In the Qingshu Palace in Guangchengze, Elbrus and Tam were carefully introducing the news about the Bukhara court meeting.
Prior to this, Shao Shude had just rewarded the Persian envoy who delivered the news.
He really worked hard, he came all the way from Bukhara, he changed horses but not people, half his life was lost, he fully deserved it.
"This is a very joyful thing." Elbrus glanced at him, and Tam smiled and said: "Bukhara will send professional mathematicians and architects to help His Majesty design the new palace.
.This palace is very majestic, far surpassing His Majesty’s beloved Shangyang City and Ziwei City. It will definitely become the most eye-catching building here and will stand for thousands of years.”
Shao Shude's face showed joy.
"Yes, I heard that there are ready-made stones in the south of Luoyang. Your Majesty only needs to recruit manpower, dig out the mountains, grind the stones, and then transport them to the place where you want to build the palace, and you can start construction." Elbrus said.
Shao Shude smiled even more and asked: "How much manpower do I need to prepare?"
"If your Majesty wants to complete the project within five years, I think it is best to have at least five hundred thousand people." Elbrus said: "If you want to complete the project within three years, it is best to mobilize one million people to cut the rocks and polish them into shapes.
Transportation and the most important construction, as well as the labor force to provide logistical support for all these people. One million people is reasonable, it can allow His Majesty to see the magnificent palace as quickly as possible."
"That's very good." Shao Shude said: "I wonder how many scholars have come to Luoyang? What are their abilities?"
"There are a total of twelve people, carrying thirty camels of books, which was specially requested by His Majesty." Tam said: "Some people in Bukhara raised objections, but the Grand Vizier opposed them. He thought that if His Majesty could be recognized
With the civilization and greatness of Persia, many things will be much easier to handle."
The book "Twelve Men, Thirty Camels" is actually not a big deal, at least it is lower than Shao Shude's expectations. But after thinking about it, it is actually quite good. After all, the relationship between the two countries is so bad.
Another point is that the Persians probably don’t take these too seriously.
Things in the world are so strange. Things that you regard as treasures may be discarded by others as old shoes, at least they don't value them too much. Things that you think are ordinary, others think of them as rare treasures.
The Persians can take the initiative to send a team of designers and bring a lot of books with them, so they are wise. Otherwise, he would have to pretend to be sweating in the prairie.
"I wonder how these books compare with the Wisdom Palace in Baghdad?" Shao Shude asked.
"It's not as good as that." Tam answered truthfully.
How did you get the book on the Palace of Wisdom? It’s actually very simple, just grab it!
Even though the Arabs were horse bandits, they were very strange people and paid special attention to knowledge. Most of the books they snatched from various countries and ethnic groups were properly kept and then translated into Arabic.
A bunch of pagans were doing scientific research in the Palace of Wisdom, and the Caliph funded it and did not allow the religious courts to harass them.
Such behavior made Shao Shude wonder if there were any time-travelers over there...
As a very ancient civilization, most of Persian books and even works of art were taken away by the Arabs. However, they finally had some love for incense, and Saman Persia also received some feedback, and was allowed to copy some books from the Palace of Wisdom and bring them back to cloth.
Hala. Coupled with the exchanges between scholars, some knowledge and books have slowly spread, so this batch of books is actually very valuable.
At least, the mathematical works written by Al-Khwarizmi and the collection of more than 800 examples are correct.
"When will the books arrive in Luoyang?" Shao Shude asked.
He was asking Wang Yanfan, because once they entered the territory of Daxia, the Persians would not be able to regret it even if they wanted to, and they must "protect" them throughout the process, whether they were people or books.
"Your Majesty, we haven't entered Shule yet, it may take half a year." Wang Yanfan replied.
"Half a year... I can afford to wait. When I arrive in Luoyang, I will personally go out of the city to greet you." Shao Shude said.
Wang Yanfan was shocked, this standard was too high.
In the past, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty heard that Master Xuanzang had returned from studying for Buddhist scriptures. He met Xuanzang in Ziwei City and sat down with him. The encounter was amazing.
Now Persian scholars came with thirty camels and books, and the saint personally greeted them. This was another trip to the West to seek scriptures.
