Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 998

Xiqiang can be said to be an ancient nation.

Some people even said that the Qiang people were actually the same clan as the Han people at the beginning. Later, the Chinese ancestors moved from the west to the east, so they gradually became far apart.

Tang Jian didn't quite believe such a statement, thinking that it was just a deliberate fabrication by later generations, for example, the Huns were once the descendants of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors.

He even believes that the Qiang people are natives who originated and grew up in western Xinjiang.

From the pre-Qin period to the present, especially during the Han Dynasty, the Hundred Years War between the Han and Qiang shattered the dream of the Qiang people's rise.Since then, the Qiang people have no chance to get up again.

Up to now, there are many Qiangs, but none of them can rise up, and they have long been reduced to second-rate or even third-rate frontier barbarians.

Tubo on the plateau was far inferior to Xiqiang, but Tubo worked very hard. Generation after generation, they strangled and fought continuously on the plateau, annexed small states and tribes, and finally broke through the isolation with the Central Plains. The plateau has not yet been fully unified, but they have dared to challenge Daqin directly.

The Xiqiang, which was originally isolated between Tubo and the Central Plains, now instead surrenders to Tubo, a former third-rate son, and loses the glory of their ancestors.

You know, Xiqiang used to be a first-class barbarian who was as powerful as the Beihu people on the grassland, but now they have been reduced to the point where they are serving as servants of Tubo. If their ancestors knew about it, wouldn't they get up from the ground and die again?
This time Tang Jian was on a mission to go to Xiqiang. He went south from Chang'an, crossed Sanguan, crossed the Qinling Mountains, entered Hechi County on the Bahan Road, and then went down the Jialing River, passing through Shunzheng County and Yicheng County. Go west from Guangyuan, pass through Pingwu County, enter Tongchang County, and reach directly under the snow-capped mountains.

On this road, the further west you go, the more desolate you feel.

The war at the end of the Sui Dynasty also affected Shu.Although the flames of war did not directly burn here, there were also many bandits and rebellious troops rising in Shu, not to mention the Qiang Rong taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes.

Since the Qiang people invaded the frontier, many people who were familiar with the Qiang in various counties in the Shu area also became tense with the Han people's uprising.For thousands of years, countless Qiang tribes either failed in internal struggles and attached themselves to the Central Plains, or moved inland after being conquered by the Central Plains. There are many Qiang people in Shu, especially in western Sichuan.

In fact, many Qiang people have already become naturalized good people who registered as Qimin, but the Qiang people still retain some old customs more or less, and even in some remote places, many Qiang people still live together in the form of tribes.

It is said that the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to go to the blue sky.

But from Hanzhong to Shu, there are still several main roads, all of which have plank roads, which are not particularly difficult.But after arriving in the west of Sichuan, this is called the road is difficult, and sometimes there is no road at all.

Crossing mountains and ridges, crossing rivers and streams, there are only trails.

There are many roads where horses and chariots cannot pass, and you can only walk on short-legged ponies in the Shu area, and goods cannot be carried on board, and they are all carried by pony horses.

Due to the large number of Qiang and Rong in western Sichuan, there is also border trade here, mainly trading horses for tea and salt for fur.

The tea sold to the Qiang people is the lowest quality tea. When the tea leaves are picked before the rain and after the rain, only some old leaves are left behind, so the tea makers cut off the old leaves together with the young branches, and then steam and press them. , So it became a tea brick.

People in the Central Plains disdain to drink this kind of black tea brick, and ordinary people in the Central Plains disdain to drink it, but it is very popular with the Qiang Rong herdsmen who mainly eat milk and meat, and they can sell it at a not low price.

However, it is extremely difficult to transport these tea, salt and other items. Every piece of tea brick and every bag of salt has to be transported by horse.Due to the needs of border trade, several tea-horse roads gradually appeared in western Sichuan.

On this tea-horse road, the profession of caravan also emerged. They specialize in running the tea-horse road and selling goods for merchants.The border is very chaotic, and there are many caravans on the tea-horse road, and there must be strong force, otherwise the goods may be lost.

