Chapter 521 Golden Lotus The Sishui River crosses mountains and forests, crosses lakes, meanders forward like a belt, all the way to the southeast, passes through Lulongsai, and rushes into the sea, with a length of 1,600 miles.
It was like a bolt of lightning streaking across the grassland and reaching the sky.
Wu Huaiyu's heart was filled with excitement when he saw the eight-hundred-mile Jinlianchuan Prairie. Even in winter, without the coolness of summer and without the chirping of hundreds of species of birds, the place was still intoxicating.
"In the summer, patches of nasturtiums bloom here, which is the most beautiful. The nasturtiums bloom in the morning and bloom in the afternoon, filling your eyes with a sea of flowers."
Lu Sanwu didn't know when he came to Huaiyu with Gao Twelve, looking at the withered yellow grassland with some regret.
"Have you been here before?"
"Twelve Niang and I have been here before, in the summer,"
Gao Twelve also remembered the sea of golden flowers here, "The flowers of the nasturtium are golden in color, with seven petals surrounding its heart. There are several flowers on one stem, and the golden color is brilliant all over the place."
They had followed the Gao family's caravan out of the fortress and came to the Jinlianchuan grassland to trade with the Turks. It was an unforgettable memory.
Eight hundred miles of Jinlianchuan grassland, seventy miles of lotus beach.
They came to Jinlianchuan three years ago. At that time, Tuli only came to Jinlianchuan in the summer, and most of the time Yating was stationed in the Zhangbei Bashang area north of the Great Wall outside Beiyanzhou.
During the Han Dynasty, Guangning County was established in the Zhangjiakou area. However, since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this area has been sparsely populated. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, only one Huairong County was established outside the military capital pass. In the Tang Dynasty, Huairong was later used to establish Beiyanzhou, but the people of Guangzhou were still there.
Rarely, in the past, the area behind the mountains to the north of Chang'an Mountains even had border autonomy and did not listen to propaganda.
Tuli has been stationed in the Zhangbei Bashang grassland area outside the Zhangjiakou Great Wall for a long time. This has always been an important boundary for farming and grassland nomadism in the Central Plains. As early as the Warring States Period, King Yan Zhao opened up the West, established Shanggu County, and built the Great Wall. Here
It was brought under the control of Yan State.
Later, the Han Dynasty established Guangning County, and the Western Jin Dynasty changed the county to a county and established Daning City.
This place has an important transportation location, which can connect Youbin and the outside of the Great Wall, and is an important thoroughfare for goods to enter and exit. Tuli has located Yating directly outside the mouth, which also facilitates trade with the Central Plains.
Many Sogdian Hus came east along the Silk Road and also took a fancy to the location here. They settled in this area and did business. They built Sogdian Hu settlements according to tradition, even built their fire worship temples and established trade organizations.
, and even has its own leader, Sabao.
These Sogdian Hu merchants settled down to govern themselves, paid tribute to Tuli, and brought many conveniences to Tuli.
There are more and more settlements of Sogdian Hu here, especially in the area where Yanghe River and Qingshui River meet, where there are many villages along the river.
Wu Huaiyu regretted not seeing the sea of flowers in the Jinlian River in summer. He was more interested in the Sogdian Hu people. In the past two years, Tuli moved from Zhangbei, where he used to live, to the Jinlian River further north.
Because the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains had already risen, Tuli did not dare to get too close to the Great Wall, somewhat trying to avoid its sharp edge.
At this time, in the official files of Youzhou, the northwest of Beiyanzhou, that is, the Zhangjiakou area, basically had no household registration. However, according to Gao Twelve and others, there were actually many people here, and they were mainly Sogdian Hus.
, and even some small Turkic tribes.
This is the same as the original Gao family in the back of the mountain, but the difference is that the Sogdian Hu family is mainly engaged in business. They do business and trade, build workshops and build warehouses at the natural transportation node where the Yanghe River and the Qinghe River meet, next to the Great Wall.
, and even has his own farm.
The annual trade volume of these people is quite large, but Youzhou has not confiscated a penny, and Beiyan Prefecture has not included them in household registration management.
They are a group of outsiders.
