Youzhou is located northeast of Chang'an. Together with Jizhou, Yunzhou, and Fengzhou, youzhou built a solid military barrier for the northern border of the Tang Dynasty. Traveling seventy miles north from Youzhou, you will enter the territory of the Turks. Traveling another thirty miles north, you will reach the Yating of Tuli Khan.
A grassland khan actually set up his dental court on the border of the Tang Dynasty. This seems to be very unreasonable, but there is a reason for all this.
Tuli Khan, Ashina clan, named Shibobi, was the son of Shibi Khan. In the second year of Wude, Shibi Khan died of illness. Shibobi was unable to succeed to the throne because of his young age, and was succeeded by his uncle Qilifushe, named Chuluo Khan. After Chuluo Khan succeeded to the throne, he appointed Shibobi as Nibushe and placed him in the eastern part of Tujue (which bordered the northern part of Youzhou in the Tang Dynasty).
In this way, if the Tang Dynasty attacks the Turks in the future, Shibobi's troops will be the first to bear the brunt and can defend Chuluo Khan for a while; if the Turks attack the Tang Dynasty, Shibobi's troops will be able to act as a vanguard and defend Chuluo Kehan. Khan charges into battle!
I wonder if Shibi Khan would be so angry that he would lift the coffin board if he found out at the foot of the spring that his brother treated his son like this. But that's not all.
In the fourth year of Wude, Chuluo Khan died, and Shibobi's other uncle, Duobi, succeeded him and became the current Jieli Khan. After Jieli Khan came to the throne, in order to win over the old tribe of Shibi Khan, he appointed Shibo Bi as the junior khan, in charge of the Khitan, Mohe and other tribes. He was named Tuli Khan, but Tuli's Yating position was not Changed, still connected to Youzhou in the south and located in the eastern part of the Turks, becoming a special "military barrier" between Li Er and Jie Li!
At this time, a caravan was driving on the grassland, and the direction they were heading towards was the palace of Tuli Khan!
There are a total of more than 20 people in this caravan. The leader of the businessman is slightly fat, wearing a round-collared green damask, and a quilt around his waist. His long hair is not tied up, but instead tied into small braids, just like that. Dressed casually, this is a typical Turkic dress!
Look at the twenty or so people behind the businessman. They are all dressed in coarse leather clothes, their hair is also braided, and they have scimitars at their waists. They all look powerful!
Obviously, these people are the escorts accompanying the businessman!
In addition to people, this caravan was accompanied by more than ten carriages, which were carriages specially designed to transport goods, not people. Through the carriage door, you can see that the carriage is filled with a dazzling array of goods, including silks, porcelain, and daily utensils in boilers.
The caravan was riding horses leisurely on the prairie. Suddenly, a group of sergeants wearing leather jackets and armor, holding curved sabers, galloped towards them.
"Stop~!"
When the group of soldiers arrived in front of the caravan, they immediately reined in their horses and stopped. The leading sergeant looked solemn and shouted loudly: "Who are you?"
As for the language spoken by the sergeant, it was naturally not Chinese, but Turkic!
From the time Tumen defeated Rouran in 552 AD and established the Turkic Khanate, until 745 AD when Baimei Khan was defeated by the Uighurs and exited the stage of history, for more than two hundred years, the sphere of influence continued to expand. At its most powerful period, it occupied The Mongolian Plateau, the Jungar Basin, and the vast areas of the Central Asian grasslands. As a powerful nomadic nation active on the northern grasslands in ancient China, the Turks had an important impact on the history of China, Central Asia, and even the world!
In addition, the Turks were also the earliest nomadic people in ancient China to have their own writing and language. For example, the Xiongnu and Rouran hundreds of years ago did not have their own language and writing, and all used Chinese characters!
"We are members of the Pugu Tribe. Under the orders of the chief, we have just returned from Taiyuan with a batch of specialties from the Tang Dynasty, ready to be presented to the Great Khan!"
Facing the unexpected sergeant blocking the road, the businessman's expression remained normal. After looking up and down at the dozen or so sergeants in front of him, he turned over and dismounted, put his right hand on his left chest, leaned over and saluted, and then he spoke fluently and authentically in Turkic language. The words came out of his mouth.
What is strange is that this place is clearly the territory of Tuli Khan, but the merchants are so clearly on the side of Jieli Khan. It is really puzzling! Isn't he afraid that the soldiers in front of him will kill them all or capture them all and tie them to Tuli Camp
However, after hearing the businessman's reply, there was nothing strange on the faces of the sergeants, and there was no drastic action on their hands. There was even a hint of fear in the eyes of the leading sergeant, but it was quickly covered up, and he looked into the carriage. Looking around, he said: "Pu Gu Department? What did you transport to Datang? We want to check!"
The merchant smiled and said: "The things on the carriage are just some silks, porcelain, and ironware. If you like it, you can each pick a few pieces to take away, and treat them as gifts from our Bones Department! But I don't know yet. Which tribe are they from?”
Turning from defense to offense, who would have thought that this businessman would start to turn from passive to active!
Hearing the businessman say that each person could pick a few items to take away, a look of greed flashed in the eyes of the dozen or so sergeants. After all, although the things the businessman mentioned were relatively common in the Tang Dynasty, on the grasslands, none of them were available. It’s not a hot commodity!
