Loulan can be roughly divided into three major regions: northern, central, and southern.The north is called Loulan, it is the richest land in Loulan country, there are a total of four cities in the delta where the Peacock River flows into Lop Nur, where half of the population of Loulan is concentrated, mainly farming, and along the Peacock River to the west, it is the northern road of the Western Regions that can reach the canal plow, Luntai, and Qiuzi.The south is called Shanshan, there is the second largest city of Loulan, "Qin Mud City", and the more famous ancient city of Milan in later generations, the two cities hold the southern road of the Western Regions, and the west is connected to the end, the essence, and Khotan.In the middle of the north and south, there is the long and narrow Cheerchen River, and there are also three small cities connected in turn to each other by the river, and Haitou City, which was later numbered as "LK Ancient City", is the largest.On the 16th day of February, Kungeye, the lord of Haitou City, ushered in a young Han envoy named Ren Hong.From Ren Hong's mouth, the terrible rumor was finally confirmed: King Loulan returned and had been killed by the angels of the Han Dynasty!"
The king of Loulan has returned to the crime, his head hangs in the northern Han Dynasty, and the new king will be served by the second son of the former king who served the Son of Heaven in Chang'an, Wei Tuyan.Before the arrival of the new king, Loulan was temporarily pacified by Fu Gong. ”Similar words, every time Ren Hong goes to a city, he has to repeat it, in the past ten days, he can be regarded as running all the northern and central cities of Loulan, Haitou City is the last stop of this trip.He smiled at Kungeye: "Congratulations to the city lord, from now on, Loulan will no longer have to pay tribute to the Xiongnu, and the cattle, sheep and grain can be kept for their own use." ”"It's a good thing that cattle and sheep grain don't have to be given to the Huns, but I'm afraid that there are too many Han troops and envoys passing by."
Kungeye is still worried, for fear that he will go to a wolf and a tiger.You must know that Loulan initially clashed with the Han Dynasty because the emperor of the Han Dynasty sent a large number of envoys every year to get through the Dawan countries, and the envoys looked at each other, more than ten generations in a year, and each time the mission was often hundreds, and the cost of eating and chewing people and animals was huge.Loulan is just a small oasis country, with sand and halogen, little land, and barely self-sufficient in food, so he turned his face and began to rob and kill Han envoys to communicate with the Xiongnu.The result was naturally broken by Zhao Ponu's 700 cavalry, and later Li Guangli conquered Dawan, and the army passed by Loulan several times to eat its food, which also made Loulan bitter, and the Han army cut down Loulan's tree, so there was later Loulan to welcome Li'an, and completely fell to the Huns.But unexpectedly, the Xiongnu were more greedy than the Han, and the servant lieutenants asked for cattle and sheep grain from Loulan every year, and really regarded the Loulan people as slaves.In Kungeye's view, neither the Han nor the Xiongnu are good things.After listening to the translation, Ren Hong asked Lu Jiuyu to tell Kungeye: "The city lord doesn't have to worry, in the future, the Han envoys will supply in Loulan, Yixun and Muni City, and not much food from the rest of the cities." ”As early as when Fu Jiezi left Chang'an, he discussed with the general Huo Guang, Loulan is good at the north and south, it is not appropriate, after the matter is completed, the eggs should be put in two baskets, and Loulan will be divided into two in essence!
The new king will move away from Loulan and take the big city in the south as the capital, and change the name to "Shanshan Kingdom", and only rule the southern and central cities.As for the Peacock River Delta in the north, it was handed over to Yi Xianghan, who was pro-Han, and made him the lord of Loulan City.Yixun City, located at the hub of the northern province, was directly sent by the Han Dynasty to defend Tuntian as a bridgehead for the unification of the Western Regions.In this way, Fu Jiezi's mission can be regarded as a complete success.But the premise is to withstand the attack of the Xiongnu Richai King at any time.Ren Hongzi would not tell Kungeye about these things in detail, but still lured him with gold silk: "Fu Gong asked me to gather the city lords of all cities, bring at least a hundred strong men, and go to Loulan to meet. ”When Fu Jiezi sent Ren Hong south, he told him: "The cities in the north and central combined, can make up a thousand Ding Zhuang, and we will hold the city lords hostage and force their subordinates to do their best."
The Huns sent Hu cavalry to the south on the day of the Xiongnu Rizhu, probably not more than this number, the number was equal, and the city was defended, so that it could be strong and brave until the Han army arrived. ”Having said that, Ren Hong still feels that it is useless, Loulan serves a big country as a small country, and is repeatedly fickle like water, even if many people are summoned, there is no fighting spirit, it is the same rabble, maybe the envoy will be sold if it is turned.But since the old man had decided, Ren Hong had no better idea, so he could only do it, and after finishing speaking, he stopped speaking and asked Lu Jiuyu to translate on his behalf.He bowed his head and drank the wine he had been entertained with in a clay bowl.But he didn't think about it, although Kun Geye was full of spitting and claiming to obey the orders of the Han angel and the new king, he finally said: "However, Haitou City may not be able to send Ding Zhuang to Loulan, and I can't leave this city for half a step!"
”"Why?"
