"Father, Ren Shilang has been in for too long, can it be done?"
Outside the door, a young Sogdian with chestnut curly hair and azure eyes reminded Shi Bodao with some uneasiness.His name was Shi Lushan, and Lushan was a common Sogdian name meaning light.Shi Lushan is the son of Shi Bodao's sister.He is also the son of Shi Bodao.According to the Sogdian doctrine of the Fire Jacket Religion, the purity of the bloodline was emphasized, so Shi Bodao married his own sister.But when he walked in the Western Regions and Hexi, Shi Bodao never mentioned this matter, because as far as he knew, in the etiquette of the Han people, this kind of marrying a sister was deeply hated.In the face of his son's anxious inquiry, Shi Bodao reprimanded him: "There is no father in the caravan, only Sabao!"
Also, when you were born, I made you take honey in your mouth, not to make you put on a bitter face. ”"Laugh, no matter what time and what kind of situation, even if a robber robs a knife on his neck, or a noble person turns us away unreasonably, we must keep smiling."
Shi Lushan didn't dare to say anything more, reluctantly showed a smile, and waited quietly outside the door with his father waiting for good news."
Sabao" was the name given to the leader of the caravan, a shrewd Sabao who held a high position in the Sogdian states.The Sogdians were good at eating, and once they gave birth to a son, they must eat honey in their mouths and glue them in their hands.This means that when he grows up, his small mouth is like smeared with honey, and the words he says make the guests happy.And with money in hand, it is like glue, as long as it is the money in hand, even if it is a baht, you don't want to return it!
When the boy reached the age of five, he would learn to write from right to left as long as he could, know the numbers, and when he was twenty years old, he would be sent out to join the caravan.This is the first time his son has joined the caravan, and there is still a lot of knowledge that Shi Bodao has to teach him.Thinking of this, he glanced at his son, and saw that although he was smiling on his face, he was whispering a prayer in his mouth, and he was clutching a wood carving tightly in his hand: a man with a huqin riding on a camel, which was the god of travelers.The Sogdians worshipped many gods, including the goddess Nana and the victorious god in the shape of a horned bull, but their greatest god Hutian had only one, and that was the Lord of Wisdom, Ahuramazda.The homeland of the Sogdians is called Sogdiana Uzbekistan, and it is the second most paradise created by Ahuramazda, the land of the rivers.The two rivers that run through the land are the Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya, where the hot western desert scorches the land, and the charred black gravel soil reflects the ice peaks of the plateau, but there are also fertile lands and rich plains, rich in grapes, lapis lazuli and agate.And their city, called Sushalt Samarkand, was the richest of the five Sogdian cities, and it was a conduit between the world and the East and the West.The Sogdians were industrious and shrewd, but they were only small loose city-states, surrounded by powerful nomadic warriors, and empires from afar also waged wars against the land.The mighty Persian Empire established the farthest eastern province in Sogdiana, building cities and roads.Later, the barbarian Greeks, who also came with spears in high and heavy steps, met with a fierce resistance in Sogdiana, but nevertheless conquered Samarkand, founding several cities named after "Alexander" in the middle of the river.History repeats itself, with the Seleucids, the Great Shabactria, and then the nomadic Cypriots and the Great Yue.After the Yueshi migrated to the warmer south, the Kangju from north of Yaozhishui took advantage of the situation and occupied Sogdiana, making the Sogdian city-state a vassal state.One side sings, the other appears, every war has killings, every battle has a survivor, and the Sogdians are the survivors.They never participated in the struggle of other nations against outsiders, and only actively offered silk treasures from afar to each new group of rulers.To prove that if the Sogdians were given a little less autonomy, the caravans would have returned more wealth.For 400 years, the Sogdians spoke their own language and used their own words.But they also embraced the Persian cult of fire jackets, learned the art of Greek figuration, created statues for each god, and changed their clothing and hairstyles to make them pleasing to the eyes of the nomadic kings of the Yue clan and Kangju.In Shi Bodao's opinion, compared to the wars and turmoil experienced in his hometown, the small obstacles encountered in front of the Eastern Empire this time were nothing at all."
