Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 75 The Lost Ancient Kingdom of Loulan

Maybe it was because they didn't have a good rest last night, everyone was a little listless and didn't talk much that day.After walking in the desert for a whole day, when it was getting dark, we finally arrived at the famous ruins of the ancient city of Loulan.

Loulan is one of the 36 ancient countries in the Western Regions. The name was first seen in "Historical Records". It used to be a necessary place on the Silk Road and had a very glorious history.At that time, Loulan was known as "Pompeii in the desert" where there were many business travelers, bustling markets, orderly streets, and majestic pagodas.But for unknown reasons, about 1600 years ago, the ancient Loulan kingdom suddenly died out, leaving an unsolved mystery for mankind.

Today's Loulan ancient country is left with only a large area of ​​barren ruins, weathered city walls, collapsed houses, and incomplete pagodas. Looking around, it is desolate and desolate.It is hard to imagine that this was once a fertile fertile land.

Traveling through the ruins of the ancient city is like traveling through a vast river of history, which makes people feel excited.The ancient city is very quiet, only the whirring sound of wind and sand blowing, as if whispering the dusty history.In the ancient city of Loulan, except for the city walls that were rammed with loess, almost all the houses in the city were built with poplar wood. The doors and windows of the houses are clearly identifiable, but now they are in dilapidated ruins.

We boarded a beacon tower in the northeast corner. At this time, the last ray of golden light of the setting sun passed through the sea of ​​clouds and shot obliquely on the beacon tower.

Looking at the entire ancient country of Loulan, a sense of vicissitudes came over us.Close your eyes slightly, as if you can hear the sound of camel bells, as if you can see the colorfully dressed businessmen leading the camel caravan across the vast desert.

With this feeling, this scene, this feeling, this understanding, I finally understood the wind and frost and pride of the desert, and couldn't help but sing: "Under the sunset in the desert, who is the person who plays the flute? Let the years take off the red clothes, but he is full of scars. In the desolate old castle, who is playing the pipa, just waiting for me to come and go in a hurry, the meeting in this life..."

Wang Dongyu lit a cigarette: "Hey! Do you think there are any valuable treasures in the ancient city of Loulan?"

Professor Ye said: "According to reliable records, the ancient city of Loulan was excavated in 1901. During the investigation in the early 20th century, a large number of ancient cultural relics were looted by foreign investigation groups!"

Wang Dongyu said with a dejected look: "You mean there are no more treasures here? Oh, it's so boring!"

Soon, the last ray of golden light slowly receded, and the heavy night shrouded the ancient city of Loulan.

We walked down the beacon tower and came to the "Sanjianfang" site not far to the southwest of the beacon tower.This nearly [-]-square-meter house is built on a high platform and enters the courtyard. There are three horizontally arranged houses in the north and south respectively. In the ancient city, this courtyard building is obviously more ostentatious.Lao Luo said that it was rumored that Sanjianfang was the official office of the ancient Loulan Kingdom at that time, so it was so grand.

Today's government office is only left with some dilapidated beams and wooden frames, but it is still a good safe haven, so we decided to rest here tonight.

We took down the cracked doors and mullions, built a bonfire, and sat down around it.The flames crackled and danced like an old song.Many, many years ago, the residents of the ancient country of Loulan were like us now, chatting, singing and dancing around a bonfire, creating a peaceful scene.

The nutritious bento has been eaten, and the temperature in the desert is very high. In order to prevent the nutritious bento from spoiling, we finished eating the nutritious bento early.Now there were only some dry food and canned food left in the backpack. We boiled a pot of boiling water, put the canned food in the pot and cooked it, and then swallowed the dry food whole.

After dinner, it was very early, and it was not easy to fall asleep when we wanted to sleep, so we asked Lao Luo to tell us some legends about the ancient country of Loulan.Lao Luo has a lot of knowledge in his belly. After taking two puffs of dry smoke, he slowly explained: "Loulan is a powerful tribe in the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty. The capital of the Loulan people is the ancient city of Loulan where we are now. , a prosperous economy and rich products, it is a prosperous country on the Silk Road. Because it is located in the Western Regions fortress, it has become a battleground for military strategists. Although the ancient city of Loulan is desolate and lifeless, it used to be a place where people lived A paradise for reproduction. There is the vast Lop Nur beside the city, and the clear river surrounds the city gate. People go boating and fishing on the blue waves, hunt in the dense Populus euphratica forest, and bathe in the gifts of nature!"

Wang Dongyu interjected and asked, "Then why did the once prosperous ancient Loulan country suddenly disappear?"

Lao Luo coughed twice and said, "As for the mystery of the disappearance of the ancient Loulan kingdom, until now, there is no definite conclusion. Archaeologists and historians from all over the world have different opinions, and roughly put forward six conjectures.

Guess one, Loulan disappeared in the war.After the fifth century AD, the Kingdom of Loulan began to weaken, and the northern powers invaded, and the city of Loulan was broken and abandoned.

