Samarkand means "fertile land" in the Uzbek language. In ancient China, it was called "Kangju", and Yelu Chucai, the prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty, once said in his book "Journey to the West": "Those who seek to think of dry (Samarkand) are also cloudy and fat, and they are named after the fertile soil." ”

Samarkand went to Jiayuguan for 9,600 miles, which was once the capital of Khorezm, and was crowned with magnificent glory in the countries of the river, and then came to be destroyed when the Mongol army marched westward. After Timur founded the country, he made this city the capital, gathered craftsmen from all over the world to rebuild the city, and built Samarkand more beautifully than before.

The city of Samarkand has six gates, and inside the north gate is a huge bazaar (bazaar), which is bustling with people and bustling. The rest of the neighborhood was inhabited by the people. Six main streets converge into the royal palace in the middle of the city, and in front of the royal palace is a spacious square. To the left of the square is an architecturally imposing and resplendent mosque. The main entrance and the tall dome are decorated with colorful ceramics that sparkle in the sun, like a jade building in the sky.

At the entrance to the palace is a circular fountain in which sculptures of men and women of various postures stand, and around the fountain is a long courtyard, the ground is paved with colorful cobblestones, and the passage through the courtyard leads to the Envoy Hall, where the intricate patterns on the walls are decorated with shells, and the top is covered with painted images depicting the seven heavens of Islam. The promenade behind the envoy hall connects the harem.

The centurion detained Zhu Yunwen and others outside the envoy hall and waited for the summons of Timurid Khan.

At this moment, Timur Khan was summoning the Ming envoy Chen Cheng. The Timur Khan was tall, his face was as white as jade, his hair was gray, his face was bearded, he was high on the throne, and his face was gloomy.

Chen Cheng bowed to Timur and said: "Great Khan, during the Hongwu period, you sent envoys to pay tribute several times, and now that the new emperor is on the throne, why did you cut off the tribute?" Why? ”

After translating Chen Cheng's words, Timur was furious, slapped the armrest, stood up, pointed at Chen Cheng, and scolded in stiff Chinese: "Your Pig (Zhu) Emperor usurped his nephew's throne, he is a complete bastard, and he still wants me to pay him tribute, dream about it." I will lead my troops into the Central Plains, kill pigs and sheep. ”

When Chen Cheng heard this, his face changed, and he also said angrily: "Great Khan, you are a vassal of our Ming Dynasty, how can you be so rude?" ”

Timur looked up to the sky and laughed: "I am your vassal? Funny. I only wanted to find out what was true to you, so I sent people to pay tribute. Now that I have the most accurate map of your country, it will be easy for me to unite with the Mongol-Tatar tribe to destroy your emperor, who is inferior to pigs and dogs. ”

Chen Cheng wanted to argue about something, Timur waved his hand and ordered someone to escort Chen Cheng down, and when he passed by Zhu Yunwen and others, he couldn't help but see that Huang Zhan and others were a little familiar, and he couldn't help but sigh.

Huang Zhan and Wang Shu also recognized Chen Cheng, they were both fellow scholars and served in the Hanlin Academy, how could they not know each other, this was something that neither of them would have imagined that they would meet here, so they did not dare to confirm it.

This is, the centurion took Zhu Yunwen and others up, knelt down and kowtowed to Timur and said: "Great Khan, we have caught four spies of the Ming Dynasty in Delhi, because the Great Khan is preparing to cut down the Ming, so we brought them here to be personally interrogated by the Great Khan." ”

Timur nodded and said, "Who are these four people?" Why went to Delhi. ”

The centurion presented the Du Mu found in the luggage of Zhu Yunwen and others, and replied: "Qi Qi Great Khan, these people are monks from Jiming Temple in the Ming Dynasty. According to themselves, they made a pilgrimage to Nalanda Monastery and then prepared to return from the Western Regions. ”

Timur asked: "Since our country broke off contact with the Ming Dynasty, the trade routes in the Western Regions were blocked, how did they get to Delhi?" ”

The centurion's face turned red and he said, "This lowly position has not been interrogated. After that, he turned around, grabbed Zhang Shixing's collar, and asked in Mongolian: "How did you get to Delhi, and you still didn't recruit from the truth?" ”

Zhang Shixing calmly replied in Mongolian: "You let me go first, and I will answer the question of the Great Khan." ”

When Timur saw that he looked like a Han man, but spoke Mongolian fluently, he motioned for the centurion to step back and let Zhang Shixing talk back.

Zhang Shixing said: "We first arrived at the old port by boat by sea, and then took a boat from the old port to Punggara, went up the Ganges, first arrived at Nalanda Monastery, and then went to Delhi. ”

This is their own experience, so he speaks with no flaws.

