In June of the sixth year of Xining.
Hezhou City, Baita Temple.
A seven-story pagoda was built here. This pagoda was built for Master Zhiyuan who died at the hands of Guizhang. His incinerated relics were also buried here.
Feeling the kindness of Master Zhiyuan, the Tibetan people renovated the old White Pagoda Temple and decorated the Buddha with gold foil, beads and necklaces.
Zhang Yue went to Hezhou and went to Baita Temple in person to worship Buddha and Master Zhiyuan.
In front of the pagoda, a group of monks stood and recited scriptures, while Zhang Yue, his staff and Hezhou civil and military officials clasped their hands in memory of their deceased friends and stood there for half an hour.
After paying homage to Master Zhiyuan, Zhang Yue went to the Dafulu outside the city and met with the envoys of the Xizhou Uighurs and Khotan respectively.
After the recovery of Hezhou and the surrender of Zhimu Zheng, and Dong Fei's peace negotiation, the Song Dynasty caused shock in the northwest countries. All countries sent envoys in the name of tribute to greet the emperor of the Song Dynasty, and at the same time to test the reality of the Song Dynasty.
The first is the Xizhou Uighur, also known as the Gaochang Uighur.
The Uighur envoy from Xizhou brought a caravan of nearly a thousand people and carried a large amount of tribute.
Among them, the silk fabrics include Douluo Brocade, Maojue, Marmoset Brocade, Zhusi, Ripe Silk, Oblique Brown Brocade, etc.; the medicines include Zhenxiu navel, Zhensha, and the fragrances include frankincense, Anxi, and Duxi.
In addition, there are hundreds of pieces of iron knives, black gold silverware, etc.
Zhang Yue then asked his envoy how powerful the Uighurs in Xizhou were.
Xizhou Uighur replied: "As far as the Yellow River in the east and out of the snow-capped mountains in the west, there are hundreds of small counties, all of which are well trained in armor and horses."
After hearing what the other party said, the officials below Zhang Yue were all confused, thinking that the other party was bragging. If he really had such a powerful force, why did he remain so unknown so far?
However, Zhang Yue understood that the other party was not lying. The Xizhou Uighurs were a loose tribal alliance.
The so-called "hundreds of small counties" means that there are many small tribes. According to Zhang Yue's records from the Concierge House and the National Information Institute, there are hundreds of Uighurs in Xizhou.
'Southern Turks, North Turks, Dazhong Tie (Zhongyun), Xiaozhong Tie, Yangmo, Geluolu (Geluolu), Xijiasi, Moman, Geduo, Yulong' and other large and small tribes.
In terms of power, it may still be higher than that of Xixia, but it is not enough to cause trouble.
Zhang Yue asked deliberately: "Why haven't you come to pay tribute for a long time?"
This Xizhou Uighur envoy was very good at talking and blamed everything on Xixia.
He said: "We, the Uighurs, have trade with the Khitan and the Xia Kingdom, but the Xia people are so brutal that they not only charge a tithe of tax on passing merchants, but also seize the top quality goods."
"Since Xixiao captured Liangzhou Prefecture, us merchants originally took the Liangzhou Road, but now we have no choice but to take the Zongge Road."
The Zong Ge Road passes through Dong Xiang's territory. The Song Dynasty and the Qing Tang Dynasty had a bad relationship the year before last, so the other party's caravan could not come over, so the tribute road was cut off.
Zhang Yue said: "Very good, do you Western Uighurs and Yellow-headed Uighurs have any contact?"
The Yellow-headed Uighur is part of the Ganzhou Uighur. The Ganzhou Uighurs used to be quite powerful, and Liangzhou Prefecture was the base of the Ganzhou Uighurs.
However, after being defeated by Li Yuanhao, the Ganzhou Uighurs perished, and most of their tribes were scattered, and their tribes were annexed by Dangxiang, Qingtang, and Song Dynasties respectively. The Ganzhou Uighurs that are still scattered in the ancient land of Ganliang are called Yellow-headed Uighurs.
The Ganzhou Uighurs are allies with the tribes of the Qing and Tang Dynasties. They previously joined forces with Dong Fei to fight against Dangxiang. Today, the Yellow-headed Uighurs are still active among Shanshan and Guazhou sandbanks. Thirty thousand people were on guard.
Of course this is hearsay.
The names of the Northwest Uighur tribes changed frequently, and due to language barriers, the historians of the Song Dynasty often remembered these names incorrectly, or they did not pay attention to them at all.
