The sun sets in the west, and clouds are like clouds. The yellow sand is like mountains, and the oases are like dots. Kucha City is located next to the salt swamp. It is the hub of the Silk Road, with constant businessmen coming and going. In the past, it was attached to the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty once established the capital of the Western Regions.
He protected his government in Kucha. Later, when the Han family declined, Kucha turned to the Xiongnu and massacred the border guards of the Han Dynasty. When Ban Chao passed through the Western Regions, Kucha returned to the Han again. Over the past hundreds of years, the Central Plains was deeply troubled by the changes in the Han Dynasty.
Now that Bochun is in power, Kucha has a vast territory, stretching from Luntai to the east, to Bachu in the west, to the north from the Tianshan Mountains, and to the south from the desert. It is the largest country in the Western Regions and deserves its title. Bochun cultivates military equipment, levies heavy taxes, and expands the army to prepare for war.
There is a great ambition to unify the Western Region. Now the holy monk Kumarajiva is stationed in Kucha, and countless devout believers from the northern part of the Western Region have gathered in Kucha, just to pray. Kucha is even more majestic for a while. However, when the moon is full, it will be weak, and when the water is full, it will be weak.
Yi, Qiuci caused too much trouble and finally attracted the army from the Central Plains. Good fortune and misfortune depend on each other, this is a wise saying.
The Kucha City in front of us stands in the Kuqa Oasis. The city gates are tightly closed and soldiers are scattered all over the city walls. They look around with vigilance and flags are planted, obviously ready for battle. Kucha City is facing a turning point in fate.
Peace or war?
When Duan Ye came, Jiangyu personally accompanied him, and of course he also sent an envoy on Pegasus to report to Bochun. Although you could ride a horse before, once you cross the boundary mark and officially enter the territory of Qiuci, you have to change into a carriage.
The pomp of envoys from other countries has to be discussed. But the problem is that according to the saying at that time, when approaching the city, unless it is an envoy from the emperor, or someone above and below, you still have to switch to riding a horse, which is really troublesome. Duan Ye had to use
When riding a horse, you can chat with beauties, and when riding in a car, you can put on a show and drink some water to comfort yourself.
Now seeing the envoys of the Qin Dynasty coming, the east gate of Kucha City slowly opened, and two groups of soldiers filed out and lined up beside the road. A middle-aged fat man rode out on horseback, followed by civil and military figures and a group of eunuchs in colorful costumes. Obviously,
This is the team sent by King Qiuci to welcome the envoy from the Celestial Dynasty.
All the rituals were performed as expected, Duan Ye dismounted, and the fat man strode forward, crossed his arms and bowed slightly, saying: "The messenger from heaven is here. Kucha should have welcomed him five miles out of the countryside. However, there have been many thieves in recent days, and the king of Kucha cannot
He will not be arrested behind closed doors, so he sent his minister Qiuci Xiangmengbai to greet the envoy from the Celestial Dynasty. I hope this trip will be a success."
Mengbai is extremely fat and has a particularly big nose, but when he speaks, he feels like he is smiling, just like Maitreya Buddha, which makes people feel close to him. However, it is enough for King Qiuci to send the dignified prime minister of Qiuci to see Duan Ye.
To save face, although in order to go on an envoy, Lu Guang granted Duan Ye the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Guards, and allowed him to be granted the title after he returned, so that Duan Ye would be both civil and military and could go on an envoy. But in any case, he was still a minor official. Fortunately, there was
With Lu Guang's 100,000-strong army as his backing, he was confident. He returned the greeting and said with a smile: "Duan Ye heard that King Qiuci was wise and mighty, and he was the best at seizing the opportunity. Duan Ye will definitely be able to reach an agreement with King Qiuci in this trip. From now on.
The world is one family, you and I are ministers of the same palace, so we should get closer to each other, ah, hahahaha."
Mengbai was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing and started laughing.
