The Longest Day in Chang’an

Chapter 1: Masami (1)

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Countless black rides gallop back and forth in the distance. On the long river in the distance, a round of blood-colored sunset; in the lone city, the wolf smoke pierced the dim sky.

Tianbao is three years old, and it is on the 14th of January.

Chang'an, Chang'an County, West City.

The spring is cold and sunny. At this time, there is no cloud in the sky above Chang'an City. Today should be a good day.

With a creak, two thick and heavy square doors in West City were slowly pushed open, and an enlightened beast flag hung high in the middle of the lintel. A dozen Luo teams have already gathered on the street outside. As soon as they saw the flag hanging, they immediately made a noise. The guys drove a camel lying on the ground with a small leather whip, counted the cargo boxes, called for their companions, and shouted in foreign accents.

This is the last batch of Hu Merchants who arrived in Chang'an before the Shangyuan Festival. They set off from faraway places such as Furin and Persia, both day and night, in order to catch up with this most important festival in Chang'an. You should know that starting from tonight, the Shangyuan Lantern Festival will last for three full nights. Datang officials and nobles spend money, but they are not weak.

The officials of the West Market Department stood with a book and a pen on both sides of the west entrance of the West City, inspecting customs clearance and goods one by one without expression. Today is a special day. West City opens half an hour earlier than usual. These officials wanted to finish their work as quickly as possible. They went home for the holidays and the inspection speed was a bit faster.

An old man quickly completed registration for a team of Persian merchants, and then beckoned the people behind. A Hu merchant wearing a chestnut short robe with double lapels came over and put his hands up.

The old man took a look at it and froze.

The position itself is impeccable. The applicant is called Cao Poyan, Sogdian, from Kang. This time I came to Chang'an with a total of 15 companions, fifteen camels and a stallion. The goods carried were 30 wool felts and variegated leather goods. All the way, Guanjin was inspected and signed.

The problem is not the place, but the goods.

The veteran has been doing this for 20 years. I have seen too many caravans and goods. I have practiced a pair of sharp eyes like a falcon. Sixteen people, but only brought such a small amount of goods, what is the average cost? What's more, Chang'an is already in spring, and the felt market is lower. Even if these goods are all shot, I am afraid that even the cost of round trips cannot be covered-how can there be such a stupid businessman on the long road?

The old man could not help but frown, and carefully looked at the Hu merchant in front of him. Cao Poyan is about thirty years old, with a high nose and deep eyes, with a ring of hard-bonded black beard and black beneath her thin jaw, like a hard mane brush. If you count the white-tipped felt hat he wears, the whole person must be more than seven feet tall.

The old man asked a few simple questions, and Cao Poyan answered them one by one. His Tang dialect is very blunt, just a few words come and go, his face has always been cold without a smile, completely unlike a businessman. The old man noticed that this guy always touched his waist unconsciously when he answered. This is the action of grasping the weapon, but unfortunately there is only a small empty copper hook on his belt.

For security reasons, all merchants ’personal weapons were seized by the city gate when they entered the city, and only returned when they left the city.

The old man put his pen down quietly and circled around the caravan of Cao Poyan. There is no problem with the goods, ordinary goods. The fifteen companions are all Hu people, with tight-leg pants and pointed shoes. They are all similar in age to Cao Poyan. They each held a camel silently, but their shoulders were slightly tight.

"These guys are very nervous." The old man secretly made a judgment and raised his pen, intending to approve a "not" word in the past-meaning that the identity of this caravan is in doubt, and it must be further investigated by the West City Department. Test. But the pen did not fall, but was stopped by a big hand.

The old man looked up and found a man with a thick eyebrow and a wide face, smiling at him.

"Cui Liulang?"

This man is a well-known broker in West City. He has a wide network of contacts. It is not wrong to find him as an intermediary if he goes to the quality warehouse, rents a house, finds a lawsuit, etc. So although he has no official body, he is quite open in the West City.

