Han Khan

Chapter 8, Negotiation

Cao Yijin still remembers that when he was young, he often called his relatives by the wrong generations.

Now that Cao Yijin himself had become the governor of the Guiyi Army, he had his daughter and niece marry the sons of almost all the families in Dunhuang, and he also married the daughters of various families, thus establishing a blood relationship with them.

For example, Cao Yijin's sister married Murong Guiying of the Xianbei tribe, so the Cao family gained the support of the descendants of Tuyuhun who were entrenched in Guazhou.

He himself married the noblewoman of the Song family, the Ganzhou Uighur Princess, which eased the conflict with the powerful Ganzhou Uighurs and maintained the external security of the two states of Gua and Sha.

He married his daughter to Li Shengtian, the King of Khotan, and established connections with the Western Regions.

A few marriages have effectively enhanced the cohesion within the Guiyi Army and resolved the conflicts caused by family feuds.

It solved the internal and external troubles of the Guiyi Army and prolonged its life. What a high wisdom!

Through Cao Yijin's series of efforts, the two states of Gua and Sha have finally achieved peace, and what will follow will surely be a prosperous silk trade.

Cao Yijin himself was proud of it! In addition to solving the internal and external troubles of the Guiyi Army, people no longer dared to say that Cao was born in the Sogdian Cao State and his family background was low.

In the family society of Dunhuang, bloodline and family background are very important, and an ancestor who can hold up the family is very important. Cao Cao's reputation is definitely not inferior to the ancestors of other big families in Dunhuang, so he became the object of recognition by the Cao Yijin family.

In Dunhuang and Hexi, the phenomenon of "ancestor involution" is very serious. Because the Ganzhou Uighurs were given the surname Li by the Tang Dynasty, they now call themselves the Longxi Li family.

Looking at the handsome and strong young man in front of him, there was no hatred in his bright eyes. Instead, he looked at him calmly and peacefully.

"Erlang, please sit down!" Cao Yijin said with emotion.

This sixteen-year-old boy, that familiar figure, is already more than six feet tall, wearing heavy armor on his slightly thick body. His cheeks, temples, lips and chin, which have lost their youthfulness, are all covered with beards. The man of the Zhang family has grown up.

Now, because of his ascension to the throne, Dunhuang Kingdom seems to have restored the peace and prosperity of the Guiyi Army, but the reality is that it is still full of crises.

The small state of Dunhuang now has a population of more than 300,000, but all it can rely on are the 200,000 or so Han people in Hexi and the nearly 100,000 or so Sinicized Sogdians and Tibetans.

The rest were several thousand Tuyuhun tribes led by Murong Guiying and several hundred nomadic Kucha Uighur tribes supported by Ganzhou Uighurs.

That's why he married Murong Guiying and gained the support of Murong clan to serve as Jiedushi, but at the same time, Murong clan took the opportunity to expand. A large number of Tuyuhun people came to Guazhou and Shazhou and called themselves Han people, becoming another large ethnic group after the Han people and the sinicized Sogdians.

Now, Murong Guiying, as the governor of Guazhou, is constantly migrating people to Guazhou. This poses a serious threat to the Han people in Hexi, where there are more women than men, and threatens his rule.

That's why he sent a messenger to prepare for peace talks with Zhang Sheng. Fighting should stop. It would be bad for the Cao family if the struggle continued.

Even if they win the battle with both sides suffering losses and drive Zhang away, Murong Guiying of Shazhou will definitely take the opportunity to become more powerful, and the Guiyi Army will fall into the hands of the Tuyuhun people in the future.

The men of the Zhang family are indeed good at and dare to fight. The only son, who has not yet been crowned an adult, has already served in the army for many years.

Relying on the wealth of several generations of the Zhang family, the more than 2,000 trained and armed cavalry slaves have now become one of the few elite soldiers in Dunhuang.

Zhang Sheng looked at Cao Yijin in front of him calmly. A trace of guilt flashed across Cao Yijin's face, but it immediately turned into determination.

He took off his helmet and sword and handed them to Yin Shanxiong and Zhang Xibao behind him, then sat on the wooden chair opposite Cao Yijin.

Seeing Zhang Sheng sitting down, Cao Yijin waved his hand to signal the guards behind him to leave, and Zhang Sheng also asked the two guards to retreat. "Erlang, it is true that a man should be treated with new eyes after three days of absence. The boy back then is now the commander of a large army. I have always believed that Erlang will definitely achieve great things in the future..." Cao Yijin said.

Zhang Sheng didn't say anything, still just looking at Cao Yijin, thinking in his heart: I'll just keep watching you brag!

"Erlang, I know that no matter how much I say today, you won't believe it. But what I want to say is that in terms of seniority, I am also the grandson-in-law of Taibao Gong, and you have to call me uncle. I am proud to have a trace of blood of the great hero of Hexi, Zhang Yichao." Cao Yijin looked at Zhang Sheng in silence and had to continue talking, as if he was relived the memories and told them slowly.

