Several people walked past the yamen, looked at the guards standing at the door, and whispered: "Those people are very fierce and will use some muskets in their hands! If they hit them from a distance, they will die without any treatment. It's so scary! Let's stay away, don't be hit by the gun!"

Another man said: "We don't mess with them, why should they hit us!"

The others said: "This is the Song army. Do you know what their rules are! Just leave far away and it's right!"

While muttering, he quickly left and hurriedly walked past the yamen gate.

Zhao Zi saw on the second floor and said to Chen Yuanpeng beside him: "There are few families in Yizhou City. Now everyone knows me when I go out. I can't go out for private visits and walks. Life is really hard. It's already cold. I heard that the railway construction site has been shut down, and it's very troublesome. The workers are reluctant to do it. I haven't built it to the foot of Mazong Mountain yet, when will it be repaired next year!"

Chen Yuanpeng had never taken the train and did not know what the railway looked like. He just comforted Zhao Zi casually: "General, you don't have to worry. Juyan has only been here for more than a thousand miles. He is walking on the road in a hurry. Twenty days are always here. There are so many livestock in the army and there is no shortage of supplies."

Zhao Zi couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "Twenty days, and there are not many goods transported, what can I do? The city lord, if the railway is not connected, how useful is Yizhou to the court? I have been leading troops for more than a month, and there are no court officials, so it is because of this. If the railway is connected here, then you see, the court officials will come some days later. This is the gateway to the Western Regions, which is not comparable to other places. How could it be so calm!"

Chen Youpeng just laughed. He had never taken the train, so it was hard to imagine what it looked like. Zhao Zi had a noble status, and Chen Youpeng just wanted to sell all the property at home so that he could enjoy his fortune in the capital, just accompany him.

After complaining, Zhao Zi said, "The official documents from Shengzhou have come to know what happened to Gaochang now. There is no trade route between the two places, and few people go back and forth. How to spy on Gaochang? City Lord, you should know what Gaochang is like."

Chen Youpeng said: "I know all that are the former Gaochang. After you defeated Dangxiang in Hezhou, I really don't know what the situation in Gaochang is. I heard that this spring, Gaochang also sent envoys to Shangjing to worship Khitan. Now it seems that Gaochang should have considered himself a Khitan vassal state and deliberately did not contact the Celestial Empire. This matter is not a matter of one night, so the general should not be too anxious."

Zhao Zi shook his head: "What am I anxious about? I am not anxious at all. What is urgent is the Hequ Road Jingliu Department. If there is no commercial road in Gaochang west, Yizhou is a useless place. How can the Jingliu Department not be anxious? With the railway open, the goods in the Central Plains are unobstructed here, but they cannot be sold. The court is also anxious!"

Chen Youpeng couldn't help but ask, "General, how much cargo can it be transported when the railway is really connected here? It's really possible to transport large quantities of goods without horses and camels? If that's the case, it's not possible to build it all the way to the horizon!"

Zhao Zi said: "Of course it's true! Not only does it take horses and camels, but it transports a lot of goods. My tens of thousands of troops of food and grass from the Central Plains can't cost much money. I can directly station in Yizhou. Without railways, the army can only station in Juyan. When I went to Yizhou, I only brought 3,000 people. After the railways were opened, tens of thousands of troops were in Yizhou, and there was no shortage of food, drink, clothing and supplies."

Chen Youpeng nodded, half understanding. It was far away in Yizhou. If he hadn't seen the guns and cannons led by Zhao Zi with his own eyes, he wouldn't even imagine it, let alone a railway train. Without horses and camels, it would be amazing to be able to transport goods. There are so many transports. What kind of magical thing is that?

Zhao Zi stood up, looked at everything in the city, and said to Chen Yuanpeng: "Yizhou City is located on the edge of the desert, at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and is really a place made of heaven and earth. The city lord, the place where Yizhou and Gaochang is the Guigukou Shefeng Station. Is it now under Gaochang's rule?"

Chen Yuanpeng said: "There was an inn there, but after the trade routes from Gaochang were cut off, the inn has long been cancelled. From Yizhou to Gaochang, you must go to Guigukou to take shelter at the inn and wait for the wind to stop before you can move forward."

Zhao Zi said: "In this way, there is no one there now?"

Chen Yuanpeng said: "No one should be. At the beginning of the year, the army had visited there, but no one was found."

Zhao Zi sighed: "I think there is no trade route, so Gaochang is too lazy to send people there. How large is the Guigukoufeng District?"

Chen Yuanpeng said: "It's a hundred miles in radius. There are often strong winds blowing there, and the wind is always flying, sand and stones are irresistible. There is no place to hide from the wind, and it is a dead end. Between Yizhou and Gaochang, Guigukou is the most difficult."

Guigukou is the boundary between Yizhou and Gaochang. It is at the foot of Tianshan Mountain and is gustling strong winds for most of the year. The inn there is therefore called the Wind-Safe Post, which is a place where caravans come and go to hide from the wind. The section of the commercial road between Yizhou and Gaochang does not come and go, and the inn is also abandoned.

"There are no birds above, no beasts below, and no water plants. Such a place sounds like a bad place. In a few days, I will take people there to see what it is." Zhao Zi looked at the city and imagined the harshness of Guigukou. Before coming here, Zhao Zi looked for historical materials that could be found and learned about the environment in this area. The most important thing is of course the "Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty" left by Xuanzang. In the Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang's record of Guigukoukou was that there were no birds above, no beasts below, and no water plants, which was extremely difficult to move. With this natural danger, unless it was a time when Gaochang was particularly powerful, it would be difficult to effectively manage Yizhou. Yizhou was independent and Gaochang did not send troops to attack. The biggest reason was not the distance, but the harsh climate conditions at Guigukoukou. If the army could not occupy Yizhou quickly, it would be easy to be blocked here.

In the past, Guigukou was guarded by Gaochang and an inn was set up. Now the inn is cancelled and it has become a place where no one is.

Chen Yuanpeng said: "General, this is the case with the Western Regions. There are many difficult places between cities, and natural areas are separated. The Guigukou between Yizhou and Gaochang is the mouth of Guigu, which has been difficult areas since ancient times. Without powerful forces and commercial roads cannot be accessed, these places will naturally be abandoned."

Zhao Zi said: "Now that the imperial court reenters the Western Regions, it is necessary to pass through commercial routes and attract merchants to come and go. No matter how bad the Guigukou is, it is nothing more than setting up an inn to provide business trips and travelers to rest. Does Gaochang think that there is such a natural danger that the imperial army will not advance westward?"

Chen Yuanpeng said: "The Uighur tribe, the imperial court came to the west, of course they would not give up the place, it was not for anything."

Zhao Zi laughed and said, "The army has arrived in Yizhou. No matter how the Uighurs think, they can't stop the army from advancing west. Speaking of which, Jishou and the court are really patient. When I arrived in Yizhou, I didn't send envoys to walk around. If there are envoys, I can see what else they can say."

This is not that Du Zhongxiao has good patience, but because he is determined to enter the Western Regions. Gaochang and Hei Khan did not actively send envoys to the court, so the Song Dynasty would not send envoys to them. After the railway was built to Yizhou, the army could advance directly. This was the idea. Du Zhongxiao did not intend to admit the situation of the Tang Dynasty, and the court obviously thought so.
Chapter completed!