Youzhou was located to the northeast of Chang 'an. Together with Ji, Yun, and Feng Provinces, they formed a firm military barrier on the northern border of the Great Tang. Seventy li north of Youzhou, one would enter the territory of the Turks. Another thirty li north would bring one to the Tuli Khan's Yatin.
For a Khagan of the steppe to set up his tent on the border of the Great Tang seemed extremely illogical, but there was a reason behind it.
The Tuli Khagan was a member of the Ashina Clan named Shbargha, and he was the son of Shibi Khagan. In the second year of Wude, Shibi Khagan died of illness. Shbargha was too young to succeed the throne, so his uncle, Silifoshi, succeeded him and was given the title of Chuluo Khagan. After Chuluo Khagan succeeded the throne, he appointed Shbargha as Nibu Khagan and placed him in the eastern part of the Turks (the land bordered the northern part of Youzhou).
In this way, if the Great Tang attacked the Turks in the future, Shbargha's subordinates would be the first to bear the brunt of the attack and be able to hold off the Chuluo Khagan for a while. If the Turks attacked the Great Tang, Shbargha's subordinates would be the vanguard and charge into the enemy lines for Chuluo Khagan!
If Shibi Khagan knew in the netherworld that his brother treated his son like this, would he be so angry that he would flip open his coffin lid? But this was not the end.
In the fourth year of Wude, Chuluo Khagan died, and Shbargha's other uncle took over the throne, becoming the current Xieli Khagan. After Xieli Khagan took the throne, in order to win over the old subordinates of Shibi Khagan, he appointed Shbargha as Little Khagan and put him in charge of the Khitans and Suans. However, the location of Tuli's tent did not change. It was still connected to Youzhou in the south, located in the eastern part of the Turks. It was a special 'military barrier' between Li Er and Xieli!
At this moment, a caravan was traveling on the steppe, and they were heading in the direction of Tuli Khagan's tent!
There were twenty-some people in this caravan. The leader of the caravan was slightly plump and wore a round collar made of green silk. A belt was tied around his waist, and his long hair was not tied up. Instead, it was tied into small braids that casually draped over his shoulders. This was the typical attire of the Turks!
The twenty-some people behind the merchant were all dressed in coarse leather clothes, their hair 'braided' style, with scimitars at their waists. All of them appeared Turks!
Obviously, these people were the merchant's escorts!
In addition to the people, there were more than ten carriages accompanying the caravan. They were the kind of carriages that were used to transport goods, not people. Through the door of the carriage, one could see that the interior of the carriage was filled with a dazzling array of goods. There were silk, porcelain, and even daily utensils in the boiler.
The caravan traveled on the prairie at a leisurely pace. Suddenly, a group of soldiers wearing leather clothes and armor and holding curved sabers galloped towards them.
"Stop right there!"
When the group of soldiers arrived in front of the caravan, they immediately reined in their horses and stopped. The leading soldier's face darkened as he asked loudly, "Who are you people?"
As for the language spoken by the soldiers, it was naturally not Han, but Turkic!
Ever since Tumen defeated the Rouran in 552 AD and established the Turkic Khaganate, the Turks had continued to expand for two-hundred-some years until the Uighurs defeated the White-browed Khagan in 745 AD. At their peak, they had occupied the Mongolian Plateau, the Junggar Basin, and the Central Asian steppe. As a powerful nomadic people active in the northern steppe of China, the Turks had an important influence on the history of China, Central Asia, and the rest of the world!
In addition, the Turks were also the first nomadic people in China to possess their own writing system and language. Several hundred years ago, the Xiongnu and Rouran did not have their own language or writing system. They only used Chinese characters!
"We're from the Pugu Tribe. On the orders of our tribal chief, we've just brought back a batch of Great Tang specialties from Taiyuan to offer to the Great Khan!"
In the face of these soldiers, the merchant remained unperturbed. After sizing up these ten-some soldiers, he placed his right hand on his left chest, bowed, and then began to speak in fluent Turkic.
What was strange was that this was clearly the territory of the Tuli Khagan, but this merchant was clearly standing on the side of Xieli Khagan. It was truly perplexing! Was he not afraid that these soldiers would kill or capture all of them and bring them to the Tuli camp?
However, after hearing the merchant's reply, those soldiers didn't have any strange expressions on their faces, nor did they make any extreme movements. A hint of fear even flashed through the eyes of the leading soldier, but it was quickly concealed. He looked inside the carriage and said, "Servant Bone Division? What did you bring to the Great Tang? We want to inspect it! "
The merchant chuckled and said, "The things in the carriage are just some silk, porcelain, and iron. If you like them, you can each take a few with you. Just treat it as a gift from our Pugu Tribe! But which tribe do you belong to? "
Switching from defense to offense, who would have thought that this merchant would actually start to take the initiative!
Hearing the merchant say that everyone could choose a few items to take away, a hint of greed flashed across the eyes of the dozen or so soldiers. After all, the items mentioned by the merchant might be common in Great Tang, but on the plains, all of them were in high demand!
