"Guo Langjun, it is precisely because the emperor ordered us to lead the army to conquer that we have to make more preparations before sending out the army!" Ashina Daozhen said: "The Tubo people's general Qin Ling has never suffered a defeat since he led the army. Don’t underestimate it!”
Guo Daifeng sneered and said: "The left and right are just barbarians. The so-called never defeated is just that they have never met an opponent. As soon as the imperial army arrives, won't they fall apart?"
Xue Rengui turned around and looked at Guo Daifeng coldly. The north wind whispered in their ears, the war horses stamped their hooves and neighed softly. Everyone could smell the embarrassment and embarrassment.
"Guo Langjun, whether it's a barbarian or a Han, the arrows you shoot can kill people. Sometimes the barbarian's shots are more accurate!" Xue Rengui adjusted the reins.
At least Guo Daifeng was not stupid enough to argue directly with Xue Rengui. He turned his head and looked at the tree beside him without saying anything. Xue Rengui jumped off his horse and said: "dig around. If this is really the site where the Tubo people swore an oath, there should be stone tablets, copper plates and the like that record the covenant!"
Dusk fell in the west, and the cloudless sky turned into a bruised color. As if it had just been beaten, the moon climbed up from the foot of the hill and sprinkled its pale moonlight on the hill. This brought some bad memories to Xue Rengui. He spat on the ground and couldn't help but think of some of the unseemly things he had done before he became rich.
"Why so slow?" Guo Daifeng asked, when the moon had already climbed over his shoulder.
"It's winter now, and this is not Chang'an. The ground has been frozen hard, making it difficult to dig!" Ashina said coldly. Guo Daifeng's words just now had already made his impression of him even worse.
Guo Daifeng snorted coldly and said nothing. At this time, a wolf howled in the distance, and gusts of cold wind swept across the wasteland. His mink cloak shook behind his back, as if it was alive. Ashina became serious: "There's something wrong here!"
"Really?" Guo Daifeng sneered: "Is it because of the wolf howl? I thought you were familiar with this!"
Ashina Daozhen was furious when he heard this and stared at Guo Daifeng fiercely. He was born in a Turkic royal family, and his surname Ashina originally meant "wolf" in Turkic language. Xue Rengui sighed secretly and was about to explain to the two of them. , but heard the soldiers in the pit cheer: "We dug it, we dug it!"
The bright moonlight shines on the stone slab, and you can clearly see that it is full of writing, but it is not in Chinese. Xue Rengui coughed: "Find an interpreter who knows the Tibetan writing to find out what is written on it!"
"No need!" Ashina Daozhen's face was as pale as a death: "These are Turkic characters!"
"Turkic characters?"
"Because the party who made the covenant is a Turk, there are Turkic characters on this stone slab!" Ashina Daozhen whispered: "There should be Tubo characters on the other side of the stone slab. If I guessed correctly, one of the two parties who made the covenant should be The Tubo people are on the one hand the Turks!”
Xue Rengui turned the slate over. As Ashina Daozhen said, the other side of the slate was indeed engraved with another different kind of characters. He called the interpreter who was familiar with Tubo characters and took a look. It turned out to be Tubo characters. The general idea is that the two sides formed an alliance to jointly fight against the invasion of the Tang Dynasty. If there is any violator, heaven and earth will not tolerate it, and the gods will eat it. There are several names at the end of the stone tablet, including Tubo people and Turkic people. The surnames of the Turkic people are all It's Ashina, a noble among the Turks.
"Khan, you don't need to think too much!" Xue Rengui comforted: "It's not yet certain whether this matter is true or false. It might be a plan to alienate the Tubo people. Besides, even if it is true, it doesn't matter. Ashina is a noble surname among the Turks, and there are many people. Very well, even if there are a few traitors who do not know how to obey, it is nothing, the Turks are loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"
There is a reason for Xue Rengui's words. Since the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turks in the fourth year of Zhenguan (630 AD), the Tang Dynasty adopted a policy of winning over its upper class. In the following decades, the Turks generally It has always surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Most of the military victories achieved by the Tang army during the reign of Emperor Taizong and Gaozong were attributed to the Turks. But beneath this harmonious surface, there are also countercurrents. Among the Turkic aristocrats, there are also people who are dissatisfied with the fact that the Tang Dynasty constantly recruited them to conquer the east and west, resulting in the loss of soldiers and horses and little gains. This mentality is vividly reflected in the famous Que Teqin inscription. It was discovered by Russian scholars at the end of the ninth century on the shores of Qaidam Lake in Hushu, Mongolia.