Guess two, Loulan declined due to drought, water shortage, and ecological deterioration. The upstream river was cut off and diverted, and people had to leave Loulan.

Guess three, the disappearance of Loulan is related to Lop Nur's north-south wandering.

Guess four, the disappearance of Loulan is related to the opening of the northern Silk Road.After the opening of the Silk Road North Road passing through Hami and TLF, the Silk Road that originally passed through Loulan was gradually abandoned, and Loulan also lost its former glory.

Guess five, Loulan encountered a biological invasion.A mole cricket insect introduced from the Mesopotamia has no natural enemies in Loulan. It lives in the soil and can live on the white plaster soil in the Loulan area. It enters residential houses in groups. People cannot eliminate them and have to abandon them. away from the city.

Guess six, which is also the one supported by the most people, Loulan was destroyed by the plague disease.This is a terrible acute infectious disease.According to the legend, it is called hot nest disease, one disease, one village, one family death.

In the face of a huge disaster, the Loulan people chose to flee.People blindly go up the Tarim River, wherever there are trees and water, they go there.Wherever you can survive, you will go there, and only a few can survive.Loulan people want to cry but have no tears.When they were on the road, they happened to catch up with an unprecedented wind and sandstorm. It was a big formation that buried the sky and buried the ground. The sky was dark and the ground was dark, flying sand and rocks, and the sound was like a ghost.

When Lao Luo talked about this, he couldn't help but sigh.

We listened silently to Lao Luo's speech, and no one spoke. The annihilation of the ancient Loulan country is really regrettable.If Loulan did not perish, what a huge wealth of civilization would be left to the world today!

"My stomach hurts a little, you guys keep talking, I'm going to have a bowel movement!" Wang Dongyu stood up holding his stomach.

Gan Hongxin pinched his nose and said, "Go, go! Go farther away, don't stink us to death!"

Wang Dongyu ran into the room to the north. He said it was a house, but in fact it had collapsed into nothing. There were only some ruined walls and broken beams hanging in the air, creaking and creaking in the night wind. Dismal sound.

Soon, there was an earth-shattering sound of farting in the room, and Wang Dongyu moaned in satisfaction: "Ah—oh——"

Li Yingxin frowned and said, "Please keep your voice down, don't fart and blow the house down!"

"Ah—" Wang Dongyu's scream suddenly came from the room.

Liu Hanhao cursed: "Aren't you disgusting? Didn't I tell you to keep your voice down?"

Before the words fell, Wang Dongyu staggered out of the north room with his pants in hand, shouting in horror while running: "Snake! There are snakes in the room!"

Liu Hanhao adjusted his glasses, and said mockingly, "What? Classmate Wang, who is fearless and fearless, a mere snake scares you into such a virtue?"

"Fart...fart..." Wang Dongyu's face was pale, and he looked quite frightened: "It's more than a snake! If you have a kind...you can go and see it!"

"Just take a look and see, what's there to be afraid of!" Liu Hanhao took out a torch from the fire, strode to the door of the north house, and raised the torch to illuminate the room.

pat!

The torch slipped from Liu Hanhao's hand and fell to the ground, and then he let out a terrified cry almost from the depths of his throat: "My God!"

"I'll go and have a look!" I felt that something was wrong, and I exchanged glances with Lao Luo, each took out a torch, and walked quickly to the door of the North House.

Liu Hanhao pointed to the inside of the room, and said in a trembling voice, "Snakes...a lot of snakes..."

Lao Luo and I passed the torch forward, and the bright fire drove away the darkness. Although we couldn't fully see the situation in the room, we could still get a rough idea.

I saw a long yellow-green snake coiled on the beam of the house, looking at us sullenly, and kept swallowing scarlet snake letters.There are diamond-shaped black and brown spots on the back of the long snake, and there are strips of horny rings on the tail of the snake.At this moment, the snake's tail was swinging rapidly, making strange rattling noises.

Lao Luo's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out, "This is a rattlesnake!"

When I heard the word "rattlesnake", my heart trembled violently.

The rattlesnake is a venomous tube-tooth snake that usually lives in deserts or red soils.Rattlesnakes have horny rings on their tails, which are formed from dried scales after the snake's body has shed its skin.These horny annular membranes form a cavity, and when its tail shakes, there is airflow in the cavity, making a rattling sound.This sound is used to warn enemies and lure small predators.

The rattlesnake looked at us very unfriendly, and I was a little apprehensive. Rattlesnakes are nocturnal animals. This time period is when the rattlesnakes go out to hunt, and the rattlesnakes have the strongest attack power at this time.

"Look! There's another one there!" Lao Luo pointed to a small corner of the house, where a one-meter-long rattlesnake wobbled out from under the ruined adobe.

"There's one there too!" I pointed to the top of the beam in horror.

(End of this chapter)