Chapter 427: The Envoy from Thousand Miles

For three days, from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Huan spent various pilgrims, and envoys from various countries arrived in Chang'an one after another. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, an unexpected country came from the west. King Bahan's special envoy arrived in Chang'an secretly to meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

This is indeed a very unexpected news. The country of Bakhana is still under the control of Dashi. There are nearly 10,000 troops stationed in Dashi. Among them, the powerful Saman family of Dashi still has 100,000 hectares of pasture in Bakhana. Moreover, Zhaowu countries have princes taken to Baghdad as hostages. In this case, Bakhana has traveled thousands of miles to come to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage. Its significance is extraordinary and attracted Zhang Huan's attention. That afternoon, Zhang Huan will postpone the plan of the King of Kucha for one day and specially receive the special envoy of King Bakhana.

Bahanna is the Ferganna region of Kyrgyzstan today. It belonged to Dayuan during the Han Dynasty. It was a loyal vassal state of the Tang Dynasty as early as the early Tang Dynasty. It sent people to the Tang Dynasty every year to offer symbolic land and scepters to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. As early as the third year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Xiaosong, the guardian of Anxi of the Tang Dynasty, led his army to fight against Qubodi, the general of Bai-clothed food, and set several cities in a row to repel the Bai-clothed food army.

In the famous Battle of Talas, King Bahana personally led 20,000 warriors to fight side by side with the Tang army. After the defeat of the battle, Dashi occupied Bahana and killed the king, established a new king, and ordered him to pay taxes and surrender to Dashi. However, for decades after that, Bahana was still dissatisfied with the rule of the Dashi and continued to resist.

After the Tang Dynasty restored the town of Suye Army, it attracted strong attention from the Bakhanna country. At the beginning of the third year of Dazhi, King Qili of Bakhanna sent envoys to Suye, but unfortunately was intercepted by the soldiers of the Saman family halfway and the contact plan failed. This time, the plan for missions was prepared six months ago. He sent special envoys to dress up as merchants to trade in the Uighurs, and went south from the Uighurs to the Tang Dynasty, and then successfully entered the Tang Dynasty.

He came here secretly. In order to prevent the news from leaking, Zhang Huan did not meet him in the Zichen side hall, but met this envoy who came from thousands of miles in the reception room of his imperial study. In addition to prime minister Han Huan and Cui Yu, the people who met were also Zhang Huan's eldest son Li Qi and his master Li Mi. After learning the whole story of the tree climbing incident on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Huan finally realized his negligence in his son's education. His son has become a little timid and cowardly in recent years. This is related to the inheritance of his great cause. Zhang Huan immediately appointed Hanlin scholar Li Mi as his eldest son's master to be responsible for his education. From today on, he also specially brought his son to meet envoys from various countries.

The special envoy of King Bahanna called Chissoya, who was the uncle of King Bahannana. He was over fifty years old this year, short and fat, with extremely lively eyes, and seemed to be able to speak more than his mouth. He was led into the imperial study by the guards and immediately knelt down to pay a big greeting to Zhang Huan: "I, Bahannanacissoya, bowed to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and wished His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to be powerful and to be at peace with the sun and the moon."

Zhang Huan waved his hand gently and smiled, "The special envoy is exempted from gifts and will give him a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chissoya sat down, and then took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhang Huan, "This is a handwritten letter from our king to His Majesty. Please check it out."

Zhang Huan took the letter, but he was not in a hurry to read it. He put the letter on the imperial case and then asked Chissoya: "What is the domestic situation in the country of Bakhan now? Can you introduce it to me first?"

"I obey the order." Chishoya Chang pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "Since the country of Bahan has been occupied by Dashi, the taxes have been heavier every year. At the earliest, it was only paid tithes. However, from ten years ago, Dashi rewarded the most fertile land of Bahan to the Saman family. All Bahan who grazed along the Zhenzhu River paid tithes to Dashi, while paying land use taxes to the Saman family, and 30% of the sheep they raised. In addition, Bahan must bear the burden.

