"The Jinshui Zeravshan River is a bridge to the world."
This is a phrase that the Sogdians who live on both sides of the river believe in, and their homeland connects India in the south, Persia in the west, and "Seris" in the east, the land of silk.But the land also moved between empires and powers: the Persian Empire, then the Seleucus of Alexander and the Diadochi, and then the independence of Greater Chabactria and its extension into Sogdia.Decades ago, the westward migration of the Da Yue clan triggered a series of great migrations, and the Yue clan and the Cypriot people came like a tidal wave to destroy Bactria , but the five Sogdian city-states on the banks of the Golden Water also miraculously survived, and obtained protection by paying tribute to the Yue clan and Kangju Nagong.Now, after the nominal owner of Sogdia, King Otsuki, hurriedly returned south, the lords of the five Sogdian cities gathered in the city of Susa Samarkand, and at the invitation of the city lord Shi Bodao, convened a meeting to decide the fate of the Sogdians.Samarkand was the oldest and most prosperous city of the Sogdians, and the business-savvy Sogdians built it into a beautiful little city.The walls enclosed the inner city, where the nobility lived, while the outer city, which served as a commercial and artisanal area, was outside the city walls, and the outskirts were cemeteries where special funerals were held.The main materials of construction were mud bricks and wood, and the residences of the nobility were often two or three stories high and decorated with Zoroastrian frescoes.Five richly dressed Sogdian nobles sat cross-legged on a popte blanket and exchanged ears.They were of all ages, but they all had short hair that was flush or parted at the forehead, and wore pointed hats inlaid with pearls or rubies, and wore tight-fitting silk robes with round necks, hem trims that were knee-length, capes tied to their chests with gold ornaments, and pointed boots with pearls embedded in them.Among them, the chubby old man wearing a beaded robe was Shi Bodao, and more than ten years later, he had changed from the original caravan leader "Shi Sabao" to become the lord of Samarkand.Thanks to the support of Ren Hussar, Sogdia was merchant-oriented, and boys were educated in business at the age of five, and when they reached adulthood, they had to leave their families and go into business to earn a living and travel abroad.And the way the Sogdians compare their power is also very rude, that is, they have more money than anyone.The Sogdians had the custom of fighting for wealth with Chen Bao, and when they were gathering, everyone sitting around them would take out the treasures they had brought with them and fight with each other.Those who have many treasures wear hats and dwell on their seats, and the rest are divided by the number of possessions.The lord of the city was chosen in the same way, after all, the richest man could bring the Sogdians of the city to riches.After the death of the old city lord, those interested in competition invited the Sogdians of the city to eat and drink.Shi Bodao won by inviting a thousand households in the city to have a silk horse per household, he himself did not have such a large capital, and most of the silk was funded by the Marquis of Xi'an.And this debt had to be repaid, so that the Sogdian merchants risked their lives to find information for the Han army and lobby King Hu.Now that he heard that the Han army had won the Battle of Dawan, Shi Bodao was very happy, and he regarded himself as the head of the five cities of Sogdia, and preached to them what Ren Hussar had instilled in them for more than ten years."
I said a long time ago that the Xiongnu represent darkness, and the Great Han, which represents light, is blessed by the gods!"
On the mural behind the Spoang knife is a painting of the Zoroastrian doctrine they believe in: the duel between darkness and light.In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the embodiment of light, and Angraman 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!"
Needless to mention the past examples, just look at the actions of the Xiongnu Zhizhi Shan in the past few years of running to the west, blocking trade routes, disrupting Kangju, so that the Kangju kings, who had originally made an alliance with Su, could not restrain their subordinates, and often robbed the passing Sogdian caravans, and the silk trade was reduced by at least half.The Sogdians were love-hate-hate, and their worldview was a simple dichotomy: "What hindered the trade routes, and delayed the Sogdians' trade, was evil and darkness." ”"What opened trade routes and helped the Sogdians to make money was goodness and light!"
From this point of view, aren't the Xiongnu the servants of the evil gods on the Silk Road?
Never produce, only destroy.On the contrary, the rapid prosperity of Sogdia also began after Zhang Qian hollowed out the Western Regions.During Ren Hong's tenure as the protector of the capital, he encouraged commerce in the Western Regions, and turned the robbers into caravan guards, compared to the Huns, they were simply the embodiment of light on the Silk Road.And in this decisive battle between the Han and the Xiongnu, good and evil, the Sogdians have long been on the side of the Han.They walked in the Western Regions and frequently provided intelligence for the Han Dynasty, and in the First World War, Shi Bodao even sent his own son to lobby the Dawan nobles on behalf of the hussars.Now that the Han army has won a great victory, he naturally wants to pull the other four cities to welcome the king and let Sogdia change its master."
But Yue's chose darkness."
Shi Bodao became serious, disclosed the purpose of today's rally, and took the opportunity to break with the Yue Clan.After saying his faith, he began to speak of truth."
As long as you submit to the Han Dynasty, the two tributes paid to Kangju and Yueshi in the past will be handed over to General Ren, and they can be reduced by a quarter, and the five city-states can still maintain autonomy, only receive the Han seal, and become the marquis of the Han Dynasty.""
As long as you become a courtier of the Han Emperor and a Sogdian merchant, you will be able to go out of Hexi and arrive in Chang'an!"
This was a dream for the Sogdians, plus Shi Bodao told the city lords about Ren Hong's various deeds, what is the defender of the Silk Road, the friend of the Sogdian caravan, the hand of the ox spirit Gulsuwan, and most importantly, "Ren Duhu agreed, and he will never interfere with the blood marriage of the Sogdians!"
