Zhenguan: I, Dou Fengjie, will not be the first cuckold.

The ninth day of the first lunar month.

After morning prayers, I returned to my quarters and then took a stroll around the Sifang Pavilion.

Dou Fengjie discovered that the foreign envoys were all good people, spoke pleasantly, and were all talented.

The envoys of the six Tangut clans were wrestling, and Fei Tingdanji was stirring up trouble on the sidelines.

Not to mention fighting with other ethnic groups or surnames, even within the same tribe, the Tangut people would fight each other or steal from one another.

"Crotch grab! Ear bite! Nose dig!" Dou Fengjie joined in the fun, shouting a couple of times.

Shi Wannian, the governor of Xiyi Prefecture with a high nose and deep-set eyes, was having a conversation with Ju Wentai, the king of Gaochang.

Shi Wannian was a Sogdian, a member of the Shi state, one of the Nine Sogdian Clans.

Last year, Xiyi Prefecture was so impressed by the great victory of the Tang Dynasty that Shi Wannian and others unanimously believed that the Tang Dynasty was the hegemon of the world, so they cleanly and decisively submitted to the Tang.

With one prefecture, three counties, and seven cities, plus its crucial geographical location, Li Shimin was overjoyed.

The Heavenly Khan didn't care about those two melons, nor did he care how much of the 1,300 households and 6,700 people represented.

The key point is that Xiyi Prefecture could threaten the Khan's city of Futu in the Western Turks, and it was a bridgehead for the westward expansion of the Tang Dynasty.

However, the old neighbor of West Isiah, Gaochang Kingdom, occasionally crosses the border and plunders, which is quite annoying.

It should be noted that the Kingdom of Gaochang consisted of only twenty-one cities and had just over ten thousand soldiers.

However, the Tang Dynasty is currently unable to deal with Gaochang and can only appease them for the time being.

Dou Fengjie plopped down next to them: "I heard that Queen Yuwen of Gaochang was bestowed the title of Princess Huarong by Emperor Yang of Sui?"

Ju Wentai's expression changed: "I am ashamed to say that my wife's Yuwen family has ties with the old dynasty."

The title of "Sui Dynasty Princess" seemed inappropriate at this time.

However, Ju Wentai could not depose the empress, as the Yuwen clan held considerable influence in the fragmented Gaochang Kingdom.

As for Ju Wentai being granted the title of Duke of Bian by Emperor Yang of Sui, that's not worth mentioning.

Dou Fengjie glanced at Shi Wannian: "There are ways, but the king must guarantee that he will not invade Xiyizhou."

Shi Wannian's expression instantly brightened, his blue eyes filled with joy.

Look, even the officials under the Court of State Ceremonial are thinking of the interests of Xiyi Prefecture. Submitting to the Tang Dynasty was the right move.

"I, Ju Wentai, swear to Vaisravana that if the chieftain can resolve the current predicament of Gaochang, Gaochang will never again harass Xiyi Prefecture."

"If I break this oath, may I die of grief, and may my descendants never return to Gaochang."

Ju Wentai made a solemn vow.

Vaishravana, also known as the Northern Heavenly King in Buddhism, had a wide following in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Western Regions.

Regardless of whether the vow is effective or not, at least Ju Wentai's attitude was appropriate.

"It's very simple. In the Queen's name, present her with a black fox fur coat and a jade plate, and request His Majesty to grant her the title of a member of the royal family."

Dou Fengjie came up with an idea.

Ju Wentai was shocked.

The jade plate is one thing, but how did the steward know that he was carrying a black fox fur coat?

Even his closest subordinates didn't know about this!

Dou Fengjie feigned mystery, but secretly chuckled to himself.

Learn about pinhole probes.

With the help of the refurbished system, the installation was completely undetectable.

The practice of bestowing surnames was common in almost every dynasty. In this dynasty, Xu Shiji of Wagang was bestowed the surname Li and changed his name to Li Shiji.

Offering these things was a painful expense for Ju Wentai, the Pixiu.

Of course, he would be willing to offer these things to Buddha.

Ju Wentai was serious about making offerings to Buddha. In the third year of the Zhenguan era, when the monk Xuanzang went to Gaochang, he received a warm and exceptionally high level of hospitality from Ju Wentai.

I wonder if the high monks of Gaochang Kingdom would consecrate the swords, spears, bows, and arrows before his troops set out on the expedition?

