Han Khan

Chapter 111: Han-Hu Fusion

At this time, Zhang Sheng was wearing a slim-fitting, narrow-sleeved, blue robe with gold edges, a winged crown made of gold threads on his head, a jade belt around his waist, and leather boots on his feet. His gorgeous attire made him look extraordinary.

Accompanied by Zhang Xibao, Zhang Zhongxian and Koza, Zhang Sheng approached the two people sitting on the bench with a swift step and asked in a serious tone:

"You haven't told me why you came here to escape from Karakhanid Khanate. What happened in Karakhanid Khanate?"

Sara patted her frightened brother Ilhan beside her and gently comforted him. She stood up, bowed to Zhang Sheng, and said cautiously:

"Your Excellency, there was a civil strife in the Karakhanid Khanate and my father was killed, so my brother and I fled to Jinshan and prepared to seek refuge with the Tang Dynasty."

Zhang Sheng nodded when he heard this, but when he saw Sarah didn't say anything else, he looked at her in confusion.

"Go on, what happened?"

Sarah took a deep breath and asked Zhang Sheng:
"Um, Your Highness, I want to know, are you really Tang people? And which god were you offering sacrifices to just now?"

Zhang Sheng frowned slightly and looked at Sarah with a sharp gaze, wondering how this woman could be so rude, but still replied: "Of course we are Tang people. This sacrifice is to worship the only god - Haotian God, praying that he will bless us, with fat cattle and sheep, and good weather and good harvests."

Sara's heart tightened, and after thinking for a moment, he looked up at Zhang Sheng firmly: "Excuse me, Your Highness, shouldn't the Tang people live in the cities south of Mobei? And who is the God of Heaven? Shouldn't the Tang people be believers of the Three Pure Ones, disciples of Confucianism and disciples of Buddha?

The ancestors of our Karakhanid Khanate, the Uighur, Tiele and Turkic people, have always been the subjects of the Heavenly Khan of the Tang Dynasty on the grasslands and have never forgotten the great reputation of the Tang Dynasty for hundreds of years.

Today, our Karakhanid Khanate has learned the Tang Dynasty's rules for recording history, using the Khan's title as the method of dating. The Khan has specially appointed historians to record history. I have learned the Tang language and etiquette since I was a child, but I have never heard that the Tang people behaved like this, Your Highness.

It really looks like the Arabs and Samanids to the west and south of the Karakhanids. Your Highness, please enlighten me!"

Zhang Sheng's mouth corners slightly raised, and a barely perceptible smile flashed in his eyes:

"Have you ever heard of Zhang Yichao?"

Sarah nodded and asked in a puzzled tone:
"Of course I know about the great hero who helped the Tang Dynasty recover Hexi. Of course I also know that his descendants are the hereditary governors of the Dunhuang Guiyi Army! I learned this from the caravans that came and went!"

Zhang Sheng felt sad when he heard this. It turned out that even the Karakhanids who lived far west of the Pamir Mountains and on the Seven Rivers Grassland south of Lake Balkhash knew the good name of his great-grandfather and the history of the Zhang family.

It was not until a thousand years later, when Dunhuang studies began to flourish, that modern people truly understood the legendary hero and the legendary Dunhuang Guiyi Army.

At this time, Zhang Sheng and Zhang Zhongxian and Zhang Xibao behind Zhang Sheng nodded after hearing the words of the Karakhanid man, and their eyes towards the two sisters became much kinder.

Sarah and Ilhan clearly noticed the changes in the expressions of these Tang people, and they both expressed their confusion.

"Princess, we are the descendants of Lord Yichao and the Guiyi Army!" said Zhang Zhongxian.

Hearing this, Sarah looked at them in shock.

At this time Zhang Xibao also said:
"Your Highness is the great-grandson of Lord Yichao, the son of the White-robed Emperor Zhang Chengfeng, and now the leader of the Jinhan tribe. He is the emperor of the holy religion inspired by the only god, Lord Haotian!"

Upon hearing this, Ilhan and her sister Sarah looked at each other and expressed confusion.

In recent years, the Gaochang Uighurs blocked the northern Tianshan Road of the Silk Road, and the Guiyi Army was in civil strife.

The Karakhanids, who were far away in the Seven Rivers Grassland, had not understood the changes in the desert, the Central Plains, and Hexi for a long time. The words "White-robed Emperor Zhang Chengfeng", "Sacred Religion", and "Jinhan Tribe" mentioned by the tall and majestic general expressed their incomprehension.

