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

Chapter 297 The Han Envoy, a strange place, a familiar neighbor

Among the Buddha-seeking team sent by Liu Zhuang, the leader was Cai Min, a doctor, and Qin Jing, a Ph.D. disciple, because they understood the language and characters of the Western Regions. Today's Western Regions use Chinese and Chinese in some areas, and most of the areas use the Qilin and Gandhara languages ​​that were introduced to the Western Regions through Gandhara.

The reason why Kharkiv and Gandhara were able to spread widely in the Western Regions was that Buddhism in Gandhara was the key, because almost all Buddhist scriptures in the Western Regions were written in Kharkush.

Qin Jing is a scholar who specializes in the languages ​​and characters of the Western Regions. It was Qin Jing who translated the words of Jose Imiti for Liu Zhuang in the palace.

Yongping eight years
Cai Min, Qin Jing and his party, after making all preparations, bid farewell to King Shanshan and started from Shanshan along the South Road of the Western Regions, passing through Qiemo, Jingjue, Ningmi, Khotan, Pishan, Shache, Shule and then Arrive at the westernmost part of the Western Region, Dawan Kingdom.

Along the way, the mission constantly changed their identities. When they encountered countries that were pro-Han, they would identify themselves as envoys of the Han Dynasty in order to gain their protection; when they encountered countries that were pro-Hun, they would call themselves caravans and carefully and quickly complete the supplements. After collecting supplies, leave immediately.

Fortunately, there were no dangers along the way, and we finally arrived in the Kingdom of Dawan.

"Cai Gong, we have traveled more than ten thousand miles from Luoyang, and it took more than a year. Now if we go forward, we will reach a place that the Han Dynasty has never reached. Even Bowang Hou doesn't know what the situation is like on the way forward? And I The supplies for the horses that we were waiting for have all bottomed out.

Why don't we go to Dawan first to rest for more than a month, replenish supplies, and recharge our batteries to find out what the road ahead is like, so that we can more smoothly complete the mission entrusted to us by His Majesty.

Besides, I heard from the Buddhist from Ningmi State that Dawan is thousands of miles away from Tianzhu, so I guess there is news about Tianzhu. What do you think? "

Cai Min is forty years old this year. For Qin Jing, who is still in his early twenties, there is nothing wrong with calling him "gong". Besides, Cai Min is a doctor with a rank and salary, that is, he has an official status and is beside the emperor. Close ministers, no matter from which aspect, Qin Jing must respect this envoy.

Cai Min wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the endless yellow sand, then looked at the scorching sun in the sky, then looked back at the exhausted entourage, and only two words burst out from his chapped lips: "That's good! "

After all, Qin Jing is a young man. Although he has learned a lot of sage words from the great Confucian teacher, he still can't get rid of the young man's character. When he heard Cai Min agreed, he happily encouraged the members of the mission:
"Everyone, Cai Gong said that we can rest for a month when we reach the city in front. Everyone, please work harder. If this trip succeeds, His Majesty will not be stingy with wealth. Don't you hear that Bowang Hou and Tang Yi Father's old story? Are you still afraid that your wealth and fame won't be shown off to the big man?"

The remaining dozen people in the mission really cheered up after hearing Qin Jing's encouragement. It's no wonder they were so excited. It was true that this year's journey had exhausted all their ambitions.

They accepted this mission to Tianzhu, either because their positions were too low and they were forcibly arranged; or they were accustomed to hearing about the heroic deeds of Bowang Hou Zhang Qian and Tang Yifu since they were young, hoping to become famous in the world; or they were unsatisfied with the status quo and wanted to Go and see this free world.

But they have to admit that the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.

The number of envoys that originally traveled from Luoyang, plus the envoys from the Western Regions who returned home, was no less than a hundred. Starting from Shanshan Kingdom, the number gradually decreased, and by the time they arrived in Khotan, there were only eighteen of them left.

