Chapter 448: Broken Leaf Fengyun (Thirteen)

"Ah! If a person can fly like a bird,

Escape! Sail forward like a boat!

With you, my soul, go beyond everything and into everything.

Navigate in the water like a ship.

Collect these hints and omens, blue sky, stream water, morning dew,

This milky grass smells like the fragrance, this bush covered with dark green heart-shaped leaves,

Shy flower, the petite and delicate white flower named "Natural",

To decorate my beloved jungle—to sing with the birds,

Sing a affectionate song for the joy of returning in memory.”

Gudai's beautiful and beautiful singing echoed in the milky white woods in the morning. In a tent, the Tang soldiers lay or leaned, listening to the song from the heavenly sounds in a daze. Leaving the Khikas, Gudai seemed to have become a different person. His wide black robe was thrown away and he changed to a green tight suit, showing her slender and charming figure. His long golden hair set off her snow-white skin. Her personality was very lively. Sometimes she wore a garland of fiery red leaves on her head, sometimes she chased the deer like a child, and sometimes she sang with the birds in the morning. Her beauty, appearance and beautiful singing attracted every Tang army soldier. Even Shi Yang slowly fell in love with this cute and vibrant girl. He leaned on a big tree and listened quietly to her singing, as if he saw a distant and beautiful paradise from her singing.

In front of a clear stream a hundred steps away, mist was filled with mist. Gu Dai was like an elf from the forest, sitting on a big rock, combing her long golden waterfall hair, her snow-white skin was stained with morning dew, and it shone with a string of pearl necklaces on her swan-like neck. Her blue eyes were a hint of sadness. I wonder if the person she loved could know her longing and hesitation at this time.

She sang in a gentle voice:

"I'll look for you because I miss you, sitting alone in me,

Or when you wake up late at night,

I will wait and believe that you and I will meet again,

I will pay attention and never miss you."

At this time, a long shout interrupted the tranquility of the morning, "I hit a wild boar, come and help me!"

This was Kurband's shout, and the singing by the stream stopped abruptly. The Tang soldiers jumped up and ran out of the woods as if they had finished the morning ceremony. Gudai also hurriedly closed his hair, put on his long boots, and ran along the river to the west of the woods.

A big black guy lay in a grass outside the woods. This was a male wild boar weighing 400 pounds. Two arrows shot through its eyes and penetrated through its mind. This is the origin of the No. 1 Warrior of the Kias. Not only is he outstanding in archery skills, he can fight wild animals alone, but he is also extremely powerful and can lift a 400 pound behemoth from miles away.

In Kurbend, there were countless girls who admired him. Even Gudai's two half-sisters longed to marry him, but he fell in love with the most beautiful princess in Kurben like crazy. Unfortunately, the flowing water was affectionate, but the falling flowers were unintentional. Gudai, who yearned for Han civilization, fell in love with a scholar from the Tang Dynasty.

Kurbend has the self-esteem of a man from Khakis. Although he came for Gudai, he would never show his unrequited love in front of the Tang army. He also firmly believed that Gudai was just a moment of confusion. Sooner or later, she would wake up. She belonged to the forests and grasslands in the north and to Khakis. When she woke up, he would take her home.

Kurbend was like a partner of the Tang army, leading the way for them and hunting that he was best at. His bravery and simplicity also won the respect of the Tang army. He had no time to hold a breakfast barbecue party. The Tang army drew out daggers, while praising Kurbend's courage, he cut a piece of meat from the wild boar, washed it in the river, and put it in the skin. Perhaps they could have a barbecue meal tonight.

Kurband smiled proudly. He liked to listen to words of praise. Although he could not understand Tang Jun's praise, he could read their sincerity from Tang Jun's eyes.

When he saw Gudai running, he immediately cut off the tenderest piece from the boar's waist and handed it to her, "Give it! This is yours."

"Thank you, Brother Kur." Gu Dai took it happily, washing the blood in the river as the Tang army was like the Tang army.

Kurban looked at her silently. He saw a string of pearl necklaces on Gudai's neck slide out of his collar and hang in the water. Kurban's heart was like a needle prick, and the muscles on his face shook violently. This necklace was only found after she went to Chang'an. Gudai, who had only a moment of enthusiasm for jewelry, seemed to have never taken it off. Needless to say, Kurban could guess that this pearl necklace must be the kindness that the man gave her.