Light will come eventually."
Pointing to the flame of the torch, he encouraged his son with the words that every Ahuramazda believer firmly believes.What's more, he already knew what the Han people wanted.On the way to Zhubin City, when he took his son to wash his hands by the river, Ren Shilang, who also likes to wash his hands before meals, asked Shi Bodao about the Fire Jacket Sect with curiosity."
Szabao, I have heard that the Sogdians believe in the god Hutian, worship the sacred fire, and believe that light will triumph over darkness?"
Few people ask, and the Sogdians rarely mention their religion.In contrast to the Futu believers in the northern part of the country, who were keen to spread the teachings to the princes of the Great Xia and Yue clans, the followers of the Fire Jacket Sect had no interest in preaching.Their sect is extremely strict with its converts, and they must have both parents as believers in order to be accepted, and outsiders will not be accepted even if they believe in it for life, which is one of the reasons why the Sogdians marry close relatives.But since Ren Shilang was curious, Shi Bodao also told him what he knew.As Sabao, he was not only the leader of the caravan, but also a little bit of doctrine.He prayed for purification with the members of the caravan, and when someone in the caravan died, he had to preside over a funeral for him that seemed terrible to outsiders.The core of the doctrine of the Fire Jacket Cult is, simply put, a duality."
Ahura Mazda is the embodiment of light, and Angramanuel Ahriman is the embodiment of darkness.The former created all good, the six good gods, the universe, the world, and living beings, while the latter created all evil and opposites. ”"Evil gods continue to invade the world, corrupt morality, and oppose good gods, and the two sides are fighting on earth.""
And in the final battle between good and evil, every state in the world must join in, and help the former to finally defeat the latter and usher in eternal light!"
After Ren Hong listened, he suddenly said, "Your teachings are very similar to what happened in the Western Regions. ”He used an analogy: "The Xiongnu were brutal and blocked the trade routes, and the Hulu kings were unable to restrain their subordinates, and often robbed the passing Sogdian caravans."
From this point of view, aren't the Xiongnu the servants of the evil gods on the Silk Road?
Never produces, only destroys, bringing chaos and strife to the Western Regions. ”"And Dahan is the opposite."
Ren Hong said: "The Han Dynasty produced silk, which was abundant, so that the Sogdians had an inexhaustible supply of precious goods.also rescued Loulan, encouraged commerce in Shanshan, and turned the robbers into caravan guards, although they also had to pay a sum of money, but at least they would not be robbed, causing death and injury.From this point of view, isn't the Han Dynasty, who brought peace and peace to the Western Regions, the embodiment of light on the Silk Road?
”After saying that, Ren Hong picked up the water and washed his face, and looked at Shi Bodao with a smile: "Shi Sabao, in this decisive battle between the Han and the Xiongnu, good and evil, which side should the Sogdians stand on?"
”Shi Bodao was cautious and cautious at that time: "Ren Shilang, we are just mere businessmen, I'm afraid" Ren Hong interrupted him: "You don't need the Sogdians to do too much, you only need to provide a little information, you can let the light defeat the darkness quickly, and let peace come to the north and south of the Western Regions forever. ”That's all Ren Hong's words, but enough information has been revealed.Shi Bodao also pondered it carefully afterwards, and of course he didn't believe Ren Hong's casual interpretation of the teachings and deceiving ordinary Sogdians.Although Shi Bodao believes in the Fire Jacket Sect, he is not an ignorant and fanatical believer, but a shrewd businessman who always puts his interests first.However, the Fire Jacket Cult has not classified the human empire into the dark camp, such as Alexander, who is the only human who shares the title of "guzastag" with the dark god, which means "cursed"!
