Chapter 525 The Great Wall is broken and Wucheng rises
Chapter 525: The Great Wall is broken and Wucheng rises
Wu Huaiyu was in a good mood on the way back.
Lu Sanwu and Gao Twelve had a tantrum with him, but he didn't care. On the way, he became more familiar with Yang Muyun and became closer to them.
If Wu Huaiyu hadn't been so worried and kept controlling her, it could actually be seen that she was very willing to have something happen with Wu Huaiyu.
All the way to the Great Wall.
The Taiping Mountains on the left and right face each other majestically, and a Great Wall winds like a dragon.
However, as I got closer, I discovered that the once towering Border Great Wall was no longer indestructible and had already been breached.
There were no drums or horns, but there were camel bells.
A highway passes through the gap in the Great Wall and leads directly to the Bashang grassland outside the Great Wall.
Looking at the dilapidated Great Wall, Wu Huaiyu stopped and watched with emotion.
Su Lie pointed to the Great Wall, "The Great Wall has been built here since the Yan Dynasty in the Warring States Period. Since then, the Great Wall has been built here by Zhao, Qin, Eastern Han, Northern Wei, Northern Qi, and six other countries. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was turmoil and the northern border was difficult to defend. The Great Wall here was also abandoned.
Later, the Turks destroyed the city and broke through the pass. Later, the Sogdian barbarians settled in the pass. Gradually, trade flourished here. It was less than ten miles south of the Great Wall Pass. Along the banks of the Qingshui River, there were not only many Sogdian barbarians who settled in the pass.
There are villages, and there is also a city on the west side of the bridge, where merchants gather and it is very lively.”
Livestock, furs, medicinal materials, slaves, etc. from the grassland are exchanged here for silk, tea, salt, wine, cloth, porcelain, medicine, grain, ironware, etc.
The turbulent era and special geographical location have made this border area now a hot spot for frontier fortresses.
In the past, this place relied on the Great Wall, related forts, forts, and beacons, as well as the dangerous terrain of mountains and rivers to form a mutually dependent defense system.
Now there is a hole in the Great Wall here, and the fortress gate is no longer there.
Wu Huaiyu was in no hurry to cross the gap in the Great Wall.
"To repair the gap in the Great Wall, we can build a gate here, which is convenient for defense and can also be used for trade."
Su Lie also fully supported it and even proposed that the original defense system here should be restored.
"Can,"
"When the city is restored, it can be called a military city if it is surrounded by mountains and rivers, taking advantage of dangers and can easily defend against difficulties." Su Lie suggested.
Wucheng, named after Wu, naturally shows its importance, but at the same time, the pun also means that it was rebuilt by Wu Huaiyu. Su Lie also tried to flatter Huaiyu.
"Hahaha, Wucheng is not bad either."
Another member of the Fan Yang family joined the army, so he also smiled to please Wu Huaiyu and asked Wu Huaiyu to leave his calligraphy treasure.
So Wu Huaiyu left two words under the dilapidated Great Wall.
One represents the great rivers and mountains, and the other represents Wucheng. They can be hung on both sides of Guancheng in the future.
"Report!"
"Lu Canjun is back."
Lu Chengye came ahead of the dam and met with the Sogdian Husbands.
"Your Majesty pays homage to the Governor."
"How did Lu Canjun gain from this trip?" Huaiyu asked with a smile.
"He Mingyuan, a Sogdian merchant group from the city west of Qingshui River Bridge, came with his subordinates to pay homage to the governor."
"Who is this He Mingyuan?"
The surname He Mingyuan is known to be one of the nine surnames of Zhaowu. Sogdian Hus generally have nine surnames such as Shi, Kang, An, Mi, Shi, and Cao. He is also one of the nine surnames. There are other countries in the rivers of the Western Regions.
According to Lu Chengye, this He Mingyuan was also a member of the Sogdian Hu family who had moved eastward to the Central Plains for many years. He Mingyuan was born in the Turkic grasslands, then went to Luoyang to do business, and then came to Dingzhou, Hebei.
During his Daye period, he was also in charge of three post stations in Dingzhou. He built hotels next to the inns to provide accommodation for traveling merchants. He also ran a store business, serving as a warehouse and acting as an intermediary for merchants. With the shrewdness of the Sogdian people, he
He had a brilliant mind and made a fortune. Later he built a weaving workshop with 500 silk looms, bought many fields, and owned a large number of slaves.
However, after the Sui Dynasty, He Mingyuan also grew old, lost his official support, and lost his original post office. He encountered troubled times, and his military career was like a comb and banditry.
The elderly He Mingyuan took the Sogdian Hu people from Dingzhou to move north. They first went to the Turks beyond the Great Wall, selling cattle and horses on the grassland and selling salt and wine to regain some strength. Later, they took a fancy to Guangning and moved here to settle.
Relying on the geographical advantages here, he engaged in border trade. In just ten years, he regained prosperity and his family fortune exceeded ten thousand yuan.
Even though he is neither a Turkic official nor a Central Plains official now, he has recruited many Sogdians to settle here over the years, and he has now become the Sabao of this area.
"So, He Mingyuan has the final say in Qingshui River and Yu Yanshui?"
"really."
Wu Huaiyu admired this old man very much. It was not easy to make a comeback at such an old age. Not only was he so successful in business, but he could even control such a land with a radius of three hundred miles and become the de facto lord of one place. It was even more difficult.
Sabao was originally the leader of the merchant group during the long-distance trade between Sogdia and Hu. The Silk Road was not a smooth road, and there would be thieves and bandits. The goods in long-distance trade were mostly precious goods such as jewelry, silverware, spices, etc.
The team needs a more capable leader.