In the following days, apart from traveling and avoiding military disasters, the Western Region without the protection of the Han Dynasty was really not safe. Groups of horse bandits, countries attacking each other, and small countries surrendering to the Huns were all threats to their lives. exist.

Fortunately, although the leader, Cai Min, was a bit older, he had enough experience because he had been on many missions to the southwestern barbarians, and he had read a lot of biographies of Bowang Hou's journey to the Western Regions before departure, so he had sufficient experience. He is smart and has avoided almost all dangerous areas.

In addition, Qin Jing, as the deputy envoy, is smart and has the ability to remember photographs. He is not only proficient in many languages, but also a complete walking map.

Under the leadership of these two people, the mission successfully entered Dawan, whose relationship with the Han Dynasty was not that bad.

Cai Min, who accepted Qin Jing's suggestion, worked tirelessly after entering the Dayuan Kingdom and took Qin Jing to the market every day to collect news about the west.

Because this time, in addition to sending an envoy to Tianzhu to seek interpretations from eminent monks, Cai Min also had a task assigned by Liu Zhuang personally, to secretly investigate the current attitude of the southern countries in the Western Regions towards the Xiongnu, and the degree of resistance to the return of the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions.

So after basically understanding the information about the Yueshi in the west, Cai Min submitted his credentials to the King of Dayuan and expressed to him the goodwill of the Han from the far east.

After meeting Queen Dayuan, Cai Min had a complete understanding of the countries in the southern part of the Western Region. All of this was recorded in a notebook he kept with him.

According to his records, the main areas controlled by the Xiongnu were north of the Tianshan Mountains, that is, the northern countries of the Western Region. The southern countries were far away from the Xiongnu, so they kept a respectful distance from the Xiongnu.

However, since the Huns suffered successive defeats in the east, in order to replenish their national strength, the oppression of the countries in the Western Regions reached a peak. They not only collected commercial taxes along the way, but also required the countries to hand over half of their annual income to the Huns.

The north was okay because the Huns garrisoned them very close and did not dare to resist. However, the south was separated by the Tianshan Mountains, so most of the requirements for the Huns were one thing to the face and another thing to the back. In order to collect taxes from the south, the Huns had to wait for the first few days. In the year, he sent troops many times to destroy several small countries, which made the southern countries extremely dissatisfied with the Huns.

Then he began to miss the good days when the Han Dynasty was the protector of the Western Regions, so last year the envoy headed by Shan Shanguo came to Han Dynasty.

After receiving the attitude of King Dayuan, Cai Min now only has one last task left, which is to go west and obtain the Tianzhu Buddhist Scriptures. From the mouths of Dawan merchants, Cai Min learned that to the west is the territory of the Dayue clan. If you want to go to Tianzhu, you must pass through the Dayue clan, and then turn south. After traveling thousands of miles, you may be able to reach Tianzhu country. .

However, I heard from the Dawan people that the current Dayue clan has changed its name. They call themselves the Kingdom of Kushan. , came all the way here, and finally defeated Daxia who was entrenched here.

Later, around the time when Emperor Guangwu attacked Weixiao, one of the five Xihous, Guishang Xihou, attacked and destroyed the other four Xihous and established the Kushan Kingdom, Sanskrit: .

Three months later.

Under the leadership of Cai Min, the Han Dynasty mission entered this unfamiliar and unfamiliar place for the first time. However, there were also things that the Han Dynasty was familiar with, which were the Kushan people who were originally Da Yueshi and now call themselves Kushan. .

Fortunately, although the name has been changed, the language has not changed. It is still the same as the Western Regions, using Gandhara language. In other words, the languages ​​used by the countries in the Western Regions are the languages ​​passed down from the Kushan Kingdom.

When he came to a new place and met his old neighbors, he had to pay a visit. So as soon as he entered the country of Kushan, Cai Min, as an envoy of the Han Dynasty, submitted his credentials to the king of the Kushan Kingdom.

The King of Kushan was also very happy to receive this old friend who came all the way to visit, and sent someone to invite them to Gandhara (today's Peshawar, Pakistan), the capital of the Kushan Kingdom.

