liu Zheng was overjoyed. Qingyang Shuo would never be a boastful person. If he said so, he must be very sure. Originally, Liu Zheng wanted to infiltrate Kezhou through the Chamber of Commerce and then gradually undermine it. Since Qingyang Shuo was sure to take over the real power, it would be the best.
Qingyang Suo’s two strategies.
Go west and go south.
This is the perfect time!
Qingyang Shuo’s suggestion is that it is best to do both at the same time.
Liu Zheng immediately decided that he and Zheng Yueru would be in charge of the westward journey, while Qin Changfeng would be in charge of the road guards. Upon hearing this, Zheng Yueru frowned slightly and said, "Brother Liu, if we go to the Western Regions, we have to cross a desert, and the cavalry may not be able to do it..."
She heard that there was a camel caravan from the Western Regions in the city recently, and she could negotiate with them to join the trip, so Liu Zheng agreed immediately.
On the south side, Liu Zheng naturally asked Jiang Xuan to come and meet Qingyang Shuo. He intended to let Qingyang Shuo teach Jiang Xuan a lesson.
Who would have thought that Jiang Xuan, this troublemaker, would look at Qingyang Suo with disdain and ask, "Are you the half-woman?"
Liu Zheng's face turned cold.
Hu Xier also said angrily: "You bastard insulted my father?"
Jiang Xuan snorted coldly: "Young Master, Xuan is enough to lead the troops to fight! Why bring a disabled person with you?"
"presumptuous!"
Although Qingyang Suo was indifferent, Liu Zheng couldn't help it and glared at him fiercely: "Apologize to the gentleman!"
Jiang Xuan looked dissatisfied.
Seeing Jiang Xuan's temper, Qingyang Shuo couldn't help but smile faintly: "Sir, there is no need to be angry, just hand over the seal to Shuo."
Liu Zheng naturally agreed. No matter how anxious Jiang Xuan was, Liu Zheng only arranged for him to be a left general and follow Qingyang Shuo. No matter how angry Jiang Xuan was, he dared not disobey Qingyang Shuo. Military orders were like mountains, and they were implemented very well in the Yinzhou Army.
Three days to prepare.
Zheng Yueru had already contacted the Western Region caravan and hired three camels at a high price. The accompanying team was also ready. To Zheng Yueru and Qin Changfeng's surprise, Liu Zheng chose to load all three camels with refined salt, and did not want any other items from the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce.
"Sir, if we sell that fine wine to the Western Regions, wouldn't we make a fortune? Why is that?"
Qin Changfeng asked curiously.
Zheng Yueru also nodded. In fact, when she went to the Western Regions this time, Zheng Yueru was optimistic about the fine wines from Yinzhou, and even vanishing creams and perfumes, which also had good sales in the harsh environment of the Western Regions. But Liu Zheng actually only chose salt?
Liu Zheng smiled but said nothing.
He would not say that his purpose of going to the Western Regions this time was not the ancient country of Loulan! He wanted to develop a larger overseas business! You know, there are countless Arabs and even Europeans and Americans doing business in Loulan.
But in Arabia, Africa and other places, there was no salt at all in ancient times!
Yes, the reality is so cruel, especially in Arabia, where there is a lot of oil and gold, but no salt. This has led to the situation in the Middle East that one ounce of salt was worth one ounce of gold!
In this case, why doesn't Liu Zheng's refined salt expand into overseas markets?
Zheng Yueru and Qin Changfeng naturally didn’t understand. After all, in the Longyan Dynasty, there were not many people like Qingyang Suo who could see “the whole world”.
When Liu Zheng and Qin Changfeng joined the camel caravan, they saw that the caravan had more than 300 people. People of all kinds looked at them at the same time, with different looks. Zheng Yueru came to Liu Zheng and whispered, "Brother Liu, this trip to the Western Regions is a joint trip of Longyan and two Western Regions caravans."
Liu Zheng wondered: "Why is this happening?"
At this time, a big and strong man from the Western Regions came over. Seeing Liu Zheng's small figure, he showed disdain in his eyes and laughed loudly: "Miss Zheng, is this your young master? To be honest, such a man is not worth it!"
The people in the camel caravan also laughed.
Zheng Yueru said beside him: "Master Reheman, just take us away, you don't need to worry about safety!"
Reheman sneered, "Miss Zheng, do you know what that desert is? It's a place where people are eaten! Carrying such a burden will seriously affect our speed!"