To bear the military expenses of the Great Food Army and the Governor's governance expenses, in this way, six or seven out of ten of the harvests each year will be stripped away by the Great Food Man. Not only that, the Great Food Man forced us to change our faith a few years ago. For this reason, the Bakhan man set off countless resistances and was brutally suppressed. Since the new Caliph came to power last year, another method has been taken. Anyone who converts to the Great Food Mantra can reduce his tithing tax in half, while those who refuse to convert will double the tax and become tithing taxes."

Speaking of this, Chissoya sighed, his tone filled with sadness and longing for the past. "When we were a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty never levyed a penny of taxes from us, nor would it force us to change our beliefs. The man who was the Khan was always looking forward to the Tang Dynasty's return to the Zhenzhu River. Our king hoped that the Tang army would be like a baby looking forward to his parents, begging His Majesty to send troops as soon as possible and save us from the fire and water."

Zhang Huan nodded, and then he slowly opened the letter from King Bahan, which was written in Turkic language. The officials of the Honglu Temple had translated it into Chinese, meaning Bahan was willing to surrender to the Tang Dynasty again and help the Tang army drive away the great cannibals.

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and asked again: "Do you king still have an army?"

"In order to prevent the king from raising his army, the great cannibals have deprived the king of taxation rights, but our king still has three thousand troops, all of whom are the warriors who volunteered to serve the king."

The sudden good news was like a breeze, blowing away the fog that had been spreading in front of Zhang Huan's eyes. His strategic layout suddenly became clear at this moment. He expanded to all directions with Shattered Leaf as the center. He first destroyed Geluo to solve the stone of the hanging head, and then dispatched troops in Beiting, Jiuyuan and West Sushoujiang City. Then he ordered the Xiagas to cooperate with the deployment of the Tang Dynasty to curb the possible rash movements of the Uighurs. Then he captured Tocharo to relieve his worries and then develop eastward to strive for the return of the nine kingdoms of Zhaowu. In this way, the Tang Dynasty and the Dashi clique formed, and the second major goal of the Western Regions strategy was completed.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan immediately said sincerely to Chissoya: "If you go back, please tell your king that the Tang Dynasty will open its arms and embrace Bahanna's return."

Chissoya retreated, and Zhang Huan stood in front of the window and pondered. At this time, Han Huan stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, can you please tell me a word?"

"Please tell me, Prime Minister Han." Zhang Huan was awakened in contemplation and hurriedly sat back on his seat.

"Your Majesty wants to destroy Geluo, but are you worried that Tocharo's Great Food Army will head north?" Han Huan smiled slightly.

Seeing that he looked confident, Zhang Huan smiled and said, "If you have any good ideas, please tell me quickly and stop guessing riddles."

"I dare not. I heard a news at the Honglu Temple this morning that the Tubo envoys had arrived in Fengxiang three days ago. I guess they will arrive in Chang'an today or tomorrow."

"What do you mean" Zhang Huan suddenly understood what Han Huan meant, and formed an alliance with Tubo, allowing Tubo to send troops to restrain the Dashi Tochari army from the north. This was indeed a bold idea. In fact, this was the third time that Tubo sent envoys to worship the Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Dazhi, Tubo envoys came to express his willingness to reconcile with the Tang Dynasty. In May of the third year of Dazhi, Tubo sent envoys to Chang'an again to request an alliance with the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Huan immediately sent Li Gan, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, to send envoys to Tubo and Tubo.

In September of the third year of Dazhi, the two countries held an alliance ceremony in Logis. In the alliance letter, the Tubo officially recognized the demarcation of the territory of the two countries before the 14th year of Tianbao as the territory of the two countries, and agreed to return the abducted border residents of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army released the captured Tubo soldiers in several battles in the Western Regions and returned the remains of Zanpu Chisong Dezan who died of illness in Anxi. Then the two countries established border cities in Wanxiu City, Gongji City, and Baigu City in the Jiuqu area, and liberated the normal trade between the two countries.

The reconciliation between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty was not accidental. This was the inevitable result of one strong one and the other decline. After more than ten years of expansion, Tubo was finally dragged down by years of continuous wars. The Tang Dynasty was in the Western Regions and the Dashi in Tocharo and both of them suffered heavy damage to the Tubo army. In addition, the melee between the two major internal forces finally led to the overall decline of Tubo and was no longer able to compete with the Tang Dynasty.