From the conversation with King Guishang, Cai Min could clearly learn that this old neighbor was now living a very prosperous life in the new place, as if the bad luck he had suffered when he was competing with the Han and Hungarian countries in the Western Regions had been eliminated.

Here they call themselves Amu Darya. Since arriving here, the luck of the Dayuezhi people has increased linearly.

First, they defeated the Bactrians who settled here. They were also a branch of the Bactrian people who came to China during the Qin Dynasty.

Then he expelled the local Cypriots, ruled the entire Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya River Basin beside it, and learned from the system of the Han Dynasty, and controlled the small country Kangju.

Not long after, in order to manage this vast land that they had never had before, the Dayuezhi people also learned from the Huns' royal system and established the five-division marquis system.

After they established a foothold here, they completed the internal integration for the sake of the new land. The Kushan Jihou destroyed the other four Jihou, established himself as king, established the Kushan Kingdom, and completed the transformation from a nomadic tribe to a country. centralization.

Then they set their sights on the east, occupying the Gandhara tribe and the Yusha Shira tribe established by the eastern Shendu people, and obtained the language and characters from the Gandhara tribe, completing the national language and writing system. Unite.

Now they are fighting against the Parthians in the south, intending to annex the enclaves of the Parthian Empire in the west of the Tianzhu Kingdom in the south.

In their description, the Parthian Empire was originally a country with a very large territory, but now the country has fallen into divisions and cannot care about the land to the east. Therefore, this is a good time to seize their enclave.

In addition, the Kushan King also wanted to re-open trade with the Han Dynasty and establish contact with the Han Dynasty. However, due to the obstruction of the Huns in the middle, they gave up this plan. They did not want to anger the Huns, but he wanted to The weapons, culture, systems, etc. of the Han Dynasty added a pair of wings to his great achievements.

Cai Min was not reluctant to King Kuishang's request. He said bluntly that he would write to the emperor after returning to China. By then, the Han Dynasty would reopen the road to the Western Regions. He believed that the emperor would definitely send an envoy to visit Guishang, hoping that the two countries could be established. A deeper connection.

King Kushan was very satisfied with Cai Min's answer. After hearing that they were on an envoy trip to Tianzhu to seek Buddhist scriptures and eminent monks, King Kushan smiled and said:

"Why should the Han envoys abandon the near and seek the far away? Now there are two eminent monks in Guishuang. Since the Emperor of Han wants to seek Buddhist scriptures from eminent monks, I can send someone to escort you to find the two eminent monks, as long as you can persuade them. I will not stop him from going to Han.

You should have seen along the way that Buddhism is a big religion in our country. Almost everyone believes in Buddhism and everyone worships it. Moreover, today Zhu is in turmoil. If your envoy rushes in, it will be like knowing that there is a swamp ahead. Wouldn't it be too stupid to step in? "

From the bottom of his heart, King Kushan was extremely reluctant to send Han envoys to Tianzhu, because after wiping out the Parthian Kingdom, his next target was the countries of Tianzhu in the east.

If the countries of Tianzhu established contact with the Han Dynasty, wouldn't they be looking for trouble for themselves? How is this different from the exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Yuezhi, and between the Xiongnu and the South Vietnam Kingdom?

As one of the most talented Han people, Cai Min naturally understood what King Guishuang was thinking, but he didn't care. As long as the Buddhist scriptures and the mission of the eminent monks were completed, it didn't matter whether he went to Tianzhu or not. After all, Tianzhu was too far for the Han people. Far away, I am afraid that in another thousand years, the big man will not have anything to do with him.

"Thank you King Kushan for your hospitality and guidance. I wish the Han Dynasty and Kushan will always have good relations and the two countries will prosper forever."

Cai Min and Qin Jing gave King Guishuang a standard Han Chinese salute, and King Guishuang also stood up, touched his chest with his right hand, and bowed slightly to return the salute.

(End of this chapter)