Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 12 Key Information - Salt

"Servant, the eldest son of Duke Jiarun, Qi Jingtong, the eldest son of Qigong Jiarun, the governor of the Jiedu Yamen and the guard of the Yumen Army, bow down to the Taibao Gong!"

Sure enough, old Zhang Zhong was dismissed by Qi Xiahu, whose real name is Qi Jingtong, who was eavesdropping outside the door just now.

Otherwise, he would never have bowed down as soon as he came in. The statue of Zhang Yichao, which had been broken into pieces and only been picked up briefly, had a flushed face full of emotion.

Zhang Zhao also knew why this Xiahu Qi got along with old Zhang Zhong, because this guy's father turned out to be Qi Jiarun, the governor of the Jiedu Yaqian and the guard of the Yumen Army during Zhang Chengfeng's period.

The Duya Ya in front of the Jiedu Ya is the highest-ranking official of the Guiyi Army Jiezhen. It's about the same level as a Taiwei.

The garrison envoy of the Yumen Army is a very important real-time military post of the Guiyi Army. The administrative divisions of the Guiyi Army during Zhang Chengfeng's Jinshan Kingdom and Cao's Guiyi Army were divided according to the model of two states and eight towns.

The two states are the two states of Guasha, and the eight towns are Shouchang, Ziting, Changle, Xuanquan, Yonggui, Xincheng, Xinxiang, and Kuaiji.

Most of these eight towns are combined with towns and counties, that is to say, the guardian envoy of the town is not only the highest officer of the military town, but also the county magistrate in charge of civil affairs, which is equivalent to the Jiedu envoy among the Jiedu envoys.

Where is the garrison envoy of the Yumen Army?Just near today's Yumen Pass, he is the highest military institution in charge of the two towns of Xinxiang, Kuaiji and the fortress Yumen Pass, so other towns can only be called garrison envoys or containment envoys, but the Yumen Army is called Junshou envoys.

To the east of Yumen Pass is the feud of the Guiyi Army and the biggest source of threat to the Ganzhou Uighurs.

The garrison envoy of the Yumen Army was specially set up to defend against the Uighurs in Ganzhou. It has always been a high-ranking member of the Guiyi Army, second only to the existence of the Jiedu envoy and the governor of Erzhou.

Therefore, during Zhang Chengfeng's period, Qi Jiarun, the governor of the Jiedu Yaqian and the guard of the Yumen Army, was definitely a confidant.

Besides, according to Qi Xiahu, Zhang Chengfeng sent troops to rescue Qi Jiarun from the Canwei people. This kind of top confidant, when the Cao family replaces Zhang, it is estimated that he can save his life, which is considered a high incense.

"It turns out that Brother Qi's father is Duke Qi, the governor of Yaqian. After all, he is a famous general. The tiger father has no dogs!"

Zhang Zhao sent another high hat at the right time, and at the same time, he was a little more confident in persuading Qi Xiahu.

The person in front of him is almost deeply bound to him, and what he needs to do now is to break his heart that is willing to conspire with the Kucha Uyghurs and even become a Uyghur in order to survive.

"Don't praise me, Mr. Erlang, what a hero my father is, and now the children and grandchildren have been reduced to the point where they can't survive. I'm just a dog who can't live up to it!"

After prostrating, Qi Xiahu stood up, with tears in his eyes.

"Is the situation in the village difficult?" Originally, it was just a compliment and wooing, but Qi Xiahu's reaction made Zhang Zhao feel a little bit emotional. Qi Xiahu is a dog, so this Zhao is probably not even a dog. Bar?
"It's not that it's difficult, but it's simply impossible to maintain. Although there is no shortage of food, there has been a lack of salt in the village for two full months. Women and children can only get a small bowl of salt water every five days to hang their lives, and the strong can only have one bowl every two days. We live on a pinch of salt, and we are short of linen, and not much fabric to keep out the cold."

Mrs. Cao's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, because he knew who Qi Xiahu and the people in the cottage were.

After Zhang Chengfeng failed in the war with the Ganzhou Uighurs and was forced to recognize the Ganzhou Uighur Khan as his father, the Han people in Gua and Sha all resented Zhang Chengfeng forcibly imitating his grandfather Zhang Yichao's conquest of the East and West, regardless of his own strength, and was punished. The most serious disaster caused heavy casualties to the people of Guasha.

After that, the Zhang family's prestige in the hearts of the people in Guasha disappeared. Even Zhang Chengfeng's favorite minister, the prime minister Zhang Wenche, abandoned Zhang Chengfeng.

Qi Jiarun, the envoy of the Yumen Army who returned to Dunhuang City, brought a small number of Yumen Army soldiers to act as Jiedu Yamen soldiers. It can be said that he was Zhang Chengfeng's last confidant.

When her grandfather (grandfather) Cao Yijin entered the palace to force Zhang Chengfeng to abdicate, the only obstacle was the small Yumen army led by Qi Jiarun.