"This is what it should be." Shao Shude said: "What I respect is the truth. After entering the territory of Daxia, the government along the way will send state soldiers to escort you and give you proper hospitality without any mistakes."
"According to the order." Wang Yanfan responded.
Shao Shude looked at Elbrus and Tam, and said with a smile: "Your country has shown its sincerity by helping me build the palace. I am very happy. The rest are just small matters now, and I think they can be solved soon. By then,
Isn't it a good story that the two countries are in harmony and will always be allies?"
"Your Majesty's mind is so broad and his insights are so outstanding. When it comes back to Bukhara, everyone will definitely praise it." Elbrus said: "I just don't know - when can we set off?"
"Just wait for more than a month." Shao Shude laughed loudly and did not want to let them go so soon. He had to see Persian scholars and books appear in Shule.
Elbrus was a little frustrated.
In early February, Xia State again mobilized its troops to the west, seemingly for rotation.
He could not imagine how much damage more than 30,000 gulams could cause. In short, the sooner the war ceases, the better. Bukhara's internal problems are serious and must be resolved.
****
That night, Shao Shude read the letters sent back by the Khazars in the Qingshu Palace.
This letter was written in May last year, nearly ten months ago.
Starting from September of the previous year, they spent the whole winter contacting and communicating with the Oghuz people. After everything was settled, they paid the toll, and then spent two months entering the territory of the Khazar Khanate, where they were received with great enthusiasm.
of hospitality.
This letter was written at about that time, and was subsequently brought to Bactria by a Khazar envoy via a detour - in terms of efficiency, it was actually quite efficient.
"Unknowingly, it has been two years since I was sent as an envoy." Shao Shude said with emotion.
Li Shouxin's mission is pretty good. The group of people who set off from the sea are supposed to be faster, but there is no news so far, and I don't know what happened to them.
After putting aside these boring thoughts, Shao Shude continued to read the letter.
Li Shouxin mainly talked about the general situation of the forces to the west of the King of Male Tuls and the possibility of reopening the complete Silk Road.
Regarding the situation of the Khazars, what Li Shouxin learned was slightly different from what Tam said, but it was basically the same.
He also attached a very rough hand-drawn map to the letter, which he said he bought from a Khazarian merchant.
Shao Shude looked at it and compared it with later maps, and found that the territory of the Khazar Khanate was probably between the lower reaches of the Don River, the lower reaches of the Volga River, and the Caucasus Mountains - I heard that it used to be more than this big, but now it is really only this much.
.
The loss of territory was mainly attributed to the Oghuz and Rus.
The Pechenegs were originally a branch of the Western Turks. They were beaten by the Garolu people and fled westward to the Aral Sea area. They were then defeated by the Oghuz people and continued westward. As a result, they suddenly became powerful and defeated them.
The Khazars invaded a large area of their territory and at the same time drove the Magyars, vassals of the Khazar Khanate, westward - the Magyars originally lived on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov.
The Pechenegs were not satisfied with this. They continued to attack the Magyars westward and drove them to the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Danube rivers.
It is simply incomprehensible that a Turkic tribe, which had been severely beaten by the Geluolu people, showed great power to the west.
Are the Geluolu people very strong? Let’s have a battle!
I heard that the Magyars were a little worried that the Pecheneg Turks would attack them again and wanted to continue heading west. Moreover, some of their vanguards had already done so. Wherever they went, they won consecutive battles and were unstoppable. This is even more outrageous.
The Magyars are the ancestors of later generations of Hungarians. They migrated westward from the Sea of Azov, were chased and beaten by the Turks, and finally established a foothold in Hungary.
The Pecheneg Turks who chased them were tribes that could not survive in Central Asia and were expelled by the Geluolu people, who were conquered by the remnants of the Uighurs who moved westward...
Shao Shude saw four words in it: unbearable.
The further west you go, the more useless it becomes!
Today's southern Russian steppe - basically this part of Ukraine - is roughly divided equally between the Pecheneg Turks and the Magyars. The power of the Khazars has been gradually driven out, leaving only parts of Crimea.
Already.
The Russians are drooling in the north, coveting the fertile black land of Ukraine, but they still dare not go south for fear of being beaten - the Khazars and Pecheneg Turks often kidnap Russians as slaves, sell them to Persia, and eat them
.
