After leaving Xi'an, go west to Jiayuguan, and leave Yangguan that is, the Yangguan where there are no old people who leave Yangguan in the west, and then go west for about 300 kilometers, and you will be Loulan Kingdom.
Loulan Kingdomin fact, Loulan City is more appropriate.
The original Loulan Kingdom itself was not that big, about the size of the entire city of Hangzhou. Now that the Kongque River was diverted, and after it was forced to relocate its capital, the "land scale" was even smaller, and it felt about the same as the urban area of ??Hangzhou.
But even so, it is still a country. After all, the total population has reached about 50,000, but if you count the traffic, caravans, etc., the population here is about 70,000.
Loulan is built with sand and soil, which looks very unstable.
Lu Sen stood under the city wall and looked up at the plaque on the city wall, which read the word 'Loulan'.
That's right, it's the word Loulan in Chinese characters. .
In fact, Loulan mainly uses Chinese characters, and of course there are other languages ??mixed.
At the city gate, dozens of guards with dusty faces are collecting the poll tax. The merchants who enter the city pay higher taxes, and ordinary people only need one or two copper coins.
Most of the merchants here are Semu people, and occasionally they can listen to Song people.
Mainly by looking at the clothes and temperament, you can tell the difference.
When those Semu merchants enter the city, their speed will be slower, and the guards will carefully check the type of goods, their approximate value, and so on.
As for the Han businessmen, as long as they give some copper plates at will, they will be let go.
When Lu Sen entered the city, the guards didn't collect his poll tax at all, and even stepped aside respectfully, as if they were afraid that their dirty clothes and hands would touch Lu Sen's clean and luxurious clothes.
Semuren next to him was envious of Lu Sen's ability to enter the city so easily.
As soon as Lu Sen entered the city gate, a not-so-authentic Song voice suddenly came from behind: "Young man in front, please wait a moment."
Lu Sen turned his head and saw a soldier in armor holding a spear and chasing him from behind.
He trotted up to Lu Sen, glanced at Alizee next to him, and then flattered Lu Sen with a smile: "Young man, did you just come from the Central Plains?"
No wonder the other party is so determined.
Loulan is located in the Gobi Desert. Although there is a Kongque River next to it, the flow of water is not large enough to provide domestic water for tens of thousands of people. There is also enough surplus to irrigate the sandy fields and barely grow some food.
As for other large oases, don't think about it.
In a place like the desert, it is normal for people to be as black as oil, and people here generally don't like to take a bath, so the people here are dark and dirty, and their hair is often boarded together.
Unlike Lu Sen, who is whiter than a mother-in-law's soft flesh, his whole body is clean and fresh, even under the scorching sun, there is no sweat dripping down, he is not an ordinary person, let alone a barbarian.
Can the barbarians 'imitate' this black-haired and black-eyed appearance, this romantic temperament unique to Jiangnan scholars?
Lu Sen clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I'm being polite, what can I do for you, old man?"
The soldier looked around, and found that apart from Alizee, no one seemed to be Lu Sen's entourage, so he said, "Young man, are you going out with only your servants? Why are your parents so big-hearted?" ?¡±
The old man has already felt it, and many people's eyes are projected here, especially Lu Sen.
As for Alizee Although some people glanced at it a few times, they quickly turned their eyes back to Lu Sen.
Beautiful women are indeed a scarce resource, but so are handsome men.
Besides, Lu Sen was wearing silk Alizee was wearing a white cloth gown with a hood.
What do Semu merchants most want to buy when they come to Song Dynasty?
Of course it is silk!
It can be said that, regardless of Lu Sen's personal value, the silk shirt he is wearing is enough to buy ten Western Region beauties of Alizee's quality from Loulan.
Lu Sen smiled and said to the soldier: "Don't worry, old man, there is a way to protect yourself."
The soldier still looked at Lu Sen uneasy, and finally said helplessly: "Young man can come here from the Central Plains, and he looks neat, so he should be capable, but the Western Regions are not as chaotic as the Central Plains. Please be careful."
"Thank you for reminding me, old man." Lu Sen clasped his fists gratefully and said with a smile.
The old man immediately returned the salute, and then said: "I think the old man is busy. This time I took the liberty to call the young boy to tell you that whenever our Zhongyuan brothers come to Loulan, they can go to the 'Fengliu Street' next to the palace to stay. That place is a gold-selling cave, and Semu people have to spend a lot of money to live there, but our original friends, you canThe queen's strength is indeed astonishing.
"Take two catties of camel jerky and a jug of wine." After ordering, Alizee said, "If you have nothing to do next, don't bother the two of us."
The mixed race looked at Alizee, and showed a clear and ambiguous smile: "Please rest assured, two noblemen, our shop is very sensible."
