When Han Zhan returned to the city after inspecting the fifteen communication platforms, it was already evening.

As soon as he returned to the mansion, Chen arrived and reported to Han Zhan: "Lord, you have finally returned, and the military advisor and Changshi have been waiting in the mansion for a long time. ”

Knowing that Guo Jia and Xun Yu were already waiting for him in the mansion, Han Zhan hurriedly handed over the reins of the horse in his hand to a soldier, and followed Chen Zhi to the conference hall quickly.

When Han Zhan walked into the conference hall, he found that not only Guo Jia and Xun Yu were there, but even Xun You, Tian Feng, Xu Shu and others who had not been there for a long time.

Everyone who was chatting saw Han Zhan walking into the conference hall, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and said in unison after saluting with his crossed hands: "Subordinates welcome the lord back to his house!" ”

"Excuse me!" Han Zhan waved his hand and said, "Everyone, please sit down." ”

After the ministers were seated, Han Zhan, who was eager to understand the affairs of the court, looked at Xun Yu and asked a little anxiously: "Long history, has the envoy of the Great Qin State ever met with Your Majesty today?" ”

"Enlighten the lord!" Hearing Han Zhan ask himself, Xun Yu hurriedly got up and replied, "My subordinates led the envoys of the Great Qin State to meet Your Majesty this morning. ”

"What did Your Majesty say?" Han Zhan was anxious to know the attitude of Emperor Han Xian to see if the other party intended to reopen the Silk Road, after all, the decision of the imperial court would have a decisive impact on his next strategy.

"After hearing the envoy's intentions, His Majesty immediately asked the ministers what they thought about this matter." Xun Yu said to Han Zhan: "The Taiwei, the Taifu, and the ministers all said that the trade routes could be reopened, and in order to persuade Your Majesty, they also specifically mentioned the past when Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. ”

"Oh, Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to envoy to the Western Regions?"

Xun Yu was worried that Han Zhan was too young and didn't know about Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, after all, this was all three hundred years ago, so he took the initiative to introduce: "Not long after Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he learned from the Xiongnu who came to surrender that there was a nomadic Dayue clan living in Dunhuang and Qilian, and when he invaded the land of neighboring Wusun, he clashed with the Xiongnu. At the time of the old Shangdan, they were completely conquered by the Xiongnu. Lao Shangdan Yu killed the king of the Yue clan and cut off his head and used it to make a wine vessel. After this national disaster, the Yueshi people were forced to move west to the Western Regions, drove out the original Cypriots, and re-established the country. But they did not forget their homeland, and were always ready to take revenge on the Xiongnu, and they really wanted someone to help them fight the Xiongnu together. According to this situation, Emperor Wu decided to unite with the Dayue clan and jointly attack the Xiongnu. So he ordered the selection of talents and sent an envoy to the Western Regions. ”

Although Han Zhan knew about Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, since Xun Yu took the initiative to mention it at this moment, he did not interrupt, and patiently listened to the other party's story of three hundred years of old things.

In the second year of Emperor Wu's founding, Zhang Qian was ordered to lead more than 100 people from Longxi, with a Shun Hu Rentang's father acting as a guide and translator. When they marched west into the Hexi Corridor, which was controlled by the Xiongnu, they unfortunately encountered the Xiongnu cavalry, and all of them were captured. After the kings of the right of the Xiongnu learned that Zhang Qian was an envoy of the Han Dynasty, they immediately sent someone to escort them to the court of the Xiongnu and handed them over to the military minister Shan Yu, the son of the old Shangshan Yu.

When the military minister Shan Yu learned that Zhang Qian and his entourage were preparing to send an envoy to the Western Regions, he naturally would not allow them to pass, so he detained them and put them under house arrest. In order to win over Zhang Qian and dispel his idea of sending an envoy to Yue's family, Shan Yu carried out all kinds of coercion and temptation, and also married Zhang Qian to a Xiongnu woman and gave birth to a child.

However, this approach alone has failed to achieve its goal. Zhang Qian's 'not dishonoring the king's life' and 'holding the Han Festival without losing', has never forgotten the sacred mission entrusted to him by Emperor Wu, and has not wavered in his will and determination to serve as the envoy of the Han Dynasty.

In the sixth year of Yuanguang, Zhang Qian, who had been under house arrest for ten years, found that the Huns had relaxed their surveillance. took advantage of his unpreparedness, decisively abandoned his wife and children, led his entourage, escaped from the Xiongnu court, and continued westward to the Dayue clan. ”

Seeing that Han Zhan heard it with relish, Luo Bu hurriedly approached his side and asked in a low voice: "Lord, it's getting late, presumably all the adults haven't eaten dinner yet, see if you order the back kitchen to prepare the meal." ”

Han Zhan was reminded by Luo Bu like this, and immediately realized that he had not thought about the problem thoroughly, if it was too late today, he let the ministers be hungry to listen to Xun Yu's story with him, and hurriedly ordered Luo Bu: "Luo Bu, immediately order the kitchen to prepare a meal, and this marquis will entertain the ministers here." ”

After Rob left, Han Zhan said politely to Xun Yu: "Dinner will be delivered soon, please continue to talk about it." ”

Xun Yu nodded, and then continued: "...... This kind of escape is very dangerous and difficult. Fortunately, Zhang Qian and others stayed in the Xiongnu for ten years, not only learned the road to the Western Regions in detail, but also learned the language of the Huns.

