Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 607 The return across the millennium

After a year and a half of repairs in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, although Ziwei Palace, the palace city of Luoyang, is still a large construction site, the construction of Luoyang city has basically been completed.

Although it does not have the scenery of the most prosperous city in the world like Luoyang, the god capital during the Wu Zhou period, it is not the magnificent Jingjing that bypasses the green fields after Huangchao.

Unexpectedly, Li Shengtian's frame was very simple. Even the king-level frame that Zhang Tie ordered Cao Yuanzhong to prepare for him, Li Shengtian threw it in Tongguan.

Those who came with him, except for two thousand Khotan warriors and hundreds of accompanying royal families, officials, and merchants, did not have any carriage frames or yellow umbrellas.

The only thing that stands out is a set of the Khotan king's guard of honor that was bestowed on Yu Chiyao by Tang Suzong Li Heng in the past.

Of course, this set of ceremonial guards is not the same set back then, but a copy after Khotan was restored, so there are some omissions and some specious things mixed in it.

Zhang Ting led all the civil and military forces, with the left and right Habayashi guards and the left and right Jinwu guards as guards. More than [-] people went north to Jinyong City to meet Li Shengtian.

Regardless of his identity as Zhang Ting's uncle, or his help to Zhang Ting, the 200-year loyalty of the Li family in Yutian alone is enough to deserve such a grand welcoming team.

Just outside Jinyong City, thousands of Khotan royal family members, civil and military officials and warriors collectively put on the uniforms that symbolize obeying orders. Everyone's heads were wrapped in red and their foreheads were wiped, looking extremely mighty.

When Li Shengtian landed in Mengjin, he specially sent Li Cunhui as an envoy to inform Li Shengtian that he did not need to kneel and worship when he arrived.

But after arriving outside the city of Jinyong, Zhang Ting went to greet him with Wenwu. As soon as he saw the Khotan team, he saw Li Shengtian, wearing a prince's court uniform, kneeling at the front of the team.

Zhang Ting hurried over to meet him, and was about to help Li Shengtian up, but he didn't want to be in front of him, Li Shengtian kowtowed, put his head on the ground, and when he lifted it up again, his forehead was already covered with loess.

Zhang Ting immediately slowed down and put on the majesty that an emperor should have, because he could tell that Li Shengtian was saluting him as a courtier.

"Your Majesty the King of Khotan, Yuchi Seng Wubo, kowtowed to His Majesty the Great Dynasty Emperor.

Since the second year of Zhide, Emperor Sumiao Daxuanxiao ordered my sixth ancestor Khotan King Yao to guard Anxi Khotan and guard the gate for the country.

Fanbai 90 years, although fell to Tubo, but never lost his heart of loyalty, fortunately, the king of Nanta used his ancestor Huanzu to appoint the emperor in Guasha to raise righteousness, expel Tubo, and also contacted the heroes of various ethnic groups in Khotan to raise troops to recover Yutian fill up.

Today, the king of Khotan will eventually lead the three governors of Khotan, 21 states, 87 counties, 47 households, and a population of 31 million to the country.

In the past, the entrustment of Emperor Sumiaoxuan of the great dynasty, the will of the ancestors, has finally lived up to it! "

Zhang Ting was shocked. He finally knew why Li Shengtian insisted on coming to the Central Plains, and why he was so persistent in being recognized by the Central Plains Dynasty?
Because this is their spiritual belonging to the Li family in Khotan, and it is their choice in civilization.

Since the 16th year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, in AD 73, Ban Dingyuan went to Khotan to kill the envoys of the Huns and help Khotan to restore the country. It has been almost 900 years. Except for the conflicts between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty due to the annexation of the Kemi Kingdom, Khotan He has always been the most loyal courtier and partner of the Central Plains Dynasty in the Western Regions.

Especially during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, since the Great Captain Chi was famous all over the Central Plains, the Kingdom of Khotan and Yuchi’s family became part of the culture of the Central Plains.

As a tribe from the west, it is likely that with the help of the Han army, the Scythian nation finally gained a foothold in Khotan. Khotan's cultural attributes have always had only two lines.

One is Buddhism, and the other is Han culture.

And when Buddhism died out in the Tianzhu area and gradually integrated into the Han culture, the root of Khotan was only the Han culture.

You must know that the real Khotan people in today's Khotan Jin Kingdom are relatively small, only three to 400,000 people.

To rule the southern Xinjiang of later generations, the entire Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, one-third of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and a small part of Kazakhstan can only be achieved if they become completely Han Chinese.

Only with the support of the Central Plains dynasty can the people of Khotan be fully converted in culture while preserving their wealth.