However, Zhang Huan was still a little worried that the Tubo people would recover and become the enemy of the Tang Dynasty again, so he turned his head to look at Li Mi, hoping that he could solve his doubts.

Li Mi understood Zhang Huan's thoughts, and he stepped forward to salute Zhang Huan and said, "Your Majesty, I agree with the idea of ​​Han Prime Minister to use Tubo to restrain the Tocharian army of food, but I also need to add some suggestions."

"Hanlin said it just right."

Li Mi smiled slightly and said, "I think the Tubo people are actually no longer able to compete for Tochar, so letting Tubo send troops is only a kind of momentum, and the Tubo people are in a weak position, so they still cannot completely stop the possibility of the great cannibals from splitting troops to rescue the Geluo people. However, this is exactly what I hope, let the Tochari Dashi Army rescue Geluo, and Your Majesty send troops from Shule again."

"It's wonderful!" Before Li Mi finished speaking, Han Huan cried out in dismay. He bowed and bowed to Zhang Huan and said, "Your Majesty, Li Hanlin's plan to void soldiers is indeed extremely wonderful. This is called building a plank road openly and secretly traveling to Chen Cang. I think it's feasible."

Zhang Huan also stroked his beard and laughed. Jiang is indeed a hot-tempered person. Li Mi’s strategy is excellent, but this good show must be performed more realistically.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Tubo envoy arrived in Chang'an and paid homage to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Huan then ordered Cui Yu to be the Tubo envoy and sent an envoy to negotiate the matter of Tubo sending troops to contain the Tocharian Dashi Army.

During the New Year, Chang'an was crowded, and the imperial examination for the fifth year of the first lunar month will be held on the sixth day of the first lunar month. Therefore, 150,000 scholars from all over the country gathered in Chang'an, envoys from various countries and their large number of followers, officials from all over the country who came to report their duties, and businessmen from all over the world who came to Chang'an to do business, made the streets of Chang'an very crowded, especially the East City, which was even more popular.

The East City of Chang'an is different from the West City. The West City mainly sells various bulk materials such as grain, cloth, tea, etc. The business was the hottest before the New Year. However, after the New Year, the business in the West City quickly faded and it began to be the prosperity of the East City. The East City mainly sells various jewelry, jade, porcelain, silk, and precious specialties from various countries, and other relatively luxurious items. From the New Year to before the 15th, people coming to the East City will be endless. Ordinary people saved up a year to buy some valuable things. The relationship between dignitaries and nobles and family consumption is also concentrated at this time. In addition, there are also merchants and envoys from various countries to come to the East City to buy goods. Therefore, on the third day of the New Year, the East City is crowded with men, women, and young people coming to shop for shopping.

In Fubaoji in Dongshi City, Chang'an, a guy is selling some pearl jade to two young people. "Please look, these pearl necklaces are round and full. This is produced from the sea of ​​Japan. It is the best among pearls. The girl's skin is white. Hanging on her neck can better show her beauty. How about the young master? Buy it for the beauty!"

One of the two young people is Cui Yao, and the other is naturally the Princess of the Kiagas Gu Dai. Cui Yao specially brought her to Dongshi to buy some jewelry today. She has been in Chang'an for more than half a month. Cui Yao and Gu Dai are becoming more and more familiar with each other, especially since she took the initiative to ask Chinese, there was an unspeakable love between the two.

At this time, Gu Dai's appearance was very different from the beginning. She washed away all the oil paints. Her facial features were exquisite, her skin was as white as ice crystals. Her eyes were blue, like a deep pool. She had golden hair and a petite and plump figure. She was one year younger than Cui Yao. She was fifteen years old after the New Year. According to the customs of Kias, she should get married this year. Her father would hold a martial arts competition for her and call the bravest Kias warrior as her son-in-law. However, Gu Dai was deeply influenced by her brother and was full of admiration for the Tang Dynasty culture. Cui Yao's profound knowledge and elegant temperament deeply attracted this foreign girl. She was fascinated by it and quietly tied her first love to Cui Yao.

Cui Yao is the same. He is sixteen years old this year and is at the age of falling in love. Gu Dai is the first woman to break into his heart. He will never forget that night, when Gu Dai asked him for help, he hid behind her and trembled like a lamb. From that moment on, he had a sense of protecting this delicate girl. The beauty and mellowness after Gu Dai washed off his makeup made him even more excited.