Later, many Sogdian business groups began to settle in the Central Plains. Sabao became not only the leader of the business group, but also the leader of the settlement.
The Sabaos in these Sogdian settlements are bound by clan blood and united by Zoroastrian faith, and they have become some very special beings.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Central Plains imperial court would even directly appoint some powerful Sabao officials, and even confer titles and titles such as governors. For example, the An family in Wuwei, Hexi Province had hereditary Sabao, governor and other positions during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
By the Sui Dynasty, the original Sogdian sabao had even been turned into one of the official positions in the court and became a liuneipinguan, which was specially awarded to those prestigious and powerful Sogdian leaders.
The Sabao of He Mingyuan was not awarded by the imperial court, but was recommended by the Sogdians.
He controlled the Sogdian autonomous settlement three hundred miles upstream of the Yuyan River, and there were many small Sabaos below.
"How many people does he have and how many weapons does he have?"
"It is estimated that there are about 3,000 Sogdian households in the entire Yuyanshui Basin, many of whom migrated to this area from Youzhou, Dingzhou, Yizhou, even Bingzhou, and Turks. They have a group of 800 people.
Tuo Jie,"
Wu Huaiyu had also heard of the name Tuoji. These were very brave warriors. It is said that in the Hezhong area of the Western Regions, the Sogdians were divided into two categories. One was the Sogdians who settled in city-states and focused on handicrafts and trade, and the other
One type is the Sogdians who are mainly nomadic.
The city-state Sogdians were good at doing business, while the nomadic Sogdians were very brave and capable of fighting.
So the Sogdians in those city-states liked to hire nomadic Sogdians to protect them when they were trading on the Silk Road. Those people were also called Tujie, which means brave warriors.
In Chang'an, you can often see those Tuoji figures.
The soldiers and horses are strong, most of them are Zhe Jie. Zhe Jie people are brave in nature, regard death as home, and have no previous enemies in battle.
Anyway, these Tuojie have an excellent reputation as mercenaries. It is said that Zhejie originated from Zheshi Kingdom, one of the thirty-four kingdoms in the Western Regions, which is also the Stone Kingdom. Of course, some people say that Tuojie actually originated from the ancient Persian Empire.
The mercenaries of the Western Regions in the era.
Anyway, this is a group of mercenaries with a long history and good reputation.
He Mingyuan was based in a land 300 miles away from Yanshui. There were 3,000 Sogdian Hu households, but there were 800 Tuoji warriors. It was really amazing.
Gao Rong told Wu Huaiyu that anyway, they often communicated with the Sogdian Hu people in Yanshui in the fortresses behind the mountains. The impression was that these people were very smart and good at doing business, but they were often capricious.
But it’s actually not easy to deal with.
Even though they are a group of businessmen, no one dares to offend them easily.
During the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Shanhou and the Sogdian Hu on the Yanshui side could be regarded as half allies.
The Han Dynasty once had a deafening slogan: Anyone who openly offends a strong man will be punished no matter how far away he is.
But Sogdian Hu believed in another saying as a wise saying, that is where benefit lies, no matter far or near.
From Hezhong to Hexi and then to Daibei and Liaoxi, these Silk Road merchants were everywhere, and gradually, their settlements were everywhere along the Silk Road.
In these settlements, there are not only the Sogdians, but also the Tocharians, Yanqi people, Turks, etc. they brought with them, as well as many of their guards and mercenary Tujie.
Entering the Hexi Corridor from the Western Regions, passing through Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei, and then southeast through Yuanzhou to Chang'an and Luoyang, or northeast to Lingzhou, Bingzhou, Yunzhou to Youzhou, Yingzhou, or from Luoyang through Weizhou and Xiangzhou
, Weizhou, Xingzhou, Dingzhou to Youzhou, Yingzhou.
Along these routes, there are many Sogdian settlements.
Wherever there is a Sogdian settlement, there must be a Zoroastrian temple, and Sabao also became the leader of the settlement's political and religious unity.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a capital Sabao in the capital, and state Sabao in each state. In the Sui Dynasty, the Sogdian settlements were transformed into counties and villages.
The Sogdian settlements in the Yanshui area were not registered. He Mingyuan's Sabao was not granted a title by the Tang Dynasty, and these settlements were not even converted into townships.
"Can you tell He Mingyuan what I said? What is his attitude?"
"He Mingyuan hopes to meet the governor in person,"
Huaiyu laughed a few times, which was considered an attitude, and he seemed not to cooperate.
There are countless Sogdian settlements on the Silk Road, and they are also nodes of the international trade network of Sogdian merchants. Even in times of war, these Sogdian Hu leaders are not easy to deal with. For example, during the Sui Dynasty, they attacked and destroyed the country of Yiwu in the Western Regions, but the Sui Dynasty brought chaos.
At that time, Yiwu was occupied by those Sogdian barbarians. For example, Shi Wannian was a Sogdian Sabao. At this time, he still occupied the seven cities of Yiwu and was known as the King of Yiwu. Jieli Khan also appointed him as Yiwu.
The city lord, commanded seven cities, subordinate to the Turks.
It seems that He Mingyuan also wants to be like Iwusa Baoshi Wannian, and wants to separate the Yu Yanshui area for self-government. It would be better if they can be granted governorship or something.
It's quite a beautiful thought.
But He Mingyuan feels that he occupies three hundred miles of Yanshui, and his relationship with Tuli Khan and Jieli Khan is not bad. He has dozens of Sogdian settlements, more than 3,000 Sogdian households, and 800 Sogdian households.
Tuoji warriors are fully qualified to negotiate terms with Wu Huaiyu.
It's just that Wu Huaiyu doesn't like others to bargain with him.
