The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 318 Khotan
Summer arrived as scheduled, and the entire Kingdom of Khotan was lush and vibrant with life.

Yutian, which is the Hotan region of Xinjiang in later times, was one of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty and one of the four garrisons of Anxi during the Tang Dynasty.

The dynasty has continued from the pre-Han period to the present day. During the An Lushan Rebellion, it traveled to the Central Plains to defend the emperor. Later, with the decline of the Tang dynasty and the rise of the Tibetan Empire, the dynasty lost contact with Chang'an after Emperor Ling's reign, and tribute was no longer paid.

Khotan is famous for two reasons: firstly, for its beautiful jade; and secondly, for being a true geographical and cultural dividing line between Eastern and Western civilizations.

Beyond Khotan to the west lies the realm of the Prophet and Hallelujah.

Historically, the young Tang dynasty engaged in a protracted tug-of-war with the Talas court. In the process, they forged diplomatic relations with the Song, Liao, and Ganzhou Uyghur states. However, due to their remote location, the Song and Liao dynasties were unable to exert their influence, and the Ganzhou Uyghurs also went to war with the Liao and Lingxia Dangxiang states. Ultimately, unable to withstand the pressure alone, they were defeated and their kingdom perished.

However, the more devastating impact was that this half-century-long religious war almost completely destroyed the Western Regions. Large numbers of Uyghurs, Turks, Central Asian Caucasians, and Tibetans with Tang Dynasty influences died in the Tarim Basin and other regions; cities were reduced to ashes. Productivity was severely damaged. The overall jihadist trend in the Western Regions was also inevitable. Consequently, the Western Regions became virtually nonexistent in historical records thereafter.

This is a bustling ancient oasis city.

There are also imperial edicts from the Han Dynasty, including those of Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, and Li Longji.

Soldiers wearing turbans and round-necked robes, resembling soldiers in appearance, stood everywhere—on the city gates, on the steps, and along the roads. The streets were bustling with people and vehicles. In the market areas, the faint sound of Buddhist chants mingled with the hazy smoke of incense, and stupas stood tall.

Having come all this way through desolation, seeing this bustling scene of humanity, even though it wasn't as grand as a single hamlet in the southern part of Xijing, still brought tears to Du Hu's eyes.

Finally, that damned Khotan is still here...

Finally, we saw some signs of Chinese culture and nature, not ghost villages, tribes, or deserts!
Du Hu used half his life to get here.

At dusk, an old man and a young boy cast long shadows against the backdrop of the setting sun on the street.

The old white man carried a tattered wooden box on his back, his body covered in lint, his hair matted with withered poplar leaves, and he led a skinny donkey, leaning on a wooden stick.

The little one, with disheveled hair and wearing freshly made straw sandals, tossed his hair aside, put his hands on his hips, bent over, and grinned weakly: "Ho ho ho ho ho... Holy Emperor, bless... bastard, just hang in there a little longer. Once we get to the palace and see the king, you'll have plenty of good wine and meat. Consider this your guide fee!"

The number of people in the delegation had decreased, and apart from the guide, he was the only one left.

The others all fell ill on the way and are resting on the spot.

"I need to pay more!" The old white man shrugged his bag, revealing a set of old, black teeth with missing teeth: "I've walked hundreds of miles with you, I'm about to die."

"If the king rewards me, I'll give you half!" Du Hu staggered to a pancake stall, grabbed a pancake mixed with the mud from his palms, and stuffed it into his mouth, repeatedly shouting incoherently, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! Someone will come to pay in a moment. I'm an envoy of the Holy Tang Dynasty!"

"Saint Tang?" The boss picked him up like a chick, his face full of disdain: "What Saint Tang?"

"No, buddy..." Du Hu's eyes widened, and he glanced at the onlookers: "You've even forgotten about the Holy Tang Dynasty?"

*Slap!* The boss slapped him across the face: "Look at you! What kind of beggar are you pretending to be?!"

Du Hu was on the verge of tears, covering his face with the five-finger mark: "It's the real deal!"

The boss stared at him.

"Believe it or not, I surrender!" Du Hu raised his hands, ignoring the boss's fists, and munched on his flatbread. "Take me to the authorities! I think your rules are similar to those of the Holy Tang Dynasty. You can't just be beheaded for taking a flatbread for free, can you? If you want whipping, just bring it on."
.
Then the boss thought for a moment, took out a rope: "When the street magistrate comes, pin him down by the roadside, strip him naked and beat him!"