In addition, Zhang Wei also saw Guo Guangwei of Suiye Guo's family in the crowd. He is the current governor of Suiye and the son of Nestorian virtuous Guo Xuanqing.

On the left of Guo Guangwei, a young man with an embarrassed face is not Li Tongqi, the son of Li Guoshou, the deputy governor of Talas, who is it?

It turned out that Li Shengtian would talk about the three governors' districts, and claimed that there were more than two million people. It turned out that he persuaded the Suiye Guo family and the Taros Li family to come here.

Needless to say, this 'persuasion' scene will definitely not be so harmonious.

Zhang Tie stepped forward quickly and helped Li Shengtian up. What happened in the two time and space seemed to be intertwined in front of his eyes.

Historically, the Kingdom of Khotan and the Li Family of Khotan were the last echoes of Han culture in the vast land of Anxi.

Even if the largest agreement of the central court is included, it will take 700 years for the central court to truly recover the Western Regions since the Li family in Khotan was destroyed and the 22nd year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1757).

At that time, the Shiquan old man sent Cheng Gun Zhabu to completely defeat Zhungeer. The three generations of Kang, Yong and Qian in the Manchu Qing Dynasty almost emptied the entire treasury. Once controlled the Western Regions.

The final stability of the Western Regions was due to Duke Zuo Wenxiang leading the children of Huxiang to defeat the invader Agubai in the fourth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, that is, in 1878 AD.

Only then did this piece of homeland of the Han nationality, which has always been the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty, be confirmed in the territory of modern China.

And it has been 1001 years since Khotan destroyed the country in 77. People are neither things, not to mention the broken leaves, Ili River Valley and Tangnu Ulianghai that can no longer be collected.

Thinking of this, Zhang Ting shook Li Shengtian's hand with great emotion, "The loyalty of the former kings of Khotan is well known in the world, and the people of Khotan should be rewarded for not forgetting their homeland."

After finishing speaking, Zhang Ting looked back at the civil and military ministers, "Today we are playing the reunion music, a relative comes to beat the drums, and all the ministers can dance to celebrate!"

The servants brought drums and music, and the civil servants and generals also got off their horses and stood up. Zhang Ting sounded a drum, and thousands of people in Khotan dressed in red uniforms, led by Li Shengtian, sang and danced. Zhang Ting's civil servants and generals also Also dance in return.

There were bursts of drumming and singing in unison, and in the end even the people of Jinyong City cheered and danced.

Zhang Tie then invited Li Shengtian to get in the emperor's chariot and entered Luoyang City together with him, the momentum was extremely great.

Because this is not only a matter of Li Shengtian's return, but it can be said that half of the credit is due to Zhang Ting.

The more grand the welcome Li Shengtian received, the more radiant his face would be.

And Li Shengtian, who has always liked extravagance and big scenes, would not miss this opportunity, and the Khotan businessman who came with him did just that.

So Li Shengtian followed Zhang Ting into the recently renovated Suzaku Gate, and Khotan merchants wore gorgeous silk clothes to buy wantonly in Luoyang, which is like a large construction site.

From small items such as coarse cloth woven by the common people to buying an entire neighborhood in the north of the city, it was used as a residence for Khotanese people to live in Luoyang.

Then they began to give gifts from door to door. The gift was nothing but pickled mutton transported all the way from the west.

In today's Luoyang, sending anything is worse than sending mutton.

Because after Zhang Yu stabilized the situation in the Central Plains and the economy quickly recovered, although the countryside was not very rich, a large city like Luoyang became rich by contracting the country's projects.

This not only creates a large number of rich merchants, but also the common people who work are rich, and they have food, food and silver every day. If they are able to do carpentry, stonemasons and the like, the income will be even more considerable.

But when the people in Luoyang and other places have money, the standard of living cannot be improved.

It's not a big problem to eat enough. How can you say that there is still some suet oil and millet rice with some salt for a day, but if you want to upgrade it, it will be difficult.

After Zhang Ke promulgated the official wine order, the wine on the market was really unbearable.

The so-called official liquor order is that private brewing by a family is not allowed. The brewing must be reported first, and the brewed wine must be sold through the government. It is a weakened version of the alcohol prohibition order.

Can't help drinking!The food shortage in Henan has not yet passed.

I can't afford to drink now, and the sheep are because the population has not yet flourished after the catastrophe.

At this time, the price of sheep in Luoyang was three times that of Guanzhong and more than ten times that of Hexi.

Wang Sanlang hugged his own child and mixed in the crowd to cheer and celebrate.

Two years ago, the emperor gave him milk to live his child, and he was given a year's worth of Dingkouyin by the emperor. Since then, Wang Sanlang has become the emperor's loyal supporter.

