Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In distant Samarkand, Seljuk Sultan Sanjar led tens of thousands of troops to quell the rebellion.

The cause was that a lord of the Western Kara Khanate instigated the prince to ask for the throne from King Arslan Khan. In fact, the local lord supported the prince to usurp the throne.

Another prince learned the news and directly killed the rebellious lord and prince.

A nation named "Garkaria" took the opportunity to raise their troops and cause chaos. They captured Samarkand, the king of the Western Karakhanate fled, and then borrowed troops from Seljuk Sultan Sanjar to quell the rebellion.

Last year, Sanjar took the opportunity to lead his troops and easily defeated the Galkaria rebels and helped Arslan Khan regain the capital.

However, Sanjar refused to leave and was still in the mood to go hunting.

While hunting, he encountered some cavalry spying on them. Sanjar caught the cavalry and interrogated them. These cavalrymen confessed that Arslan Khan sent them to carry out the assassination. Sanjar was so angry that he immediately led his troops to kill Samarkand.

If you want to impose a crime, there is no need to hesitate.

The Seljuk Sultan obviously wanted to take the opportunity to annex the Western Kara Khanate, and he acted like this himself.

Sanjar quickly captured Arslan Khan and sent the king to Balkh for house arrest. But it was not easy to annex the Western Kara Khanate directly, so he made his nephew Hassan Teqin the governor.

His nephew, whose full name is "peach blossom stone", is said to have the blood of the Princess of Tang Dynasty.

You must have such a bloodline to rule the Kara Khanate!

After using his nephew to control the Western Kara Khanate, Sultan Seljuk led his troops to continue fighting eastward.

Two years ago, the Eastern Kara Khanate had just experienced a war and was unable to cope with the Seljuk invasion. After losing two games in a row, King Ahmed bin Sanha decisively surrendered to Sultan Sanjar.

Sanjar accepted the other party's allegiance and said: "From now on, you must no longer obstruct the caravan. Silk from the Peach Blossom Stone must be continuously transported to Seljuk."

Ben Sanha knelt before Sanjar: "Great Sultan, we will never dare to violate your will."

Sanjar added: "How many peach blossoms are there?"

Ben Sangha replied: "Only I am Taohua Shihan, everyone else is fake."

Sanjar said: "But I heard from domestic businessmen that the Peach Blossom Stone can also be reached by boat from the sea. Moreover, he also brought back silk among silks, a precious fabric called Shu Brocade. Do you have Shu Brocade here? ?”

Ben Sangha replied: "Only the silk from Kashgar is the real peach stone silk. The silk called Shu Brocade must be forged by craftsmen."

Sanjar knew that this man was lying, but he did not expose it immediately. Instead, he summoned scholars from the Eastern Kara Khanate.

Soon, Sanjar got a "Turkic Dictionary" and read it carefully in person.

He found records about peach blossom stones in the book.

Peach Blossom Stone, also known as Mo Qin, or Qin.

Shang Qin is in the east and is the real peach blossom stone.

Central Qin was in the north and was called Khitan.

The Qin Dynasty was located in Balhan, that is, Kashgar.

The Eastern Kara Khanate that surrendered to him in front of him was just a subordinate to Qin.

Sanjar thought to himself: "The Ming Dynasty mentioned by maritime merchants should be Shang Qin. It is the real peach blossom stone. The beautiful and noble Shu brocade also comes from Shang Qin."

Sanjar was making political marriages everywhere. He had many nephews. He called another nephew and told him: "Take people to the Ming Dynasty and pass through Kashgar. There is a real peach blossom stone there. I have sent people out." Yes, but it might be risky for them to take the boat."

This nephew named Suleiman knelt down and listened to the order: "Great Sultan, please explain the mission."

Sanjar said: "You spread my reputation. I am the king of kings and the sultan of Seljuk. From Baghdad to Kashgar, from Khwarezm to India, there are my vassal states everywhere." I have marriages with all the countries, and all the royal children here have the noble blood of me or my sisters."

Suleiman said: "Your great name is praised by all nations."

Sanjar said: "The King of Xia Qin Khan here claims to have the blood of Peach Blossom Stone, and I am also married to them. But the real Peach Blossom Stone Khan is in the farther east. The king of Ming Dynasty, the real Peach Blossom Stone Khan, As noble as I, the Seljuk Sultan.”

"Since we are both the most noble kings, we should marry each other. My sisters are all married, but I still have an unmarried daughter."

"I plan to marry the most beautiful and intelligent daughter to the king or prince of Ming Dynasty. You should inquire first. If the king is less than forty years old, then marry the king. If the king is over forty years old, then marry the prince. "

"At the same time, you have to ask for the princess of Peach Blossom Stone on my behalf. I will let the prince marry the Princess of Ming Dynasty, so that their descendants will have the noble blood of Seljuk and Peach Blossom Stone flowing at the same time."

Sanjar's series of marriages were all aimed at expanding his territory.

The Ming Dynasty is the Shang Qin Dynasty, and it is the real peach blossom stone.

His son married Princess Daming, and his descendants have peach blossom stone blood. Moreover, they were of noble Shang Qin blood, and they defeated the group of Lower Qin Khan kings in the Western Regions.

