The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 602 Chang'an! Chang'an! When will we arrive in Chang'an?
Uyghur.

Walk back to Hedao.

They were heading into the Uyghur-occupied territory—relations had eased, and they could barely be considered allies, but they didn't know when the other side would turn on them again or detain the envoy once more…

Two thousand miles.

We need to cross the Tianshan Mountains, then the Altai Mountains, and then the Altai Mountains again. We need to traverse the Turpan Basin and cross the vast grasslands.

Along the way, long stretches consisted of deserts, high mountains and canyons, grasslands and Gobi, all of which were a struggle against the limits of nature and the human body.

It's incredibly difficult; it's a road that requires risking your life to reach.

Even if it's difficult, we have to keep going! Shen Le touched the military manual in his arms, then looked at the large packs bulging high on the camel's back, and made up his mind.

Of the messengers sent by Khotan, only he arrived. Although many of the soldiers' letters home had been burned, he managed to retrieve half of them.

No matter what, we must take these precious family letters out and to Chang'an!

He traded his camels for warhorses in Kucha and joined the ranks. The armies of the four garrisons—Khotan, Kucha, Yanqi, and Kashgar—were assembled. Having received their documents and banners, they bid farewell to the Grand Protector and embarked on their long and arduous journey.
First, travel east from Kucha to Luntai, then east to Yanqi. This is the route Shen Le took. He traveled west in an off-road vehicle, arriving in just a few hours. He was struck by the magnificent and breathtaking scenery.

Riding a Mongolian horse, swaying and bumping along between two mountains, the Gobi Desert stretches as far as the eye can see. It takes dozens of miles to find a pitiful spring of water hidden among the rocks;

If the wind picks up even slightly, one can witness in an instant what it means to have "a river of pebbles as big as buckets, scattered haphazardly by the wind across the ground"...

"Not bad, the wind isn't too strong today." The soldier from Luntai, having pitched his sheepskin tent and huddled in front of the fire, chewed on a piece of dried meat, slowly moistening it with saliva, and mumbled a muffled sigh:
"When the wind is strong, these tents simply can't be pitched; you can only hide behind big rocks and wrap yourself tightly in sheepskin..."

Is this not considered big?
Shen Le clicked his tongue in amazement. On the ground, a layer of grayish-white liquid, like flowing water, visibly moved with the wind;

A rock the size of a fist rolled along the ground.

Pebbles the size of fingernails were even flying up and hitting the big rocks with a thud!
He went to the back of the tent to relieve himself and got smacked several times on the butt...

However, the journey from Kucha to Luntai was already the easiest. After passing Luntai and reaching Yanqi, when it was time to head north and cross the Tianshan Mountains, everyone from the guides to the soldiers became tense:

"careful!"

"Be very careful on this road, make sure you step firmly on every step!"

"We've chosen the most suitable season; there won't be any snowmelt floods or heavy snow blocking the mountains. But we still need to be careful!"
The mountain climate is unpredictable; you never know when something might go wrong!

"Don't look around, don't chase wild animals..."

The guide gave instructions one by one. Shen Le bent down, tightened his leg bindings, and nodded in response. The guide was still not entirely at ease, so he rummaged through his basket, took out a bag, and gave each of them a small bag:

"The mountain path is difficult to walk on. The higher you climb, the more breathless you'll become, and you'll feel dizzy and lightheaded. Take this medicine with you. If you really can't bear it anymore, just chew it slowly in your mouth!"

Shen Le untied the leather drawstring of the bag and picked up a piece to examine it. The medicine in his hand resembled some kind of tree root or grass root, about the thickness of a thumb, with a dark brown outer skin. It was cut into slices, and the cross-section showed pale red rings.

Is this Rhodiola rosea?
That's the right approach; in other words, this time they're going to climb a 3,000-meter-high mountain...

Sigh, I still have to get through altitude sickness.

This journey has been so difficult.

A group of people followed their guide, winding their way north through the mountains.

What looks like just a horizontal line on the map is actually a series of towering mountains when you actually cross them.

Shen Le, pulling the horse along, bent over and carefully made his way up the rugged mountain path. The guide, leading them, couldn't help but chatter on:

"There used to be a rest stop at the top of the mountain, a shed where people would stop and fix it when they passed by. But not anymore, fewer and fewer people are going there, the shed has collapsed, and we can't afford to repair it..."

Alas, after the An Lushan Rebellion, the Silk Road was occupied by the Tibetan Empire, and fewer and fewer merchants were able to travel this route.

This road, the road from Anxi Protectorate to Beiting Protectorate, is only occasionally traveled by messenger soldiers and a pitifully small number of merchants, who also occasionally maintain it.