"Are you all?" Shi Yang walked out of the woods on a horse. When he saw Tang Jun washing the meat with a smile, he immediately shouted loudly: "Go back and pack up immediately and set off immediately!"

The Tang soldiers were so scared that they ran back to the woods and packed the tents and blankets. Gu Dai hurried back to the lodge, but was surprised to find that her tent had been neatly folded, but her belongings had not moved at all. She seemed to have thought of something and looked back at Shi Yang. She saw Shi Yang riding on a horse, holding a horse whip in her hand and urging the Tang army, without looking at her at all.

Seeing that Tang Jun was moving quickly, Gu Dai basically folded the tent. She hurriedly stuffed the tent into a leather bag, then put her belongings into another leather bag, tied the two leather bags together and put them on the horse, so she had packed it up. Because she had traveled a long distance, she also had two horses, all of which were one in a hundred horses. She skillfully turned over and urged the horse to come to the Tang Army.

Kurband also came on horseback. He had nothing. He slept on trees at night, which was also the skill of the hunter of the Khikas. In winter, in order to hunt wolves, he could not even get down the tree for a month.

Shi Yang glanced at everyone, waved his hand, and the Tang army left the woods like a strong wind and continued to gallop south.

Four days later, everyone gradually moved away from the forest area and came to the semi-arid Gobi mountainous area. In order to avoid the controlled area of ​​the Uighurs, they walked west of Yibohai and rushed in a desert valley. The Yibohai had already passed the Yibohai. On the other side of the ridge was the upper reaches of the Saiye River. They walked more than 300 miles south to reach Ashibulai City.

The sky was getting darker, and everyone had been exhausted after walking for a day. Shi Yang was quite familiar with this area. He pointed to a turtle-shaped huge rock in front of him and said, "There is a small river over there, which should not have dried up yet. Let's camp by the river! Let's go tomorrow morning."

Everyone walked forward for several miles and saw a small river. The river water was very shallow, with only two trickles left. After nearly twenty days of difficult trek, the Tang army had already become familiar with what to do next. There was no need to give instructions. One person set up a tent, some people fetched water and cooked, and the other people went around looking for dry firewood.

Gu Dai's camp was a little far from the Tang army's camp. Two Tang army helped her lay the tent on a huge rock, about fifty steps away from the host camp. Shi Yang did not dare to let her go too far. Wolves often appeared in this area.

Soon, a cluster of bonfires lit up, and the blazing fire illuminated the night sky. Everyone was exhausted. They had a meal, fell into the tent and fell asleep, leaving only two soldiers watching the night.

Shi Yang couldn't sleep, sat on a big rock by the river, staring at the two thin rivers in a daze. He was worried about the Battle of Saiye. He had been in a stalemate since September. I don't know when the two sides would break the deadlock. What made Shi Yang depressed was that this was a magnificent city offensive and defensive battle, but he was out of the matter and guarded a deserted stone fort. There was obviously 20,000 Dashi Army to attack, but disappeared overnight. In the future, the reward of merits and merits will be rewarded with a few more shadows on Saiye's merit book.

Shi Yang had a strong sense of self-esteem. He never wanted to tell in front of others that he was the adopted son of the current emperor. Moreover, it took less than a year for him to be promoted from a small sergeant to general of the commander. Someone had already dissatisfied and began to explore his background. If someone found out that he was the adopted son of the emperor, everyone would look like he suddenly realized. This was what made him deeply ashamed of. His promotion was step by step, defending Canglong City, shooting and killing Chief Geluo, and capturing Ashi Bulai City. Despite this, Shi Yang still felt a little uneasy. These achievements still seemed too dim under the halo of the prince's background. He had to make unparalleled contributions to truly block everyone's mouth.

Shi Yang looked up at the boundless night sky and the bright stars in the sky. He murmured to himself: "Where is the opportunity to achieve unparalleled achievements?"

"General Shi." The shout interrupted his thoughts, and a black shadow rushed towards him. It was Kurband. When he ran closer, Shi Yang found that his face was full of panic. He couldn't help but ask slightly, "What happened?"

"I just found this by the river." Kurband stretched out his slightly trembling hand, with a wolf dung egg in his palm. "This is fresh wolf dung. There are a lot of it by the river ahead, but I haven't found it when I set up camp just now."

Shi Yang stood up, they were stared at by the wolves. At this moment, a loud shout from a sentry came from afar, "Wolf pack! Get up quickly, there are wolves!"