After a simple welcome ceremony, the two seemed to hit it off very well. They started chatting, and the topics they talked about ranged from the general trend of the world to leaning against the red and green, just like old friends for many years. Jiangyu looked at the two of them quite dissatisfied and coughed.
After making a sound, Mengbai remembered the topic and continued: "In this case, my king will hold a banquet for the envoy in the palace to welcome the wind, and ask the envoy to move."
"please!"
As Duan Ye and others entered Kucha City, the door behind them slowly closed. A pair of eyes fixed on Duan Ye, who was chatting and laughing with Mengbai, and the owner of the eyes secretly made up his mind...
The war was approaching, and everyone was staying behind closed doors. On the contrary, there were a lot more patrolling soldiers, and Kucha City was a lot depressed because of this. Mengbai didn't mention state affairs along the way, but talked about Miss Xuelingzi with Duan Ye. Duan Ye couldn’t help but feel a little itchy in his heart when he saw everyone praising Xue Lingzi. But what should I call this girl? Xue Lingzi, her name I wonder how it got so famous and fascinated everyone in Qiuci?
Although not majestic, but still unique palace has appeared in sight. The palace in Qiuci has both the characteristics of Han family and the style of the Western Regions, but it is quite grand. The guard Gong'e comes in and out from time to time, obviously ready to welcome distinguished guests. Duan Ye also began to recall Lu Guang's previous explanation and Jiang Yu's reminders to him, such as Bo Chun was impatient, so he could slowly reason with him, but must not provoke him, etc. It was obvious that Jiang Yu was still very pragmatic and knew that he could not do it at the moment. He was in a head-to-head confrontation with the Qin army, so he advocated peace talks. But Bo Chun was quite unwilling. One of the big factors was face.
The majestic overlord of the Western Regions surrendered without fighting a single battle. How will Bochun behave from now on? How can Qiuci deter other countries?
Just when Duan Ye looked unfaithful, he heard Meng Bai shouting: "Be careful!" Before he could make any reaction, he saw a cold light flash past, almost hurting Duan Ye's eyes, and at the same time, a strong wind blew from his ears. The scraping made his skin hurt. Then there was a muffled "clang" sound. Duan Ye looked sideways and saw an arrow with carved feathers on the wall. The tail of the arrow swayed slightly!
Someone assassinated him! Only then did Duan Ye realize that if the arrow had been a little crooked, he would have died! At this moment, he saw Jiangyu holding a green rainbow, and her arms were still shaking slightly. Obviously, it was her sword strike just now. He only managed to save his life by firing the arrow, but because the arrow was so powerful, even Jiang Yu could barely block it.
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Jiangyu. Duan Ye owes you once." Duan Ye looked serious and thanked him seriously. Jiangyu's face was a little pale and she smiled reluctantly: "Master Duan sent me as an envoy to Qiuci, Qiuci. Failure to eliminate Xiaoxiao and putting Master Duan in danger is already a loss for Qiuci, so how dare we thank you."
Mengbai was furious and ordered the patrolling soldiers who came after hearing the news to arrest the assassin. The streets suddenly became chaotic. Duan Ye took the opportunity to get close to him and lowered his voice and said: "As a minister of Qiuci, you should have done nothing wrong. However, You are still a woman."
After speaking, he took a deep breath, sat up straight, and returned to the reserve that a messenger should have.
"You?" Jiangyu was ashamed and angry, and was about to get angry when Duan Ye shook his head and said: "This is no ordinary assassin. If I die, I will attack the city immediately. And in order to give His Majesty an explanation, To give an explanation to the world, it is possible to massacre the city. After all, the assassination of the envoy is related to the national prestige, so it is difficult to do anything good."
Seeing that this man returned to official duties so quickly, without even the usual panic among literati, almost as if nothing had happened, Jiang Yu also sighed inwardly, but had to admit that what he said made sense. If Duan Ye was like this When he was killed, that gave Lu Guang an excuse he couldn't refuse. Now that he has that kind of catapult, Kucha can't escape!
Thinking of this, Jiang Yu just felt so powerless. Why is it so difficult to defend her country?