The inscription records the deeds of Viga Khan, the founder of the Later Turkic Khanate, and his brother Que Teqin. The front and left and right sides of the stele are inscribed with Turkic characters, while the back is in Chinese written by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. There is a very dramatic contrast between the contents of the two inscriptions on the stele. The Chinese text is a Chinese text written by Emperor Xuanzong himself, and the content is a eulogy written by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty in memory of the late Turkic Khan Que Teqin. Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty first traced the friendly relations between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks in the past dynasties, and then emphasized that the two sides had entered into a new peace since the father-son relationship was established in the Xuanzong Dynasty. The inscription said, "I was captured and bowed, and we became father and son, so that the invaders would not do anything, and the bows and arrows would carry them." You, I have no danger, and I have no deceit." Summarizing the harmonious relationship between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong eulogized the poem at the end of the inscription: "The country of Shasai, the hometown of Ding Ling, the mighty force is rising, the former king of you, you The king overcomes the elders, carries the great power, and the Erdao overcomes the obedience. He plans to marry me in the Tang Dynasty. Who is called a human being? The network is protected for an extended period of time, high monuments are erected on the mountains, and the wealth is boundless. "
The three sides of the stele are in Turkic inscriptions. The inscription was written in the tone of Viga Khan. After mourning his brother Que Teqin, he used the following words to warn the Turkic nobles and common people under his rule: "The Han people gave us a lot of gold. , silver and silk. The words of the Han people are always sweet, and the items of the Han people are always exquisite. Using sweet words and exquisite items to deceive, the Han people use this way to make distant peoples come closer to them. When a tribe lives so close to them, The Han people became malicious.
The Han people did not allow the truly smart and truly brave people to develop. If someone makes a mistake, the Han people will never forgive anyone, from their immediate family members to their clans and tribes. You Turks, you have been killed in large numbers because you were seduced by his sweet words and beautiful objects. O Turks, you are going to die! If you try to move to the Zongcai Mountains and the Tugartong Plain in the south, you Turks, you will die! Those malicious people will make such harmful persuasion: "If people live far away from (the Han people), they will only provide coarse goods; if people live close to them, they will provide precious goods." These malicious people make such harmful suggestions. persuade. After hearing these words, the foolish people approached (the Han people) and were massacred.
Because of the disharmony between Burke and the common people, as well as the cunning and cunning of the Han people, because they cunningly created divisions among the brothers, leading to mutual strife between Burke and the general public, the Turks brought the country they had previously established to ruin. ,
The Khan they had previously supported was on the verge of collapse. The original master became the slave of the Han people, and the original wife became the maid of the Han people. The Turkic berks gave up their Turkic official titles. The Burkes among the Han people had Han official titles and obeyed the Han Khan.
So clearly stated: “We were once a people with our own nation, but where are our own states today? For whose benefit are we conquering these places?” “We were once a people with our own khans, but where are our own states today? Where is our own khan now? Which khan are we serving?" After talking like this, they became enemies of the Han khan again.
But, having turned against him, they failed to organize themselves well and again succumbed. The Han people did not consider that the Turks had served them a lot, but said: "We will kill the Turks and make them extinct." The Turks were in danger of being annihilated. "
Obviously, in the eyes of a considerable number of Turkic nobles, during the half century from the fourth year of Zhenguan to the establishment of the post-Turkic Khanate, the Turks were in a state of "subjugated slaves." The Viga Khan recalled that period of history painfully, believing that the Han people used various gifts to seduce the Turks, causing discord between the Turkic Khans and nobles, nobles and tribesmen, and then used this discord to conquer the Turks. people, so that the Turks were forced to obey the orders of the Tang emperor, and then used the force of the Turks to conquer the four directions. Then when the Turks came up with the idea of establishing a new khan of their own nation, the Tang army sent troops to suppress it. When the Turks surrendered again However, the Tang army ignored the Turks' contributions to the empire and massacred the Turks who laid down their weapons. Finally, he warned the Turks to always be wary of the Tang Empire and not to be deceived and fall into the same miserable situation again.
