The Sable Road is a trade route that connects Bohai, Jurchen and other ancient peoples of Northeast Asia with Central Asia. It is different from the traditional Silk Road and passes through North Asia.
This road started in present-day Tajikistan and was developed and operated by Sogdian merchants. Here the Silk Road branched off into a northerly branch, starting from the eastern area of Balkhash Lake and heading northeast into the Tangnu Ulianghai area. (There are gold mines in the Altai Mountains here)
Passing through the western Great Lakes Plain of Outer Mongolia, it continues to the northeast, passing between the territory of Zasaktu Khan and the territory of the Buryats. (This part mainly trades livestock and furs with the Mongols.)
At the source of the Ergun River in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang, it turns northeast into the Waixing'an Mountains and travels southeast along the north bank of Heilongjiang. Probably crossing the Heilongjiang River at Hailanpao, turning southward through the Sanjiang Plain and Jiamusi Hegang Plains, and heading south to the Songhua River Basin. (This part mainly trades mink and ermine skins with the Sauron people and the wild Jurchens.).net
The last section goes south along the central part of Songnen Plain and reaches the fourth part of Haixi Jurchen. That is, Yehe, Hada, Huifa, and Wula (Wula Street is today's Siping City, Jilin). Finally arrived outside the Liaodong Great Wall. That is, Jianzhou Jurchen is the end point.
This road has existed since ancient times, even dating back to prehistoric times.
Before Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions, trade routes had long existed, but in Gansu and Shaanxi, there was intermittent relay trade. Three thousand years ago, Greek gold coins with the image of Athena were unearthed from ruins in Xinjiang.
Similarly, African ivory was also found in the tomb of the Nanyue King in Panyu, Guangzhou (late Qin and early Han). Artifacts linked to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations.
In other words, whether it is the maritime route in the south or the Eurasian continent in the north, trade routes have existed since ancient times.
The mink fur trade in Northeast China had developed as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was called "Yi Lou Mink" at that time. By the Tang Dynasty, the sable furs sold by tribes in the Heilongjiang and Ussuli river basins to the Western market were very popular in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Through the spread of the Sogdians (the ancestors of today's Tajiks) who had direct trade with these peoples, "Yi Lou Mink" also became well-known among the Iranian people in Central Asia.
It is very likely that some technologies from the West and even the Romans came to the Northeast region continuously through this route over the long history of two to three thousand years. The people of the Northeast used precious skins such as mink and ermine skins to obtain not only various living materials, but also certain technologies.
During the Jingkang Disgrace in the Northern Song Dynasty, during the two siege battles of the Battle of Tokyo in Bianliang, the trebuchets of the Jin Army destroyed the defensive equipment and trebuchets of the Northern Song Dynasty.
There was a huge gap between the equipment of the Northern Song Dynasty, both in terms of range and power. The Jin army's iron pagoda armor was so sophisticated that it completely crushed the Song army. And all of this developed in a very short period of time.
There is a reason why the Sable Road and the Silk Road overlap in the Land of Seven Rivers east of Lake Balkhash. The Altai Mountains were called the Golden Mountains in ancient times, and the gold used in Greek gold coins was mined from the Altai Mountains.
Gold in ancient Europe was transported westward from the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang along trade routes.
"The nobles of the north have benefited from this Sable Road in all dynasties. Trade has never been cut off. After the Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road was cut off, but the Sable Road still continued. The ethnic groups that benefited changed from Turks to Mongolia, Jin, Jiannu. Therefore, different ethnic groups have been rising in the Northeast, posing a continuous threat to the Central Plains." Liu Hongxun said.
Yang Fan has always had doubts about the rapid rise of Jiannu. The rise of a generation is so similar to Wanyan Aguda back then. Perhaps a caravan from Central Asia not only brought the supplies they needed, but also military technology.
Liu Hongxun continued: "However, in the Tianqi Dynasty, everything changed, because the amount of slave trade was too large and the profits were frighteningly high. The imperial court formed a complex group that specialized in eating this profit. And such a huge benefit also It caused a fight. It even formed an interest chain in which slaves were built and looted, eight major business groups sold the stolen goods, and some people in the court provided protection."
"After the people from Donglin came in, they planned to smuggle slaves to the establishment from Liaodong and Shandong. They replaced the old group of interest groups. Mao Wenlong became a stumbling block in the middle. And Mao Wenlong was another group of old interests. group
The white gloves of Liaodong trade. Therefore, Mao Wenlong has been involved in the whirlpool and cannot extricate himself. "
Yang Fan was silent in his heart. Apparently, his western expedition to eliminate the Haraqin, Duoyan, and Tumut tribes was also used to cut off the traditional trade routes that had existed for thousands of years. No wonder Donglin was so supportive of the Western Expedition at that time. The emperor also supported the Western Expedition. For Dong Lin, what Yang Fan did before was exactly what they hoped for.
Yang Fan solved the problem in Zhangjiakou, which was actually beneficial to Donglin's plan. Yang Fan was used as a weapon by them without knowing it. They hope that Yang Fan will solve Monan Mongolia and cut off the access of the interest groups of the older generation. But he doesn’t want Yang Fan to become big, so he hopes he will be defeated in Jiuyuan City.
If you think about many things in series, you will understand the cause and effect.
Yang Fan solved Monan Mongolia for them, which was conducive to their plan, but after Yang Fan completed the task, they began to stumble, trying to make it impossible for Jingying and Yang Fan to come back from behind. Everything will be perfect once the Beijing camp is defeated. From now on, the trade with Houjin and even the financial resources of this Sable Road will belong to them.
"Who is delivering technology to the Northeast region?" Yang Fan couldn't help but ask.
"Shaman!" Liu Hongxun said. "I don't know much about the shamans. I just know that they are much more powerful than we thought. I heard that their power can reach the far west where Mongolia reached."
"The rise of Jiannu was because the Mongols converted to Lamaism and broke with the shamans. They burned the shamans' sacred objects and expelled the shamans. So the shamans reached an agreement with Jiannu, and a large number of shamans came to Jianzhou. Help them."
Yang Fan nodded. He also saw clues from the historical data. It seemed that Jiannu had made a promise to the shaman. After they moved into the imperial capital, they gave the queen's palace to the shaman and killed pigs for sacrifice in Kunning Palace every day. The emperor participated in person, and those who were favored among the ministers were also qualified to participate.
After the sacrifice, everyone shares the sacrificial meat. These boiled pork without any seasoning are very difficult to eat. Those veterans could only secretly hide some green salt in their sleeves.
They danced to the gods and made sacrifices every day, and they did not finish until Puyi left the palace.
Yang Fan knew that in this era and previous history, there were steppes from the Songhua River basin to Eastern Europe. Technically known as the Eurasian Steppe Belt.
This is the world of the grassland peoples. In the westernmost part of the Eurasian steppe belt, that is, the Scythians in the Ukrainian steppe, shamans appeared in prehistory and then spread to the entire steppe belt.