Immediately afterwards, Gudai's scream came from the rock. Kurbend was crazy and jumped up and ran towards Gudai's camp. Shi Yang flashed toward the camp. He ran and shouted loudly, "Get up quickly, search the guys to protect the war horses, hurry up!"

The Tang army got up one after another, picked up the crossbow, ran towards the war horse with a horizontal knife. Shi Yang reached out and grabbed a long bow, put two pots of arrows on his back, turned around and ran towards the rock where Gudai was camping.

At this moment, the war horses cried and the soldiers shouted in a panic. There were countless wolves around him pounced on this side, with dark shadows everywhere, making low howlings. Shi Yang had just run over twenty steps, suddenly there was a flash in front of him, two wolves rushed towards him, one on the left and one on the right, his movements were as fast as lightning, and two arrows shot out at the same time, with strong force, and shot through the heads of the two wolves.

The two wolves let out a wail at the same time, their bodies were bent into a ball, and they fell to the ground and died. Shi Yang kicked the dead wolf away. At this time, he heard Kurbender's roar and Gudai's scream, and let down his heart slightly, she was still alive.

Shi Yang jumped up to a three-meter-high rock. Twenty steps away, two sentries were fighting with Kurband with the wolves. Nearly a hundred wolves gathered under the rock and attacked them in turn. The wolf corpses lay on the ground, one of the Tang soldiers seemed to have been injured, gasping for breath, while Gu Dai stood behind the three of them, holding a sharp sword in his hand, constantly chopping the wild wolves trying to jump from behind the rock.

Shi Yang was condescending, and suddenly found a wolf attacking Kurband from the side, but he didn't seem to notice. The situation was very critical. Shi Yang opened his bow and arrow, loosened his fingers. When the bowstring sounded, a sharp arrow shot into the back of the wolf, and directly nailed it to the ground. Shi Yang smiled coldly, pulled the arrow up and shot it like a pearl arrow. One arrow was as fast as an arrow. Each arrow was shot, and a wolf must have fallen to the ground. In a blink of an eye, more than thirty wolves were killed by arrows. The wolf pack saw that the people on the rock were powerful and retreated one after another. However, Shi Yang's arrow was possessed like a shadow and chased them. In an instant, more than a dozen wolves fell to the ground. The wolf pack did not dare to stay and turned around and fled.

When Shi Yang saw the opportunity appear, he immediately shouted loudly: "You guys hurry up and go to the bonfire, I will cover you."

Kurband carried the injured Tang army on his back and turned around and shouted to Gudai and another Tang army, "Come with me!"

The three of them ran towards this side, one after another, and dozens of wolves appeared on both sides of them, dark and suddenly jumped towards them. Shi Yang stood on the high stone, shot arrows from left to right, and shot nearly twenty wolves. At this moment, an extremely majestic wolf king appeared. It stood alone on the rock opposite, staring at Shi Yang with cold eyes.

Shi Yang cursed lowly, reached out to draw the arrow, but sucked it in vain. The two pots of arrows on his back had been shot. The wolf king seemed to understand something. It jumped towards Gu Dai, the weakest of the few people. Seeing that the situation was critical, Shi Yang did not think about it, and pulled out the horizontal knife and rushed down the rock. He pushed Gu Dai away, and hit the head with a knife towards the wolf king.

The wolf king was extremely agile. Its body twisted in the air, dodged a sharp knife, turned its head, and bit Shi Yang's neck like lightning. Shi Yang was shocked. It was too late to hide. He even smelled the wolf king's smelly breath. At this critical moment, Gu Dai shouted and rushed from the side, knocked down Shi Yang and snatched a fatal blow. The wolf king pounced on the air. Its body flexibly rotated in the air, landing gently and trickily one meter away, but he was not in a hurry to attack again. He just stared at Shi Yang coldly. Its purpose was very simple, which was to lead Shi Yang down from the huge rock, and there was no need for it to take action in the future.

Shi Yang escaped from death. He pulled Gu Dai back to the boulder, and his eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Kurband had already run away with the injured Tang army on his back for more than twenty steps, and another Tang army also escaped from the wolves. At this time, more than one hundred wolves had gathered from all sides. They stared at the human who killed dozens of their companions with great hatred, waiting for the order of the wolf king.