The two texts on the stele respectively represent the description of the relationship between Turks and Tang in the half century from the fourth year of Zhenguan (630 AD) to the first year of Yongchun (682 AD) from the perspective of Turks and Tang Dynasty. He and the Turks were like father and son, and they were sincere to each other; but in the eyes of the Turks, at least some of the Turks, Tang was a cruel and cunning neighbor who would put a yoke around his neck and force himself to do it for him whenever he had the chance. Bleeding and dying.
For the Tang Empire, the biggest nightmare was for the Turks living in the Monan Grassland to launch a rebellion and join forces with the Tubo people. In this way, not only would the Western Region not be defended, but Longyou would also be trapped in a pincer attack from both sides, and the entire empire would The West will be plunged into war.
"Whether this is true or not, we must report it to Chang'an immediately!" Ashina Daozhen whispered: "Otherwise, if there is a rebellion in the Turkic homeland when we attack Qinghai, it will be too bad!"
"Khan is right!" Xue Rengui has no doubt about Ashina's true loyalty. Although the other party is from the Turkic royal family, the blood of the Emperor's family still flows in his veins: "Otherwise, Khan, you can bring a thousand The cavalry went to the Turkic homeland and invited a few people on the stone slab to be put under house arrest until they were found out before dealing with them!"
"Okay!" Ashina Daozhen understood what the other party meant after thinking for a moment. He is the grandson of Chuluo Khan and has a high prestige among the Turks. If this rebellion can be defeated in a bloodless way, Eliminating it is naturally the best situation.
After experiencing such a thing, everyone had no time to think about more things, so they all mounted their horses and started on their way home. Under the moonlight, long black shadows cut across the wasteland like razors.
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Songzhou.
The morning was cold, and the cold wind hurt my face, but a touch of green could already be seen on the meadow outside the city, which meant that winter was coming to an end. Tenzin stood in the crowd, full of anxiety and excitement. Whether to return home or stay, his fate was about to be revealed.
The prisoners have been led to the grassland under the hills outside the city. Most of them have learned about the situation from the guards. They are whispering to each other and talking in low voices. Compared to a few months ago, most of them have become more lively. Now, although the road construction work is heavy, life is much richer than in Tubo, and some people even gain a little weight.
The breath of the Tibetan people intertwined into a steaming net of snow-white mist in the cold morning air. The soldiers of the Tang Army stood under the mound, with red-edged and white-backed flags flying above their heads. Tenzin knew that everyone was waiting for Wang Wenzuo's death. arrival.
Wang Wenzuo arrived a little later than Tenzin expected. His hair was fluttering in the wind, his expression was majestic, and his eyes were cold. In fact, this man is much kinder than he looks. Tenzin thought to himself. He had talked to him before. He would laugh, forgive, and even feel sad for the death of his enemy. This was the first time for Tenzin to have such a person. meet.
In the chill of the morning, Tenzin heard someone shouting something, but he couldn't hear clearly what was said. Finally, Wang Wenzuo rode his horse to a place about twenty or thirty steps in front of the Tibetan prisoners, and said loudly: "I have reached an agreement with your Zanpu, and I will release you back to your hometown and reunite with your family!" Then the interpreter next to him said He repeated it in Tubo dialect.
Although they had already heard the news from the guards, there was still a commotion in the Tubo crowd. Some people suddenly burst into tears. Some people grabbed the hands of their companions and asked what Wang Wenzuo said. It seemed that they had to hear it again from others before they dared to believe it. This is true. More people knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Wenzuo to express their gratitude. After all, according to the laws and customs of the time, the winner had the right to dispose of his captives at will.
However, there was no joyful look on Tenzin's face. On the contrary, his face was full of worry, and he stared at Wang Wenzuo, as if he was expecting something.
"However, I heard that some of you want to stay and don't want to return to your hometown. I can meet these people's requirements, but they have to make a decision here!" At this point, Wang Wenzuo paused and said The riding whip pointed to his right side: "If he wants to stay, just stand here. If he wants to go back and reunite with his family, then stay where he is!"
I finally passed the Cavan level today, feeling comfortable!
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Friends who are interested can read the full text of Que Teqin Monument, it is very interesting!
(End of chapter)
