Chapter 6 Out of the Pass (6)

«Keep up, keep up!»
Keyu Yuan spurred his horse into the middle of the caravan and shouted loudly.
Now that they had entered Shuping City, everyone could take a hot bath and properly relieve the fatigue of their days on the road. Last night’s battle with the horse thieves had exhausted everyone’s strength. The military officers of the Vermilion Bird Team fought bravely to defend the people. The merchants and peddlers were also busy: clearing the battlefield, guarding the prisoners—who didn’t want to tire their minds? Thanks to the magistrate Li, mindful of everyone’s hardships, he ordered the captured horse thieves to be strung together and handed over to the garrison for safekeeping. Only then did the crowd finally get a brief respite, speeding up their march to arrive at Shuping before nightfall.
Shuping had been a military stronghold on the Hexi Corridor since ancient times. To the right it bordered the interior passes, to the left it embraced the Hexi region. Its unique geography meant the court constantly stationed heavy troops here, gradually relying on it as the gateway to the capital. Shuping was also a commercial hub, situated at the throat of the Silk Road. Merchants traveling south and north usually had to pass through here. Whether they were the people of Fulin (Note 1) from the far west, or the Nine Clans of the Hu from the river, after crossing the snow-capped mountains and traversing the vast desert, they would all stop here to rest and recuperate. And for caravans coming from Xijing, whether heading west to Liangzhou, heading north to trade in the desert, or passing through Yumen Pass to try their luck in Anxi, they all needed to replenish water and dry provisions here.
Over time, the place gradually prospered, becoming a bustling transit point connecting the west and the east, quite thriving.
«Line up everyone, keep close. When we enter the city later, don’t jostle; the official soldiers might check.»
Keyu Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept repeating.
The merchant caravans formed a long dragon, escorted by the Vermilion Bird Team soldiers, arriving at the city gate.
Shuping City served as the seat of Qinzhou (Note 3), completely modeled after the capital Chang’an, though slightly reduced in scale. The entire city had four gates opening east, west, south, and north. The eastern gate was called Renta, its gate opening exceptionally wide, capable of allowing three horse carts to enter and exit simultaneously. The gatekeeper was called Wu Anguo; at this moment he was sitting leisurely in front of the gate with his eyes slightly closed, humming a tune. The gate was wide open, and the garrison soldiers were conducting routine checks on the incoming civilians. These days were truly leisurely—spending the day lounging at the gatepost, sipping a little wine, humming a tune, and collecting some token taxes. As for official promotion and becoming a feudal lord, in the eyes of Wu Anguo, it was simply not worth mentioning. Could any official rank surpass the sage Emperor in the great capital of Chang’an? It’s better to live a relaxed life; a person should know contentment, for those who know contentment are long-lived, aren’t they?

Wu Tou’er, a merchant caravan has come from over there, and there’s an army following beside it! Should we accept it or not?