Just imagining that scene is wonderful!

Gaochang is basically at sub-zero altitude, so hot it's unbearable; the Flaming Mountains are located there.

The products include grains, grapes, wine, and short-staple cotton.

However, Gaochang's greatest income came from toll fees. It was a vital passage on the northern route of the Silk Road and the last gateway for Persian and Sogdian merchants to enter the Tang Dynasty.

The comings and goings of merchants also boosted the economy of Gaochang, making it difficult to be poor.

But Ju Wentai was still insatiable and kept plotting against his neighbors, even Yanqi, which was also a vassal state of the Western Turks.

He had no conscience when he was poor;

He got rich, but he didn't grow any conscience!

Clutching his chest, Ju Wentai pondered for a full quarter of an hour before gritting his teeth and saying, "I'll listen to the steward!"

This trip to Chang'an was a complete waste; I'll never come here again!

The envoy from Yanqi, standing nearby, bowed with his hands clasped and asked, "Sir, Yanqi wishes to open a trade route through the Great Desert to trade with the Tang Dynasty. Is this feasible?"

Ju Wentai jumped up and punched the Yanqi envoy, his eyes wide with rage: "Don't even think about it! Our commander-in-chief has ordered the Champion General to lead a detachment into the Great Desert to ambush and kill them!"

Gaochang's extortion was too severe, so Yanqi naturally wanted to find another route to enter the Tang Dynasty via the Kumtag Desert.

Daqi means desert.

But this would cut off Gaochang's source of income, so Ju Wentai was unwilling to do it.

To raid the desert, Ju Wentai is truly capable of such a thing.

General Ashina Ju was a capable general in Gaochang, and Ju Wentai relied on him to bully neighboring countries.

The characteristic of small states in the Western Regions is that they have few soldiers and generals. Even the 10,000 soldiers of Gaochang were enough to dominate the Western Regions.

Having had enough of being humiliated, Long Tuqizhi, the ruler of Yanqi, preferred to open a desert tourism route and suffer losses rather than pass through Gaochang, which shows how deep the resentment was.

Ju Wentai and the envoy from Yanqi exchanged blows, while Dou Fengjie chatted happily with Yuchi Fuchaxin, the prince of Khotan.

The current ruler of Khotan is Yuchi Qumi. Khotan's national policy is to neither offend the Tang Dynasty nor the Western Turks, nor can it afford to offend either.

The distance of 9,700 li might not be enough to stop the Tang army, let alone the fact that Khotan only had 4,000 troops.

"Khotan has nothing else to offer, only this mere white jade, nothing of value. Please do not find it offensive, sir."

Yuchi Fucha handed over a palm-sized white jade pendant from Khotan, carved with exquisite Buddhist images in the style of the Western Regions, the two upturned mustaches of which were particularly sexy.

The tribute that Yuchi Qumi presented was a beautiful white jade belt.

It's just a token gesture, not necessarily meaningful.

If you don't offer something in return, then it's meaningless.

Khotan was well-versed in the ways of survival for a small state, and its etiquette was so impeccable that Dou Fengjie could find no fault with it.

"Khotan and the Central Plains have always been friendly. I remember that during the Cao Wei period, Master Bajie died in Khotan and sent back scriptures, which were translated into the Prajnaparamita Sutra."

Dou Fengjie accepted the white jade with a smile, then used his hidden power to speak in a friendly manner.

"Khotan is a Buddhist country. Masters Faxian, Faxian, and Xuanzang have all visited it. Its Buddhist art is quite famous. My king has even recommended the painter Yuchi Yiseng to serve as a palace guard."

Yuchi Fuchaxin smiled.

Yuchi Yiseng was skilled in mural painting, and he was particularly unique in his creation of images of ghosts, gods, and bodhisattvas. His representative works include "The Demon Subduing Transformation" and "The Heavenly King".

The role of the hostage-bearer inherently carries some characteristics of hostages.

Dou Fengjie lowered his voice: "There should be a road leading directly to Dayangtong from Khotan, right?"

Yuchi Fuchaxin looked at Dou Fengjie in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It is true, but it is extremely difficult."

Glaciers, volcanoes, and high elevation differences mean that even if you could get up there, the cost would be high.

This is one of the reasons why the Keriya Ancient Road is not well-known.