The others echoed loudly.
Liu Zheng looked over and found that, as expected, most of the three hundred people were rough men, and even among them was the sturdy Kunlun slave. These people were often weathered and had very rough skin. At a glance, the entire camel caravan had about a hundred camels and three hundred people, among which there were only three women, who were also relatively strong and looked stronger than Liu Zheng.
Zheng Yueru didn't expect that after paying the money, these people would refuse to acknowledge it. She said anxiously, "Master Reheman, how about I double the price?"
Reheman's eyes lit up, and he discussed with several of his younger brothers. The price of this generation was one hundred taels of silver! Reheman glanced at Liu Zheng's thin body, his eyes still flashing with sarcasm, and said with a smile: "Well, in this case, you have to follow us and listen to us. Otherwise, we won't be able to protect you when the time comes!"
"Weak Dragon Flame Man!"
“What a burden!”
The others also looked disgusted.
Qin Changfeng wanted to get angry several times, but was stopped by Liu Zheng. Because he knew that if the desert was really that dangerous, then these merchants were not ordinary desperate people. Less trouble is worse than more trouble. Moreover, one of the three caravans was from the Longyan Dynasty. Those people looked at Liu Zheng unkindly as soon as he appeared. And there should be several masters in that team.
Zheng Yueru then explained to Liu Zheng that Reheman was an official and businessman in Loulan and was under the rule of the Loulan court, so he was called "Sir".
Liu Zheng asked again about the caravan from Longyan Country, but Zheng Yueru shook her head and said she didn't know.
This made Liu Zheng feel doubtful again.
When Rehman saw that everyone had gathered at the city gate, he was the first to kneel on the ground, put his hands on his knees, and began to pray.
Many people followed suit and knelt down.
This made Liu Zheng and the other two standing seem a little awkward.
"What are you standing there for? Kneel down!"
Reheman shouted angrily: "If we offend the God of the Desert, we will all die without a burial place!"
Qin Changfeng refused to kneel down, so Liu Zheng quickly pulled him down.
Reheman muttered to himself for a while before leading everyone on the road. To the west of Yinzhou is the road to the Western Regions. Liu Zheng knew that this road would become more and more difficult and dangerous. But he was really excited...
There was no Silk Road in the Longyan Dynasty. Trade with the Western Regions was never taken seriously. The entire Longyan Dynasty was still immersed in the dream of being the Celestial Empire. Therefore, the road to the Western Regions had never been repaired.
Therefore, Liu Zheng didn't know how dangerous the road would be.
When passing by his own Yintan City, a few miles ahead, he really came to this desolate place. It was also a place that the Longyan Dynasty rarely set foot in. Among them, the most incredible thing for Liu Zheng was that because of the natural barrier of this desert, the Longyang Dynasty did not station any troops here to show the border of the territory. Maybe it was too confident in its own national strength, or it was too dependent on the danger of this desert.
It was already mid-April. As the group walked further and further, the sun was getting bigger and bigger. Walking under such a strong sun made one's mouth dry after a while. The ground beneath their feet had become a Gobi Desert. It was hard to see the forests of Yinzhou and the lush greenery everywhere. For a camel caravan like this to cross the desert, the first thing to prepare was water and the Western Region-style naan bread. Other dry food was not recommended.
Why?
Because dry food like naan is relatively light, easy to satisfy hunger, and does not require a high storage environment, just chewing a few pieces with water will satisfy your hunger.
There was no conversation all day and everyone was on their way.
When passing through the Gobi Desert, Reheman observed the celestial phenomena and thought that the process should be accelerated. It was estimated that it would take six days to pass through the desert, otherwise it would be easy to encounter storms. So when he rested at night, it was already very late.
"Set up camp!"
When they reached a point where they could no longer see the road clearly, Rehman shouted loudly.
Everyone cheered and started to set up camp.
Along the way, Liu Zheng recorded the itinerary on the sheepskin in his hand based on his own judgment of the sun and Xingxing. He felt that this was very necessary. After all, he could refer to this route and then combine it with his later memories to improve the camel caravan's route.
However, when all three hundred people had set up their tents, no one expected that this first night in the Gobi Desert would bring them such extreme danger.
The exhausted people just lay down.
There were bursts of wolf howls all around.
Liu Zheng sat up suddenly, his face solemn. From the sound, it seemed that the wolves were coming! And there were quite a few of them!
as expected.
Rehman's voice was already shouting.
"Be on guard, be on guard!"