A soldier ran to Wu An-guo’s side and asked in a low voice.
«Huh?»
Wu An-guo slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the caravan in the distance, let out a light hum, «Accept it, why not accept it. At this old man’s place, you have to follow the rules set by this old man!»
«Aye!»
The soldier loudly responded and ran a few steps to the front of the wooden barrier, leaned his head out, and shouted at the cavalry officer in front of the merchant convoy: «Our school captain has an order, come quickly, dismount and accept inspection!»
Dou Qing reined in his horse, half leaned forward, and clasped his hands at the soldier: «We are the Shen Ce Army of Hexi, ordered to escort a merchant convoy to Liangzhou. Please, brother, open the barrier and allow us passage!»
The soldier frowned and shouted, «Enough talk, dismount and accept inspection immediately. You’re carrying so many weapons in your hands, are you planning to rebel?»
«You!»
Seeing his overbearing attitude, Dou Qing also felt angry and was about to flare up, but Li Kou pulled at his sleeve.
The true purpose of this Shen Ce Army journey was to transport a batch of military equipment to the Hexi Army. This matter is a secret, so naturally it cannot leak out.
«Give them the Ministry of War documents and tell them to go to the checkpoint for passage!»
However, Li Kou could not accept the inspection. He needed to secretly send the military equipment to the Hexi Army. There are many people here and it’s chaotic, who knows if military secrets will be leaked.
Dou Qing nodded, dismounted, and walked to the front of the wooden barrier. From his embrace, he took out a document and handed it to the soldier.
«Wu Tou’er, this is a Ministry of War edict!»
The soldier dared not be negligent, shouting at the top of his lungs, as if he exerted a bit of force, the school captain beside him would not hear.
«What document, show it to me!»
Wu An-guo jumped up with a start, took a few steps forward, and snatched the document away without good grace.
«Hmm, there’s an official seal from the Ministry of War, it should be genuine. These days, the army is actually doing escort duty for merchants, his grandmother’s!»
Wu An-guo muttered softly. A not-small amount of «孝敬» (bribe/gift) just flew away like this. He certainly had resentment in his chest. But since the other party has a Ministry of War edict, what can he do?
«Passage!»
«Aye, aye, what are you waiting for, move the wooden barrier, you stupid head!»
The soldier shouted and cursed at the two new soldiers beside him, venting the frivolous thoughts in his heart.
Those two new soldiers had nowhere to vent their fire, so they could only droop their heads and move the wooden barrier, standing on the sides.
«Li Xiao Captain is awesome!»
«Everyone will have a table of wine and invite Captain Li to drink when we enter the city later!»
«Li Xiao Captain is young and promising!»

众商贾免去卸货检查，又省去一大笔孝敬费自是喜不自胜。
They were overjoyed to be exempted from unloading inspections and saving a large sum of bribe money.

他们走南闯北，西进东行，是最看重实际利益的一群人。最近连番几次受恩于李括，众人自是对这个年轻的神策军校尉大生好感，连番赞叹。
Having received favors from Li Kuo several times recently, the crowd naturally held him in high regard and praised him repeatedly.

“弟兄们跟紧了，去城北大营！”
“Brothers, stay close, let’s go to the North Camp!”

李括吩咐了一句，抽了抽马鞭，率先进城而去。
Li Kuo gave the order, cracked his whip, and led the way into the city.

“乖乖，好大的派头啊！到底是京城来的官，就是气派！”
«Goodness me, what a grand sight! After all, he’s an official from the capital, so imposing!»

一名新兵砸吧着嘴，连声感叹。
A new recruit smacked his lips and exclaimed repeatedly.

上邽城仿照长安规制，分为六六三十六坊。类似于长安的东西两市，城中设有南、北两座市集。当然对于这类边城，禁制没有这么严格。一些酒肆，客栈依然会出现在市集之外的地方，宴宿四方来客。
Upper Yi City was modeled after Chang’an’s layout, divided into sixty-six wards. Similar to Chang’an’s eastern and western markets, the city had southern and northern markets. Of course, for such a frontier city, restrictions were not so strict. Taverns and inns would still be located outside the markets to accommodate guests from afar.

城北设有大营，平日是为府军操练之用。当然，如有边军借过，刺史大人也会热情的命人将多余的营房打扫干净，供边军门落脚。
A large camp was set up in the north, normally used for drilling by the府 troops. Of course, if border troops passed through, the Prefect would kindly order the cleaning of extra quarters for them to stay.

李括他们隶属长安神策军，又有兵部文书在身，自然顺理成章的住进了军营。有人的地方就有商机，有利益的地方就有商贾。看到巨大利益的商人们纷纷聚到大营外，花钱买得官府许可，营建起了酒楼茶肆，客栈青楼。经过几十年的积累，大营外已经形成了繁盛的商埠区，好不热闹。
Since Li Kuo belonged to the Chang’an Shenqi Army and had a Ministry of War document on him, it was only natural for him to move into the camp. Where there are people, there is business opportunity; where there are interests, there are merchants. Seeing that merchants were flocking to the outside of the camp for huge profits, they paid money to buy official permits and built taverns, tea houses, inns, and brothels. After decades of accumulation, a prosperous commercial port area had formed outside the camp, bustling and lively.