So when he heard that there was a shortage of people in Luoyang, he took his whole family from Tokyo to Luoyang to settle down. Over the years, the living conditions have gradually improved. Wang Sanlang said that he was the emperor's benevolence.

This time the King of Khotan came to Beijing to see him, so he naturally wanted to support the emperor, and he waited until the King of Khotan entered the palace before Wang Sanlang went home with the child in his arms.

But it doesn't matter this time when I go home, I saw his wife at the door, flirting with a businessman in a fancy dress.

Wang Sanlang's heart tightened, his wife was pretty, and he was always worried about by the rascals nearby, and he was worried all the time, but now he came to the door, is that okay?

Holding the child, Wang Sanlang almost ran to the door of the house at a gallop. Seeing this, he was immediately annoyed that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven.

In the merchant's hand was a pickled leg of lamb wrapped in a red cloth.

This leg of lamb is very fat, probably weighing seven or eight catties, and there is a thick layer of crystal clear coarse salt on the surface, which can be eaten at home for several days after being scraped off.

Both mutton and salt are the most in-demand commodities in Luoyang today.

"Ru Ru, are you really willing?" Wang Sanlang was so angry that he was about to cry.

I gave this big leg of lamb as soon as I came to the door, and then I can get it later?

He has to go out every day to seek a living, can his wife resist this temptation?

As soon as he spoke, the merchant in silk clothes turned around and asked with an arched hand, "But the master is back."

When Wang Sanlang saw that the merchant had the face of a barbarian, he was so angry that his mouth trembled.

In fact, if the wife really wants to steal everyone, he can still take it easy if he says it's not good, life is always going to happen!

At this age, it is not easy to find a wife who can take care of the house in such an orderly manner.

But, this is a fool!That is absolutely impossible!
Seeing that Wang Sanlang didn't speak, the businessman thought he was too happy to speak, so he bowed his hand again.

"I fell into Anxi in Khotan, and I haven't been home to see the elders in my hometown for 200 years. Today I return with glory, the king ordered, of course I have to bring some gifts to my neighbors. It's not extravagant, but I'm definitely willing to part with it."

Wang Sanlang suddenly realized, his face flushed, and the tension in his heart disappeared immediately.

At the same time, he suddenly had a vague feeling that these Khotanese people with barbarian faces seemed to be his neighbors who had gone far away from Anxi.

At this time, the neighbors all came, and everyone was notified by Fangzheng. Every family had pickled mutton, so they came in order.

After the people arrived at Fangzheng, they collectively bowed their hands to the Khotanese surrounded by them, and bowed first.

The elder arches his hands slightly, the peers are at the waist, and the children and juniors bend over the knees.

After prostrating, everyone took a step back. This time, the elders were at their waists, the elders bent over their knees, and the children and juniors prostrated themselves on the ground.

This is called two-week worship, and it is a great folk gift for visiting parents and elders on weekdays, as well as relatives who have not seen for a long time.

"Dare to ask your dear relatives, is An'an safe? Is the return journey smooth? Can you remember the hometown?" The elders in the workshop greeted the Khotan people who came from afar on behalf of everyone.

At this time, the Khotan businessman bowed to the neighbors for two bows like before, and then stepped forward to answer.

"Thank you, elder, for asking. Everything is fine in Anxi, and the journey back is smooth. Now that I am returning to my hometown, I know that my hometown is here!"

After listening to the old man, he smiled and held up the wine bowl and handed it to the Khotan businessman, "Please drink the Jiefeng wine, cleanse the dust, and never touch it."

At this point, after the greetings were over, the neighbors were all smiling, and the children ran around with the Khotanese people, and no one called them thieves in secret. These Khotanese people seemed to have really returned home.

. . . .

And in the main hall of the Suzaku gate tower, similar etiquette is also going on.

In the main hall, Zhang Ting's aunt, Li Shengtian was like a mother's sister, and the Empress Dowager Ciyou looked at Li Shengtian with tears in her eyes, and personally invited a cup of wine to welcome the wind.

Li Shengtian burst into tears at his eldest sister, took Cao Yuanxin and seven children, and traveled far away to go home to see their parents for two weeks.

Afterwards, Empress Dowager Ciyou stepped aside, Li Shengtian, Cao Yuanxin and their sons and daughters performed four salutes to Zhang Ke when the courtiers met the king.

Li Shengtian said, "The vassal Khotan Jin King Yuchiseng Wubo kowtowed to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Dynasty, and now he returned the gold seal, treasure book, banner, etc. given by Emperor Xuan of the Sumiao of the Tang Dynasty, and asked the Great Dynasty to re-canonize and award them. .”

Li Shengtian can only call himself Yuchi Seng Wubo, because the surname Li and Shengtian's name are all taken by him, and have not been recognized by the central court.

