Gai Zhongcheng led the Chinese army into Suiye Town, and was greeted by residents of all ethnic groups in the city. In addition to Sogdian, Turkic and other aborigines, there were also many Han Chinese who had immigrated here for a long time. The poet Li Bai is said to have been born here.
Suiye City was once one of the four towns in Anxi and has been abandoned many times. It was originally built by the Sogdians. During the Western Turks period, it served as the meeting place of the Ten Surnames and the Yating of the Khanate. Later, after the Western Turks surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, it became
One of the four towns in Anxi, it was later merged into the four towns in Anxi five times after the imperial court and the Turkic forces adjusted the situation. Until the early years of Kaiyuan, the court included Suiye Town in order to encourage Tuqi Shi Khan Sulu to fight against Dashi.
Tuqishi became the Yazhang Khan Court. After more than 20 years, the Tang army once again stationed in Suiye City.
Gai Jiayun was filled with emotion. He became the creator of history together with the ancestors who made contributions to the Western Regions. This is also a great honor.
An officer from the Marquis of Yu rode up from the front. He dismounted, bowed, crossed his hands and asked, "May I ask Zhongcheng, do you want to go to the Khan's tooth tent, or set up another tooth tent?"
Gai Zhongcheng thought for a moment, raised his riding whip and said: "Put another big tent in the city, and leave the Khan Tingya tent to Mohe Dagan."
…
Mohe Dagan sat outside the city to collect the remaining soldiers, counted the captured soldiers, and waited until the afternoon before entering the city. His first warrior, Sonadu, rushed back with his troops in despair, and caught up with Mohe at the gate of the city.
Sonadu fell off his horse, knelt on the ground and hugged his chest, saying, "Khan, my subordinates are back and are alive."
Mo He raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Why did you come back so quickly? Have you ever pursued and killed the Fire-Spitting Immortal Khan?"
Sonadu answered honestly: "No, Qixi Jiedu Deputy Envoy Yang Xilie led his troops to intercept the fire spitting immortal on his way to escape. I had no choice but to return the way I came."
Mohe Dagan finally couldn't bear it any longer, grabbed the reins of his horse and cursed bitterly: "You despicable villain Gai Jiayun, when I was fighting to the death on the battlefield, you were watching the show from the side! Now the overall situation is
Jiang Ding actually snatched the head from my hand!"
The warriors behind him lowered their heads and remained silent, fearing that Khan would vent his anger on them.
"Let's go find Gai Jiayun! I want to ask him what explanation he can give."
Mo He first went to the Khan Tingya tent, and then he realized that Gai Jiayun had not entered it. The resentment in his heart decreased a little, and he asked someone to lead the way to Gai Jiayun's new tent.
Unlike Qiuci and Shule, Suiye City had almost no buildings in the Central Plains style. Gai Jiayun had to make do with it and set up his tooth tent in the Daqin Temple in the city.
Mo He came following the wind and stood outside the gate of the Persian Temple. He straightened his posture first, took a deep breath to gather his emotions, and then strode in.
Gai Zhongcheng sat cross-legged in the hall of Daqin Temple, looking up at the colorful relief murals around him. There is only one statue in this temple. It is not like the rows of Arhats and Buddhas in Buddhist temples, but it is a thin man with curly hair being bound.
It's really strange when it comes to instruments of torture.
Several clergymen in white robes were carefully accompanying them. Gai Jiayun became curious and pointed at the statue and asked, "Is this a god?"
The priest replied: "This is the Son of God."
Gai Jiayun asked again: "Since you are the son of God, why are you being punished?"
The priest was about to explain the reason to him, but Mohe Dagan had already walked in from outside the temple door, bowed and said, "Mohe came to ask Zhongcheng."
Gai Jiayun sat upright and faced him: "What do you want to ask?"
"I sent Sonadu to pursue the fire-breathing Immortal Khan. Why did Zhongcheng send people to intercept him halfway? Could it be that only the Anxi Army can pursue this fire-breathing Immortal, and I, the Mohe Division, cannot?"
"Of course we can't chase him!" Gai Jiayun straightened his neck and choked back.
Mohe Dagan had an angry look on his face, took a deep breath, and then asked loudly: "Why can't I pursue you? Is it possible that Zhongcheng is greedy for my head?"
Gai Jiayun suddenly let out a hearty laugh, and the echo of haha echoed in the temple. Mohe became more and more angry. Just as he was about to step forward, the two swordsmen behind Gai Jiayun took a step forward, and their palms were already holding
On the handle of the knife.
Gai Zhongcheng stopped laughing, waved away the two of them, and faced Mo He and said: "A certain Jiedu envoy who lives in the two towns of Beiting, Anxi, and sits thousands of miles west of Qixi, how can he covet the credit of your mere head?"
In the dispute between the two surnames Huang, the crime of the Fire-Spitting Khan will not lead to death. I ask Mohe Khan, if the bones of the Fire-Spitting Khan fall into your hands, can he still live?"
