Chapter 474: Diplomatic Mission to the Kingdom of the Black Khan

In December of the 11th year of the Qingli Period of the Song Dynasty, after more than two months of long journey, the envoys sent by the Song Dynasty from Gaochang finally arrived at Bashishagun in the Eastern Black Khanate.

The reason why the journey of more than 1,500 kilometers took more than 60 days was because they encountered a blizzard when they passed Bars Khan.

For this reason, the envoys had to stay in the local area for almost a month and set off after the snow stopped.

In the Western Regions where it may snow in June and July, coupled with the long journey, it is common that sometimes they cannot set off for a year or two.

Fortunately, after going through hardships, they finally arrived at their destination.

The location here was called Tokmak in later generations. It is a city in the north of Chuy Province, Kyrgyzstan, and it had another name in the Tang Dynasty-Suiye City!

In winter, the Chu River Valley where Bashishagun is located is warm as spring. The land here is fertile, the products are rich, and the climate is pleasant. Therefore, it not only became the capital of the Black Khanate, but also became the capital of the Western Liao Dynasty later.

There is an endless plain in the valley. Bashishagun still uses the city of Suiye. The city is not big and is also made of rammed earth. The overall area is about the same as a county town in the Song Dynasty.

According to Xuanzang's records, the city of Suiye was built in imitation of Chang'an City, but the circumference of the city is only six or seven miles.

This means that the length and width are about 2-3 miles, and the area is about 2 square kilometers, which is very different from the area of ​​​​nearly 90 square kilometers of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty.

However, the architectural style inside still retains some Tang style. The newly built buildings are in Central Asian style, with dome houses, loess brick walls on the outside, arched bricks and stones on the upper floor, and pointed lattice windows, which are quite a combination of Chinese and Western exotic art.

The Great Song Dynasty delegation is still Sun Youtong, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, Li Tao, a doctor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Liu Bingyan, a deputy minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although the mission is to visit three countries, since the three countries are in the same direction, sending three delegations is a serious waste of finances, so the entire mission is undertaken by them.

In Qiuci, they recruited guides from the Black Khanate, and when they entered the Black Khanate from Wochi County and arrived at Bars Khan, a county on the border of the Black Khanate, they had already contacted the local officials of the Black Khanate Kingdom and informed the Black Khanate King of the news of the delegation.

At this moment, outside the city of Bashishagun, the Great Khan of the Black Khanate Kingdom, Suleiman, personally went out of the city to greet them, showing his extremely warm treatment of the Great Song Dynasty delegation.

Suleiman was a middle-aged man of about forty years old, with a thick beard, a shaved beard on his chin, a white cloth wrapped around his head, and a black robe on his body. He was extremely strong.

When he saw the envoys, he first greeted them enthusiastically, then put his right hand on his chest, spoke in the local language, and bowed slightly, as if to express his respect for the Great Song Dynasty.

The guide and part-time translator was a black Khan merchant. He explained to everyone: "His Majesty the Khan welcomes everyone from afar. May the prophet bless you all!"

"The Khan is polite!"

Sun Youtong, Li Tao, and Liu Bingyan hurriedly bowed to Suleiman in the Song Dynasty's salute.

Suleiman stretched out his hand to the city behind him and said something else.

The translator said: "Your Majesty, please enter the kingdom. The palace has prepared a banquet for everyone."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

No one called His Majesty.

Because in the Song Dynasty, His Majesty is the exclusive title of the emperor.

The countries that paid tribute to the central dynasty were called vassal states, which were at the same level as the vassal states. These people should be called His Majesty the King.

So in the early Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo was one of the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. The king Gao Jianwu was called this by the envoys sent by the Tang Dynasty, which made Gao Jianwu very happy.

Basically, there were only three countries in Asia at that time that were cheating.

Two of them were the Yue Dynasty and Goryeo, which claimed to be kings to the suzerain state and emperors to the suzerain state.

The other one was Japan, which did not recognize the suzerain-vassal relationship at all, but came to the Tang Dynasty to steal cultural knowledge and deceived the Tang emperor by using the language and writing routines.

The rest of the countries still abided by this agreement.

After all, strictly speaking, the three countries that cheated were agricultural civilizations that were more sinicized, and they were well versed in Confucian culture and knew the relationship between them, so they covered their ears and stole the bell.

The countries in the Western Regions, the northern grasslands and the Northeast were not that seriously sinicized, and they were still fishing, hunting and nomadic peoples. They did not have a deep understanding of Confucian culture, and basically did not care about the difference.

Led by Suleiman, his entourage and many ministers, the envoys entered the city in a mighty manner.