济源商队自然不能入住大营，便在关瑜元的引领下搬进了紧邻大营的汇缘客栈。
The Jiyuan caravan could not enter the camp, so under the guidance of Guanyuan Yu, they moved into the Huayuan Inn adjacent to the camp.

众人一路行来，皆是疲惫不堪。匆匆卸下货物包裹，交给客栈伙计，商贩们便兜头冲进自己的房间，倒头便睡。
Everyone was exhausted from the journey. They quickly unloaded their cargo and handed it to the inn staff, then rushed into their rooms and fell asleep face down.

至于宴请答谢校尉李大人的允诺早已忘到九霄云外了。就连一向沉稳持重的济源商队把头关瑜元，都倚着胡床打起了呼噜，沉沉入睕。
As for the promise to treat Li Da, the校尉, to a feast, it had already been forgotten far away. Even Guanyuan Yu, the usually steady and steady-headed leader of the Jiyuan caravan, leaned on the bed and snored loudly, sinking into a deep sleep.

此时的城北大营中，李括却没有分毫睡觉的心情。昨夜与马贼一战，彻底击碎了少年平安到达凉州的美梦。尽管自己合理布局指挥，带领弟兄们完胜马贼，少年却丝毫高兴不起来。这伙人不是马匪，没有马匪会主动袭击军队护卫的商队！这个心结一日不解开，少年心中便是不得舒坦。
In the North Camp at this time, Li Kuo was in no mood to sleep at all. Last night’s battle with the horse raiders had completely shattered the young man’s beautiful dream of arriving in Liangzhou safely. Although he had reasonably deployed his tactics and led his brothers to a complete victory over the raiders, the youth was not the least bit happy. These people were not horse raiders; no horse raiders would actively attack a military escort! Until this knot in his heart was untied, the youth could not be at ease.

尽管自己生擒了一些马匪，但却得不到丝毫有用的信息。他们坚称自己就是山贼，李亦是无可奈何。
Although he had captured some horse raiders, he obtained not a shred of useful information. They insisted they were mountain bandits, and Li was powerless to change it.

“窦大哥，给我备马。我要去一趟秦州刺史（注4）府，会见一面刺史大人！”
«Dage Dou, prepare a horse for me. I want to go to the Qinzhou Prefectural Governor’s residence to pay a visit to the Prefect!»

Li Kuo thought for a while, then cleared his throat and said in a low voice.
«Ah, my lord, why don’t you take a bath first to refresh yourself?»
Dou Qing entered from the outer room and replied.
«Wait until I finish dealing with those horse thieves who surrendered, and then I’ll go!» Li Kuo gave a wry smile and walked toward the outside of the house.

Note 1: Fulin: A term used in ancient Chinese historiography to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire (see Byzantine Empire). The Fulin people were the Eastern Romans.
Note 2: The Nine Surnamed Hu people: Records in historical texts vary; here follows the *New Book of Tang*. They include the Kang, An, Cao, Shi, Mi, Huo, Fire Xun, Wu Di, and Shi clans.
Note 3: Qinzhou: The seat of the Longyou Circuit. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, Qinzhou administered Chengji County (today’s Water Market District), Shangui (now northwest of Qin’an County), Longcheng (now Qin’an County), Qing Shui, Fuqing (now east of Ganyu County), and Changdao (now northeast of Lixian County), totaling 6 counties.
Note 4: The Tang dynasty’s local administrative system was complex. In general, civil officials oversaw local administration, while the military was led by the various Jiedushi (military governors). For distant places like Anxi, the Jiedushi naturally also governed the local administration. To put it simply: the governor of central prefectures was a Cishi, while the governor of a Protectorate (Duhufu) was concurrently held by a Dudu, who controlled both civil and military affairs.