Shen Le sighed, helping the horse around one bend, then another, and looked up:

"Why are there still so many mountains?!"

We were told that once we crossed the mountain, we would reach the ancient city of Gaochang!
Before us stretched one mountain ridge after another, seemingly endless!
Fortunately, we finally arrived at our resting place. The bad news was that the shed had indeed collapsed; not only collapsed, but the wood was also rotten and beyond repair.
The good news is that within the shed area, there is at least a flat area where people can sit down and rest for a while.
The bad news is that even if you want to sit down, you have to tidy up the rotten wood and weeds first, otherwise the snakes and insects in the grass will give you a hard time in no time.

The good news is that the gathered rotten wood and weeds can be used to start a fire, providing some warmth for everyone.
The bad news was that while there was warmth, it wasn't much. The mountain breeze wasn't strong, but it didn't take long for wispy clouds and mist to drift in, enveloping the group in a damp, white fog—

Shen Le reflexively shivered. The next moment, a rough leather wine bag was handed to him, and it touched his hand:
"Here. Have a bite!"

Shen Le carefully took a small sip. Even the coarsest liquor, with just a tiny bit, had a pungent taste that shot straight to the top of his head, almost making him dizzy.
Will the formaldehyde content in this thing exceed the standard?

If it exceeds the limit, then it has to exceed the limit. Shen Le comforted himself by saying, "Talking about toxicity without considering dosage is just being irresponsible," and swallowed the mouthful of wine.

A wisp of heat burned from his throat straight to his stomach, instantly warming his entire body. Shen Le sighed comfortably, turned his head, and glanced at the wine flask in his hand:

He paused, but managed to resist the urge and continue passing the wine sack. He braced himself against the ground, enduring the aches and pains throughout his body, and struggled to his feet. He walked to the edge of the flat area and looked around:

Suddenly a mountain breeze blew, and the clouds and mist dispersed. The warm sunlight shone down, and the pebbles on the hillside reflected a shimmering, dragon-scale-like luster under the slanting sunlight. The fine, downy grass climbed all the way up to the opposite hillside.

Shen Le narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath:
"What a beauty……"

The magnificence and beauty of these mountains and rivers can only be truly appreciated by climbing them yourself and measuring them step by step.
The first leg of the mountain journey took five days to complete. After crossing the last mountain range, the reddish-brown Turpan Basin unfolded beneath our feet like an overturned palette of colors, and everyone couldn't help but cheer:

However, what followed was a long drought, and even the flowing water in the karez wells disappeared by more than half, and it would take two or three days to draw water freely.

After crossing the ancient city of Gaochang, traversing the basin, and then traversing the mountains once more, the road ahead becomes even more arduous:
Whenever they wanted to slow down and rest, the guide would urge them on.

"Speed ​​up! Speed ​​up!"

"Hurry up!"

"If we don't cross the mountains in September, and the heavy snow closes them off, we'll be stuck in the Beiting Protectorate until next spring!" "We absolutely cannot let the Grand Protector down!"

Yes, a soldier would rather die than lose face. Shen Le gritted his teeth and pressed on relentlessly, finally arriving at the Beiting Protectorate on the fifteenth day after departing from Kucha.

They were received by Cao Lingzhong, the Protector-General of Beiting, and then joined forces with the troops sent by Beiting before continuing their northward journey.

The section from Beiting to Sandaohai was lush with water and grass, making it easy for people to walk. Shen Le rode his horse at full speed, almost bursting into song.
However, after passing through the three lakes, the path becomes very unfriendly once you start climbing the mountain:

"How come it's already snowing on this lousy mountain in September?"

"Save your breath. Even in the height of summer, these mountain passes are covered in snow and ice, let alone September," the guide replied without looking up as he strapped special crampons onto his boots.

"We need to step up our game! Right now, a northerly wind could blow at any moment and it could snow right away. Hurry up and get over the mountain; once we're over it, the road ahead will be much easier!"

Shen Le remained silent. He suddenly remembered seeing a military news report that snow and ice could be seen along the border here even in summer.

Regardless of the season, the border patrol soldiers have to walk the border step by step, once a day, to inspect the boundary markers.

Those veterans who served on the frontier for many years and developed various ailments would come to patrol one last time before leaving, reluctantly repainting the inscriptions on the boundary markers with red paint...

As for the weather, it goes without saying that the best time to visit in Northwest China is September at the latest.

The National Day holiday is a gamble; if you're unlucky, a sudden heavy snowfall might leave tourists stranded on the road, calling for help.

Sigh, what's the point of saying anything now?
Keep going!

Try your best to climb the mountain!

We hurried as fast as we could, risking our lives to cross the Altai Mountains. Spending the night in the mountains, we could hear the distant cries of argali sheep and the roars of snow leopards.