Because after the Greeks invaded Persia, they destroyed a large number of temples and sacred fires of the Fire Jacket Sect, burned down the ancient Persian scripture Avesta, killed and expelled the fire worshippers, and forced them to flee to Sogdiana.During the two hundred years that the Greeks ruled Persia and Khorasan, the Fire Jacket Cult was suppressed there.Instead, it was the remote Sogdiana, who had preserved the flame of the Fire Jacket Cult, waiting for the day when it would burn again.As a result, Alexander and the Greeks were regarded as slaves of the evil gods by the fire worshippers.When the Sabbatarians rose up, and when the nomadic alliance of the Yueshi and Cypriots swept through Bactria and drove the Greeks south, the monks of the Fire Jacket Sect rejoiced, feeling that the light was about to triumph over the darkness.But in Spodao's heart, he always had his own views on good and evil: "What hindered the trade routes and delayed the Sogdians' trading was evil and darkness." ”"What opened trade routes and helped the Sogdians to make money was goodness and light!"
Therefore, whether the Han was evil or good depended only on whether or not the Sogdian caravans were imprisoned.Just then, the door opened.Ren Hong walked out, looking tired, and asked others for a scoop of water, saying that he was arguing with reason inside, and his mouth was dry."
Shi Sabao, thanks to my best lobbying, Fu Gong is willing to see you, but whether you can lift the ban depends on the sincerity of you and others."
Ren Hong wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, led Shi Bodao inside, and asked again: "How did you think about that matter?"
”Shi Bodao smiled: "If the Han can really lift the ban, then why not the Sogdians who are not only doing business, but also helping the light?"
”Although Fu Jiezi met Shi Bodao, he was arrogant, and only agreed to write to the court to explain the matter.In Fu Jiezi's plan, Kangju and the other four Sogdian cities were still under sanctions, but the ban on Susu City could be lifted.At that time, the Sogdian caravans in Suxue City could hold the talismans issued by the Han Dynasty and buy silk at Yushu Spring, west of the Yumen.This will also prevent them from being double agents and entering the Han land to find out the news.In addition, under Ren Hong's reminder, Fu Jiezi also asked Shi Bodao to leave his son Shi Lushan in Yumen Pass as a hostage.But this alone has far exceeded Shi Bodao's expectations.Doesn't this mean that the Sogdian caravans from Susu became the only city-state that could buy silk directly from the Han Dynasty?
The other four cities can only trade through them!
Monopoly trade was the favorite of merchants, and Shi Bodao was naturally overjoyed, and he also strongly promised in front of Fu Jiezi that he would inform the Sogdian Sabao of Su Xue that in addition to doing business in the states of the Western Regions, he must do his best to provide information to the Han and assist the Han envoys.The experience of his hometown taught Shi Bodao that the rivalry between the two powers would lead to chaos, and the war would make the trade routes wither.On the contrary, after a strong country became dominant, the coming peace would make the trade routes unimpeded, and compared with the Xiongnu, who were prone to looting and could not provide precious goods, the Han Dynasty, who continued to produce silk, was obviously a better collaborator.Shi Bodao began to hesitate whether to tell Ren Hong's statement that "the Han is the light, and the Xiongnu is dark" to the rest of the Sogdians, so as to persuade them to actively participate.After leaving more than 100 soldiers behind, they quickly pulled out their camp and continued to march west along the Peacock River.Shi Bodao guessed that Fu Jiezi wanted to go to Quli Korla, which was once the stronghold of the Han army.And he planned to send his son to Yumen as a hostage, worship in Julucang, and then lead a caravan to Qiuzi Country to spend the winter before the heavy snow fell.At the time of separation, Shi Bodao also agreed with Ren Hong on the way for Han envoys to connect with the Sogdians.Shi Bodao said: "The Sogdians travel back and forth between the north and south of the Western Regions, and also have residences in the cities of Qiuci, Khotan, Shule and other cities, I will ask the Sogdians in Suxu City to paint red flame signs outside the door, as long as the Han envoys can use the place to get it, we will do our best to help." ”He also said: "In addition to knocking on the door three times, two light and one heavy, do you want to agree on a code word?"
”"Secret language" Ren Hong tilted his head and thought about it, then suddenly slapped his palm and laughed, and said four words: "Open the door with sesame!"
”PS: The second chapter is in the evening.