The Kizilkum Desert covers an area of 300,000 square kilometers. It is a very strange desert.
Because it is the only desert in the world that is sandwiched by large rivers with abundant water resources, such as the Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya River, and it is also red.
Kizilkum means Red Desert in Kazakh. There was no Kazakh nation at this time, so this desert was simply called Red Sand.
The only difficulty in crossing this red sand is not the lack of water or the hot climate, but that you may get lost at any time.
Compared with the terrifying Taklimakan, the Red Desert is not very short of water, it just lacks recognition.
It is too flat, and even the low desert vegetation looks similar. There is no reference at all to determine the direction and identify the path.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhao has no shortage of original compasses here, and he has also contacted some Xicao survivors through the descendants of Dongcao.
With these indigenous herdsmen living in the red sand oasis leading the way, and the compass determining the approximate direction, we never deviated from the route.
A young Sogdian man leading a camel raised a water bag and handed it to Zhang Zhao attentively. He was a native of Xicao who was recruited by Zhang Zhao.
After the Tianfang enlightenment in this place for two hundred years, most of the religions and races have been changed.
The only people who can guarantee that they will not be overwhelmed by the influx of Tianfang religious culture are the Zoroastrian Sogdians who would rather bear the heavy poll tax than convert to the religion. There are Dongcao people, Xicao people, and Kangguo people.
Shiguo people.
Historically, these races actually had quite a connection with the Central Plains. Not to mention that there were a large number of Kangguo and Shiguo people in the territory of the Guiyi Army, and the Cao Yijin family was even mixed with the Xicao people.
In fact, even in Yunzhong Daibei and other places in the Central Plains, there are a large number of Sogdians with the nine surnames of Zhaowu, mostly with the two surnames of Kang and Shi.
Even from the late Tang and Jin Dynasties to the early Northern Song Dynasty, a peculiar chain of ethnic contempt formed in these places.
At this time, among the three northern tribes of Shatuo, only one was a true Shatuo, and the rest were Sogdians with surnames such as Kang and Shi. They were called false Shatuo at that time.
Even if the fake Shatuo people reach high positions, they still have a sense of national inferiority when facing the real Shatuo people.
The most famous one is Kang Fu. He was the founder of the Later Tang Dynasty and the Kaifu Yi of the Later Jin Dynasty, but he was envious of a judge under his command.
Because this Shatuo judge’s ancestral home was Jincheng, Longyou, which was the birthplace of Li Keyong’s grandfather Zhu Xie Zhiyi, Kangfu was greatly envious of him and thought that he was the real Shatuo, while he was a fake Shatuo, with a distant family background.
Not as good as the other party.
Damn you, a bunch of bastards actually talk about family status, it's an eternal wonder.
Of course, there are also Hu'er who are despised by Kangfu, that is, the Xiren and Khitan tribe outside Daibei.
When Kangfu was serving as the governor of Qinzhou, he fell ill once, and all his staff came to express their condolences.
Kangfu was wrapped in a brocade quilt and sat on the bed to receive everyone. After coming out, an aide smiled and said to his companions, "The brocade quilt is rotten."
Originally this was just a joke, but Kang Fu, who was not well educated, misunderstood it. He angrily found the aide who had spoken and cursed him in the face.
"Although I was born in Saixia, I am from the Tang Dynasty. How dare you say that I am Luanxi?"
Unexpectedly, decades later in our Song Dynasty, the Khitan and Xi people, who were regarded as powerful forces in the north of the Great Wall, were now in extremely low status. Even the Sogdians with the nine surnames of Zhaowu looked down upon them.
The five generations of warriors died, but their strength and national self-confidence were still very high. When Yelu Deguang went south to the Central Plains, he was defeated several times and even escaped alone on a camel.
The camel God of War and the donkey-cart God of War were bright and clear for a while, echoing back and forth.
In general, the Sogdians with the nine surnames of Zhaowu actually have a very great influence on the Han people.
Among the later generations of Han surnames Kang, Shi, Bai, Shi, and Mi, there is a large amount of Sogdian ancestry, especially the surname Kang. More than half of the people with the Kang surname in history basically have the shadow of Sogdian Kang.
At the same time, similar to how Li Keyong used his family to take the three northern tribes southward to the Central Plains, it is estimated that a large number of Sogdians will also be involved in the rise of King Zhang.
It's just that the Li family relies on the Sogdians of the Kang family, while King Zhang is at odds with the Sogdians of the Cao family.
The great-grandmother of Cao Yanxi, the first wife, and Lady Cao Sanniang were the daughters of Sogdian West Cao, while Cao Yanmian, the queen of Saktu who was robbed by Shule, was the daughter of Dongcao.
At the same time, the people who served as his guides in this red sand were directly the Dongcao and Xicao people, and the leaders of these people expressed to Zhang Zhao more than once that they were willing to return eastward with King Zhang.
Of course they are willing to return east. The Cao Yijin family, who is of mixed blood with the Sogdian Cao Kingdom, has already taken control of the Guiyi Army, and there will be no religious poll tax there.
What's more, King Zhang married a bunch of Sogdian Cao's daughters. In their view, Zhang Zhao was definitely one of their own, and his own was the king, so of course they had to live a good life with him.
.....
After six days and seven nights, sleeping day and night, after a long journey of nearly two hundred miles, Zhang Zhao personally led 7,000 elite soldiers and was finally about to walk out of this red sand.
