Kang Daqing said respectfully: "Reporting to your highness, Suiye Palace is the former Geluolu Khan Palace. Because Governor Ma calls himself Suiye King, the Dudu Mansion is called Suiye Palace. Ordinary people call it this way and are used to it.
"
"Where's the official one?"
Guo Song continued to ask: "What is the official name?"
"The officialdom is rather vague, but officials all call Governor Ma the prince. There is no such title as governor in Suiye anymore, at least I have never heard of it."
Guo Song nodded and asked again: "Tell me about the person who asked you to deliver the letter. What else did he say to you?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the man's name is Bulie. When we met him, it was three days after he escaped from the silver mine in the northwest of Suiye. He was covered in ulcers and was as skinny as a stick. He had not had any water or rice for three days. When he saw us
, I really couldn’t hold on anymore and fell down.
Perhaps because of a flashback, he was awake for half an hour. He told us that he deposited a bamboo tube in a shop owned by a Geluolu family in Suiye. Inside was a letter of accusation written by their chief to His Highness the King of Jin in Chang'an, because
At that time, Suiyecheng was going door-to-door to verify his identity. He was worried that he could not be verified, so he kept the bamboo tube. As expected, he failed to pass the verification. After a few days of interrogation, he was sent directly to the silver mine."
"Then what? Keep talking!"
"Then he said that King Suiye began to collude with the Khazars to deal with the cannibals a few years ago. The condition was to sell out the interests of the Pogo tribe and give up the traditional pastures of the Pogo tribe to the Khazars. The Khazar cavalry began to move eastward.
They invaded the pastures of the Pogo tribe and plundered their cattle, sheep and women. They couldn't bear it and killed hundreds of Khazar cavalry. The chief of the Pogo tribe was worried about being retaliated, so he asked him to deliver a message to the Tang Dynasty. After saying this, he
Dead."
"Since he's dead, how do you know what's going on behind the scenes?"
"Your Highness, in fact everyone in Suiye knows that the villain was in Suiye at that time. Many soldiers in the tavern were telling the details of how to destroy the Pogo tribe. The Pogo tribe was attacked by the Suiye army and the Khazar cavalry.
They jointly strangled, more than 10,000 young and strong men were killed, and the women and children were plundered. Only a few smaller tribes fled westward and were accepted by the country of Bakhna."
"Is this an excuse for the destruction of Bukhan's country?"
"One of them! The other excuse is that King Bukhanna colluded with Dashi. King Suiye used these two excuses. He led his army to invade Bukhanna a few months ago, and was resolutely resisted by King Bukhanna, but
The Suiye army used sky thunder to blow open the city gate, entered the city of Bakhna, and began to massacre the city. It was very miserable. I heard from the Sogdian merchants who escaped that the king and three princes were beheaded by King Suiye himself in front of the palace.
The queen rushed to fight for her head, and was rewarded by him as a personal soldier. Later, there was no news, and she was probably dead. Then, dozens of concubines and princesses in the palace were seized by King Suiye, and all the wealth in the palace was transported back to Suiye.
Ye Wang Palace, this is what we saw with our own eyes."
Everyone looked at each other in shock. On the one hand, they were deeply shocked by Ma Weijiang's cruelty. On the other hand, they heard thunder from the sky, which should be iron fire thunder!
Guo Song also looked at Zhang Qiu'an, who nodded and said: "The Broken Leaf Army has fifty small iron fire mines and twenty large iron fire mines. They were replaced the year before last and have not been used before."
Kang Daqing's narration ended, and he was taken out of the lobby by the soldiers. Zhang Qianyi said angrily: "Your Highness, no matter whether Ma Weijiang openly rebels or not, he can never stay in Suiye. The minister suggested calling him back to Chang'an to report on his duties, and then
Hold him accountable for the massacre of civilians."
Pan Liao sighed and said: "He will definitely not return to Chang'an. If we call him back to Chang'an, he may openly rebel."
Liu Zi shook his head and said: "But now there is no difference between him and supporting the army to stand on his own feet?"
Du You also said: "There is still a difference. One is openly self-reliant and the other is secretly self-reliant. But as the court, we should make it clear that we will not tolerate his brutal rule over Suiye and must formally call him back."
When Pan Liao saw that Guo Song was deep in thought and silent, he asked, "What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Guo Song said slowly: "I'm thinking about the eastward advance of the Khazars and the Cannibals. Ma Weijiang's destruction of the Pogo Tribe and Bakhna is all related to these two. I think the situation west of Congling may be worse than ours.
What you know is much more complicated.”
Speaking of this, he said to everyone: "Perhaps Ma Weijiang had his own reasons for annihilating the Pogo tribe and Bukhanna, but in any case, he did not report to Chang'an beforehand, nor did he report an explanation afterward. This is because he was blind.
Regarding the performance of the imperial court, we must not allow Ma Weijiang to overstep his authority and act recklessly. My attitude is also very clear. He must be recalled to Chang'an to report on his duties!"
.........
In the official reception hall, Guo Song met Shi Donglai and Kang Daqing again. This time he no longer cared about Ma Weijiang's affairs.
In fact, Guo Song didn't take it too seriously when Kang Daqing described how Ma Weijiang brutally treated King Bhanna, how he massacred the Pogo tribesmen, etc. He himself had done the same thing, but Ma Weijiang was a little more ruthless than him.