"I also want to revitalize my Dunhuang Kingdom and Guiyi Army, and take back Ganzhou, Liangzhou and other old territories in Hexi. However, my Jinshan Kingdom has tightened its control over the four war zones of Guasha and the two states. Surrounded by the Uighurs, the land is barren and the population is sparse. How can we start a war again? The imperial court keeps instigating my Dunhuang families. How can we maintain stability? This is the top priority." Cao Yijin said.

"However, peace and stability cannot be achieved by surrendering to the enemy and paying tribute. If we do not dare to draw our swords to fight the enemy, the enemy will continue to come from all directions. Moreover, it was the bandits in Ganzhou who started the war, not my father who took the initiative to provoke the war." Zhang Sheng responded immediately.

Cao Yijin ignored Zhang Sheng's words and continued, "Grand Chancellor Zhang Wenche and General Luo Tongda supported the war against the bandits in Ganzhou. Your father Zhang Chengfeng, my high-spirited cousin, agreed with them. We fought four battles and lost four times. You also participated in the battles, but the war ruined our Jinshan Kingdom, which should have been in a favorable situation."

Cao Yijin glanced at Zhang Sheng and continued, "The war reached the outskirts of Dunhuang. The people of Dunhuang were defeated. After the defeat of Jinshan, the bandit leader of Ganzhou, Li Renmei (Renmei Khan), forced your father to kneel down and surrender, and acknowledge Li Renmei as his father. Your father did not go, but if he did not go, all the people of Dunhuang would face massacre.

I know that this is a great shame, a shame for the Zhang family and for the Han people of Dunhuang...

At this time, Zhang Sheng interrupted him and said, "You are a traitor. My Zhang family will never surrender. My Zhang family is not extinct. It is you who are servile and submissive. You forced my father, the emperor of the Han people of Jinshan, to death."

He stood up angrily and said to Cao Yijin: "The backbone of the Han people has been broken because of your kneeling. How can I, a dignified Chinese and a descendant of the mighty Zhang family, bow down to the barbarians?

As for your servility, from now on, the Han people in the two states of Gua and Sha will never have peace and will always be under the control of the Uighurs. "

Cao Yijin said, "The Tang Dynasty is gone, the people have lost their faith, and all they want is to survive!
The Khan of Ganzhou wanted your father's surrender, but in the end, it was me, the Chief of Shazhou, who led tens of thousands of Dunhuang men, women and children out of the city, knelt in front of Li Tianmu's horse, signed a letter of surrender, and only then was he spared from being slaughtered.

It was Li Renmei who did not allow it, and it was Zhu Quanzhong (Zhu Wen) who did not allow the Guiyi Army to establish an independent country, and it was not allowed for your father to be the only one in power.

It is because the nobles and people of Dunhuang do not want any more wars that they support me to take the throne, to defeat the Jinshan Kingdom, to rebuild the Guiyi Army, and to achieve peace.

It was Li Renmei who forced me to dethrone your father. I swear to the gods and Buddha that I did not touch your father, not even a hair. The troops that besieged Yacheng (the palace of Jinshan Kingdom) were almost all Uighur soldiers from Ganzhou and Qiuci.
And I am just a scapegoat. Your father died of anger and rage, and I am responsible for it. But, Erlang! This battle with the Ganzhou bandits has damaged the vitality of our Dunhuang. "After Cao Yijin finished speaking with a little anger and helplessness, he stared at Zhang Sheng and finished his words.

Zhang Sheng said nothing more. In fact, he knew that today's talk was actually for both parties to have a place to vent after a quarrel and to give the other party a way out.

Because he didn't believe that after a quarrel, the Sogdian thief Cao Yijin would return the post of Jiedushi of Guiyi Army to Zhang Sheng, and it was simply unrealistic. He had already paid tribute to Zhu Wen, and the authorization to be the Jiedushi of Guiyi Army obtained from Later Liang was appointed by someone else. The Han people's Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty had already perished and disappeared.

"There is no point in saying more. Tell me, what do you want to talk about? If you want me to surrender, just give up on it!" Zhang Sheng said to Cao Yijin.

Cao Yijin, who originally wanted Zhang Sheng to surrender, opened his mouth to speak but was speechless. This was because the more than 2,000 household cavalrymen under Zhang Sheng were the few elite troops in Dunhuang today. He needed Zhang Sheng, a fellow Han ally, to suppress the growing strength of his son-in-law Murong Guiying.

Cao Yijin replied to Zhang Sheng earnestly: "Erlang, your bravery is obvious to all the knowledgeable people in Dunhuang. They all said that you are the future ruler of our Dunhuang.

Before the war, when Ganzhou surrounded Dunhuang City, you led only 2,000 cavalrymen and defeated the Ganzhou bandits and tens of thousands of soldiers, teaching them a painful lesson and showing them Erlang's bravery. Today, there are not many soldiers left in Dunhuang who can fight, and we Han people are under serious threat.

The Ganzhou bandits besieged Dunhuang, and the people of Dunhuang were forced to fight as a whole country, and the losses were even more severe! Now in Dunhuang, every family is in mourning, and every household is in mourning. From now on, Dunhuang will be dependent on others for survival. "

Sounds weird, doesn't it? He usurped power to seize the Jinshan Kingdom, and the man's father was pissed off to death, but now he hopes to gain the support of the former Jinshan Prince.

(End of this chapter)