”After listening to Ren Duhu's promise, the Sogdian city lords, who were still suspicious of the arrival of the Han army, became firm, agreed with Shi Bodao's opinion, expelled the envoys of the Yue clan kings from each city, and sent people to greet and provide food when the Han army marched south from Dawan to Jinshui.In addition to Shi Bodao, the other four city lords are Fumo, Jiaofu, Zongcheng, and Aoji, which probably correspond to Anguo, Heguo, Cao, and Mi in the Tang Dynasty.They welcomed the Ren hussars and the Han army into Samarkand, and the Sogdian girls with their hair braided into pigtails sang and danced.Ren Hong remembered that Alexander's wife, Roxana, was rumored to be a Sogdian.However, the Sogdians' impression of the Emperor was extremely poor, because after the Greeks invaded Persia, they destroyed a large number of temples and sacred fires of the Fire Jacket Cult, burned down the ancient Persian scripture Avesta, killed and expelled the fire worshippers, and forced them to flee to Sogdiana.During the more than two hundred years that the Greeks ruled Persia and Bactria, the Fire Jacket cult was suppressed there.On the contrary, it was the remote Sogdiana that preserved the flame of the Fire Jacket Cult.As a result, Alexander was regarded as a "cursed" by the Zoroastrian fire-worshipers living in Sogdia, sharing the title with the dark gods.Ren Hong did not intend to be a believer in any religion, but was happy to stir up a dispute between Sogdian Zoroastrianism and Buddhists in the southern region of Bactria.Shi Bodao didn't know what Ren Hong thought, and after the grand ceremony, he also presented a local specialty: golden peach.Ren Hong saw that this "golden peach" was a bit similar to the yellow peach, but it was bigger, and the entrance was extraordinarily sweet, the peach flesh was tightly stuck to the peach pit, and he wanted to have another one after eating one.Shi Bodao said that this kind of peach ripens very late, and because it is extremely sweet, it is easy to be eaten by insects, so during the growth process, it must be charmed by a warlock, and finally it can be as big as a goose egg, and its color is as golden.He also told Ren Hong a story."
In ancient times there were shepherds in Sogdia, and when they were herding sheep, they found that one was missing.It was not until the sun went down that the sheep came back slowly, but its appearance, coat color, and cry changed, and the shepherd was very strange. ”The next afternoon, the sheep was separated from the herd, and the shepherd followed quietly.Come to a big mountain and follow the sheep into a small hole hidden by vines. ”"When I first entered the cave, it was dark all around, and I groped for five or six miles, and then it suddenly became clear that the flowers and trees were not owned by the world.Look at the sheep again, grazing not far away.The shepherd walked through the cave when he suddenly noticed a golden glow and a fragrant fragrance in front of him.He stepped forward quickly and saw that it was a fruit tree" Ren Hong raised the golden peach in his hand: "This is the thing?"
”"Yes."
Shi Bodao continued: "It is a golden peach, the shepherd picks one, but a huge beast suddenly appears beside him, with a hideous face, and if he wants to take the fruit, the shepherd can only flee the same way.It was easy to get rid of the giant beast, and when he was about to reach the entrance of the cave, he smelled the golden peach, and the shepherd couldn't help it, so he ate it, and as a result, his body grew violently, and although his head came out of the hole, his torso was stuffed in it" "This is the effect of the golden peach?"
”Ren Hong laughed, if he really became a giant, it should have been misplaced.However, looking at Shi Bodao's smiling and silent expression, Ren Hong reacted: "You mean, this thing can strengthen the body?"
”After Shi Bodao stepped back, Ren Hong sat on the tower of Samarkand City, looking at the sparkling golden water outside.This river would eventually flow into another great river in Central Asia, the Amu Darya, known as the "Fushui", and the Syr Darya River, which originated near Dawan, forming this land called "River in the River", which was later the Central Asian stans.More than 1,000 miles southwest of the river, on the side is the city of Mulu, the border of the Rest Empire, although the Zhizhi was destroyed, he did not bring all the Huns into Dawan.There is also a "King of Zuoyi Zhizi" with the son of Zhizhi and the head drinker of the Xiongnu Zhibaoyue clan to the west, and the destination is Mulu, probably to seek rest and shelter.This war is finally going to disturb the behemoth of West Asia.And south of the Amu Darya River, is the future imperial cemetery, the kingdom of the Otsuki clan.Now that the Yueshi is completely messed up, the original contradiction between the five marquis has been stimulated in advance.Zhong came back to report that Guishan had occupied the Lan clan city and proclaimed himself the king of Kushan, and Humi and Shuangmi also rebelled together, and the king of the Dayue clan hurriedly went south to quell the rebellion.Ren Hong will try to prolong this civil war, and the Han army will watch from the wall in Sogdia, let them have a good time, and when the time is ripe, they will go to the south to pick peaches, and it is best to divide the Da Yue clan into five.He tasted the taste of golden peaches, so that Yang Yun, who had already inquired about local history and legends everywhere and began to write historical biography, did his own work and wrote a note for the country.Although Ren Hong is like an independent, he is still nominally a Han courtier, and he will have to ask for money, food and talents from the country in the future, and he still has to do enough in form.He wants to repay the merits of the soldiers, and the merits of Zheng Ji, Zhong, and Feng Fengshi are enough to make the marquis, and Ren Hong also mentioned his plans for the future of this land."
Please protect the house in the middle of the river!"