In early 932, the third year of the Changxing reign of the Later Tang Dynasty, the Great Sage and Emperor of Khotan celebrated the 20th anniversary. After three and a half months of trekking, Zhang Zhao finally arrived at Khotan City, the capital of the Khotan Jin Kingdom.
Khotan City, also known as Hotan City in later generations, Hotan at this time was better than the Ming and Qing Dynasties in terms of climate and vegetation. The main reason was that some oases and swamps that could adjust the ecological environment at this time had not been destroyed.
Or even disappear.
Zhang Zhao raised his eyes and saw that the city of Khotan occupies a very large area, originating from the Green Jade River (Karakash River) and Baiyu River (Yulong Kashgar River) in the Kunlun Mountains.
Just like Kunlun Mountain stretched out its two arms, it held the most beautiful emerald in southern Xinjiang in its palm.
There are also rivers such as the Niya River and the Wuyu River (Kriya River) passing through it.
Thanks to such an abundant water source, the moat of Hotan City is definitely second to none in the Western Region. It is at least three to four meters wide and five to six meters deep. With the city wall about three to four meters high, the specially built urn city is very defensive.
Complete.
Looking at these completely Chinese-style city defense systems and city gate towers, Zhang Zhao must have thought that he was in the Central Plains if he didn't say that this was in the Western Regions thousands of miles away.
"A certain person, the Grand Lieutenant of Dabaojin State Inspectorate and the judge of Anjun Prefecture, Ma Furong, was ordered to welcome the Eastern Kingdom's Tang Dynasty rebel army's envoys!"
Zhang Zhao and others stopped three miles away from the city of Khotan, because they were the envoys of the Guiyi Army. According to the rules, as the in-laws of the Guiyi Army for generations, the Khotan Kingdom had to send ministers to greet them to show their respect.
At this time, Zhang Zhao could only stand aside, while Fan Running, who had been helping him along the way, walked to the front. He was the envoy of the Guiyi Army, while Zhang Zhao came to Khotan to fight against the autumn wind and defect to his relatives.
Zhang Zhao had heard about Ma Furong for some time. When Zhang Zhao's aunt Princess Fengtian married his father Zhang Chengfeng, the messenger was Ma Furong's father Ma Yuan.
Ma Furong's younger brother Ma Jirong is more famous in history. He was sent to Luoyang by Li Shengtian to pay homage to the Later Jin Dynasty that ruled the Central Plains at that time.
"A survivor of the Tang Dynasty, the Anxi Protectorate's Fa Cao joined the army, Ma Zhongliang VI's grandson Ma Furong, pays homage to the Nanyang County Duke of the Tang Dynasty, the Taibao, and the Commander-in-Chief Chaojieshuai Zhang Gongyi, the governor of the Guiyi Army!"
Zhang Zhao was originally standing nearby watching the show, watching Ma Furong and Fan Runing speaking in a serious manner about the good relations between the two countries.
Unexpectedly, after Ma Furong and Fan Runing exchanged a few words, they came directly to Zhang Zhao, and he didn't just say goodbye, but actually bowed down directly.
To be honest, I, Zhang Da, a time traveler who came from time to time, is more like a son of aristocratic family at this time than the original Zhang Zhao.
But when faced with Ma Furong's sudden salute, he suddenly found that he didn't know what etiquette to use.
Zhang Zhao hesitated for a moment and was about to avoid it when Zhang Zhong suddenly grabbed him by the corner of his clothes. Zhang Zhao followed Zhang Zhong's eyes and saw that it was not Zhang Zhao who Ma Furong was paying homage to, but a sign with a sign behind Zhang Zhao.
Big flag.
Damn it! Only then did Zhang Zhao realize that Zhang Zhong, the ‘god man’, had tricked him again!
It turned out that Zhang Zhong erected two big flags in front of the six banners, the gate banner, and the letter pan that symbolized the Jiedushi of the Guiyi Army.
One side is a large banner with the character "Zhang" that he holds, symbolizing Zhang Yichao, Nanyang County Duke and the Commander-in-Chief of the Guiyi Army.
One side is held by Fanshun. It was passed down from the Zhang Yichao era and used by Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Huaiding.
Okay! This is a show of force. It seems that Zhang Zhong’s resentment, or simply resentment, towards the Cao family is quite big.