Cui Liulang smiled and said, "Have you eaten a meal yet? I gave you a cake." Then I handed over a steaming flax noodle cake with a large grain of sesame seeds on the front. The old man squeezed and found a small straight silver collar pressed deeply on the opposite side of the cake. He secretly weighed himself, fearing that there would not be two or two. Although he could not make cash, he could also give his daughter a good hairpin.

"These friends came to Chang'an for the first time, and many rules were unclear. They also asked the old husband to calm down." Cui Liulang lowered his voice.

The old man hesitated a little, but still took the noodle cake, and then approved a "listen" in the past, and allowed to enter the market. Cui Liulang thanked him, turned around, and spoke a series of Sogdian fluently. Cao Poyan just nodded slightly, neither excited nor excited.

Led by Cui Liulang, the little camel entered the west market along the threshold.

After crossing the threshold, there is a wide intersection on the front side, and shops are located on both sides of the four wide lanes in the east, south, west and north. From silk shop, iron shop, porcelain shop to Anlu shop, cloth and grain shop, jewellery shop, musical instruments are all available. The roofs of these stores are not the same as the Changan buildings. They are flat like platforms-not because of the homesickness of the Hu merchants, but because of the size of the ground and the wide roofs where more goods can be stacked.

At this time, the shop was not officially opened, but all the houses had hung the hood high, and the flags and banners almost covered the entire wide alley. On the New Year's Eve, the Tao Fu that just hung on the door lintel has not yet been taken off, and there are a few more lanterns with different shapes next to it-all prepared for the Lantern Festival tonight. At this time the lantern has not been hung, but the taste of celebration has risen to the sky.

"We, Chang'an, there are 108 squares, 14 north-south streets, 11 east-west streets. Each square is surrounded by walls. Whether you are eating, playing, talking about business or staying in a store, you have to be in the square. Normally, if you ca n’t come out at night, you will be subject to night curfew. But do n’t worry today, there is a Lantern Festival on the Lantern Festival at night, and the curfew is temporarily suspended. Actually, the day of the Lantern Festival is tomorrow, but the Lantern Festival will start tonight ... "

As Cui Liulang walked, he warmly introduced to the guests all the stories in Chang'an City. Cao Poyan glanced left and right, his eyes always full of vigilance, like an undercooked eagle. Around the horse mule hissing, wheels rumbling, past trips are hurrying, no one pays attention to this small caravan.

The two walked to the center of Cross Street. Cui Liulang stopped, "Where do we go next? Are we looking for a hostel or do you have an attached store?" Cao Poyan took out a folded paper from his arms and handed it to him. Cui Liulang was stunned, and then smiled: "So you have ordered it, come, and go here." He straightened his arms, slightly exaggeratedly pointed to the right, raised his legs forward, others followed Thereafter.

Cao Poyan didn't know that he and Cui Liulang's small movements were completely seen by Wuhou, who was not far from Wanglou.

The Wanglou is a wooden black lacquered high pavilion, which is more than eight feet tall, and stands in the middle of the west city, on which it can overlook the movement of the entire market. There are Wuhou upstairs. These people have been carefully selected and have keen eyesight.

Cui Liulang and Cao Poyan have been closely monitored by Wanglou since entering the market. Seeing Cui Liulang's gesture, a Wuhou straightened up, picked up a solid black flag, waved three times towards the east, and repeated three times.

After two fingers, another Wanglou, three hundred steps east of the Wanglou, also waved the same black flag; immediately afterwards, the more eastern Wanglou responded quickly. This is the first floor, but dozens of fingers, the message of the black flag has crossed a street, from the west city to the east of Guangde Square.

The northeast corner of Guangdefang is the public hall of Jingzhaofu, and next to it is the Temple of Mercy. In between, there is an inconspicuous partial courtyard, which was originally Sun Simiao's old house, but now the trace of the medicine king is gone, replaced by a killing atmosphere, a tall black big building erected in the courtyard The watchtower is much taller than other watchtowers.

Upstairs, Wuhou saw the black flag dancing in the distance, recorded the flag color and the number of waves on a wooden slip, and quickly threw it towards the ground.