After hearing this, Timur nodded and said, "Then why do you want to return from the Western Regions?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "We are Buddhists, and we want to emulate the perseverance of Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty to learn scriptures from the West, so we return to Daming according to his scripture learning route." ”

Timur said: "It seems that you are really Buddhists, and it is my subordinates who blame you." ”

Zhang Shixing said: "Don't dare, I hope that the Great Khan will release us immediately and fulfill our wishes." ”

Timur laughed and said, "Fulfill your wishes? Do you know what my heart desires? ”

Zhang Shixing asked, "What is the wish of the Great Khan?" ”

Timur said viciously: "That is to kill all the infidels in the world, to occupy their lands, to plunder their wealth, and to make their wives tremble in my arms." ”

Zhang Shixing said: "That Great Khan is the enemy of the world, and I am afraid that he will not be able to do so." ”

When Timur saw that his face was not afraid, he admired him a little, and said: "If you convert to my Islam, I will let you go." ”

Zhang Shixing turned his head and translated this sentence to Zhu Yunwen and others, and Zhu Yunwen and others quietly discussed: "The matter is urgent, we will rely on him for the time being, and we will escape with our lives first." Anyway, our monk is also pretending, and it doesn't hurt to pretend to be back now. ”

After the discussion was over, Zhang Shixing said to Timur: "Great Khan, they are willing to convert to Islam, so you can let them go." ”

As soon as Timur waved his hand, the palace guards untied Zhu Yunwen and the others. Yiyun Chinese

Timur asked Zhang Shixing: "What about you, don't you plan to convert to our Islam?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "Buddhism pays attention to the equality of all beings, does not kill, and loves the world, but the Great Khan, as an Islamic monarch, brutally kills and slaughters the city. I don't dare to do anything like this. ”

Timur was furious and said: "You dare to mock me. Come on, throw him into the lion's den for me, and see if you are still hard-mouthed. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, several soldiers rushed forward and pushed Zhang Shixing to the backyard. The group walked through the corridor and came to the back garden, under a tree, a huge circular cavern, several feet deep, covered with an iron grating the thickness of an arm, and below was a mighty male lion, with golden curls, lying lazily on the ground, half-squinting.

At this time, Timur led a group of attendants to the backyard, leaning on the iron railing to watch, and Zhu Yunwen and others were also escorted to watch the execution.

Timur nodded, and the soldier opened the iron fence gate, untied the rope from Zhang Shixing's body, and pushed him down.

Zhu Yunwen and the others exclaimed in surprise, not daring to open their eyes to see.

Timur and the others looked down with great interest, it seems that this kind of punishment of letting lions eat people is not the first time he has watched.

Zhang Shixing flipped a few times in the air and landed firmly on the ground.

When the lion on the side heard the movement, he opened his eyes, and when he saw a man standing beside him, he immediately turned over and got up, and with a roar, the sound echoed in all directions, and the heart was so shocking that even Timur, who was watching from above, changed color.

Seeing that Zhang Shixing was indifferent, the lion bowed down, opened his bloody mouth, revealing two fangs, his tail stood up, the mane on his head exploded, and he roared again. The voice was thick and tragic, earth-shattering, and the end was a heavy, low guttural voice, just like a human gasp.

Zhang Shixing remained silent, made a gesture, tightened the door, and stared at the lion's big blood-red eyes like lanterns,

The lion suddenly pounced forward, Zhang Shixing immediately flashed to the right, the lion flicked its hind legs, and grabbed it with both paws in front of him.

Zhang Shixing hurriedly lowered his head to avoid it, and the lion turned around and pounced again, which was much weaker than the momentum just now.

Zhang Shixing lowered his head, grabbed the lion's two claws with both hands, and pressed his head against the lion's jaw.

Zhang Shixing flipped the lion to the ground, and the lion's constant twisting and roaring penetrated people's hearts.

When Timur saw it above, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said, "What a Battell." With that, he ordered someone to put down the rope and pulled Zhang Shixing up.

Timur patted Zhang Shixing's shoulder and praised: "You speak Mongolian so fluently, are we Mongolians?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "My mother is Mongolian, and my father is Han. My Mongolian name is Battell. ”

Timur said: "Live up to its name." I forgive you, heretic. ”

Zhang Shixing thanked him and said, "Thank you Great Khan for your grace." Shall we go? ”

Timur said: "I want you to be my coquette, are you willing?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "We Mongolians have a rule, if a person does someone else's thing, he can't change it for a lifetime. ”

Timur said: "Then whose Ke'er did you be?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "Tana." ”

Timur smiled: "What a beautiful name, but I don't know whose princess it is?" ”

Zhang Shixing remembered the long past again, sweet and sour, and unconsciously fell into memories, and said slowly: "He is the princess of Emperor Tianyuan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty." ”

Timur exclaimed: "The princess of Emperor Tianyuan? Didn't they be captured by the Ming army in the Battle of Fishing Erhai? ”

Zhang Shixing said: "Yes, we were captured together and escorted to Jingshi, and later Tana married the crown prince Zhu Biao, and after Zhu Biao, Tana was named the queen mother of Zhongning and returned to the grassland with her son. I became a monk at Jiming Temple. This time, I just wanted to pass by the grassland to visit her when I returned home. ”

Timur nodded and said: "That's easy to do, I will not set off for the Ming Dynasty in the near future, you will enter the customs with me, originally I sent someone to contact the King of Zhongning to attack the Ming Dynasty together, they have not replied, since you have this relationship, wait to see the Queen Mother of Zhongning, help us make peace from it." ”

Zhang Shixing thought about it and agreed.

Before long, Timur made a big attack on Ming, and first ordered his grandson Khalil to lead an advance of 100,000 from Tashkent, and spent two months of effort, crossing the Tianshan Mountains and advancing to the Ili River Valley.

Then Timur personally led an infantry wing composed of 200,000 infantry and 250,000 cavalry from Samarkand, known as an army of 800,000, all the way to the border of the Ming Dynasty.

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