Chapter 64 First Contact

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Chapter 64 First Contact

"Keep smiling, no matter what the situation is, no matter when a robber puts a knife to your neck,

Or are the nobles being unreasonable and shutting us out? We all need to keep smiling."

This is the education Sogdians have received since they were sensible.

Potuo did not dare to say anything more. After he lowered his head and admitted his mistake, he forced a smile on his face.

However, although he was smiling, he was praying in a low voice, and he was holding a wooden sculpture tightly in his hand. It was Ahura Mazda, the highest god believed by the Sogdians.

The hometown of the Sogdians was called Sogdiana, also known as the land of the river. It was also called Uzbekistan in later generations.

The two rivers Guishui and Yaoxashui nourish this land and make the river valley fertile. This area is rich in grapes, lapis lazuli and agate.

The Sogdians built five cities here.

The diligent and shrewd Sogdians built their hometown into the most fertile and beautiful place.

But they were just loose small city-states, surrounded by powerful nomadic warriors.

The richer and more beautiful you are, the more fat you are in the eyes of wolves.

Empires from far away have also launched wars on this land again and again.

Everyone wants to conquer this rich and beautiful land.

The earliest was the powerful Persian Empire. The loose small city-states of the Sogdians were unable to resist the powerful Persians and had no choice but to surrender.

Later, the powerful Persian Empire weakened, and the more barbaric Greeks came here again with spears raised high.

This time the Sogdians no longer wanted to be slaves, they wanted to fight for freedom.

They fought a great battle with the barbarian Greeks at Sogdiana, but were eventually conquered by the Greeks.

However, the Greeks were quickly defeated by the Yuezhi people who fled from the east.

History repeats itself, Tiaozhi (Seleucid), Bactria (Bactria), then nomadic Sai and Yuezhi.

After the Yuezhi people migrated to the warmer south, Kangju from the north of Yaashui took advantage of the situation, occupied Sogdiana, and accepted the Sogdian city-state as a vassal state.

When one side finishes singing, the other side comes on stage. Every war has killings, but every battle has survivors.

After experiencing countless powerful forces, the Sogdians finally found their way to survive, which was to obey the powerful and show their worth to the powerful.

They never participated in other nations' struggles against outsiders, but actively presented silk treasures from afar to each new group of rulers.

And this proves that if the Sogdians are given slightly looser autonomy, the Sogdians will give back more wealth to the strong.

This is the way of survival for the weak Sogdians, and it is also the teaching that Potuo received since childhood.

In the eyes of the Sogdians, as long as they can survive, no matter what they do, everything they experience is just the darkness before the light.

"Only by obeying the strongest can the weak Sogdians survive the gaze of wolves until the day the light comes."

…

The Sogdian caravan was monitored by the patrolling Han army and brought outside the Luntai Fortress.

Zhang Yue showed great interest in the first caravan that arrived in Luntai.

In this era, caravans are the most knowledgeable people in all countries.

They are the most well-informed, and they are the ones who understand the geographical environment of each country best.

If these merchants could be owned by the Han army, it would be of great help to the Han army's operations in the Western Regions.

…

After Zhang Yue carefully understood the beliefs and habits of the Sogdians, he summoned Mani, the leader of the caravan.

"Mosabao, I heard that the Sogdians believe in the god Hu, worship the holy fire, and believe that light will surely defeat darkness?"

In fact, Zhang Yue's name for the leader of the Sogdian caravan was wrong. In fact, his last name was Mani, but neither of them cared much.

Faced with Zhang Yue's question, Mani felt very surprised.

Because few people ask the Sogdians about their religion, and the Sogdians rarely mention their own religion.

Contrary to those Buddhist novices in the northern part of Shendu who are keen to spread teachings to the princes of Daxia and Yuezhi, the followers of Huoyao Sect have no interest in preaching.

Their sect has extremely strict requirements for believers. Only their parents must be believers before they can be accepted. Outsiders will not be accepted even if they believe in it for life. This is one of the reasons why the Sogdians engage in consanguineous marriages.

But since Zhang Yue asked out of curiosity, Mani had no choice but to tell what he knew.

Obedience to power has been engraved in the souls of the Sogdians, and as the commander-in-chief of the Han army in Luntai, Zhang Yue was naturally a strong man in Mani's eyes.

A qualified Sogdian will never reject a strong person easily.

What's more, in Mani's opinion, Zhang Yue is still a strong man who can bring benefits to him, and he cannot refuse such a strong man.

Fortunately, as Sabao, Mani was not only the leader of the caravan, but also had to be familiar with some teachings.

On weekdays, he also leads the caravan members to pray for purification, and when someone in the caravan dies, he has to preside over the Fire Jacket Cult funeral that is extremely horrifying to outsiders.

The core of the teachings of Huoyao Sect is, simply put, duality.

Many people mistakenly confuse Fire Religion with Manichaeism. In fact, they have the same origin but different doctrines and even slight conflicts. Just like the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.

"Ahura Mazda is the embodiment of light, and Angra Mainyu is the embodiment of darkness.

The former created all good, the six good gods, the universe, the world and all living things, while the latter created all evil and opposition."

"Evil gods continue to invade the world, corrupt morality, and oppose good gods. The two sides are fighting in the human world."

"And in the final battle between good and evil, every country in the world must join in to help the former defeat the latter and usher in eternal light!"

After listening to Mani's explanation, Zhang Yue suddenly said: "Your teachings are consistent with the battle between the Han and the Huns..."
Chapter completed!