A trace of greed flashed in the eyes of the leading sergeant, but he quickly returned to normal. He held his head high and said: "We are from the Qibi tribe, and we are guarding this place under the orders of the Great Khan. Since these things of yours are dedicated to the Great Khan, It’s sweaty, so of course we won’t take more... Well, just take one piece each!”
The Qibi tribe, one of the fifteen tribes of Tiele, is the tribe closest to the Yating of Tuli Khan and belongs to the power of Jieli Khan! From this point of view, the businessman's previous decision to say that he was from the Servant Bone Tribe was an extremely correct decision! Because the Pugu Department is near the Turkic Royal Court and is the direct force of Jieli Khan!
The merchant laughed when he heard this and said: "It turns out that they are warriors from the Qibi tribe. Since they have been ordered by the Great Khan, please check these goods carefully!"
After that, he made a "please" gesture.
Seeing that the businessman was so magnanimous and honest, the leading sergeant waved his hands to the people behind him and said, "Okay! Since we are friends of the Servants and Bones Department, brothers, please each take an iron tool!"
After the words fell, everyone cheered, quickly dismounted, and walked towards the carriage loaded with goods. After a while, some of these people were holding iron pots, and some were carrying an iron stove. For the nomads living on the grassland, They said that these daily iron tools from the Central Plains are very scarce because the grassland people are not good at smelting iron, let alone making iron tools!
Take the iron pot as an example. A good iron pot can easily be exchanged for dozens of sheep on the grassland. Some poor tribes cannot afford iron pots, so they can only use stone pots!
"Okay! Brothers of the Servant Bone Department, let's go! My name is Qi Bihe, and you have a bad temper with me, haha! There are still three levels ahead, but as long as you tell me my name, they won't It’s embarrassing for you! But you must not get close to the little Khan’s dental chamber, otherwise you will be caught!”
The leading sergeant held a black iron pot and grinned at the businessman.
From the beginning to the end, these people just took the piece of iron they wanted, but did not inspect the goods on the carriage one by one!
The businessman smiled, leaned over and saluted: "Thank you, brother Qibihe!"
The sergeant named Qi Bihe waved his hand, and then left with all his subordinates satisfied.
The businessman paused for a while, and when he saw the soldiers walking away, he said to the guards behind him: "Let's go quickly! We must get to Tuli Yating before dark!"
Chinese!
At this time, the businessman actually spoke Chinese!
"Here~!"
The two dozen guards behind the businessman clasped their fists and shouted in unison.
What’s even more bizarre is that they are all speaking Chinese at the moment!
It turned out that they were a group of Central Plains people who came to the grassland in disguise. However, as a Central Plains person, why did the businessman speak Turkic language so fluently
The group embarked on the journey again.
Sure enough, as Qibi He said, they encountered three more checkpoints during the subsequent journey. However, the three words "Qibi He" seemed to have some effect among these Turkic sergeants. Those Turks who originally came to search The soldiers did not make things difficult for the caravan, but the businessman was wealthy. Although he was not given any trouble, he still left some iron or silk items for the sergeants at each level, which made the sergeants beam with smiles and threatened to do it again next time. If you go to Datang to buy goods, they will definitely not stop you!
"Okay! We should be safe now!"
After passing the last level, the leading businessman finally sighed with relief and said.
"Hey! Lord Ju, you are so powerful! Those Turkic soldiers were deceived by you. At first, the general was worried about you!"
After hearing this, all the guards behind the businessman also breathed a sigh of relief. Among them, the first guard could not help but look at the businessman with admiration and sighed.
Duke of Ju!
It turns out that this businessman dressed as a Turk turned out to be Tang Jian, Duke of Ju, who secretly set out from Chang'an more than ten days ago on an envoy to the Turks!
Who would have thought that the majestic Duke Ju of the Tang Dynasty would disguise himself as a Turkic businessman and speak fluent Turkic
At this time, the rest of the guards looked at Tang Jian with admiration. This man single-handedly led them to break through Jieli's many obstacles. It was hard not to admire him!
Tang Jian stood with his hands behind his back and said with a faint smile: "When I go to Turks as an envoy at this time, I am dancing on the edge of a knife. We will definitely encounter many more dangerous situations in the future than today. If we want to go back alive, we must be careful. At the same time, you must be fully prepared mentally!"
At this time, Tang Jian, with his beard and hair swaying in the wind, was like Zhou Yu whose oars were wiped out in smoke while talking and laughing. He was calm, calm and unrestrained. Such a mentality was so strong that it exploded!
"yes!"
Everyone agreed.
The leading guard hesitated for a moment and then said: "Mr. Ju, I have one thing that I don't understand. Why did you tell Qibi He that we are from the Pugu tribe? This territory belongs to Tuli Khan. , you said that at the time, weren't you afraid that Qi Bihe was a sudden and powerful person and would kill us all?"
He knew some Turkic languages, but he was far less proficient than Tang Jian. He had understood part of the conversation between Tang Jian and Qibi He just now. It was precisely because of this that he was worried about Tang Jian!
… … … … … … … … … …