A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 299: Feeling timid near home, the envoy Cai Min returns from his mission

Cai Min on the side was already very anxious at this time, fearing that Shemo Teng and Frank would be soft-hearted, but fortunately they were both enlightened people and would not change their thoughts and decisions at will. If they said they would go to Dahan, they would go to Dahan.

In the end, he declined King Dayuan's request and continued eastward with Cai Min.

But this time, Cai Min was extremely vigilant. Nowadays, the Western Region is full of Buddhist believers, and they have all obtained the residual scriptures. Now that the two enlightened monks have come, it is like two people coming out of the darkness. Giant of light.

They knew that the biggest obstacle to their return journey was no longer the horse bandits and wars along the way, but the countries that wanted the two eminent monks to stay there.

Therefore, along the way, Cai Min and others continued to instruct the two of them how the people in the Han Dynasty yearned for the enlightenment of the Buddha. His Majesty the Emperor even couldn't sleep without reading Buddhist scriptures, so he waited for the two of them to go to explain. It can be seen that the situation The crisis.

He also said that the Han people are the most polite and intelligent people. As long as they leave, the Buddha's light will soon spread all over the country.

Morton and Fran understood their worries very well, but they didn't say anything more. They just listened patiently to the exaggerations of the members of the mission along the way.

In order to better carry out their work when they arrived in the Han Dynasty, when the Qiemo Kingdom was also called the Xiaowan Kingdom, the two masters were able to speak Chinese clearly and understand some Chinese characters. The speed was so fast that even the little genius of language Qin Jing was stunned by it.

After passing Shanshan Kingdom, not far away are the border areas of the Han Dynasty, Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, which belong to Dunhuang County in Liangzhou.

During this section of the journey, Cai Min walked extremely carefully. If something went wrong, he immediately led his team to hide behind the sand dunes, because this place was a key place where the Han and the Huns competed in the Western Region, and the Huns were often present.

During the Pre-Han Dynasty, small groups of troops from the Han and Hungarian armies often fought each other outside Yumen Pass and Yang Pass. This is also the reason why many people from the Western Regions have no way to come to Dahan.

Since Emperor Guangwu, the Han Dynasty has been adhering to a contraction strategy, so there are very few Han knights wandering outside the pass, and the outside of the pass has almost become the private territory of the Huns.

Not far to the north is the Cheshi Kingdom, which was garrisoned by the Xiongnu, and the Shanshan Kingdom was to the west between the Cheshi Kingdom and the Han Dynasty.

Go to the Cheshi Kingdom, all the way to the north of the Western Region; go to the Shanshan Kingdom to the south. At the junction of the three kingdoms, the Huns often hunt here and massacre all merchants and envoys who go to the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty.

Cai Min chose to enter through Yangguan, because Yangguan was further south and farther away from the Huns.

Fortunately, their group had a small number of people and a small target. They narrowly escaped several wandering Hun cavalry and finally arrived at Yangguan.

When a group of them arrived under Guancheng, there was a commotion in Guancheng.

Cai Min was afraid of being accidentally injured, so he immediately asked everyone to stay where they were while he and Qin Jing stepped forward to identify themselves.

They slowly approached the city wall with their hands raised, and the Han troops on the wall also tightened their weapons.

"Anyone who comes, stop! This is the border gate of the Han Dynasty, don't say you were unprepared!"

Then an arrow was inserted into the ground a step or two away from the two of them. It could be clearly seen that the feathers on the arrow were still trembling slightly.

Listening to the rich Chinese accent and vaguely seeing the familiar skin color and the Chinese-made armor and stomach, the two wanderers who had been in a foreign country for a long time could not suppress the tears in their eyes.

No wonder the Han troops on the city wall couldn't recognize them.

The group of them set out from Luoyang in the eighth year of Yongping. After careful calculation, they should now be in the tenth year of Yongping. In other words, they have not stopped for two consecutive years. They have been in a strange environment and spoke a strange language. The spirit is always tense.

When I went there, I was worried that I would be caught by a hostile country and go to collect the reward from the Huns. Constantly avoiding horse bandits, bandits, rebels, etc., enduring the harsh environment of the Western Regions, the sky full of yellow sand, and the endless desert as far as the eye can see.

It was a little better when I came back. Although the traveling environment was still the same, there were two eminent Buddhist monks there. Through propaganda from various countries along the way, everyone in the Western Regions, a place where Buddhism is generally believed, knew that there was a group of Han people, and two of them got it. Taoist monk. Therefore, ordinary gangsters did not dare to rob their team.

But this also brought some troubles to them. Every time they went to a country, they had to worry that the two eminent monks would be robbed by other countries, lest they have to go back the same way, and then go back to the Guishang Kingdom or the distant Tianzhu countries to start again. Invite an eminent monk to frighten them many times, leaving them mentally and physically exhausted.

Moreover, the clothes were seriously damaged along the way, and there was no place to sell Hanfu, so they had to change into foreign clothes. In addition, the environment along the way was harsh and windy and sandy. Everyone's face was roughened by the wind, and the delicate skin of Han people no longer existed.

He came from the Shanshan Kingdom and evaded the Huns many times. He was unkempt and disheveled. He did not look like an envoy from the Han Dynasty, but just like a refugee in the country.

Fortunately, we are finally home now, and good times are coming.

Cai Min took a long stick tightly wrapped with cloth from Qin Jing's hand, untied the cloth, and revealed the object inside, which was a brand new staff with very clean yak hair.

