After being choked to death by a copper coin, she became a demon Jin Ji in the other world

[That's right, thank you for the noodle soup, we'll say goodbye now. ]

【See you again if we are destined to. 】

Looking at the pretty figure gradually going away, Zhang Yitan looked at his brother with a teasing expression.

[Oh my, the famous Second Young Master Zhang also has a day when he stumbles. It's really like the sun is rising from the west, hahaha. ]

[Ah, brother, you are so annoying. Just wait. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely send you far away.]

[Hahaha, you are angry because of shame, okay, if you have the guts, send me to exile in Chang'an.]

[Hmph, there will be a chance. ]

Chapter 325: The Four Towns of Anxi

After Shazhou is Yizhou, which is the Hami area in later generations. Originally, Shen Yuelan wanted to make a big mistake and no longer go north to Yizhou, but continue westward, taking a more ancient route, that is, crossing thousands of miles of uninhabited areas, passing the ancient city of Loulan, and arriving at Yanqi City along the Tarim River bed.

This route was not out of the question. As a trade route that had been abandoned for hundreds of years, this road was almost like an uninhabited area. Shen Yuelan and others could travel day and night.

But considering that Yizhou and Xizhou strictly speaking also belong to the Western Regions, adhering to the principle of never missing it, Shen Huanyan finally rejected Shen Yuelan's proposal and chose to continue along the Tianshan Mountains.

[Master, we are almost in Illinois, but there is a problem that we seem to have never considered.]

【Ah, what's the problem? 】

[Mr. Bai didn't seem to provide us with anything like Xiao Man's portrait.]

[Ah, it doesn't matter. When you get to Yizhou, you can look for a Central Plains girl who is around 30 years old. See if she has a thin waist and dances well. If she can meet these two requirements, she is most likely Xiao Man.]

[As for the portrait that Mr. Bai gave me, don't even think about it. The freehand paintings here in China are completely different from the real person. There is no difference between having a real person and not having one.]

[At least there is a reference. The total population of the entire Western Region is much smaller than that of the Tang Dynasty, but that is only relative. There are still millions of people. Looking for a little barbarian is like looking for a needle in a haystack.]

[If we are not destined to meet, then why should we do this? If we are destined to meet, we will meet her. ]

[Lü understands, Lü understands. There is a line that goes like this: I searched for him among the crowd for a thousand times, but when I turned around, he was standing in the dimly lit place.]

【The young man is teachable.】

Thanks to Shen Yuelan's Tuntun Rat attribute, the group did not miss any meals on the way to Yizhou. They enjoyed good wine, good food and good scenery along the way. It was much more enjoyable than in Shazhou City.

[Alas, it's really a case of "seeing the mountain and running the horse to death". I clearly saw the Tianshan Mountain three days ago, but I haven't flown to the foot of the mountain yet. The Western Regions are really vast. ]

[It is vast, but it is also true that there is no grass growing. We have seen only a handful of oases along the way, and most of them are unstable. This is probably why oasis civilization has never been able to take over the mainstream.]

[But it is really beautiful. In the vast yellow sand, a spring of green trees suddenly appeared. Although we are not short of water, the moment we saw the spring, our mood suddenly became beautiful.]

[Of course. In the desert, water represents hope, and plants represent the possibility of survival. Anyone who sees them will feel happy.]

[Yes, yes, but there are times when we fail. For example, during that mirage, I thought we had already reached Izhou, but when I rushed over, there was nothing but sand. I lost my temper.]

[Stop complaining. We are lucky to be able to see the mirage. How many people want to see it but can't? By the way, Zhiwei, I remember you took a photo with your phone. Let me see how it turned out.]

[Oh, don't mention it, it's impossible to take a clear picture. You have to use a telephoto lens to capture a few beautiful images.]

[I see. That is a bit regrettable, but it doesn’t matter. We still have to travel in the desert for a while, and we will always encounter the right opportunity.]

[Hey, Master, don't worry. I have asked someone to purchase a telephoto lens and a camera. It won't be long before we can take pictures of the mirage. I will take beautiful pictures for you then.]

【Oh! Then I’ll leave it to Zhiwei. 】

Yizhou is Yiwu, and has been an important transportation center on the ancient Silk Road since the Han Dynasty. It is known as the "throat of the Western Regions and the passage between the East and the West". The most famous product here is melon.

