"Wenxue Palace was built in the Eastern Kingdom, and the snow-capped mountains stand in the Western Region." [Xue Fu]
In the spring of the twelfth year of Jian'an.
General Jiang Qian, Huaiyuan Colonel Zhang Lu, Fake Sima, Xiuyi Yang Feng and others were ordered to go westward, passing through Dunhuang and out of Yumen, and came to a place called Puchang Sea, which later generations called Lop Nur. Its water area was three hundred meters wide. It is the gateway of the Western Regions to the Central Plains. There is a city by the sea called Haitou, which is the first stop for Jiang Qian and others, and is also the future seat of the Protectorate of the Western Regions.
When the nearby chariot and other small kingdoms heard the arrival of the angel, they sent envoys one after another, and even the king personally came to worship and receive him, expressing his surrender. However, the big kingdoms such as Shanshan and Yanqi expressed a cautious attitude and only sent envoys to ask questions about the Han Dynasty. The purpose of the envoy's visit.
Jiang Gan and others announced the emperor's edict in public. They were ordered by the emperor to go to the Western Regions to preach the teachings of the saints, to persuade all countries to coexist peacefully, to promote business and agriculture, and not to engage in rash disputes and harm the common people. Also accompanying them was the Xuanhua Branch of Taixue Yin Mo is the teacher of Yin Mo. He has the same mission as Zhang Lu, but his responsibility is greater. In his early years, he learned ancient classics from Sima Hui, Song Zhong and others. He is proficient in "Zuo Zhuan" and wants to set up schools in the Western Regions to recruit disciples. Let Confucianism take root in the Western Regions.
Xuanhua Branch is the fourth branch affiliated to Taixue, besides the official administration, elementary education, and enlightenment. It is different from the other three branches of teaching officials, teaching children, and priests. It began to penetrate and participate in it as early as when the imperial court began to sinicize the southern Xiongnu. , Nowadays, many young people in the Southern Xiongnu speak Chinese, wear Hanfu, consider themselves Han people, and serve in the government. These are all the contributions of Xuanhua Ke. The sinicization of the Southern Xiongnu was very effective with the help of Xuanhua Ke, and the Liangzhou Qiang people The success of the governance was also quite extraordinary. At the beginning of the year, a servant of the Imperial Academy shot Pan Xu to the throne, saying that in thirty years no one would claim to be the queen of the Hungarians or the Qiang.
Xuanhua Ke, who had accumulated rich experience, also set his sights on this desert in the Western Regions.
Writing books, recruiting disciples, and passing on the teachings of the sages is a temptation that no Confucian scholar can refuse. What's more, Zhang Yi, who was once in charge of Xuanhua Science and Technology affairs, has now been promoted to Guanglu doctor, with titles, titles, and the temptation of fame and fortune. , no one will regard the Western Regions as a dangerous journey. This is the case for Yin Mo. He is a well-known scholar in Yizhou in recent years and is deeply favored by Sikong Zhao Wen. This trip to the Western Regions is also an important task. However, the journey is not smooth sailing. Except for Che Shiguo, who requested help from the imperial court and was willing to accept Yin Mo's arrangements for imperial students to teach and recruit apprentices here, the rest of the countries were only interested in silk tea and other items from the imperial court.
"The countries in the Western Regions love profit over righteousness. They are not interested in Confucianism. Instead, they only love those technical things. What a pity!" After Yin Mo came back from Jiaohe City today, he found that the residents there were not interested in Confucianism. He couldn't even understand the language, and regarded Yin Mo, who had a different appearance, as an alien, which shocked him, who was full of confidence: "Now that I think about it, in the past four hundred years, Bowang Hou, Dingyuan Hou and others were powerful in the Western Regions, but... If you don’t see kindness and righteousness being given to the people, it’s not that you don’t do it, but that it’s difficult to do it.”
Zhang Lu couldn't help but interjected: "I traveled to the city for a week today and found that many of its people believe in gods and pagodas. If I want them to accept Huang Lao, in addition to my morality, I should also provide money and food." He and Yin Mo was not harmonious on the road. Yin Mo was very opposed to the emperor's intention of letting Zhang Lu spread the Five Pecks of Rice in the Western Regions. Zhang Lu also knew that his status was embarrassing, so he only talked about Huang Lao when talking about this matter and never mentioned the Five Pecks of Rice. He originally The reason why Hanzhong was able to attract a wide range of believers was that, in addition to military and missionary means, the "Yishe" that provided food and drink for the people also played a key role. Now that there was nothing, he was helpless.