Therefore, these caravans have the nature of a bodyguard team.

Tang Jian came here this time, pretending to be a Central Plains tea merchant. He hired a famous local caravan in Jiangyou City, Pingwu, carrying hundreds of boxes of goods. Many people pledged goods.

The caravan offered a high price for this shipment, but Tang Jian readily agreed.

He didn't find the local counties to transfer troops, but he didn't want to reveal his identity. He intended to enter the party's various Qiangs as a businessman first, and then looked for opportunities to lobby for security and persuade them to surrender.

The caravan first went north along the Fujiang River in Jiangyou, and after entering Tongchang, they could only climb over the mountains.

When crossing the snow-capped mountain, Tang Jian suffered a lot. The snow on the snow-capped mountain covered his waist. Even the caravan he was most familiar with took half a month to cross the snow-capped mountain. A dozen horses.

Fortunately, the people in the caravan were very dedicated and professional. Although they lost more than a dozen horses, they took off the goods from the horses, packed them and carried them on the backs of the caravan, and transported all his goods across the mountain abruptly.

At the foot of the west side of the snow mountain, the caravan added another group of pony horses and started on the road again.

Tang Jian and his party came all the way to Jiacheng County on the bank of Minjiang River.

From a distance, I saw a small city on the hill beside the Minjiang River. The city is very small.

Especially not seeing many people.

Down the mountain and by the river, the Qiang people who occasionally pass by are also Qiang people. It is only common for these caravans to come.Someone rode down from the city below the mountain, greeted them from a distance, and spoke Chinese.

Captain Zhao of the caravan told Tang Jian that these Qiang people were Baishui Qiang, also known as Deng Zhi Qiang. He proclaimed himself a minister to the Northern Wei Dynasty and was canonized as General Long Xiang and King Deng Zhi.

Later, King Deng Zhi was awarded the governor of Yizhou and the founding son of Gansong County.

Baishui Qiang became a familiar Qiang attached to the interior, but was later defeated by the Sheng Qiang in the west. King Deng Zhi fled to Chang'an. The Western Wei Yuwentai sent a general to lead his troops to escort him back to the country, but his power declined day by day. Army takes over.

Baishui Qiang has also gradually integrated into the Han people and has become a family of Qimin.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Dangxiang Qiang invaded and captured the lands west of the Snow Mountain. The Han people fled back to Shuzhong, but Baishui Qiang all directly belonged to Dangxiang.Now the Dangxiang Qiang people occupy this place, but many places use these Baishui Qiang to assist in governance.

Baishui Qiang, who came down from the mountain, is now a soldier of the Dangxiang people. He is very happy with the caravans who came. Since the beginning of this year, there have been very few caravans, let alone such a large-scale caravan.

The head of the caravan brought the Baishuiqiang man over and introduced Lao Tang, the cargo owner.

Tang Jian claimed to be Tang Ping from Hanzhong, a tea merchant.I used to sell tea in Yunnan, but this is the first time I come here, I want to see the market here and open up new markets.

That Bai Shuiqiang didn't pay any attention to these remarks, he only cared about the goods he brought.

"Tea, a whole hundred boxes, 120 catties per box."

The Qiang man began to count with his fingers, but after a long time, he still couldn't figure out how many catties it weighed.

Tang Jian smiled and said, "It's a full [-] catties of tea."

"There is so much tea, how many horses do we have to change?" The Qiang man's eyes widened, "Your tea comes from Hanzhong?"

"Well, that's not true. I'm from Hanzhong, but this tea is picked from Shu, and it's Shu tea."

The tea traded between the Southwest and the Qiang people's tea horses is basically from Shu, which is a problem of transportation costs.

"Go into the city, I'll take you there."

But Tang Jian didn't move, "I want to sell this tea to Xishan."

"Xishan? It's not easy to go there, why don't you just sell the tea to my general, and you can get a good horse in exchange." When Bai Shuiqiang heard that he was going to Xishan, he immediately persuaded him.

But Tang Jian was unmoved, and said that if your general wants to buy tea, I can give you [-] boxes.

(End of this chapter)