After the food and wine were served, the two only drank some wine and did not touch the dried camel meat To be honest, the taste was not very good.
Alizee blushed after drinking two glasses of wine. Under normal circumstances, Assassins cannot drink alcohol, because it will lower their vigilance and gradually destroy their 'touch'.
Especially the long-distance assassination is very particular about the feel.
But now Alizee doesn't care anymore, because she is no longer an Assassin, but a Song native with household registration.
Because she seldom drank alcohol, after two glasses of low-alcohol wine poured into her throat, Alizee's cheeks flushed. She looked at Lu Sen with a charming look in her eyes, and asked, "Should we go to see the queen in the evening?" ?¡±
"Of course I'm going, I'm very interested in this person." Lu Sen said: "To conquer such a large river outside the Western Regionsto conquer the place of Loulan, you can be regarded as a woman."
"Then it's still several hours before evening. Is your husband planning to rest, or is he resting?" She narrowed her eyes slightly and asked with a smile.
Lu Sen said calmly: "You open a room to rest by yourself."
"My lord is such a spoiler." Alizee complained helplessly.
Lu Sen is not a hungry ghost!
Besides, he was finally freed from the terrible purgatory of the three wives. During this time, he really wanted to take a good vacation for himself, and he didn't want to work so hard.
In the end, Alizee didn't go to rest either. She and Lu Sen drank in the room, ate the fruit Lu Sen brought out, and chatted.
In the evening, the two settled the bill, and then, led by the mixed-race store, they came to the center of Loulan City.
The desert area is extremely hot during the day and extremely cold at night.
Although it was only in the evening, the temperature had already started to drop, and the pedestrians on the road were all wearing thick clothes, and then flocked to the center of the city.
When he got closer to the center of the city, Lu Sen noticed the difference. Those Semu people consciously stayed in the outer circle, while only the sons and daughters of the Han family who wore Central Plains costumes dared to move on.
Going forward, Lu Sen saw a large area of ??light.
Scales little by little, as if all the stars in the sky are twinkling here.
The center of Loulan City is a small oasis. Lu Sen already knew this, but he did not expect that the oasis is surrounded by a pool of Crescent Moon Lake!
Quite a big crescent lake, and the palace is built on the lake.
Many oil lamps exude bright light, and those scales are the beautiful scenery formed by the microwave refraction of the lake.
Alizee had already stopped outside the circle, while Lu Sen looked at the center of the lake and stopped.
At this time, the old soldier who met during the day appeared again. He changed into a clean long gown, seemed to have taken a bath, and smiled next to him: "Young man, why don't you go forward so that the queen can have a chance?" See you? You are so handsome, and our queen is even more beautiful, if she can see you right, you two are a good match."
Lu Sen looked at the soldier with some surprise: "How dare you help the Queen catch the right one?"
Under normal circumstances, ordinary people in the market would not dare to help the nobleman as a matchmaker. Does this old soldier have a lot of background?
"Hey, why don't you dare?" The old man waved his hand and said, "We are the Han people in Loulan, and we all put our bodies on each other. How can we survive in the crowd of these perverted people? Our queen, Everything is good, but there is no descendant, which makes people feel guilty. And our young Han children here, no one is worthy of her, if the Semu people succeed, we Han people will have to throw themselves into the well, so I think you have a good chance, young man."
What this soldier said was not a lie, but the truth from his heart.
Lu Sen is the young man with the best appearance and temperament that he has seen in his forty years of life.
And the queen is also the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
"Someone is just passing through Loulan." Lu Sen said with a smile, "Besides, one is already married."
The old soldier had already guessed that Lu Sen was married. For such a beautiful and handsome young man, the noble family in the Central Plains was so stupid that he was unwilling to marry his daughter to him.
Just came to Loulan, so we have to talk about it, right!
People in the Western Regions have always been hot-tempered and unreasonable. Now that Han Jiaerlang has come here, it is possible to become more irritable.
The old soldier stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes slightly.
At this moment, the person in front suddenly shouted: "The queen is out, out."
Then there was a burst of cheers.
Lu Sen raised his eyes and saw a woman in a Song dress and a red skirt coming out from behind the gauze curtain.
She gently opened the curtain with her right hand, first showing a perfect pretty face, then smiling, and the flowers bloomed.
Lu Sen was stunned. This familiar face was Lu Xianxian No, it was a whale!?? Desirable.
The old soldier stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes slightly.
At this moment, the person in front suddenly shouted: "The queen is out, out."
Then there was a burst of cheers.
Lu Sen raised his eyes and saw a woman in a Song dress and a red skirt coming out from behind the gauze curtain.
She gently opened the curtain with her right hand, first showing a perfect pretty face, then smiling, and the flowers bloomed.
Lu Sen was stunned. This familiar face was Lu Xianxian No, it was a whale patient.