Each of their settlements has its own leader, a Zoroastrian temple, which is the community center composed of surrounding settlements, and each community also has its own business group.
The Sabao Merchant Group is both a Zoroastrian group and a merchant group. Under normal circumstances, there will be a jointly elected leader, Sabao, who later often becomes hereditary. For example, the largest Sabao in Wuwei, Liangzhou, is hereditary control of the Anxing noble family. .
There is usually a three-person management team under a sabao, including a priest, a chief guard and a secretary.
In essence, these Sogdian communities were the colonial frontiers where they moved eastward.
Most of the Sogdians entered the northern part of the Central Plains in large numbers during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The people of Jin called Jiehu, also called Zahu, and a large number of them were Sogdians.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a large number of Hu people have moved to Hebei, changing the ethnic composition and affecting local customs, which can be called the Huhua of Heshuo.
In fact, this is not only true in the northern part of the Central Plains, but also in the grasslands.
There are also a large number of Sogdian beetles in the Turkic Khanate today.
Nowadays, there are many settlements of this kind of Sogdian Hu throughout the states in Hebei, including Beiyan Prefecture and Yingzhou in western Liaoning. They also settle and trade in prefectures and counties.
In Hebei region, Youzhou has the most Sogdian beetle.
As for the Sogdian beetle in Northern Yanzhou, most of them are concentrated in the Zhangjiakou area.
The Sogdian Hu in the Zhangjiakou area was mainly concentrated in the sixth year of Daye in the Sui Dynasty. The Tibetan people invited people to enter the market for trading, so they renovated various businesses, repaired the mansions, and began to gather for business. It is said that before the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, there were many merchants in Zhangjiakou. , with sixty-three rows, nine hundred and thirty forts, and one hundred and twenty-nine shops on the four walls, with a mountain of goods and goods, and unprecedented prosperity.
The road of war is both the post road and the business road.
Zhangjiakou, a place now unknown in official records, is secretly shocking. Even after the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty, no matter who the powerful lords from all parties occupied the Northern Yanzhou area, they were very lenient to these Sogdian Hu merchants. After all, these people can not only pay tribute and pay, but they are also very united, have their own armed forces, are settled and self-governing, and it is difficult to fight even if they want to fight. They are mainly engaged in trade, and can provide indispensable resources for the separatist tyrants of all parties. There was little circulation of materials and tribute could be paid, so naturally I let it go.
Wu Huaiyu was studying the Jinlian River, Zhangbei Bashang Grassland, and Zhangjiakou Sogdian Hu. Tuli was also very busy, busy negotiating with the Turkic nobles under his command, and busy with the affiliated tribes of Xi, Qi, and Lin. The chiefs promised to let everyone follow him in raising an army to attack Jieli and replace him.
Wu Huaiyu was leisurely. Tu Li was finally going to attack Jie Li. He was very happy. He didn't care whether Tu Li could succeed or not. In fact, he was sure that Tu Li's uprising would definitely end in failure because it was already winter. The time is not very conducive to sending troops.
Furthermore, Tuli wants to send troops to attack Dingxiang, so taking the initiative to attack is even more disadvantageous.
But what does this have to do with him? It would be better if Tuli loses.
"Does the Governor really predict that Tuli will lose?"
After hearing that Tuli had basically reached an agreement with the nobles and chiefs and was about to send troops, Wu Huaiyu remained calm.
"Sudden gains lead to defeat."
After all, Jieli is the Great Khan, and his strength is not comparable to that of Tuli, unless Tuli can really unite the major vassal towns of Shaboluohan, Yusheshe, Tuoshe, and Yugushe to work together for Jieli, but this This situation is almost impossible.
The Turks are known to like fighting among themselves, and everyone has their own evil intentions. Who is willing to listen to Tu Li’s call? “Then let’s go back to Youzhou now?”
"Well, it's almost time to go back, but some things still have to be done."
20,000 troops marching out of the fortress cannot just drink some northwest wind and leave.
In the next few days, Tu Li was busy recruiting tribal soldiers and horses with the noble chiefs, while Wu Huaiyu was busy drinking tea with Jie Li and discussing deals.
Anyway, winter is coming, and Tuli and the others are going to fight again. The Tang army is willing to support Tuli with some of the arrows, swords, guns, and some food and grass they carry.
