Chapter 464 Leaving Yangguan Pass

Qin Mo finally saw the legendary "Yangguan Pass" and finally understood the meaning of the line: "No old friends are found west of Yangguan Pass".

Just a few hundred miles west of Zhangye, there are two majestic passes guarding the throat of the Hexi Corridor. The northern pass is the famous Yumen Pass, while Yangguan Pass is located to the south of Yumen Pass.

The high rammed earth city wall stretches far into the north and south, its mottled and dilapidated surface bearing the marks of time. An irregular city gate stands there crookedly, separating the outside and inside of the pass into two worlds.

Further west from here lies an area where Han and non-Han peoples live together. The proportion of Han people is far lower than that of the local non-Han people, and the empire's control over the area gradually weakens as the distance increases.

"Your Highness, if you go west from here, it will be 1,800 li to Kucha, and another 1,200 li to Suyab."

"Bado, did your lord move from Suyab to Ganzhou?"

“Your Highness, the Xu family was a prominent clan in the Central Plains three hundred years ago. That year, the Western Regions were restless and the Xu family was ordered to migrate westward, where they guarded Anxi for generations and educated the local people. The title of Marquis of Zhangye was given to the Xu family as compensation for this. Today, the people of the Great Xia know the Marquis of Zhangye, but they do not remember the Xu family of Anxi.”

"oh....."

Qin Mo stood atop Yangguan Pass, gazing silently at the sandstorms beyond the pass for a long time, finally understanding the plight of the Han people in the Western Regions.

The rule of the Xia Dynasty over the Western Regions was essentially a difficult history of migration. The empire continuously sent Han Chinese families from the interior to the Western Regions, bringing Xia culture and technology to that vast land and then assimilating the local nomadic tribes.

Some families established themselves in the Western Regions, like the Xu family. Some families were wiped out by the local barbarian tribes. Others did not assimilate the local tribes but were instead assimilated by the locals.

"Let's go! Hopefully, we'll arrive in Suyab safely!"

"Your Highness will surely arrive safely; you are far too generous..."

"Bado, don't be stingy with the money in your purse. Money is meant to be spent. I think I didn't buy enough camels!"

"Your Highness is right... I admire you greatly!"

Looking at the caravans continuously leaving the pass, Bado thought to himself that Qin Mo was foolish and rich, but in the end he used the word "generous" to describe the emotion he felt.

If you were to ask what the best means of transportation was in the Western Regions, the answer would undoubtedly be camels and camel carts. Even in the 1980s, camel carts still existed in China, and their speed was in no way inferior to that of horse-drawn carriages.

Warhorses are much faster than camels at a sprint, but they are far less enduranced than camels for long trots. Moreover, in the Western Regions, oases where supplies could be obtained were far apart, so camels, which could go three days without being hungry after one meal, became the main livestock for transportation.

As the gateway connecting the Western Regions with the inland areas of the Great Xia, Yangguan attracted a large number of merchants from the Western Regions to trade here. Some of these merchants would choose to continue eastward to seek the greatest profits, but many more were unwilling to go further east and deal with the layers of checkpoints of the Great Xia. Over time, Yangguan and the vicinity of Yumenguan became the largest distribution center for goods in the west.

Qin Mo's eyes lit up when she saw the camel caravan coming from the Western Regions. These were desert camels! Without saying a word, she simply decided to buy them.

We'll buy the people and the camels together.

Foreign merchants travel between the Western Regions and the Great Xia for profit. If you give them enough profit, they will sell their own father to you, let alone just drive camels and follow the army to Suyab safely.

Many foreign merchants were moved by the silk and sugar that Qin Mo offered and willingly drove their camel caravans to help Qin Mo deliver military supplies. They could exchange the goods of two camels for the transportation services of twenty camels.

"They're all uncultured barbarians who've never seen the world..."

Watching the Hu merchant dip his finger in white sugar and put it in his mouth with a look of pure bliss, and the Hu camel driver drooling with longing eyes, the quartermaster of the Da Yuan army smiled but felt contempt in his heart.

"If only these high-ranking officials and idiots were here every day! This candy is just packaged in big bags like this; if it were in nice boxes..."

The merchants from the Western Regions were also very satisfied with the generosity of the army. Sugar sweeter than honey, along with luxurious silk and fragrant tea, would be favored by the wealthy people of the Western Regions.

After leaving Yangguan, the area became much more desolate. The army of tens of thousands of people and the livestock that accompanied them consumed a lot of water every day. Qin Mo had to start controlling the distribution of fresh water to the army in order to maintain the army's fresh water reserves.

Fortunately, Bado was very familiar with the supply points along the way. He told Qin Mo in advance where there was enough fresh water and where there were small oases. Qin Mo sent cavalry to prepare in advance, so the army never had to worry about running out of water.

A month passed quickly, and when all the soldiers of the Da Yuan army were covered in dust, Suyab finally appeared on the horizon.

"Finally, the girl has arrived!" Lin Boming shook off the dust, spat out a mouthful of sand, and cursed.

He was Lin Huaiyuan's distant nephew. Lin Huaiyuan was now a big shot in Dayuan, and Lin Boming was also a typical second-generation rich kid who didn't have to worry about food, clothing, or enjoyment. But he was not willing to be a second-generation rich kid forever, so he used his uncle's connections to get into the cavalry regiment and became a brigade commander.

Even in a high-ranking army where young officers abound, a seventeen-year-old cavalry brigade commander is considered to have a promising future. Of course, if it weren't for his status as a cultivator in the Human Realm and his superb marksmanship, he wouldn't have been confident of taking this position.

A troop of cavalry galloped from afar. Judging from their elite appearance, they were clearly scouts from Suyab. The two groups of horses stopped when they were about a mile apart. Lin Boming rode forward to make contact with them.

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