Li Hong looked at Yao Chong and Huan Yanfan, who were also eager to learn. He let his horse move forward slowly and said to the people around him, "It is a scripture, and this scripture guided the people there to light and made them feel happy. So they began to submit to Muhammad and regarded Muhammad as their god and their faith. And thus, the 'Islam' created by Muhammad was born. This became a holy place in their hearts, so sacred that no one can blaspheme it."

"A scripture? We have many scriptures in the Tang Dynasty, but none of them can do this. Why don't we take his scripture so that we can rule the Western Regions as well." Xiaoxue frowned. She couldn't understand how a scripture could have such great power.

"Nonsense." Li Hong scolded Xiaoxue and continued, "That scripture is called the Koran. Now that you have gone to the White Arabs, I guess you won't need much money to buy one. If we use their scriptures, we will be enslaved and ordered around by them. So what we have to do in this vast land of the Western Regions is to prove that our Tang civilization is powerful and unconquerable in the collision of two civilizations. Similarly, we have to prove that our Tang cavalry can travel anywhere and guard any inch of our territory from being invaded by others!"

Looking at these people who still seemed to understand, Li Hong slowly walked to the west gate of Yumen Pass. After walking a hundred feet away, under the shining morning sun, he turned his head and looked at the five people still hanging on the city gate, and said lightly: "You don't have to be afraid, and you don't have to be in awe of that scripture. It doesn't have any magic power. It's just an ordinary scripture. Just like any book left by our ancestors, its value is nothing more than an exploration of unknown civilization for future generations. It's not worth our fuss, but we will never allow them to use things that are not from our Chinese ancestors to corrupt our minds. Anyone can influence the people of our Great Tang, but only the people of our Great Tang can influence others and other countries! Yuan Shuji, combined with what I said to you last night, do you understand some truths?"

Li Hong looked at Yuan Shuji as he spoke, and slowly picked up the crossbow from the side of the horse's back. Then he pulled out an arrow from the quiver next to him and slowly put it on the crossbow.

Although the speed of today's crossbows is still a little slower than that of longbows, they are superior in range, accuracy and lethality. Therefore, when used in conjunction with cavalry, they are far more threatening than longbows on the battlefield.

Yuan Shuji, Yao Chong, Huan Yanfan, including Xia Zhi and others were all frowning and thinking. After a long while, they gradually seemed to understand.

Yuan Shuji's eyes brightened, and he looked at Li Hong and said, "Grand Protector, do you mean that to conquer a nation, military force and culture should go hand in hand and complement each other, so that we can truly expand the territory of our Tang Dynasty? Although what I said is not very subtle, I think that Grand Protector..."

"Yes, that's what I mean. If the Western Regions want to be controlled by us forever and make these people proud of being Tang people, we must not only conquer them with force, but also use the spiritual, religious, and cultural strength of the Tang Dynasty to conquer them! In the battle between civilizations and the fight between cavalry and cavalry, who is the king and who is the loser, the Tang Dynasty should not be inferior to others, because we are China, the center of the world, and the empire that all nations pay homage to!"

...

...

Li Hong slowly raised the crossbow. The five men hanging on the top of the city wall were dying after being ravaged by the cold night.

Kasim raised his eyelids with all his might, staring at Li Hong in the dazzling sunlight, and murmured weakly with his cracked lips: "Put me down, or my father will not let you go. And you, since you know my father's name, you should know who I am. If I die, you, the Tang Dynasty, can just wait for us to destroy it."

Kasim's voice was very soft, but in the quiet Hexi Corridor, it was faintly heard, and every word was heard by Li Hong and others.

"You are about to die, and you are still talking nonsense here? Qasim, after today, you will disappear from this world, and even the great prophet Muhammad cannot save you. We all have our own beliefs, and we in the Tang Dynasty also respect your beliefs, but we never welcome dissidents who want to occupy our territory. It is not unfair for you to die in my hands. As the youngest son of Muawiyah, don't worry. When you die, your two brothers will replace your father and become the heirs of the White Caliphate."

After finishing speaking, Li Hong held the crossbow with his other hand, staring closely at Kasim's weak eyes, which reflected regret and fear.

"The truth has come. All of you vanity will be destroyed. You will always be the poorest with ignorance and lowliness. Wisdom is our most noble wealth..."

The sound of breaking through the air passed by, and Kasim's voice stopped abruptly. A bolt of arrow like black lightning shot out from Li Hong's crossbow and pierced Kasim's forehead in the blink of an eye.