Shi Yang held the knife in one hand and held Gu Dai's hand in the other, knowing that he might not be spared. He smiled bitterly and turned his head to look at Gu Dai. Under the moonlight, her blonde hair was scattered on her shoulders, covering half of her face. But this kind of cover showed her shaking beauty. Her skin was as soft as mutton fat, her nose with high and soft lines, and her plump and small red lips. Gu Dai also looked at him, her bright eyes were as gentle as antelope's eyes. She also realized the arrival of the last moment, and her body instinctively leaned towards him. Shi Yang was a little stunned. He suddenly felt her hand, tender and smooth, and a taste that had never been seen before, as if a sweet spring water flowed into his heart.

Gu Dai suddenly realized something sensitively. She hurriedly let go, and her jade hand pulled out of Shi Yang's palm. She lowered her long eyelashes and whispered: "If you can survive, tell Cui Lang for me that I will marry him in the next life."

Shi Yang seemed to be hit hard by a heavy object. He suddenly woke up and a sense of pride rushed into his heart. He laughed wildly: "You won't die, I don't take them seriously even if you have dozens of beasts."

He stepped forward and slashed at the Wolf King's void with a knife. This was his naked challenge. The Wolf King's cold eyes suddenly closed into a line. It was angered by the arrogance and arrogance of this human being. It suddenly raised its head and howled to the full moon, with its screams particularly shrill.

More than a dozen wolves roared at Shi Yang. Shi Yang roared and slashed left and right. The two wolf corpses that were leading the way split up. The smelly wolf blood sprayed him all over his face. Gu Dai was also infected by his courage. She was excited and stinged the wolf that was pounced on the side, but their momentum was quickly overwhelmed by the group of wolves. Gu Dai's sword was bitten by a wolf. Shi Yang's two fists could not match four hands, and he wanted to protect Gu Dai again, blocking the left and right, which was obviously difficult to resist.

At this moment, an arrow roared and strongly, pushing a vicious wolf that was pounced on Shi Yang through his head. Then, two arrows arrived one after another, and shot the two wolves who were trying to attack Gudai. A few dozen steps away, Kurband held a longbow in his hand and was wearing four pots of arrows full of arrows. His movements were fast and his archery technique was accurate. Several wolves who were trying to get close to him were shot to death on the spot.

Not far behind him, dozens of Tang soldiers came, each of them holding five or six torches in their hands and shouted loudly to Shi Yang: "General, don't panic, we will pick you up."

Shi Yang was greatly inspired. He slashed a wolf that was about to escape with his backhand, and then raised his sword to chop the wolf king provocatively. Perhaps because of the torch, the wolf king's eyes finally showed timidity. It raised its head and howled a few times, and fled westward first. The wolves had no heads and fled with the wolf king one after another. In an instant, the wolf pack threw down more than 200 wolf corpses and escaped completely.

Shi Yang breathed a long sigh of relief. He had no strength left all over his body and sat down exhausted. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, glanced back at Gu Dai, and smiled faintly, "From now on, Cui Yao owe me a favor."

After nearly a month and a half, Cui Yao finally arrived at Hamadan, the core city of the Abbas Caliph Empire. The Wumaiye Dynasty and the Abbasid Dynasty, which were collectively called Dashi in Eastern history books, but they were two completely different dynasties. Baimaiye was a dynasty established by the Arabians (that is, today's Arabs), while Dashi was a dynasty established by the Persians. Fifty years ago, Abbasid, a Persian aristocrat who lived in Khorasan.

The uprising of the Khorasans overthrew the Wumaiye Dynasty and established the Abbasid Dynasty. Except for religion and language, nothing else from the Arabians could be preserved. This dynasty was lucky. Its second caliph Jafar and fifth caliph Rashid were two monarchs with great talent and strategy. One laid a solid foundation for the Abbasid Dynasty and the other made the Abbasid Dynasty prosperous. At this moment, it was the fifth year of the ascension of Rashid Caliph.

The Tigris River basin is already a little cold in October. The strong wind from the north blows across the ground, raising the dust in the sky. The poplar leaves on the roadside are gone, shaking in the cold wind.

Although Cui Yao was a prisoner, he was full of curiosity and yearning for this distant Western empire. Along the way, the foreign style made him gradually forget his situation. In addition, Agush was quite tolerant of him. Seeing that he was very interested in the culture of the Great Food, Agush also patiently taught him Arabic. A month and a half later, Cui Yao, who was hardworking and talented in language, could also simply communicate with Agush in daily conversations in Agush. Of course, he could only talk to some profound questions in Turkic.

On that night, the army returning from Samarkand set up a camp five miles from Hamadan.