, it’s just a matter of indiscretion in private life.
As a superior, Guo Song was more concerned about Ma Weijiang's transgression, Ma Weijiang's concealment from him, and Ma Weijiang's unauthorized expansion of the army, but now he did not want to ask about Ma Weijiang.
"I invite you two to come over. I want to understand the overall situation over Suiye. To put it simply, it is the eastward expansion of the Great Food and the eastward expansion of the Khazar Kingdom. Let's start with the Great Food!"
"Let me tell you first!"
Shi Donglai said slowly: "I also participated in the Battle of Talas. At that time, I was a civilian man recruited by the Tang Army to carry supplies. I was responsible for twenty camels. In the Battle of Talas, the Tang Army lost and Gao Xianzhi was forced to withdraw to Anxi.
.
However, the Black-clothed Dashi also suffered a heavy setback in this battle, coupled with the internal struggle for power, so the Dashi people did not continue to advance eastward after taking control of the Hezhong area, leaving a power void in Suiye and Tochara.
.
At that time, the Geluolu people obtained this area. Later, the Tubo people began to invade Tocharo and drove out the Geluolu forces. In order to compete with the Tubo, the Geluolu introduced the Uighur people, and prompted the Uighurs and Tubo to fight for ten years.
In the remaining years, both sides suffered losses in the end, and both sides were forced to retreat to their respective territories. The Geluolu people had the last laugh, but the Geluolu people's own strength also suffered a huge weakening, and their vitality has never been restored, otherwise His Highness would not have been so easy.
Defeat the Geluolu people."
Guo Song nodded and asked, "When will the great cannibal start expanding eastward again?"
Shi Donglai smiled and said: "Kang Daqing has more say than me on this point, Daqing says it!"
Kang Daqing bowed slightly and said: "Your Highness, please forgive me for being rude. I personally feel that the statement about the eastward expansion of cannibalism is not accurate..."
'Cough! Cough!'
Shi Donglai hurriedly coughed twice, Guo Song smiled and waved his hand, "It's okay, let Kang Daqing speak freely, and I will be able to tell the difference!"
"Thanks to Your Highness for your tolerance. Dashi has always controlled the vast territory west of Bakhna. Although the king is still there, it is more symbolic. The governor of the river and dozens of tax collectors control the Sogdian countries. Of course, there are many other countries.
The small garrisons, from Kang to Shi, are all under their control. For ordinary people, although there is no war, they pay more taxes."
"Where is the country of Bahan?" Guo Song asked.
"Your Highness, the country of Baba Khan was not occupied by Dashi. It was a vassal state of Geluolu. It paid taxes to the Geluolu people every year. After Geluolu was destroyed by Your Highness, Bukhan was freed.
, was neither controlled by Dashi nor by the Tang Dynasty, and was a rare independent country. If Dashi expanded eastward, I guess he was referring to the country of Bukhan."
"So there is a basis for Ma Weijiang to accuse Ba Khan of colluding with Dashi?"
"Your Highness, regardless of whether there is any basis for it, he should not have killed so brutally..."
Guo Song waved his hand, "What I care about now is not how Ma Weijiang is doing. What I care about is Dashi. Did Dashi get involved in pulling sweat?"
Kang Daqing had no choice but to answer according to Guo Song's thinking, "The problem lies in the death of Ge Luolu and the Tang army reoccupying Suiye. The cannibals will not remain indifferent. They are indeed wooing Ba Khanna. I heard that Ba Khanna
Three of the king's ten concubines are from Dashi. A few years ago, there was a news that spread widely, saying that the caravans of Bakhna were exempted from tax, so many caravans went to the country of Bakhna to register. I also went there.
Gone."
"Is it tax-free?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Kang Daqing shook his head, "King Bukhanna's private caravan is indeed tax-free. It has a tax-free certificate issued by Dashi. Other caravans are not tax-free."
"Other than that, doesn't Dashi have any other actions?"
"Maybe there is something else, such as the rumor that King Bukhan signed a secret agreement with Dashi. I don't know if it is true or false."
Guo Song nodded, "Then let's talk about the Khazar Kingdom."
"Your Highness, the Khazar Kingdom is also a big country to the west of the Khwarezm Kingdom. Many Sogdians have been to the Khazar Kingdom and can sell Eastern silk and porcelain to the Byzantine Empire through the Khazar Kingdom.
The profits are even greater, and I have also been in contact with many Khazarian businessmen. They have a strong attachment to their homeland towards the east. They are actually the Gesar people among the Tiele people who moved westward.
On the other hand, greater commercial benefits can be obtained by bordering the Tang Dynasty. In the past, because of the existence of the Geluolu people, they had no chance to expand eastward. After the Geluolu people were destroyed, the Khazars began to expand from the north.
The Yi Bo Sea is expanding in the direction of the sea, but the Po'an tribe is the biggest obstacle to their eastward expansion. The Po'an tribe also strongly resists their eastward expansion, so a war with the Po'an tribe is inevitable."
Guo Song walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "You mentioned before that Ma Weijiang introduced Khazars to fight against the cannibals. Is there a deep hatred between the two?"
"Their religious beliefs are different. The Khazar Kingdom believes in Judaism. However, I think it is mainly a conflict of commercial interests. They all want to make money from the Byzantine Empire. Once the Khazar Kingdom successfully expands eastward, the commercial interests of the Dashi Dynasty will definitely be affected.