The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 3 Hexi Fort

Listening to the argument between Erhu and Sanbao, Li Xiao remained silent.

According to the memory of his previous life, Li Dalong has always treated his two younger brothers in this way.

Only when they had quarreled enough would Li Dalong speak up to arbitrate and subdue his two younger brothers, so Li Dalong had a high prestige among his brothers.

Moreover, the young men of similar age in the village were all led by Li Dalong.

However, what the two said also forced Li Xiao to face a realistic problem.

"The Qarluk tribe in Jinzhou rebelled?"

Li Xiao rode on the horse, whispering softly in his heart.

Now many forts in Jinzhou have been recruited by the Governor's Office, and their young and strong men have been selected to form an army to suppress the rebellion of the Qarlug people!

Li Xiao's adoptive father Li Dahai and second uncle Li Erjiang led a hundred young men from Hexi Fort to Beishan.

It has been more than half a month and there is still no news.

"It's a pity that there are too few records about Western Liao in history books, and there is no information at all about the Qarluk rebellion." Li Xiao said with regret in his heart.

Time travelers are not omnipotent. Li Xiao can understand something about the affairs of the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and even the Mongolian Dynasty.

However, everything about Western Liao seemed to have been erased from history books, leaving only a few words.

Many things can only be inferred through indirect records.

"However, the Qarluk people have launched many rebellions in Western Liao, but none of them was successful. This time, the Qarluk people will definitely be suppressed." Li Xiao thought.

When talking about the Qarlugs, everyone's first impression is their betrayal of the Tang Dynasty in the Battle of Talas, which resulted in the death of 20,000 Tang troops at the hands of the Arab Empire.

At this point, the Central Plains dynasty's influence on the Western Regions completely stopped at the Pamir Mountains.

The Karluk people were also labeled as "traitors".

It’s not too unfair, after all, they are full of violent and restless genes in their bones.

During the Western Liao Dynasty, the Qarlugs were also synonymous with restlessness. They rebelled several times and were suppressed several times.

Repeatedly rebelling and failing, repeatedly failing and rebelling!
I have to say that the Yelu family was quite kind to the Qarluk people. If it were Li Xiao, he would have leveled the wheels long ago.

"I hope this rebellion can be suppressed as soon as possible!" Li Xiao said softly.

If it is delayed for too long, it might even affect the busy farming season in Hexibao.

After all, the one hundred young and strong men who were mobilized were the main labor force of Hexi Fort.

……

Shaking his head slightly, Li Xiao stopped thinking about the Karluk people. The outcome was already determined anyway, and the Karluk people could not cause much trouble.

What Li Xiao needs to do now is to practice martial arts, horse riding and archery as quickly as possible to expand his influence in Hexi Fort and even the entire Jinzhou.

After stopping the two tigers and three leopards from making a fuss, the group quickly arrived in front of Hexi Fort.

The gathering places of Han people in northern Xinjiang are different from those of nomadic peoples.

Nomadic peoples set up tents anywhere, with almost no protection outside, and they can leave whenever they want.

However, the Han people in the northern border will not migrate easily, perhaps because of a lack of security.

Every Han village in the northern border has certain walls and trenches, just like a fortress.

When you arrive outside Hexi Fort, the first thing you see is a circle of trenches, about two or three meters wide and not very deep.

The main purpose is not to protect against people, but to protect against horses.

As long as most of the war horses can't jump over, it's fine. After all, cavalry is the main fighting force on the grassland.

Even if a small number of infantrymen entered the village, they would be killed by the young and strong men in the village.

But once a large enough cavalry rushed in, the result would be different.

Therefore, all the defenses of Hexi Fort were aimed at large-scale cavalry assaults.

The same goes for the wall behind the ditch.

It is called a city wall, but in fact it is far inferior to the real city walls in the Central Plains.

It's just a row of adobe walls more than one meter high.

After all, Hexi Fort covers a large area, and the cost of building a real city wall to surround the village is too high, which Hexi Fort cannot afford.

When the enemy attacks, the adobe wall will become a shelter. The people of Hexi Fort will hide behind the wall and shoot arrows, while the enemy will be completely exposed in the open space outside the trench.

With trenches and adobe walls blocking the way, the enemy could not get in in a short time. If they did not want to become sitting ducks, they could only retreat far away.

Relying on this simple protective measure, the ancestors of Hexi Fort repelled countless attacks from bandits and hostile tribes over the past fifty years.

"Looks like I need to tell the old man to check the adobe walls in the village over the next couple of days and repair any collapsed areas immediately."

Li Xiao looked back at the adobe wall and thought to himself.

It is better to take precautions. What if the Qarluk cavalry bypasses the main force of the Jinzhou Army and rushes to the vicinity of Hexi Fort?

If you don't want to suffer any disaster, make the necessary preparations.

When you enter Hexibao, the first thing you see is rows of adobe houses, arranged in an orderly manner.

Outside each house is a large fenced yard where villagers can build sheep pens, cow sheds and horse sheds.

Every household raises at least dozens of cattle and sheep, and some even raise hundreds. These are important assets for the villagers of Hexibao.