Under the light of the big tent, Cui Yao's expression was solemn. He was a little incredible when he heard the words, "Your Highness, do you say that the tax paid by the Islamists every year is only forty-one taxes on his property?"

"Yes, this is our Islamic teaching. Islamists need to pay a certain amount of property every year to help the poor and dedicate it to the temple. We call it 'Zhika'. With the tax rate of your Tang Dynasty, it is forty-one taxes. We pay twenty-five dinars of property of one thousand dinars. Of course, if you are willing to give alms to the poor, it is not included."

Speaking of this, Agush seemed a little proud, "As far as I know, the lowest tax rate in your country is only thirty-one tax, and it is changed at will only depend on the likes and dislikes of a certain emperor. This year, thirty-one tax will become ten taxes next year, and even various harsh donations outside of taxation are endless, squeezing all the money and cream of the people. Unlike our big food, the doctrine clearly stipulates the proportion of 'zakata', so no caliph dares to change it at will."

"But you impose heavy taxes on the people of Zhaowu Nine Kingdoms and Tochar, and the land tax and count tax almost seized half of their property. Although tithing taxes were implemented last year, the taxed property was decided by the government rather than their real property. As we look at the way, people's lives are difficult. Is this also your light tax on taxes?"

Agush shook his head, "That's because they do not believe in Allah. They are not the people of Allah, and of course they cannot do it according to the doctrine."

"No, you are confusing right and wrong." Cui Yao sneered: "When I was in Kangguo, I heard with my own ears that many Kangguo people who converted to Islam still paid ten taxes and one tax, and did not enjoy the 'zakata' you said. Your Highness Agush, you won't deny this fact, right?"

Agush raised his head and smiled, "What's the matter? Although they converted to my religion, they were conquered people and of course they had to bear more taxes. This is natural. Otherwise, relying solely on the income from zakats, what would we do to support the army? We are not like you Han people, who have benevolent and righteous to foreign tribes, but cruelly exploited our people. No! We cannibals need to enjoy wealth and culture. As for the suffering, let those foreign tribes bear it!"

"So you can be so aggressive. You are so aggressive. You are actually trying to deprive more wealth and pass the disaster onto other nations in the name of religion. You are obviously extremely selfish, but you are here to accuse the benevolence and righteousness of the Tang Dynasty. Our Tang Dynasty did not exploit the people's land and property as you said. My Emperor and his Majesty impose twenty taxes on the people. Although it is higher than your genius, this is a tax that ordinary people can bear. As for the countries in the Western Regions, we do not collect their taxes, nor do we feed them with money and rice, and never interfere with their autonomy. Therefore, they are convinced and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. It is the long-term way to subdue people with benevolence and righteousness. Although your Daqi is now in a conquerora and repeatedly suppress the oppressed nations with force, have you ever thought about how to resolve the hatred accumulated over thousands of years? "

Cui Yao's tit-for-tat words made Agush speechless. He suddenly became a little angry and slapped the table and scolded: "Have you forgotten your identity? How many prisoners can get such treatment from you, please respect yourself!"

After saying that, he shook his sleeves and turned around angrily and left. As soon as he left the camp, he saw a servant coming to report: "Your Highness, someone outside the camp is asking for a visit."

"Is it Governor Hamadan? Tell him I'm not here!"

"No! It's not Governor Hamadan, the person who came was a Sogdian merchant. He said he was chasing him from Samarkand and said that His Highness knew him."

‘Catching from Samarkand?’ Agush was slightly stunned. There were many Sogdian merchants doing business in Baghdad, but this person was chased from Samarkand. Who was he?

"Take him in!"

The sudden guest interrupted Agush's anger. He quickly walked out of his tent, and then the Sogdian merchant who was asking for a meeting was brought in. He was an old man in his sixties, with a dusty face.

"It's you!" Agush did know this person, Muta, the son of former prime minister of Kang State and the famous transnational merchant in Samarkand.

The person who came was Muta, the Sogdian merchant who brought Cui Yao to Bakhan. He heard in Samarkand that Agush was going to bring a captured Tang envoy back to Baghdad in Bakhan, so he guessed that Cui Yao was arrested. In order to save Cui Yao's life, he chased him overnight and finally caught up with Agush's team in Hamadan.

Muta stepped forward and knelt down respectfully, "Muta, a civilian, knelt down to see His Highness the Prince!"

"What are you doing? Could it be that someone is making things difficult for your caravan?" Agush sat down. He couldn't figure out why these profit-oriented merchants chased him for thousands of miles.
To be continued...