He prefers Gu Dai's intelligence. Although she can speak some Chinese, she can barely talk in Chinese in just half a month. This talent in language really surprised Cui Yao.

However, although the two of them had a crush on each other, neither of them was embarrassed to expose the thin layer of window paper. At this moment, Cui Yao saw Gu Dai hanging the pearl necklace on his neck, showing the slenderness and beauty of her jade neck, and he said without hesitation: "I bought it, how much does it cost?"

The guy was secretly proud of himself. He pointed at him, "Young Master, this necklace is 100 cents, or you can pay silver coins."

Cui Yao's heart was thunderous. He only had thirty cents of flying tickets on him, which was too far away. What should I do? Cui Yao's face showed a look of embarrassment.

"Mr. Cui, I don't like this necklace. Let's go to another house to have a look!" Gu Dai gently placed the necklace on the counter, pulled Cui Yao's sleeve and walked out.

The guy was panicked and hurriedly chased after him with his necklace, "Young master, why don't you give you a cheaper one? Okay! OK! Take sixty cents, this is the lowest price."

Cui Yao sighed secretly. He was not enough for fifty stags of money. Seeing that he refused to buy it, the guy had to come back with a necklace. The necklace was actually only ten stags, but there were too many customers in the store, so he didn't dare to really call out the real price.

Cui Yao and Gu Dai left the jewelry store a few steps, and Cui Yao suddenly shouted: "Ah! I have something forgotten in the store just now."

He quickly said to Gudai: "You wait for me here and I'll go back and get it!"

After saying that, he ran to the jewelry store in a panic and ran into the store. He grabbed the guy and asked, "Where is that necklace! I bought it."

The guy was overjoyed and quickly took out the necklace and put it into a deer leather bag. "Young master has such a good eye. There is nothing to say about this necklace that matches your partner, okay! Please take it, sixty cents of money."

Cui Yao took out a thirty-calorie ticket, took out a piece of beautiful jade given to him by his grandfather from his waist, and gave it to his friend and repeatedly reminded him: "I don't have enough money, I will bet on you for the time being. I will come to redeem it after a while. Don't lose it."

The guy glanced at the jade, and saw that it was gentle and delicate, with an ancient shape, and it was a top-quality jade, worth at least 100% of the time. He quickly put it in and smiled and said, "Don't worry, young master, the shop has a great reputation and will definitely not be lost."

Cui Yao was afraid that Gu Dai would have something to do outside, so he grabbed Lu Pingbiao and ran out. When he saw her standing in the corner of the house when he went out, he ran up and smiled, "I've let you wait for a long time."

Gudai glanced at the deer-skin bag in his hand and asked curiously: "What is this?"

Cui Yao took out the necklace from the bag and stuffed it into her hand. He scratched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly: "I'll go buy it."

Gudai looked at him silently. For a while, she hung the necklace around her neck and whispered: "Actually, I like it very much."

"Just like it!" Cui Yao pulled her, "Let's go, let's have a meal."

But after running a few steps, Cui Yao suddenly stopped again. He bought all his money and had no money on his body. At this time, Gu Dai took out a small piece of golden leaves, smiled and said, "I'll treat you to a meal, how about it?"

The two of them came to a small restaurant and picked a seat by the window on the second floor to sit down. Cui Yao ordered a few side dishes and a pot of wine. Gu Dai looked at the bustling crowd on the street and couldn't help but sigh: "There are so many people in the Tang Dynasty. It's rare for us to meet someone if we walk dozens of miles there."

"Chang'an is the capital, of course there are many people. Like Anxi, isn't Hexi also sparsely populated?"

Cui Yao poured her a glass of wine, smiled and asked again, "Are you happy to come out today?"

Gu Dai nodded, "I'm very happy, but I heard from my elder brother that you will take the exam tomorrow, but I'm sorry to ask you to teach me Chinese every day."

"It's nothing!" Cui Yao waved his hand and laughed: "I've been studying for so many years. Will I forget if I don't study for more than ten days?"

"But I still want to thank you!" Gu Dai lowered his head and gently touched the necklace on his neck, and said shyly.
Chapter completed!