The so-called musk melon is the Hami melon of later generations. It is round and long with slightly pointed ends, with a lot of skin, or with green and white strips in between. It looks like there are petals, and is very soft when pressed. When you cut it open, you can remove the pulp and eat the flesh. It is mostly orange-red, fragrant and soft like mud, and sweet between sugarcane and honey, refreshing but not greasy, but not very thirst-quenching.

As early as the 2nd century BC, melons had already been widely cultivated in the Dunhuang area. The "Taiping Guangji·Yin Guiren" records: [Yin Guiren of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty dreamed of eating a melon, which was very delicious. At that time, Dunhuang presented a special melon seed, named Qionglong. ]

Luo Binwang, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, also had the expression "My thoughts of the capital city are drifting on the journey, for I have not yet returned home" in his poem "Late Crossing the Tianshan Mountains with Thoughts of the Capital".

In addition to Hami melons, Yizhou's mutton is also very special and was often presented as tribute to the capital during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

As a crossroads of communication between China and foreign countries, Yizhou has formed a unique mutton eating culture that has both nomadic and farming characteristics. The original flavor of Yizhou mutton can be highlighted by simple cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, roasting, stir-frying, shabu-shabu, and braising.

A series of dishes including roasted whole lamb, hand-pulled meat, grilled lamb, meat stewed over fire, roasted meat, lamb chops, Gobi barbecue, stone barbecue, cured lamb bones, smoked meat, air-dried meat, and lamb stewed cakes are all local lamb delicacies with a strong Illinois characteristic.

[Ah, why is it mutton again? Although it is indeed delicious, no matter how good the food is, you will get tired of it if you eat too much. ]

[There is no other way, Master. The climate here is like this. It is not suitable for the development of agriculture, but it is suitable for the survival of herbivorous livestock such as cattle and sheep. The people here mainly eat beef and mutton. We have to adapt to the local customs, right? ]

[And it’s not just Yizhou, Xizhou, Yanqi, Qiuci and other vast areas of the Western Regions all eat this way, it can be said to be a paradise for meat eaters. ]

[Well, although I like to eat meat, this is really too much to eat. Hami melon is a bit too sweet. It is indeed quite sweet to eat it once in a while, but it is choking if you eat too much. Is there anything else to eat?]

[Well, the jujubes and grapes here are also very famous, they are both very sweet. ]

[Uh, forget it, forget it, I'll go out and find someone. As for dinner, just prepare some pancakes and milk for me. ]

[Okay, have a good trip~]

Although Shen Yuelan explained things clearly when she was teaching Lu Zhiwei, when she started looking for people herself, she was a little confused for a moment.

She stood on the busy street, thinking for a long time, and finally chose the dumbest and laziest method, which was to sit back and wait. Yes, it was the same method that Director Si used to deal with her back then.

So not long after, Shen Yuelan's fortune-telling stall was set up again in Yizhou.

Shen Yuelan spent a little money and rented a shady place. She set up a stall and put up an awning. Without calling out for help, she leisurely sat in a corner drinking tea and reading. Occasionally, when a woman passed by, she would look up and take a look.

To be honest, if Shen Yuelan was not a woman now, her peeping behavior would probably be reported soon, and she would be thrown into jail and taught a lesson.

But unfortunately, she is a woman now, so nothing will happen.

In this way, Shen Yuelan set up a stall and was responsible for investigating those women who often went out; Lu Zhiwei worked as a female teacher and was responsible for tracking down those scholarly families; Xiao Yuhuan worked as a flower thief and was specifically responsible for spying on those who never left the house; and the last one, Shen Huanyan, was responsible for the logistics of the three.

After working hard for more than half a month, everyone came to a rather helpless conclusion, that is, Xiaoman was not in Yizhou.

Almost all the women in Yizhou City can dance, but not all of them have thin waists. Those with thin waists are mainly girls around 16 or 17 years old. Most of those over 30 will become fat. But the problem is that Shen Yuelan and the others are looking for someone over 30 years old.

So unfortunately, Shen Yuelan and others did not find their princess in Yizhou.

In fact, their conclusions in Xizhou, Yanqi, Qiuci and other places were roughly the same. Xiaoman was not in these cities on the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, so they had to continue moving forward and head towards their next destination, Shule City.

Shule was one of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. It was once known as the "Four Anxi Towns" together with Yanqi, Qiuci, Khotan, and Suiye.

Yes, you counted correctly. Because of some well-known historical reasons, there are actually five [Anxi Four Towns], and Suiye and Yanqi were competing for the position.

