Ten days later, Li Zhongqian and Li Xuanzhen arrived at Shazhou.
The Northern Rong had issued a border ban, and the guards were extremely stringent. Passing caravans and pedestrians had to go through careful scrutiny.
Li Xuanzhen had made preparations early on. Even before they departed from Liangzhou, he had taken advantage of an insider. Making use of one of Grand Princess Yiqing's secret spies he had previously captured, they forged the border identification, disguised themselves as Northern Rong scouts, and under the excuse of "sending tribute for Grand Princess Yiqing's birthday" passed through the Northern Rong guards' search. Smoothly sneaking through the mountain pass, they also swaggered into the Northern Rong's relay stations the whole way, taking the most convenient and fastest routes, demanding the best and fastest horses.
Occasionally, when some guards suspected their identity, the captured spy would fly into a rage, berate the guards, and arrogantly and domineeringly threaten to mention this to Grand Princess Yiqing once they arrived at Yizhou's court and send the guards to Samarkand to blow the northwest wind.
Samarkand was even farther than the Suyab nation, Kang nation, Shi nation, and other places. With abundant natural resources and merchants and caravans abound, it was on the route to Persia by the Silk Road's northern road. Countless caravans passed through here, and with the Central Plains exporting a steady flow of silk, porcelain, tea, and other things to the West, this was a strategic geographical location. The Northern Rong has been expanding rapidly over the years, and Wakhan Khan has been coveting all the rich lands north and south of the Pamir Mountains for a long time. He had sent a team on an expedition, which reached as far as the Samarkand, and there was no news after that.
Northern Rong's internal ranks were rigid, so the majority of common soldiers were civilians, and they were afraid of being sent to Samarkand to die.
The general was skeptical, but when he saw the soldier's arrogant attitude, he didn't dare to offend him and let him through immediately.
The spy told Li Xuanzhen and others that after Grand Princess Yiqing married to the Turkic tribe, she married three times to the old Khan then his descendants in quick succession. Then, they were subjugated to the Northern Rong. and Grand Princess Yiqing fell into the hands of a Northern Rong noble. The noble was Haidu Aling's teacher.
It was Grand Princess Yiqing who taught Haidu Aling how to speak Chinese. The reason why he knows the customs of the Central Plains and the courts of various countries inside out, was thanks to the Grand Princess Yiqing's wholehearted teachings.
The group of people traveled tirelessly, making haste day and night. The weather was getting colder and colder. The four directions were boundless, and they could go days of traveling without seeing the shadow of an oasis. One could see the horse bones, camel bones, and even human bones left behind in the sand dunes everywhere.
When they passed through the occasional oasis-dependent city, they would sneak into the city to inquire information from the commoners but would end up empty-handed. The civilian population were all emaciated, looking numb, and did not dare to talk to strangers.
They were afraid that asking too many questions would cause suspicion, so they had no choice but to leave it.
Li Xuanzhen's face was heavy.
The further northwest they went, he realized that the people's lives were even more difficult than he had previously imagined.
Shazhou and Guazhou were now lost to the Northern Rong. Along the way, the people they saw, whether they were Hu or Han, were all forced to braid their hair like the Northern Rong, speak Hu, and perform Hu etiquette. The divide between noble and low Northern Rong people was very distinct; the people at the bottom were like livestock, in a miserable situation.
Whenever a Northern Rong soldier passed through, the common people had to move to the side of the road and salute respectfully, not looking directly at them. Anyone who dared to speak loudly or raise their eyes to look at the Northern Rong soldiers would be regarded as disrespectful. In the best case, they would be publicly flogged, but more severe punishments included having their hands cut off and their eyes gouged out, which was exceedingly miserable.
Li Xuanzhen was afraid of exposing his identity. When he encountered Northern Rong soldiers oppressing the people along the way, he could not go forward to intervene, and could only silently grit his teeth.
Once, they saw the Northern Rong soldiers drive a group of ragged, gray-haired, skinny and bony elderly people out of the city. The many men and women following them from behind, crying, tears falling like rain, howling and bidding old people farewell, were driven back by the Northern Rong soldiers.