Downstairs, a strong passerby caught Mu Jian and ran all the way to a Xuanchang Hall 30 steps away. Directly above the main hall is a gold-black wooden plaque hanging high, with the three-character regular script of "Jing Ansi" written on it. The calligraphy is rich and full, and it is Yan Zhenqing's handwriting.

Upon entering the hall, the first thing I saw was a huge sand table in Chang'an City. The outer wall of Guo Guo pinched by red clay, the wall of Fang Shi pinned by yellow beeswax, 108 squares and 25 streets are arranged like a chessboard, and even the alleys and water channels in the square are all visible-of course, only The Dugongcheng is a blank-there is a fourth-order panlong copper leaking clock beside the corner of the temple, which is in harmony with the copper leak in front of the Shuntian Gate.

Overlooking this plate, supplemented by water leaks, such as looking at Chang'an from the cloud, the situation changes to the chest.

Next to the sand table, the two officials are concentrating. The old man must have white hair, dressed in a purple gown with wide sleeves and a goldfish bag on the waist. The young man ’s face was round and small, and the greenness had n’t faded yet, but there were three light lines between the eyebrows, which was obviously too much thought. He wore a narrow-sleeved green robe, a silver fish bag hanging around his waist, but a Taoist whisk in his hand.

Rumors ran in front of the two officials, shouting Jane, that loud voice resounded through the hall: "Wolf has entered the West Market and has crossed the cross street!"

The officials were quiet, and a beautiful maid next to him took a step forward, picked up a pole for playing polo, and pushed a black pottery figurine in the sand table from the West Street to the city, and Cui The positions of Liulang and Cao Poyan coincide exactly.

After a moment of silence in the hall, the young man first inquired: "He Jian?" After asking several times, the old man opened his eyes: "Chang Yuan, how did you arrange it?"

The young man smiled slightly and pointed his finger at the sand table with a whisk: "Cui Qi personally led the team. Fifty brigade soldiers have been placed in the West City. As soon as Liu Lang set out the news, Cui Qi immediately broke the door to catch people. There are more than 100 bad people in Chang'an County guarding all the lanes; the two gates of the West City, the guards can be closed at any time. There are three iron fences, and there is no reason for escape. "

With the guidance of the dust, the maidservant quickly put down a statue of Zhu Terra Cotta. Above the sand table, the Zhu figurines surrounded the black figurines in a flash, tightly sealed.

"These wolf cubs thought that they would pretend to be sotehu merchants and they would be able to hide from the sky. They didn't know that we were fishing from beginning to end. It's unreasonable to be conscious or not?" Be confident. The old man yelled and closed his eyes again, unsure.

Every minute, a loud voice will run in from outside and report the latest trends of Cui Liulang and Cao Poyan.

"Wolf passed Fan Ji's saddle shop and headed northwest of Cross Street!"

"Wolf passes Ruyi's new silk shop, turn right into Erhuiqu Lane!"

"The wolf crossed the third bridge of Guangtongqu and turned into the left lane of Duliushu."

The maidservant held the moon stick and moved the black figurine to the corresponding position. Cao Poyan's walking trajectory is vividly presented in front of the two principals: This caravan is moving further and further away from the prosperous place, gradually approaching Duliushu in the southwest of the city.

Duliushu is a special place in the West City to punish inmates. The merchants are unlucky and avoid many, so there are fewer and fewer people around.

The young man turned sideways: "Master Xu, what buildings are there nearby?"

Behind the two officials, dozens of low-ranking officials were busy with dozens of low-ranking officials surrounded by dozens of cases. A fat middle-aged book official heard the call and quickly put down the book in his hand and ran to the sand table. His eyesight is not very good, and he needs to lie pronely before the edge to see the black figurines.

Master Xu thought for a moment, and immediately replied like a book: "Northeast Alley, the terrain is sloppy and wet, with only 16 warehouses, next to the Guangtong Canal. In the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan, there was a heavy rain and the channel water surged. The inventory of the three Hu merchants was completely destroyed, and the price was five thousand yuan ... "His memory is quite amazing, he answered it casually, without any suffocation.