"You don't know what's good for you! Do you really think this is a peninsula? You are just like you, ignorant and lowly people! Don't forget, your prophet also said: 'Seek knowledge, even if it is far away in China.' If you want to learn our culture, you must show the right attitude, instead of being arrogant! Let's go!" Li Hong hung up the bow and crossbow and shouted coldly. Immediately, 20,000 cavalrymen on both sides began to follow him quickly and orderly, raising a cloud of dust and marching towards Qiuci.

As the Hexi Corridor was slowly left behind by Li Hong and his party, the vegetation on both sides of the road seemed to be left behind as well. Under the sunshine and breeze, drought-resistant shrubs on the Gobi Desert began to gradually appear. Their unshakable figures seemed to proudly tell passers-by that they deserve more attention and respect from the world than those flowers, plants and trees that need water.

The endless Gobi Desert made the journey much easier for the Tang Dynasty soldiers, who had already put horseshoes on their war horses for many years.

The wind blowing through the sand dunes brings a humming sound, as if carrying a sense of rhythm. The crisp sound of camel bells, the melodious sound of the erhu, and the endless desert make people feel relaxed and happy. In the clear weather, it seems as if the whole person is integrated into this sea of ​​sand.

Li Hong was covered with a thick silk scarf to protect himself from the wind and sand, while the four girls around him had already wrapped themselves up like dumplings, leaving only two black eyes rolling around.

Looking at the endless desert, he who originally wanted to enjoy the "long river and the setting sun" had already lost interest, and his thoughts were immersed in an inexplicable emptiness.

In a trance, when looking at this sea of ​​sand without any relics or buildings, Li Hong felt like he had returned to his previous life.

Everything around him seemed to have crossed over a thousand years, easily bringing him into that slowly evolving modern era.

If it weren't for the occasional touch of the blades of his armor, Li Hong would almost think that he had returned to his previous life, back to the time when he rode a camel with his wife.

After avoiding other tourists, we sneaked around in broad daylight among the hills and sand dunes, encouraged by the wind and clouds, in the rare fresh air of that era.

He shook his head with great effort, shaking off the mess in his mind, including his wife's proud figure, and looked at the scouts led by Quan Yi running towards them quickly.

"Grand Protector, we're probably about another twenty or thirty miles before we can set up camp. There's a water source there, and the terrain is high and flat, very suitable for camping." Quan Yi said while riding on horseback.

"Hurry up and get there before sunset." Li Hong said in a muffled voice.

Nature is so wonderful. When they saw the desert during the summer solstice a few days ago, they were as excited as little girls. But after walking in the desert for three days, they immediately felt like flowers wilted by the winter rain, and they didn’t even have the interest to look at the desert scenery in the distance.

In the past two days, as the withered vegetation increased, the four girls began to chatter again. Li Hong had no doubt that if they had a mobile phone at this time, the four girls would be able to fill the memory with their self-conceited photos in a short time.

As the road widened, the terrain became increasingly flat. Qiuci has always been an important town combining the Western Regions and Yunzhong. This is why the Tang Dynasty established one of the four Anxi towns here.

The grass and water in Yunzhong are fertile. Both the Western Turks and the Eastern Turks have always lived near water, so the closer they are to here, the further they are from the real Western Regions.

But at the same time, from the geographical location point of view, this place is still under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate, and was also part of the later Beiting Protectorate in history.

A shallow river has frozen, and it is thought that it is not very deep. Li Hong, who has changed out of his armor, stands beside the ditch guarded by withered wild grasses, accompanied by four girls.

The four girls opened their eyes wide and watched Li Hong walk slowly down, saying that he was going to catch fish for them here.

The sword in his hand was inserted into the ice. Under the cover of the hazy night, Li Hong carefully dug a small hole, but... Li Hong raised his head and looked at Quan Yi who was commanding the soldiers in the distance, and shouted: "Quan Yi, what should we do after digging the hole? You won't reach in to catch fish, right?"

When Quan Yi heard Li Hong's shout, he gave a few instructions to his men, then ran over quickly, hurried down to the Kucao River, stood on the ice with Li Hong, and said, "Grand Protector, do you still have the scarf for today? I'll put some bait in it, and then along with the scarf..."

"Go away. You just said something very nice and I thought it was so simple. If I need a scarf, I don't need you. I can catch fish with my own fishing rod." Li Hong threw the sword to Quan Yi in dissatisfaction, and walked up with the support of Xia Zhi and Ban Mei in a bad mood. He didn't want to catch fish anymore. It was cold.