"I have searched every corner of the county town these two days. No one has heard of the kind of medicine you mentioned. His grandma's, I actually encountered a liar."

Cheng Yaojin handed a small wooden box to Zhang Xuan, "Open it and take a look!"

Zhang Xuan opened the wooden box and found a fat purple worm crawling inside. He was stunned, "This is—"

Cheng Yaojin said angrily: "It was a Sogdian who sold it to me, saying that this was the purple insect jade pupa. He asked me for five stagnant money. Later I found out that it was a purple vegetable worm dyed purple. Damn it, how dare I lie to me, Mr. Cheng, I must pinch him to death!"

Zhang Xuan laughed silently. In order to get that element, Cheng Yaojin searched for the drill bit and sharpened his head. This person who desperately took advantage of the situation and would rather die than suffer losses was actually cheated by someone!

At this time, Zhang Xuan glanced through the window and saw Zhao Dan hurried into the yard, and he quickly greeted him, "Does Uncle Zhao look for me?"

"It's something to find the young master."

Zhao Dan pulled Zhang Xuan aside and whispered: "Liu Wuzhou came to me just now and said that the court had agreed to send troops to guard the caravan to the north. Now about 19 caravans have signed up to go north. I am also a little moved. What do you think?"

"What is Sichang and Uncle Li Er?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

"Young Master Chai did not express his opinion, but Li Shentong said, "He follows you, he will leave."

Zhang Xuan thought about it and asked again: "Can the Sui army enter the Turkic territory?"

"No! No! No! There is no need to enter the Turkic territory. There is a city entrance in Qifubo, the north of Mayi County. As long as we get there, many Turkic people will come to trade, which will take about three or four days to go."

He laughed in a low voice and said, "There will be many special items of Turkic people and many medicinal materials. I guess there will be what the young master needs."

Zhang Xuan thought of the purple insect jade pupa, and his heart became hot. He nodded and agreed, "Since we don't have to go north to Turkic, we might as well sign up."

"Okay, I'll let everyone pack up."

Zhao Dan turned around and was about to leave, but Zhang Xuan grabbed him again, "Uncle Zhao, where did you buy the purple insect jade pupa ten years ago?"

Zhao Dan's face changed, and after a while he smiled bitterly, "Young Master Zhang, you have asked me about this matter several times on the way. Since you must know, I will tell you now. In fact, I don't know anything about Zhang Zhongjian at all."

"How could Uncle Zhao know--"

Zhao Dan sighed, "Ten years ago, we encountered a black horse thief at the foot of Jinshan Mountain. Dozens of merchants who were traveling with them were killed. I saw that I could not survive. At this time, a big man with a beard came. He killed more than 100 black horse thieves alone. I was lucky enough to escape. He found several bottles of purple insect jade pupa juice from the leader of the black horse thief. Everything I knew about this medicine was told by him. Later, he sent me back to Mayi County, and I never saw him again. The black horse thief disappeared."

Zhang Xuan was so eager that he killed more than a hundred dark horse thieves alone. When will he meet this legendary figure for a while?

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Although the court agreed to Mayi County to send troops to guard merchants north, the number of approvals was limited and could not exceed 100 guards.

Due to the small number of troops, many merchants were unwilling to set out in the first batch. There were only twenty caravans in the first batch, most of which were small and medium-sized caravans. They had limited funds and could not last long. Although the risks on the road were very high, they still chose to go north.

Zhao Dan's imperial caravan was also on the first list of northbound travel. He had more than 300 mules, fifty camels, and more than 70 people. It was the largest caravan. With them in the team, many small caravans were relieved.

The next morning, Liu Wuzhou led a hundred cavalry to guard a caravan of five or six hundred people and headed northward toward Qifubo.

The terrain of Mayi County is narrow and long, with a depth of nearly a thousand miles from north to south. The south is mainly the Taihang Mountains, with mountains and numerous canyons. However, after passing the Wuzhou Mountain and Zihe Line, it enters the grassland area.

"Wu Zhoushan over there!"

Liu Wuzhou pointed to a mountain that stretched for hundreds of miles in the distance and smiled: "My name is obtained from that mountain, which is also the border between the Central Plains dynasty and the Huns during the Qin and Han dynasties. Bai Dengshan, surrounded by the Huns' army, was located at the eastmost point of Wuzhou Mountain."

"General Liu, has the Great Wall been repaired?" someone asked.

Liu Wuzhou pointed his horse whip in front of him, "The new Great Wall was just built last year, so it was built along the Zihe River, and we saw it soon."

The caravan walked north for more than ten miles, and the terrain gradually became flat, and the woods turned into grasslands. The terrain was covered with low hills, just like a undulating green ocean.

Everyone's minds and vision became wider. Someone pointed ahead and shouted, "Look, the river!"

A wide river flowed across the face of everyone, like a bright white jade belt, wrapped in the undulating grassland. This is the famous purple river in Mayi County.

Everyone cheered, and the livestock and camels were even more energetic, and they rushed towards the river faster. The south bank of the Purple River was suddenly filled with people and animals drinking water. The river water was clear and sweet, washing away the fatigue of everyone's journey for days.

At this time, Zhang Xuan stood up straight and looked north with his hand curtain. There was a raised hillside to the north, blocking his vision, but Zhang Xuan still vaguely saw a square building wall brick exposed on the roof.

"General Liu, is the Great Wall ahead?"