As he passed by each house, Li Xiao greeted the villagers as usual. "Auntie Wang, the food is good today, and there's even meat!" Li Xiao said with a smile to a middle-aged woman in a skirt who was busy in the yard.

"I guess the boss and his family should be back soon. We have an old sheep that doesn't produce much milk anymore. We can kill it and eat the meat to provide good nourishment for the boss." Aunt Wang said with a smile.

There are about 1,300 people in Hexi Fort, all of whom are descendants of Li Xiao's ancestor. There are people with all kinds of surnames, but the most common one is Li.

"Then you have to save the lamb for Uncle Wang to eat, and try to give Tietou a younger brother or sister next year~" Li Xiao laughed.

Tietou is also Li Xiao’s childhood friend, and he is herding a flock of sheep behind him!

Upon hearing this, Aunt Wang smiled calmly without any embarrassment and spoke casually.

"Of course, he's indispensable. Dalong, if you want one, I'll give you one too. You're a young man getting married soon, so you need to eat more of this stuff."

Women in northern Xinjiang don’t have so many taboos. They are as forthright as men and will never be shy.

Li Xiao quickly waved his hand to reject Aunt Wang's kindness.

After passing Tietou's house, I walked a few hundred meters before arriving at Li Xiao's house.

This is a large courtyard located in the middle of the village, more than 30 meters wide from east to west and nearly 100 meters from north to south.

There is an adobe house in the middle of the yard, with five main rooms and two side rooms, surrounded by sheep pens and cattle sheds.

More than two hundred sheep, thirty cows, six adult horses and two ponies, as well as eighty acres of land outside the village, these are all the assets of Li Xiao's family.

In ancient times, this was definitely a wealthy local tycoon, and even rural landlords were not so domineering.

However, the northern border is vast and sparsely populated, and the royal court's control over the northern border is limited. Without much pressure from the upper class, the lives of the lower class naturally get better and better.

Every household in Hexibao has a lot of assets.

Li Xiao first greeted Li Dahu and his brother, and watched them walk towards a yard next to them, which was the home of Li Xiao's second uncle.

Then Li Xiao took Erhu and Sanbao with him and drove the cattle and sheep into the sheepfold and cowshed, and then led their horses to the stable and tied them up.

Glancing at his grandmother who was standing in front of the table rolling noodles, Li Xiao asked, "Grandma, is my mother not back yet?"

"The Lonely Mountain Castle is dozens of miles away from us. It's impossible to come back so soon."

"And it looks like God is going to be angry again. Maybe your mother will stay there tonight." The old lady said to Li Xiao with a chuckle while working neatly.

This is an old lady with a gentle temper and kind personality.

Li Xiao nodded gently, picked up the ladle from the water tank, scooped up some water, and drank a few gulps. His mouth and tongue were no longer so dry, so he asked again, "What about my grandfather?"

The old lady gestured to the back of the house with her eyes: "It's behind!"

"This damn old man has been clanging all day and has just stopped."

"Go call your grandfather and come over for dinner later."

"Oh, I got it."

Li Xiao walked past the five main rooms and came to the backyard.

It is also a yard surrounded by a fence, but it is much smaller than the front yard.

The most eye-catching thing is a thatched shed built in the middle, which contains some farm tools, slag, coke, finished ironware and raw iron ore.

Outside the shed was a stove built with earthen bricks, and the fire inside had cooled down.

The old man was squatting in front of the stove, cleaning up the slag.

Obviously, this is a small blacksmith workshop, and it is also a place where the old man often likes to stay.

"Grandpa, grandma is calling you to come over for dinner!" Li Xiao walked over and said.

"I understand. I'll go over after I finish cleaning up." The old man raised his head, glanced at Li Xiao, and nodded slightly.

The old man is the lord of Hexi Fort, but because he is old, he has handed over more things to Li Xiao's father, and he likes to stay at home and work as a blacksmith.

The farm tools used for farming in Hexibao and the weapons used by the young and strong men in battle were basically made by the old man and his brothers.

The old man doesn't talk much and has no special appearance. He used to be a tall and strong man, but as he grew older, his appearance shrank and he became an ordinary skinny old man.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the scar on the old man's face.

It went straight from the left forehead to the right side of the face, almost splitting his entire face into two, which was very scary.

Fortunately, brother Li Xiao grew up looking at the old man's face, so he didn't think anything of it.

Later I learned that the old man was injured by a Naiman centurion in a desperate counterattack during a battle against the Naiman people.

In that battle, the old man killed no less than ten Naimans with his own hands.

The old man was indeed very fierce when he was young.

"Grandpa, is my knife ready?" Li Xiao looked at the old man and asked.

"Well, all right."

"It's on the table. Go get it and see if it's suitable." The old man nodded, his tone calm and serious.

He was better when facing grandchildren like Li Xiao. Although he didn't like to laugh much, he wasn't too serious either.

Li Xiao's father and second uncle were in a miserable state. Even though they were both strong men in their thirties and forties, their legs trembled when the old man glared at them.

Li Xiao immediately walked to the table and recognized his knife at a glance among the many sickles, axes, hammers and other weapons placed on it.

"Cavalry sword!"

(End of this chapter)