So these people were directly exiled after the Cao family replaced Zhang.

To the east of Shouchang, there are the Kuci Uyghurs descending from the Jinshan Mountain in the south, the Canwei people who occupy the Loulan area of ​​Zhongyun Kingdom in the west, the Yizhou Uyghurs in the north, and the sandbar in the east that restricts the flow of materials. It can be said that there are enemies on all sides.

Therefore, if the people in the cottage do not join forces with the Kucha Uighurs, or if they are attached to the Kucha Uighurs, there is indeed only a dead end. In fact, they can survive until now, and they have not disappeared into the rolling yellow sand for almost twenty years. It's amazing.

And to persuade these people who can no longer survive to give up the only way of life in front of them, Mrs. Cao San has given up any hope, and survival is the best in the world.

But Zhang Zhao didn't think so, he took Qi Xiahu's hand and asked him to sit down opposite him.

"Brother Jingtong, why did your ancestors sacrifice their lives to recover the six counties in Hexi with the Taibao Gong back then? At that time, Tubo was not in decline like it is today, but the Taibao Gong raised his arms and the heroes of the six counties looked forward to the scenery. Isn't it for us descendants Do you no longer serve the Tubo people as slaves?"

Qi Xiahu took a deep breath, and shook his head with difficulty, "Mr. Erlang, do you know our suffering? In this village, a pinch of salt can undress a young woman, and a piece of linen can make a brother There are many people who can't walk because of the lack of salt and can't walk.

How could this one not know the strategy of a loyal man, which is to drink poison to quench thirst, but does Mr. Erlang know the suffering of hunger and cold?Do you know the pain of eating without salt?That is incomparable to thousands piercing the heart and thousands of ants devouring the body!

Qi would rather be hacked to death or burned to death, and never want to taste the burning of internal organs again, so even if he knows that he will have no face to meet his ancestors under Jiuquan after death, he can't just watch them freeze. starved to death. "

The lack of salt was a big problem. In fact, it was a big problem for the whole of Hexi in the Tang Dynasty, because the salt in the Hexi Corridor was mainly produced in two regions.

One is the Liaoquan area in the northwest of Ganzhou City occupied by the Ganzhou Uighurs, which is the vicinity of Gaotai County in Gansu in later generations, and the other is Chengzhou, which is Lixian County in Longnan City in later generations.

However, there seems to be a problem!
Zhang Zhao stared at Qi Xiahu with an intriguing look. Gradually, the generosity on Qi Xiahu's face for saving everyone's life faded, and after a while, he showed the same embarrassment as Mrs. Cao San.

Since there is a lack of salt, since Qi Xiahu knows that Zhang Zhong's plan is to drink poison to quench his thirst, or to lure wolves into the house, then he still wants to follow suit?
Is there assurance of an adequate supply of salt?
If there is no such guarantee, they will not be able to solve their difficulties if they mess around with Zhang Zhong!

So where does the salt come from?Could there be extra salt in the Qilian Mountains where the Kucha Uighurs live?
Don't be kidding, the place is high and windy and cold. Compared with them, Shouchang County, where there are two or three sandstorms every year, is considered heaven.

Otherwise, these Kucha Uyghurs would not have run down from Qilian Mountain as soon as they were out of the control of the Tubo people.

Then the ones with sufficient salt supply can only come from Ganzhou. That is to say, behind the Kucha Uighurs entering the sandbar, there is likely to be the support of the Ganzhou Uighurs, and this blind tiger is also likely to have Zhang Zhong on his back. I have had contact with the Kucha Uyghurs.

so close!If he hadn't repeatedly mentioned the word salt, Zhang Zhao wouldn't have thought about it at all.

And Zhang Zhaoneng discovered the connection, because historically, the biggest reason why the Guiyi Army failed to resist the infiltration of the Kucha Uyghurs in the end was that the Ganzhou Uyghurs, who were of the same origin as the Kucha Uyghurs, supported them behind the scenes, so this is not Speculation, but it has happened in history.

Of course, Cao Yijin is still alive, and the situation between the Guiyi Army and the Ganzhou Uighurs is that the Guiyi Army has the upper hand.

But in history, since Cao Yijin, the Ganzhou Uyghurs have gradually gained the upper hand. In order not to give the Ganzhou Uyghurs a population, the Guiyi Army has not dared to target the Kucha Uyghurs in the territory.

With the support of the Ganzhou Uighurs, the Kucha Uighurs gradually began to control other nomadic tribes in Shazhou, and finally gradually formed the Shazhou Uighurs.

Even in history, the words Cao Xianshun, the Uighur leader of Shazhou appeared in the records of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, which means that the Guiyi Army has been gradually overwhelmed and assimilated by the Uighurs.

In today's situation, if Ge Duo is replaced by Shazhou Uighurs, and Qi Xiahu is regarded as the Guiyi Army, isn't it just a small-scale repeat of history?
(End of this chapter)