Hearing Zhang Lu's complaint, Yin Mo did not refute. He also felt that the matter was difficult and that such a big undertaking could not be accomplished by just a few of them.
The leader of this trip, Jiang Qian, calmly listened to the two people's grievances and knew that their idea was to appeal to the court to obtain a series of follow-up support. After the two stopped, he slowly said: "I deeply understand
Knowing that this trip is not easy, before leaving Chang'an, Sikong Zhaogong called us to have a lecture on "Don't be hasty, don't be slow, a drop of water will penetrate a stone", which I deeply agree with. This trip, we are here to find out the details of the countries in the Western Regions.
There has been no communication for many years, so how can we prove it based on the words of the Prince of Cheshi? When we know the local customs and customs, and after his death, the Protector of the Western Regions, Chang Shi, and the military commanders of the Tuntian are here at the head of the sea, Yiwu
Once I have a firm foothold, it will be time for me to show my ambitions."
"What Jiang Ling said is that we really shouldn't care about temporary gains and losses." Yin Mo said with approval: "This is like Xuanhua in Bingzhou and Liangzhou to the Hungarian and Qiang people. Only with a large army behind them, their hearts
Only when you are in awe can you sit down and listen to others' lectures."
"In this case, what should we do next?" Zhang Lu then asked. After mediating the conflict between Yanqi and Che Shiguo, their mission of comfort seemed to have been completed.
Jiang Qian was handsome and handsome. He came from Jianghuai and was famous for his talent. He was also recommended by Zhou Yu. He was even more confident during this trip. He wanted to imitate Zhang Qian, Ban Chao and other ancestors and convinced other countries. I saw that he persuaded Yin Mo with just a few words.
The others nodded gently and were about to speak when the door opened and Yang Aruo, who had officially changed his name to Yang Feng, walked in: "I have already inquired about the route and made an appointment with a guide. We can walk along the south road tomorrow...
..." He spread out a piece of silk on the table, on which was drawn the general location of the countries in the Western Regions, major transportation routes, oasis rivers and other important landmarks: "First pass through Shanshan, then along the Kunlun Mountains, pass through Qiemo, and reach Jingjue and other cities.
, then enter Khotan, arrive at Shule, then turn back east, arrive at Qiuci, Yanqi, and finally return to Haitou. If I have time, I think I can go north to Wusun while in Qiuci to see the customs there.
"
Yang Feng is a descendant of the Hexi Rangers. He has longed for the scenery of the Western Regions, which is very different from China. Originally, he was not willing to be bound by the embroidered clothes, but when he heard about such a mission, he still took the initiative to ask Ying to come to the Western Regions. This time not only
He wanted to visit all the countries in the Western Regions, including Wusun and even Kangju.
Jiang Gan didn't know what the other party was thinking. After thinking about it for a while, he thought that the imperial government's plan to manage the Western Regions would not avoid the powerful Wusun. It would be enough to inquire in advance to be prepared and to show that they had foresight, so he agreed: "Let's go to Yibo."
"Yang, since we are going to travel to the Western Regions, Wusun has to make the trip anyway."
Everyone decided on the route and set off quickly. With the courtesy of Han envoys, Jiang Qian and others traveled almost unimpeded in the Western Regions. Wherever they went, the princes and princes respectfully served them. Although decades had passed, the majesty of the Han court still remained.
It is still a mountain that other countries dare not touch. Some people speculated that the Han envoys' coming this time would definitely change the pattern of the Western Regions, so they began to move closer, but some unwilling powers tried to obstruct it.
From spring to March to autumn, Jiang Qian and others discovered that the small and weak countries in the Western Regions just longed for the imperial court to help them get rid of the threat of powerful countries. Except for the upper-class nobles who expressed concern about Zhang Lu's five buckets of rice and Yin Mo's Confucian classics,
The people were all very uninterested, and what was worse, the priests of various religions in the Western Regions and the pagodas began to spread bad opinions, regarding Zhang Lu as a scourge.
When he was in the Kingdom of Qiuci, the King of Qiuci was even instigated by the priests and had the intention of detaining the Han envoys, but in the end he let them go for unknown reasons. Everyone felt full of gains and full of anxiety. When they returned to Haitou City, they discovered that Xia Houyuan, the governor of the Western Regions, had united three thousand troops and captured Jiaohe, Gaochang, Yiwu and other cities to intimidate one side.