Three years ago, he set out from Luoyang, majestic. Three years later, he completed his mission and returned from a distant country. After going through wind and sand, only one thing remained unchanged, which was this root given by the emperor, which represented his identity and dignity. of scepter. He held the staff flat with both hands and shouted with all his strength:
"According to your Majesty's order, the envoy Cai Min was sent to Tianzhu. He completed his mission today. He brought seventeen members of the envoy, three envoys from Kushan, two eminent monks from Tianzhu, thirteen envoys from other countries along the way, and five eminent monks to accompany him. People, please return home!”

Above Guancheng, there were officers on duty guarding the pass for a long time. They went to call the guard Wen Ke of Yumen Pass.

After hearing Cai Min's series of introductions and looking at the scepter in his hand, Wen Ke knew that this was the true messenger, so he did not dare to neglect and went to inspect and greet him in person.

The city gate of Guancheng was opened a crack, and Wen Ke led a few horsemen of his bodyguard and slowly came towards Cai Min and the others.

Arriving two or three steps in front of Cai Min, Wen Ke dismounted, held his hands in his hands and said, "Please forgive me, envoy. We dare not ignore our responsibilities."

Cai Min nodded, then held his head high and handed the scepter to Wen Ke. Wen Ke did not dare to touch it, but looked around the scepter carefully, because except for the messenger, anyone who touches the scepter is a capital offense, and the messenger loses the scepter. The rod is also a capital offense.

After confirming that it was correct, Wen Ke bowed respectfully, then got on his horse and galloped to the city: "Open the door and welcome the Han envoy back home!"

"Creak!" The thick city gate was slowly pushed open by a dozen large and round soldiers, revealing the road inside.

The city gate opened wide, and Cai Min waved back, then rode his horse, controlling the horse with his left hand, holding the staff high in his right hand, and took the lead to walk into the city.

The soldiers on both sides bowed their heads to show respect, because the scepter represented the emperor's wishes and was equivalent to the emperor's personal presence. Wen Ke on the side did not dare to walk in front, but fell one position behind Cai Min to show respect.

Although Cai Min was very excited, after all, he held the scepter representing the emperor in his hand, so he was able to control his emotions and movements. He just shed tears and did not do much.

But the people behind him couldn't bear it anymore. Some suddenly sat on the ground and cried loudly; some were silent; some knelt on the ground with their hands clasped together. This was because they had believed in the Buddhism of Shemoten and Fran on the road.

It stands to reason that they were far away in a foreign country and felt very empty in their hearts. However, two eminent Buddhist monks were by their side, giving lectures day and night, so they easily changed their beliefs.

But no, in the entire Han Dynasty envoy out of eighteen people, only one believed in Buddhism, and this person was a mixture of Han and Huns.

In addition to the language barrier for a period of time, the most important thing is that they are deeply influenced by Confucianism and do not agree with some Buddhist etiquette.

For this reason, both Shemoteng and Fran became very interested in Han Confucianism.

Everyone had their hair and beards cut in Guancheng of Yangguan, took a comfortable bath, changed into the prepared Hanfu, and were neatly dressed, but their skin was still rough.

However, this also reflected the hardship of their trip, so they did not delay much. After only two days, they were on the road, and then rushed to Luoyang.

Because although this place is the border of the Han Dynasty, it is still thousands of miles away from the capital Luoyang. This also made the Kushan envoys and envoys from the Western Regions who came to the Han Dynasty for the first time deeply feel what kind of big country this is. .

Yongping ten years
September
The envoy led by Cai Min successfully returned to Luoyang, the capital of the Han Dynasty. This majestic city was difficult to match by manpower. The first thing that appeared in front of them was the towering city wall that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Historically speaking, Luoyang (Luoyang) has a long history as a city. It is just a little worse than Chaoge, but it can still be regarded as a famous city in the world.

Luoyang was first built in the Zhou Dynasty. Duke Zhou of the Western Zhou Dynasty built Luoyang here to appease the Yin Shang remnants in the east. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty officially moved its capital to Luoyi, and it officially entered the stage of history as a capital.

Then during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Qin Dynasty turned Luoyi into Zhoucheng, which served as the seat of Sanchuan County and an important town in Guandong. During the Pre-Han Dynasty, the name of Luoyang was officially established. It served as an important town for the Han Dynasty to guard Guandong. The Han emperor ordered the city walls to be widened and raised many times.

It was not until Emperor Guangwu ascended the throne that he captured Luoyang and used Luoyang as the temporary capital. However, he still hoped to move to Chang'an in Guanzhong. However, Chang'an was later burned by the Red Eyebrow Army, Guanzhong was in decline, and Wei Xiao threatened Longxi.

It was no longer appropriate to move to Chang'an, so all the ritual vessels from Guanzhong were moved to Luoyang, and it was officially designated as the capital of the Han Dynasty (eastern capital), and Chang'an was made the western capital (accompanying capital). In order to reflect the nobility of the Han Dynasty, Guang Emperor Wu changed Luoyang to Luoyang.

Therefore, at first glance, there is a sense of history and iron blood as a military town.

Even the two eminent monks who had always maintained their majesty were reciting the sutras faster and faster.

Entering Luoyang, you will see another world that is different from that outside the city. It is prosperous, noisy, graceful, serious, broad, and cramped. These words can appear in the same place at the same time, but there is nothing wrong with it.

Is this a big man? At this time, in their eyes, Han Dynasty was already the only powerful country in the entire world.

Along the way, the distance between the country and the country was daunting, and they heard that this was only half the distance across the Han Dynasty; in their eyes, the elite knights at the border who escorted the mission back to Beijing were the ones their country could go to. There are people in the history books; there is also this huge capital that they can't even imagine.

(End of this chapter)