Liu Wuzhou walked up and smiled and nodded, "The Great Wall is three hundred steps away, but it is blocked by the hillside. You can see it after you pass the hillside."

"Is it unsafe to pass the Great Wall?"

Liu Wuzhou nodded, "That's right! After leaving the Great Wall, we will be attacked by horse thieves at any time and we will not sleep well."

Liu Wuzhou's words were completely correct. After leaving the Great Wall, the atmosphere of the caravan began to become tense. Before, the team maintained a long snake marching formation, but after leaving the Great Wall, no one was willing to go behind. The team turned into a crab-like group with goods inside, merchants and friends on the periphery, and everyone surrounded and walked northward.

To the north, there are vast grasslands. You can occasionally see groups of cattle and sheep eating leisurely on the grassland. There will also be Turkish tents. These are small Turkic tribes that depend on the Sui Dynasty. Although they belong to the people of the Sui Dynasty, they still have to pay taxes to the Turkic royal court to obtain security protection.

The appearance of the caravan made the Turks living along the way excited, and people kept using sheepskin and medicinal materials to exchange for cloth, bee sugar, salt and other essential daily necessities from the caravan.

Chai Shao has been to the Turks several times and is more familiar with the situation here. He smiled and said to Zhang Xuan: "The Turks along the way don't have much demand, and they don't want expensive goods. They can't sell them at a good price. At most, they only have 30% of the profits. But they are safer. Do you see that some small caravans are willing to exchange them."

Zhang Xuan also saw that two small caravans had cleared all the goods, replaced them with sheepskin medicinal materials and other grassland goods, and turned around and went south, no longer following the team north. Although they couldn't make much money, they at least didn't lose money.

"How far is Qifubo?" Zhang Xuan asked again.

Chai Shao pointed to a red stone forest more than ten miles away and smiled, "Did you see that red stone pillar? That is the famous Xuanshaling, a holy land of the Turks, but it is a very good landmark for us. When you see Xuanshaling, you will know that it is about two hundred miles away from Qifubo, and you will arrive in two more days."

Zhang Xuan was also very excited, "I hope I can buy my things in Qifubo."

"I'm afraid this trip will be in danger." Chai Shao snorted gently.

"Why do you say that?"

Chai Shao looked at the surroundings and whispered to Zhang Xuan: "Didn't you see it? Liu Wuzhou has a problem!"

Zhang Xuan looked at Liu Wuzhou, who was talking and laughing at the front of the team, and asked in confusion: "What's the problem with him?"

"This person's family has a close relationship with the Turks, and he even became a wealthy man with his back against the Turks. This time he actually volunteered to protect him, which is really puzzling."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe the Turks don't want the business path to be blocked."

Chai Shao sneered, "The Black Horse Thieves are the power of the Turkic High Priest Moyalon, and are one of the eight tribes of the Jinshan Palace. Without the acquiescence of the Turkic Khan, the Black Horse Thieves could not appear in the business road, so the caravan was blocked, which must be the Turkic Khan's intention. It was just that the Turkic people did not want to arouse the court's questioning, so they pretended to be Moyalon."

Zhang Xuan originally wanted to ask what the Jinshan Palace was, but Chai Shao's words made him worry, and he whispered: "So Sichang felt that Liu Wuzhou had ulterior motives to volunteer for the guards."

"If he wants to maintain the relationship between his family and the Turks, he should firmly oppose sending troops to guard the caravan. Even if he cannot oppose it, he should at least remain silent. However, this active leadership of troops north makes people have to doubt his true intentions."

"Have Sichang told Lao Zhao these words?"

Chai Shao lowered his voice even lowered his voice, "The Longhu Inn we stayed in was opened by Zhao Shan and the Liu family. Not only Longhu Inn, but also in the Liu family's business, Zhao Shan also invested a lot of money. The reason why Zhao Shan asked for the first batch to go north was actually Liu Wuzhou's meaning. Didn't you find that there was not a real big caravan?"

At this time, a cavalry rushed past them. Chai Shao stopped talking and waited for the cavalry to run away. Chai Shao continued: "It's not that Zhao Shan didn't know there was danger. It was just that he had to obey Liu Wuzhou's arrangements too deeply, but we had to guard against it."

Chai Shao's words made Zhang Xuan secretly shocked. He did not expect that there was such a deep trick hidden in it. If it was as Chai Shao said, then this journey north would be full of danger.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment. No matter whether Chai Shao said this on purpose or it was true, they should not be careless or too passive.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan said, "Since Sichang said that, we cannot sit still and wait for death. We must take action. Why not call Uncle Li to come and discuss it."

They slowed down their horses and waited for Li Shentong to come up. Chai Shao said to Li Shentong again. Li Shentong was also surprised and said anxiously: "If this trip north is a trap, then the trap must be in the Qifubo area. Why don't we send someone to see the situation there first."

"Let Cheng Yaojin bring his second uncle's two entourages over."

Chai Shao frowned, "He is careless and selfish, can he do it?"

Zhang Xuan smiled and nodded, "Don't worry! His carelessness is pretending to be. He is more skillful than anyone else. Have you ever seen him suffer a loss?"

Chai Shao smiled bitterly, "That's true. I saw him take advantage, and I have never seen him suffer any losses."

Li Shentong also agreed with Zhang Xuan's plan, "It's true that no one will suspect his departure."
Chapter completed!