Among these 7,000 elites, 4,000 were mounted heavy infantry, 800 heavy cavalry with both men and horses, and 2,000 elite light cavalry.
There are also two hundred Zhang Zhao's personal guards, the Hanshandu soldiers who are used as attacking rams, and there are also hundreds of Dong Cao and Xicao leading parties.
There were more than 7,000 people with three war horses per person, plus hundreds of camels. Even if they brought a large amount of wine mixed with purified water when they set off, they would still be tortured along the way.
"Your Majesty, there is a village of Dongcao people about fifteen miles ahead, but they have converted to Tianfang Sect for a long time. Please send two warriors to come with me to have a look. If we can persuade them, we can
A place to rest.”
This little Sogdian is the guy who has been carrying a water bag to please Zhang Zhao these days. He is fifteen years old this year. In terms of seniority, he is the nephew of Cao Yanmian, the Cao family.
The little guy understands it very well! Why did he come over to Zhang Zhao and ask for a few warriors to go with him? Isn't it just to prevent Zhang Zhao from believing in him?
Along the way, Zhang Zhao also discovered that although he had never gone to school, he was a very good veterinarian, with rich experience in caring for war horses and camels.
Considering that he is too young to have the opportunity to accumulate a lot of experience, this should be attributed to talent.
"Are you willing to recognize me as your adoptive father?" This is a talented person, and he has a small connection with him, so Zhang Zhao decided to take it on the spot!
The little guy suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhang Zhao, his eyes blazing with blazing light, and every inch of his face was radiating shock and joy.
"My son, Greyhound, pays homage to his father!" Greyhound knelt down to Zhang Zhao with a thud and banged his head on the ground.
Yan Jin looked at Greyhound with envy and said to Zhang Zhao: "Congratulations to the king on the birth of his adopted son. Greyhound's parents died young, but he is smart and smart, and is good at riding, shooting and raising horses. He was able to be adopted by the king as his adopted son.
He will definitely be a strong general in our army in the future!"
People around him came over to congratulate Zhang Zhao, and of course more congratulations were directed at the greyhound who was still on the ground with tears of joy in his eyes.
Because although King Zhang formed a young army that was jokingly called the Adopted Son Army, it was just a joking name. Zhang Zhao only recognized them as his students, but not as adopted sons. This greyhound was the first one that King Zhang accepted.
A adopted son.
"Get up! From now on, you will follow a certain Zhang and join my Zhang family tree. Of course, the name Greyhound cannot be used anymore. Just call it Zhang Liecheng!"
The Zhang Zhao family is descended from the Longtongue Zhang family, a branch of the Nanyang Zhang family. Their rankings over the past few generations are based on the righteousness and loyalty of Zhao Lie and the loyalty of Shi Ze.
It's just that in Zhang Zhao's father's generation, after his father Zhang Chengfeng claimed to be the emperor in white, this ranking was useless. Zhang Zhao would just use it now.
"Liecheng kowtows to thank his adoptive father for the name! From now on, I will follow him through fire and water!" After being given the name by Zhang Zhao, Greyhound, who had just stood up, knelt down again and kowtowed.
Zhang Zhao hurriedly stopped him, "Stop knocking, bring more people over, show your righteousness, and lure them with benefits. If they still refuse, then you should reason with them!"
Zhang Zhao deliberately emphasized the tone of his reasoning. Zhang Liecheng nodded heavily, his eyes shining like a thief, obviously he understood how to reason.
....
Zhang Zhao is accepting his adopted son, while Nasr II, the emir of Samampos, is thinking about how to deal with his son.
When you sit in the position of an emperor, you have to put aside all family, friendship and love.
Among the hundreds of kings in China over thousands of years, there are very few good emperors like Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty. The same is true in Persia, where struggles involving imperial power are very cruel.
When Nasr II was young, the intelligent and healthy Prince Hamid was his favorite son.
Otherwise, he would be reluctant to defeat his brother and become the emir, and give Prince Hamid the key position of Salal, who controls the capital.
However, as he gets older, especially as he gets older but remains healthy, his son Prince Hamid, who is already in his forties, gradually changes from the protection of the imperial power to the biggest threat to the imperial power.
Which group of people wants to enjoy it the most? Undoubtedly the elderly.
Because people at this age do not have the energy they had when they were young, and their bodies are not allowed to reach new heights. At the same time, facing the passage of time, the anxiety of living less and less day by day is constantly increasing.
When facing the energetic young people around me, I am filled with a sense of urgency as I age and my time is running out.
Under such circumstances, especially those who hold great power, family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs are no longer their pursuit.
How to allow yourself to enjoy the sweetness of the world in your limited time, or even live forever, is the most important thing.
Of course, as one becomes old and frail, one can no longer control everything due to limited energy, which leads to the fear of losing power gradually deepening.
This is also the reason why emperors, no matter how wise and powerful they are, often become dim when they get old.
Whether it is an emperor like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty or Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, or a famous king like Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty or Kang Mazi, as he gets older, drowsiness becomes the norm, but the degree is different for each person.
Nasr II is a typical example of this. He worked hard to govern in his youth, and Samantha reached its peak in his hands.
But as I get older, the four-piece set of being so extravagant, fond of women, moody, and so happy has come to me.
He now just wants to enjoy himself, make money, and stabilize the power in his hands. Prince Hamid, who is already too big to lose, has become an unstable factor threatening the royal power in his mind.
The same goes for Prince Hamid. His father, Nasr II, also changed from a good father to a terrifying existence that could kill him at any time.