Du Hu stretched out his hand and nodded: "Tie it up, but be gentle!"

…Everyone has a name, but the complex name of the King of Khotan, Vairochana, has long been forgotten by the world.

The saying "Seeing the king's hair foretells disaster" is a folk tale from Khotan. The belief in mischievous spirits is a common folk custom. The king's brocade hat, golden rat crown, and his wife's gold-flowered attire are royal fashion habits. Therefore, while the couple dressed themselves in flamboyant attire, they were also covered up completely.

The queen was beautiful and passionate, while the king was mediocre and conservative.

In the garden, the Queen walked hand in hand, strolling among the clusters of flowers.

"What has Your Majesty thought about the Guiyi Army's request to marry Princess Yue Liang?" The Queen sighed. "Ever since we heard the news last year, Yue Liang, who is unwilling to marry so far away, has been frowning and looking haggard..."

King Yuchi, somewhat irritated, shook his head and said, “The erosion of culture is gradual and insidious. Once it reaches a certain level, it will inevitably lead to drastic changes within our country, which will then invite military aggression from evil Western forces. Currently, Talas is growing stronger, and the Jihad heretics are constantly invading eastward. If this continues, it will surely become a major problem, and we cannot do without allies. Therefore, we can develop diplomacy with the Gaochang Uyghurs, Ganzhou Uyghurs, Guiyi Army, and others of the Imperial Way faction.”

"I originally intended to marry him. However, Zhang Chengfeng is ambitious, and I am worried that getting too involved with him will bring disaster to Yue Liang."

Upon hearing this, the Queen said solemnly, "If you are unwilling to form a marriage alliance, why not strike first and take advantage of the current fierce battle between Ahmed (the Abbasid prince and the founder of the Samanid Empire) and Ogurqak (the second Karakhan) to attack the Black Khan?"

King Yuchi remained silent: "That year, Gao Xianzhi, the Tiger of the Empire, led tens of thousands of elite barbarians on a grand westward expedition, only to suffer a crushing defeat. At that time, several thousand of our men were among the Tang army... Now, our country has only a little over ten thousand soldiers, and even if we conscript able-bodied men, we can only manage a few tens of thousands at most. We are weak and powerless, how dare we look westward?"

"So we're just going to sit here and watch the threat get closer?" the Queen said bitterly. "If that's the case, our nation will surely perish."

"Trust in the wisdom of our descendants..." King Yuchi sighed, looking up at the sky: "As long as Khotan doesn't perish at our hands, that's enough. After I die, what do I care about the deluge!"

"Why not contact China?" The Queen tidied her head of gold hairpins and looked at the fish in the pond. "With the Emperor backing us up, things would be much better, wouldn't they?"

"I have said this before," King Yuchi said calmly, "The Holy Tang Dynasty is no longer the glorious Tang Dynasty it once was. It has not received any imperial edicts for over a hundred years. It is now a chaotic world like the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and even the Guiyi Army cannot do anything about it. How can we expect them to venture into the Western Regions..."

The queen remained silent.

"Don't worry, disaster is still far away." King Yuchi put his arm around the Queen, a smile on his face.

"Report——!"

Suddenly, a minister rushed into the garden, shouting, "Your Majesty! We've caught a beggar claiming to be an envoy of the Tang Dynasty! This man is named Du Hu, and he's carrying an imperial edict bearing the Imperial Seal and the signatures of the Chancellery and Secretariat. After the envoy examined it repeatedly..."

"What?!" King Yuchi was taken aback and roared at his men, "Bring him to me!"

The queen was taken aback. The young woman, Tao Xiao, looked at him with her big, smiling eyes, took his hand, and swayed it back and forth a couple of times.

"No!" King Yuchi slapped his forehead and stopped him in time: "Fine, I'll go see him! No need to punish him."

"I'll go too." The Queen lifted her skirt and took larger steps.

Combined with her long, bouncy legs, her graceful figure possesses a unique beauty.

…………

Inside the guild hall, Du Hu paced back and forth, pondering how to convince the other party that he was truly an envoy of the Holy Tang Dynasty, a special envoy of the Holy Emperor—having traveled such a long distance, he had lost all other objects or documents that could prove his identity, except for the imperial edict that was bound to his underwear and his life.

(End of this chapter)