[Yue Lan, the story of the four towns of Anxi, is it tragic? ]

[Well, it's very tragic. The most courageous soldiers in ancient China are all buried here. After the An-Shi Rebellion (755-763 AD), Tubo took advantage of the lack of military strength in the Tang Dynasty to invade Longyou and Hexi, and the passage between the four towns of Anxi and the imperial court was cut off.]

【However, the Tang army in the four towns still held on to their respective towns. According to records, in the fifth year of Zhenyuan (789 AD), when the eminent monk Wukong returned to China, the four towns in Anxi were still under the control of the Tang.】

[He passed through Shule Town and met with the garrison commander Lu Yang; went to Yutian Town and met with the garrison commander Zheng Ju; went to Qiuci and met with the governor of the four towns and the deputy governor of Anxi Guo Xin; went to Yanqi Town and met with the garrison commander Yang Riyou.]

[However, at this time, the Hexi passage has been cut off for 26 years. Yuhuan, how many 26 years does a person have in his lifetime?]

【…】

[No one knows the exact time when the four Anxi towns fell. It is only known that in the sixth year of Zhenyuan (790 AD), Tubo occupied the Beiting Protectorate, and in 792 AD, it broke through Xizhou and completely occupied Beiting. At this time, the Hexi passage had been cut off for years.]

[The Anxi Protectorate and the Beiting Protectorate are closely related, and the fall of the four Anxi towns should not be later than this time.]

【Thirty-five years? Have you held on for thirty-five years without any hope or help?】

[Yes, they held out for thirty-five years. The Tang army that stayed behind in the four towns spent their entire lives, but they still couldn't wait for their Great Tang. Anxi and Beiting fell just like that. How desperate must the Tang army that was still alive be? ]

[That kind of isolated and helpless situation is indeed despairing, but Yue Lan, I think they have no regrets. Being able to hold the position for thirty years without losing it is more honorable than any reward for a soldier.]

[I see, the Four Towns of Anxi, this is truly a land that witnessed the final glory of the Tang Dynasty soldiers.]

[Tang Dynasty, the soul is back! ]

Chapter 326: Two-handed preparation

[Please stop sighing. Can the fall of the Tang Dynasty really be attributed solely to An Lushan, Shi Siming and other warriors and barbarians? Does the Tang Dynasty itself have no responsibility at all? ]

[As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. You should know that An Lushan died in the second year after the rebellion, but the rebels still held out for eight years. If the Tang court had not taken the initiative to negotiate peace and ceasefire, the rebels might have launched a new leader after Shi Chaoyi.]

[Yes, yes, no one said that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had no responsibility. The An-Shi Rebellion was the result of the concentrated outbreak of multiple contradictions. It was bound to happen. Even if it wasn't An Lushan, there would be Zhang Lushan or Wang Lushan who would have started this rebellion.]

[Yes, the scene described by the poet Du Fu, "The rich have wine and meat, while the poor are frozen on the streets," is not what happened after the An-Shi Rebellion. It is a true portrayal of the lives of the people during the Tianbao period.]

[We all know that the Song Dynasty was particularly famous for its land annexation, but the Tang Dynasty was also not without it. It can even be said that the Song Dynasty inherited the Tang’s poison in this regard.]

Although the social economy of the Tang Dynasty during the Kaiyuan period had reached an unprecedented level of prosperity, due to the development of the feudal economy, this prosperity also accelerated land annexation, resulting in the tragic scene of "rich people enjoying wine and meat, while people freezing to death on the streets."

[In addition, the struggle for power within the ruling class, such as the treacherous prime minister Li Linfu, who was known for his sweet words and sharp swords, Yang Guozhong, the brother of Yang Guifei, and An Lushan, the Prince of Dongping, were also the fuse for the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion.]

[Yes, the decline of the equal-field system and the military service system, the rise of the conscription system, the establishment of the Jiedushi system and the expansion of its power were also objective factors that led to the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion.]

[In short, when an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent.]

[Okay, I know you three are great politicians who care about the country and the people, but can we stop talking for now? Just finish your meal honestly, and then you can go to the yard to chat. The skewers have been put back into the oven three times, and they will get burnt if you bake them again.]

Shen Yuelan and others were eating barbecue in a small courtyard they rented in Shule City. Whether it was Qiuci or Shazhou, the mutton dishes from Longyou Road were all delicious.

