Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 13 Arrival at Fulu
"Crack..."

At night, it was already pitch black under the Qilian Mountains, but if you looked up at the sky, you could still see the starry sky without any light pollution blocking it.

"Ouch..."

"Damn it, these wolves have been following us for so long, making so much noise that we can't even have peace."

"I'll take the bow and take care of them!"

On the dark hills, the firelight and fragrance attracted the wild animals around.

The third group of people, who were sitting in front of the tent and around the campfire, were cursing and swearing. Zhao Qian even wanted to take a bow to shoot the wild wolf.

But before he could stand up, Liu Jilong, who was looking up at the starry sky, glanced down at him and said, "Sit down."

After being scolded, Zhao Qian could only suppress his temper and sit down on the saddle.

Liu Jilong understood them, so he wanted to restrain them.

In this era, going on a long journey is undoubtedly a calamity, and the danger of serving as a soldier outside the city in Hexi is even more dangerous.

The scene of the conflict with the Long family members during the day was still vivid in his mind, and the howling of beasts kept coming to his ears.

In such an environment, few people can talk and laugh. Everyone is silent, with unspeakable words in their hearts.

In this camp, only Zhang Chang who had experienced life in the wild, Ma Cheng who was the oldest, and Liu Jilong who was the team leader could treat things around them calmly.

"Tonight, Zhang Chang, Ma Cheng and I will take turns on duty. You guys can go and rest after you finish eating."

"Remember, you cannot take off your armor, and your weapons should never be far away from you."

Liu Jilong gave some instructions and then turned his attention to a whole roasted lamb on the campfire.

This was the old sheep that was obtained from the Long family’s troops during the day. After the third group set up camp and rested, Liu Jilong had someone take care of it.

The innards are used for stews and the meat is roasted.

Sprinkle a handful of salt on it, the taste is so delicious that it makes people drool.

Looking at the rice that had not been cooked for a long time, Liu Jilong took a deep breath.

Although iron pots appeared in the Han Dynasty, ordinary people could not afford them until the Tang Dynasty.

In the area west of the Yellow River, a pound of iron costs more than fifty cents, which is far less expensive than stone pots and pottery.

If Liu Jilian remembered correctly, iron pots were not widely promoted until the Northern Song Dynasty.

"I'll have to find a chance to get a big iron pot someday..."

Liu Jilong swallowed his saliva, he missed the various kinds of cooking he had done in his previous life.

If he could eat a simple dish of stir-fried food at this moment, he would draw his sword without hesitation even if he was asked to kill ten foreign bandits alone.

"Okay, okay, you can eat now."

"Give the lamb leg to the captain and the other two. They are on duty tonight."

"Row!"

The soldier in charge of roasting the lamb was a man in his mid-twenties named Geng Ming. He was an excellent roaster and often boasted that his skill was learned from Guanzhong.

The one who was shouting about the distribution of the meat was Li Ji, who was a few years older than Geng Ming. He was an honest and simple man, had two sons and his wife had died early.

Looking at the people in front of him, Liu Jilong took the lamb leg weighing more than three pounds and started eating.

When the others heard him speak, they also lowered their heads and started eating.

Although the old lamb meat is tough, for these men who can only eat meat once every two days, this meal is worth keeping deeply in their memory until they change their minds.

Under the siege of the crowd, most of the 40-plus kilograms of roasted lamb was eaten.

After eating this, everyone was already a little full, but their eyes were still fixed on the uncooked rice and mutton offal.

"Go and rest first. This stone pot cooks too slowly and we set up camp too late. I'll call you out to eat later."

"As for the remaining meat, smoke it and you can eat it tomorrow."

Liu Jilong gave an order and looked at Zhang Chang and Ma Cheng: "You two should go and rest as well."

"Yes." Hearing this, everyone walked into the tent to rest reluctantly.

After they left, the only one left in front of the bonfire was Liu Jilong, who was stirring the fire with a branch.

He was wearing armor and a gray cloak on the outside.

Not long after, snoring sounds came from the tent, and the temperature in the air began to drop. The temperature difference between day and night in the northwest is very large, not to mention that Liu Jilong and his men were camping in the hills.