There is no need to wait for his grandson to grow up before he can further control the two Karakhan Kingdoms in his name.

The political system of the country established by the nomadic people is too loose, and it is difficult to conquer it for a long time purely by force. Sanjar could only expand in this way, that is, turning the nobles in the territory and the surrounding khans into his relatives.

He has an expansion strategy. For distant countries, he will first use force to force them to surrender, and then force political marriages. Then wait for the other party to have civil strife, or quietly provoke civil strife, and then take the opportunity to send troops to intervene and put the nephew or son-in-law on the throne.

This fall.

Suleiman, the nephew of the Seljuk Sultan, took three hundred cavalry, hundreds of slaves, and a large number of livestock and goods to the Ming Dynasty by land.

When they passed by the Gaochang Uyghurs, King Bilego of Gaochang warmly entertained them.

The two parties talked and explained their identities to each other.

The Seljuqs were the suzerains of the Eastern and Western Karakha Khanates, and the Gaochang Uighurs were vassals of the Ming Dynasty. From now on, we will live in friendship and engage in silk trade together.

When leaving, Bilge said: "There is a Khitan noble named Yelu Dashi who grazes on the barren grasslands north of the Tianshan Mountains. They are spying on the territory of the Eastern Kara Khanate and may invade next year. The Seljuk Sultan should give them some warning alert."

Suleiman said: "I will send someone to report to the Sultan."

In fact, Suleiman didn't take it seriously at all.

He wished that when the Eastern Kara Khanate was attacked and was beaten to the point of panic, Seljuk would have an excuse to send troops to help, and then he could further control this vassal state.

…

When Suleiman arrived at Gaochang Uighur, Abu and other envoys were meeting with the Ming Emperor.

"His Majesty the Great Peach Blossom Stone Khan and the Ming Emperor, on behalf of the equally great Seljuk Sultan, I wish you good health." Abu knelt down in Persian etiquette.

Peach Blossom Stone Khan, similar to Tian Khan, had legal authority over the most prosperous territory of the Tang Dynasty.

There were a large number of local nobles in the two Kara Khanates who added "Peach Blossom Stone" to their surname inheritance to show that they were born noble (descendants of Tang princesses) and had the right to compete for the throne of the Khan.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said: "Send hello to the Seljuk Sultan for me. Give me a seat!"

Abu did not sit down immediately, but saluted Ju Ming: "Your Royal Highness, the learned and wise prince, please allow me to pay you my highest respect as a scholar."

Ju Ming smiled and said: "I also respect scholars very much."

After a brief exchange between the two parties, Abu began to brag about his king: "The Sultan of our country, like His Majesty the Emperor, is also the most benevolent and wise king. He has a broad and tolerant mind and allows various sects to coexist without favoring any party. He also tolerates There were pagans and there were even Zoroastrian scholars around the Sultan.”

"He summoned scholars from various sects and races to serve as officials in the palace. Persian literature, which had been in decline for a long time, was revived. Countless poets sang new poems in the garden, sincerely praising the noble character of the Sultan."

"I boldly request to stay in the Ming Dynasty for a few months, collect the best poems of the Ming Dynasty, and then translate them into Persian and take them back."

Zhu Guoxiang nodded and said: "Poets should communicate with each other, so that great poems can be produced. I allow you to live in Kaifeng for as long as you want. I also hope that you can write Persian poems silently, and I will have someone translate them into Chinese characters."

Abu was very happy: "Your great and merciful Majesty, may Allah bless you."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The Ming Dynasty allowed Seljuk merchants to trade at any port. If Ming maritime merchants go to Seljuk, your country should also treat the Ming merchants well."

"This is what it should be," Abu said. "There are businessmen from all over the world in our capital and Baghdad. As long as they abide by the law and pay taxes, they will not be deliberately made difficult."

That’s weird!

Seljuk's rule was too loose. In many places, the lords had the final say, and it was inconvenient for even the Sultan to intervene directly.

But Sanjar, the sultan, was indeed very tolerant and tolerant. Persian literature was rapidly revived in his hands, and desert religions became more secular. At least, that's the case in the territory he actually controls.

From the battle for Sudan's succession to a series of expansion wars, Sanjar went without a single defeat for more than thirty years.

With such a record, Sanjar has strong self-confidence, and self-confidence brings tolerance, and is even willing to use Zoroastrian scholars.

According to the gifts brought by the Seljuk envoys, Zhu Guoxiang gave a large number of gifts in return.

They even gave each messenger (excluding slaves) two pieces of silk clothing, which made Abu so excited that he could not speak incoherently.

What follows is a one-year cultural exchange. Officials from the Hanlin Academy and Honglu Temple are responsible for obtaining as much foreign information as possible during the exchange process.

Ju Ming didn't know much about the Seljuks. He only knew that the Sultan was defeated by Yelu Dashi.

What countries are there in West Asia and Central Asia now, and what is the status of each other? Ju Ming is completely blind.

The Seljuk envoy just lit up the map for the Ming Dynasty!

(To answer questions in some chapters, due to terrain reasons, it is difficult for solid artillery shells to collapse many passes, and it is impossible to bury explosives. In addition, the Hexi Corridor is already relatively wide, with only Suizhong and Jinzhou areas, and the next few hundred Large areas of land will be alluvialized every year.)