Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 144 Loulan (Part )

Although the cause of the Jiaonan crisis was due to the love and hatred of Jiaonan Jun,
But now that he was here, Zhang Yi had to make some achievements in order to advance himself in the Qin State!
So after inquiring about the exchanges between Jiaonan and the Western Regions, Zhang Yi found the Lord of Jiaonan:
"The king sent me as an envoy to relieve Jiaonan's worries!"

"But what you did, Jiaonan-kun, makes me very worried!"

Jiao Nanjun fell into the trap and immediately said, "Yes, I am worried too!"

He shook the fat on his face and stroked his thick chest. "Gu Shiguo targets me every day. I'm really worried that he will send troops to take my beloved concubine back!"

Zhang Yi was silent for a while before he continued, "I heard your story with Madam Jun, and I was deeply moved, but I am also worried because of it!"

He stepped forward and accused Jiao Nanjun, "Elopement and having sex outdoors is really against the Zhou Li!"

"And the Lord of Loulan and the Lord of Gushi will definitely resent you for this!"

"Mrs. Jun loves you now, so she doesn't care about her family."

"After a long time, won't she miss her family and resent you as well?"

How important is a father to his daughter?
During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was already a story that made it very clear:

The Zuo Zhuan mentioned that in the 15th year of Duke Huan of Lu, Duke Li of Zheng wanted to use Ji Zhong's son-in-law Yong Jiu to get rid of him. When Yong Jiu's wife Yong Ji learned about it, she was very embarrassed and asked her mother for advice.

His mother then said the famous saying: "Everyone has their own husband, but only one father!"

Three-legged men are everywhere.

But I only have one biological father!
Yong Ji then abandoned her relationship as husband and wife and informed her father of the incident. Eventually Yong Jiu was unjustly killed and Duke Li of Zheng fled. Her father was pleased with his daughter's filial piety and specially selected a handsome man in the country to be Yong Ji's new husband.

At this time,
There is no such thing as the Three Obediences and Four Virtues in the minds of the world.

The customs in the Western Regions are different from those in other parts of China, so this kind of thing is more common.

So Jiao Nanjun immediately shouted, "Lan Ji will not leave me!"

"The friendship between her and me is known to the world!"

Without her,
I really have no desire to live in this place called the Western Regions!

Zhang Yi hurriedly comforted him, "But even though the friendship is strong, if there is a gap between us, problems are bound to arise!"

"I am willing to help Jiao Nan-jun solve this worry and help you two grow old together!"

Jiao Nanjun said, "What do you want to do?"

Zhang Yi told him, "Please ask Lord Jiaonan to give me three hundred soldiers and a large amount of treasures to take to Loulan, so as to complete Zhou rituals and eliminate the dissatisfaction of the Lord of Loulan."

"But I did this before, and my father-in-law refused to accept it and sent a messenger to scold me!"

Jiaonan Jun felt that he and the beauty were truly in love, and at most he eloped with his sweetheart a month before her wedding, making it impossible for the wedding party sent by the Gushi Kingdom to find the bride.

Why is the King of Loulan so angry?

Zhang Yi just smiled and said, "This is a different time, just rest assured, Lord Jiaonan!"

then,

Jiaonan Jun agreed and handed over all the people and treasures to Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi led an armed delegation to Loulan to seek an audience with the king.

When the king heard that he was coming on behalf of Jiaonan Jun, he refused to meet him and told someone to tell him, "I will not see his messenger until my daughter comes back!"

Zhang Yi told the king's servant in fluent Loulan language, "Since Loulan wants to destroy itself, what can I do?"

Then he had his men set up funeral ceremonies according to the customs of the Western Regions and stayed where they were and howled.

The servant was startled and asked him what was going on.

Zhang Yi said, "I came to see Jiaonan Jun's father-in-law at his request. Now that Loulan is about to be destroyed, I will naturally take Jiaonan Jun's place and attend his father-in-law's funeral!"

The servant said, "Loulan was extremely prosperous, how could it suddenly perish?"

"This is not something you can understand!"

Zhang Yi refused to answer.

The servant, full of doubts, could only go back and inform the king.

The old king thought immediately:
Does this messenger know divination?

Otherwise, why would people say with such certainty that Loulan was going to be destroyed?
The Western Regions,

After all, it is not as good as the Xia states.

His thoughts were more retro than those of other people in Xia Dynasty, and he always admired witchcraft and divination.