Li Tao looked around.

The geographical location of Suiye City is really beautiful. In the middle of December, the snow-capped mountains in the distance are covered with snow, and there are white-headed peaks everywhere, but the valley is warm like spring, not particularly cold.

He couldn't help but praise: "This is really a good place. Even in the middle of December, there is a cold wind blowing in the valley, but there is still green grass. It is really fertile soil."

The translator said this to Suleiman, and Suleiman's face changed slightly, and then he hurriedly replied: "How can a remote place compare with the prosperity of the Song Dynasty? The envoy has come from afar, and it's hard work. Come with me to rest."

Everyone felt strange.

He said this as if he was urging everyone to go in, as if there were swordsmen ambushing between the tables, ready to take their lives at any time.

But in a blink of an eye, if they really wanted to take their lives, why wait until the dinner table?

They didn't bring a large army, but with more than a hundred followers, it would be easy for the Black Khan Kingdom to kill them.

So I put this doubt behind me and entered the city.

Compared with Gaochang, Bacishagun is much less prosperous. As nomadic people, the herdsmen of the Black Khan Kingdom live in the pastures outside the city.

There are not many people in the city, only some caravans and local traders live in the city.

Moreover, since the goods of the nomads are mainly livestock, furs, medicinal materials, etc., the city is filled with a strange smell mixed with fragrance, and livestock excrement can occasionally be seen, making the environment very ordinary.

This is because although Bacishagun is on the Silk Road, it is a relatively remote northern road. From here it goes north to Almaty, then around the Aral Sea and as far as the Caspian Sea.

The really prosperous part is the middle section, which connects the Eurasian continent, with the farthest being Constantinople and Cairo, Egypt, passing through Baghdad and Tehran in the east, and then crossing the Congling Mountains from the Dawan Kingdom in the Fergana Basin to Kashgar in the Western Region. area.

After that, we went north from the Kashgar area to the Aksu area, entered Gaochang, and then entered Gansu from Yumen Pass. Or go south to the Hotan area, pass through Jingjue, Qiemo, Ruoqiang, Loulan and other countries, and enter the Dunhuang Hexi Corridor.

Therefore, the middle section is shorter and passes through important urban areas in West Asia and Central Asia. As a result, the North Road has fewer people and is not as prosperous as the Middle Road.

Soon everyone entered the Black Khan Palace. It was said to be a palace, but in fact it was the governor's mansion left by the former governor Tiao Zhi in Suiye City. Now it has changed greatly and is no longer as grand as it was in the Tang Dynasty.

Under the leadership of the Great Khan Suleiman, everyone entered the hall. Suleiman took the main seat, with small tables placed around him, and several ministers of the Black Khan accompanied him.

Everyone sat on the floor, and a large amount of beef and mutton barbecue and wine began to be placed on the table, and the aroma quickly hit their nostrils.

Then a woman wearing Uighur costumes entered the house and started dancing.

In the midst of the singing and dancing, Suleiman immediately persuaded them to drink wine with great enthusiasm and boldness, and even asked his servants to help them cut the meat. It can be said that he was meticulous and meticulous.

Seeing Hei Khan's enthusiasm, several envoys from the Song Dynasty also let down their guard and threw themselves into the banquet. The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves for a while, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Almost half an hour later, the banquet finally ended, and Li Tao did not forget his mission.

After the banquet dispersed and only the Black Khan Suleiman, the Great Khan, a few ministers and some guards were left in the room, he stood up and said: "Your Highness the Great Khan!"

Suleiman asked: "What's wrong with the envoy?"

"Today, our Song Dynasty is powerful in all directions. We have defeated the Liao Kingdom in the north and destroyed Xixia in the west. It is time to reconnect the Western Regions. Your Highness has also sent envoys to the Song Dynasty many times. I, His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, deeply feel that the Great Khan has traveled thousands of miles. Therefore, I sincerely invite the Great Khan to visit Bianliang."

Li Tao said, fearing that Suleiman would have concerns, so he continued: "Please rest assured, the Khan. Although the journey is tiring, the court has made arrangements, and the Khan will not find the journey difficult. Come to DaSong to experience my local customs.”

"Forehead"

After hearing what the translator said, Suleiman's face froze slightly, and then he laughed twice and did not answer immediately.

His response made Li Tao and others even more strange.

Because in Li Tao's view, the Black Khan Kingdom was indeed closer to the Song Dynasty than the Gaochang Kingdom.

According to the "History of Song Dynasty·Khotan Biography", starting from the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu, that is, 1009 AD, the Black Khan Kingdom continued to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, and it was very frequent.