Mo He said angrily: "I really have no intention of killing him, why should Zhongcheng doubt me?"
"Doesn't Hemo Khan know that plum blossoms in melon fields avoid suspicion? If you really had no intention of killing him, you shouldn't have sent troops to chase him."
Mohe Daqianli was poor in words. Since ancient times, Hu people and Han people have never won in verbal and intellectual debates. He has long heard that the Han people are eloquent, but he did not expect that what was originally his righteous reason would become
It made him unreasonable.
He racked his brains and thought, and suddenly found an entry point. He rolled up his narrow sleeves and asked loudly: "Why does Zhongcheng want to keep the fire-breathing Immortal Khan? I, Mohe, have sincerely surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. You keep his life."
, are you guarding against me?"
Gai Jiayun put his hands on his knees and said in a deep voice: "Am I trying to protect you? I'm trying to help you!"
Mohdagan asked suspiciously: "How can you say this?"
Gai Jiayun grinned his thick lips and said: "You are about to unify all the Tuqishi tribes. Among them are many former followers of Sulu Khan. They are loyal to the black surname and are scattered among the Tuqishi tribes. I will
Let me ask you, once you kill the Fire-Spitting Khan with your own hands, can the conflict and hatred between the black and yellow surnames be resolved? If your hands are stained with the blood of the Fire-Spitting Khan, can these black people let it go?
Only if I escort the Fire-breathing Immortal back to Chang'an and make him live as an official, holding a position but not having the right to enjoy a title, will these black people dare not move and surrender to you, Hemo Khan, with peace of mind."
"Furthermore, it is impossible for the Tang Dynasty to place its hopes on you alone. After you become a khan, if you cannot subdue the Tuqishi tribes and cause civil strife again, we can only abandon you and choose another virtuous khan. I hope He Mo can
Khan can work hard and never let us down."
Hemo Dagan's head was buzzing, and he turned to ask with a sullen breath: "In order to destroy the fire-breathing Immortal Khan, our Mukun tribe suffered heavy losses in this battle, Zhongcheng, you have seen it. Congratulations.
Don’t even think about asking Gai Zhongcheng to return to Chang’an to express his merits for me. To be honest, I want to be the Khan of the Ten Turkic surnames.”
Gai Jiayun nodded and said: "Don't worry Khan, I will fight for you."
Seeing that there was no point in staying any longer, He Mo Dagan bowed and hugged his chest and said, "Please give Gai Zhongcheng a good rest in the temple. He Mo will leave."
"In that case, I'll ask the guards to take you out."
Hemo Dagan turned around and walked out of the Daqin Temple. A soldier followed him and sent him out of the courtyard. He bowed his hands to each other from afar, turned around and went back.
He Mo looked back at the dark entrance of Daqin Temple, recalling the conversation with Gai Jiayun just now, he couldn't help but get angry from the bottom of his heart, and said to himself: "You still want to manipulate my Mukun tribe! Wait until I incorporate all the Turkic tribes.
, after obtaining the position of Khan with the Ten Surnames, he will definitely be able to surpass Sulu. When the time comes, if you make me anxious, even the four towns of Anxi will be captured by you!"
He waved his sleeves, put his hands on his back and led his followers to the Yazhang Palace.
…
Gai Jiayun sat cross-legged and saw He Mo staggering out of the hall threshold. He turned around and smiled at the people beside him: "This man actually wants to be a Khan with the tenth surname. He is so ambitious!"
The deputy envoy Yang Xilie and his entourage behind him burst into laughter, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became relaxed.
After laughing, Yang Xilie asked Gai Jiayun with doubts on his face: "Zhongcheng, why do you tell He Mo the truth? Wouldn't it be better not to tell him about this matter?"
Gai Jiayun stood up, holding the hilt of the knife at his waist, his armor vibrated, and with a loud voice, he faced the door and said loudly: "You need to be sincere when treating others. Even if I don't say it, Mo He will definitely know it in the future.
Besides, conspiracy and tricks are the tools of the weak. We are the strong ones and we only engage in conspiracy."
Everyone around them crossed their hands and exclaimed: "Zhongcheng is wise!"
Gai Jiayun laughed arrogantly and cast a stern look at the priest standing next to him: "Seng Hu, let's go back to the question we just asked. Since he is the son of God, he should live in the sky and be worshiped by thousands of people. Why should he be punished?"
Priest: "It's a long story, legend..."
After a while, Gai Jiayun stood on the ground with a knife in both hands, squinted his eyes and looked ahead and said: "So, does this son of God bear all the killings that a certain person has done in the east of Suiye City today?"
The priest nodded and added: "That's exactly it."
"It's comparable to Prince Mahasasa who sacrificed his life to feed a tiger." He walked out of the palace gate with a knife, suddenly turned around, pointed to the statue at the end of the palace calmly and said: "Giving one million yuan in money, someone wants to
Reshape the golden body for the suffering Son of God.”
The priest held the cross and muttered silently: "Amen, Heavenly Father will bless you."