The young man interrupted his torrential talk: "Are there any outlets near these 16 warehouses?"

"Ah, no, but ..."

It was at this time that the rumor broke into the hall again, interrupting his words: "Wolf entered the warehouse of C6, but did not leave!"

The atmosphere in the hall was suddenly stirred by this passage, and everyone's eyes were cast on the sand table.

"It's here!" The young man's eyes brightened Huo Ran's eyes. "Cui Qi was ordered to prepare for action; the bad guys immediately cleared the outside of the warehouse and no one was allowed to enter or leave. The second gate of Xishi was on standby at any time." There was an unstoppable excitement in the tone.

Ordered through the biography, and quickly left the hall. The young man put his arms on the edge of the sand table and leaned forward, looking at the black pottery figurine and muttered to himself:

"I'd like to see what these Turkic wolf cubs came to Chang'an City to do."

The order was uploaded from the Jingan Division Hall to Wanglou. Then through a series of semaphores, it quickly crossed the street and passed back to the north side of the west city. Wuhou copied the banner on the wooden slip and threw it downstairs while shouting: "Cui Lushuai, take orders!"

Before Jane reached the ground, she was held firmly by a big hand.

What grabbed Mu Jian was a tall, tall, bearded big man whose arms were as thick as a beam of wood. He took Mu Jian, quickly glanced at the order above, he was refreshed and immediately shouted back, "All together!"

From the barn next to him, fifty soldiers of the brigade rushed out. All of them were wearing black infantry armor, armed with Zhang Zhangcun crossbows, hanging round swords on their waists, and ten of them also had long bows obliquely. During the entire process of gathering, no one spoke, only dull footsteps and breathing.

Cui Qi glanced around with a sullen face: "The target is in the C6 warehouse, fight first and then try to keep alive. Try to be a little clever for a while, and no one should embarrass the brigade army!" . The soldiers were in a row of five, closely following the general, trotting at the beginning, and then running quickly.

They drove across the Cross Street in a familiar way, got into the Qu Lane, and headed towards the Nanfang of West City. The merchants along the street saw the dust on the street suddenly, and ran across so many soldiers, all showing horror. Before they whispered, a large number of unscrupulous people came over and asked the shops to temporarily close the gates. Pedestrians on the street were also invited to rest in the adjacent shops. No one was allowed to leave.

At the east and west entrances of West City, the goalkeeper lifted the stonework bolt from the pit and could close the gate at any time.

The spider web woven rapidly layer by layer, and a sharp arrow pierced away.

After entering the range of warehouse C, Cui Qi made several gestures. The brigade army who had a tacit understanding divided into three directions and approached the warehouse B6 quietly. The bad guys had quietly blocked all the roads nearby. There are only a few caravans of horses and livestock tied here, three or two guys watched. Some bad guys passed by and negotiated a few words, pulling the animals far away.

At this point, the C6 warehouse was completely isolated from West City.

Cui Qi squatted halfway around the corner of a soil wall near Bingliu Inn, took off the chest guard, hung it on the head of the horizontal knife, and reached out carefully. With the reflection of the goggles, he can see the situation ahead without a probe.

The C6 warehouse is a wooden building with a raised eaves. It is sixty steps long and forty-five steps wide. It is almost square and has only one entrance. There are ventilation windows on all sides, but it is extremely small and is not suitable for adults. Because this area is close to the ditch, it is easy to be flooded in summer, so the bottom of the building is suspended and supported by sixteen wooden columns, which is similar to the Lingnan architectural style.

At the door was a big-nosed Hu person, one of Cao Poyan's fifteen companions. He leaned back against the wooden door and bowed his head from time to time to play with a string of wooden beads on his wrist, seeming absent-minded. Cui Qi estimated the distance of the crossbow, if he really wanted to do it, he was confident that he would break in within ten fingers.

Cui Qi turned his gaze to the entrance and held his breath. Everything is ready, waiting for the movement in the warehouse.

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