Most of the time it was once a year or even twice a year, and sometimes it was once every two years. Until the fourth year of Yuanfeng for more than 70 years, black Khan envoys came to pay tribute almost every year, totaling 50 For the rest of the time, it can be seen that the Black Khan Kingdom had close contacts with the Song Dynasty.

In fact, including the Song Dynasty's victory over Xixia and Liao in the past few years, and its repeated defeat of Liao and the destruction of Xixia, envoys from the Black Khan Kingdom came to congratulate them, and they were never absent during the New Year's greetings every year.

So this time Li Tao and the others came over and saw the very enthusiastic Hei Khan. Although they were a little surprised, they thought it was reasonable.

Only Suleiman, the Great Khan of the Black Khan, Gu Zuoli said, "This is naturally the case. By the way, after the Song Dynasty envoy arrived at our Black Khan, and waited for our reply, should he go back immediately?"

Li Tao replied: "It is better to continue to the west and declare the majesty of the Song Dynasty to other countries."

"I see."

"Did His Highness the Great Khan agree?"

"This is a big matter, and of course we need to discuss it carefully. But it's getting late today, and the envoy is tired from traveling. How about taking a rest for the night and waiting for tomorrow to discuss it?"

"Yeah, that's okay too."

When the translator told several Song envoys, the three looked at each other and felt that there was no problem, so they nodded in agreement.

Suleiman obviously breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Come, please go to the hotel to rest."

"please!"

Immediately, a minister stood up and led everyone away.

After everyone left, Suleiman, who had been greeting them with a smile, suddenly changed his expression and looked very ugly.

The world thinks that the Black Khan Kingdom has paid tribute to the Song Dynasty many times, which must be a good relationship with the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, according to the records of "Song Huiyao" in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song people finally discovered that the Heihan envoys who paid tribute to the Song Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty were not real envoys at all, but fake ones from the Heihan merchant group.

They pretended to be envoys and came to pay tribute in order to defraud the rewards. They also transported and traded large quantities of frankincense from West Asia, and then transported silk fabrics, clothes, gold and silver utensils, and tea back to West and Central Asia in order to make high profits.

Therefore, the official relationship between the Kingdom of Black Khan and the Song Dynasty has nothing to do with it.

On the contrary, they had very good diplomatic relations with the Liao Kingdom. According to the "History of Liao", the Kara Khanate sent envoys to the Liao Dynasty 16 times. They were real ministers of the Kara Khanate, not merchants pretending to be envoys.

This is actually understandable.

After all, the Kara Khanate did not border the Song Dynasty, and they did send envoys once in the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu, but the Song Dynasty was very cold to the Kara Khanate and only replied with an imperial edict, so naturally they didn't care about the Song Dynasty's attitude.

And they had a territorial border with the Liao Kingdom. The Shangjing Road of the Liao Kingdom was adjacent to the northeastern region of their territory. If they did not have a good relationship with the Liao Kingdom, it was possible that the Kara Khanate would be destroyed by the powerful Liao people.

Therefore, this was reasonable.

But no one expected that the once powerful Liao Kingdom would be defeated by the Song Dynasty overnight. The Song Dynasty has become famous in recent years, and its reputation has spread to the western border with the spread of caravans.

Suleiman is not a fool like Aqifuluo who is deceived by women. Since he knows that Liao is in decline, he can naturally find someone else to rely on.

But the problem is.

"Khan, my worries have finally come true."

Old minister Badiya said: "The Song people are looking to the west. We must make a choice between Liao and Song."

"And today, the Song envoy looked at our land greedily. During the Tang Dynasty, this place was occupied by the Tang Dynasty. They also named our capital Suiye City. I am afraid that their ambitions are not limited to this."

"Yes, the Song people now may be stronger than the Tang Dynasty. They destroyed Gaochang Kingdom and killed tens of thousands of Gaochang people in just one attack. Chang cavalry defeated, too terrible. "

"Even if we surrender to them, what about the shameful traitor Ibrahim? You also heard that the Song envoys will continue to go west. If Ibrahim surrenders to the Song Dynasty, once we go to war with them, the Song Dynasty may send troops. "

"But if we choose not to surrender to them, Gaochang's fate will be there. I heard that the Song people have stationed troops in Qiuci"

"What can we do about this?"

Several ministers looked embarrassed. The current situation made them feel that they were in a dilemma.

Because at this time, they were planning a big thing.

Attack the Western Black Khanate.

Unify the Black Khanate!

If the Song envoy went west to the Western Black Khanate, it would be very difficult for them, the Eastern Black Khanate.