Seeing the expressions of the two people, Zhang Sheng understood clearly.

He said kindly: "Let's go, we can talk while walking and see my tribe at the same time."

Several people walked out of the temple and looked at the warriors patrolling everywhere and the busy Jinhan people who were preparing meals.

"You are too late. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was killed by Zhu Wen seven years ago. The one who still worships the Tang Dynasty is Li Cunxu, the son of Li Keyong, a Shatuo, who was appointed as the Prince of Jin by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The rest of the land is controlled by various warlords."

Zhang Sheng held the hilt of the knife at his waist, looked at the Jinshan Mountain in the distance, and said to the two people beside him.

Upon hearing this, Sarah and Ilhan were terrified. They had been planning to seek refuge in the Tang Dynasty, but now they heard that the Tang Dynasty had been destroyed, so how could they not be terrified.

At this time, I heard the great-grandson of Zhang Yichao, the leader of the Jin Han people and the Holy Emperor, say:
“After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, my father was unwilling to submit to Zhu Wen, who had murdered the emperor and established the Liang Kingdom. So when the auspicious sign of a white eagle descended from the sky, he led the Guiyi Army and established the Jinshan Kingdom.

The Uighurs who fled from Mobei to Ganzhou continued to grow stronger with the support of the Tang court, and conquered and expanded to various places in Hexi. However, after a hundred years of chaos in Hexi, the Tang people were dying out, and the Tang Dynasty instigated the Uighurs under the rule of the Guiyi Army, the Longjia Yanqi people, the Tibetans, and the Umu people to rebel and establish their own regime.

The Later Jinshan Kingdom was defeated by the Ganzhou Uighurs, my father was deprived of his throne and became the ruler of Dunhuang. The Cao family of Shazhou launched a coup, and my father died of exhaustion.

At that time, I was also killed by Cao's servants. With the help of the Supreme Lord Haotian and the witness of all my clansmen and tribesmen, I was resurrected as the messenger of Haotian Lord on earth!"

Hearing this, Sarah and Ilhan looked at Zhang Sheng in shock, trying to find any trace of lies on his face, but there was none. Zhang Sheng, who was almost evolving into a charlatan, believed that he was a messenger revealed by the gods. How could he let them see any traces of lies?

Zhang Xibao and Zhang Zhongxian, hearing His Highness's step-by-step narration, seemed to recall the previous years.

Then they heard Zhang Sheng's voice again:
“Haotian God revealed to me that everything in the universe, as well as human beings in the world, were created by Him. He also created the heaven that is high above the nine heavens, and a hell full of endless darkness and terror.

And he told me that the descendants of Xuanyuan and Shennong were everywhere on the grasslands and the Central Plains. They were the most outstanding subjects and believers of the God of Heaven, but now these people have forgotten the name and will of God.

God has commanded me to build another kingdom of God on earth for Haotian God.

Therefore, I will lead the best people of God Haotian to find a fertile land, establish God’s kingdom on earth, recite His holy name again, sacrifice to Him, and worship Him, because we are God’s best people, the ones He has chosen.

For this reason, I led my clansmen and tribesmen to leave Dunhuang and establish the Jinhan tribe, and conquered all the way northward. The Naimans and Tatars here have been conquered by me and incorporated into the Jinhan tribe.

Among the Jinhan tribe, there are many people from various tribes and ethnic groups, but whether they are Tang people, Tatars, Naiman people and Uighur people, as well as the Tiele people and Turks far to the west of the Jinshan Mountains, they are all descendants of the most outstanding people created by the God of Heaven.

So I want them to recite the honorable name of Haotian God again, learn to worship God, and recite the teachings bestowed by God on mankind.

These buildings that you see on the prairie were built with the power given to me by God. Those two hundred fearless warriors that you see were given to me by God to be my guards on earth. You will see more miracles in the future.

Okay, I've finished. I swear on the supreme and only God Haotian that the Jinhan tribe will never harm you.

Since you have come to the Jinhan tribe, put aside your worries and tell me in detail what happened in the Karakhanid Khanate?"

Sarah and Ilhan looked at each other. They were still a little skeptical, but they were ready to tell Zhang Sheng about the changes in the Karakhanid Khanate.

(End of this chapter)