Ren Hong frowned, Haitou City, as the largest city in the central region, although it is slightly smaller than Loulan, there are more than 1,000 residents, Ding Zhuang is three or four hundred, now the extensive cultivation of the Loulan people has ended, and the wheat seeds are scattered in the ground, so there is no problem with a hundred people, this Kungeye is afraid that he does not want to protect himself and sit and watch the success or failure of the Han and Huns.Ren Hong wanted to smash the bowl and scare Kungeye, but he heard an exclamation from the Loulan people outside."
It's coming!
Here it comes!
”When Ren Hong and the others came out of the hall and climbed the south wall of Haitou City, they understood why the Loulan people outside exclaimed: But a few miles outside the city, there was a group of horseback warriors with their hair or braids, wearing felt and leather coats, showing off their might, raising their simple bows, waving swords, and howling in their mouths with words they didn't understand, Ren Hong nodded, and there were three or four hundred!"
Huns?"
Ren Hong was a little surprised, it stands to reason that the Huns could not appear here, and they don't look very similar, the nomadic warriors outside the city do not look like the round faces of the steppe herdsmen, but narrow and black and thin, and even Zhao Han'er can't understand what they are shouting.However, Naga, the Guiyi Qiang people who came with them, understood a few words, and judged the identity of the other party, and it was actually his own compatriot: "Qiang!
”"It's a Qiang."
Kun Geye corrected in this way, although the city lord was a little old, he had already put on a thick leather armor and personally defended against the enemy.It turned out to be Wuqiang, Ren Hong knew it, and the vast area around Loulan was located in the "Ruoqiang County" of later generations, and the name was derived from the Wuqiang people.Ren Hong heard Lu Jiuyu say that Wuqiang is a small country, but the westernmost branch of the Qiang people, they live in the south of Loulan, at the northern foot of Altun Mountain, with the cattle chasing water and grass, producing iron, will cast knives, swords, armor, spears and other weapons, its leader number: "Go to the king of Hulai".But it's still far from the Altun Mountains, so how did they get here?
Kungeye told Ren Hong: "The grasslands in the southern part of Puchang Sea are the spring pastures of the Qiang people, and they move their tribes north in the spring to graze in the Puchang Sea, and then drive their livestock back to the mountains in autumn. ”It is said that this group of Qiang people from the plateau is very strong, women can also fight on horseback, anyway, there is no opponent within a radius of thousands of miles, so the livestock can be taken care of by women and children, and the men of Qiang have to do some side jobs.For example, robbing caravans, or besieging the cities of Loulan and Momo, must be surrendered by the people of Loulan before they are willing to retreat.As the southernmost city in the middle of Loulan and the closest to Lop Nur, Haitou City naturally bears the brunt.The Loulan people in the city are also like facing a great enemy, or climb the city wall, or move heavy objects to block the poplar wooden door, their movements are skillful, and they look at the posture, and they have experienced similar harassment not once or twice.Although the Wuqiang people seem to be very trustworthy and will leave when they get food, Kungeye doesn't seem to plan to give soft grain: "I paid a tribute to the Xiongnu last year, and the spring seeds have just been sown, so there is still surplus grain in the city." ”He smiled and said: "So, don't say that we can't go to Loulan, I'm afraid that even the Han envoy will have to wait in the city with peace of mind."
The Wuqiang people will not attack, at most they will cruise outside the city for half a month, and when they can't bite it, they will leave. ”Half a month?
Fu Jiezi asked them to return to Loulan immediately after completing the task to help defend against the Huns, which was troublesome, and several people who were traveling with Ren Hong frowned.As he spoke, the Wuqiang people outside the city rode their horses and rushed to the nearest place, and began to shout loudly, and the first Wuqiang warrior riding a flower horse demanded that Haitou City hand over a hundred loads of grain in a broken Loulan dialect.As a result, after Kungeye gave the order, they were hit by a volley of fire from the head of the city.The Qiang returned fire angrily, and fired a few waves of arrows at the wall, but to little avail, and after a trumpet sounded, they howled and walked away.But they saw the Qiang people returning to the river, and gathered around the man who sounded the trumpet, an old man with gray hair and braids, who rode a white yak instead of riding a horse.After he gave the order, the Qiang changed their tactics, ignoring the city, but rushed straight to the riverside ploughing fields, trampling on the wheat fields that had just sprouted."
Mai Miao!"
This trick is ruthless, every time the horses move, they seem to be stepping on the Loulan people and the hearts of Kungeye!"
That's the leader of the Wuqiang, and the king of Hulai is here in person."
Kungeye put down the shield that blocked the arrows, worthy of being an old opponent, this time he was not as indifferent as just now, and he did not dare to take people out of the city to fight, so he could only face bitterly and watch the wheat field be destroyed.At this time, Ren Hong spoke."
City Lord, if I can help you relieve the siege of the city, can you immediately rush to Loulan with your men?"
Kungeye looked suspicious: "How can the Han envoy make the Wuqiang retreat?"
”"What's so hard about that?"
Ren Hong smiled and asked, "Is there a yellow cloth in the city?"
”PS: The second chapter is in the evening.