[Ah, Master, didn’t you say before that you were tired of eating? How come you can still eat so much? ]

[You are so long-winded. Even a big lamb leg can't stop your mouth. People are made of iron and rice is made of steel. If you don't eat for a meal, you will be very hungry. Would you find rice unpalatable? Would you find water unpalatable?]

[Yes, yes, the water in some places is unpalatable, bitter and astringent. However, I understand what you want to express, Master.]

[Right, the mutton in Longyou is delicious. Even if you get sick of delicious food, it doesn’t mean you can’t eat it.]

[Yes, yes, Master, your twisted logic is correct. So how did you guys harvest today? You didn't fail again, did you? ]

[Alas, Huanyan is smart. That’s right, Xiaoman is not in Shule Town either.]

[What should we do next? Should we go south and return to Khotan Town as originally planned? Or should we go north to Suiye Town?]

[Well, this is a really difficult choice. Although I think it is unlikely that Xiao Man is in Suiye Town, I still want to go and see the birthplace of the greatest poet in China.]

[Well, let’s go then. It’s not easy to come to the Tang Dynasty, so I’d better not leave any regrets. ]

[That’s right, let’s go. Lu also wants to go and have a look. ]

[Woo woo, thank you all for tolerating my willfulness. Then, our next stop is Suiye Town! ]

【Oh!!!】×3

Suiye City is located north of the Tianshan Mountains and more than 500 miles west of the Daqing Pool. In other words, if Shen Yuelan wants to go north from Shule Town to Suiye Town, he must cross the Tianshan Mountains, which is quite troublesome.

But this is not a problem at all in the eyes of Shen Yuelan, who is extremely curious. In order to see what she wants to see, she is willing to fly across the Himalayas if necessary. This is the power of hobbies!

Of course, the above is all Shen Yuelan's bragging. Their final choice is to return to Aksu City and then go to Suiye Town along the 2500-kilometer-long [Tang Monk Ancient Road].

In 627 AD, Xuanzang traveled west to seek Buddhist scriptures, and he took this "dangerous road with little chance of survival". He started from Aksu City, crossed Ling Mountain and arrived at Daqing Lake (Issyk-Kul Lake), then traveled west for more than miles before arriving at Suiye Town.

Envoys, merchants, monks and armies of successive Chinese dynasties all traveled along this ancient road, following the gorges at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, westward to the Chu River Basin and countries in the Western Regions.

Now, Shen Yuelan and a few others are also going to go to the Chu River Basin along this road. Although the road is steep and the environment is desolate, due to the high altitude of the surrounding area, it is not hot, and sometimes it even feels cold.

【Huanyan, did we bring cotton-padded jackets? 】

[I didn't bring it. When we were staying in the desert at night, you didn't complain about being cold. The temperature here is not much different from the temperature in the desert at night, right?]

[Well, that's what I said, but now there's snow all around us. Isn't it weird for four women in thin silk dresses to walk on a snowy mountain trail?]

[Ha, Master, you are only talking about this now? If you want to talk about weirdness, the fact that a few of us women traveled thousands of miles to the Western Regions is already outrageous. How can it be more outrageous? ]

[Hey, Master, please stop thinking about those useless things. It's as if we are really afraid of the cold. Can't we just keep on going? ]

[No! That would be so boring! ]

[Then it's fun to tease me? ]

[Hehe, because Huanyan's reaction is very cute, there is a sense of contrast between a child pretending to be mature. ]

[Hmph, Master, if you tease me again, I will ignore you. ]

[No, no, no, I won’t make a fuss. ]

[Well, since you are so energetic, why don't you help me find something? ]

[Hey, sure, tell me what you want me to help you find?]

[I heard that there is a very precious medicinal herb on Tianshan Mountain, called Tianshan Snow Lotus. Master, please help me find it. If you see it, please help me pick some back. Maybe it will be useful to us in the future.]

[Hey, what's the use of this thing? Can we make tea with it? People in our inner world have always been the type that doesn't need to treat minor illnesses, and can't treat major illnesses. Those ordinary plants are completely meaningless to us.]

[Master, you think too much. That thing is not for you. We don't have any use for it, but that doesn't mean others don't need it, right?]

[What I mean is, if Xiao Man is sold to Suiye Town as a slave, then if we want to resolve the issue peacefully, we must pay a high ransom to buy Xiao Man back.]

[Then, at that time, these valuable and precious medicinal materials will be our basis for negotiation. ]