Tears streamed down the old people's faces as they looked back at their loved ones in the city, wiping their tears as they walked away.
In front of the city gates, the cries shook the sky.
Li Xuanzhen clenched his fists and asked the spy, "What crime did they commit? Where are they being driven to?"
The spy replied in a low voice, "The Northern Rong people hold military force in high esteem, valuing the strong and deeming the weak as inferior. Every winter time, they order the old people of each tribe who are over sixty years old and are unable to plow or hunt to move out of the city... to avoid wasting food. Whoever dared to disobey must pay the tax money according to the regulations: five taels of gold and ten sheep, or one horse, three stones of grain, and twenty sheets of felt per mouth..."
For the common people, in such a bitterly cold winter climate, families did not have spare food. Having to pay heavy taxes on top of that to please the Northern Rong, how could they gather five taels of gold to keep their elderly?
Most of the old people didn't want to involve their families, so they could only be driven out into the bitter elements and wait for death.
The farewell at the city gate was a life and death parting.
Hearing this, everyone was filled with righteous indignation.
They could not believe that there was such an utterly heartless thing in this world!
Li Zhongqian's eyes signaled his personal soldiers to not be hot-tempered. They were here to look for someone, so it was best not to cause any trouble.
He only wanted to save Ming Yue Nu. Other people's life and death were none of his business.
After leaving Shazhou, crossing Wufang, they passed through 800 miles of deserted and uninhabited desert, getting closer and closer to Yizhou.
On this day, the group rested in an overhang under a mound of earth that had been hollowed out by the northern wind. Li Xuanzhen sent out a few of his personal soldiers to split up and go to Gaochang, Qiuci, and other places.
Li Zhongqian asked warily, "Why did you send them to Gaochang?"
Li Xuanzhen drew several lines on the sand with his finger: "This is Yizhou. This is Gaochang, Yanqi, and Qiuci. This area is the northern road of the Silk Road. When the previous dynasty was stable, there were prefectures and counties in various places, with soldiers dispatched to guard them. At that time, there was peace and stability along the commercial road, and the population flourished. Then the Central Plains were in turmoil. The Western Regions was lost, and the commercial road was blocked. Nowadays, most of these places are subservient to the Northern Rong.
"Northern Rong customs are barbaric, using iron blood means to suppress the various tribes. Condoning their soldiers to plunder the caravans, perhaps these small countries may pledge allegiance to the Northern Rong because of the situation, but inevitably, there are people whose hearts are still with the Central Plains dynasty. After all, most of the lords and nobles from the Hexi area are the descendants of famous families.
"Since we are going to the Northern Rong's main encampment to rescue her, it would be better to send people to these places to probe the truth and see if we can persuade them to coordinate a plan with us inside and outside, and fight against the Northern Rong together in the future."
Li Zhongqian nodded. After listening, he understood Li Xuanzhen's intentions.
They were deep in the Western Regions, helpless and isolated, so they had to try to find a few helpers first.
For one, if they were discovered by the Northern Rong in the future, they could flee to these places first. Secondly, with the help of these people, there was a greater chance of returning to the Central Plains safely. Thirdly, naturally, it was for the sake of the world, to recover their lost territory for the homeland.
Li Zhongqian did not care about the third point. After rescuing Li Yaoying, he would immediately bring her back to the Central Plains.
"There is one more place that I may have to personally travel to."
Li Xuanzhen pointed his finger at a point in the far north.
"There is a Buddhist country here, making it impossible for the forces of the Northern Rong to continue to penetrate deeper; the Northern Rong Khan was once defeated at the hands of this Buddhist monarch, so the countries of the Western Regions are surely harboring their own thoughts."
Li Zhongqian's thick eyebrows slightly wrinkled, "A Buddhist country?"
Li Xuanzhen pursed his peeling lips and said, "The Royal Court reveres Buddhism. Their monarch is a senior monk. About eleven years ago, he led his troops to repel the Northern Rong Khan, and his fame shook the Western Regions."