So the Xizhou Uighur envoy was confused when he heard Zhang Yue talking about the Yellow-headed Uighur.
It wasn't until Zhang Yue reminded the Uighur tribes near Shazhou, Ganzhou, and Liangzhou that the envoy suddenly understood.
The envoy arrived: "The Uighurs in Shazhou have a feud with the Xia Kingdom. The prince of his tribe also said before that he is willing to raise troops to help Dong Fei attack Liangzhou and resist the oppression of the Xia Kingdom."
Zhang Yue was overjoyed when he heard this, finally hearing something valuable.
"How many people does the prince have?"
The envoy said: "The leader of the large Uighur tribe is called Khan, the second is called Governor, and some are called Prince. There should be hundreds of people in the tribe!"
Hearing the words of hundreds of people, all the generals on Zhang Yue's side shook their heads, wondering what use such a few men and horses could do.
Zhang Yue said very seriously: "You can contact me. If successful, I will ensure that you can trade and do business in Xihe smoothly."
The envoy said happily: "I am willing to serve Long Tu."
After the Uighur envoy from Xizhou left, the envoy from Khotan came in.
Khotan was once an important ally of the Central Plains Dynasty during the Tang Dynasty, but now it is too far away from the Song Dynasty.
The other party first submitted his credentials to Zhang Yue.
The credential is written in Chinese and Uighur characters.
The letter written by the envoys from Khotan was very interesting. Their king claimed to be the Black Khan who was blessed with strength and knowledge of grammar and law, and they called the emperor of the Song Dynasty the Great Uncle of the Eastern Sun, the landowner of the world.
Zhang Yue was a little funny.
But this also has its origins.
During the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty used the power of the Uighurs to marry princesses. Many princesses and daughters of the clan married the Uighur Khan king.
Because of this story, the Uighurs have always called the Central Plains Dynasty their uncle. Whenever the Central Plains Dynasty gave him an imperial edict, he would also call him his nephew. This title was used from the Five Dynasties until the Song Dynasty.
There will be a question here. The Khotan Kingdom has existed since the Han Dynasty, and it was not composed of Uighurs.
It turns out that Khotan at this time had actually been annexed by the Black Khan dynasty, a branch of the Uighurs. The Black Khan dynasty was worried that the Song Dynasty would pursue them for annexing its tributary state, so they called themselves Khotan.
After the fall of Khotan, most of its tribes were annexed by the Uighurs and Qingtang.
For example, the parents of Dong Zang's adopted son Ali Gu were from Khotan and sought refuge in the Qing Tang Dynasty.
The annexation of Khotan was too far away for the Song Dynasty, so they turned a blind eye. As for Zhang Yue, who knew this, he didn't say anything.
Envoys from Khotan approached Zhang Yue. They sent envoys from Khotan three times to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, but they always turned back halfway due to road blockage.
Zhang Yue asked: "Who dares to stop you from paying tribute?"
The other party thought about it and replied, "It's the Khitan."
Zhang Yue asked: "Which way do you pay tribute?"
The envoy from Khotan said: "We passed through the territory of the Grass-headed Tatars and the Yellow-headed Uighurs."
Caotou Tatar was later Mongolia, and Caotou should be a misnomer. As for the Yellow-headed Uighur, it is located in the Ganliang area of Shazhou.
Zhang Yue sighed and said: "It's really not easy. As long as this dynasty can regain Liangzhou, you can trade with me in Liangzhou."
The envoy from Khotan was greatly surprised when he heard this, but he still said: "If the Ganliang Road is passable, we in Khotan can have one day a year."
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "You are serious."
Zhang Yue comforted them with a few words, and then sent troops and horses to escort them to Bianjing to pay tribute to the emperor.
After the two envoys left, Dong Fei's adopted son Ali Gu and the leader of the Guizhang tribe, Bian Sibojie, also came to pay their respects.
Zhang Yue said to the two of them: "I have just met the Uighur envoys from Khotan and Xizhou. They all hate that the Ganliang Road has been cut off by the Xia Kingdom, so that the tribute road is blocked."
"So I think if we can contact the Yellow-headed Uighurs and your Qingtang tribes to regain the Liangzhou Prefecture together, as long as the Ganliang Road is open, the caravans from the Western Regions can travel unimpeded. Wouldn't this matter be of great benefit to our two families?"
(End of chapter)