After leaving Dunhuang, he went straight out to argue with the Cao family about the legal principles of returning to the rebel army.
Fan Running's lips trembled several times, and finally she looked at Zhang Zhao, but she still didn't say anything.
The corners of Zhang Zhao's eyes also twitched. He didn't look at Zhang Zhong, but gave Fanshun a fierce look, which made the guy break into cold sweat.
"Please get up, Lieutenant Ma! I have seen the Lieutenant before. He is young and has little talent and knowledge. It is his first time to travel far away, so he can only rely on the majesty of his ancestors to show his self-respect!"
Ma Furong paid homage to Zhang Yichao, not Zhang Zhao, so Zhang Zhao could only wait for Ma Furong to finish paying homage, and then quickly helped Ma Furong up from the side, while still having to take the blame on himself.
This Ma Furong looks like he is in his forties, and he is also Li Shengtian's confidant, but he must not offend someone before he starts messing around in Khotan.
"What did Mr. Erlang say? Mr. Taibao is our great benefactor to Tang'er in Hexi and Anxi. It is your blessing to be able to pay homage to Mr. Taibao today for his Liubu and Jieduzhengjie!"
Zhang Zhao glanced at Ma Furong in surprise, because he didn't realize that Ma Furong was telling lies, and it looked like he was speaking from the bottom of his heart.
"Mr. Erlang may not know that someone who said that Mr. Taibao was Anxi Tang'er's great benefactor is definitely not exaggerating.
If the Taibao Gong had not acted in Shazhou and cut off the retreat route of the Tubo people in Khotan, how could the late king drive away the Tibetans so quickly in Khotan? How could we wash away the fallen Anxi Tang'er?
The shame of being a slave to the Tubo people!"
"That's it! Thank you, Lieutenant, for clarifying my doubts!" Zhang Zhao nodded as he looked at this senior Khotan official who looked completely Han Chinese and spoke Chinese very fluently.
He claimed to be a survivor of the Tang Dynasty, and he joined the army as a Fa Cao under the command of the Anxi Governor. It seems to be true.
And this also gave Zhang Zhao a hint, that is, Zhang Yichao's action in Guasha to drive away the Tibetans and restore the six counties in Hexi was not an isolated action.
He was closely linked with the Tang army's defeat of the Tubo realists in Longyou, the Luomenchuan attack on envoy Lun Kere, and the later restoration of Khotan.
It was precisely because Tang Xuanzong, known as Xiao Taizong, led the Tang Dynasty to regain a certain strength in the early years of Dazhong, defeated Lun Feifan and began to recover the three states and seven passes.
Under the powerful attack of the Tang court, Tubo, which had fallen into division, was no longer able to maintain its strength in Hexi and Anxi. Only then did Zhang Yichao restore the six counties.
And it was only after Zhang Yichao regained six counties in Hexi and cut off the retreat route of the Tubo people in Anxi that the Yuchi family was finally able to drive away the Tubo people and restore the country.
This can be seen from the timeline. In 847, the Tang Dynasty regained the three states of Yuan, Yue and Qin in Longyou
In 848, Zhang Yichao succeeded in revolting in Shazhou and further recovered Guazhou, Suzhou and Ganzhou.
Just two years later, in 850, King Yuchi of Khotan led the Khotan people to drive away the Tubo people and successfully restored the country.
No wonder the Khotan and Guiyi armies were married for generations in history, and the good ones had to wear a pair of trousers.
No wonder Zhang Zhong took out the six banners and banners from the Zhang Yichao era, and Ma Furong, as a high-ranking official in Khotan, was willing to kowtow to the nineteen-year-old Zhang Zhao.
All of this is still the shadow of Zhang Yichao more than seventy years ago, protecting his descendants!
"Erlangjun! Please follow Ma into the city! The survivors of the Tang Dynasty in Khotan City want to see the descendants of the Taibao Gong and the heroic appearance of our Tang warriors!"
Zhang Zhao nodded. The reason why it took him three months to walk to Khotan City was because he wanted to wait in Yuechang (Qiemo) for Yan Jin and others to arrive.
It is also to repair the armor and other items that were damaged in the bloody battle in Muni City, and to show the best side of Anxi Tang'er, who has not seen anyone from the motherland for decades.
This chapter has been completed!