Therefore, the old king, who guessed that Zhang Yi might be a wizard, changed his attitude and received him.

The Jiaonan envoy can be ignored.
But the wizard from outside,
He must open his eyes!

"Why do you curse my country?"

When the old king saw Zhang Yi, he thought that Zhang Yi was very handsome and that what he said must be true, and he couldn't help but believe it.

The ancients said it well:
How could a beauty lie?
So he accepted the gift first, but still reacted indifferently to the good words Zhang Yi said on behalf of Jiaonan Jun.

After casually listening to Zhang Yi's retelling of Jiao Nanjun's apology for kidnapping his daughter, the old king opened his mouth again to ask Zhang Yi why he wanted to mourn for Loulan.

Zhang Yi said, "How could I curse Loulan? It's just that things have developed to this point today, and we can infer the outcome from it!"

"The prosperity of the Western Regions is closely related to the various states of China. Does the Lord recognize this fact?"

Before the Qin State opened up the trade route to the Western Regions,
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a certain amount of exchanges between the various states of Xia and the Western Regions.

This is because the gentlemen of the Xia Dynasty loved jade, and the Western Regions were rich in jade, and they liked the silk and lacquerware made by the Xia Dynasty. Through the nomadic barbarians in the north, the two sides came into contact.

However, this connection was intermittent and not long-lasting, and the middlemen were barbarians, so it was not widely known.

However, the Kingdom of Loulan had been established for a long time, so people still had some memories of it.

Not to mention the past few decades,

As the number of people from various parts of the country increased, Loulan became more prosperous.

So the king said, "Of course!"

Zhang Yi sighed, "This is what I'm worried about for Loulan!"

"Nowadays, the trade routes are becoming more and more prosperous, and Gushi Country is located in a key location. Just by trading back and forth, we can gain a lot of profits!"

"Now, in order to continue its friendship with the Western Regions, the Qin State has built Jiaonan City, which is near Gu Shi. It is inevitable that they will feel that their interests have been damaged!"

"Please think carefully, Lord.
The Gushi Kingdom has several oases and many cities. But Loulan is no less powerful than it. When you proposed to the princess, it was also the sincere prayer of its master that made you nod in agreement.

Why did the Lord of Gushi become hostile to Loulan and attack Jiaonan just because the princess and Jiaonan Jun were in love? "

"Don't you have any other daughters to marry? Can his marriage proposal be compared with the friendship between our two countries?"

He did not give the old king a chance to think, and directly thought of the reason for him:
"This is because the Gushi Nation wants to monopolize the benefits of the trade route, so they are deliberately looking for an excuse!"

"As long as Jiaonan City is destroyed, Qin's caravans will have to pass through Gushi when they come to the Western Regions. In this way, whether it is Qin or the countries in the Western Regions, they will have to rely on it to let them pass. Otherwise, the trade route will be blocked and everyone's interests will be harmed!"

"With such benefits, Master Gu can control many countries in the Western Regions!"

Zhang Yi spoke in a rhythmic manner, and stood up and walked around, waving his arms from time to time to guide the old king's thoughts.

"Especially Loulan!"

"Loulan is located in the Western Regions. The country's wealth depends largely on trade. Once the trade route is blocked, Loulan will quickly decline!"

"As long as Loulan is weak, who in the eastern part of the Western Regions can compete with Master Gu?"

The old king was amazed, "Master Gu actually has such a vicious idea?"

Zhang Yi said, "That's right!"

"And the inability of Jiaonan Jun and the princess to restrain themselves just gave Gu Shi a reason to send troops!"

"He used the princess' escape from marriage to make you, the king, feel embarrassed to support Jiaonan, so that you could sit back and watch it being annexed and defeated by Gu Shi!"

"Once he has seized the important territory and snatched back the princess, he will attack Loulan!"

"The king thought again:
During this period of time, every time the master sent someone to come, did she always mention the princess's matter, making the king feel sorry for her?"

The king said eagerly, "Yes, that's it!"

"He also asked me to return all the engagement treasures!"

"When I handed over the messengers from the south, Master Gu drove them away and blamed me for not letting me see them!"

"I was ashamed at the time, so I followed my master's request."

The king suddenly realized, "So he has such a vicious mind!"

First swallow Jiaonan,

Then swallow Loulan.

What an ambitious Gu Shi Kingdom!
(End of this chapter)