Feeling the chill in the air, Liu Jilong took out a piece of dead wood from the firewood picked up by everyone and put it into the campfire.

The Hexi Corridor of this era was still rich in grass and water. Although forests were rare, you could still find them after walking a dozen miles.

Today they traveled more than fifty miles and passed through four forests along the way. However, one of the forests had been completely cut down, and the trees in the other three forests were also sparse.

Since nomadic tribes from the Western Regions and Mobei poured into Hexi, the grass, water and trees in Hexi have been destroyed.

I don’t know whether we can still find large tracts of forest in the Hexi Corridor after such destruction continues for decades.

"Clap clap..."

After brushing the dust off his hands, Liu Jilong stared at the campfire in a daze.

After living under the rule of Tubo for seventeen years, he no longer had the high spirits he had when he was reborn.

Shangbibi and Lunkongre in Helong, Ganliang and Liangzhou, and Huihe, Tubo, and Emo in the Western Regions...

These forces surrounded the military and civilians of Shazhou, and the Tang Dynasty in the east would not provide them with much support.

Liu Jilian never thought of himself as an idealist like Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen. To him, the Tang Dynasty was just an ordinary feudal force.

All he had thought about for the past seventeen years, and what he was doing now, was just to make his life better.

As for the so-called general trend of the world, it was not something that a person like him who could barely afford food and clothing could speculate on.

They have too many enemies, so for Liu Jilong, every day he can live is a gain.

His thoughts are also the thoughts of the vast majority of Shazhou soldiers at that time.

As for returning to Tang, it was just a slogan.

If the Tang Dynasty was really like the one described in the book, it would not have failed to rescue them for nearly a hundred years.

The emperor in Chang'an has probably long forgotten that there are still hundreds of thousands of enslaved people living in this remote northwest land...

Time passed by little by little, and before I knew it, the sky in the distance was turning pale.

At this time, rustling sounds were heard from inside the tent.

Liu Jilong turned his head and saw Ma Cheng walking out of the tent cautiously.

The cold wind blew in his face, making him shiver.

"Captain, have you been on guard all night?"

Ma Cheng was glad that he woke up early. Liu Jilong nodded and said:

"You take over. Keep the rice and mutton soup warm by the campfire. Wait until they wake up before you tell them to eat."

"Okay," Ma Cheng agreed, then took Liu Jilong's place and sat in front of the campfire.

Liu Jilong looked around and made sure there was no danger. Then he walked into the tent, lay down in Ma Cheng's original position, and wrapped himself tightly with the felt.

He didn't sleep for long as he was woken up by the sound of people getting up.

Although everyone tried their best to be careful, Liu Jilong's senses were too sensitive and the slightest movement would wake him up from his dream.

Rubbing his sore eyes, Liu Jilong pulled himself together and walked out of the tent.

When the people sitting around him saw that he had woken up, they all shut up, except Ma Cheng, who said, "Boss, you've only slept for over an hour, and then..."

"What time is it now?" Liu Jilong asked with narrowed eyes. Although he was very tired, he wanted to go to Fulu City to rest.

"It's probably around 5 o'clock." Zhang Chang replied.

"After dinner, let's hurry on our way, and try to reach Fulu before 17:."

After saying that, Liu Jilong sat down and tasted the somewhat dry corn rice and the somewhat unpalatable mutton soup with them.

After eating and drinking, everyone packed up everything and continued on the road to Fulu.

They traveled over thirty miles from early morning to afternoon, and apart from meeting some nomadic members of the Long family and the Huihe tribe along the way, no other figures appeared in their sight.

Perhaps because they were too close to Fulu City, when these tribes saw the flags of Liu Jilong and his group, they drove their herds away, reducing the difficulty of escorting supplies.

Finally, the third group, led by Liu Jilong, saw the Fulu City on the horizon before the hour of You on the second day of their departure.

After being inspected by the Tangqi outside the city, they escorted the supplies to the foot of Fulu City, and Zhang Huaishen appeared at the entrance of the west gate of the city...

(End of this chapter)