As they descended halfway down the mountain, the guide pulled them along, shouting at the top of their lungs and frantically banging on everything around them that could make a sound. In the distance, a bear turned a corner and ran up the opposite hillside.

Back at the foot of the mountain, the group stood by the campfire, listening intently to the distant howls of wolves...

"Can we make it to Chang'an?" Amidst the crackling of the campfire, the youngest member of the group, a boy from the Beiting Protectorate, suddenly trembled and curled up into a ball.
"Will we really be able to see Chang'an? Chang'an—what is Chang'an like?"

Shen Le remained silent. The young man had a high nose and deep-set eyes, with a pair of emerald eyes that appeared deep purple in the firelight, bearing a striking resemblance to Cao Lingzhong, the Protector-General of Beiting, who had received them.

In fact, he was also Cao Lingzhong's cousin, and his family had the same Sogdian appearance. Judging from his age, he was probably born and raised in Beiting and had never seen Chang'an since childhood.
What is Chang'an like?

It was once one of the most glorious cities in the Tang Dynasty, and even in the whole world.

Thousands of houses are like a chessboard, twelve streets are like vegetable plots, and on the Lantern Festival, the city lights are brilliant and burn all night long. It is a giant city that even distant barbarians who can see the city walls on the horizon will kneel down and worship...

But now what?

What became of Chang'an after the An Lushan Rebellion, after it had been looted and ravaged?

He fell silent, then fell silent again. All around was quiet, and countless eyes were fixed on his face:
The soldiers around this campfire were mostly locals; none of them had ever seen Chang'an before…

"Chang'an is a very, very large and magnificent city..." He slowly organized his thoughts:

"It's a city ten times larger than Kucha, no, a hundred times larger than Tingzhou..."

He had so much more to say, about the poetic and romantic life of Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty, about the East and West Markets, and about the Hu women with their pomegranate-red skirts.

I want to describe the throngs of people along Qujiang Pool, and the large, deep red peonies adorning the ladies' hair three days after Grain Rain...

However, the soldiers around him were already sighing softly.
"A hundred times bigger..."

"What would it look like if it were a hundred times bigger...?"

"I just feel that Tingzhou is already very big. What would Chang'an, which is a hundred times bigger, be like...?"

No matter what it looks like, you have to walk to Chang'an to see it for yourself. However, after crossing the Altai Mountains, there is still a long journey ahead:
"Why is it so difficult to walk!" Shen Le almost groaned.

Where is the Mongolian Plateau? This looks like the Mongolian wilderness!
You could walk dozens of miles, a hundred miles, two or three hundred miles, and not encounter a single herder. Not only were there no herders, but even the wild grass on the ground was withered and yellow, lying in clumps here and there.
"Could I switch to a different screen and take a look at a map, preferably a satellite map? I want to know what the Mongolian Plateau actually looks like..."

It's hard to believe that it was ruined into what it is today more than a thousand years ago, with large areas turned into deserts and sandstorms blowing from Inner Mongolia all the way to Hainan with just a gust of wind.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. Shen Le couldn't just die and start over for no reason, so he had no choice but to follow the group and desperately head east, eastward.

We traversed a long desert, then climbed over towering mountains, and then traversed another long desert. Finally, when we reached the mountains, there was some snow on them, so we didn't die of thirst.

Finally, we saw some vegetation ahead.

Shen Le had just breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to finally see signs of human habitation, when he saw a cavalry troop galloping towards them, cracking their whips from afar:
"You! What are you doing! Where did you come from!"

"We are envoys from the Beiting Protectorate..."

The leader, carrying a flag, went to meet them and loudly negotiated. The opposing cavalryman, heads held high and faces full of impatience, listened and cracked his whip:
"Got it! Wait here!"

"Good good..."

The leader was practically bowing and scraping. After a while, the cavalryman returned, cracking his whip in the distance, and led them to the most secluded corner of the camp.

"Stay here! Don't wander off! — The Khan might summon you!"

The group was then placed in a secluded corner, where they pitched their tents and huddled together. Several times they tried to turn south, but were stopped each time.

"Stay put! Wait for the Khan to speak!"

The days grew colder, and supplies dwindled. Shen Le huddled in her tent, hugging her knees, listening to the howling wind outside, her eyes filled with melancholy.

The Tang Dynasty has truly declined.

Back when it was at its strongest, when the Anxi, Beiting, and Hexi Protectorates were powerful in the Western Regions, the Tang army could go wherever it wanted, and there was no need to wait for the Uyghur Khan to nod in approval.
If we wait day after day like this, when will we finally reach Chang'an?

(End of this chapter)