There was a flash of greed in the eyes of the leader as well, but it quickly returned to normal. He held his head high and puffed out his chest. "We are from the Qiyan Tribe, and are here to guard this place under the orders of the Great Khan. Since you are offering these things to the Great Khan, we naturally won't take more … Erm, one per person is enough!"
The Qiyan Tribe, one of the fifteen tribes of Tiele, was the closest tribe to the Tuli Khagan's Yashin that belonged to the Xieli Khagan's forces! It seemed that the merchant's decision to say that he was from the Pugu Tribe was the correct one! Because the Pugu Tribe was near the Turkic royal court, it was the direct subordinate force of Xieli Khagan!
The merchant smiled and said, "So you are the warriors of the Qiyan Tribe. Since you are under the orders of the Great Khan, please inspect these goods carefully!"
After saying that, he made a 'please' gesture.
Seeing the merchant being so magnanimous and being so polite, the leading soldier waved his hand at the people behind him and said, "Alright! Since you are friends from the Pugu Tribe, brothers, each of you can take a piece of ironware! "
After saying that, everyone cheered and hurriedly got down from their horses and walked towards the carriage loaded with goods. After a while, some of these people carried iron pots and some carried iron stoves. To the nomads living in the grassland, these ironwares from the Central Plains were very scarce. This was because the people of the grassland were not good at refining iron, let alone making ironwares!
Take the iron pot for example, a good iron pot could easily be exchanged for dozens of sheep in the grassland. Some tribes that were not doing well could not afford to use iron pots, so they could only use stone pots!
"Alright! Brothers of the Pugu Tribe, you can go now! My name is Qiyan He. You are very similar to my temperament, haha! There are still three checkpoints in front, but when the time comes, as long as you mention my name, they will not make things difficult for you! But you must not go near the Little Khan's Yashin, otherwise you will be caught! "
The leader of the soldiers held a jet-black iron pot and grinned at the merchant.
From the beginning to the end, these people only took one piece of ironware that they wanted and did not check the goods in the carriage one by one!
The merchant smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Brother Qiyan He!"
The soldier by the name of Qi Da He waved his hand and left with his subordinates in satisfaction.
The merchant stood still for a while. When he saw that the soldiers had gone far, he then said to the guards behind him, "Let's go! We must reach Tuli Yashin before dark! "
Mandarin!
At this moment, this merchant was actually speaking in Mandarin!
"Yes ~!"
The twenty guards behind the merchant cupped their fists and said in unison.
What was even more bizarre was that these people were all speaking in Mandarin!
It turned out that they were actually a group of Central Plains people who came to the grassland in disguise. But that merchant was from the Central Plains, so why was he able to speak Turkic so fluently?
The group once again set out on their journey.
Just as Qiyan He had said, they encountered three more checkpoints in the following journey. But the name 'Qiyan He' seemed to have some effect on these Turkic soldiers. Those Turkic soldiers who had originally come to search did not make things difficult for this merchant group. But the merchant was rich and imposing. Although they did not make things difficult for him, he still left behind some ironware or silk for the soldiers at each checkpoint. These soldiers were all beaming with joy and declared that if they went to the Great Tang to buy goods again, they would definitely not stop them!
"Good! We should be safe from now on! "
After passing through the last checkpoint, the leading merchant finally let out a sigh of relief and said.
"Heh! Duke Ju, you are truly formidable! Those Turkic soldiers were all fooled by you. At the start, this general was sweating for you! "
Hearing these words, the guards behind the merchant all let out a sigh of relief. Among them, the leading guard could not help but look at the merchant with a face of worship and sigh.
Duke Ju!
This merchant dressed as a Turkic was actually the Duke Ju, Tang Jian, who had secretly departed from Chang 'an ten-some days ago on a diplomatic mission to the Turks!
Who could have imagined that the mighty Duke Ju of the Great Tang would disguise himself as a Turkic merchant and even speak fluent Turkic?
At this moment, the other guards also looked at Tang Jian with admiration. This man had single-handedly led them through Xieli's checkpoints, making it difficult for them not to admire him!
Tang Jian stood with his hands behind his back and faintly smiled. "When we go on a diplomatic mission to the Turks, we are already dancing on the edge of the blade. In the future, we will definitely encounter many more dangerous situations than today. If we want to return alive, we must be extremely careful, and at the same time, we must also prepare ourselves mentally!"
At this moment, Tang Jian's hair and beard were blowing in the wind. He was just like Zhou Yu, calm and composed, confident and at ease. This sort of mentality was simply explosive!
"Yes!"
Everyone agreed.
The leading guard hesitated for a moment, then said, "Duke Ju, this general has a matter that I do not understand. Earlier, why did you tell that Qi Kehe that we were from the Bogu Tribe? This territory belongs to Tuli Khagan. When you said this, were you not afraid that Qi Kehe was one of Tuli's men and would kill us all? "
He knew a little of the Turkic language, but he was far less proficient than Tang Jian. Just now, he had also understood a portion of the conversation between Tang Jian and Qi Kehe. It was precisely because of this that he was sweating for Tang Jian!
… … …
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