"A group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals, fighting with each other..." Shao Shude patted the table and wanted to laugh.
Li Shouxin mentioned in the letter that due to the long-term war with Persia and perhaps the construction of the three cities in Mobei, the reputation of the Supreme Emperor had appeared sporadically on the prairie through the spread of the Oghuz people.
He did not mention the merits of his mission. But Shao Shude believed that their trip to the west would greatly strengthen his reputation.
This is beneficial.
Reputation can actually be monetized, mainly in business.
Just like the tea he is very concerned about, do foreigners drink it? Very few. Da Shiren didn’t purchase it at all before. A few decades ago, it was purchased in small quantities. Now it’s slightly more, but overall, it’s still very little.
Tubo and the northern grasslands close to the Central Plains have the habit of drinking tea, but it is not popular enough. As for the countries farther west, there are even fewer, and it is infinitely close to none.
If you want people to buy your tea, you must first increase your country's influence, or soft power.
The influence of soft power has become so great that even your farts will smell good and others will rush to smell them. This is how outrageous the world is.
In later generations, Chinese tea was sold to Europe on a large scale because a Portuguese princess married the British king. The princess herself liked to drink tea, and even the British royal family also learned to drink tea. Later, the British, with the strong influence of the victors of the three Anglo-Dutch Wars,
Slowly promoting tea, tea exports in the Qing Dynasty increased year by year.
When the Boston Tea Party occurred in North America, a British colony, and Americans switched to drinking coffee for national pride, the unparalleled influence of the United States slowly increased coffee sales over a period of more than a hundred years, and the Caribbean
The archipelago and even Brazil have experienced a booming coffee economic cycle.
There is no love without reason, everything is influence.
"If the Silk Road wants to be smooth, the southern route needs to rely on Persia and food, but now they prefer to take the sea route." Shao Shude tapped his index finger on the table, thinking silently: "The northern route needs to deal with the Oghuz and Khazars.
.Once you get through these two places, there will basically be no problem.”
He subconsciously ignored the Kipchaks.
Li Shouxin mentioned this ethnic group in his letter. They are also a Turkic race, originating from the middle reaches of the Irtysh River, and are a branch of the local Kimak Turks. Of course, some people say that they originally lived in the Ob River Basin, but this
None of it matters anymore.
After the Kipchaks moved westward, they were distributed in the north of the Khazar Khanate and the Oghuz Tribal Alliance. They were widely dispersed and made a living as nomads.
Historically, after the Oghuz moved westward in the 11th century, they defeated the Pechenegs on the southern Russian grasslands, and were subsequently defeated by the Kipchaks who moved westward. At this point, the Kipchaks became the dominant force in the southern Russian grasslands.
The only owner.
In the 12th century, some Mongol-speaking tribes who were closely related to the Khitan moved from the northeast to the west to the Volga and Ural river basins. Because of their strong strength, they gained dominance, but then they accepted the life of the Turkic-speaking Kipchaks.
way, assimilated.
After the Mongol Western Expedition, the Kipchaks were completely crushed.
This "highway" between the Eurasian steppes is called the "Endless Road of Conquest" for a reason.
One tribe after another moved westward, and those who came late could always defeat those who went first and seize the fruits of victory.
But the Kipchaks are not worthy of attention now. They do not have a unified political power and their attitude towards business travelers is not bad. There is no need to provoke them.
Shao Shude thought for a while, suddenly became interested, spread out his pen and paper, and wrote a few letters.
He planned to take the Khazar envoys back when they returned to China, and one of them was for Li Shouxin - if they could still be found.
According to the Khazar envoy Jacob, in the autumn of last year (919), Joseph Khan personally escorted them south to Baghdad with a very enthusiastic attitude, but he did not know what happened now.
Shao Shude couldn't help but stood up and looked around on the map.
This world is so vast.
He was like a later revolutionary who won the civil war and began to manipulate the international situation. The disadvantage was that communication efficiency and transportation capabilities were extremely low, and it would take several years to send a mission.
After all, good things come to an end.
This is actually a business that is passed down from generation to generation after the death of father and son, so there is no point in rushing.
"Let's re-clarify the Silk Road first. Nothing else is urgent." He poked his finger on the map, and the location of the Aral Sea suddenly collapsed...