Of course, they didn't give it away for free. Tuli and the others exchanged livestock furs and medicinal materials.
Wu Huaiyu also made an additional request, asking Tuli and the leaders to return all the Han slaves that had been captured by their tribes to the Tang Dynasty. Wu Huaiyu did not let them return them for nothing, but paid a ransom.
Tuli didn't want copper coins or silk. He hoped to exchange weapons such as swords, guns and arrows. Wu Huaiyu didn't hesitate. Anyway, except for crossbows and armors, other swords, guns and arrows didn't matter, but even tattered and old leather armors.
Wu Huaiyu didn't even give them one, so he said he didn't have any.
The Tang army did not carry much equipment and materials when they left the fortress, so they could only owe many of them first and then deliver them later, and agreed to deliver them outside Zhangjiakou for delivery.
In exchange for more support, Tuli proudly agreed that the Tang army could take away as many livestock furs as they could this time.
Xi Bu, Khitan, and Huaiyu also took the time to talk to them several more times.
The main thing is about mutual trading. We have demarcated a new border with the Xi Department and decided to establish five new border markets to facilitate their mutual trading on the new border.
It was also agreed with the Khitan to open four border cities in Yingzhou: Liucheng, Huaiyuan, Tongding and Wulu.
This time, Wu Huaiyu gained a lot.
Not only did he frighten the villages behind the mountains with his magical weapons, and successfully subdued more than ten thousand families who had hidden behind the mountains since the late Sui Dynasty, he also took advantage of the situation to negotiate with the Xi people and push the border farther out.
Here they also provoked Tuli to quarrel with Jieli and formally sent troops to attack Jieli.
The benefits don't stop there. During Tuli's war, Huaiyu also did some arms trading. He also won many orders for various other mutual trades. He even shipped the Turks' goods first and paid later.
By the way, many Han people who were kidnapped were redeemed, and the ransom was paid back with goods.
Before leaving.
Tuli slaughtered cattle and sheep for a feast.
"Xiangong Wu, this is my eldest son He Luo'u. He is nine years old this year. I want him to become his teacher and learn more about the Central Plains culture and etiquette from Xianggong. In the future, this son will inherit my tribe. I hope he can be with me.
The Han family is closer."
Tu Li's words sounded very nice in public, but his actual meaning was also very straightforward. He handed over his eldest son to Wu Huaiyu as a hostage in the hope of exchanging Datang and Youzhou for more support for him. Not to mention directly sending troops, at least he had to
Have a solid backer.
If the Tang army does not send troops, it is always good to sell them some weapons, food and supplies, or even help take care of the tribal women and children in the rear.
Of course, there is another meaning, borrowing Wu Huaiyu's Tang army from Youzhou to help intimidate Xi and the Khitan tribes. Although they will send troops to join the expedition this time, who knows whether these guys will stab him in the back.
As a son of the grassland, He Luo'u'er is a bit thin. It is said that He Luo'u's biological mother was from the Ast tribe and had difficulty in giving birth to him. In the end, the Ast's family died after giving birth to him.
Tu Li later married Princess Huainan of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Huainan personally raised and cared for He Luo'u, teaching him Chinese characters and Central Plains etiquette. This child was born weak and was not good at riding and shooting, but he was able to read the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects of Confucius, which was surprising.
.
Wu Huaiyu laughed and asked him some Analects questions in public, and he answered them very well.
"Hahaha, a boy can be taught. Well, I will accept He Luohu as my student. Then come with me back to Youzhou and study hard."
That night, Tu Li toasted frequently, and even asked Princess Yang of Huainan and Princess Hejian to be married to the Tang Dynasty to toast. Wu Huaiyu couldn't help but drink two more glasses.
After the party, go back to the tent.
Just when he was about to take a rest, a surprise unexpectedly arrived, and a woman was brought. He thought he was just an ordinary slave or something, but he was slightly drunk, so Wu Huaiyu declined after a few moments and stayed.
"I won't disturb my husband's rest. Let's take our leave first." Tu Li left with a smile.
In the dimness of the tent, a woman dressed in the costume of a prairie shepherd came over to undress him with her head lowered...