But while they were trapped in the Xiongnu, the situation in the Western Regions had changed. Wusun, the enemy of the Yue Clan, with the support and instigation of the Xiongnu, attacked the Yue Clan in the west. The Yueshi people were forced to continue to move westward, enter the Fushui region to conquer Bactria and build another home on the new land.

After Zhang Qian learned about this situation, he did not go northwest after passing through Cheshiguo, but turned southwest, entered Yanqi, and then traced the Tarim River to the west, passed Kuqa, Shule and other places, crossed the green mountains, and reached Dawan directly.

After Zhang Qian arrived in Dawan, he explained to King Dawan his mission to envoy Yueshi and various encounters along the way, hoping that Dawan could send someone to send him, and said that if he could return to the Han Dynasty in the future, he would definitely play Emperor Ming Wu and give money and property to show his gratitude. King Dawan had long heard of the wealth of the Han Dynasty in the East, and wanted to communicate with the Han Dynasty, but was hindered by the Xiongnu.

The unexpected arrival of the Han envoy made him very happy, and Zhang Qian's words made him even more moved. So he agreed to Zhang Qian's request, and after warm hospitality, he sent guides and interpreters to send Zhang Qian and others to Kangju. Zhang Qian and others passed through Kangju and arrived in Daxia. With the help of the Great Xia Kingdom, he finally came to the Great Moon Clan.

But what people didn't expect was that during the ten years that Zhang Qian and others were trapped by the Xiongnu, the Dayue clan, which was attacked by Wusun, has now moved to the banks of the Amu Darya. Since coming to the Amu Darya River and subjugating Bactria by force, the new land is very fertile, rich in products, and far away from the Xiongnu and Wusun, the danger of foreign enemies has been greatly reduced, and the king of the Dayue clan has changed his attitude and has no intention of making enemies with the Xiongnu in the east.

When Zhang Qian suggested to them, they had no intention of taking revenge on the Xiongnu. In addition, they believed that the Han Dynasty was too far away from the Dayue clan, and if they jointly attacked the Xiongnu, it would be difficult to help them in case of danger. Therefore, Zhang Qian and others stayed in Yueshi for more than a year, but they were never able to persuade the Yueshi people to ally with the Han Dynasty and flank the Xiongnu.

Zhang Qian stayed in Dayueshi for more than a year, but could not get results, so he had to leave to return to China in the first year of Yuanshuo. On the way back, Zhang Qian changed the route of the march in order to avoid the Xiongnu-controlled area. It was planned to pass through the Qiang area so as not to be held back by the Huns. Therefore, after recrossing the Green Ridge, they did not take the northern route when they came, but changed to the southern road, from Shache, through Khotan, Shanshan, into the Qiang area. But unexpectedly, the Qiang people had become vassals of the Xiongnu, and Zhang Qian and others were captured by the Xiongnu cavalry again and detained for more than a year.

At the beginning of the third year of Yuan Shuo, the military minister Shan Yu died, and his younger brother Zuogu Liwang established himself as Shan Yu, and attacked the prince Yu Dan of the military minister Shan Yu. Yu Shan failed to flee Han. Zhang Qian took advantage of the civil strife of the Xiongnu and fled back to Chang'an with his Xiongnu wife and cousin's father. This was Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions. Starting from the second year of Emperor Wu's founding of the Yuan Dynasty, to the third year of Yuan Shuo's return to the Han Dynasty, a total of thirteen years. ”

Xun Yu finished telling the story of Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions, and Han Zhan couldn't help but applaud. Don't look at Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, it is familiar in later generations, but the specific process, Han Zhan does not know, Xun Yu's narration is equivalent to making up a history lesson for him.

"After listening to Changshi's words, Ben Hou knew how difficult it was for Zhang Qian to open up the trade routes in the Western Regions back then." Han Zhan opened his mouth and said: "Now that there is finally a good opportunity to reopen the trade route, naturally we can't give it up easily. ”

"The lord is wise!" Xun Yu waited for Han Zhan to finish speaking, and immediately excused himself and said: "It was not easy for the ancestors to open up this trade route, and now that the envoys of the Great Qin State have taken the initiative to come, it is time to reopen the trade route." After listening to the comments of the courtiers, His Majesty decisively decided to reopen the trade routes, and sent a caravan westward after the beginning of spring. ”

Han Zhan nodded and asked solemnly, "I wonder who Your Majesty is going to send to be responsible for forming a caravan and preparing goods?" ”

"The new Shaofu Kong Rong Kong Wenju!"

"Your Majesty knows people well, if you want to reopen the trade route, Kong Wenju is indeed the best candidate." As soon as Han Zhan said this, he saw Luo Bu re-enter the conference hall, followed by a group of subordinates with trays, and hurriedly raised his voice and ordered the other party: "Luo Bu, presumably your lords are already hungry, quickly order someone to put on a banquet, don't be lazy." ”