Afterwards, Huang Menlang of Khotan began to sing the gifts of Li Shengtian's tribute to the emperor, including [-] pearls, [-] square meters of jade, two war elephants, two lions, [-] pieces of Khotan brocade, and countless other treasures and utensils worth more than [-]. through.

Among other things, the royal family of the Li family in Khotan benefited from the re-opening of the Silk Road, and Khotan itself produced cloth and other export goods. The entire Khotan country was making a lot of money.

Zhang Tingan sat on the throne, and after receiving the four worships of Li Shengtian and Cao Yuanxin, he immediately ordered that Yuchi be given the surname Li, still under the original name of Shengtian.

Li Shengtian, the king of Khotan, was granted the title of King of the Kingdom of Jin. The king of the country was above the princes and county kings. He was a vassal of the court and established a vassal state.

At the same time, Li Shengtian, King of the Kingdom of Jin, was appointed as Pingzhang of Anxi Province, Ancha Envoy of Anxi Province, Defense Envoy of Anxi Province, Jiedu Envoy of the Four Towns of Anxi, and Envoys of Suiye and Talas Prefectures to observe and dispose of Abbots.

Give the king's uniform, king's banner, banner, command talisman, gold book, etc.

He ordered the false festival axe, and ordered the governor of Anxi military affairs.

Cao Yuanxin was named the eldest princess of the Wei State, with [-] households in the food town, and [-] households in Shazhou, the actual food town. Queen's robes and ceremonial guards are allowed.

Li Congde, the eldest son of Li Shengtian, was appointed as the crown prince of King Jin and the deputy envoy of Jiedu in the four towns of Anxi.

Li Congyu, the second son of Li Shengtian, was granted the title of King of Yanqi County, Yanqi Township envoy, and the prince's robes and ceremonial guards were allowed.

Li Shengtian's second daughter was named, and Cao Yanming's wife was Princess Shache. She lived in one thousand households and actually fifty households in Khotan.

This award was discussed with Li Shengtian in advance. Li Shengtian also understood Zhang Ting's attitude of taking the four towns of Anxi into the country, so he graciously gave up the entire Khotan country.

Zhang Ting chose to enshrine the Kingdom of Jin in Kangju, and Li Congde will go to Samarkand where Kangju is located to become king in the future.

Of course, Zhang Ting only took back the four towns of Anxi, which is now more than half of the territory of Khotan.

The wealth of the Li family still belongs to them, and the officials who are willing to go with them can still go to the land of the Kingdom of Jin.

At the same time, Ningyuan (Fergana Basin), Suiye and Talas, which are currently controlled by Khotan, will also be handed over.

In these three places, a group of the second and third generations of the Li family and the Zhang family will be enshrined as kings.

Especially Ningyuan, who is now extremely wealthy, will become the backing for the imperial court to go westward and lay down the entire Hezhong and Persian regions.

As for the Suiye Guo family, if Guo Xuanqing does not produce Yao Mozi, the Guo family can keep Suiye, and maybe they can produce a few more dukes.

Taros Li Guoshou's family is completely finished. They are too domineering and forget their roots. After Zhang Tie withdraws his hand, he will punish them thoroughly.

Cao Yuanxin got her coveted title of Princess Wei.

In Zhangzhou, the emperor's aunt was the eldest princess, the sisters were named the eldest princess, and the daughter was the princess.

This is from the perspective of legal principles, and it is recognized that Cao Yuanxin is the same concubine as Zhang Kai's aunt.

At the same time, the Cao family in Shazhou claimed to be descendants of the Cao family in Qiaojun, and the Cao family in Qiaojun was a descendant of Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei. They named Cao Yuanxin the eldest princess of the Wei State, which was equivalent to giving her the title of their ancestors.

After the award was completed, everyone was very happy. Zhang Tie summoned the court painters headed by Gu Hongzhong to make a draft for the Khotan Jin Dynasty's meeting with the Emperor.

In the manuscript, the emperor is sitting on the throne, tall and mighty, and the King of the Kingdom of Jin is wearing a king's crown and is paying homage.

Then Zhang Ke retreated behind the scenes, changed the emperor's court clothes, put on a home clothes, and ordered the artist to draw a draft of the picture of uncle and nephew having fun together.

In this painting, Zhang Tie's portrait is much smaller, and his uncle and nephew are fighting, so their status is relatively equal.

The larger picture scrolls, "The Return of the King of the Kingdom of Jin from Anxi" and "The Return of Heroes from Khotan" are being painted.

Well, it is Zhang Tie's favorite to draw portraits in everything he encounters.

Because this kind of painting is the most precious legacy left by the people of this era to future generations, allowing them to have a glimpse of the style at that time after thousands of years.

(End of this chapter)